It’s about a 10-minute walk from the Hilton, but even with instructions from the concierge and Google Maps we navigated a roundabout route.
Once there we checked the departure screen, Odjezd in Czech.
Our interpretation was flawed for a couple of reasons. First, this station has north and south platforms. We only learned later that North in Czech is Severni, so arrows pointing toward the S platforms were actually pointing north.
Second (and this was really stupid of us), we thought the final column identified the train platform, so we looked in vain for platforms numbered 15, 30, and 45. It finally dawned on us that the final column identified trains that were late.
That took far too long, but at least we got to see more of the main Prague train station than most tourists do.
That rehearsal finally completed, we enjoyed our final Prague meal at Mincovna, a very pleasant eatery.
We shared a goose liver paté, and then it was sausages for Kathy and beef goulash for Brian.
We had interesting chats with two lounge employees, a young man who was a refugee from Iran, and a young woman from Zimbabwe also finding more opportunities abroad.
The following morning we chickened out and took an Uber to the train station, setting us back about U.S. $5.
Despite a delay in announcing our platform, we boarded without difficulty and were on our way for the four-hour ride to Vienna.
Kathy spent her college junior year here in 1967-68 and still knows her way around Vienna reasonably well by Ubahn, Schnellbahn, and tram. We’d bought a one-week travel pass and soon were checking in at the Hilton Park.
Our second consecutive upgrade to a one bedroom suite - we’re feeling spoiled!
Best of all, and not all that common these days, we discovered a lovely separate tub for Kathy’s aching back.
That evening we dined in Lenz, the Hilton’s restaurant, and splurged on the tasting menu.
Our charming waiter, Marco, was born in the Dominican Republic and kept us entertained and well fed.
The weather was glorious Sunday and we walked all over taking in some familiar places.
The Ring…
Parliament…
Rathaus or City Hall…
We stopped at Enzo, a friendly little joint for pizza and a calzone. It was bargain priced and too much to finish…
Later we paid homage to the Waltz King, Johann Strauss, in the large and beautiful Stadtpark (City Park) across from the Hilton.
Sunday evening we attended Strauss’s operetta, Die Fledermaus, in Vienna’s second opera house, the Volksoper.
On this occasion we were seated in the next-to-last row in €55 seats, but enjoyed the performance, marred somewhat (in our opinion) by a preachy Act Three discourse on contemporary politics. Why do some artists feel the need to “improve” on great works from other times to make them “relevant?”
Three Straussian hours of glorious singing and dancing with a humorous nonsensical plot are hard to beat.
As Monday dawns, we’re ready to rediscover Vienna for the next few days.
