Kudowa-Zdrój to Opole

How can sitting on your butt all day be so exhausting? I swear we're more tired now than after our 10-hour hike. The trip is easy enough: bus to Kłodzko (10:20 to 11:25 (10 minutes late) 12 zł each, no luggage charge); hit the loo in the bus station (2 zł for stalls, 1.5 for those lucky enough to only want to stand up); 50 metres and up the stairs to the train station (Kłodzko Miasto); buy tickets through to Opole (26.69 zł for 177 km.); jump on the train at 11:48 for 3 minutes to Kłodzko Główny; walk over to the other platform along with a dozen Polish travelers as per the posted info; walk back to the original platform because that's where the train came in; leave at 12:05; get to Wrocław at 13:39; change platforms (btw, at the south end of the station, there are escalators); get on the waiting train leaving at 14:16 (and just as well we got on early as it fills up completely leaving stragglers standing); get to Opole at 15:13; walk to the Hotel Weneda (about 1km) and check in.

Shot from the bus window of the train viaduct between Kudowa Zdrój and Kłodzko

By 15:30, we're in our room overlooking a very busy noisy street. We knew this before-hand from the hotel's receptionist but we're prepared with our ear-plugs and eye-shades. The room's furnished by Italians who shopped at Leon's in 1960. There's even an analogue clock radio to accompany the flat-screen TV.

Tacky eh?

The room was probably quite nice long ago. But now, the edging is missing from the window sill, the lid on the garbage can is broken, there was an empty bottle on the desk when we arrived, the grout in the bathroom needs new grout, the toilet is badly stained, the bathroom mirror is broken, the sink plug doesn't work, etc. It's $56 a night including breakfast but after the last place, it's a disappointment. We've been in better hostels for less on this trip.

Around 17:30, we head out looking for dinner. The first couple of places don't seem to exist anymore (a common problem with TripAdvisor) so we head for Kim-Lan http://www.tripadvisor.ca/Restaurant_Review-g274776-d952793-Reviews-Kim_Lan_Restauracja_Orientalna-Opole_Opole_Province_Southern_Poland.html for a really decent meal. Clarisse ordered duck Saigon style (33 zł) and I had the Vietnamese fried trout (23 zł) and a plate of fried rice and vegetables (11.5 zł). Of course we split everything, With 3 glasses of wine and a 12% tip, it's an even 100 zł. Compared to the meal at the Czech place in Kudowa Zdrój, it's ten times better.