Prague

The bus ride from Cesky Krumlov to Prague (3 hours) was so luxurious! The bus company called Student Agency operates just like an airline in terms of service. Shortly after we were on the road, a bus attendant walked down the aisles handing out headsets and asked whether we wanted coffee or hot chocolate. They showed a Czech film which made the time pass so fast, especially reclined in a comfy leather seat…

Arriving in big city Prague after five nights in a quaint little city was a bit of a shock (in a good way though). By this time in my trip, I felt pretty comfortable dealing with the first day challenges of getting to know a new city. The weather was great and I had a map and a good guidebook, so I felt set. My hostel was in New Town and was so nice and modern. With 24 hour reception, laundry service, full restaurant and bar downstairs, internet cafe, comfortable beds with fluffy white duvets it felt just like a nice hotel.

Prague is a great city with a lot to see. Walking down the street in Old Town, it seems that everywhere you look, you see a beautiful building. In terms of the layout of the city, it reminded me of Budapest in that the city is divided by a river and several bridges run across connecting the two sides. The far side is quite hilly and is the castle district which when you are up there, you get a great view of Old and New Town.

During the peak summer months, there are an incredible amount of tourists visiting Prague. It is believed that the ratio of tourists to locals is close to 9 to 1. Wow! The good thing though is that the big tourist groups really just stuck to the main streets and the main attractions, and so by veering off even just a little bit took you to much calmer streets where you actually could walk on the sidewalk and hear yourself think.

I really enjoyed riding the tram in this city. One of the trams right outside the hostel would go right across town, over a bridge and up to the castle district (which was about a 30 minute ride). So I started off the first few days by hopping on and hopping off whenever I saw something along the way that I wanted to see. Kind of like my own tour bus. It was perfect. The metro was really efficient too, I just found that above ground transportation was more fun because it allowed you to see the city, and it was not like I was in any rush to get from place to place, so it worked out well.

The Czech language has a really sweet intonation. Again, Russian came in really handy for me. I was able to read signs and understand bits of people’s conversations (which is always fun). There were a lot of Russian tourists as well and I managed to help a group of older women buy metro tickets at the station. I think they were a little confused when an Indian girl in Czech Republic spoke Russian to them…!

I found that when you go to a cafe in Prague (and similarly in Vienna) it is totally normal to order a coffee and drink it but still be able to hang out for a long time after reading or simply just enjoying the atmosphere. You are not made to feel uncomfortable or obliged to keep on ordering anything. I went to a great cafe that made fresh desserts in house and had a list of dozens of fresh teas and gourmet coffees. It was such a nice place to hang out that I probably spent 3 hours there not even realising the time was passing.

There is a good amount of international cuisine as well. I tried a Mexican restaurant which was recommended by a friend and it was so delicious! I also went to a vegetarian restaurant that I had read about that serves fresh juices and organic meals. In a country that has such a heavy emphasis on meat, it is impressive that a vegetarian restaurant has been established and is committed to fresh organic foods. Hats off to them.

One day I took the tram to the base of the castle district and walked up the stairs that wind their way up to the top. There are a lot of stairs, but it is so worth it because at every landing interval, you can stop to appreciate the view develop. Prague is so picturesque! At one part near the top there is an open area where a lot of young guys come to skateboard. How cool is it that they get to hang out in the castle district with their friends practicing skateboarding tricks with a million dollar view of a beautiful city…

In every city that I visited, the first thing I did was get a map. When you unfold the map on day one, you start from scratch trying to get your bearings, and familiarizing yourself with the street names that are often hard to pronounce. More than likely you get lost on day one. Prague was especially confusing because all the streets curve and veer off. Trying to take a short cut usually meant taking a long cut or landed you full circle back where you started. Day two is usually more fun, although you still have to use your map a lot. Day three I find is the best where you feel a lot more comfortable getting around. By day four your map is most definitely ripping which is ok because you don’t really need it anymore, as you can walk around with a pretty good understanding of the city. I tried to spend at least four nights in every city because of this. I wanted to be able to feel like I actually got to know the city before I packed up and moved on to the next.

Next stop – London, and then onwards home!

LINK TO PHOTOS:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=146105&l=99ff7&id=748975520

Cesky Krumlov

I hopped on a shuttle bus that left from Vienna’s train station and 3 hours later, I arrived in Cesky Krumlov - a small city in the South Bohemian region of Czech Republic.

Cesky Krumlov was claimed in 1992 as a UNESCO World Heritage site and the city has since been completely restored. It is known for its castle and historic old town. For me, the unique part of this place was that it is built around the banks of the Vltava River which meanders through the town. Lots of little restaurants and cafes are right on the river bank and you can even rent inner tubes and float down the river… The cobblestone streets lead you to intimate cafes, and mysterious taverns that serve good hearty food. Most restaurants had big meaty dishes, but there was one vegetarian restaurant that kind of had an Indian flair to its dishes. I managed to find delicious dahl and masala chai there!

In the summer months Krumlov is totally overrun with tourists (lots of Japanese ones too) and it seemed like every single building that was not a restaurant was a hotel, apartment or hostel for rent. For the 5 nights that I was there, the whole city was completly booked up. The hostel that I stayed at was recommended by my cousin Emily, as she is good friends with the owner – and what a great recommendation!! The hostel only houses 26 people, and so it was really intimate and felt just like home. They had a full kitchen where people were always cooking meals, as well as a piano, guitars, book exchange, and a collection of good Czech films (with English subtitles).

I met a woman there from New York who had come specifically to Krumlov to do some research on Egon Schiele, a Viennese painter (1890-1918), who lived briefly in Krumlov in 1911. She is planning to write a play on his life, and Krumlov has a gallery with some of his artwork. A lot of Schiele’s artwork is at the Leopold museum in Vienna, that I unfortunately did not get a chance to see.

