Come on Bohemuan Rhapsody

Sunday 30th November 2025

Frankfurt to Prague

What’s the use of another 600 alarm when you are suffering jet lag and have already laid awake for 3 hours?

With an early train it was up and down for a hearty breakfast before heading to the station in 3 degree temperature to get more clarification on the second leg of our trip to Prague. 

Crowd was a little thinner and clarification non existent with office opening at 900. So it was cross your fingers whether our seat reservation counted.

Onboard the first train to Regensburg with only a few companions, mainly American tourists, we were thankfully in our rightfully allocated seats.

Not a lot to see early on other than copious forests and then it was open fields with no animals, but plenty of snow covered solar panels sitting adjacent to the fields- pumping out how who knows how much energy, while the wood fuelled fires kept people warm.

The route was dotted with a myriad of quaint villages tucked into hillsides and also many along the river banks. 

We passed through a couple of major cities, including Nuremberg where we visit after our Scandinavian tour.

First leg of journey finished at Regensberg which is situated at the very top end of the Danube where it converges with two other rivers..

With a 50 minute wait we got out of the cold onto a platform swarming with spectators of the local football team, most with a beer in hand which seems a pretty common trait over here.

Managed to find out there are no reserved seats on the next train- it’s a free for all. Invariably it was a waste of energy worrying as for the next 4 hours we had a 6 berth cabin to ourselves. The only ordeal was lifting 18kg into the overhead luggage racks – will nee to do some gym work when I get home.

To our surprise the train backtracked for about 30 minutes giving us a review of the scenery before heading east and eventually crossing into Czechia.

Train journeys certainly provide more than just scenery, people jumping off at stations for a smoke and restocking beer supplies, forlorn travellers running along the platform to just miss the train and an incessant desire by guards to have tickets checked, with 5 separate visits in our journey.

The countryside was mostly farming and small villages with the larger towns having a strong industrial flavour. One Pilsen had a real  flavour bent being the origin of pilsner beer,  particularly  the Urquell brand which was created by Josef Groll in 1842 and  it still remains one of the major brewers in Central Europe.

The paucity of animals continued with about 6 horses and either 2 goats or large dogs the only sightings.

After nearly 4 hours rural turned into suburbia and we were soon hauling suitcases through Prague’s railway terminal which was heaving with travellers.

A decision to walk the 1.5 kms to our accommodation near the riverin the  dark at 500pm turned out to be a little ill- conceived,  as the cobblestone paths and roads are not made for wheeled suitcases.

Vasco took on the navigation role as we wend our way through town on what was an adventurous route through main streets, shopping arcades, small Xmas Markets and dingy lanes often frequented by homeless people – the constant click clacking of our wheels introducing our arrival.

Finally reached our hotel which was situated in a palatial old building owned by the Malvaze brewing family famous for their dark beer. It still brewed beer on site.

Our two 18kg bags which we had hauled along,  were no challenge for the porter who plucked them off the floor and made light work of the stairs to our room. The room was lovely and Jane was delighted with the Loccataine bathroom offerings.

Couldn’tlet  the jet lag or fact it was only 530pm have us laying around so we tidied up and headed downstairs for dinner. Valuable lesson learned at our first sitting – you don’t need a Starter because the main could feed a small village in Africa. The food servings were matched by the beer with the stein of pilsner weighing almost as much as a suitcase.

We waddled our way out into the streets and headed for the main Xmas Market. The streets were alive with people celebrating the first day of the festive season, albeit a day early.

The Cathedral which created the backdrop for the market square was bathed in light and had a Disneyland affect to it. Being just before 700pm there was a huge crowd gathered below the astrological, or probably better named the astronomical clock for its array of features, waiting for the parade of characters which appear on the hour. 

The locals and tourists were out in their thousands enjoying a fabulous array of food and mainly mulled wine. Trinket sellers were also doing a great trade, as were the restaurants that surrounded the square.

The centrepiece of the Marker was a huge Xmas tree whose lights are turned on and off hourly to give everyone that wow factor.

With such a huge weekend crowd we decided a weeknight visit might give us a better opportunity to see things in more detail so we headed home for what would be another fitful nights sleep.

one interesting shop on way home may have enhanced our euphoria but we declined.