We arrived at the bus station in Prague at night and our
first order of business was to withdraw Czech money from the ATM. Their
currency was different so our Euros were not valid here. We then bought our
tickets to Amsterdam for the following day. We got the bus ride from Eurolines
for CZK2,000 per person.
The bus station was adjacent to the train station, though
the entrances thoroughly confused us. The Czech language was a bit difficult to
sift through, what with no Roman root words to serve as context clues. It took a
while for us to find someone who could help us get to our hostel. The ticket
counter was already closed so we bought the one-day passes (CZK110 each) good
till the next day from the convenience store inside the station instead. Prague
locals did not speak English much so we never learned where to validate the
tickets during our first usage that night. We didn’t realize we would get into
trouble the next day for it.
We took the dingiest, shadiest subway I had ever been in. I’ve
travelled to many places in Asia, and have been to the outskirts of Manila,
riding the LRT 1 and even the PNR from Bicutan to Tutuban, but this by far, was the scariest
train station ever. It was so deep into the earth; I thought we were going to
hell. If the subway in Tokyo is Basement 1, the one in Prague was Basement 6.
Walking with our heavy bags on our backs, my senses were
again all alert. This side of Prague just gave me the chills, which meant my
companion was almost crying and already clutching me at the side. I had to be
brave for both of us; I didn’t want to die before I got to Amsterdam. So I got
on Krav Maga mode and led us on to our hostel.
The area wasn’t actually that bad when we got to Odburo
street. There were other hostels in the area, with young people drinking
outside, some just on the verge of throwing up or starting a brawl, a familiar
scene in Manila. Apparently, there were pubs all around the area, which
shouldn’t have been a surprise actually, given that (as I’ve researched)
statistically, Czech people consumed the most beer in the world. I was starting
to like the place a bit.
We got to Prague Centre Hostel but weren’t really able to
check in since the hostel staff were gone by this time. The key to our room was
in the office area though so we followed the directions on the note and found
ourselves in the attic. I though for sure, it would be another scare, but
surprisingly, our CZK1, 500 (P1, 773 per person) Twin Private Room was actually
a good deal. It looked like an apartment, with a kitchen, living room,
bathroom, and the bedroom upstairs.
Though my companion was tired to go out, she didn’t want to
be left alone, so she came with me to check out the pubs in the area. I was
eager to taste authentic pivo praha since I planned this trip, so
nothing could stop me from doing so that night. We ended up at a bar at the
alley behind our hostel. The bar was dimly-lit, as if for fortune-telling,
adding to our uneasy impression of the city. But we were glad that there was an
English menu and the waitress who served us was nice and spoke good enough
English. We ordered a salad to share, pasta for each of us, and 3 glasses of
beer, all for CZK525.
I obviously enjoyed the meal, and had a good night’s sleep
back at our huge hostel room. The next day, we checked out of the hostel, meeting the nice
lady who owned it in person. She gave us directions on how to get to the
tourist spots and maps to guide us.
Because we wanted to avoid the scary subway, we took the
tram back to the bus station. Mostly locals used this tram and we stuck out
like a sore thumb amidst them. We were not only tourists, but the only Asians
there. We were also both short girls, so were perfect targets for what was to
happen next.
A guy came over to us and
asked to see our passes. At first I did not understand his drawl then he showed
us his train/tram ticket. I was hesitant since he didn’t look like an officer, wearing
a green Adidas sweat suit, but he brandished his ID to us so I showed him our
tickets. Everybody else in the tram was minding their own business as this guy
perused our tickets. He told us that our tickets were not valid so we need to
step out of the tram. I knew something was not right but I didn’t want to cause
a commotion. Fortunately, the next stop was our stop, so we did get off the
tram. He was still holding our tickets and telling us to pay the CZK800 fine
per person. I knew it was because we were not able to have the tickets stamped
at the train station last night but I acted confused nonetheless, telling him
that we bought the tickets at the convenience store since the ticket counter at
the station was closed. Had we been duped by the convenience store guy? Could
we proceed to the station to clarify? I was trying to lead us to where there
were more people. He explained that it was because of non-validation and not
the actual ticket.
We were nearer the bus station by now so at least there were
more people passing by, but no one tried to help us. I reasoned with him that
we didn’t see any counter last night where we could validate the tickets; the
station was empty so we couldn’t follow anyone. He said that we should have
validated the tickets at the tram then. I knew there was no point arguing with
him; my companion was so nervous and I noticed a burly man who got off the tram
after us now hovering at the side, pretending to text on his phone. I knew he
was with this guy. So I changed tactics from stupid tourist to helpless female.
