Saturday May 7th: The alarm went off at 4:00. Our flight was at 6:20. I hadn't slept much during the night. My clothes were set out and I'd done most my packing the night before so at least it didn't take me long to get ready to go. I decided against wearing contacts because I hoped to get some sleep on the planes. We had 3 flights to take: Berlin to Amsterdam, Amsterdam to Portland, and Portland to Eugene.
The first shuttle to the airport was leaving at 4:45. By the time we got outside it was 4:30 and there was already a line waiting for the driver to arrive. I hadn't counted on that. We counted back and we were 9 and 10 in line. I knew the van only held 7 passengers. We'd wouldn't be the first ones there. Kat was getting nervous and we considered calling a cab, but it really was a very short distance to the airport and we had our tickets and didn't need to check the stupid rolling bag anymore so I was betting we'd be fine.
The driver arrived in a taxi at 4:45 on the nose and started loading luggage and people onboard. As predicted we didn't make the first group, but he returned in 10 minutes for us. We got to the airport by 5:00, found our terminal and started through security. Kat seemed to breeze right through, but I was having more difficulties. I kept fumbling and dropping things and generally making everything harder than it needed to be. I blame it on being tired.
I finally got myself put together enough to get through security and on to our gate. I thought I might have some time to blog, but it was already time to board. Our breakfasts consisted of whatever snacks we had left in our snack bags and a weird cheese sandwich we were given. The flight went by quickly enough, I may have even nodded off for part of it, and soon we were in Amsterdam.
In Amsterdam we needed to print our boarding passes for the rest of the journey. We found a transfer terminal soon enough and managed to get our tickets without any problems. However, since our next flight would be with Delta and going to America we had to start the crazy security gauntlet. Our gate was listed as D1, but it was more of a mock gate. It was just a boxed off room which served as the first passport check and interrogation. When we came out the other side we were told our true gate was D7. To get there we had to go through security again, which I wasn't looking forward to given my lack of coordination up to this point. I think it was here that the elastic of my money-belt started to unravel and catch on things.
I got through though and we found our gate and sat down for a few minutes. We even had time to go get a drink and a pastry from the nearby Starbucks and I was able to make a quick update to the blog, but the wifi was too slow to get any pictures uploaded. Before long it was boarding time.
The plane was similar to the one we'd come over on, with the touchscreens on the back of the headrests. I was hoping that no one would be tapping the back of my head this time, and luckily it turned out that the seat behind me was empty. Kat and I decided to watch the Revenant together along the way. It got to the brutal bear attack scene and I was completely engrossed so I didn't notice when right next to me Kat was starting to have a fainting epsiode. I eventually turned and looked to see her starting to slump over toward me. I caught her and held her for a moment as she twitched briefly and then started coming to again. I was pretty freaked out by it, but she seemed to recover okay even if she was freaked out by it too. The intensity of the scene had triggered something in her and she started feeling like she was going to throw up and her vision blurred and she couldn't really talk or get my attention very well. This kind of thing has happened before and she never knows what will trigger it. It seems related to low blood pressure and can sometimes happen when she stands up too fast. She'll start to get dizzy and then grab onto something, usually me, to steady herself until her head stops spinning and her vision returns and she can talk again.
We took a break from the movie, had a little something to eat and drink, and tried to calm down for a bit. We did eventually get back to the movie though and the rest of it wasn't so intense. It's a good movie and I recommend it, just watch it while laying down or something. Later we watched some more movies on our own, but nothing too intense. I watched some Bollywood melodramatic 3 hour epic with English sub-titles. After enduring that the 9 hour flight seemed to go by relatively quickly.
We were given customs forms to fill out on the plane before we landed. I had to estimate the value of our fashion scarves and the little piece of art we had brought back from Europe. When we got off the plane and were herded through the customs line, yelling at us all to turn off all our scary electronic devices again, they took the form and threw it away without looking at it and instead directed us to these fancy new automated customs machines. You had to scan your passport and get your picture taken again, oh and you were told you couldn't wear glasses or hats so of course I was blind and couldn't see the buttons on the screen. What a hassle. So you take the receipt it prints out with your new pic and go stand in another line to have somebody look at both pictures and you and see if you're the same person. This guy had me take my glasses off again just for giggles. After that they direct you to another line to have someone else do the passport check again and interrogate you. After all that they didn't even want to know how much my fashion scarves cost. Welcome home, jerk.
I think there was one more security check after that where I had to unlock my bags, get out my laptop, take off my shoes and belt, empty my pockets, and get scanned and patted down all over again. Once I'd got myself finally put back together again we went in search of our final gate. Before that though I had one last chance to convert all my leftover euros, forints, crowns, and zloty. We found a currency exchange booth that was still open and got that all taken care of. We had just about a half hour to wait for our next flight.
As we were boarding and finding our seats on the plane I heard someone ask, "How was your trip to Europe?" I looked up and didn't recognize the guy at first and instead of asking "How did you know we just got back from Europe?" all that came out of my sluggish brain was "What?" He repeated himself and the voice was familiar so it finally dawned on me it was Jared. We hadn't seen Jared in ages and he looked completely different. Plus there was no way we expected him to be on our plane sitting in the seat behind us. Once I recovered and we greeted each other properly we chatted for most of the flight home. He was flying out to load up some stuff that was stored in Eugene and U-Haul it back to Reno the same day. He hadn't expected to see anyone, let alone us. It was a nice, but far too short reunion. If I had only been more alert and not so strung out after a full day of travel I'd have been able to give him my full attention and made more of it. As it was we said our goodbyes when we reached the ground in Eugene and parted ways with a hug and a promise to see each other again sometime.
Kat had organized a cab for us and it pulled up just as we stepped out into the parking lot. A few moments later we were finally home. The lawn was wild and overgrown, but otherwise everything looked to be in order. In fact when we got inside we found that our house-sitters had left the place cleaner than when we turned it over to them. The cats eventually all came out from hiding and we had a nice reunion with them before they all went back to pretending nothing had happened and that they hadn't missed us at all. I threw my things down and promptly went to sleep for the next 12 hours.
That finally brings us up to date. Today was spent catching up on laundry, bills, voting, booking a flight out to South Carolina in two weeks, and wrapping up my blog. I don't know when are where we'll go next, but I could sure use a break from vacation for now.
Sunday, May 08, 2016
Last Day in Ljubljana and Last Night in Berlin
Friday May 6th: On our last day in Ljubljana we put on our least smelly clothes and packed all of our bags yet again before heading down for breakfast. There we saw our buddy again and he thanked us for the travel tip because he had had a really nice time at Lake Bled. We shared our great experience in Piran with him and then said our goodbyes, but then awkwardly ran into him again minutes later as we were all checking-out at the same time.
Our flight to Berlin wasn't until 18:20 that evening so we had lots of time to burn in Ljubljana. We stashed our big packs at the B&B and went for one more walk around town. We just needed to be at the bus station by 15:10 in order to get a ride to the airport which was an hour away.
We started off with walking the markets again. It being Friday and having the nicest weather yet the markets were packed with stands and people. It was the busiest we'd seen them since we'd been there. There we so many food stalls and most of them were very fancy. It seemed every major hotel and high class restaurant in town had a stall set up, plus some fancy bars were serving up cocktails as well. We wanted to eat and drink all the things, but first we needed to earn our calories.
Retracing our steps we found ourselves back in Tivoli Park. We'd barely started exploring it the other day and decided it would be a good place to fritter away the hours until we could justify eating again. Starting at the grand Tivoli Palace we followed some paths off into the woods and started climbing some hills. Soon we had both soaked our clothes with sweat. The city map we had didn't show this part of the park so we weren't exactly sure how far these trails went or where they would take us. Occasionally we'd find trail maps, but it's hard to judge the distance on them. Regardlessly, we got lost a few times and soon our feet were aching and we were ready to eat again, but we still had to find our way back.
Along the way we managed to stumble upon a ski-jump center which was shut down for the off-season. It looked like a professional setup, making me wonder how the Slovenians do in the Winter Olympics (I looked it up, and they've gotten 15 medals in skiing and snowboarding related events). Later we ran into more wild herds of school children swarming over what I figured must be an old fire watch tower. When the kids finally left we got a chance to check it out. It was eerie and cool all at the same time. I couldn't find a way to climb up it though, but that's probably a good thing because it looked like it was about to collapse.
After the tower we found another trail map and got back on track. By the time we got back to old town we were ready to sit down for a beer and a solid meal. We decided on Paninoteka right near Cobblers' Bridge which was one of the places on my list. They served up delicious burgers, fries, and beers and we even managed to avoid smokers for the most part. We were joined by some friendly little birds while we sat outside and ate.
Burgers weren't enough and we needed another gelato fix. We felt like we'd earned them though after all that hiking. There were many gelato stands to pick from back in the old town market. Kat got a scoop of mint chocolate chip and I had nutella flavor. We nibbled on gelato as we wandered old town once more, always finding new things to look at.
Then it was back to the B&B for our bags and then off to the bus station once again. A little over an hour later we were at the airport and going through security. I'd figured since it was just a small flight from Ljubljana to Berlin that security would be a breeze, but I came off as not being very prepared as I kept dropping and forgetting things. I had to go through the scanner twice because I'd forgotten about my money-belt which still had leftover zloty, crown, and forint coins in it. At least the Slovenian security folks were nice. We had about an hour before the plane boarded so we grabbed a soft drink and sat for a bit while I blogged on the slow but free wifi. I was struck by the gorgeous views of the woods and the mountains from the airport. Slovenia really is a remarkably beautiful place.
It was a quick flight to Berlin's Tegel airport where we planned to print our boarding passed for the next day's flight. Although still early it was fairly dead at the terminals and we had trouble finding our check-in counter for KLM airlines. After walking all around the airport we finally asked the info desk and they directed us to terminal D which was in a separate building we hadn't checked yet. It was also empty, but at least there were self-service kiosks where we could print our boarding passes. We could only get our passes to Amsterdam so it looked like we were going to have to go through the same process again when we got there.
Boarding passes in hand, we returned to the info desk, requested a shuttle to our hotel, and I grabbed two day passes for public transportation just in case we wanted to go into town for dinner that evening. On the way to the hotel we chatted with the English bloke who had been waiting in the shuttle for me while I was getting the bus passes. He warmed up a bit and he seemed genuinely interested in hearing about our travels.
At the hotel we got checked-in by a nice lady who told us our room number and then said don't get lost because the room numbers are a little strange. We'd stayed on the ground floor before where the room numbers were in the 100s so we assumed we could figure it out. We went to find our room and immediately got lost by taking the elevator to the wrong floor. In our defense it was weirdly numbered with the 200s on the 1st floor, 300s on the 2nd floor, etc, so her warning was warranted. Once we found our room we showered and decided where to eat. It seemed fitting to go to dinner where we had our first dinner in Berlin 3 weeks earlier, Dicke Wirtin.
We took our favorite bus, #109, into town and walked to Savigny platz. It was quite a bit busier than the last time we were there, but we got a table and soon had our traditional schnitzel and currywurst. We learned that "Dicke Wirtin" meant "Fat Landlady" so their mascot made more sense now. We also learned they had a smaller location around the corner called "Kleine Wirtin" or "Skinny Landlady" which we went to take a look at after we ate. We'd loved to have had a drink there, but it was late and we had a very early flight in the morning so it was time to get back to the hotel and into bed. Good old bus #109 got us there quickly and efficiently.
Our flight to Berlin wasn't until 18:20 that evening so we had lots of time to burn in Ljubljana. We stashed our big packs at the B&B and went for one more walk around town. We just needed to be at the bus station by 15:10 in order to get a ride to the airport which was an hour away.
