Just a wee notette to round up my rovings in Eastern Europe. Currently I'm sat in an internet café in Berlin, having spent the past couple of days here arranging accommodation for my semester at Humboldt-Universität, starting the end of this month. I got here Sunday afternoon after 14 hours' train journey, and it's been fairly hectic since. Thankfully everything's pretty much sorted now, and I fly back to England tomorrow.
Though it's been shorter than originally intended, I've really enjoyed my backpacking around Europe. I've seen lots of new things and learned a lot, and it's been a whole new style of living. I've enjoyed seeing a different city nearly every day - there are some places I'd have like to have spent more time in, but now I know that I can perhaps come back some time in the future. Certainly I'd like to see more of Slovenia, Slovakia and Croatia, and probably spend some more time in Cesky Krumlov too. I've had a great time, meeting loads of new people while at the same time getting a certain sense of independence and personal achievement you can probably only get from travelling alone. Now it's time to get back to the grind and organise things for what should be a busy semester in Berlin - I'm expecting it to be a bit heavier on the workload than Sweden was, so it'll take a bit of getting used to! All the same, I'm really looking forward to it. Berlin seems like a lively place, I'm sure there'll be plenty here and in the rest of the German-speaking lands to keep me occupied for a few months...
Bis bald! Ian
Tuesday, March 13, 2007
Slovenia - Ljubljana - 9th-10th March
And so my trip draws to an end...Friday morning myself and my Brazilian Bud Des left our hostel in Zagreb and hopped on a train across the border to Ljubljana, Slovenia. As the ticket inspector entered our booth, I realised with a tinge of sorrow that this would be the last time I was to use my interrail card...Yes, my month in Eastern (mainly) Europe was up, and due to a slight change of plan, Slovenia was to be my last official holiday stop before I got back to business with arranging the final leg of my year out in Berlin.
As soon as we crossed the border, the views from the train were amazing. I was only a wee bairn last time I was in Slovenia, but I could see why I remember liking it. The weather was radically more clement than it had been in Croatia, and the whole mountain-and-lakes (and rivers, and other green and blue things) scenery was amazing, even more so than it had been in Slovakia. I really love this kind of environment, it's just a shame that travelling by train doesn't afford one the luxury of actually being in it that much. Maybe sometime I'll go to some of these places again with a more flexible form of transport...
Anyway, we arrived in Ljubljana at midday, and as Des was catching the late night train out again, we pretty much immediately set about seeing the place. After visiting my hostel and discovering no staff around, we shouldered our backpacks again and wandered off (with an Aussie we found knocking around - there's always one, even when there's no staff!) up the big hill with the castle on it in the middle of the city. Not really a clever move considering the weather, but after backpacking for a while these things tend to become irrelevant. It's a relatively nice castle, offering good views over the city, though we opted out of going up the tower as they wanted to rob us of 3 Euro for the pleasure.
After this, and a spot of lunch, we finally got to dump our bags and went off to investigate Tivoli Park. Now, being as we'd been somewhat lax in our preparations for touristing the city, we were rather hoping to find another castle with dragons there, and spent a good part of the afternoon searching to that end. It was only after we'd got lost a couple of times, and asked for directions a few more, that we realised 2 things:
As soon as we crossed the border, the views from the train were amazing. I was only a wee bairn last time I was in Slovenia, but I could see why I remember liking it. The weather was radically more clement than it had been in Croatia, and the whole mountain-and-lakes (and rivers, and other green and blue things) scenery was amazing, even more so than it had been in Slovakia. I really love this kind of environment, it's just a shame that travelling by train doesn't afford one the luxury of actually being in it that much. Maybe sometime I'll go to some of these places again with a more flexible form of transport...
Anyway, we arrived in Ljubljana at midday, and as Des was catching the late night train out again, we pretty much immediately set about seeing the place. After visiting my hostel and discovering no staff around, we shouldered our backpacks again and wandered off (with an Aussie we found knocking around - there's always one, even when there's no staff!) up the big hill with the castle on it in the middle of the city. Not really a clever move considering the weather, but after backpacking for a while these things tend to become irrelevant. It's a relatively nice castle, offering good views over the city, though we opted out of going up the tower as they wanted to rob us of 3 Euro for the pleasure.
After this, and a spot of lunch, we finally got to dump our bags and went off to investigate Tivoli Park. Now, being as we'd been somewhat lax in our preparations for touristing the city, we were rather hoping to find another castle with dragons there, and spent a good part of the afternoon searching to that end. It was only after we'd got lost a couple of times, and asked for directions a few more, that we realised 2 things:
- There aren't any real castles in the park. Just a couple of mansions.