By this time he was asking for our passports and when we refused, he said he
would take us to the police. I wanted to get this over with so I apologized and
pleaded with him to let us go, we were just touring for one day and didn’t have
enough money. My companion caught on and we were both begging to be released,
she with the more authentic waterworks. He finally relented to just collecting
half of the “fee” so my companion gave him the money. I felt exactly the same
way as when I was caught for a nonexistent traffic violation in Manila. Pangongotong is also rampant in Europe, so I learned that day.
After that episode, we were still keen to tour the city,
give it a chance to redeem itself. So we left our things at the locker in the
bus station and then took the unavoidable subway, which was now less scary in
the morning and after the bullying incident, to Staromestska or the Old Town. This is
where we saw the Tyn Church, Old Town Hall, and St. Nicholas Church.
We bought street food that was not at all to our liking (the langose, especially) but
we needed to eat something to get by. We downed the tasteless food with warm
sweet wine. This much I can say about Prague’s cuisine – there’s nothing
remarkable about their food, but their alcohol is their salvation.
We walked towards Josefov or the Jewish Quarter, where we
saw a number of synagogues. There were bus-loads of tourists lined up to get into the synagogues, and so we just took some photos outside
and proceeded to our next tourist spot.
We walked towards Charles Bridge, crossed it to get to Mala
Strana or the Lesser Quarter. We hiked up to the Prague Castle complex, and
toured the St. Vitus Cathedral.
We then had a late lunch in the area, spending CZK250. And
since it was a Sunday, we went to the Church of our Lady Victorious, hoping we
could attend mass. There was no service at that time, so we just prayed at the
many altars.
It was already late afternoon by the time we finished, so we
headed back to the bus station to board our 5PM bus ride to Amsterdam. I was
not at all sad to leave Prague; one day there was enough to see the important
sights. I was now looking forward to our last destination, the free and vibrant
world of Amsterdam!
Since it was still early and we couldn’t check in our hostel
yet, we left our bags at the station and decided to head straight to our first
tourist spot – Zaanse Schans, which was about a 30-minute express train ride
away from Amsterdam. It gave us a glimpse of a traditional Holland village,
with the windmills and the clogs shops, for only 6.30 Euros.
I bought some souvenirs – a pair of bedroom clogs, and
magnets for a total of 24.50 Euros, and chocolates for 14.50 Euros.
It was super windy that day and we even thought it normal
since we were near the windmills, but apparently there was already a storm. We
sought refuge at one of the open restaurants in the village until the rain
stopped considerably. We warmed ourselves up with licorice liquor that were
strong but good, some slices of cheese and pie, and Gulpener beer all for 23.20 Euros.
It was already noon when we could get out and headed back to
the train station going to Amsterdam. We entered the station and was waiting
for the train to come, noticing that we were the only ones there. Then we heard
a voice shout to us, “Come on, Ladies! There’s no train for today.” There was a
bus collecting stranded passengers since the train had stopped operations due
to the bad weather. We climbed into the bus, thanked the guy who had gone out
of his way to call us from inside the train station, and took our seats. The
girls behind us asked us where we were headed and offered to accompany us since
they were headed the same way. The bus dropped us off the train station where
we could finally catch a ride to Amsterdam Central and the girls led the way.
The rides were free that day so that everyone could go home safely. It
was a far cry from the system in the Philippines where victims of calamities
have to fend for themselves to survive. In Amsterdam, the government helps the
people and people helped each other. In the Philippines, the people do help
each other and even receive aid from other nations, but the response time is
much slower. Imagine in Amsterdam, I didn’t even know it was already a
full-blown storm until we saw in the news that some people died there and in
London. In Manila, you could always feel the disaster because the wind and rain
is so much stronger and floods shortly follow.
We arrived in Amsterdam central safe and sound, thanking the
girls who were so nice to us. We collected our bags from the locker and
proceeded to our hostel which was just a ten-minute walk away from the station.
Spuistraat was actually a good place to stay at since it was parallel to the
Red Light district and a ten-minute walk to Leidseplein where a lot of bars and
restaurants are located. We checked into Aivengo Hostel, which again did not
have an elevator, like our hotel in Paris so we had to lug our stuff all the
way up to our room on the sixth floor. We got the Twin Private Ensuite room for
70 Euros per night or P2, 143 per person for our two-night stay.
We walked around the area towards the Anne
Frank House, and spent the remainder of the afternoon lining up. We finally got in two hours after. It was 9 Euros per head and no
photos allowed inside.
