Sleeper train ride to Brussels 2009

Time to unpack the luggage!

Nicole, Nikkiy and I traveled by sleeper train to Brussels from Prague.  Jason didn't purchase a ticket to Brussels before he left the United States, so he ended up taking a shady Greyhound-type bus from Prague to Brussels.  That is a conversation for another time. I'm just glad him and his stinky socks made it to Brussels.

As you know from my last post, it's now time to drag Nikkiy's luggage in the reverse direction on the stupid subway to the train station.  But that's really not the worst part of this story.

Looking down from the top bunk.

Once we get to our compartment, we are escorted to our bunks by our steward/butler (honestly, I don't know what to call that dude) who showed us how to turn our chairs into beds and how to go about storing our luggage.  Here we go again.

Nikkiy's bags din't fit in the storage, and the steward/butler couldn't store them anywhere for us, so the only alternative was to empty the stupid bag of the things she needed and shove the empty suitcase to the side for the night.  That smile you see on Nikkiys face in the picture to the right.....I'm almost certain it's fake! ;-)

Prague, Czech Republic 2009

Who decided to bring all this luggage?

Nicole, Nikkiy and I took the train from Berlin to Prague.  Nicole and I have always traveled rather light, and Nikkiy travels light now, however this wasn't always the case.  Sorry Nikkiy!  I have to share the suitcase story to set the tone for this story.

After our train arrived in Prague, we decided that the subway was the best and easiest way into the city.  Prague's subway system is a little older than most subways, and poor Nikkiy had two rather large bags and her purse. The subway platform we needed was on the third level down from the street and there were no elevators or escalators.  Do the math!  This subway decision got ugly quick. When we finally got on the subway, we had to make a train transfer halfway to the city which required more stairs! 

Finally in Prague...waiting for a drink!

We finally arrived in Old Town Prague, and hauled Nikkiy's luggage up to the street level, where we learned that all of the streets were cobblestone.  Now, Nikkiy was already at the point that she wanted to kill Nicole and I for the whole subway decision, so you can imagine how excited she was to haul two bags and a purse around on these old cobblestone streets. Looking back now, a cab ride probably would have been the smart decision at this point, but who wants to see such a beautiful city from a cab.  Nicole and I talked Nikkiy into walking to our hotel.  Little did she know that we would get lost on the way!