- The dragons aren't in front of a castle. They're guarding a bridge in the city centre.
You can't keep a good backpacker down, so we just took these things in our stride and strode to the aforementioned bridge, where we were happy indeed to find the dragons we had long searched for. 
Quite impressive dragons they are too, though they didn't breathe fire. Well, not in public, anyway. We even waited a while to make sure, but when they still refused, we wandered off to explore a little more, eventually finding our way to a little pub with its own microbrewery (that is to say, home-made beer). We sampled said beer, and found it to be good. Then went back to the hostel, satisfied with our findings for the day.
The next day was Saturday, and the town being quite small and the weather not being museum-y, I opted to make the most of the landscape again and go for a wander in the woods behind Tivoli. This was most pleasant and relaxing, and a rather nice way to spend the last morning of my holiday, I think. In the afternoon I took my rovings back to the old town to capture a few more photos and souvenirs, before finally saying goodbye to "the East" and hopping on a night train to München...
Saturday, March 10, 2007
Croatia - Zagreb - 7th-8th March
Funnily, for somewhere relatively close to the border, trains out of Pecs in the direction of Croatia are few and far between, and this resulted in me having to check out of my hotel at 6:30 AM for a 7 o clock train. I wasn't too happy about this, and became even less so when i discovered that my connection point, Gyékényes, is absolutely in the middle of nowhere. Literally, the station is all there is. This didn't bode well for my 3 hour wait for my connection to Zagreb, but I dealt with it. I was, however, rather amazed at the amount of times that morning I had to produce my passport - border guards at the station,on the platform, on the train (twice), ticket people, customs officers and police all wanted me to prove I was a person. I know Croatia's not in the EU, but that was a bit over the top!
Anyway, I made it to Zagreb by about 130, and I have to say, I was pleasantly surprised - it's a really nice little city, very modern and cosmopolitan, and not at all "edgy", as some people had suggested it might be. My hostel, Fulir Hostel, was also very small and cool :) All good so far...until the weather came in. But bad weather simply means an inside tourist mode, and luckily Zagreb is well-equipped for such things. After a small lunch wander, I spent most of the afternoon in the Zagreb City History Museum, a fascinating place covering the history of Yagreb and Croatia from it's very beginnings up to the present day. It's actually based on the site of a series of small walls (a golden archaelogical find!) from the Roman times, which you can walk through on the ground floor.
The next day was unfortunately also grim, but I stubbornly refused to let this get me down, and managed to get through 2 walking tours of the city in just one morning. Zagreb really is a nice little place, and I think at some point in the future I'd like to go back again and do more of Croatia. Later on I found my way to the Naive Art Museum, something apparently unique to Zagreb. I'm not a big fan of art things, but this one was different - naive art is essentially made by artists with little or no actual training, which doesn't make it bad, but means it's quite different to conventional stuff, and thus really quite interesting! Certainly made for a different kind of day, and a nice change.
Anyway, I made it to Zagreb by about 130, and I have to say, I was pleasantly surprised - it's a really nice little city, very modern and cosmopolitan, and not at all "edgy", as some people had suggested it might be. My hostel, Fulir Hostel, was also very small and cool :) All good so far...until the weather came in. But bad weather simply means an inside tourist mode, and luckily Zagreb is well-equipped for such things. After a small lunch wander, I spent most of the afternoon in the Zagreb City History Museum, a fascinating place covering the history of Yagreb and Croatia from it's very beginnings up to the present day. It's actually based on the site of a series of small walls (a golden archaelogical find!) from the Roman times, which you can walk through on the ground floor.
The next day was unfortunately also grim, but I stubbornly refused to let this get me down, and managed to get through 2 walking tours of the city in just one morning. Zagreb really is a nice little place, and I think at some point in the future I'd like to go back again and do more of Croatia. Later on I found my way to the Naive Art Museum, something apparently unique to Zagreb. I'm not a big fan of art things, but this one was different - naive art is essentially made by artists with little or no actual training, which doesn't make it bad, but means it's quite different to conventional stuff, and thus really quite interesting! Certainly made for a different kind of day, and a nice change.
Thursday, March 08, 2007
Pécs - 5th-6th March
As it wasn't until midday that I left Budapest, I only arrived in Pécs (pronounced "Paych") late afternoonish, so after relaxing at my hotel (oooh, upmarket) I had a small wander round the town and a bite to eat. It's a nice little place, maybe about the size of Västeras, and I was also treated to some kind of local celebration in the square - lots of flag--waving, anthem-singing and poetry-reading...though I'm not sure quite why, as it was all in Magyar! Very entertaining nonetheless.