We were hungry by the time we got out so we found a
restaurant near our area and had dinner. I ordered a burger and two glasses of
Grolsch beer while my companion had a salad and bruschetta with a glass of
Grolsch, for a total of 37.10 Euros.
We burned off our dinner by walking around, following the
throngs of people toward the Red Light District. It was fascinating how it all
seemed normal, almost routine. The curtain would be open one minute, showcasing
a scantily-clad woman, a gray-haired man in a trench coat enters the building,
and the curtain would be closed the next minute. I wanted to document all of
this for proof, but taking photos or videos were off –limits as a sign of
respect for their way of life. It was, after all, their means of living.
That night was our second to the last night of the trip, so
I wanted to get a real bite of Amsterdam. I bought space cake at a Bulldog shop
on the way back to our hostel and tried it out in our room. Our room was
actually an attic so needless to say; it played a very important role in my
hallucinations that night.
I woke up late the next morning, absolutely famished from
the night before. We had brunch at a joint along our street. I had the heaviest
meal of our trip with ribs that I scraped off to the last bone, siding of fries and veggies, and a glass of Heineken.
I felt so guilty after my gluttony, so we checked out
the church across the Central Station if it was actually open and had services.
We were right on time for the 10:30 AM Silent Mass, so we decided to attend
right then and there to make up for our missed Sunday mass in Prague. It was
called a silent mass because there was no choir and no singing parts in the
mass. Everything was just spoken. It was celebrated in English, so lucky for us
we could participate wholeheartedly in the celebration. There were only a few
attendees, and unlike most of the churches we’ve been to during the trip, there
were no tourists at all in this church. Everyone was Catholic and there to
celebrate the Holy Eucharist. The parts of the mass were generally the same as
in everywhere in the world. But the part that struck me most as unique was the
offering of the sign of peace. In Manila, we generally just nod our heads to
each other, smile and say, “Peace be with you.” But in that church in
Amsterdam, the people actually come up to each other and kiss each other’s
cheeks. It was refreshing for me to engage in such an intimate gesture with
strangers from a foreign country. But what I’ve learned from my trip to
Amsterdam is that everyone is nice. I surmised it could be the fact that they
are not repressed – practically everything is legal so they had no reason to
act out or rebel.
After the mass, we strolled around the area towards
Museumplein, passing Rijksmuseum and the IAM AMSTERDAM sign.
We got lost trying to find the Heineken museum and ended up
wasting so much time that the museum was closed by the time we got there.
We tried to tour another drinks museum, the House of Bols
Cocktail & Genever Experience but it was also already closed by the time we
got there. I was so frustrated and was itching for a drink so we went to
Leidseplein to eat at one of the restaurants. I got the sate meal with a large
Heineken glass while my companion got the Portobello mushroom and a small
Heineken glass, for a total of 36.40 Euros.
We then went to Albert Hein grocery to buy the requisite pasalubong for our family and friends. I
stocked up on the delectable stroopwafels and chocolate-flavored speculoos
spread, spending a total of 18.97 Euros.
We walked around some more, me trying to recover from my
frustration, at the same time maximizing what little time I had left in this
glorious city. I found that despite not being able to go to all the places in my
itinerary, Amsterdam is still my most favorite city in Europe. The people are
just really nice that I instantly felt at home. This being said, it’s
definitely one of the places I’d return to on my next trip to Europe.
My flight the next day to Hong Kong was at 10:45 AM so I
woke up early and left the hostel at 7:30 AM. I took the train to Amsterdam
Schiphol for 4.40 Euros. After checking in my bags, I bought a sandwich for
4.75 Euros and waited for my boarding time. The flight had a stopover in Paris
so I got a glimpse again of the CDG airport. Several hours later I arrived in
Hong Kong and was off to yet another adventure that involved crazy partying for
Halloween!
The Spend
ACCOMMODATIONS: Average of P2, 000 per night per person x 13
nights = P26, 000
FOOD: Average of P600 per meal x 2 meals x 14 days = P16,
800
AIRFARE: P52,807
TRANSPORTATION BETWEEN CITIES: Average of P2, 000 x 8
transfers = P16, 000
TRANSPORTATION WITHIN CITIES THAT WERE NOT WALKABLE: Average
of P600 x 5 cities = P3, 000
SIGHT-SEEING/TOUR FEES: Average of P800 x 9 cities = P7, 200
TOTAL: P121,807
I actually only spent about P140, 000 in total. The
difference between the amount above was my allowance for shopping, inclusive of
pasalubong.
This trip was done October 15 - 30, 2013. So just factor in inflation rates or whatever when you compute for your trip.
