Boondoggling is a word I'd never heard before. It means to loiter, dally, horse around, dawdle, procrastinate and another word I've never heard of: Lollygag ... which sounds like an American invention.
Recently I found myself boondoggling and lollygagging in Decin with the intention of swimming in the town's excellent outdoor/indoor Aquapark, but as soon as I stepped off the train, the skies darkened and steady drizzle splattered the Labe valley all afternoon. Swim cancelled, so I went boondoggling around town.
Express trains to and from Prague come and go all day long, continuing to Dresden, Berlin, Hamburg, Kiel and Rumburk. Alighting on Platform 5/3 I watched a railwayman checking the tracks, wielding an iron wrench to tap on the rails ... and my thoughts went to infamous murderer, Jaroslava Fabianova who had worked this same job as a pointswoman at this very station and in her free time worked as a prostitute, using hammers and knives to murder four clients. She is currently serving a life sentence in Opava jail and for previous crimes she is also banned from visiting Prague ... hopefully Decin as well.
Recently I found myself boondoggling and lollygagging in Decin with the intention of swimming in the town's excellent outdoor/indoor Aquapark, but as soon as I stepped off the train, the skies darkened and steady drizzle splattered the Labe valley all afternoon. Swim cancelled, so I went boondoggling around town.
Express trains to and from Prague come and go all day long, continuing to Dresden, Berlin, Hamburg, Kiel and Rumburk. Alighting on Platform 5/3 I watched a railwayman checking the tracks, wielding an iron wrench to tap on the rails ... and my thoughts went to infamous murderer, Jaroslava Fabianova who had worked this same job as a pointswoman at this very station and in her free time worked as a prostitute, using hammers and knives to murder four clients. She is currently serving a life sentence in Opava jail and for previous crimes she is also banned from visiting Prague ... hopefully Decin as well.
Podmokly, or 'Swamps' in English, is the area around the railway station, while the older half of town sits across the bridge over the Labe river with its dominant castle that was occupied between 1945 and 1991 by Soviet troops. Today it has a distinctly Spanish vibe with its cloisters and sparkling fountains in shaded courtyards.
The faded art nouveau of Podmokly brings to mind Prague's Vinohrady district, especially if you've just arrived in Decin after an afternoon in Shotgun. One nightly wander while waiting for a train brought me into a secluded Podmokly square filled with police cars. A reefer dangled from my mouth and on making as casual an exit as possible I noticed there wasn't one cop in any of the cars and so I carried on as normal through deserted streets then home.
The faded art nouveau of Podmokly brings to mind Prague's Vinohrady district, especially if you've just arrived in Decin after an afternoon in Shotgun. One nightly wander while waiting for a train brought me into a secluded Podmokly square filled with police cars. A reefer dangled from my mouth and on making as casual an exit as possible I noticed there wasn't one cop in any of the cars and so I carried on as normal through deserted streets then home.