The next day I had intended to visit the Roman tombs in the city, a UNESCO world heritage site, but unfortunately found them closed for preservation work. I was able to look through the glass floors at them though, they did seem quite cool...Anyway, Pécs is a city full of history, so there was still plenty for me to do. My wanderings took me first up a little hill just outside the city to the Garden of Ruins, a nice little place similar to the Chinese Gardens up Rivington Pike, for those of you that know them. Again, lovely weather, so nice views, and it was generally nice to feel out of the city a bit more. Later on I extended my wanderings to the roman walls around the city, before settling down to watch the champions' league in my hotel room. All in all a nice couple of days, very relaxing after the Bustle of Budapest.
Budapest - 3rd-4th March
My Saturday began with one of the more interesting train journeys I've experienced on this trip. Whilst tucking into my breakfast of 2 giant pretzels and 2 bananas (eaten pretzel-banana-pretzel-banana, of course), I was amused to be instructed by the English-language welcoming announcement to "Look after my luggage and values" whilst on the train. I was also slightly bemused as to why they felt the need to add fade-out music to the end of the announcement. Funny people, the Magyars.
I arrived in Budapest around lunchtime, morals and luggage intact, and took what turned out to be a 45-minute hike to my hostel. In the rain. Must have been quite a sight when I finally got there, as the receptionist took a good 2-second gawp break before welcoming me! After drying off a bit, it soon became apparent that the weather wasn't going to give up, so I eventually decided to brave it again to check out the attractions of the Pest side of the city (for those who don't know, Budapest has 2 sides, appropriately enough named Buda and Pest, which are divided by the mighty Danube river). It was quite a pleasant little walk, despite the weather, which took me down to heroes' square, which is full of arches and statues, and the park behind it, which has an island with a nice little castle on it. A good afternoon's work, I felt!
That evening was relatively quiet, just went out to check out a few a few bars with a kiwi guy from the hostel, but there was one event of note in the form of a chap in the street with flyers. Budapest is full of these types, and during the day I'd perfected the art of brushing them off with a few sentences of Swedish (let's face it, no one speaks Swedish, really!). This one chap, however, had the perfect response. The conversation went something like this...
- "Hello gentlemen. {Insert name of strip club here} tonight? Beautiful girls, cheap drinks...
-"Jag talar ingen Engelska, talar du Svenska?"
-{Confused pause as we begin to walk off} "What? No, it is not a gay club, unfortunately"
This left us pretty much lost for words, so we left it there.
The next morning, I rose late to a lovely day, which fitted in perfectly with my plans to wander over to Buda. This side of town consists of lots of big hills, a rather impressive palace and a little stone-walled citadel. Lots of statues and impressive architecture, and some amazing voes, both from the bridge and up the hill. The Danube really is a big river! I was also amazed by the size of the city...it was quite intimidating really! I'm not a big city person, though it has to be said I did rather enjoy my time in Budapest. All the same, I was glad to make my way out of there to somewhere quieter the next day...
I arrived in Budapest around lunchtime, morals and luggage intact, and took what turned out to be a 45-minute hike to my hostel. In the rain. Must have been quite a sight when I finally got there, as the receptionist took a good 2-second gawp break before welcoming me! After drying off a bit, it soon became apparent that the weather wasn't going to give up, so I eventually decided to brave it again to check out the attractions of the Pest side of the city (for those who don't know, Budapest has 2 sides, appropriately enough named Buda and Pest, which are divided by the mighty Danube river). It was quite a pleasant little walk, despite the weather, which took me down to heroes' square, which is full of arches and statues, and the park behind it, which has an island with a nice little castle on it. A good afternoon's work, I felt!
That evening was relatively quiet, just went out to check out a few a few bars with a kiwi guy from the hostel, but there was one event of note in the form of a chap in the street with flyers. Budapest is full of these types, and during the day I'd perfected the art of brushing them off with a few sentences of Swedish (let's face it, no one speaks Swedish, really!). This one chap, however, had the perfect response. The conversation went something like this...
- "Hello gentlemen. {Insert name of strip club here} tonight? Beautiful girls, cheap drinks...
-"Jag talar ingen Engelska, talar du Svenska?"
-{Confused pause as we begin to walk off} "What? No, it is not a gay club, unfortunately"
This left us pretty much lost for words, so we left it there.
The next morning, I rose late to a lovely day, which fitted in perfectly with my plans to wander over to Buda. This side of town consists of lots of big hills, a rather impressive palace and a little stone-walled citadel. Lots of statues and impressive architecture, and some amazing voes, both from the bridge and up the hill. The Danube really is a big river! I was also amazed by the size of the city...it was quite intimidating really! I'm not a big city person, though it has to be said I did rather enjoy my time in Budapest. All the same, I was glad to make my way out of there to somewhere quieter the next day...