We started off with walking the markets again. It being Friday and having the nicest weather yet the markets were packed with stands and people. It was the busiest we'd seen them since we'd been there. There we so many food stalls and most of them were very fancy. It seemed every major hotel and high class restaurant in town had a stall set up, plus some fancy bars were serving up cocktails as well. We wanted to eat and drink all the things, but first we needed to earn our calories.
Retracing our steps we found ourselves back in Tivoli Park. We'd barely started exploring it the other day and decided it would be a good place to fritter away the hours until we could justify eating again. Starting at the grand Tivoli Palace we followed some paths off into the woods and started climbing some hills. Soon we had both soaked our clothes with sweat. The city map we had didn't show this part of the park so we weren't exactly sure how far these trails went or where they would take us. Occasionally we'd find trail maps, but it's hard to judge the distance on them. Regardlessly, we got lost a few times and soon our feet were aching and we were ready to eat again, but we still had to find our way back.
Along the way we managed to stumble upon a ski-jump center which was shut down for the off-season. It looked like a professional setup, making me wonder how the Slovenians do in the Winter Olympics (I looked it up, and they've gotten 15 medals in skiing and snowboarding related events). Later we ran into more wild herds of school children swarming over what I figured must be an old fire watch tower. When the kids finally left we got a chance to check it out. It was eerie and cool all at the same time. I couldn't find a way to climb up it though, but that's probably a good thing because it looked like it was about to collapse.
After the tower we found another trail map and got back on track. By the time we got back to old town we were ready to sit down for a beer and a solid meal. We decided on Paninoteka right near Cobblers' Bridge which was one of the places on my list. They served up delicious burgers, fries, and beers and we even managed to avoid smokers for the most part. We were joined by some friendly little birds while we sat outside and ate.
Burgers weren't enough and we needed another gelato fix. We felt like we'd earned them though after all that hiking. There were many gelato stands to pick from back in the old town market. Kat got a scoop of mint chocolate chip and I had nutella flavor. We nibbled on gelato as we wandered old town once more, always finding new things to look at.
Then it was back to the B&B for our bags and then off to the bus station once again. A little over an hour later we were at the airport and going through security. I'd figured since it was just a small flight from Ljubljana to Berlin that security would be a breeze, but I came off as not being very prepared as I kept dropping and forgetting things. I had to go through the scanner twice because I'd forgotten about my money-belt which still had leftover zloty, crown, and forint coins in it. At least the Slovenian security folks were nice. We had about an hour before the plane boarded so we grabbed a soft drink and sat for a bit while I blogged on the slow but free wifi. I was struck by the gorgeous views of the woods and the mountains from the airport. Slovenia really is a remarkably beautiful place.
It was a quick flight to Berlin's Tegel airport where we planned to print our boarding passed for the next day's flight. Although still early it was fairly dead at the terminals and we had trouble finding our check-in counter for KLM airlines. After walking all around the airport we finally asked the info desk and they directed us to terminal D which was in a separate building we hadn't checked yet. It was also empty, but at least there were self-service kiosks where we could print our boarding passes. We could only get our passes to Amsterdam so it looked like we were going to have to go through the same process again when we got there.
Boarding passes in hand, we returned to the info desk, requested a shuttle to our hotel, and I grabbed two day passes for public transportation just in case we wanted to go into town for dinner that evening. On the way to the hotel we chatted with the English bloke who had been waiting in the shuttle for me while I was getting the bus passes. He warmed up a bit and he seemed genuinely interested in hearing about our travels.
At the hotel we got checked-in by a nice lady who told us our room number and then said don't get lost because the room numbers are a little strange. We'd stayed on the ground floor before where the room numbers were in the 100s so we assumed we could figure it out. We went to find our room and immediately got lost by taking the elevator to the wrong floor. In our defense it was weirdly numbered with the 200s on the 1st floor, 300s on the 2nd floor, etc, so her warning was warranted. Once we found our room we showered and decided where to eat. It seemed fitting to go to dinner where we had our first dinner in Berlin 3 weeks earlier, Dicke Wirtin.
We took our favorite bus, #109, into town and walked to Savigny platz. It was quite a bit busier than the last time we were there, but we got a table and soon had our traditional schnitzel and currywurst. We learned that "Dicke Wirtin" meant "Fat Landlady" so their mascot made more sense now. We also learned they had a smaller location around the corner called "Kleine Wirtin" or "Skinny Landlady" which we went to take a look at after we ate. We'd loved to have had a drink there, but it was late and we had a very early flight in the morning so it was time to get back to the hotel and into bed. Good old bus #109 got us there quickly and efficiently.
Day Trip to Piran
Thursday May 5th: We felt more refreshed than ever in the morning after slowing the pace down and catching up on sleep. At breakfast we struck up a conversation with a lonely-looking guy who was by himself. He said he was a New Yorker who had been working in Austria and on a short vacation and turned out to be another Rick Steves disciple. We told him we were going to Piran that day, but recommended that he take a day trip to Lake Bled if he had time and he said he'd think about it.
Outside it was cold and rainy and the forecast was for more of the same all day in Ljubljana, which is why Kat had planned for us to be in Piran where it was supposed to be warm instead. The rain didn't stop us from wearing our beach clothes while we wandered old town as we waited for our bus. Old town was as dead as we had seen it so far. There was hardly any market to speak of and it seemed like maybe it was delivery day because there were trucks everywhere. We cut our stroll short and headed to the bus station to get our tickets.
While at the station we ran into our friend from breakfast. He'd decided to take our advice and had booked the next seat to Lake Bled. We wished him luck and pretty soon it was time to leave for us as well. We'd briefly discussed the idea of stringing together a trip to one of the caves along the way to Piran for a quick tour, but it seemed a bit too complicated and time consuming using public transportation so we skipped the caves and headed straight to the coast.
Slovenia has a tiny section of coast along the Mediterranean sandwiched between Italy on one side and Croatia on the other. The country is kind of shaped like a chicken running East and the town of Piran is situated on the heel of its back foot on a small spit of land sticking out into the sea. The ride there took 2.5 hours and I got some time to read a little bit of my book on my phone. Kat was excited to see and maybe even stick her feet in the Mediterranean before vacation was over.
Soon we were dropped off in Piran with no map, no plan, and scariest of all no Rick Steves! Our guidebook barely mentioned Piran and we didn't really know what to do without his steady guidance. Luckily Piran is a tiny little town and if you get lost you'll find the sea again soon enough. Mostly we wanted to know where we should eat. We tried stopping by the first tourist agency along the main road, but it was closed for lunch. At least the weather was nice and warm and we were in the mood for a stroll. We started wandering along the waterfront and would detour into the narrow crooked back streets whenever the mood struck us. When you got out of sight from the chain restaurants and other tourists it was easy to imagine you were in a secluded secret romantic getaway.
Without our favorite guide we had to guess on where to eat. After wandering the busy waterfront and scanning prices we moved deeper into town and eventually found a spot that seemed affordable and had more than just fish on the menu. We ordered beers and Kat wanted some risotto without fish, but ended up having to settle for truffles and noodles again, and I had spaghetti bolognese. It ended up being okay, but not amazing. I'm sure if we'd spent more time we could have found a better spot, but we were both hungry and just wanted to eat something and get on with our exploring.
After lunch we stopped by the tourist agency again and it was open. The laid-back guy running it gave us a free map and said it's best to just go get lost. He was right and that's pretty much what we were already doing, but I just feel better having a map in hand. Using the map for the general layout we managed to find our way through the back streets up to the top of the town where there were some old towers and parts of the old town wall still intact. It was free to climb up them so we did. The stairs were steep and the doors were very low and narrow. The combination of heights and tight spaces was a bit nerve-racking for me but I got through it by thinking about the great views and pictures waiting for me at the top. It was great and we're pretty sure we could see Italy and maybe even Croatia from up there.
Working our way down the other side of the hill I spotted a trail that looked like it would lead down to the water so we followed it. It eventually did and we took the stairs down to a somewhat secluded rocky beach. I say somewhat secluded because I didn't see anyone down there, but when we reached the bottom and turned the corner there was a naked guy laid out flat on his back on the rocks sunbathing. He blended into the buff colored rocks and he might have even been part chameleon he was so hard to see, but once you saw him you couldn't unsee it. I tried to steer us away from the guy before Kat could see him, but she was curious why we couldn't go that way and when I tried to explain she got even curiouser. I don't know if she ever saw him though since he was so well camouflaged.
We found a spot a little ways away where Kat could take her shoes off and walk into the water. She did and told me it was kind of slimy. I didn't want to walk around in slime covered feet so I opted to stay on shore and just document the event.
When she was all done it was time for more gelato. We hiked back up through town and before long we'd found a gelato stand in the main square. Kat got a lemon scoop and I got strawberry flavor. We'd done just about everything we'd hoped to do already so we figured we could take the next bus back to Ljubljana which was in 45 minutes or so. That was enough time to go have a glass of white wine by the water.
We caught our bus and I didn't have any trouble with the driver this time. It was another 2.5 hour ride and I fell asleep for part of it. Overall we probably spent 5 hours on the bus and only a little bit over 4 hours in Piran, but I think it was still worth it. When we got back we took a short break in the room before heading back into old town for dinner.
That night we opted for a quick meal at Kolbasarna where they served up delicious sausages, yummy turnip soup, and canned beers. It was just what we were looking for. Since it was our last night in Ljubljana we celebrated with a piece of chocolate pie at a cafe called Marley and Me. The pie was good, but the service was agonizingly slow. We finally got out of there and headed back to the room and called it a night.
Outside it was cold and rainy and the forecast was for more of the same all day in Ljubljana, which is why Kat had planned for us to be in Piran where it was supposed to be warm instead. The rain didn't stop us from wearing our beach clothes while we wandered old town as we waited for our bus. Old town was as dead as we had seen it so far. There was hardly any market to speak of and it seemed like maybe it was delivery day because there were trucks everywhere. We cut our stroll short and headed to the bus station to get our tickets.
While at the station we ran into our friend from breakfast. He'd decided to take our advice and had booked the next seat to Lake Bled. We wished him luck and pretty soon it was time to leave for us as well. We'd briefly discussed the idea of stringing together a trip to one of the caves along the way to Piran for a quick tour, but it seemed a bit too complicated and time consuming using public transportation so we skipped the caves and headed straight to the coast.
Slovenia has a tiny section of coast along the Mediterranean sandwiched between Italy on one side and Croatia on the other. The country is kind of shaped like a chicken running East and the town of Piran is situated on the heel of its back foot on a small spit of land sticking out into the sea. The ride there took 2.5 hours and I got some time to read a little bit of my book on my phone. Kat was excited to see and maybe even stick her feet in the Mediterranean before vacation was over.
Soon we were dropped off in Piran with no map, no plan, and scariest of all no Rick Steves! Our guidebook barely mentioned Piran and we didn't really know what to do without his steady guidance. Luckily Piran is a tiny little town and if you get lost you'll find the sea again soon enough. Mostly we wanted to know where we should eat. We tried stopping by the first tourist agency along the main road, but it was closed for lunch. At least the weather was nice and warm and we were in the mood for a stroll. We started wandering along the waterfront and would detour into the narrow crooked back streets whenever the mood struck us. When you got out of sight from the chain restaurants and other tourists it was easy to imagine you were in a secluded secret romantic getaway.
Without our favorite guide we had to guess on where to eat. After wandering the busy waterfront and scanning prices we moved deeper into town and eventually found a spot that seemed affordable and had more than just fish on the menu. We ordered beers and Kat wanted some risotto without fish, but ended up having to settle for truffles and noodles again, and I had spaghetti bolognese. It ended up being okay, but not amazing. I'm sure if we'd spent more time we could have found a better spot, but we were both hungry and just wanted to eat something and get on with our exploring.
