【Aikido × Travel】Enjoying an Aikido Seminar and Dojo Visits in Prague, Czech Republic – 03
Despite the long 13 hour flight from Taipei to Vienna, I was lucky enough to have an entire row of four seats to myself. Thanks to that, the fear and stress from the monsoon turbulence were greatly reduced, and the journey turned out to be far more comfortable than I had expected.
Although our arrival was delayed by an hour, I had booked the train to Prague with plenty of time to spare, so there was no need to rush. After completing immigration, I headed toward Vienna Central Station.
I had downloaded the Austrian railway OBB app beforehand, but since it was only a few stops, I thought buying a ticket from the machine would be easier.
However, the ticket machine refused to read my credit card, and even the 20 euro bill I inserted kept coming back out. I asked someone nearby if they could exchange money, but that didn’t work either. When I moved to the next machine, it finally accepted my credit card.
It was now 8:57 a.m. The train I planned to take was scheduled to depart at 9:02, but there were no signs or announcements showing the platform.
When I asked people around me, they all said “they weren’t locals and didn’t know.” I went down to one platform and asked again, but no one had an answer. Before I knew it, 9:02 had already passed.
On another platform, I spotted the woman I had met earlier at the ticket machine. When I asked her, she said, “Ask my husband,” so I approached him—and to my surprise, they were heading to the same destination. Just like that, we naturally formed a little team.
While comparing information from our phones and the station signs, a station cleaner walked toward us. I gathered my courage and asked:
“Which platform does the train to Vienna Central Station leave from?”
“From here,” he replied.
It was exactly the answer I had been hoping for, and I couldn’t help but say, “Thank you!”
He added, “Get off at the next station,” reminding me how important it is to simply ask when in doubt.
Online information showed a 9:33 departure from the same platform, and an AI chat confirmed the same, so we were confident we were in the right place.
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Once things had calmed down, we introduced ourselves.
They were a French Canadian couple who had been traveling the world since retiring.
They told me they had visited Japan before and that it was “one of their favorite countries.” Hearing that made me so happy that I gave them some matcha chocolates I had brought from Japan.
This time, they were planning to travel around Europe by train.
“That means the same thing will probably happen again,” Mike joked, and we all laughed together.
We eventually boarded the train and arrived at Vienna Central Station.
Their train was scheduled for a few hours later, while ours would depart in 40 minutes, so we said goodbye on the platform. Having companions during such an uncertain moment was incredibly reassuring.
Inside the station, our train information still wasn’t displayed on the board. Wanting some fresh air away from the crowds, we stepped outside to find a modern cityscape—completely different from the old town scenery one might imagine when thinking of Vienna.
After a while, we checked the board again and learned that our train would be delayed by about 50 minutes.
We found a delicious looking bakery and bought lunch, then discovered that the Czech private railway company RejioJet had an office inside the station. When we went to confirm the schedule, we found a waiting lounge exclusively for RejioJet passengers.
At the entrance, two people were struggling to enter with their mobile tickets. I tried using my printed ticket, and the door opened—so I waved them in with a friendly “Come on!”
The lounge had tables, chairs, and a free coffee machine. All the seats were taken, so we sat on our suitcases while enjoying coffee.
Once a train departed and seats opened up, we moved and relaxed until our train finally left—one hour behind schedule.
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The train was full, but thankfully no one was sitting in our reserved seats. The students in front of us were noisy, but we were simply relieved to be on board. After four and a half hours of rocking along the tracks, we would arrive in Prague.
Our tickets were supposed to include water and coffee, but only water was handed out.
Later, we learned that even the free coffee had to be ordered through the app or the seat back screen.
Since we hadn’t downloaded the app, we tried ordering from the screen—but it didn’t work. The entertainment system didn’t function either.
Experiences like this remind me how different things can be from Japan, and how travel teaches you the art of letting go.
To avoid getting overwhelmed by the chaos inside the train, I focused on the scenery outside the window.
It was interesting to see how Austria had many charming houses with triangular roofs, while the landscape changed dramatically once we entered the Czech Republic—wide open plains stretching to the horizon, filled with grasslands and farmland.
However, the towns had a lot of graffiti, which bothered Mike every time he saw it.
Despite the noisy ride, we arrived safely in Prague.
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