19th March – by train and bus to Innsbruck (eventually!)

Prague Hlavni Nadrazi – Tabor – Kaplice – Linz – Innsbruck

I had a lazy start to the day, with my train not due until 10:20. Breakfast was similar to yesterday (though with less cake!) I very much like this hotel and at the price I wouldn’t take a lot of persuading to come back.

After checking out I walked to the station. I was still early for my train and having seen a sign pointing to the “historical building of the station” decided to take a look. What a contrast from the modern and rather dull concourse. It’s a real shame that most passengers never get to see it, instead making their way to the platforms through a rather grim tunnel.

I found the first class carriage and sat down. There was only me and one other person in there, but as the train left Prague I was told by a staff member that I was actually sat in the restaurant and needed to move to the next carriage. This was marginally busier but I still got a table to myself.

About an hour into the journey, the train manager came through to tell everyone that part of our journey to Linz was going to be made by bus replacement. We pulled into Tabor station where three buses were waiting. One was going to an intermediate station and the other two to Kaplice where we would pick up a train to Linz.

Once we left the station it soon became apparent that both the railway and road which ran almost next to each other, were being upgraded. As we pulled off the dual carriageway at Kaplice, the road ran out and I saw on a map that the next section was not yet built.

We had a bit of a wait at Kaplice. There was a train there when we arrived but it turned out not to be ours. I stood in the sun, which was pleasantly warm, though the shade was distinctly chilly.

Back on the move towards Linz, we passed through some pleasant but unremarkable countryside. The windows on this train were filthy and I failed to get even one decent photo but could see road construction work going on beside the track for much of the journey.

When we arrived, I discovered that my next train was running 45 minutes late. Lots of trains were delayed and the station announcements blamed “international issues” for pretty much all of them, without being more specific. I picked up a sandwich and a cup of tea, and made a couple of work-related calls.

My train was 50 minutes late when it arrived. As we got underway the train manager apologised for the late running, again mentioning international delays. The windows on this train were cleaner and the countryside typically Austrian.

We passed through Salzburg, which I’d very much enjoyed visiting a couple of years ago and I saw the castle at a distance. The sun set soon afterwards.

Throughout this journey we’d been losing time. As we approached Innsbruck the displays showed we were now an hour and a half late. Our imminent arrival was announced, with the displays showing arrival in 2 minutes, but that suddenly jumped to being another 7 minutes.

We finally arrived an hour and 34 minutes behind schedule. I’d booked a hotel very close to the station, from the same chain as my two nights in Prague. I’ve passed through Innsbruck before, but never spent time here. I checked in, dropped my bags and set off to find food and explore a little. Before going out I took a long exposure photo out of my hotel room window which showed the mountains that surround the city, that were invisible to the naked eye.

The city was pleasant without being extraordinary. It was now getting on for 8pm and I felt that finding something to eat was my priority. The map on my phone suggested a number of places on the far side of the river that were open. The city centre seemed very quiet. There were a number of bars open as I walked through the city but nothing that looked terribly appealing. I took a few photos but would come back later for a second look.

I walked down the street after crossing the bridge over the river, but was not impressed the the look of any of the open places that I saw. There’s something off-putting about a restaurant that hasn’t got a single person in it at 8pm.

After wandering for a while I decided instead that I would go to a small pizza bar right by the bridge. I’d seen a few people go in and out as I’d been looking for something, so it felt like a decent option.

I placed an order at the counter and sat down. A few minutes after I’d arrived three young men came in, speaking English and placed their own order. I got chatting to one of them and they joined me at my table. My first impression that they were a group of Americans travelling together turned out to be wrong. They were all backpackers and had met in their hostel an hour earlier, and decided to come out to eat together.

We had a really good conversation about places that we’d all explored, and also about the state of the USA (they weren’t too impressed, which was reassuring!) I left as their food arrived, having eaten a really excellent pizza, that was very reasonably priced, so a quick shout out for Hagi’s Pizzeria.

Waling bck through the historic centre of the city I took a few more photos, but can’t say I was overly taken by the place. It was a a pleasant place to spend an evening, but I didn’t feel that I needed to return in the morning.