After lunch we stopped by the tourist agency again and it was open. The laid-back guy running it gave us a free map and said it's best to just go get lost. He was right and that's pretty much what we were already doing, but I just feel better having a map in hand. Using the map for the general layout we managed to find our way through the back streets up to the top of the town where there were some old towers and parts of the old town wall still intact. It was free to climb up them so we did. The stairs were steep and the doors were very low and narrow. The combination of heights and tight spaces was a bit nerve-racking for me but I got through it by thinking about the great views and pictures waiting for me at the top. It was great and we're pretty sure we could see Italy and maybe even Croatia from up there.
Working our way down the other side of the hill I spotted a trail that looked like it would lead down to the water so we followed it. It eventually did and we took the stairs down to a somewhat secluded rocky beach. I say somewhat secluded because I didn't see anyone down there, but when we reached the bottom and turned the corner there was a naked guy laid out flat on his back on the rocks sunbathing. He blended into the buff colored rocks and he might have even been part chameleon he was so hard to see, but once you saw him you couldn't unsee it. I tried to steer us away from the guy before Kat could see him, but she was curious why we couldn't go that way and when I tried to explain she got even curiouser. I don't know if she ever saw him though since he was so well camouflaged.
We found a spot a little ways away where Kat could take her shoes off and walk into the water. She did and told me it was kind of slimy. I didn't want to walk around in slime covered feet so I opted to stay on shore and just document the event.
When she was all done it was time for more gelato. We hiked back up through town and before long we'd found a gelato stand in the main square. Kat got a lemon scoop and I got strawberry flavor. We'd done just about everything we'd hoped to do already so we figured we could take the next bus back to Ljubljana which was in 45 minutes or so. That was enough time to go have a glass of white wine by the water.
We caught our bus and I didn't have any trouble with the driver this time. It was another 2.5 hour ride and I fell asleep for part of it. Overall we probably spent 5 hours on the bus and only a little bit over 4 hours in Piran, but I think it was still worth it. When we got back we took a short break in the room before heading back into old town for dinner.
That night we opted for a quick meal at Kolbasarna where they served up delicious sausages, yummy turnip soup, and canned beers. It was just what we were looking for. Since it was our last night in Ljubljana we celebrated with a piece of chocolate pie at a cafe called Marley and Me. The pie was good, but the service was agonizingly slow. We finally got out of there and headed back to the room and called it a night.
Saturday, May 07, 2016
Ljubljana: Blistered, Burned, and Smelling of Sweat
Wednesday May 4th: In the morning we were both definitely suffering from the effects of our vacation. My feet hurt and I think one foot was made entirely out of blisters at that point. Kat had developed some sort of scaly skin rash and had tweaked her neck so she could barely move it. I think I'd gotten a bit of a sunburn from the previous day. Plus we both reeked because there was only so much you could do wearing the same few clothes for three weeks straight and washing them in the sink from time to time. I think we were both about ready for vacation to be over and we were looking forward to getting back to our cats soon, but we had three more days to get through.
We didn't have anything in particular slotted for this day so we spent in Ljubljana. Because I'd been up late I almost slept through breakfast, but we made it just in time to boil an egg and eat the last of the croissants. The day was warmer than we had expected and Kat broke out her fancy chrysalis cardigan I got for her and wore it as a dress, which looked very good on her. We started with wandering the markets again as we liked doing. There were sausage stands with samples so we tried some bear sausage, which was pretty good, but we avoided the horse sausage.
There were only a few things left we hadn't made it to yet in town. First on the list was hiking up to the castle. I know, how many freakin' castles are there in Europe? Turns out quite a few. I blister-stepped all the way up the uneven path and we were rewarded with some nice views of the city. The hill was busy that day with many wild herds of school children on outings, families with babies in strollers and dogs on leashes, and packs of runners on all the trails. We weren't really all that interested in paying to go inside the castle, which had been converted to a museum, so we just wandered the grounds and got a little lost which was just fine. Kat was pleased when she spotted some lizards along the trail.
After we found our way back down the hill we headed back to old town center for a refreshment. We stopped at a cafe along the river that we'd eyed earlier because it advertised chai lattes and had a cat on the sign. We grabbed a table near the water and ordered some wine, but as it goes in these parts the best seats are usually where the smokers hang out and this was no exception. Pretty soon we were surrounded by clouds of smoke and Kat's eyes were watering. I tried to flag the waiter down so we could pay and leave, but getting their attention is a challenge sometimes.
Once that was over we continued checking things off our list. Next up was a wander through Congress Square, past the parliament building, a quick tour of some Roman artifacts in an outdoor exhibit near a museum, a brief stroll past the cutest US embassy in Europe, and then through an underpass to reach Tivoli Park, a massively sprawling green space on the edge of our city map. There we wandered aimlessly until we grew tired and both of our blistered feet couldn't take any more.
I found a route back to the B&B and it was time for more blogging and a nap. Kat woke up around 15:00 and we decided a late lunch / early dinner was just the thing we needed. This time we wandered all the way past old town and into the garden district to the South. We found an awesome little restaurant off the beaten path and had one of our best meals of the trip with fresh buckwheat soup, gnocchi, pork chops with figs, and fine wines. Kat was still craving that chai latte she'd seen earlier so we wandered back through old town to go to the cat sign place again to have our hot drinks while trying to avoid the smokers.
By the time we got back to the room it was only 19:00, but we felt like we'd had a full day already and deserved a bit of a break. We decided that tomorrow would be a good day for a trip to Piran on the coast and maybe we could even squeeze in a spelunking tour along the way. I did some laundry in the sink and Kat went right to bed. I stayed up listening to sort of jazz ensemble playing in the cafe downstairs and the sweet sounds of Kat snoring next to me as I uploaded pictures and tried desperately to catch up on my blog posts.
We didn't have anything in particular slotted for this day so we spent in Ljubljana. Because I'd been up late I almost slept through breakfast, but we made it just in time to boil an egg and eat the last of the croissants. The day was warmer than we had expected and Kat broke out her fancy chrysalis cardigan I got for her and wore it as a dress, which looked very good on her. We started with wandering the markets again as we liked doing. There were sausage stands with samples so we tried some bear sausage, which was pretty good, but we avoided the horse sausage.
There were only a few things left we hadn't made it to yet in town. First on the list was hiking up to the castle. I know, how many freakin' castles are there in Europe? Turns out quite a few. I blister-stepped all the way up the uneven path and we were rewarded with some nice views of the city. The hill was busy that day with many wild herds of school children on outings, families with babies in strollers and dogs on leashes, and packs of runners on all the trails. We weren't really all that interested in paying to go inside the castle, which had been converted to a museum, so we just wandered the grounds and got a little lost which was just fine. Kat was pleased when she spotted some lizards along the trail.
After we found our way back down the hill we headed back to old town center for a refreshment. We stopped at a cafe along the river that we'd eyed earlier because it advertised chai lattes and had a cat on the sign. We grabbed a table near the water and ordered some wine, but as it goes in these parts the best seats are usually where the smokers hang out and this was no exception. Pretty soon we were surrounded by clouds of smoke and Kat's eyes were watering. I tried to flag the waiter down so we could pay and leave, but getting their attention is a challenge sometimes.
Once that was over we continued checking things off our list. Next up was a wander through Congress Square, past the parliament building, a quick tour of some Roman artifacts in an outdoor exhibit near a museum, a brief stroll past the cutest US embassy in Europe, and then through an underpass to reach Tivoli Park, a massively sprawling green space on the edge of our city map. There we wandered aimlessly until we grew tired and both of our blistered feet couldn't take any more.
I found a route back to the B&B and it was time for more blogging and a nap. Kat woke up around 15:00 and we decided a late lunch / early dinner was just the thing we needed. This time we wandered all the way past old town and into the garden district to the South. We found an awesome little restaurant off the beaten path and had one of our best meals of the trip with fresh buckwheat soup, gnocchi, pork chops with figs, and fine wines. Kat was still craving that chai latte she'd seen earlier so we wandered back through old town to go to the cat sign place again to have our hot drinks while trying to avoid the smokers.
By the time we got back to the room it was only 19:00, but we felt like we'd had a full day already and deserved a bit of a break. We decided that tomorrow would be a good day for a trip to Piran on the coast and maybe we could even squeeze in a spelunking tour along the way. I did some laundry in the sink and Kat went right to bed. I stayed up listening to sort of jazz ensemble playing in the cafe downstairs and the sweet sounds of Kat snoring next to me as I uploaded pictures and tried desperately to catch up on my blog posts.
Friday, May 06, 2016
To Bled and Back Again
Well, we're starting the long process of getting back home. The first step was getting to the airport outside of Ljubljana where we will take a short flight to Berlin and spend the night. I've got about an hour to scab some free wifi before we start to board.
Tuesday May 3rd: We woke up early to the soothing sounds people stomping around up and down the stairs on the other side of the wall and of construction right outside our windows. Despite my hopes the scaffolding was there for a purpose. It seems things are always in various states of construction and I imagine there's a booming business in erecting and tearing down scaffolding all over the greatest cities of Europe. We got dressed and headed down for breakfast, which was a fairly simple spread and had a little pan where you could boil your own eggs. When we left the building we saw that they'd even pulled a huge crane up right in front of the stairs to the entry.
Our bus to Lake Bled was leaving around 11:00 so we had a little time to wander old town. We strolled through the market again and it seemed a bit busier and with a few more booths than the day before. The weather was nice and it was supposed to be even nicer at Lake Bled so we were in our warmest weather outfits with our legs and arms bared. We slathered ourselves in sunscreen and then again when we got to the bus station to wait.
The ride to Bled took about 1.5 hours. There was construction on the main road where they seemed to be replacing the entire bridge along one section. The delay was only 15 minutes though. The country side was awe inspiring with fantastic views of the mountains as we got closer and closer. We arrived in the tiny village of Bled around 12:30 and soon started our climb up to the castle. We had made reservations at the castle restaurant at 13:30 because Rick Steves had given us the great tip that if you had reservations at the restaurant you could avoid paying the castle admission. The climb consisted mostly of a long series of switch-back staircases with views of the lake peeking through the trees. We reached the top around 13:00 and the admissions person reluctantly let us in when we told her we had reservations.
We wandered the castle grounds and oohed and aahed at the spectacular views of the mountains and the lake from the top of the walls. Lake Bled was breathtakingly beautiful from just about every viewpoint. I was so happy we had made time for it in our travels. We got seated for lunch a bit early and enjoyed a couple glasses of wine, some pasta with truffle sauce, and I had something called sea devil tail with saffron and smashed vegetables. It was good, although a bit overpriced, but getting free admission sort of made up for it.
After lunch we went back down to the lake and found a couple bikes to rent. It was about 16 euros for the rest of the day. Kat's bike was a little too big for her and she had to lean far forward to reach the handles. It was also built like a man's bike so she had to be careful of the crotch bar, which she wasn't used to. As for me I felt like my bike was a tad too small and that I couldn't fully extend my legs with the peddles. That along with the big squishy tires made the bike feel slower than I'm used to when riding at home. It was probably a good thing though since I needed to set a relaxed pace so I didn't leave Kat behind.
We worked our way back to the lakeside path and started our circuit of the lake, stopping to take pictures along the way. Rick Steves had mentioned an interesting bee farm in the neighboring village of Selo that sounded interesting and Kat wanted to go check it out. It would be a small detour off the lake, but we felt like it would be fun and we had plenty of time. We climbed a long hill and reached some open farmland growing young green wheat and with several of the iconic hayracks you see everywhere in Slovenia. The road dipped toward a cluster of farm houses and we coasted past a sign next to a dirt track that looked like it might be the bee place. We didn't really know where the bee farm was supposed to be located so we turned around and took a closer look. From the road we could see the brightly colored bee houses that Rick mentions so we guessed this must be it. After wandering around for quite some time in what felt like private property and not finding anyone there to talk to I decided to just take a few pictures and call it good.
