Shared Illusions

Traveling from Berlin to Prague on train 379 today. The ride is smooth and quiet. We are paralleling the Elbe which sits in a basin, land rising on either side of us, especially to the north\northeast. Homes hug the bit of property by the river and some climb the hillside. Old world buildings, or maybe just European style make them seem old world, jostle for position in limited space.

And just like that, the terrain changes. Cliffs are gone, hillsides not as steep remain. Now there is more room for grassy areas. This occured right around the time we left Germany and entered the Czech Republic. Geography is curious that way. Or maybe it just makes sense borderwise.

Have you ever been so tired that your phone fell out of your hand while you were researching something? Last night we discovered that the train from Budapest to Split, Croatia that we planned to take had disappeared from the schedule. Alternatives had to be arranged. But not right then. Or maybe we did decide. I’m all ferklumtenfugen after two overnight flights and wandering NYC after no sleep at all on that leg. 

As I had no photos from the train, I proffer this, a beer we shared on the train.

The four and a half hour train ride was soothing, relaxing, and passed by quickly. Prague is the most beautiful city I’ve been in ever. There’s a reason both Stalin and Hitler never gave orders to bomb it. If that doesn’t give you some sense of humanity in all the madness of the world, nothing will.

Here are some Prague photos:

And thus ends my first post of this trip. Unlike Charlie, I’m able to sleep, and looking forward to it right now.