My first trip to home from Maastricht

Saturday, 22^nd October 2011 – Travelling – permalink

After 2 months in Maastricht I am going home, but only for one week. The reason is my bachelor graduation ceremonial that takes place in Prague. I didn't want to waste my time, so as soon as I could, I am on my first journey to home, to visit my friend and family.

Departure from Aachen, source: my picture

I am from Náchod, small town in the Czech Republic. How to get there from Maastricht? Well, this time was my journey to home split into three pieces. From Maastricht to Aachen by car, from Aachen to Prague by bus and from Prague to Náchod by train. Departure at 11:45 on Friday, arrival at 9:54 on Saturday – included

When I read about the departure place and saw it on Google Maps, I was a bit confused. But it was it. There was a small hut with name of companies on it, including Eurolines. There were also time-tables for different destinations in Europe like Poland, Czech Republic, Romania, etc. But on the other hand, it was not looking very comfortable – actually open space, no benches around. I hoped, that my bus will arrive on time. As time went on, I get more nervous, so I entered the "office" and asked. The guy sitting there told me to wait, as my bus comes from France, so it may have some delay. Ok, at least some information. I was sure, that I am at the correct place, I only needed to wait. But I was getting darker and colder. It's definitely not a place for a lonely girl. At 7 p.m. office and kiosk nearby closed.

Bus is there!

During the time when I was waiting and freezing, a couple of guys showed up, but there were waiting for another bus. I was the only one waiting for bus direction Prague. The bus arrived 45 min late at 19:30. Uh, my worries were gone. I had seats reserved in the front, actually nice move, because I had both of the seats Seats were really comfortable – not from leather and not too hard as in some busses. I also didn't feel squeezed, but I didn't have enough place for comfortable typing on my laptop. Because of my headache I got while I was waiting for bus, I decided to spend the night trip sleeping. As I realized later, the bus is from Lyon, goes over Antwerp, Brussels, Aachen, Köln, Frankfurt, Nuremberg and ends in Prague. The funny thing is, that the bus drivers needed to make a break, so about 10 minutes after I entered the bus, we stopped for 30 minutes at a rest near highway.

Czech bus drivers

To tell the truth, I was a bit angry, because I had no information about the bus, freezing at the end of the world and the bus drivers haven't event apologize for the delay and that fact that I had to wait. After the rest I got to know, that there are only a few Czech people on the bus, there were mostly foreigners. The bus drivers – man and woman turn out to be in a good mood, they made jokes all the time, so I enjoyed the time when I was awake. When they made comments about drivers or pedestrians at stations I mostly agreed with them. The bus was really big – for 60 people and the space on the stations was usually really narrow, people parking, where they shouldn't and walking without giving a damn. I was impressed how they mastered the wheel – they never needed to drive in reverse and they also knew the way really well, so I felt quite secure.

Köln, Frankfurt, Nüremberg

Somehow I woke up mostly just before we entered stations in those cities. I actually never visited these places properly, just went through them one time on my way from Germany to Czech about 3 years ago. They seemed to be really nice, because of all the lights everywhere. As Köln is known for its dome and Frankfurt for its skyscrapers, I must admit, that both of these features looked really majestic in the night. I have to find some time and visit those cities.

Prague

We arrived in Prague at 6:20 in the morning. I knew, that there is a train leaving at 6:48 that I quite convenient connection to my home town Náchod. So I took my bag a and walked from bus station at Florenc to main train station. I know this part of Prague quite well, so I didn't took me long, just about 15 minutes. I could also take the underground, as it's only one stop, but I found that as a waste of my money, as I had also nothing else to do and I didn't have a heavy bag. Prague was quite empty in this morning hour on Saturday, maybe also because of the low temperature. After I arrived to the train station, I has plenty of time to buy my ticket and get on the train. After that, only 3 hours were between me and by home.

Náchod

There were no complications on my way, train was also on time and the weather was typically autumn. Cold, fog and ground frost. When I was really near Náchod, fog disappeared and sun came out. Nice . I liked then walking home, when I could feel the strong Sun in my face, cold from the frozen grass on the ground and small drops falling from threes, as the Sun was defrosting the ice on leaves. I like to be at home, but I am also looking forward to returning back to Maastricht.