WRITTEN TRANSCRIPTION OF THE PODCAST:

Hello and welcome to my podcast My Life and Other Funny Stories. My name is Dagmar Tomášková, I am an English tutor and I created this podcast for students at intermediate and upper intermediate levels who want to get better in their oral comprehension. As always you can find the transcription of this episode, comprehension quiz, and vocabulary list in the notes of the podcast.

Today I wanted to tell you a story about my holiday in Barcelona. But then I thought again and I realized that I have so many things that went wrong that probably just the first story that I will tell will be enough for one podcast, so I will record only the journey to the airport and then the rest of the holiday will be in the next podcast.

It is funny because I thought that I will run out of stories very soon after starting this podcast but then a new day comes and I have a new story. Hold on tight for this one and let’s go.

Some of you might know that I work with and for Eliška from Vyukaajonline. But because we are also good friends, we wanted to spend some time together and we planned a holiday in Barcelona.

We flew from Prague on Friday evening. The original plan was that we would meet at the train station in Prague and her husband would pick us up there and take us to the airport. But then this situation changed and Eliška when with her husband in their car from Pilsen – that is where they live. So I was supposed to meet them in Zličín. By that point, we realized that the train that I planned to go on, would be in Prague quite late and I didn’t want to be stressed so I bought a ticket for a bus that was supposed to be in Prague at 6 p.m.. Then I would go to Zličín and meet Eliška at 7 p.m., we would be at the airport at around 7:15 p.m. and have plenty of time before our plane would take off at 8:50 p.m.

Everything went well. I packed my back and I headed to the bus station. The bus was there on time so I sat down in my seat and sent a message to Eliška that everything is okay and I am on the bus and I am coming. Then I put my earphones in and I just listened to a podcast and I fell half asleep.

In ten minutes, the bus was on a highway and we were on our merry way to Prague. It was about an hour into the three-hour bus ride when the bus started shaking and woke me up from my nap. I thought that we drove onto some gravel – gravel is the collection of small stones on smaller roads. But then the bus just stopped. There wasn’t even the lane, the line of the highway, in which you can stop with your car, we were just standing in the right driving lane.

I looked around and everyone was confused. The driver opened the front door and went out. We were waiting for 5 minutes when finally he came back and said: „We have a flat tyre so we have to wait for another bus to come and take you“. At that point, I was speechless. Has it ever happened to you that a bus would get a flat tyre on a highway? I got a little nervous but still an hour delay was manageable. I called Eliška with this information. It was quite funny because at this point she was still at home and she was exercising on her trampoline. So she was jumping and saying: „No it’s fine everything will be okay don’t worry.“

But after about 15 minutes of waiting, the driver spoke to us again and said: „Okay so no bus is coming but a repair car and fix the tyre. It should take around an hour for them to get here and then they will repair the tyre for 30 minutes.“ Now, I got a full mental breakdown. It was quite comical because everyone around me was in no big rush so they were saying things like: „Haha that’s funny, but things happen, that’s life haha.“ And there I will sitting in my seat full-blown crying and panicking because I knew that there is no way I can catch the plane with two hours delay. And on top of that, no one could guarantee that it will be only hour and a half.

The driver opened the front door and some people went out, so I went outside as well. I wanted to see the tyre. I looked at the wheel and let me tell you, flat tyre is a bit of an understatement. The tyre looked like it exploded. It was in pieces. The front of the bus was laying on the ground. I realized that it could take even more time than 30 minutes just to repair this, and another feeling of panic went through my body. I sat down on the grass next to the highway and called Eliška again with this bad news. She was still quite relaxed but I think that she just didn’t want to panic because she wanted to calm me down. She said things such as: „It’s okay we can still try to catch the plane, and if we miss it, we miss it, it is fine“. When I realized that the holiday would be canceled, I got even sadder.

I was sitting on the side of the highway and there was no one I could call, no one who could help me and there was literally nothing I could do but wait. That means that the only thing I could do was wait.

But as I was on my call with Eliška, I saw a girl coming out of the bus with her backpack and her travel bag. She looked to the right and to the left and suddenly a car stopped in front of the bus and she went to the car. I said to myself: Oh my god, she is leaving.

I was still on the phone with Eliška so I told her: wait a second. And I sprinted towards the car. The girl already got in and they were ready to leave – her dad came to get her. I was running like I was in a race. Finally, I got to the car. I knocked on her window and she opened the door. Me being out of breath I asked her: „Where are you going?“ And she said: „to Liberec.“ Which was our next stop with the bus.

I asked her again: „Do you think I can find a bus from Liberec to Prague right now? I need to get to the airport“

And they said that it’s probable. I had to decide quickly: Will I wait here or will I go with them? I made my decision.

„Will you take me with you?“ I asked. And they said that they will.

So I ran back to the bus I took my backpack and I shouted at the driver: „Please can you open the space for the baggage? I need my bag!“ In total manic fashion.

I grabbed my things and I sprinted back to the car. The second I sat down, the car got going. I immediately started looking for my phone and in this panic, I couldn’t find it. I started freaking out again, I was afraid that I left it on the bus (to freak out = have an intense emotional reaction). I was saying: „I can’t find my phone, I can’t find my phone“. But thankfully it was just a state of panic, it was in my backpack.

With my hands shaking, I started looking for buses from Liberec to Prague – and I found one. It was Flixbus and it was leaving Liberec at 5:25pm. At this point, it was around 5 pm but we were only 10 minutes from Liberec, so I could make it. The dad and the girl dropped me off directly at the bus station. They were so nice.

So I was there and I was waiting for the bus. I was pacing there and back because I was so nervous. Thankfully it came on time and I was on my way from Liberec to Prague.

Honestly, I don’t even know how long the first bus stayed on the highway but I am pretty sure that if I had waited there, I would have missed the plane.

We got to Prague and 7 pm. I ran out of the bus and sprinted into the subway. Unfortunately, Florenc is being repaired right now, so the entrance to the subway is closed. Bad news for me because I had no idea how I could get there now, I only knew this one entrance. So I was running around trying to ask people and after three attempts, finally, one girl told me the direction to the subway.

I ran and ran and jumped on the subway. In the end, I got those Zličín at 7:45pm. Eliška and her husband were waiting for me there. I jumped into their car and we were off to the airport. And we got there!

It was stressful because the airport control went extremely slow as, of course, we were standing in a line that was not moving at all, while they checked like 50 people in the other line. We got to our gate at 8:20 pm which was the time that the gate was supposed to close. But the boarding hadn’t even started yet. We were happy, though, we made it!

I was really proud of myself that I gathered the courage to run towards the car and ask strangers to take me somewhere. Of course, I wouldn’t get into a car if they looked dangerous. But it was a girl of my age and her dad. I got lucky in an unlucky situation which I am grateful for.

And what about the flight?

Long story short, the flight was 50 minutes delayed, so maybe I would catch it if I stayed on the highway. But who knows?

I am glad that this story has a happy ending and we could have our holiday. There are many stories and f*** ups and I will talk about some of them next time.

Thank you so much for listening to this episode and don’t forget that you can find the transcription, vocabulary list, and comprehension quiz in the notes. Please please give this podcast a five stars rating on the platform that you are listening to this, since it’s the only way for me to get feedback and making these episodes takes me a lot of time.

That is all and I will see you next time, bye-bye.