Getting to Brno

I hurried to eat my pasta at the Rome hostel so I could head to the metro station.  I took the train to the end of the line and then got a bus to go to the airport.  The airport Ryanair flies out of is the older, smaller airport.  Ryanair is a discount airline, without assigned seats.  So, everyone rushed to get in line to be first to board.  I alone just sat and waited, while everyone else stood for a 1/2 hour.  We had a small shuttle bus take us to the plane.  They started loading only the back entrance, but they opened up the front entrance at the end, so I was one of the first to go in there.  I got a window seat and fortunately no one sat in the middle, so I had plenty of room--all without having to worry about hurrying to get a place in line.  This is where my luck ended, though.  

We got to the Frankfurt Hahn airport around midnight.  I had reserved a hotel room near the airport.  Since I had to leave early (and it cost over $10) I didn't get the breakfast, but they billed me anyway and wouldn't let me cancel it when I checked in.  After packing things to get ready to go, I woke up at 5:30 a.m. Sunday morning.  I ate the breakfast--a European-style one with lunch meat and cheese.  So, even though there are signs against this, I paid for it, so I made myself some sandwiches to eat on the trains that day.  The bus to Frankfurt left at 6:15 and arrived at 8.  I got on a commuter train to go up to Marburg (an hour north) so I could pick up my luggage from Herrmanns and then took a train back to Frankfurt.  The train to Vienna left a little before noon.  The 7.5 hour trip was ok, although it was rainy part of the way, ruining the scenery.  Also, Europeans smell.  Really badly.  Badly enough that I want to gag every time I get on public transportation.  The guy next to me was no exception.  Fortunately, he got off soon.  

A view out the train window

I arrived at the Vienna west train station at 7:30 p.m., in plenty of time to catch my bus at 8:30, or so I thought.  The buses left from the airport so I had to take an 8:00 shuttle bus there for 6€ ($9).  The bus stopped at the south train station and reached the airport at 8:33, just in time to see the bus I needed take off.  It was the last bus of the night to go to Brno, so I started freaking out.  It was also pouring this entire time, to make matters worse.  I called the program director in Brno and asked what to do.  He said there was a train leaving from the west train station--the place I had just come from.  I didn't want to pay the 9 bucks again, so I begged the driver of the shuttle bus and showed him my receipt for the ride a half hour before.  We again stopped at the south train station on the way to the west station.  Once there, I did not see my train on the list of departures.  When I asked at the counter, I was told that train left from the south train station, where I had stopped at twice in the past 2 hours.  I was able to take a city tram there for 1.70€.  I finally got on the train about 10:30 p.m.  It was a leftover from the Soviet days.  Everything was in Russian.  There were reserved cabins, which all were empty, but locked.  If you didn't have a reservation, you got to stand in the hallway--which was 2.5 feet wide--for the entire hour-long trip.  So after standing forever, I got off at the first stop in the Czech Republic, Breclav.  I had been using my Austrian Eurail pass, which was okay in Austria, but not good in the CR.  No ticket places were open at 11:30 p.m. either.  Nothing was in English and there were some ticket kiosks, but only in Czech.  I knew what train to get on, however, so I did and hoped for the best.  This one looked more like a cattle trailer than a train. Same story with the standing in the hallway.  When a train official came by and asked for my ticket, I feigned frantic searching.  She asked what stop (I think) and I said that I was going to Brno, the first stop.  Since it was the first one, she let it pass.  I got to Brno about 12:40 a.m.  

Standing room only...or sitting room on suitcases

My train "seat"

The information I had about how to get to my dorm was for taking transportation during the day...only night trains were running at this time.  I asked a girl who appeared to be in college what I do and where I go.  She told me the tram to take and the stop for my dorm.  I went to the stop and didn't see anything remotely resembling a dorm.  No one was on the street to ask.  So I just sat with my suitcases and waited for anyone to walk by (at 1:30 am).  Eventually, a couple people came and told me how to get to the dorm.  It was a few blocks away and up a steep hill.  The front desk is open 24 hours/day, but the check-in person didn't speak English, so I had a hard time getting all the paperwork ready to move into my room.  I finally did and reached my room at about 2:30 am, where I found my roommate fast asleep.  No Internet meant I wasn't able to contact my parents to tell them I had arrived (4.5 hours late).  By this time, I was very happy to just go to bed, after having traveled all day and getting only a few hours of sleep the night before.