Sunday, March 04, 2007
Hungary - Sopron (1st-2nd march)
Pinch, punch, first day of the month. And a new country to boot. After rising from my slumber in Vienna, I wolfed down one final Wurst before hopping on my train across the border to Hungary. Only 75 minutes away from Vienna, the lack of border patrols on the train actually half-fooled me into thinking that Sopron might still be in Hungary, until I was asked to produce my Ausweis before leaving the station. As it was, I found the proximity to Austria quite useful, as I soon discovered that it's not even necessary in most places to ask people if they speak German, the town being pretty much bilingual. Nontheless, Hungary felt immediately different to everywhere else I'd been - perhaps slightly more how "Eastern Europe" is commonly perceived, certainly there were more significantly run down parts of town, but there was something else as well, in the attitude of the people, the way things were done...after the comfort of Vienna, I guess it felt more like I was really on the road and exploring new things again. Savvy?
Anyway, after successfully navigating my way to the hostel, I took a wander into town. Sopron's another small-but-pretty place, though despite its lack of size, I noticed a few interesting and amusing things during my amble...
Anyway, after these revelations, I wandered back into the old town, where, despite many attractions not being accessible (they take the phrase "close season" quite literally in Hungary), I did manage to get into an interesting museum which took me through the colourful history of Sopron and hungary as a whole, from the bronze Age, through its time as a Roman fortress and the invasion of the Huns, right through to the present day. Being a bit of a history nerd at heart, I was quite happy to take advantage of the dismal weather to see this, and found it most entertaining and educational :)
For lunch I went to the oddly named Liszt Salon, which although it didn't offer me a short back and sides, did provide an ample toastie and a selection of over 100 teas. So after enjoying a pleasant Tibetan chap, I stepped outside to find the weather had brightened, and decided to extend my wanderings further. I didn't make it as far as the hill overlooking the town, though i did take in a bit of greenery before making my way to tea. On this particular night, this consisted of honey-glazed chicken, baked with camenbert and served with riced, salad and APPLE CROQUETTES. Funny little devices they were, it was similar in a way to the filling from an apple and cinnamon donut. Most cheering.
Anyway, after successfully navigating my way to the hostel, I took a wander into town. Sopron's another small-but-pretty place, though despite its lack of size, I noticed a few interesting and amusing things during my amble...
- In Hungary footpaths across train tracks seem to be the norm. This confused me immensely whilst trying to find my hostel, as I was trying to find a way around! D'oh...
- There was a dog that looked exactly like Dougill off The Magic Roundabout, only with black fur. This is the best dog in the world.
- While walking past a building site, I was amazed to see 8 people stood around it, seemingly being spectators to the work. I know it's a small town, but there must be better things to do!
Anyway, after these revelations, I wandered back into the old town, where, despite many attractions not being accessible (they take the phrase "close season" quite literally in Hungary), I did manage to get into an interesting museum which took me through the colourful history of Sopron and hungary as a whole, from the bronze Age, through its time as a Roman fortress and the invasion of the Huns, right through to the present day. Being a bit of a history nerd at heart, I was quite happy to take advantage of the dismal weather to see this, and found it most entertaining and educational :)
For lunch I went to the oddly named Liszt Salon, which although it didn't offer me a short back and sides, did provide an ample toastie and a selection of over 100 teas. So after enjoying a pleasant Tibetan chap, I stepped outside to find the weather had brightened, and decided to extend my wanderings further. I didn't make it as far as the hill overlooking the town, though i did take in a bit of greenery before making my way to tea. On this particular night, this consisted of honey-glazed chicken, baked with camenbert and served with riced, salad and APPLE CROQUETTES. Funny little devices they were, it was similar in a way to the filling from an apple and cinnamon donut. Most cheering.
Vienna, Austria - 26th Feb - 1st March
I left Cesky Krumlov by bus quite early in the morning, after a few hectic minutes in the tourist information office working out my best route out of the country, which I'd somehow forgotten to do beforehand. It ended up working like this: Bus to Ceske Budejovice; train to Linz, Austria then another train to Vienna Westbahnhof. From there, the route to my hostel was relatively simple, interrupted only by a obligatory consumption of a Schnitzel (it's a tradition, or an old charter, or something*). It being quite a nice hostel, and me being quite weary after a reasonably complex journey, I was happy just to freshen up and chill out a bit for a few hours before doing anything else. Eventually, as is the norm, I managed to develop a few friends and we headed out to the "Bermuda Triangle", one of Vienna's most famous bar areas, where we proceeded to sample a few local beverages at a leisurely rate, before finding a completely different route back to the hostel to the one we arrived by.