We climbed back up the hilly road and took a water break where it leveled off. There were plenty of mountains, farm fields, and hayracks to look at and the whole area had the earthy smell of cow poop. After our break we peddled back to the lake, coasting all the way down, and continued around. About halfway around the lake we got to the closest spot to the island where you can rent a rowboat. We locked up the bikes and rented a boat for an hour for about 15 euros. Kat climbed in the navigator's seat at the back and I took up the oars for the trip to the island.
It was a cute little boat. I've never been much of a seaman and getting the hang of the big awkward oars was difficult, especially since I kept hitting my knees with them. I eventually had to stick my legs straight out in front of me. Thankfully it wasn't very far to the island. We floated a little bit to take some pictures and then Kat guided me into a spot between the other boats at the tiny dock on the far side of the island. A large swan followed us all the way in, climbed up on the dock as I tied up and then stood watch over the boat as we went to explore. I didn't even tip him.
The island is very small and the church takes up most of it. We wandered around for a bit, took some pictures, and had a gelato break at the little stand at the top. We read that you could go ring the church bell and you were supposed to make a wish or something, but it cost like 5 euros or something like that and that was just too much for a wish.
When we were ready we back to the boat and the swan was still there. Someone else threw him some bread so he was distracted enough that we managed to sneak past it, into our boat, and shoved off the dock. This time Kat was driving and I got to give directions. She thought I made rowing look so fun that she wanted to try too. She learned pretty quickly that it wasn't all that fun, but we got to shore without too much trouble, and with plenty of time left on our rental.
After returning the boat we hoped back on our rental bikes and completed the rest of the loop around the lake. At the start we had considered extending our outing and maybe riding out to a nice sounding gorge for a hike, but by the time we reached the turn off we were already feeling pretty beat. We'd already had a great day so far so we didn't feel too bad about skipping the hike. When we were almost back at the bike rental place Kat nearly crashed her bike. There was steep concrete ramp and a slightly less steep dirt track right next to it. I was behind her and thought she was going to take the dirt track that I was aiming for too, but at the last minute she gunned it for the ramp. She got about halfway up before stalling out and started to tip over onto the dirt path. I slammed on the brakes so I wouldn't collide with her and she managed to jump safely off the bike before it fell over. She was a bit embarrassed by the mishap but otherwise seemed fine, although she managed to tweak her neck the following morning which might have been aggravated by her sudden reflexive leap off the bike.
In any case, we made it back to the rental place in one piece and turned the bikes back in. It was nearly 17:00 and we knew there would be a bus going back to Ljubljana soon. We felt like we'd done everything we'd wanted to in Bled and decided we wouldn't mind having the rest of the night back in the city. First though we had worked up quite a thirst and a beer was in order.
One of the recommended places was just called "Irish Pub" which sounded interesting. It was well hidden under an ivy covered stone embankment and didn't look anything like what Kat and I had imagined when we found it. We had our beers outside on the raised deck and I managed to drop some coins down through the cracks when I went to pay the bill. It was only about 20 cents so I didn't bother to go scrounging around under the deck.
When we'd finished our beers we had a few minutes left to get to the bus station, which was practically across the street. There wasn't anywhere to buy tickets at the station, but that was okay because we knew we'd just have to buy the return ticket from the driver. Our bus arrived a few minutes late and we climbed aboard. The total came to 12.60 euros. I tried to hand the driver a 50 and he rolled his eyes at me and shook his head because he apparently didn't want to make change. The rest of my small cash came to only 12.45, because I had dropped the rest of it under the pub deck, and I handed it over saying it's either that or nothing. He rolled his eyes at me again and waved us onto the bus.
We got back to Ljubljana around 19:00 and went straight back to the room for a break. I think I fell asleep for an hour or two. Then it was time for a late dinner again. We got ourselves dressed up and hit the town. This time we ended up at a place called Cafe Romeo, for some margaritas and chicken burritos right on the river. It was very romantic. After burritos we had dessert at Fetiche Patisserie where we had two different slices of cake. I had mine with an espresso, but they told Kat that they only serve hot chocolate in the Winter, which seemed odd.
We finally went back to the room and Kat went straight to bed while I stayed up late blogging that night. It had been one of our greatest days on the trip so far and the trip was almost at an end.
Tuesday May 3rd: We woke up early to the soothing sounds people stomping around up and down the stairs on the other side of the wall and of construction right outside our windows. Despite my hopes the scaffolding was there for a purpose. It seems things are always in various states of construction and I imagine there's a booming business in erecting and tearing down scaffolding all over the greatest cities of Europe. We got dressed and headed down for breakfast, which was a fairly simple spread and had a little pan where you could boil your own eggs. When we left the building we saw that they'd even pulled a huge crane up right in front of the stairs to the entry.
Our bus to Lake Bled was leaving around 11:00 so we had a little time to wander old town. We strolled through the market again and it seemed a bit busier and with a few more booths than the day before. The weather was nice and it was supposed to be even nicer at Lake Bled so we were in our warmest weather outfits with our legs and arms bared. We slathered ourselves in sunscreen and then again when we got to the bus station to wait.
The ride to Bled took about 1.5 hours. There was construction on the main road where they seemed to be replacing the entire bridge along one section. The delay was only 15 minutes though. The country side was awe inspiring with fantastic views of the mountains as we got closer and closer. We arrived in the tiny village of Bled around 12:30 and soon started our climb up to the castle. We had made reservations at the castle restaurant at 13:30 because Rick Steves had given us the great tip that if you had reservations at the restaurant you could avoid paying the castle admission. The climb consisted mostly of a long series of switch-back staircases with views of the lake peeking through the trees. We reached the top around 13:00 and the admissions person reluctantly let us in when we told her we had reservations.
We wandered the castle grounds and oohed and aahed at the spectacular views of the mountains and the lake from the top of the walls. Lake Bled was breathtakingly beautiful from just about every viewpoint. I was so happy we had made time for it in our travels. We got seated for lunch a bit early and enjoyed a couple glasses of wine, some pasta with truffle sauce, and I had something called sea devil tail with saffron and smashed vegetables. It was good, although a bit overpriced, but getting free admission sort of made up for it.
After lunch we went back down to the lake and found a couple bikes to rent. It was about 16 euros for the rest of the day. Kat's bike was a little too big for her and she had to lean far forward to reach the handles. It was also built like a man's bike so she had to be careful of the crotch bar, which she wasn't used to. As for me I felt like my bike was a tad too small and that I couldn't fully extend my legs with the peddles. That along with the big squishy tires made the bike feel slower than I'm used to when riding at home. It was probably a good thing though since I needed to set a relaxed pace so I didn't leave Kat behind.
We worked our way back to the lakeside path and started our circuit of the lake, stopping to take pictures along the way. Rick Steves had mentioned an interesting bee farm in the neighboring village of Selo that sounded interesting and Kat wanted to go check it out. It would be a small detour off the lake, but we felt like it would be fun and we had plenty of time. We climbed a long hill and reached some open farmland growing young green wheat and with several of the iconic hayracks you see everywhere in Slovenia. The road dipped toward a cluster of farm houses and we coasted past a sign next to a dirt track that looked like it might be the bee place. We didn't really know where the bee farm was supposed to be located so we turned around and took a closer look. From the road we could see the brightly colored bee houses that Rick mentions so we guessed this must be it. After wandering around for quite some time in what felt like private property and not finding anyone there to talk to I decided to just take a few pictures and call it good.
We climbed back up the hilly road and took a water break where it leveled off. There were plenty of mountains, farm fields, and hayracks to look at and the whole area had the earthy smell of cow poop. After our break we peddled back to the lake, coasting all the way down, and continued around. About halfway around the lake we got to the closest spot to the island where you can rent a rowboat. We locked up the bikes and rented a boat for an hour for about 15 euros. Kat climbed in the navigator's seat at the back and I took up the oars for the trip to the island.
It was a cute little boat. I've never been much of a seaman and getting the hang of the big awkward oars was difficult, especially since I kept hitting my knees with them. I eventually had to stick my legs straight out in front of me. Thankfully it wasn't very far to the island. We floated a little bit to take some pictures and then Kat guided me into a spot between the other boats at the tiny dock on the far side of the island. A large swan followed us all the way in, climbed up on the dock as I tied up and then stood watch over the boat as we went to explore. I didn't even tip him.
The island is very small and the church takes up most of it. We wandered around for a bit, took some pictures, and had a gelato break at the little stand at the top. We read that you could go ring the church bell and you were supposed to make a wish or something, but it cost like 5 euros or something like that and that was just too much for a wish.
When we were ready we back to the boat and the swan was still there. Someone else threw him some bread so he was distracted enough that we managed to sneak past it, into our boat, and shoved off the dock. This time Kat was driving and I got to give directions. She thought I made rowing look so fun that she wanted to try too. She learned pretty quickly that it wasn't all that fun, but we got to shore without too much trouble, and with plenty of time left on our rental.
After returning the boat we hoped back on our rental bikes and completed the rest of the loop around the lake. At the start we had considered extending our outing and maybe riding out to a nice sounding gorge for a hike, but by the time we reached the turn off we were already feeling pretty beat. We'd already had a great day so far so we didn't feel too bad about skipping the hike. When we were almost back at the bike rental place Kat nearly crashed her bike. There was steep concrete ramp and a slightly less steep dirt track right next to it. I was behind her and thought she was going to take the dirt track that I was aiming for too, but at the last minute she gunned it for the ramp. She got about halfway up before stalling out and started to tip over onto the dirt path. I slammed on the brakes so I wouldn't collide with her and she managed to jump safely off the bike before it fell over. She was a bit embarrassed by the mishap but otherwise seemed fine, although she managed to tweak her neck the following morning which might have been aggravated by her sudden reflexive leap off the bike.
In any case, we made it back to the rental place in one piece and turned the bikes back in. It was nearly 17:00 and we knew there would be a bus going back to Ljubljana soon. We felt like we'd done everything we'd wanted to in Bled and decided we wouldn't mind having the rest of the night back in the city. First though we had worked up quite a thirst and a beer was in order.
One of the recommended places was just called "Irish Pub" which sounded interesting. It was well hidden under an ivy covered stone embankment and didn't look anything like what Kat and I had imagined when we found it. We had our beers outside on the raised deck and I managed to drop some coins down through the cracks when I went to pay the bill. It was only about 20 cents so I didn't bother to go scrounging around under the deck.
When we'd finished our beers we had a few minutes left to get to the bus station, which was practically across the street. There wasn't anywhere to buy tickets at the station, but that was okay because we knew we'd just have to buy the return ticket from the driver. Our bus arrived a few minutes late and we climbed aboard. The total came to 12.60 euros. I tried to hand the driver a 50 and he rolled his eyes at me and shook his head because he apparently didn't want to make change. The rest of my small cash came to only 12.45, because I had dropped the rest of it under the pub deck, and I handed it over saying it's either that or nothing. He rolled his eyes at me again and waved us onto the bus.
We got back to Ljubljana around 19:00 and went straight back to the room for a break. I think I fell asleep for an hour or two. Then it was time for a late dinner again. We got ourselves dressed up and hit the town. This time we ended up at a place called Cafe Romeo, for some margaritas and chicken burritos right on the river. It was very romantic. After burritos we had dessert at Fetiche Patisserie where we had two different slices of cake. I had mine with an espresso, but they told Kat that they only serve hot chocolate in the Winter, which seemed odd.
