After a wonderful stay in Munich, Germany, we were excited to journey by train to Prague in the Czech Republic. We arrived at the station and started to investigate the price of a ticket. The cashier told us the cost would be 150 euros per person. That was crazy! There had to be a cheaper price! My dad started talking to a local man, who informed him of a “Bohemian Ticket” that very few people knew about. The cost was only 30 euros and would get us all to Prague within a few short hours. That was the ticket we needed! As the train rolled into the station, we jumped on, found a cabin, and were on our way.

Our cabin friend

The train was very crowded. We searched for a car that we could have to ourselves, but all of them seemed to be filled with travelers. We decided to get into a car that already had someone in it. A young man was sitting quietly by himself by the window. We entered and said hello, but he just looked away and did not respond. We assumed the man did not speak English, so we got comfortable in our seats and didn’t pay much attention to him. Halfway through the ride, my brother and I had begun to sing Firework by Katy Perry. The man looked up, smiled, and asked in his funny accent, “Is that Katy Perry?” He could speak English!

After we had slept for a few hours and eaten our ham sandwiches, the tracks stopped rumbling. I looked out the window. We had stopped at a train station and I saw a sign that read Plzen Hlavni Nadrazi.  Three policie, dressed in all black uniforms, boarded the train.

Plzen Station

The policie arrived at our car and asked for our tickets. The conductor inspected our tickets when we got onto the train, so we didn’t understand what the problem was. The policie started to yell at us in a foreign language. We had no clue what they were saying, but the man next to us did. He quickly translated for us in English. “Your family needs additional tickets for your journey to Prague,” he said. “Hurry! Follow me!” Together, our dad and the man rushed to buy the tickets. Since the only place to buy them was in the train station, they had to hurry. The train was leaving in less than five minutes!

My brother and I anxiously stared out the window, as the policie continued to walk up and down the aisles. As the train started to move, we saw our dad and the man running on the platform. Like in an action movie, they jumped onto the train with only seconds to spare.

With the proper tickets in hand, he explained to us that the Bohemian ticket only brought us as far as the Plzen station. He paid 20 more euros for the additional ticket to get us all to Prague.

Thankfully, our new Bohemian friend had saved the day and our train ride to Prague proved to be a wild adventure. Next time, I’m in charge of the tickets!

Christian DeMichiel is a member of the Youth Travel Blogging Mentorship Program

All photos courtesy and copyright Christian DeMichiel