The 10.25 ICE From Bruxelles Nord to Frankfurt-Nuremburg-Prague

Mile per mile this was the most costly journey. I never expected to pay so much for a day of travel. Tickets were purchased online from the German Rail ( Hbf) website but you should allow time for the tickets to arrive by post. On the day Raz was informative enough to tell us that we need not backtrack to South Station to catch the train as all ICE trains would stop at North Station which was a 20 minute walk from his place.

The heavy rain from yesterday had subsided and we only had the light showers to go through. Temperature was in the 15s and we arrived at the station with ample time to spare. Today the journey will take us through 3 different stages. The first was from Brussels to Frankfurt where we would have to change to another ICE connection to Nuremburg  and from there it would be by bus to Prague. Looking at the time we were a bit worried as the arrival in Prague would be around 10 pm and we were booked at an apartment outside the city. We were hoping the public transport in Prague would not go to sleep too early or else it would be an expensive night in the hotel.

Brussels was still wet on our departure, the rain continued to accompany us until we reached Frankfurt. On the train it was very comfortable and the condition was spick and span. Although the train was speeding up 250 kph we did not feel the speed as the suspension was superb and the electric engine did not produce any engine noise. The train stopped at a few cities like Liege, Aachen and Cologne. The stop took a few minutes only and passengers had to be on alert in boarding and disembarking, which troubled us a lot in Brussels as we had to move the luggage across the coaches to our assigned seats. 

May 16, and we are at Brussels Nord catching the 10.00 to Frankfurt

Inside the ICE economy coach.

We hit top speed on the straight at 234 kph

Ticket checks by conductor is still practised.

Fellow travellers, the father is French and the mother ( hidden ) is Japanese and the children are bright and adorable.

The train stops at Aachen....

.......and then Koln ( Cologne)

At last Frankfurt

Frankfurt was a busy terminal and after a wait of 1 hour we took the another ICE connection to Nuremburg. Passing through the countryside after Frankfurt I saw numerous small huts meticulously kept with beautiful small gardens. They are the summer huts, very popular with the German from the cities who like to have a country feeling on week ends. 

Then we change train to Nuremburg

The conductor on the Frankfurt-Nuremberg is in the wrong profession, more suited from her smashing look in the modeling perhaps. She can win Miss Conductor, if ever there is one, hands down.

The first vineyard, sign of hot summers seen after Frankfurt

We reached Nuremburg late afternoon and at this stage I was still looking for the train connection to Prague. What a surprise it was that Prague was not connected to Nuremburg, instead we have to take another mode of transport, a bus to the final destination, with the tickets already issued to us together with the train's.

It doesn't cross my mind that the next stage from Nuremburg will be by bus, hence the second look at the train schedule but still I  cannot find Prague on the list of the train destination.

This is the Hdb bus to Prague which we board near the rail way station. Locating the station is hard work as it is not in a terminal but just some where in front but without clear signage. We have to ask around to find it.

Right turn will take us to Czech Republic

We arrived at Prague at about 10.00 pm and were dropped near the metro station. I knew we had to take the underground to reach our apartment in Smichov but the first thing to do was to find some changes for the train fare. I managed to locate an ATM and drew a bit of Czech Koruna in small notes. Asking around I was shown the counter for the tickets and after making the purchase we made our way to the underground train which after a change took us to a station called Luka where we telephoned Petr for transport. Instead Petr gave us direction to take a bus to his house as he had taken alcohol and was not fit to drive. It was a cold night and we were glad to get on the bus and after 15 minutes we stopped at the place designated and on seeing a gentleman at the stop who turned out to be Petr, and man, we were extremely happy to be at the end of our journey, and to be taken to the warmth of the room in Petr's house.

Arrival at Prague I make my way to the metro station

Negotiating the way under ground for the first time cause a bit of  anxiety

Petr's garden the next morning

Filling breakfast is provided for a modest payment

The rest of the time in Prague was acting as tourists. We went to all the touristy places, took tons of photographs and had a good time. Petr's house was on the outskirt of the city and everyday we had to use the very friendly public transport to get to the city. The buses and metros are among the best I would rate, we had to purchase tickets denominated in time used, for example there were 1/2, 1 hour and all day tickets. We note there were no physical barriers to enter or leave the station and we could walk in and out without hindrance. There was not even turnstiles at the entrance, only a notice that we were in a ticket zone, as such the speed and movement of users were unimpeded. 

The public transport of Prague is efficient and reliable

We laze around on the Vltava river in Prague