I am really glad that I had 5 nights there. For the first few the weather was really rainy and cold, which made it harder to be out and about to explore the town, but easier to duck into cafes and restaurants and share adventure stories with fellow travellers. A lot of people I met were doing similar if not longer trips than my two month trip. It turned out that we all had very similar itineraries. I did not manage to get to Poland, but I heard that Krakow is a wonderful city to visit.

For the last two days that I was there, the weather went back to being sunny and gorgeous. I did some great little hikes which was really refreshing. I am now in Prague, the capital city of this country and am enjoying the bustle of the big city all over again…

Can’t believe that in less than a week I will be back home in Vancouver!!  

LINK TO PHOTOS:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=144418&l=07646&id=748975520

Budapest

The capital city of Hungary is made up of Buda (on the West) and Pest (on the East), which became a single city through unification in 1873. The six or so bridges that cross the Danube make the two sides of the city easily connected. Buda is hilly and Pest is flat…

Budapest actually reminded in some ways of St. Petersburg, Russia in terms of the city vibe and the way it functions especially the metro with the super long and fast escalators. You see a lot of older people here too.

People were quite friendly – everytime we took out a map, someone or the other would stop to see if we needed any help. A lot of people speak English. I was not able to make sense of much Hungarian. A funny thing was that saying hello sounds something like saying SEE YA!

We ate some good food here in neat restaurants on side streets. Chicken paprika, Hungarian dumplings, beef stew, and lots of cool cucumber salads… There is a lot of International cuisine available too. We had a delicious Middle Eastern meal one night. One of the main streets called Andrassy is modeled after the Champs Elysees in Paris and has a lot of the high-end designer shops. Walking all the way down this street takes you to the Heroes Square and the City Park.

We spent the day on Saturday at the Szechenyi thermal baths. What a great experience! The baths are located in the middle of the City Park and are said to be one of the largest in Europe. The underground thermal springs serve over a dozen pools, some outdoors and some indoors. The water is thought to be medicinal as it contains calcium, magnesium, sodium sulphate, and fluoride. It has a slight sulphuric smell too. It was a rainy and windy day here in Budapest, so sitting outdoors in 38 degree water felt amazing. They had lots of saunas and steam baths as well.

Khang left today back to Vancouver, and now I have 16 days ahead of me before I too return home. I was hoping to go to Krakow, Poland, but after waiting in line for over an hour at the train station this morning, they said the train is fully booked. So I am heading back to Vienna as my next scheduled stop is Cesky Krumlov in Czech Republic. I have three nights to figure out where to go and what to do….!

LINK TO SOME PHOTOS:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=141355&l=1f38e&id=748975520

Bratislava

It was great taking the ferry to Bratislava from Vienna. The Danube river is the longest in the European Union (it originates in Germany and flows East until emptying in the Black Sea). The ride was a quick 1.25 hours and was very windy, but we still chose to sit outside to enjoy the view. Going on the river is also a good way to travel as it takes you from the centre of one city to the centre of the next.

Bratislava, the capital of Slovakia, is a pretty small city with a population of about 425,000. Most of the sights are concentrated in Old Town, which is where our hostel was. There are a lot of restaurants and cafes in the centre where it is pedestrian only, so it is nice to walk around. Novy Most is the new bridge that crosses the Danube and has a UFO like restaurant at the top of a viewing tower.

We took the bus over the bridge to venture into new town which had many Soviet building blocks, and ended up at this big mall complex called Au Park which had just about everything including movie theatre, gym, shopping, outdoor park, rock climbing…

Two nights in Bratislava seemed more than enough. It is more of a stopping place between cities. Good for couples to enjoy evenings of dining and strolls through the streets. It some ways it reminded us of being in the village in Whistler at home in BC…

LINK TO SOME PHOTOS:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=140332&l=b06a6&id=748975520

Discovering Vienna (Wien)

After being here for close to one week, I feel so comfortable and at ease navigtaing through this city. Everything feels so safe and it is very walkable. The underground train (Ubahn) is so easy and gets you across the city fast. I have a small German-English dictionary that is proving to be very useful. I find that most people speak English in stores and restaurants, but menus are almost always in German. Learning some basic words has been good, but when you want to get into any details, it helps to have a dictionary.  

Khang arrived on Friday night for a 9 day visit. It feels almost surreal to have a friend from home here after having been on my own for the past month. We have had a full last few days, trying to make the most everything. We of course found a local Vietnamese restaurant and had Pho! Over the weekend, we went to watch Die Fledermaus (an opera) which was really entertaining. We also made it to a concert with an ensemble of Strauss, Mozart, and Beethoven. Hearing classic tunes live, really made me  appreciate the talent behind the music. I love hearing the violin carry the melody in an orchestra.

Yesterday we were invited to a lake house for a swim. It was a great way to spend Sunday as in the city it was really hot, and as well, most stores/restaurants/museums are closed. The lake used to be an open-pit coal mine in the early 1900s. The water was cool and was a great change from the salty sea water. We went for a long swim, and then a paddle sitting on a surf board. Had lunch together and chatted…

 Off to Bratislava, Slovakia in the next few days!

Elaborate Elevator cage at the apartment

View from the apartment terrace

Frühstück (breakfast)

Museum Quartier

Stephansdom

Outdoor free concert

Architectural details

Natural History Museum

Kunsthistoriches Museum entrance

Inside the Kunsthistoriches Museum (main art museum)

Operette theatre

Pho!

Lake half an hour outside of Vienna

Fresh fish for lunch!