24.5.25
Whilst writing this we’re on the 5am Regiojet train to Prague from Bratislava.
We dropped Maisy dog off at 5.30pm yesterday to Maya the dog sitter. Maisy remembered her from last year and trotted off very happily which was lovely.
We had dinner at Dalaman Prison, then drove to our friends in Ortaca. Jamie kindly drove us to Dalaman airport where we had over 2 hours to kill, which was just as well as it was really busy. We had less than an hour to wait until our Ryanair 11.15pm flight to Bratislava.
Because we refused to pay for seats out of principle, they were allocated within 24 hours and the boarding passes had to be printed. This meant we weren’t sitting together.
I had a seat by an exit, so responsibilities included opening the door and keeping the exit way clear. A guy on the other side of the aisle with the same responsibility had left one of his cases on the runway which caused a kurfuffle.
I’m not sure he was the right person to be in charge of a red pull down door opener.
The flight was unremarkable, we landed on time and had about an hour to wait until the 01.50 number 61 bus to the train station. It was bitterly cold outside but really toasty inside the airport. So toasty that our chocolate bars melted.
Within 30 minutes we arrived at the train station. All closed up, doesn’t open until 3am. It was very chilly waiting, but there was some fascinating people watching.
There weren’t many people waiting – 2 ladies with learning disabilities and umpteen full carrier bags, a group of 5 huddled in a corner, with a baby’s pram /buggy, which they were using as a table for their take away. A lady with a Lidl bag who later started shouting to herself, 2 homeless big bearded men who later snoozed in the station waiting room and a group of mixed race lads who were on our bus, they looked like trouble but probably weren’t.
Everyone looked pretty shady to be honest, except for 2 young couples travelling and a pair of smart older gentlemen who looked slightly uneasy.
The ‘baby’ never made a sound. It’s mum slept in the waIting room with the pram. Her husband /partner periodically came to wake her with no success at all.
Our Regiojet train was bang on time, after a 2 and a half hour wait we were really happy to be on board.
We were really tired by now, we had dozed off a few times in the waiting room, only interupted by people who had their whats app beeps on full blast, played videos with no headphones and the odd train announcements.
Regiojet buy up all the old stock and provide budget friendly travel. We pushed the boat out and went business class. Choice of welcome prosecco or fruit juice, bottled water and fabulous Illy espressos.John was less than impressed with the Earl Grey tea, he prefers a normal builders tea.
The tickets were £37 for both for a 4 and a half hour journey. Excellent value.
Our compartment had 4 comfy seats. Us and an English lad who has been to Prague many times.
Again we dozed on and off, but so little that my watch didn’t register any minutes. With 2 hours to go we ordered breakfast. Ham & cheese croissants and cheesecake. The cheesecake equated to 34p!! It was all excellent value at £2.69 for both of us.
The young guy got off, a mum and daughter took his place, then came a young single woman who never sat still the whole time. Hair up, hair down. Scroll on phone, stop, examine her arms for? ants (although they were in her pants) fleas? Scroll. Arms. Hair up. Scroll. Hair down. Arms. John & I were so fascinated that we were messaging each other about it. We were exhausted by it, but mostly we were relieved that she didn’t do the whole journey with us.
Next stop Prague Main station. Bang on time, 9.35am.
I messaged our accomodation and thank goodness they messaged back at 11am to say our room was ready.
John expertly got us across the metro system with only one going the wrong way hiccup. The metro stop is almost next to Villa Jinonice where we are staying and it’s not too many stops to get to Prague centre.
that’ll have to wait until tomorrow. All we want to do now is sleep.
We’re really pleased with our accomodation, perfect for 5 nights. We got far better value for money by coming out of the city.
Weirdly we have the same picture John grew up with. He hated it then and still hates it. He can remove spiders etc but has a real fear and loathing of ants, which is why this picture disturbs him.
We slept for almost 4 hours, then explored the nearby Billa supermarket. We were surprised to find the apart from the price of beer, cider and doughnuts everything is dearer than Turkey. We wonder if Billa is a dearer company.
Doughnuts
I was so excited to find chicken crisps and Lion Bars.We bought pastries and cereal for breakfasts, ciders, milk and deserts.
John found an Asian fusion restaurant online. Ha Long. The location is bizarre. We walked there, through umpteen blocks of flats, along short cuts and small lanes for 30 minutes. It was drizzling but not cold as I added another layer under my hoodie.
We both had Indonesian chicken soup to start. It was divine, we both felt we could just eat that all evening.
Next was Bun Cha, a favourite of mine from Vietnam and a Duck Bangkok hotpot for John.
Delicious.We were so relieved that they forgot to bring the spring rolls that we’d ordered as we both struggled to finish our meals. The meal was first class and significantly less than similar in Turkey.
We ordered a Bolt taxi to get back as it was drizzling harder. It was only a 4 minute ride, and very reasonable.
While I’m writing John is back in bed snoring quietly. My eyelids are drooping, my eyes are dry and I can’t stop yawning. Time to join him and hopefully be up and raring to go with an early start exploring the city tomorrow.