TRAINS BACK TO SANITY

The waterfront in Gdansk

The two days in Torun were plenty for me. Hopes that this small, normally pleasant, town would be a place to relax were of course dashed by the presence of the so called football supporters. I tried an evening wander around the town but that was not a good move as it coincided with the end of whatever game they'd been watching on mega LCD screens, sending me straight back to the hostel. The Irish contingent who returned in the early hours seemed bent on having a fight amongst themselves before they could settle down into an alcohol induced coma. 
When I returned here in Plzen yesterday evening I thought I'd take a look at the news, and not a pretty sight. Poznan was one of my stops on the way to Wroclaw and there on the internet I saw the nasty scenes taking place in the historic centre. Hundreds of Croation fans were attacking a small group of police while they were trying to arrest one of the fans. It struck me as funny to see a lone green clad Irish supporter escaping from the turmoil and holding his arms up in surrender, implying that all that aggression was not of his making. 

The Irish off to Poznan from Torun station

Wroclaw was showing all the signs of being in the grip of this insanity so it was just as well that I managed to cancel the second night there. And so it was that yesterday morning I was on my way back to the comparative peace of the Czech Republic. 

Wroclaw station has been having a revamp. When I was there a year ago it was almost impossible to find the temporary booking hall at the back of the station.

The orange reflective clad students, wearing Union Jack badges are there to help the passengers.

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So thats the end of a rather ill timed trip which makes me think I should take more notice of what is going on in the world of football. There were 5 trains in all from Wroclaw to Plzen. It went amazingly smoothly with waits of no longer than 15 minutes between trains. Home in 8 hours. 

Heading to the Czech border

How about Warsaw tonight? No? Dont blame you.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-18409776

Cheers D