Beginning my mini euro jaunt in Germany I stayed with a friend and her family in a place called Goldbach, for a couple of days.
I met Karina in San Fransisco in 2005, way back when my burgeoning travelling career first started and the backpacking bug caught me hard.
Fourteen years later and we’re still in touch. Hard to imagine that happening these days but our initial encounter came before the likes of Facebook and Insta made the world a smaller place. We had to communicate via email and the occasional letter, sending real life physical photos back and forth for years. Imagine that!
Anyway, catching up was great and I got to meet her two sons and partner. The kids loved me apparently, despite me having no idea what they were waffling on about. I just laughed, nodded, and said ja a lot. I think they found me amusing.
We joked that hopefully next time we meet I’d have a family of my own and a partner too. I laughed. On the outside.
This wasn’t where my journey officially began though. For once I’d left Karina’s and spent the night in Leipzig (and found a cheap desperados imitation – a tequila laced beer for 75c in Lidl) I had a four hour bus journey to Prague.
Now, my experiences with buses are extensive. Some have been good. Some have been bloody awful. Like that time I had to sleep next to a little Cambodian man on a bus from siem reap to kampot. Snuggled together like sardines in a teeny tiny cabin, backs to each other not moving for fear of disturbing the other. I don’t know who felt more awkward. Me or him.
I’ve also had the pleasure of travelling by Megabus on more than one delightful occasion.
While living in glasgow I’d use the Megabus to get to and from Preston cheaply and more easily than the train.
Many a time have I been stood on Preston bus station waiting for what seemed like an eternity, freezing my ass off, praying for the bus to turn up, which would usually be 35 minutes late, equipped with a blocked toilet, a stench worse than an over polluted sewer and the only seat left next to an overweight European who insisted on taking up the entire table with their bread, ham, and whatever other continental luxuries they liked to chow down on on a regular basis.
The journey would be sweaty, slow, and tiring.
The National Express isn’t much better either. Save for a little more comfort and punctuality, the British public transport institution would always, without fail, stop at all the little shitty towns along the way, making the journey windy, sickly, and longer than it would’ve taken had I just power walked my way to wherever I wanted to go.
I’ve heard the Megabus has since improved somewhat. Although I’ve not had the urge to use one for some years now. I don’t think I ever will again.
However, in Germany, the disappointment in public transport was not to be. We all know the Germans are renowned for their efficiency, punctuality, and cleanliness.
The Deutsche Bahn was something all countries should try and emulate with their public transport system – smooth, comfortable, on time. Enough to put Northern Fail to shame and make it look like a Vietnamese night train in comparison.
But forget the trains for now, I’d heard on the grapevine that Flix Bus was the way to travel across Europe. And being a Flix Bus virgin therefore, I had high expectations.
And what a treat I was in for. The bus arrived 15 minutes earlier than its departure time. And left Leipzig at exactly 7.05am. Well, I was flabbergasted. And…it was clean, air conditioned And had free WiFi!
As I settled in to my reclining seat, the Black Keys new album in my headphones, I had a decent feeling about the journey ahead.
Prague was my next stop, and where the real fun would begin. But for the time being, it wasn’t the destination that I was focused on, for that was never the exciting part; it was the anticipation of what lay ahead – it was the glory of the ride.
Chasing Amy-Lou 