woke up, had breakfast, checked out of grand hotel praha
hotel transfer (18 EUR) to the train station with a nice guy who drove us in his high-end skoda octavia, leather seats, woo
then the train station
oh lordy.
we got there a bit early - 0930 for a 1024 train.
which was late
20 minutes late
then 40
then 50
then 80
then 110 minutes late
something about the turnaround train
but we got in at 1920
the train ride was nice enough, we hit up happy hour for some cheap cider’s after we got on the train, then a bit later hit the food carriage for some way-too-oily schnitzel and an OK rendering of beef (mince) goulash.
we saw a lot of the countryside - it seems most of poland burns their trash or something on a Saturday night, the amount of little fires was pretty spectacular.
panek car hire, ugh. we were supposed to be picking up the car at 1800, we were late. called to say this and they were supposed to call back, no callback. called again, got really vague directions about where to meet him - look for the panek sign in the carpark.
If you’re looking for the Panek car hire meeting zone in Kraków Główny railway station, go into the carpark, look for the open area to the north and then search for “PANEK S.A. Wypo…” - it’s in the middle of the rooftop carpark when you have the big red “Galeria Krakow” signs behind you.
The hire car guy turned up and gave me the keys, borrowed my pen (good thing I had one) and filled out about 10% of the rental contract. No condition report, no copies, took a deposit and didn’t get a signature. I took a lot of photos of the car to cover my ass for the scratches already on it, and any they’ll claim I put on. I guess you get what you pay for?
We found the hotel - the Hotel Kazimierz II - easily enough with the help of Google maps. It’s a nice enough building, with a big not-too-squishy bed, enough room for our stuff and a nicely appointed bathroom (no bath, just a shower). The water pressure is great and the temperature hot. The kettle is handy for the inevitable cups of tea. Sadly the wifi in room #3 sucks probably because the AP is up the front of the hotel - where it’s lovely and fast.
dinner was with uber eats because we were pretty over it by this point :) A burger place called Well Done - we’d have gone for more “Polish” food but by 9pm when we’d gotten into the room and settled, everything else was closed.
$40.38 AUD for dinner
1 Mozzarella Sticks with Sauce zł12.00 1 Gentleman zł26.00 American Fries zł4.00 Extra Beef XXL zł6.00
1 Cheese King burger - zł26.00 American Fries zł4.00
1 pancakes With Salt Caramel, Banana and Chocolate Nuts zł17.00
tasted a bit microwaved after being in a vacuum-sealed container and transported by scooter