We finally went back to the room and Kat went straight to bed while I stayed up late blogging that night. It had been one of our greatest days on the trip so far and the trip was almost at an end.
Wednesday, May 04, 2016
Crazy Train to Ljubljana
Monday May 2nd: It was a little sad packing up and leaving Budapest that morning. It had treated us well and we felt that we could have used another soak in the baths, done a pub crawl through the ruin pubs in the Jewish Quarter, and definitely ate and drank our way through a number of enticing cafes and restaurants that we hadn't had a chance to try. However, we were excited to see what Slovenia had to offer since it hadn't even been on the radar until a few days past when our original plans of going to Poland had fallen through. We'd be missing Warsaw and Krakow, but I have a feeling that there will be another chance someday.
After breakfast we strapped our packs on and took the metro line 2 to the Budapest Deli train station which we hadn't visited yet. With some help we found our platform, train, and car, but when we found our seats we thought there must be some mistake because the whole car was filled with students on some sort of field trip. I didn't see the little slips of paper on the seating chart outside the cabin door that usually marked reserved seats so I figured we had gotten on the wrong car somehow, but after bothering two train attendants we were eventually directed back to the same place. Kat and I steeled ourselves for a crowded and noisy ride. The only non-student in our cabin was a business-looking guy who stared at his phone the entire time. We pushed ourselves past a tangle of legs and I hefted our backpacks into the storage racks above the seats, shoving aside other miscellaneous items to make room for our stuff.
As the train left the station it was like the recess bell had rung. Kids began running up and down the passageway, chasing and shouting at each other, their few guardians and handlers attempting to stay well out of the way. Not that long into the ride I began to smell the distinctive odor of urine coming from somewhere. I later discovered the reason was that both WCs in our car were broken and did not flush. I found out the hard way when I went to use one and lifted the seat to find a full to the brim toilet sloshing about as the train bounced and jerked along the tracks. I almost added to the contents by losing my breakfast. Apparently this didn't stop the kids from using the bathrooms and they would track stuff on their shoes all over the train car which accounted for the terrible smell.
After that we chose to retreat to the dining car. It was going to be a 9 hour trip and we were ready to stay right there for the whole time if we had to. Although it wasn't even noon yet we both ordered beers to nurse while I worked on blog posts and Kat read on her Kindle. Thankfully we had free WiFi while still in Hungary. We were a little bit nervous leaving our bags unattended for long stretches of time, but felt it was worth the risk rather than braving the chaos.
Several stops later we noticed that the student group had reached their destination and was disembarking. We returned to our assigned cabin which was now empty, made sure our bags were still there, and then Kat sprayed it all down with febreze which managed to take the edge off the smell. For the next few hours we were alone and at peace. As we crossed into Slovenia Kat and I practiced our Slovenian phrases on each other: "Hello", "Dobre dan", "Thank you very much", "Hvalah lepah", "You're welcome", "Prosim". I watched the countryside became ever more eye catching and wonderful as fields of green grass and yellow flowers turned into gently rolling hills and the grew into more rugged, forested, and mist covered crags and valleys. Tucked into nooks and crannies of the landscape were little farming villages with their iconic hayracks and clinging to the cliffs were abandoned stony fortresses. So far Slovenia was putting on quite a show.
At one of the stops we picked up a couple of passengers who decided to share our cabin with us. The woman spoke enough English to understand us and be understood, but if the guy understood he didn't let on. Not long after they got on the guy put his earbuds in and started listening to his collection of Slovenian electro speed metal at such a loud volume that I was surprised he wasn't bleeding from the ears. The earbuds did practically nothing to dampen the sound so Kat and I were subjected to a never ending stream of tinny noise radiating from the man's head as he obliviously thumbed at his phone. His companion appeared to be so accustomed to this behavior that she didn't seem bothered in the least as she read and flipped through some sort of paperwork. Kat and I briefly considered retreating once again to the dining car, but mutually decided to defiantly tough it out. We were nearing the end in any case and I was betting that his phone's battery life wouldn't hold out that much longer.
Either the phone died or the man finally lost his hearing because he turned the music off when there were still a couple of stops left. We reached Ljubljana on scheduled and we loaded up our packs once again and set off on foot. It was a short enough walk to our B&B which was situated about halfway between the train and bus stations and the center of old town. We found the building it was in just fine since it was clearly labeled "Slamic", but finding the entrance was a little bit harder. The stairs were around a corner and between two buildings and were partially hidden by some scaffolding wedged between the narrow gap in the buildings. I hoped deep down that it was just there for show and not any indication that we'd be hearing construction noises throughout the day.
We got buzzed in and met Mika at the office to get checked-in. He was friendly and helpful, but warned us when we asked about getting dinner that many places would be closed since it was a national holiday as was the day before and a couple days before that. When I asked if we were all good for the rest of the week or if there were more national holidays I should be aware of and he said we should be fine for a while.
Our room was small but clean and at least wasn't a giant dance hall like the one in Vienna. We'd learned our lesson though and requested a "Do Not Disturb" sign for our door to avoid any unnecessary cleaning and entry. I looked out the window and straight at the scaffolding I'd seen earlier. I hoped again that maybe it was just an elaborate prank or that they'd be taking the rest of the week off in observance of the previous national holidays. We got ourselves situated and then headed back downstairs to go see if we could find old town and some dinner.
The first thing I noticed when we reached the busy commercial street leading to old town was that the same smug model we'd seen in Vienna had followed us here. She was plastered on all the billboards, but this time at least she wasn't caught in an infinite video loop. Soon we were past her judging looks and in to old town proper.
Ljubljana's old town center is a pedestrian paradise. An old castle with a remodeled clock tower sits on the top of a hill overlooking the town. The river bend circles the hill and is criss-crossed by numerous small bridges, each with their own distinct character and colorful name. The river front is lined by a myriad of exotic cafes, restaurants, bars, boutiques, and a long elegant colonnade which becomes a busy market almost everyday. Old town is packed with little details in every corner to catch and delight the eye. An accordion player plays a jaunty tune in the middle of Preseren square, his song carrying throughout the streets and alleys of old town. Despite being a touristy town it doesn't feel jaded or gimmicky and the people are still friendly in a matter-of-fact kind of way without being pushy or fake. In a very short time I felt we had made a good pick for the end of our vacation and knew it would be one of the highlights of the trip.
That evening we strolled through old town, sampling its sights and getting the lay of the land. We stopped for pizza, because we couldn't really make a decision on anything else, and were presented with a menu containing over 100 types of pizza to choose from. The waiter seemed surprised that we attempted to read the entire list. We chose #39. After dinner we walked the many bridges and stayed until it was late and ended up grabbing a treat of tiny cakes, hot chocolate, and espresso before calling it a night.
After breakfast we strapped our packs on and took the metro line 2 to the Budapest Deli train station which we hadn't visited yet. With some help we found our platform, train, and car, but when we found our seats we thought there must be some mistake because the whole car was filled with students on some sort of field trip. I didn't see the little slips of paper on the seating chart outside the cabin door that usually marked reserved seats so I figured we had gotten on the wrong car somehow, but after bothering two train attendants we were eventually directed back to the same place. Kat and I steeled ourselves for a crowded and noisy ride. The only non-student in our cabin was a business-looking guy who stared at his phone the entire time. We pushed ourselves past a tangle of legs and I hefted our backpacks into the storage racks above the seats, shoving aside other miscellaneous items to make room for our stuff.
As the train left the station it was like the recess bell had rung. Kids began running up and down the passageway, chasing and shouting at each other, their few guardians and handlers attempting to stay well out of the way. Not that long into the ride I began to smell the distinctive odor of urine coming from somewhere. I later discovered the reason was that both WCs in our car were broken and did not flush. I found out the hard way when I went to use one and lifted the seat to find a full to the brim toilet sloshing about as the train bounced and jerked along the tracks. I almost added to the contents by losing my breakfast. Apparently this didn't stop the kids from using the bathrooms and they would track stuff on their shoes all over the train car which accounted for the terrible smell.
After that we chose to retreat to the dining car. It was going to be a 9 hour trip and we were ready to stay right there for the whole time if we had to. Although it wasn't even noon yet we both ordered beers to nurse while I worked on blog posts and Kat read on her Kindle. Thankfully we had free WiFi while still in Hungary. We were a little bit nervous leaving our bags unattended for long stretches of time, but felt it was worth the risk rather than braving the chaos.
Several stops later we noticed that the student group had reached their destination and was disembarking. We returned to our assigned cabin which was now empty, made sure our bags were still there, and then Kat sprayed it all down with febreze which managed to take the edge off the smell. For the next few hours we were alone and at peace. As we crossed into Slovenia Kat and I practiced our Slovenian phrases on each other: "Hello", "Dobre dan", "Thank you very much", "Hvalah lepah", "You're welcome", "Prosim". I watched the countryside became ever more eye catching and wonderful as fields of green grass and yellow flowers turned into gently rolling hills and the grew into more rugged, forested, and mist covered crags and valleys. Tucked into nooks and crannies of the landscape were little farming villages with their iconic hayracks and clinging to the cliffs were abandoned stony fortresses. So far Slovenia was putting on quite a show.
At one of the stops we picked up a couple of passengers who decided to share our cabin with us. The woman spoke enough English to understand us and be understood, but if the guy understood he didn't let on. Not long after they got on the guy put his earbuds in and started listening to his collection of Slovenian electro speed metal at such a loud volume that I was surprised he wasn't bleeding from the ears. The earbuds did practically nothing to dampen the sound so Kat and I were subjected to a never ending stream of tinny noise radiating from the man's head as he obliviously thumbed at his phone. His companion appeared to be so accustomed to this behavior that she didn't seem bothered in the least as she read and flipped through some sort of paperwork. Kat and I briefly considered retreating once again to the dining car, but mutually decided to defiantly tough it out. We were nearing the end in any case and I was betting that his phone's battery life wouldn't hold out that much longer.
Either the phone died or the man finally lost his hearing because he turned the music off when there were still a couple of stops left. We reached Ljubljana on scheduled and we loaded up our packs once again and set off on foot. It was a short enough walk to our B&B which was situated about halfway between the train and bus stations and the center of old town. We found the building it was in just fine since it was clearly labeled "Slamic", but finding the entrance was a little bit harder. The stairs were around a corner and between two buildings and were partially hidden by some scaffolding wedged between the narrow gap in the buildings. I hoped deep down that it was just there for show and not any indication that we'd be hearing construction noises throughout the day.
We got buzzed in and met Mika at the office to get checked-in. He was friendly and helpful, but warned us when we asked about getting dinner that many places would be closed since it was a national holiday as was the day before and a couple days before that. When I asked if we were all good for the rest of the week or if there were more national holidays I should be aware of and he said we should be fine for a while.
Our room was small but clean and at least wasn't a giant dance hall like the one in Vienna. We'd learned our lesson though and requested a "Do Not Disturb" sign for our door to avoid any unnecessary cleaning and entry. I looked out the window and straight at the scaffolding I'd seen earlier. I hoped again that maybe it was just an elaborate prank or that they'd be taking the rest of the week off in observance of the previous national holidays. We got ourselves situated and then headed back downstairs to go see if we could find old town and some dinner.
The first thing I noticed when we reached the busy commercial street leading to old town was that the same smug model we'd seen in Vienna had followed us here. She was plastered on all the billboards, but this time at least she wasn't caught in an infinite video loop. Soon we were past her judging looks and in to old town proper.