The next morning started quite slowly, and as I had no real plans, I decided to tag along with the 3 American girls from my dorm for the day. The day panned out thus: a visit to the modern art museum (which is made entirely of hardened lava), some rather extravagant (and equally expensive) cake in the famous Cafe Demel, a stroll to the town hall square, where all kinds of stalls were situated in the manner of a fair, and finally a visit to Castle Belvedere, where there was more art. I'm not really an arty person, but I was quite happy to take it all in, and some of it was actualy quite good :) That night was a laid-back affair, consisting of pizza, guitars and good conversation, followed by a good healthy sleep.
By Wednesday morning, the girls had departed for Zurich, so I was very much left to entertain myself again. To this end, I took a long walk to the outskirts of town and the former Imperial Palace of the Hapsburg Family - Schloss Schönbrunn. Having done a minor project on this in University, I found the Grand Tour I took (entirely in German! :D) very interesting, and was also quite amazed by the size and grandeur of the place. The history's also quite intriguing, and I recommend this to anyone who's not done it.
Upon exiting the palace and entering the gardens, I found myself faced with 2 options: catch the tube back into town and spend the afternoon there, or go to the Zoo. Guess where I ended up? In my defence, Tiergarten Schönbrunn is just as steeped in history as the palace itself, and it was a lovely day... Anyway, I had a great time, laughing at the lemurs, taunting the tigers and observing the ocelots. Actually, I didn't see any of those animals, but I was rather pleased about meeting the meerkats, who were huddling under a lamp for warmth, bless them! I was also a big fan of the South-east asian otters, who squeaked at me, the magical rainforest bats (I forget their actual name) and of course, the red pandas - an animal I've always wanted to see. They're great! Pictures of all of the above will be forthcoming upon my return to the UK..
Once I was finally finished pandering (no pun intended) to my inner child, I opted to go back into town anyway to experience the Naschmarkt. It was at roughly this point that the heavens opened, and I got more or less soaked. I did however, manage to acquire some South Tirolean smoked cheese and an assortment of olives before hopping on the tube back the the hostel to get dry. I then basically spent my evening in the common room, nibbling periodicaly on the above. Lovely!
*Copyright Robert Rankin, sometime, probably
The next morning started quite slowly, and as I had no real plans, I decided to tag along with the 3 American girls from my dorm for the day. The day panned out thus: a visit to the modern art museum (which is made entirely of hardened lava), some rather extravagant (and equally expensive) cake in the famous Cafe Demel, a stroll to the town hall square, where all kinds of stalls were situated in the manner of a fair, and finally a visit to Castle Belvedere, where there was more art. I'm not really an arty person, but I was quite happy to take it all in, and some of it was actualy quite good :) That night was a laid-back affair, consisting of pizza, guitars and good conversation, followed by a good healthy sleep.
By Wednesday morning, the girls had departed for Zurich, so I was very much left to entertain myself again. To this end, I took a long walk to the outskirts of town and the former Imperial Palace of the Hapsburg Family - Schloss Schönbrunn. Having done a minor project on this in University, I found the Grand Tour I took (entirely in German! :D) very interesting, and was also quite amazed by the size and grandeur of the place. The history's also quite intriguing, and I recommend this to anyone who's not done it.
Upon exiting the palace and entering the gardens, I found myself faced with 2 options: catch the tube back into town and spend the afternoon there, or go to the Zoo. Guess where I ended up? In my defence, Tiergarten Schönbrunn is just as steeped in history as the palace itself, and it was a lovely day... Anyway, I had a great time, laughing at the lemurs, taunting the tigers and observing the ocelots. Actually, I didn't see any of those animals, but I was rather pleased about meeting the meerkats, who were huddling under a lamp for warmth, bless them! I was also a big fan of the South-east asian otters, who squeaked at me, the magical rainforest bats (I forget their actual name) and of course, the red pandas - an animal I've always wanted to see. They're great! Pictures of all of the above will be forthcoming upon my return to the UK..
Once I was finally finished pandering (no pun intended) to my inner child, I opted to go back into town anyway to experience the Naschmarkt. It was at roughly this point that the heavens opened, and I got more or less soaked. I did however, manage to acquire some South Tirolean smoked cheese and an assortment of olives before hopping on the tube back the the hostel to get dry. I then basically spent my evening in the common room, nibbling periodicaly on the above. Lovely!
*Copyright Robert Rankin, sometime, probably
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)
