Thanks lads!
Cowley, sunny and hot with the occasional mild breeze and the odd cloud here and there. Hit a high of around 31 degrees earlier, luckily I seem to have no sunburn! Due a thunderstorm or two tomorrow!
I will warn now that I have yet to confirm my reported winners are actually winners, you should see the list of trams I have to check off for sight, hundreds of notes made! No doubt some have repeated at least once, but I'll find out eventually!
15/08/2017 - And Now...The Continuation Of...Tech's World Frenzy, Day 2
0148 and I started typing up Day 2. What on Earth would I find to do at this time of day, I hear you ask. Well as sleep was avoiding me, and I believe that is more down to being hungry and having an uncomfortable bed than anything else, I had discovered tram routes 95 and 98 running through the night. What better way to fill time until the body would let me sleep? Well I'd have rather found some food, but this would do just fine. The lack of proper curtains, the net curtains used in my room [number 218 for the record - Ed] didn't help keep the light out which was frustrating. While I was initially pleased with my choice of hotel, I suddenly wasn't and all other attempts to get me to sleep had failed. This sort of thing happened on a mini London bash quite some time ago, so I had ended up on a Night Tube bash. The difference being I found food on that run eventually, would I this time? Read on to find out...
The 95 and 98 run on the same track as the 9 in this part of Prague towards the city centre. So first up was winner for everything 8361 on route 95 all the way to the end! It took a while to trace the route it takes, but after Lazarska it followed tram line 6 to Kubanske Namesti, then tram line 7 as far as Cernokostelecka and finally line 5 to the end of the line at Ustredni Dilny DP! At night, tram services are numbered 91 to 98, but don't ask me what covers what as the 95 took long enough to follow! Oh, and I discovered a night tram map on board after following it, d'oh! This tram, unlike the trams earlier, had plastic seats but was surprisingly comfortable. After a 49 minute journey it was onto winner for everything 8369 back into town, and by now I was certainly tired, having been awake for around 19 hours by now!
Lazarska is a bit of an interchange between Night Trams, and the drivers also take breaks here for a few minutes. Possibly worth noting...Pizza Da Pjetro got revisited for a slice of pizza for 40CZK, and a big hotdog was also sourced from nearby Vaclavskt Gril too for 70CZK. 110CZK [approximately £4.07 - Ed] well spent to feed an angry stomach! Winner for everything 8625 was next on Night Tram 98, which branches off at Olsanske namesti to Flora, then follows tram line 10 to Biskupcova and onto line 9 to winner shack Spojovaci, the end of the line. Ah stuff it, I might as well cover it before going to bed! Double winners for everything 8722+8720 turned up on the first run of the day at 0423 on line 11, which I took to winner shack Ohrada and back to base camp. I have to admit surprise at how well used the Night Trams all were!
At 0700 my alarm went off and I had had about 2.25 hours of heavy sleep. It was a gorgeous day, and as the forecast for Day 3 of my trip was looking slightly less promising I got up to get going. The coat could stay in the room, just as well as it was roasting already! Double winners for everything 8169+8170 produced on line 10 and I took them all the way from Biskupcova to winner shack Sidliste Repy. The amount of trams I was writing down was getting insane, and after a leg stretch at the terminus I ended up on line 9 as far as winner shack Hlavni nadrazi, so I could see the mainline station. Taking me there was one of the newer trams, winner for everything 9373. These are air-conditioned, have free WiFi, more up to date PIS and have plastic seats. I was amazed to find that they weren't as uncomfortable as I expected them to be!
I found a park here, and sat on the bench to continue the epic notebook update, as I had thankfully remember to put a pen in my pocket before leaving the room. The sheer number of trams noted was incredible, and I didn't note them all! After noting and photting some CD locos, 328 Class for anyone curious, and noting that the Regiojet looks well comfortable, I found a machine that does coffee for 12CZK. OK so it was a very small cup, but it was my first coffee of the day at 0945 and not too bad!
After also having a quick look at the historical building of the mainline station, I ended up choosing to do some Metro bashing on line C. Winner for everything 4121 took me to winner shack Ladvi where it terminated, and for a train built by Siemens they're actually not too bad. Onwards 4 minutes later I had winner for everything 4195 to winner shack and end of the line, Letnany. At least the time underground gave me time to update the trip report, which made it a much less daunting task for the evening!
4195 was soon back from its reversal, and I took it back to Ladvi as I was on a mission to get back on the trams. Not to mention back into the sunshine, and I had other things to attend to! These sets sound a bit like Thunderbird 1 on landing when they come to a stop, you have to sample these to understand the noise as it is very difficult to describe! 8488+8499 were double winners for everything to Sidliste Dablice, the eastern end of line 10 and soon it will be another line cleared, line 9 being the other. Line 17 is closed for engineering works at this end it seems, and route 24 is being diverted here too for the time being. Winner for everything 9150 took me back west to westbound-only winner shack Trebenicka, where I bailed for winner for everything 9061 on route 10 to Biskupcova. The reason for going there was, quite simply, to avoid the ching on railway facilities for a PNB! 9061 is one of the tram type fo have wooden seats, wow I was getting to sample a lot of the different sort Prague had to offer!
After a welcome short break, filling a bottle with water in the process as well as planning moves, I messed up and joined double winners 8542+8543 on route 9 not route 1 as planned! Bailed out at winner shack Olsanska, joining winner 9301 on route 26 all the way to the end at winner shack Nadrazi Hostivar. Double winners 8548+8549 take me back out 11 minutes later on route 22 to winner shack OC Hostivar, as I was in dire need of coffee so visited the shopping centre next door. I think it was Jinty cafe where I got my incredibly enjoyable 300ml coffee from for 55CZK, and it was incredibly hot so took until the city centre to be consumed! Back on the move with that coffee had me scoring 8556+8557 for the long trip to winner shack Prasky hrad, to visit the castle.