Ljubljana's old town center is a pedestrian paradise. An old castle with a remodeled clock tower sits on the top of a hill overlooking the town. The river bend circles the hill and is criss-crossed by numerous small bridges, each with their own distinct character and colorful name. The river front is lined by a myriad of exotic cafes, restaurants, bars, boutiques, and a long elegant colonnade which becomes a busy market almost everyday. Old town is packed with little details in every corner to catch and delight the eye. An accordion player plays a jaunty tune in the middle of Preseren square, his song carrying throughout the streets and alleys of old town. Despite being a touristy town it doesn't feel jaded or gimmicky and the people are still friendly in a matter-of-fact kind of way without being pushy or fake. In a very short time I felt we had made a good pick for the end of our vacation and knew it would be one of the highlights of the trip.
That evening we strolled through old town, sampling its sights and getting the lay of the land. We stopped for pizza, because we couldn't really make a decision on anything else, and were presented with a menu containing over 100 types of pizza to choose from. The waiter seemed surprised that we attempted to read the entire list. We chose #39. After dinner we walked the many bridges and stayed until it was late and ended up grabbing a treat of tiny cakes, hot chocolate, and espresso before calling it a night.
Budapest: Buda Sights, Race Cars, and Baths
We're about halfway through our third day in Ljubljana right now, just taking a break back at the room. Tomorrow we might spend the day at the coastal resort town of Piran where it's supposed to be nice, although Rick Steves doesn't cover it in this guidebook so we'll be without our safety net which is a little bit nerve-wracking.
Sunday May 1st: On our second day in Budapest we planned on crossing the bridges over to the Buda side, but not before we did some homework. We were leaving the next day and although we had our train tickets in hand we had yet to book a room for our stay in Ljubljana. I went through the recommendations and cast a wide net sending requests for rooms via email to 7 different hotels, b&bs, and pensions. I figured we'd check back around lunchtime to see if we got any bites. We'd decided to just get one room for the rest of the trip since we would be flying out of Ljubljana and do day trips to Lake Bled or anywhere else we wanted to check out.
After breakfast our first priority was attempting to see the grand marketplace again, but when we got there it was still closed. We hadn't checked the signs the other day or we would have realized it didn't open on Sundays. At least we were near one of the bridges over to the Buda side, so we walked across and I took a couple snapshots of the Liberation Monument at the top of the Citadella along the way. To us the statue holding a palm leaf symbolizing peace looked like a taco so we called it the taco monument.
As we climbed the hill toward the Citadella we passed by a stand selling "hot corn" as a refreshing snack. We wandered a bit off the path and discovered the Cave Church, basically a church inside a partially man-made cave. We both thought it was pretty neat.
Outside we continued our hike up the hill. The weather was still quite nice and we were sweating by the time we got to the top. We finally got a good look at the statues on Liberation Monument and could tell it was actually a palm frond and not a taco as we had assumed. Behind the monument was the fortress or citadella. We walked the perimeter and took some panoramic shots across the river looking back at the Pest side. From there we could see some sort of activity along the bridges and wondered what it might be. It looked like they were closing them down to car traffic and putting up barricades. I didn't think much of it at the time.
As we hiked back down the hill on the other side, continuing on toward the castle we started to hear some sort of announcement on a loudspeaker echoing across the Danube, but it was in Hungarian so we still had no clue what was going on. Later as we lost sight of the river in the dense trees our peaceful nature hike was shattered by the sounds of the ear-splitting whine of car engines carrying across the water and echoing throughout the park. When we reached the next vantage point at Philosophers Monument we could see that there was a car race underway as a handful of tiny race cars zipped back and forth across the bridge and up the street on the near side, making a L-shaped loop. People crowded the railings and the bridges and the street-sides to watch the race. We just wanted to keep pushing through to get to the castle because we were on a schedule.
We eventually found our way through to the Buda castle and climbed up through the back gate. The castle itself was rather unimpressive but it did offer some grand views of the Chain Bridge. After the castle we planned on heading back across the Chain Bridge, but when we got there it seemed the race was still going and it was almost impossible to push through the sea of people crowding around to watch. We moved at a glacial pace through narrow fenced off corridors only to find when we got to the bridge that they had gated it off and were only allowing traffic coming over to Buda and would not let us pass the other direction. Kat was starting to get annoyed from being jostled about in such a large and crushing crowd for so long so I pushed a path through to where we could get some breathing room. We reached the riverside under the bridge and walked away from the crowds, not really knowing where to go. I was hungry and my foot was one giant blister at this point so I was getting a little snippy as well. We both thought it would be a good time to get some lunch and go to the Szechenyi Baths to relax, the only problem was that they were on the other side of the river and the closest non-closed bridge looked to be miles away.
About halfway to the far bridge Kat spotted a metro stop. I checked the map and indeed there was a metro 2 line stop right there that would carry us under the river. We gratefully got on board and rode it all the way back to Andrassy ut. Food was the first priority so we headed into the Ruin Pub district and finally found a Hummus Bar to get some beers, a falafel sandwich, a hummus plate, and some free wifi. The food was good, but I had to remind the guy like three times to bring us our beers. While I waited impatiently I checked my email and saw that I had many responses at least 3 options of hotels to choose from that could satisfy our requests. The best deal of the group was Slamic B&B so I accepted their offer and got it all squared away.
After lunch we pressed on, blisters and all, to the closest metro station along line 1 that would take us to Heroes Square. A few stops later we were there and I took a few pics of the sculptures in the square. Just beyond Heroes Square is the City Park where they have a zoo, a circus, a replica Transylvanian castle on a lake, and the Szechenyi Baths. Kat had read up on the process at the baths so we went in the poolside entrance, got our wrist bands and assigned cabin, rented our towels, and went in search of the changing cabin. It was a tiny little room we had to share, but we could at least leave our stuff in there while we were bathing. Kat got in her modest one-piece suit and I put on my tiny speedo and strutted out into the public baths.
We warmed up in the medical baths first, which are basically a series of hot tubs kept at different temperatures and with various different minerals mixed in that make them smell like feet. Our bodies needed the soak and we started to let some of the stress and tension melt away from our muscles. Kat and I traded calf and foot massages as we luxuriated in the baths. When we started to get a little dizzy from the heat we went out to the outdoor baths, which are still warm, but not overly so, and floated around for a bit longer. We watched people playing chess in the water, standing under the spouts, and generally having a good time until our fingers and toes began to prune. Before we left we wanted to hit the sauna as well. Neither of us could handle the stuffy heat for too long so soon we were showering, drying off, and getting dressed again. After I returned the towels, got my deposit back, and fed our wristbands into the return slot we headed back outside, feeling refreshed and a tad sleepy.
Before we retired for a nap at the room we decided it was high time to get a glass of wine at DiVino's wine bar. We took the metro again as close as it could get us, because we were pretty much done with walking by now. The last couple of times we had passed by it had been closed, but this time we were in luck and we snagged a table along our favorite square, St. Istvan's Square. After we each had a glass we decided it was nap time and headed back to the room, taking the metro again of course.
After our much needed mid-afternoon nap it was getting quite late and already past dinner time. I put on my fancy duds again and we started to head out only to find that a sudden rainstorm had appeared. We weren't prepared for that, but the front desk was able to lend us a large umbrella. We decided on a restaurant right nearby the Opera House and huddled together for the short walk through the rain.
We had a great meal at Klassz and the waiter was very fun and friendly. I had a stuffed duck breast and Kat had a braised pork chop from a special hairy pot bellied Hungarian pig. Both were delicious. We followed it up with crepe suzette with ice cream, an espresso for me because I was falling asleep at the table, and a shot of strong Hungarian apricot liquor for Kat. We finished up and by the time we walked home the rain had stopped. It was a great last night in Budapest.
Sunday May 1st: On our second day in Budapest we planned on crossing the bridges over to the Buda side, but not before we did some homework. We were leaving the next day and although we had our train tickets in hand we had yet to book a room for our stay in Ljubljana. I went through the recommendations and cast a wide net sending requests for rooms via email to 7 different hotels, b&bs, and pensions. I figured we'd check back around lunchtime to see if we got any bites. We'd decided to just get one room for the rest of the trip since we would be flying out of Ljubljana and do day trips to Lake Bled or anywhere else we wanted to check out.
After breakfast our first priority was attempting to see the grand marketplace again, but when we got there it was still closed. We hadn't checked the signs the other day or we would have realized it didn't open on Sundays. At least we were near one of the bridges over to the Buda side, so we walked across and I took a couple snapshots of the Liberation Monument at the top of the Citadella along the way. To us the statue holding a palm leaf symbolizing peace looked like a taco so we called it the taco monument.
As we climbed the hill toward the Citadella we passed by a stand selling "hot corn" as a refreshing snack. We wandered a bit off the path and discovered the Cave Church, basically a church inside a partially man-made cave. We both thought it was pretty neat.
Outside we continued our hike up the hill. The weather was still quite nice and we were sweating by the time we got to the top. We finally got a good look at the statues on Liberation Monument and could tell it was actually a palm frond and not a taco as we had assumed. Behind the monument was the fortress or citadella. We walked the perimeter and took some panoramic shots across the river looking back at the Pest side. From there we could see some sort of activity along the bridges and wondered what it might be. It looked like they were closing them down to car traffic and putting up barricades. I didn't think much of it at the time.
As we hiked back down the hill on the other side, continuing on toward the castle we started to hear some sort of announcement on a loudspeaker echoing across the Danube, but it was in Hungarian so we still had no clue what was going on. Later as we lost sight of the river in the dense trees our peaceful nature hike was shattered by the sounds of the ear-splitting whine of car engines carrying across the water and echoing throughout the park. When we reached the next vantage point at Philosophers Monument we could see that there was a car race underway as a handful of tiny race cars zipped back and forth across the bridge and up the street on the near side, making a L-shaped loop. People crowded the railings and the bridges and the street-sides to watch the race. We just wanted to keep pushing through to get to the castle because we were on a schedule.
We eventually found our way through to the Buda castle and climbed up through the back gate. The castle itself was rather unimpressive but it did offer some grand views of the Chain Bridge. After the castle we planned on heading back across the Chain Bridge, but when we got there it seemed the race was still going and it was almost impossible to push through the sea of people crowding around to watch. We moved at a glacial pace through narrow fenced off corridors only to find when we got to the bridge that they had gated it off and were only allowing traffic coming over to Buda and would not let us pass the other direction. Kat was starting to get annoyed from being jostled about in such a large and crushing crowd for so long so I pushed a path through to where we could get some breathing room. We reached the riverside under the bridge and walked away from the crowds, not really knowing where to go. I was hungry and my foot was one giant blister at this point so I was getting a little snippy as well. We both thought it would be a good time to get some lunch and go to the Szechenyi Baths to relax, the only problem was that they were on the other side of the river and the closest non-closed bridge looked to be miles away.
About halfway to the far bridge Kat spotted a metro stop. I checked the map and indeed there was a metro 2 line stop right there that would carry us under the river. We gratefully got on board and rode it all the way back to Andrassy ut. Food was the first priority so we headed into the Ruin Pub district and finally found a Hummus Bar to get some beers, a falafel sandwich, a hummus plate, and some free wifi. The food was good, but I had to remind the guy like three times to bring us our beers. While I waited impatiently I checked my email and saw that I had many responses at least 3 options of hotels to choose from that could satisfy our requests. The best deal of the group was Slamic B&B so I accepted their offer and got it all squared away.
After lunch we pressed on, blisters and all, to the closest metro station along line 1 that would take us to Heroes Square. A few stops later we were there and I took a few pics of the sculptures in the square. Just beyond Heroes Square is the City Park where they have a zoo, a circus, a replica Transylvanian castle on a lake, and the Szechenyi Baths. Kat had read up on the process at the baths so we went in the poolside entrance, got our wrist bands and assigned cabin, rented our towels, and went in search of the changing cabin. It was a tiny little room we had to share, but we could at least leave our stuff in there while we were bathing. Kat got in her modest one-piece suit and I put on my tiny speedo and strutted out into the public baths.
