Last minute packing done, I decided it would be far more sensible to take a taxi rather than bring two bags on a tram/subway combo. See, I’m sensible at times! The train left Prague at 9:15. Unfortunately, it was a Czech Railways train which meant sardines. Luckily, my 5 compartment-mates left at Pilzen and I was joined by two wonderful travelers who were returning to Munich to catch a flight back to the US. We performed the usual ritual of sharing food and stories and they had some phenomenal travel stories: house boats in the Kashmir, Jerusalem, Bali… I was sad to see them leave because they were fun to talk to.

I didn’t spend the Euros exactly as planned (ended up spending 5 Euros on the train for a sandwich and Coke Light) but happily finished them up at Munich Hauptbahnhof on a salami baguette and a white chocolate chocolate chip cookie at Starbucks. Yep, finally gave in and it was so worth it. I was tempted to splurge and get the banana mocha drink but that would have required credit card and I wouldn’t have been able to finish off the Euro cash.

I was pleasantly surprised by the Swiss Rail train, the best aspect being the whole train was non-smoking. Simple pleasures. The ride from Munich to Zurich was gorgeous, passing through the towns of Lindau and Bregenz, on the German and Austrian sides of Lake Constance, respectively. The train didn’t mention that we’d be passing through Austria and I can’t put my finger on how I knew, I just had a feeling. I dozed for about an hour outside of Munich and it was only by looking at the train timetable that I realised we were still in Germany. The three countries don’t really look any different at that point. I was slightly bummed that I only got two stamps (out of the CR and into Germany) out of the deal. I am *such* a stamp whore!

There were a few other stops before arriving in Zurich. Got lazy and took a cab to the hostel. Due to time constraints, I didn’t spend much time in Zurich but I did get some really nice night shots (see above and here) as I puttered around the old town. I found Zurich to be very expensive but it seemed to be a really nice city and one I’d like to visit again the future.

In the name of having more time in Geneva, I caught the 8:30 train from Zurich and was AMAZED at the scenery. It was worth overpaying Rail Europe for this. Although it isn’t the greatest photo, this is what I always imagined Switzerland to look like. Dear Swiss Rail: Please clean your train windows so I can have better pics, OK?

Above, too There were fields of sunflowers and gorgeous mountains and an incredible view of Lake Geneva as we approached Lausanne. Got to Geneva around 11:30 and spent the best 7 Swiss Francs of my trip: leaving the backpack in a locker at the train station. I knew I wouldn’t be able to check in to the hostel yet and leaving it there would cost 2 Francs (plus a taxi since I wasn’t walking 10 minutes with both bags!) I wandered down Rue Mont Blanc to the lake and had the fun decision of which cruise. The one I finally chose was ~one hour and had a great view of Mont Blanc and the UN among other things.

After the cruise was a ‘duck hunt‘: never said I wasn’t easily amused, taking ~30 pictures of ducks and swans. Also went to the swatch museum but found it a bit of a challenge to navigate the city with so much (including the tourist offices) closed on Sunday. Tired and sweaty, I walked to the hostel and got the city pass so I could take the tram. I went to the UN, which is a lot nicer looking than the one in NY! Really made me think back on the days that I wanted to be a UN interpreter.

Still tired, I sought out some yummy Pain au Chocolat and called it a night. Spent some time in the air conditioned TV room but turned in early so I’d have time to do some shopping in the morning before my flight. I did, however some reading this haven’t yet gotten their souvenirs because my bag is still somewhere in BA hell, so souvenir shopping details to come at a later date

Forgot that I didn’t need to be at the airport so early for a quick flight to London but checked in early and meandered Geneva Airport. Home late Monday. More on that in the recap post…Off to find some AC. NY is currently channelling Florida!

My train left from Praha – Hlavni Nadrazi at about 8:30 PM. I didn’t pay attention when choosing my carriage/section and ended up in a smoking one, but I was too lazy to move. I dozed on and off and after being woken by passport control, I decided to sit up and see who my cabin mates were since I was hearing a mix of Japanese/French and Czech. The cabins are more or less bench seating with an arm rest between two sets of two seats and my ‘benchmate’ was a drunk Polish man who, according to the French woman, wasn’t making much sense in any of the languages he was ‘speaking’. The French woman was a backpacker traveling through Eastern/Central Europe and her benchmate was a young Polish guy who had been studying in the Czech Republic. None of us was sure why the train was stopped so we did what was normal in that situation and shared our ‘rations’ – a mix of a candy bar, British Smarties (so so good!) and 7 Days Bake Rolls (Bacon Flavored). Despite the approximately one hour delay, which some attributed to border delays, we make it to Krakow at just shy of 6 AM only half an hour late.

I had forgotten how ‘interesting’ Czech Rail service can be. 2nd class is about 10 classes below the local trains in Japan. They also don’t announce stops, which could have proven interesting. When we left the train at Krakow, he young Polish man shook my hand and said, “Enjoy Krakow-my home.” Very nice.

The delay was fine since I knew the first bus/train to Ozwiecim didn’t leave until 7. So I found the ladies’ room, learned that you had to pay so went to the ATM to take out Zlotkys — currency overload seriously — freshened up and went in search of the bus depot. It was a local shuttle bus that look about an hour and a half and he dropped is at the gate. Wasn’t hard to guess where the three non-Polish people were going.

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Coming back, the bus was slightly larger but took almost two hours to get back due to the weather. I’d offer some great insight about the polish scenery but it was foggy and I was wet. Not agood combination. I didn’t understand why it took two hours to go 50-60 km until I saw the roads. Poland may have upgraded itself a lot in the last 15 years, but it’s still lacking in some areas. The area around the bus and train stations I found to be very depressing, dirty… I wasn’t impressed with Krakow but I also realise I didn’t see the tourist sections. I thought about it if I’d gotten back earlier but wanted to spend the day at the camps and the weather didn’t lend itself to staying longer.

I had about 5.5 hours to kill before the train so I went to the Galeria Krakowska. Nope, not an art gallery but the ubiquitous galleria. It really was rather like any mall, anywhere. Sephora, Aldo, Zara, MaxMara, Esprit…What enticed me was the food court. I didn’t want to think to eat, I just wanted food so I went with the staple of Subway. Sat in the food court and read “Night” (review here). I’d never read it before and was just…Wowed. I think the fact that when he mentioned locations in Birkenau I could think “I was just there…”. At about 9 I headed to the Albert to get some stuff for the train and headed back to the station.

Met a couple of people also waiting for the train but they had a sleeping car reservation. I ended up with my own cabin for most of the ride and I slept a good chunk of it. Czech border guard was amused that I was never stamped out by the Polish guards. He stamped just under my first ‘inbound’ Czech stamp from 2003.What struck me was that inbound at Ruzyne they use the standard EU stamp but by rail they still use the old one. Stamp/Visa Count:45. I really need to get the expansion pages before Australia because I am going to run out of room.

Got back to Prague this morning and was at the apartment by 7:45. Shower done and I need to do laundry. Look for pics and the write ups later today.