Eastern Europe

I thought this deserved and dicussion of it's own.

In Prague the communism museum explained the hardship faced by the Czech and Eastern Europe people under communist rule. On the train out of Prague it was very obvious that Prague has not fully recovered.

On the train ride in it was easy to tell when Germany finished and Czech began. The scenery changed from flat to a beautiful valley, but also the buildings became more run down (away from the tourist areas that is) and the land around the was very squalid. The same could be said on way out of Prague, although it got progressively better in the rich farm lands and closer to Austria. Powerlines cross every which-way over Pragues farms - there is never a point on the train ride you can't see them. Along with that, you occasionally see tiny villages that look almost like shanty towns along the small rivers and train line.

It is amazing to see the effects of the socialist dictatorships that focused only on the power and primary industries. You can see that those industries are huge in the country, however a lot of people are still left in poverty because of it all. The amount of abandoned buildings and factories along the main train line is amazing.