Some background music:
Picture this: Venice at sunset, night trains through Munich, thunderstorms on Vienna’s banks of the Danube river, and the castle spires of Prague framed against the grey expanse of a cloudy sky. I’ve been lucky with my journey through Europe, a lot more so than I really deserve. Using Eurail passes and hopping from city to city has been a pretty incredible experience for a restless, impatient traveller like myself.
Boating on the Danube.
Finding Magic abroad has been a bit more difficult. But this is, of course, my last report from Europe. On Monday, I fly home to Philadelphia, where I’ll attempt to find summer work and rejoin society until fall semester. Two weeks isn’t long, but stretched over four* countries and a lot of train rides, it feels a bit like a short lifetime. I’m not a very good traveler—too impulsive to plan ahead, but lacking the navigation skills to actually wing it in a new city. And everything from finding a train station to grocery shopping becomes something of an adventure.
*Five, if you count the two hours wandering the streets of Budapest.
After Venice, we arrived in Munich. My search for foreign Magic cards took me to a small gaming shop outside of a small U-Bahn station. The owner was pretty intent on selling me used Nintendo DS games. And after trying to explain to concept of trading cards using expressive hand gestures, I figured I was out of luck and moved on.
Three streets down, I found this neat nerd culture emporium. Some things—namely My Little Pony plush toys and Doctor Who t-shirts—are universal, I guess. I hoped that, tucked among the shelves, there would be a few $3.99 (or four Euro) packs of cardboard. Again, I was looking in the wrong place.
In the right place, however, for a really good cappuccino.
The next day, we took an early train to Vienna, Austria. Our apartment was tucked in a small artsy neighborhood, with an artisanal coffee shop every other block, on both sides of the street. Kind of how I imagine the more hipster-y areas of Brooklyn.
After skirting past an indoor zoo, we found a real live gaming store, the first (and probably only) of my trip. But it was a Sunday and like half of the city’s businesses, this one was also closed. We didn’t have enough time to swing back the next day, and another chance was lost.
So close.
Several days later, we departed for Prague, our second-to-last stop. The city was universally acclaimed by my friends and other travelers, but I didn’t really know what to expect. We explored Charles Bridge, walked around the Old Town Square, and bought one of those cinnamon sugar encrusted baked pastries that are cooked by slowly rotating them over hot ashes. The weather was grey and rainy, and I lacked the foresight to pack for those conditions. But aside from the bitingly low temperatures and the probable flu I’m developing, I think it added a lot to the city’s ambiance.
I don’t really remember what this was called, but it was pretty delicious.
Next week marks my glorious return to semi-competitive (not really) Magic. And for all the fun traveling has been, this Hipster is kinda looking forward to coming home and cracking a few packs with friends. Or at least sleeping on a real bed.
Scrub Report is a column about learning Limited, but occasionally deviates into constructed formats, travel, and food pictures. Follow Tony’s travels at tonymei.com.