Train whisle blowing.....

Where do i start! iám a bit battered and brused from train but iĺl explain my Saturday 20 May

Train 4,16 am Koblenz to Nurnberg arrive 8,24am
I get up at 2,30am as i´m stressed about getting bike up stairs in hotel. I do it and it doesn´t take long but i´m shaking like a leaf from the energy and effort both physical and mental to do it. Its a cold morning but not for me i get to station 1 hour early and i wait. Train is 15 minutes late... I don´t know where to stand on the platform and of course i´m in the wrong spot... i run to wagon 5 and the first words out of my mouth was SHIT when i see the two stairs up into the train... lucky for me the couple who just got off with bikes help me get patience on tain... i´m thinking i have to work on this problem of stairs and 50kg and me being a weakling...

everyone on train is sleeping and we don´t all wake for some time. i chat with a guy about the cycle trip he is doing. he helps me get my bike of train and tells me to use the lift to get off platform i have 20 minutes to get connecting train.

Train 8,43 am Nurnberg to Marktredwitz arrives 10,03 am
I should have taken the lift advice instead i use the down esclator from platform 9 only problem no up esclator - Now the only word is FUCK!... but after a bit of a panic a cleaner helps me take my bike up using the electric luggage belt... bloody wonderful... I run to train and no one to help me but i can do with determination. I unload 2 bags throw them into the train, nealz loosing 1 under the train. I then get the front of bike on to top stair and drag the rest of the bike into train. Again i´m buggered, shaking but verz happy i did it. I think no drama i can do this.

I chat to some English train drivers on holidays and they help unload bike at Marktredwitz

Train 11.10 am Marktredwitz to Cheb arrives 11.35 am
This was the easiest.. no stairs and i don't have to change platforms. Just get my bike into a train with no stairs. This is fine...then just as the train is ready to leave 4 other bike riders get their bikes on its very crowded...little did i know how important these guys would become...

Train 12.20 pm Cheb to Praha (Prague) arrive 15.45 pm
We all get off there is no information, no platform numbers, no train staff and yep no train... We have to catch a bus to the next station. Now this may sound simple, but 5 bikes with luggage have to be carried down a flight of stairs and back up. Then we have to load them into a bus that is like a bit CAT bus from Perth and go to wherever the next station is.... This would have been bloody hard on my own and was almost as hard even with the help of 4 German guys...

The bus drives for an hour and we stop at a station. Again we have to get 5 bikes down a flight of stairs and back up.... Then once on the station the bikes have to be loaded into a rail wagon...simple but this is over a metre above the ground. I half unload bike and the boys lift it in with their bikes. We are then told all bikes must be unloaded and put into the racks standing on their back wheels... I can't lift Patience onto hook so again I'm help... on top of this we have to pay 20 crown each to have bikes in wagon. I don't have any crown and again the boys pay and won't take any Euro from me....

We find some sets and just relax for the next 3 hours. For me the next stop is the end of trains for the boys they have 2 more trains to catch...

They help me get the bike off the train and unload luggage. I help as much as i can with their stuff. They have 20 minutes to catch their next train... we say goodbye and wish each other safe riding... I take my bike down a set of stairs and hope for no more

Accomodation
I didn't booking anywhere to stay.. so I'm walking around train station looking at all the info places that are closed thinking this might be a bad plan not knowing where to stay... I do have hostel book but no map. A lady (Alana) comes up to me and says she can help me find somewhere to stay I say i want hostel and she calls a friend. The place has a bed and its near station. I go with her. I get my bed for around 15 Euro a night. A couple of Americans tell me the place is good and its close to old Prague. I stay.

The hostel lady and Alana load me and my bike into the smallest lift in the world. Patience just fits with me also. My room has 3 bed but I'm the only one in it. Other guest have to walk through my room to get to theirs but its 3 girls from Brazil... and I'm too tired to care.

A couple of stressed calls to Ron and I then go for a walk I just have to get out. Its now about 5.30pm. Its raining but i don't care i'm soon enchanted by Prague... This place can calm any tired mind. I walk for 3 hours, eat and drink. I love the place already....