Around the World day 6- Norway-Germany-Czech

It was supposed to be an easy day. An early one sure, but easy. The plan was fly from Oslo to Munich, then a quick drive to Prague, there by lunch.

As we tried to leave the hotel in Oslo, we couldn’t get out of the parking lot, our credit cards were not the correct type, we needed pin+chip and 99.9% of American cards are not this. I have pin cards, I have chip cards, I have none of pin+chip (though requested from the issuers). Dave heads back into hotel, hoping to pay via different card or cash or somehow get out of the flippin parking lot and to our plane. Ok, success, hotel gives us an exit ticket “on the house” and we head out. The night before when we arrived, we packed up all of stuff so we could go right to the plane. That included the GPS, on purpose. We were close to the airport, could see the flight line from our room, we just drive in that direction, right? Um, no. The airport was fogged in and it was not yet daylight. In my Norway review blog post (coming up right after this one) I will be complaining about their road signs, and lack of them. So, finding the airport was not that easy. But we found it, returned the car and got all checked in for the flight. The SAS lounge had a never-ending wine fountain. Too bad it was 6am, I was tempted but it was still 6am. I had coffee, fruit and pastries instead.

I am trying to get a picture of the two of us on every plane, train, boat and so on. We even sat next to an American on the plane. Apparently I found the one American woman of my generation that has yet to figure out how to use a camera on a phone. I was looking at her attention-seeking 10 yr old child.

It was far too overcast to see much out the windows and the seats were far too uncomfortable to nap, so I was not very happy. The food offered was meh. I was safe, I’ll be quiet and take that.

We make it to our car quick easily, and are quite happy that we will be driving a shiny new Jaguar for the next two weeks. We take a little time to get all the settings, seats, mirrors, temp and language all set and head out. Quick stop at a gas station for snacks and drinks (gummi bears are so much better here, I promise) and head out. GPS says we should arrive at our hotel in downtown Prague by 1pm, yea! About 40 minutes in, Dave is looking at the documents from Hertz and we discover that our car cannot go to Czech. Or Hungary. Or Croatia. Or Italy. Whiskey Tango Foxtrot. A call to Hertz to confirm and we turn around. After several hours of traffic (that wasn’t there before) and waiting for Hertz to find and re-contract a car for us and we have not even left Munich yet by the time we were supposed to arrive in Prague. Ugh. The people from Hertz were VERY helpful and it all worked out just fine, but ugh. Why in the heck didn’t any of my reservation speak to that issue? It’s about insurance. You can (obviously) address it, or I wouldn’t be in Prague right now, but couldn’t that wasted time have been avoided? We got our brand-new (less than 100 miles on it) Volvo XC-90 all packed and we’re off.

I used to live “over here” and never gave it a second thought driving around. I started my drive with the same attitude. But after driving 90 mph in the slow lane now, knowing what a piece of crap car I had when I lived here, I am amazed to not be dead. Americans hear of this magical “autobahn” in Germany and its lack of speed limits. Let me give some perspective for you. Autobahn simply translates to motor-way (like in the UK?), it’s the highway system, like our interstates. It’s not this magical racetrack-like thing, it’s the highway. It happens to be fast. FAST. In town, there are speed limits like everywhere else. Once you’re out of the city you are blessed with the “no more speed limit” sign and vrooooom, all cars are now in turbo mode. It is certainly more work to drive in that, but people here are far less dumb than the American drivers. It’s not personal when someone passes you, it’s just one car passing another car. The trucks all stick to their lane unless they are passing and they are so polite and only do it when they must. Before you change lanes, you must look twice or more in your mirror, do you see any fast moving lights back there? Look again. There is a bit of a rush when you know you’re already driving fast and someone flies past you in a super nice fancy car.

Crossing the border was nothing, it’s an open border. The driving did change drastically, suddenly speed limits and rule-followers.

Driving into the city was rough. I know that I am the hazard if I am driving some big city that I do not know and I try to avoid it when possible, that’s both US and abroad. Arriving for evening rush hour didn’t help things. I had to get to the hotel, could leave the car with the valet from there. Prague was definitely not built for cars, but it’s better than Rome for sure. Finally make it to the hotel and get checked in (thanks for the upgrade Starwood, it’s a great room). We’re here for a few days. Today is not a touristy day, it’s a work day. We do still have jobs and clients and stuff to get done. Vacation doesn’t happen until safari time in Africa.

We walked around the hotel a bit last night. Graffiti everywhere, people still smoking in most places. Old streets, cobblestones and uneven walkways and such. Great smells from the food. No beggars or homeless people (that I could see). The city is old, but not dirty. We stumbled upon “the cheapest restaurant in Prague” and had dinner there. It was so yummy. I had the chicken, Dave had a “hot plate”. His came on this cool old cast iron plate-like thing, the sauce was still boiling. His had several bites of different meats and a bit of a spicy kick. My chicken had the best flavor, I couldn’t tell you what it tasted like, but it was yummy for sure. Both our plates and our drinks (coke for him, big jug o’ beer for me) cost us $26.

I do plan to walk some more around here and the city center today. The street vendors have the most wonderful smelling and looking food, there’s these pastries that looks and smelled good, which I must try. And the fresh potato chips. And the ham cooked over the fire on the street. And….yea, I just ate breakfast and am now ready for lunch!