Journey troubles

I’m not ashamed to admit that I truly envy those people who go on a journey abroad without reading even a single bit of information about the customs in the country they’re heading to; who pack there bags 10 minutes before leaving home by simply picking a bunch of T-shirts and a toothbrush (if it) and go blindfolded sort of speak. Since I’ll be traveling on my own I can’t afford such an easy-going though very tempting approach. I’ll be out of the country for 6 days only visiting just 2 foreign cities. Nevertheless I started my research months ago by collecting numerous links to various web guides, printing and studying maps of those 2 cities, marking the routes to and from my hotels, taking notes on public transportation, lines I should use, tickets, fees, coins that I’ll need for buying tickets from ticket machines and in what currency etc etc etc.
On an official Bratislava guide I found a warning (in very big letters) regarding ticket inspectors:

(quote) “Ticket inspectors in Bratislava are ruthless towards tourists.”

(quote) “Ask your fellow passengers to help you if you are being treated rudely by the ticket inspectors or insist on calling the police or your consulate.”

(quote) “Don’t let the public transport ruin your experience in Bratislava!”

Wow! That sounds just like home!

It is somewhat exciting how all that frustrating to the point of intimidation informational mess transforms into organized and much less scary system of rules and requirements and I begin to see the cities as if I’m already there. When that actually happens I’ll be in panic of course but hopefully it won’t be anything that a good cappuccino and a cigarette can’t fix. Yet, I wish I wasn’t going alone. Well, next time…