7th September Dresden to Prague

** Like a looping video tape, I'm packing my case to travel again, this time by bus, from Dresden to Prague in the Czech Republic, now called Czechia.

** When I arrive in Prague in a few hours I realise that I will have arrived in my fifth country (not counting France because I was only passing through for a few hours) and my 12th city. When I planned out this trip I honestly did not really think a lot of it through, other than I had to travel and travel now. I knew I needed to visit these cities and their museums so that I could immerse myself within new, not so new, and very ancient artefacts and artworks, as they were the ones that I hoped would help overcome my perceived cultural drought, and fill in some of what I would like to term as lacunae, missing parts of my academic knowledge and understanding.

I made bookings for hotels and transport without taking into account how much time the overall trip would be. I was quite shocked when I added it all up to see that it was going to consume about fourteen weeks. And I was further shocked when I realised that I would have to forgo many cities as time and finances would not allow for it.

To be honest I did not expect to travel for more than two to four weeks before either my chest or my legs or both just collapsed on and/or under me. (As I have said elsewhere, the only training I did was to walk from the couch to the pantry/fridge and back. On an average day while traveling I am doing between 7 and 14 kilometres.) So, seven weeks later I am still on the road, with two more new countries and four more cities to get under my belt over the next 15 days before I catch the plane back to London from Milan for a well deserved recharge & a well deserved rest. And then the final push through the Netherlands, Belgium and France.

Even if I say so myself, I'm both surprised and proud of myself for getting this far. With a bit of luck and a lot of reliance on my medications and painkillers I will make a concerted effort to finish in mid-November still with a smile on my face.

** My hotel in Prague, at least in theory, is going to be very interesting. I have booked a room on a large anchored riverboat for my accommodation. Supposedly it is located, like the rest of my booked hotels, within 500 to 1000m from the city centre, and more importantly, located within reasonable walking distance to the various museums and galleries I wish to visit. And on a final point, there is, for once, a laundromat within 300 metres.

** Looks like I will be in Prague in the next 30 minutes or so. A new adventure begins. I am not even sure what museums or galleries are here but Prague is supposed to be a chocolate box city.

** After a bit of a longer walk than anticipated because I had to exchange au$50 into Czechia Crowns, I finally found my boat. That, btw, took me in total 1.5 hours.

** First the Botel Albatross. I'll let pictures talk for me.

My first view of the boat

The entry lounge (entry to the boat, not my room LoL)

This bonzai is a magnificent example. Obviously well loved, well trained.

The bedroom.

Cannot feel any boat rocking, so that's good. There is a radiator heater built in, obviously for the cold weather, and a c40 cm tower fan for the hot weather. I cannot open the windows as they face the highway which is very close & noisy. I calculate that if I rise for the included breakfast early enough, and watch kdrama till late enough, I should not have to concern myself with the traffic as I should sleep like a log.

** Now, for all my planning, I never saw this one coming. I was very aware that although Czechia is part of the EU, the country does not use the Euro. Instead they use Crowns. What I did not realise is that they generally will not convert AU$, to the point of some being very rude about it. A few money changers anyway. I finally walked into a bank where a teller apologised for not being able to help me but then gave me the address of a company that might do so. Off I went, my worldly goods in tow, together with my walking stick, and tracked it down.

True to the teller's word, the change company converted one A$50 note for me. When I left Perth I ensured that I only took almost brand new notes with me. I got 800 crowns in return. I had no idea if this was good or bad. All I knew was I needed local currency, and took whatever they gave me with a smile. Now to find out if my phone is any good for paying for things.

** I'm going to go just now to find some local shops and try out some local beer. That should wash away any distast still lingering from arriving in yet another totally foreign culture.

Found the shops! Less than 10 minutes walk from the river boat. Plenty of coffee, beer, and even a supermarket. What I did manage to achieve was locating the position of the Baroque quarter, which is barely 15 minutes walk from here. I will check that out tomorrow and locate some museums.

For my sisters who understand the Ross love for exotic cars. Within 5 minutes of walking along the main strip I saw two Bentley Continentals, two F-Type Jags and an assortment of American muscle cars.

A note on that wonderfully close laundromat. I think it may have closed down. If so I am very disappointed. I will check again tomorrow as I pass it if I take the short cut to the main drag to the old Baroque quarter

A protest all about grass, the smoking 'WOW man' type of grass.

The following are some shots off the front ( maybe the back, I don't know, I was in the airforce, not the navy. 🤓🫤😆). I'm waiting for the bee-powered boat to pass again, maybe in the morning. It is powered by men and women, sitting at benches facing each other, and peddling like crazy.