The Royal Gardens were most impressive, as was St Vinctus Cathedral on the grounds. The castle itself I was less pleased with, but then it was soon back on the trams, scoring double winners 7234+7235 to end of the line winner shack Kralovka. After waiting for what felt like an age, I joined double winners 7262+7122 for the tiny leap to winner shack Malovanka. A very short wait connected me onto double winners 8157+8158 to the end of the line winner shack Bila Hopa. Taking me back east were double winners 8333+8331 to winner shack Vozovna Stresovice. A wait that felt like an age in the 30+ degree weather produced double winners 9296 to winner shack Sidliste Petriny, the end of the line. 8695+8650 were double winners for the trek to winner shack Hradcanska.
Here I changed onto winner 9306 for the slow journey to winner shack Karlovy lazne. Yes it was finally time to walk Charles Bridge! I stopped off for an expensive but winner beer first, then I did the walk. Yes it's nice to do but it's nothing special. I sourced some winners beers from a mini mart afterwards, then trekked back. I've done it now and while it's sort of mandatory for first time visitors to Prague to do it, I would recommend hours on trams over it! Once back at the other side, I wanted more tram line coverage, so joined winner 9272 from winner shack Staromentska to winner shack Vyton where I was bored of the slow run and wanted to change for line 7. It's discovered it's not serving here, oh well back to the long run south then. I joined winner 9309 to discover it was terminating one stop away at winner shack Podolska vodarna.
Eventually I find my way onto winner 9214 and I took it all the way to winner shack at the technically end of the line Sidliste Modrany. I say technically as the line starts at Levskeho, but there is no terminating platform there so trams terminate at the stop before it. I make the walk just in time to join double winners 8482+8458 for the long run to Staromestska.
By now it had been over a mammoth 14 hours since my last food, so as I knew where I could get food I like I jumped on Metro line A. Winners 3195+3443+3276+3275+3192 took me one stop to Mustek, and I took the right exit this time to come out right by the tram stops at Vaclavske nemesti. I bought a large hot dog and a can of beer, not cheap at 120CZK but thoroughly worth it. I had a walk up Wenceles Square, which reminds you of your typical big city High Street, nothing fancy here. Then I found Vytopna, the world famous railway restaurant. For those unfamiliar, this place serves drinks by model railway! It's worth noting they charge a maintenance fee of 25CZK to enter, in a bid to cover maintenance costs. I scored two beers here, although if I'd realised where this place was I'd have got my food there, but I had forgot to check directions.
After two OK beers costing me 99CZK with the admission fee, and the waiters were unamused I didn't order food, I went to find the Old Town. Another tourist area which is OK but nothing super special. I eventually moved on and re-joined Metro line A at Staromestska, boarding winners 3356+3670+3666+3604+3343 to end of the line winner shack Depo Hostivar. A short walk occured to join tram line 5, and I was rewarded with double winners 8846+8847 to winner shack Solidarita. I then scored one of my beers from earlier, although horribly warm by now it was a score and helped boost my Beerspotting badge on Untappd! I had intended to join line 13 here, but line 7 annoyed me earlier so when the chance came up to score double winners 8446+8495 to get the line cleared I wasn't saying no! However, I later discovered what was going on earlier...
Line 7 is enduring alterations at the moment, and is partly diverted via line 22! Oh well, at least I know for 100% that the Prague tram network will not be cleared on this visit after all. Lots of fiddly curves and such like to do anyway, but I'll still make an effort to clear the outer reaches of the network as it is still good fun! Off I got at winner shack Radlicka, earning another step of my Beerspotting badge towards level 17, and joining winner 8347 to winner shack Andel for an interchange onto Metro. Once downstairs, now having had enough of trams for one day [seriously, the amount I had to check off was insane! - Ed] I was happy to join the hellfire Metro sets. Winners 3132+3239+3237+3217+3118 took me to the end of the line winner shack Zlicin. This was my first run on Metro line B, which uses the same monsters as line A. Jinonica is currently closed for works on the platforms, so there went my plan to clear all Metro shacks!
Still, it has been an enjoyable day in Prague. I had to be careful with money in Day 3 of the trip, as 1,300CZK was already down to 319CZK! I let the same set go back in a bid to score more, and while there was a place that did pizza slices at Zlicin there was none I like going, gutted! Winners 3341+3606+3607+3609+3349 soon rolled in to take me to Mustek, where my stomach would get some more food before retiring after a very long day on the bash. Considering how little sleep I had, combined with hardly any coffee all day, unheard of on a UK bash in the same circumstances, I reckon I did well. I've also decided, in a bid to make doing trip reports easier, not to detail what are winners for everything from now on, simply referring to them as winners. It's also worth noting that I was already looking forward to getting back to my own bed! Alas, that was still 4 days away!
After two slices of pizza, I joined winner 9365 back to base.
It's not always about rail miles 
Good point on the food stats, in terms of carbs I think it was actually quite reasonable. Fair whack of protein, not always a bad thing. Considering I'd had a toasted muffin, 3 chocolate digestives, that sandwich and the 2 pack of mini pork pies all day yesterday I think I did exceptionally to not eat more than that!
May God have mercy on me when I do watch it later...I still enjoy the majority of memories from that evening though, and we're doing a repeat of the evening in September and again in December. We may have killed karaoke in Hereford that night, but at least I had the round objects to get up there and do it unlike my other male norm mates!
