Prague

A selfie in front of the Charles Bridge

Timer shot in front of Saint Vitus Cathedral, Prague Castle.

Bits of hail atop Prague Castle walls; Prague in the distance 

Today we got up early to get on a train to Prague (Prag, Praha)  from Berlin.  We arrived at the train station 15 minutes before our train was scheduled to depart (the first time we were early in years to anything except an airport) only to realize that the train was 10 minutes behind due to "a storm."  Now we needed to wait for about 25 minutes for the train to arrive, but it wasn't a big deal.  We waited in the almost freezing temperature for about another 10 minutes only to hear another announcement telling us that the train was again delayed by 10 minutes.

This continued until our train was 60 minutes behind schedule, and we had about another half an hour to wait (the train was supposed to arrive at 7:53 with the delays).  We decided to go to a cafe in the station and were back at the platform by 7:45, eight minutes before our train's (newly scheduled) arrival.  As we looked around the platform, we noticed a peculiar absence of life (except the occasional pigeon) which indicated to my mother that we had missed the train.  It turned out that the train arrived at 7:43 and promptly left ten minutes early.  After some arguing in "Czech-lish," we finally transferred our tickets on another train to Prague at 8:50 (which was also delayed, but by 20 minutes) and we boarded gratefully and in a few hours, ended up it Prague.  This proves that the saying "set your clock to the German train" is undoubtedly, unquestionably false.

When we got to Prague, we checked in to our hotel and went to see the Charles Bridge over the River Vltava and the Saint Vitus cathedral within the ornate Prague Castle.  Both were gorgeous, Gothic landmarks made almost entirely of stone.  As we walked back to our hotel, though, it started to hail.  What a great April fools joke... NOT!!