Ha!! So ‘m back from my trip. The return journey was little hectic and ‘m feeling all tired now. But it was a great trip. I started off from Amsterdam on 25th evening. The central station which usually is full of tourists and locals hopping around was deserted on Christmas day. Sad!! Train was on schedule. When I got in I was the only creature in that compartment. But after some time I saw couple of people getting in and felt better. At Utrecht a dutch guy got into the compartment and I was happy…finally I got someone to talk to. He was a professional Poker player. Poker for living? You kidding me, that was my response. In my country, only rich people go to casino, and generally its a luxury. He told me that he was playing online for couple of months and now want to move to Prague and then to Madrid to play poker. Wow…crazy!! And then some fun stories about the casino’ and gamblers. I was reading The White Tiger, if you have read the novel you would get me here…how apt that book was for the environment. Hats off to The Bluff Masters!!
Elbe River dividing Germany and CZech
I had set couple of alarms to get up in the morning. For visiting the bohemian swiss, I had to get down at Bad Schandau at 7:32 a.m. May be I was excited about the whole thing, I got up at 6:30 and was waiting for Bad Schandau. The information center at Bad Schandau was closed. May be because of Christmas or may be East Europe is little different than West Europe. I don’t know yet. My Mastro card was not working at the ticket automat. Lucky was I that I had some coins and I could buy the ticket to Schona. Always carry cash and coins with you. Bad Schandau is supposed to be one of the main stations, but I couldn’t find a single Cafe around. I was getting desperate for a cuppa coffee. I’m a coffee addict. Finally the S-Bahn arrived and I was getting ahead inch by inch towards my final destination. Within next 10min I was at Schona. I was so damn happy to see the river, the mountains around. I enjoyed the beauty around for some time, checked the schedule of Ferry which I had to take to reach Hrensko from where I could walk to the stone bridge. The first ferry was at 9:30a.m. I had to wait for one and half hour. Then I came back to station to take a look around and find some cozy place to wait. Its a different place. There is no waiting room. No cafes. I was sitting in that shivering cold for 40min. I couldn’t see any movement around in those 40min. Not a single person around me, no vehicles moving on the other side of the river. I thought the city is not gonna wake up for me. And I decided to go back to Bad Schandau, where I had some hopes to see live creatures and yes my cup of coffee. But when I reached there, the situation was still the same. And I decided to follow my route to Prague and visit this part sometime in summer. Sometimes I hate myself for being a human being with so many desires 
. I took the next train to Praha Holesovice.
Coffee Heaven
I reached Prague at 11:40. Got the currency exchange at the station, bought day pass of Metro and moved to Museum. Finally I had some Kebab and nice coffee. I started exploring the city by walking on the streets. The old town is typical european fashioned. But the other part of Prague is very much modern and Americanized I would say. Its a city full of shops. I booked tickets for a Sax Concert in Klementium. I don’t understand the notes, but as a novice I can say it was a nice experience.
Next day morning, again I started wandering through the city. At some shops I saw the puppet shows.
Dancing Puppet
Then I took a tour to Prague castle. Enjoyed the view of the Vltava river from the Charles Bridge. The live performance on the bridge. Finally time to buy some soveniours. I just love doing that.
Absinth
Bronze Statue
Bohemian Sekt
Finally I started off for my own city Amsterdam. And yes on my way back I finished reading The White Tiger. Thats the beauty of travelling. You can read as much you can. Its a nice read, otherwise who would finish it in two sittings.