We warmed up in the medical baths first, which are basically a series of hot tubs kept at different temperatures and with various different minerals mixed in that make them smell like feet. Our bodies needed the soak and we started to let some of the stress and tension melt away from our muscles. Kat and I traded calf and foot massages as we luxuriated in the baths. When we started to get a little dizzy from the heat we went out to the outdoor baths, which are still warm, but not overly so, and floated around for a bit longer. We watched people playing chess in the water, standing under the spouts, and generally having a good time until our fingers and toes began to prune. Before we left we wanted to hit the sauna as well. Neither of us could handle the stuffy heat for too long so soon we were showering, drying off, and getting dressed again. After I returned the towels, got my deposit back, and fed our wristbands into the return slot we headed back outside, feeling refreshed and a tad sleepy.
Before we retired for a nap at the room we decided it was high time to get a glass of wine at DiVino's wine bar. We took the metro again as close as it could get us, because we were pretty much done with walking by now. The last couple of times we had passed by it had been closed, but this time we were in luck and we snagged a table along our favorite square, St. Istvan's Square. After we each had a glass we decided it was nap time and headed back to the room, taking the metro again of course.
After our much needed mid-afternoon nap it was getting quite late and already past dinner time. I put on my fancy duds again and we started to head out only to find that a sudden rainstorm had appeared. We weren't prepared for that, but the front desk was able to lend us a large umbrella. We decided on a restaurant right nearby the Opera House and huddled together for the short walk through the rain.
We had a great meal at Klassz and the waiter was very fun and friendly. I had a stuffed duck breast and Kat had a braised pork chop from a special hairy pot bellied Hungarian pig. Both were delicious. We followed it up with crepe suzette with ice cream, an espresso for me because I was falling asleep at the table, and a shot of strong Hungarian apricot liquor for Kat. We finished up and by the time we walked home the rain had stopped. It was a great last night in Budapest.
Tuesday, May 03, 2016
Budapest: Don't Drink the Boat Wine!
Today we took a day trip to Lake Bled and had an amazing time there. I think it might have even edged out Cesky Krumlov for best experience of the trip. I'll eventually get to posting about it though, once I finish my backlog of posts.
Saturday April 30th: I'd say we both really enjoyed Budapest. It feels like an accessible and friendly city despite its large size, the occasionally dingy-looking Metro station, and the reeking puddles of piss in the alleyways. Compared to Vienna, where you feel like you're supposed to be impressed by the grand imperial architecture and city planning, Budapest is truly awe-inspiring with its fanciful monuments dotting the hill on Buda visible from across the river, the massive Chain Bridge, the imposing parliament building, and the grand Heroes Square. It's even more beautiful at night when everything lights up and reflects against the Danube. It has its hidden and more subtle charms as well including the line 1 metro stations, the Cave Church, the amazing baths, and many excellent places to eat and drink wine while people watching. All in all I think it's the total package.
We had two days scheduled for Budapest; one for the Pest side and another for Buda, with nights back in Pest for dinner and drinks. The sites in Budapest are a bit more spread out than even Vienna so in order to preserve our feet and still see everything we wanted to having the travel pass was essential. As I think I already mentioned, our hotel turned out to be a great spot, right near the Opera spot on metro line 1, which had these cute little tiled stations, along Andrassy ut. where there were plenty of options for eating, and close to the Jewish Quarter where there were even more options for food and late night drinks. Leopold Town was also a great area for cafes and wine bars, which was a short walk and an even shorter metro ride away.
Our enjoyment of Budapest was probably helped by the weather while we were there. It was sunny and warm both days so I finally had a chance to wear the shorts I had packed and Kat brought out her skirt and tank tops. After a solid breakfast at the hotel, including Kat's customary do-it-yourself chai latte using her own mix, we started our walking tour of Budapest with the next door Opera House. We then proceeded down Andrassy ut. past Liszt Ference ter, through the Oktogon, and got as far as Terror House. From there it was a straight shot on a tram to the train station where I needed to print our train tickets to Ljubljana. We continued our tour by walking to the impressive Parliament Building near the Danube and spent some time there just checking out all the sculptures and appreciating it as we were instructed to by Rick Steves.
Next we followed the river South, passing the simple yet powerfully moving Holocaust Monument which consisted of 50 pairs of empty bronze shoes lined up along the Danube. Our path then took us away from the river and to a series of gardens and squares dotted with more monuments, sculpture, and statues including one of The Gipper. Kat found another playful water feature, this one would sense you walking through it and shut off to let you pass.
Around lunchtime we reached St. Istvan Square right in the heart of Leopold Town with the distinctive St. Istvan's Basilica overlooking it. In our wanderings this would be a touchstone landmark and we would frequently find ourselves in the area for the many fine restaurants, cafes, and wine bars. We ate our first lunch just behind St. Istvan's. We tried to get into DiVino's, a recommended wine bar, but it wasn't open yet.
After lunch we headed back down to the Danube and walked along until we came to the Legenda Boat Tours dock. Their nighttime river tour had been recommended to us by the family we had met while waiting for the worst yellow internet bus ever so we thought we'd give it a try. We got our discount tickets, thanks to Rick Steves, for the sunset tour around 20:15 and then kept going. We ended up at the great marketplace, but it had just closed. This disappointed Kat because she was looking forward to browsing through the piles of pickles and paprika.
We hoped on a tram and rode it for a few stops until we reached the Jewish Quarter where we wandered the narrow streets and looked for some of the Ruin Pubs we'd heard about. They all seemed a bit too smokey for our tastes though. I guess we've been spoiled by Oregon's non-smoking rules.
By that time we were both a bit worn out and wanted to get back to the room for a break before our evening boat tour. Luckily the hotel was nearby since we'd basically come full-circle and we were almost back where we started. A couple streets over and we were home again. After a power nap we got ourselves spruced up (I was really getting some use out of my jacket) and headed back down to the Danube.
We arrived at the dock early and had to sit down to wait for our boarding time. While we waited we heard a commotion from behind us and watched as two men climbed dripping out of the river and ran off down the canal. It wasn't clear, but it seemed they had jumped off the boat for some reason. As more tourists gathered and crowded into the waiting area Kat and I started to doubt our choice of entertainment for the evening. This was the most touristy thing we'd done so far on the trip and we were being reminded of why we try to avoid tour groups: argumentative people hassling the staff, large crowds, pushy people jockeying for position, feeling stuck to the tour's schedule, and being herded through the experience one group after the next.
Soon they loaded us on board and Kat and I made our way to the top deck to try and get decent seat. I was looking forward to getting some good pictures of the city when it was lit up at night and it would have been nice to have some open air seats, but the boat was completely glazed in. Kat and I were told we would at least be getting a drink as part of the tour so we were looking forward to a glass of wine during the ride. There was a big screen TV at the front of the boat and a listening device with headphones on the back of every seat where you could pick your language and follow along with the narration during the tour.
The boat got going just as the sun was setting, which was quite beautiful to watch, and soon everything started to light up and I was excited again. Unfortunately I soon realized that there was significant glare on the windows coming from the lights behind me as well as from the big screen TV when it flared to life. The video played throughout the whole damn tour, showing you what you basically can see during the day, and was accompanied by the most boring and dumbed-down narration you can imagine. Kat and I would burst into giggling fits over just how lame it was. I took a ton of pictures during the ride hoping that maybe one or two would turn out okay. Kat got a little bored halfway through and entertained herself by trying to sneak into my shots.
When the attendant finally came around to get our drink orders we thought to ourselves that finally we'd be getting our money's worth, but when she brought us our small glasses of red wine we soon realized our mistake. It was terrible, somehow both sour and tasteless at the same time and we both reflexively felt our faces recoil and then looked at each other with identical cringing expressions on our faces. We both struggled to choke it down, but felt determined to do it anyway because we paid for it dammit. It suddenly made sense to us why those two men had jumped off the boat earlier; they had sampled the wine and were trying desperately to run away!
Thankfully the tour and the wine came to an end and we escaped to dry land. We hadn't had time for dinner before the tour and it was getting late and we needed something to wash our mouths out. We wandered Leopold Town again until we found one of the recommended restaurants. This one specialized in sweet and savory strudels. We ordered a bottle of better red wine, ate strudels and goulash, and I topped off the meal with a tiny espresso. As we finished and paid the bill they were closing up for the night. Feeling full and a bit tipsy from quickly polishing off the bottle we weaved our way back to the hotel, dodging little puddles of piss as we went.
Saturday April 30th: I'd say we both really enjoyed Budapest. It feels like an accessible and friendly city despite its large size, the occasionally dingy-looking Metro station, and the reeking puddles of piss in the alleyways. Compared to Vienna, where you feel like you're supposed to be impressed by the grand imperial architecture and city planning, Budapest is truly awe-inspiring with its fanciful monuments dotting the hill on Buda visible from across the river, the massive Chain Bridge, the imposing parliament building, and the grand Heroes Square. It's even more beautiful at night when everything lights up and reflects against the Danube. It has its hidden and more subtle charms as well including the line 1 metro stations, the Cave Church, the amazing baths, and many excellent places to eat and drink wine while people watching. All in all I think it's the total package.
We had two days scheduled for Budapest; one for the Pest side and another for Buda, with nights back in Pest for dinner and drinks. The sites in Budapest are a bit more spread out than even Vienna so in order to preserve our feet and still see everything we wanted to having the travel pass was essential. As I think I already mentioned, our hotel turned out to be a great spot, right near the Opera spot on metro line 1, which had these cute little tiled stations, along Andrassy ut. where there were plenty of options for eating, and close to the Jewish Quarter where there were even more options for food and late night drinks. Leopold Town was also a great area for cafes and wine bars, which was a short walk and an even shorter metro ride away.
Our enjoyment of Budapest was probably helped by the weather while we were there. It was sunny and warm both days so I finally had a chance to wear the shorts I had packed and Kat brought out her skirt and tank tops. After a solid breakfast at the hotel, including Kat's customary do-it-yourself chai latte using her own mix, we started our walking tour of Budapest with the next door Opera House. We then proceeded down Andrassy ut. past Liszt Ference ter, through the Oktogon, and got as far as Terror House. From there it was a straight shot on a tram to the train station where I needed to print our train tickets to Ljubljana. We continued our tour by walking to the impressive Parliament Building near the Danube and spent some time there just checking out all the sculptures and appreciating it as we were instructed to by Rick Steves.
Next we followed the river South, passing the simple yet powerfully moving Holocaust Monument which consisted of 50 pairs of empty bronze shoes lined up along the Danube. Our path then took us away from the river and to a series of gardens and squares dotted with more monuments, sculpture, and statues including one of The Gipper. Kat found another playful water feature, this one would sense you walking through it and shut off to let you pass.
Around lunchtime we reached St. Istvan Square right in the heart of Leopold Town with the distinctive St. Istvan's Basilica overlooking it. In our wanderings this would be a touchstone landmark and we would frequently find ourselves in the area for the many fine restaurants, cafes, and wine bars. We ate our first lunch just behind St. Istvan's. We tried to get into DiVino's, a recommended wine bar, but it wasn't open yet.
After lunch we headed back down to the Danube and walked along until we came to the Legenda Boat Tours dock. Their nighttime river tour had been recommended to us by the family we had met while waiting for the worst yellow internet bus ever so we thought we'd give it a try. We got our discount tickets, thanks to Rick Steves, for the sunset tour around 20:15 and then kept going. We ended up at the great marketplace, but it had just closed. This disappointed Kat because she was looking forward to browsing through the piles of pickles and paprika.
