Travel Forum / Destinations / Europe / July 2008

Did you first go to a tattoo parlour and get "SUCKER" in Czech put
somewhere conspicuous?

It's not one of my favourite places and you do get treated as a cash
cow if you're a tourist, but it's not *that* bad.

Going there again shortly - last time was in 1991, and it was one of
the scarier places I've been to.  Some very shady characters hanging
round Keleti station and we were targeted by a pickpocket gang in the
middle of the city (though they weren't quite slick enough).  And far
more no-language-in-common situations than in the Czech Republic.

==== j a c k  at  c a m p i n . m e . u k  ===  <http://www.campin.me.uk> ====
Jack Campin, 11 Third St, Newtongrange EH22 4PU, Scotland == mob 07800 739 557
CD-ROMs and free stuff:  Scottish music, food intolerance, and Mac logic fonts

Sorry you had such a bad time.

Over the course of my travels I've had all of those problems
and more - somewhere. And I moaned about some of them at the
time too; sometimes I even moaned later here or on my blog.
But I never had a whole country or city that pissed me off
completely.

Well, maybe Egypt; but the Pyramids and the Nile were still
marvellous.

In Prague, on my first visit, the problem IIRC was transport
staff who still "worked" as though you should be privileged
to use their bus/tram/train. But, eventually, we found our
way around and had a marvellous time.

On the second trip we ended up in the truly awful Hotel
Jasmine out in the 'burbs; we moved the next day. But we
still loved Prague and the surrounding parts of Czech (we
stayed in Zbraslav). Not for the people - some were nice,
some were nasty, just like home, but for the ambience, the
architecture, the history, the art, the differences, for all
the reasons I travel.

And of course very few spoke English; much the same as when
we wandered through Slovenia, Hungary, Slovakia or Poland.
The most common second language in those countries is
German, not English, so we got by with some basic
dictionaries and a good English/German dictionary and lots
of charades and mistakes and confusion - and sometimes some
fun. The difference is that we didn't expect them to speak
English. It was nice when they did - but we were guests in
their country. Why should they speak my language? Or any
second language? I accepted that it was my responsibility to
find a way to communicate, not theirs.

How many hospitality industry staff in your town or city or
country speak Czech? Any?

You had to pay for plates in restaurants? Never struck that
one - but tell me, how much was the total bill? How did that
compare to back home? Bloody cheap, wasn't it? What was the
food like - ours was marvellous in Czech.

The Police had no reason to take your car? None at all?
Yeah, right. I drove both times with a bright red "I'm a
tourist" number plate, respected local laws, and when I made
mistakes struck nothing but friendliness; apart from the
Austrian tollway vignette police. Maybe lack of
communication and attitude had a little to do with it? And
you had to pay US$100 to get it back? Not much in those
circumstances, hardly a dent in the overall cost of your
trip and you're going to enjoy telling everyone you meet
about it for years to come. Well worth $100. "Hey, did I
ever tell you about those terrible corrupt cops in Prague?"
"Yes, Grand-Dad, many times..."

Did you get someone to translate the papers that came back
with it to see what it was you did?

Dangerous drivers? You obviously didn't go over the border
to Poland.

Maybe next time you should just watch travelogues on TV at
home. I've been to Budapest too, but I hope someday to get
back to Prague again. One of my favourite cities.

Cheers, Alan, Australia

http://www.flickr.com/photos/alan_s/
http://loraltravel.blogspot.com
Latest: On Indian Roads

where did you go in prague? i was there 3x... and did not have any
problems... ok, maybe some language difficulties.. in general, very nice
place IMO maybe better then budapest?

Hmmmm   not my experience.    I have been to Prague twice, once during
the summer and once in December.    Both times I had a lovely visit.

I went mid week (to avoid the weekend stag-dos) and mostly avoided the
obvious restaurants around Wenceslas Square.  I don't imagine I would
like Prague at the weekends during the summer.

Prague is still emerging from its communist past so to some extent the
waiters and waitresses have still to learn how to deal with paying
customers.   I didn't find them unfriendly,  but some could be aloof.
I didn't take it personally.  Not all spoke good english but many did.

The staff in the hotels were great, very helpful and friendly indeed.
The hotels also were sparkingly clean.

Prague is very compact so it is very easy to get around and see all
the sights, of which there are many.  This makes it ideal for short
visits.  

I preferred Prague to Budapest.   I found Budapest very much more
impenetrable and it took me several days to get the feel of the city.
It also took me a long time to work out where best to eat.  It was
only at the end of my week's vacation that I was beginning to sort out
some nice restaurants.  

Although I visited several Tourist information offices (and made
special trips to some) I couldn't get a map anywhere showing tram and
bus routes.  I also tried at the ticket offices of the underground but
I found english there was very limited.    This was a problem because
Budapest is very large and it takes a long time to walk to all the
places of interest.     Having said that,  the underground is very
easy to use and understand.

I was appalled at the graffiti in Budapest.  The city is totally
defaced and every pillar and post and wall is covered.  The windows of
the underground trains were all scored and scratched  (ie not just
paint that could be washed off).

Shopping is very good in Budapest and relatively inexpensive.  There
are several large malls.    

There is plenty to do and see in Budapest (when you work out how to do
and see it).    Personally I found it very hard work,  so the much
needed rest didn't happen.    Prague is much easier to manage and, in
my opinion,  much friendlier and much better.

Derek.