Prague – Brno – Vienna
Our day started, as always, with a continental breakfast in the dining room of our hotel, the magnificent Art Noveau Palace. After the disappointment of the Maritim in Frankfurt and the quaint but very small rooms of the Altes Brauhaus in Rothenburg, our room here had felt positively palatial. Such a shame that we wouldn’t be getting to enjoy it for longer, as our whistlestop tour of Prague was over before it had even really begun. I’ll have more to say on that at a later stage in the trip. As Vanessa and I are both early risers, we were soon fed and back to the room, which seemed to have the heating stuck on something akin to the surface of the sun, despite us having turned the dial down as low as it would go. Europeans really like their buildings warm! With housekeeping rapidly approaching along the corridor, we decided to check out early and head downstairs for some cool air.
Our bus driver Jörg has really taken a shine to Rowdy, and for the last couple of days has been suggesting that he (Rowdy that is) might like to drive the bus. So while we had a bit of time to wait for the rest of the group and our luggage to make it downstairs, we took the opportunity for an impromptu photo shoot. Unfortunately, his little legs couldn’t reach the pedals, so Vanessa offered to step in and help, but with the Prague traffic building around us already, we thought it best to hand the reins back to Jörg before getting underway.
The drive out to the motorway gave us the opportunity to see some more of the magnificent architecture that makes Prague such a beautiful city. As Jörg skilfully manoeuvred the large coach around tight corners and narrow, one-way streets, we passed such sights as the State Opera, the main Prague Railway Station and the National Museum. Pretty soon though, we were out on the motorway, with the suburbs of Prague rapidly disappearing in the rear view mirror.
Once out into the countryside, we travelled through some pretty landscapes, although things did tend towards the monotonous in parts. Quaint little villages with their church spires were dotted here and there, mostly well away from the motorway. We passed the occasional signpost pointing towards a castle or a fortified church, but for the most part the sights were predominantly rural. A couple of times we even spotted deer grazing in the fields, although always too far away to get a photograph.
There have been a few rumblings among our small group suggesting that the tour we are on isn’t really shaping up to expectations, and one of the gripes has been the stops along the way during our travel days. For the most part, they have been in some pretty grungy truck stops, with our trip on Sunday being the prime example, where the most inspiring menu item during our stop for lunch was a hot dog, despite us being within a stone’s throw of the famous beer-making centre of Pilsen. So when the coach pulled in this morning for the first stop at the House of the Golden Arches, there were more than a few raised eyebrows. Thankfully, it was just for a pee-pee break, and they did have a McCafé with proper brewed coffee and clean(ish) toilets. As an added bonus Vanessa managed to discover a new gourmet delight in their hot plum and cinnamon pies, and I discovered the local delicacy Koblížeks, which are tiny bite-sized donut-like pastries filled with apricot jam or chocolate. I had a couple of apricot ones that were so delicious, I had to restrain myself from going back to order more.
Thankfully on today’s trip, we did have a proper lunch break scheduled, and a little over an hour after leaving Mickey-D’s, we were entering the outskirts of Brno, the second largest city in the Czech Republic, and the former capital of the Margraviate of Moravia. The first sights that capture the eye on approach are the rows and rows of brightly coloured high-rises along the ridges overlooking the city. The colours are a fairly recent phenomena – under communist rule these buildings were drab, monotonous concrete structures, but since the fall of communism the locals have taken to sprucing things up a little.
Our bus parked alongside Janáček Theatre, a soviet-era opera house that dominates its surrounding landscape. From here it was a short walk into the city centre, which was surprisingly beautiful – whilst Prague is considered the centre of culture and arts in the Czech Republic, Brno is usually seen as more functional and industrial, however the buildings around the main square hint back to a time when it too was a powerhouse in European politics. There are many different architectural styles on show, with lots of museums, churches, shops and administrative buildings to be seen. Several Christmas markets were underway, and we stopped at a stall selling a delicious potato and sausage dish, and giant skewers of flame-roasted chicken for some lunch, before wandering off for the next hour through the city streets.
Eventually we found ourselves back at the church that was to be our meeting place to walk back to the bus with the group, and with a little under half an hour to spare, we went in to a bar opposite for a vino and a G&T, as well as a quick wee break. We caught up with our tour guide Deryck outside, who pointed us towards a rather quirky and slightly naughty gargoyle on the far side of the church that appeared to be a man baring his bum high above a window frame.
Back on the road, and we were soon crossing a large waterway on the Thaya River on our way towards the Czech-Austria border. This area is rich in vineyards and produces many of the famous Moravian wines that are drunk throughout central Europe. Right near the border lies the town of Mikulov, with a stately castle owned by the princely House of Liechtenstein towering above. There is a noticeable difference between the buildings here at the border crossing – those on the former communist side quite brutal and imposing, but now largely abandoned, while the ones on the Austrian side were less ostentatious and far better maintained. By this time it was getting too dark for any photography, and by the time we reached our hotel in Vienna the sun had well and truly set.
We were directed to our tiny little rooms that will be home for the next three nights in what is one of the stranger hotels we’ve ever stayed in. The marketing for the tour contains a lot of terms that hint at some of the hotels being on the small side – words like “charming” or “character-filled”. This hotel is none of that, and at dinner that night, which again seemed to feature a limited choice of the two or three cheapest options from the menu, it was clear that among the 9 of us on the tour, none of us felt that we were getting our money’s worth form what was not exactly what you would consider a budget tour.
After dinner a few of us took Deryck aside to voice our concerns, which were numerous, pretty much just a courtesy to him so that he is not completely blindsided when we submit our feedback at the end. It’s safe to say he was taken aback and offered a few counterarguments that sounded pretty feeble in comparison to the sheer weight of issues the entire group had raised. Vanessa and I actually took it on ourselves to request an upgrade to our room, which has meant we’ve had to dip into our own pocket to cover the difference, but considering the original room was smaller than anything we’d encountered even while river cruising, we had to bite the bullet. Unfortunately it was too late to change rooms on the first evening, and we spent an uncomfortable and mainly sleepless night in sweltering heat, unable to even open a window due to the fact that we were directly above the courtyard where the staff from the 24-hour reception constantly stepped out for their smoke-breaks.
Thankfully not all is doom and gloom – the room we are in at the moment is much nicer, with windows opening onto a balcony and ample room to move around without tripping over our luggage. As you’ll read in the next instalment, our first day in Vienna was great, with a local guide who turned out to possess every skill that our guide in Prague lacked, and some really good food, including an incredible lunch experience that featured the best Weiner Schnitzel we’ve encountered to date. The destinations we’re heading to from here offer something special as well, including visits to some of our favourite places, including Český Krumlov and Salzburg, plus Christmas Day in the Tyrol. So stay tuned for more…
Travelling by bus in Europe ,when a distance has to be travelled ,one has to be on the motorways and unfortunately some of the stops are a bit ordinary . Every bus trip has been the same for us but it is bearable. Enjoy the rest of your holiday.