"The Charbor Chronicles": Five Unexpected Hours in the Czech Republic

Thursday, August 29, 2019

Five Unexpected Hours in the Czech Republic

So, we almost stumbled into the Czech Republic.

And allow me to admit that my initial reaction was mixed.

On the one hand, it was a surprising thrill to visit yet another new country.

But it also meant spending more money, and a surprisingly inconvenient and irritating

way to do that, to boot.

You see, to drive without penalty in European countries, you have to either register into the system, or purchase a vignette. Usually, they run from anywhere between 10 to 12 Euros.

I already made the mistake of forgetting about the vignettes when I had driven through Slovakia and Hungary earlier in the trip, and did not want to repeat the same mistake.

But they would only take cash. How are we supposed to pay cash when we literally just entered the country, unexpectedly in our case, and have none of the local currency?

They seemed neither troubled nor interested, and also not surprised by our dilemma, and subsequent confusion and unhappiness. They (yes, there were several places, each with identical cash only policies) kept telling us to go to the gas station further in the rest area. But they too were cash only.

While in Austria, I had gotten some Euros, but the minimum amount of withdrawal was 50 Euros! What if the minimum here was more or less the same? What would I do with the extra cash, especially since I assumed (mistakenly, as it turned out) that we would only be in the Czech Republic for a brief time.

Then, finally, I remembered the 50 Euros that I still had. They accepted Euros, and really, why shouldn't they?

So finally, I received the vignette. But we had wasted a lot of time at this border station.

30 Then, we were on our way.

Having seen so many signs for Brno, I decided that we should go see the city.

It was a brief visit, to be sure. But it was worth the very short diversion.

Why not, right?

Brno is a very lovely city. The old town retains a medieval splendor.

At least, I thought, we did not simply plow through the new country. We were still both explorers, after all? Why not take this as a special opportunity to visit something completely new to us both.

At the time, of course, I had not expected that we would be in the Czech Republic for nearly as long as we wound up being there for.

1 for 26th

My original expectations, once we actually entered the Czech Republic, was that it might be a bit like that slice of Delaware on I-95, between Washington and Philadelphia. You breeze through it and don't see really anything while there, before quickly crossing into another, larger state.

In fact, though, we wound up spending the better part of five hours in the Czech Republic.

41 As it turned out, we would see quite a few other things and places before leaving, to boot.

cont 'd on 26th

I decided that since we were already in the Czech Republic, and so close to Brno, we might as well go there and pay a visit. Then, we wound up getting hungry while back on the road, so I headed toward the downtown (Centrum) of a very charming and pretty little city called Prostejov, before I realized that I had not actually planned on visiting the Czech Republic, and so I could not use either my card, and had no local currency.

6 Eating, in other words, would have to wait until Poland.

35 on 26

This was the point where I began to feel really tired. It was probably a combination of things. Exhaustion from running around all over the past few days. The sun and the heat, which we could not seem to escape on this trip. The earlier frustrations with no Czech currency, and nothing to eat, and still a long way to go. And, of course, the two big traffic jams, both of which the GPS was unable to avoid, and which it rather drastically estimated as shorter in duration than they in fact wound up being.

44 on 26

Rather unexpectedly, and I might add, uncharacteristically, I began to want to get out of the Czech Republic. It had been fun and exciting at first, even after the initial frustrations with the vignette and the first traffic jam. In fact, I enjoyed Brno and Prostejov, as well as some of the other typically European villages we passed through. But once we got back on the highway, and then hit the second traffic jam, I began to grow sick and tired of the drive.

It is fairly rare, especially on this particular European trip, that I began to grow anxious and wanted simply to leave a place. But as I mentioned earlier, I had expected a short trip into the Czech Republic, similar to the stretch of I-95 that runs through Delaware. Maybe a quick visit to Brno, since we were going there anyway.

But the projected length of the trip back to Krakow from Bratislava was roughly 4 1/2 hours. We had been on the road for one hour by the time that we entered the Czech Republic, and it felt that the closer we should be getting to Krakow, the longer the estimated length of the trip was. By the time that we reached almost four hours, and still had the better part of an hour left before reaching Poland again, I was ready to leave.

Eventually, of course, we did leave. We reached the Polish border. Admittedly, I was happier than expected - much happier, frankly - to be back in Poland than I would have believed possible. On some level, I felt guilty. After all, the Czech Republic, even the tiny little bits that we saw, were charming and pretty. It was a privilege even to see that much, even though I have always wanted to visit this country, particularly the capital, Prague.

I am still glad that we got to see what we saw of that country. Someday, perhaps even someday fairly soon, I hope to return, especially if the opportunity to visit Prague finally arises. I do appreciate the day that we had, and will remember the few cities and villages that we passed through here fondly.

But for once, I was happy to leave a place, as well.