(no subject)
Being in Tabor was a strange feeling. I got there too late in the day to actually do much of anything, so I contented myself with walking around and exploring. Itś a beautiful small-to-medium town with rural bits and urban bits and a wonderful lake with a crazy bridge on it. And my name is plastered all over everything! Mesto Tabor, which means ¨the City of Taber¨ or, as I like to think, Taber-ville. Itś unfortunate that they misspelled it, but itś the thought that counts.
And then it was time to go. I was at the train station in plenty of time for the last train, so I got some food and waited around. The last train was at 8:10. At about 8:05, there were three trains sitting in the station, none of which were clearly marked as going to anywhere in particular. I started running from platform to platform, asking anybody I could, ¨V Praha?¨ (To Prague?), but universally people would say ¨Ne,¨ followed by many Czech words that I could not understand. One helpful scarecrow leaning out a train window explained through the power of mime that his train was going That Way, but Prague was That Way.
After freaking out and zipping back and forth for fully fifteen minutes, one reluctantly helpful information desk lady held up four fingers, which I took to mean Platform Four, and made hurry, hurry! noises. So I hurried to Platform 4, and moments later the fast train to Prague arrived.
The trip back was about 90 minutes long. I was too keyed up to sleep, and it was brighter inside the cabin than outside, so I couldn´t see scenery. So I stared at the seat in front of me, or stared at the reflections in the window.
I got off the train and started walking to my Metro station. Then suddenly I realized I´d made a wrong turn. I only gone a couple of blocks the wrong way, but it was one wrong turn too many. I started to get panicky. I don have full-fledged panic attacks, but suddenly the noise of the street was a little overwhelming and it got much harder to navigate - I´d choose streets too hastily, and just get myself further lost. Eventually I made it to an internet cafe in the hopes of tasting the comforts of home.
All of which is by way of apology to the people I talked to last night (or about 2-3PM California time). If I was acting at all crazy, it was due to the fact that I had gone slightly crazy. Sorry about that.
And then it was time to go. I was at the train station in plenty of time for the last train, so I got some food and waited around. The last train was at 8:10. At about 8:05, there were three trains sitting in the station, none of which were clearly marked as going to anywhere in particular. I started running from platform to platform, asking anybody I could, ¨V Praha?¨ (To Prague?), but universally people would say ¨Ne,¨ followed by many Czech words that I could not understand. One helpful scarecrow leaning out a train window explained through the power of mime that his train was going That Way, but Prague was That Way.
After freaking out and zipping back and forth for fully fifteen minutes, one reluctantly helpful information desk lady held up four fingers, which I took to mean Platform Four, and made hurry, hurry! noises. So I hurried to Platform 4, and moments later the fast train to Prague arrived.
The trip back was about 90 minutes long. I was too keyed up to sleep, and it was brighter inside the cabin than outside, so I couldn´t see scenery. So I stared at the seat in front of me, or stared at the reflections in the window.
I got off the train and started walking to my Metro station. Then suddenly I realized I´d made a wrong turn. I only gone a couple of blocks the wrong way, but it was one wrong turn too many. I started to get panicky. I don have full-fledged panic attacks, but suddenly the noise of the street was a little overwhelming and it got much harder to navigate - I´d choose streets too hastily, and just get myself further lost. Eventually I made it to an internet cafe in the hopes of tasting the comforts of home.
All of which is by way of apology to the people I talked to last night (or about 2-3PM California time). If I was acting at all crazy, it was due to the fact that I had gone slightly crazy. Sorry about that.