UK 2.0: Train - Vienna - Prague

The morning of 26 Nov was much colder than the days before. After using up all of today's heat yesterday, we were breathing clouds. The pigeons in Vienna Sudbahnhof train station puffed themselves into feathery balls as wait for the train to be made ready.

We were not seated in the cabins this time. This train was bound for a long long trip ahead. Its itinerary read like a light magazine. We would be off in Prague well before it had even completed a third of its epic trek across 3 countries, coming to rest finally in Hamburg in the wee hours of the following morning. Dresden and Berlin also numbered among those on the list. The cities it passed could be useful for a geography lesson of Germany.

Fresh out of Wien, we passed some snow white wind turbine that weren't spinning.

Mist began to crept in subtly upon us as we speed into the countryside. Slowly but surely, it engulfed the landscape in its ghostly grip.

Soon, we felt as though we have passed beyond the familiar fields we have only crossed 2 days before, into the a bygone era of witchcraft and enchantment.

Despite it being midday, the mist hung low and thick. Its impenetrable white shroud barely wane, even when we were well into the highland woods by mountain streams.

Glimmers of sunshine began to thrust through the moist cool air near the most mountainous part of the journey where we frequently weave in and out of tunnels and ducking under hills. (A suggestions to photographers traveling in this direction between Wien and Prague, if you can aim your camera towards the rear of the train, the instant it emerge from a tunnel in the hills tends to be the prettiest moment. Though I reacting a little too slow to catch a satisfactory picture.)

If the fog came like a thief, it departed as abrubtly as the snap of a finger. It was like waking up from a dream by having cold waters thrown at your face. The dream world seemed irreconcilable with the waking one. The moment we were out on the other side of the mountain, the sun smiled upon us generously.

By different cars we passed.

More farmlands and towns flickered by. (This one dedicated to all the 'Collins' of the world.) The afternoon sun was strong. Jackets were stowed and the blinds on the opposite windows were drawn.

A jet sketched the sky, foreshadowing the crisscrossing lines on the blue sky above Prague.

After a taxi ride through the rush hour traffic, we were ready to resume our adventures in the dying light.

UK 2.0: Train - Prague - Vienna

Early 24 Nov, we went to Nadrazi Holesovice Train Station north of the city to board a Eurocity train bound for Vienna. It was a four and a half hours journey with many spectacular sights both natural and men-made. The 6 person cabin was much more comfortable compared to the Eurostar I took between London and Paris.

The train began to pick up speed as we left Prague city center. The sun was gentle and warm colored as we left. Fields, woods, mountains, rivers, lakes, farmland, villages and cities, we passed all of them by.

This was at our first stop and I saw some Elefants. one speed by us in the opposite direction.

We did not make many stops and before long were full speed ahead.

Near the Eastern Bohemian city of Ústí nad Orlicí, we saw these colorful children skipping on the lane.

Slightly further, some on another train waved at us.

We traversed more agricultural plains and gentle wooded hills.

And then, we were in the mountains.

Approaching Brno, the large frontier city between Czech Republic and Austria.

Not too long after, we entered Austria. Some travelers in online forums had suggested observing the changes of houses' architectures between the border. One remarkable difference I can spot besides the change of language in the signage is the change of animals. No more rampaging blue elephants, now red weasels ran rampant.

Now in Austria, I also noticed a lot of these interesting pom-poms on the trees. I hadn't seen any of these back on the other side of the border. I'm not sure if these are natural leafs, bird nests or some parasites. These were not the last pom-poms I saw on the trip. Many grew in Vienna too.

We sally forth, witnessing gathering clouds and a storm in the distance.

The rain promised in the weather forecast never came to us. For that, I was very glad.

Although this was a long trip of swaying in the carriages and listening to the hypnotic and trance-like rumbles of a cross-country train, the thrills of possible interesting scenery kept my eyes wide open for most of the trip.