We hoped on a tram and rode it for a few stops until we reached the Jewish Quarter where we wandered the narrow streets and looked for some of the Ruin Pubs we'd heard about. They all seemed a bit too smokey for our tastes though. I guess we've been spoiled by Oregon's non-smoking rules.
By that time we were both a bit worn out and wanted to get back to the room for a break before our evening boat tour. Luckily the hotel was nearby since we'd basically come full-circle and we were almost back where we started. A couple streets over and we were home again. After a power nap we got ourselves spruced up (I was really getting some use out of my jacket) and headed back down to the Danube.
We arrived at the dock early and had to sit down to wait for our boarding time. While we waited we heard a commotion from behind us and watched as two men climbed dripping out of the river and ran off down the canal. It wasn't clear, but it seemed they had jumped off the boat for some reason. As more tourists gathered and crowded into the waiting area Kat and I started to doubt our choice of entertainment for the evening. This was the most touristy thing we'd done so far on the trip and we were being reminded of why we try to avoid tour groups: argumentative people hassling the staff, large crowds, pushy people jockeying for position, feeling stuck to the tour's schedule, and being herded through the experience one group after the next.
Soon they loaded us on board and Kat and I made our way to the top deck to try and get decent seat. I was looking forward to getting some good pictures of the city when it was lit up at night and it would have been nice to have some open air seats, but the boat was completely glazed in. Kat and I were told we would at least be getting a drink as part of the tour so we were looking forward to a glass of wine during the ride. There was a big screen TV at the front of the boat and a listening device with headphones on the back of every seat where you could pick your language and follow along with the narration during the tour.
The boat got going just as the sun was setting, which was quite beautiful to watch, and soon everything started to light up and I was excited again. Unfortunately I soon realized that there was significant glare on the windows coming from the lights behind me as well as from the big screen TV when it flared to life. The video played throughout the whole damn tour, showing you what you basically can see during the day, and was accompanied by the most boring and dumbed-down narration you can imagine. Kat and I would burst into giggling fits over just how lame it was. I took a ton of pictures during the ride hoping that maybe one or two would turn out okay. Kat got a little bored halfway through and entertained herself by trying to sneak into my shots.
When the attendant finally came around to get our drink orders we thought to ourselves that finally we'd be getting our money's worth, but when she brought us our small glasses of red wine we soon realized our mistake. It was terrible, somehow both sour and tasteless at the same time and we both reflexively felt our faces recoil and then looked at each other with identical cringing expressions on our faces. We both struggled to choke it down, but felt determined to do it anyway because we paid for it dammit. It suddenly made sense to us why those two men had jumped off the boat earlier; they had sampled the wine and were trying desperately to run away!
Thankfully the tour and the wine came to an end and we escaped to dry land. We hadn't had time for dinner before the tour and it was getting late and we needed something to wash our mouths out. We wandered Leopold Town again until we found one of the recommended restaurants. This one specialized in sweet and savory strudels. We ordered a bottle of better red wine, ate strudels and goulash, and I topped off the meal with a tiny espresso. As we finished and paid the bill they were closing up for the night. Feeling full and a bit tipsy from quickly polishing off the bottle we weaved our way back to the hotel, dodging little puddles of piss as we went.
Monday, May 02, 2016
Budapest by Way of Bratislava
We are at a sweet little B&B in Ljubljana, Slovenia, currently and winding down in bed after a nice walk around town. We should be spending the next few nights here before flying back to Berlin for one last night and then flying home. Tomorrow we plan on taking a day trip to Lake Bled since the weather should be nice there.
Friday April 29th: On our last day in Vienna we got our first really nice day for weather. The sun was out and it was warm enough to go without jackets, but we kept our scarves on because we're not animals. Trains to Bratislava leave Vienna 16 minutes after the hour every hour so we thought we'd take a leisurely morning stroll for breakfast. Kat was actually craving a sausage that morning so I thought "Now's my chance!" When we got out to the main boulevard we discovered that a flea market had sprung up overnight running down the side street. When we went to investigate we could see it stretched all the way down the street and out of sight. Kat was curious so we wandered down the aisle while I kept my eyes peeled for a sausage stand. It stretched on and on filled with scarves, antiques, knock-off brand shoes, perfume, kitchy art, leather belts, and knickknacks of all kinds, but there was never a hot sausage in sight. We stopped for hot caffeinated beverages before turning around and heading back the way we came.
We reached the main boulevard again and we were still unsasuaged, but I had a plan. I'd seen that late night sausage stand the previous evening on my dinner run so I steered us in that direction. I wasn't sure if it'd be open early as well, but I was hoping. We walked a few blocks and just as I was about to give in to despair it appeared around a corner and glory of glories it was open! After the long wait and with much anticipation we were about to get sausaged in Vienna. We pointed at two good looking sausages and the sausageman grabbed a couple of big rolls, cut an end off of each of them, shoved them on these heated spike things to make a hollow core in them, filled them with ketchup, then stuffed the sausages in the holes, and even put the little end cap back on them, making the perfect sausage holder. It was all I had dreamed of and more. Although I did almost get ketchup all over myself when I bit down and it squirted out all at once.
We eventually came back to our room to find the door open and K&T trying to clean it again. We had mentioned that we might check out early, but had changed our minds. I guess they didn't get the memo. Feeling like we had better leave so they could get on with their cleaning without us in their way we packed up our bags once again and took the U-bahn to Vienna Central Station to catch the train to Bratislava.
By the time we reached the station it was very nearly time for the 10:16 train to leave, but I didn't have tickets yet. I tried to work the automated ticket machine but it only wanted to sell me round-trip tickets and we weren't planning on coming back so I had to go talk to a real person. By the time I got our tickets it was 10:13 and we had to run to catch our train once again. We got on with no problems and moved to the back of a car where we could spread out with our big bags. Our plan was to find a place to store them once we got to Bratislava.
The ride took just over an hour. We knew we were going to leave by bus from a different station so we decided to head there first and look for lockers. My first impression of Bratislava near the main train station was that it's a bit rough around the edges. Things are a bit more run-down and less cared for than in some of the other places we'd been. Little details like potholes in the roads, crumbling sidewalks, graffiti on the walls, and overflowing garbage cans all contribute to giving you a bit of a sketchy feeling even though it was quite safe.
I grabbed a map and we headed toward the main bus station where we planned to stash our big bags before exploring old town. Along the way we passed by a rather nice looking cemetery and park fenced in by a tall concrete dividing wall with interesting little portholes looking through. We got to the main bus station and it looked even more rough around the edges than the train station did. There weren't any pay lockers, but there was a luggage guy sitting behind a locked gate you could pay to watch your bags. It cost 1.5 euros for 1 day per bag, but only until 18:00. We planned to be leaving by bus around 19:45 so we took him up on it. We just had to be sure to be back before 18:00 or we weren't getting our bags back.
Our first priority after dropping off the bags was food. On our way toward old town we located "1. Slovak Pub", one of Rick's recommended eateries. At first I thought it was going to be a little gimmicky and overrated, what with the themed rooms and informative displays and such, but the meal turned out to be quite good. We left feeling full and refreshed and ready to explore.
The main approach to old town takes you down an angled alleyway and through Michael's Gate. Once you pass through the gate it feels like a whole different world from the rest of Bratislava. Where the rest of Bratislava felt ugly and dead, old town on the other hand is clean, charming, and vibrant. As we wandered down the alleyways we kept an eye out for cannonballs from the time of Napoleon's siege that were apparently still embedded in a few of the buildings in the area. We popped our heads into hidden courtyards looking for art and interesting cafes. We found some strange and whimsical sculptures and a tiny and high-strung dog in a track suit named Lenny.
When we got to the river we considered walking all the way across the UFO bridge and riding up to the top, but gave up and found the closest cafe with free wifi instead. It was only 15:00 or so, but we were already feeling about ready to move on. Our bus wouldn't be there for almost another 5 hours so we sat and had drinks while using the internet and rested.
After a couple hours we wandered back the way we came and finally spotted a couple of the cannonballs that had been incorporated into the building walls. We made it all the way back to the bus station in time to rescue our bags and then sat down to have a bagel sandwich and a glass of wine at a strange cafe made our of a bus inside the station. We continued to use the internet as we passed the time until the cafe eventually closed and shut their wifi down.
With only a half hour left to wait we headed outside to the platform and grabbed a bench. While waiting we met a family of American ex-patriots who were living in France and who were going to be on our bus to Budapest. We had a nice chat, but soon became concerned when the bus failed to arrive at the proper time. We saw other buses to Budapest come and go, but our bus was getting later and later. Finally after being almost 1.5 hours late the yellow internet bus arrived. I never did get an explanation as to why. It also came as a surprise when we were charged 50 euro cents per bag, which we'd hadn't had to pay on previous yellow internet buses. The final surprise came when we learned that there would be no internet available on the yellow internet bus. Apparently that only worked in Czechia. All in all it was our worst yellow internet bus ride ever.
It was an almost 3 hour ride to Budapest and it was well past midnight when we finally arrived. We walked to the closest Metro station, which had already closed down and was filled with sleeping homeless people and a group of rowdy drunk people. I nervously purchased our public transportation passes for the next few days from an automated machine and we hurried out to the bus stop to catch a night bus that would take us into town and closer to our hotel.
It was a short walk from the bus stop to our hotel, the K&K Hotel, which turned out to be in a very good central location near the Opera House. They did have these big chunky electronic key cards and these weird knobs on the doors though. When we got into our room we went right to sleep.
Friday April 29th: On our last day in Vienna we got our first really nice day for weather. The sun was out and it was warm enough to go without jackets, but we kept our scarves on because we're not animals. Trains to Bratislava leave Vienna 16 minutes after the hour every hour so we thought we'd take a leisurely morning stroll for breakfast. Kat was actually craving a sausage that morning so I thought "Now's my chance!" When we got out to the main boulevard we discovered that a flea market had sprung up overnight running down the side street. When we went to investigate we could see it stretched all the way down the street and out of sight. Kat was curious so we wandered down the aisle while I kept my eyes peeled for a sausage stand. It stretched on and on filled with scarves, antiques, knock-off brand shoes, perfume, kitchy art, leather belts, and knickknacks of all kinds, but there was never a hot sausage in sight. We stopped for hot caffeinated beverages before turning around and heading back the way we came.
We reached the main boulevard again and we were still unsasuaged, but I had a plan. I'd seen that late night sausage stand the previous evening on my dinner run so I steered us in that direction. I wasn't sure if it'd be open early as well, but I was hoping. We walked a few blocks and just as I was about to give in to despair it appeared around a corner and glory of glories it was open! After the long wait and with much anticipation we were about to get sausaged in Vienna. We pointed at two good looking sausages and the sausageman grabbed a couple of big rolls, cut an end off of each of them, shoved them on these heated spike things to make a hollow core in them, filled them with ketchup, then stuffed the sausages in the holes, and even put the little end cap back on them, making the perfect sausage holder. It was all I had dreamed of and more. Although I did almost get ketchup all over myself when I bit down and it squirted out all at once.
We eventually came back to our room to find the door open and K&T trying to clean it again. We had mentioned that we might check out early, but had changed our minds. I guess they didn't get the memo. Feeling like we had better leave so they could get on with their cleaning without us in their way we packed up our bags once again and took the U-bahn to Vienna Central Station to catch the train to Bratislava.
By the time we reached the station it was very nearly time for the 10:16 train to leave, but I didn't have tickets yet. I tried to work the automated ticket machine but it only wanted to sell me round-trip tickets and we weren't planning on coming back so I had to go talk to a real person. By the time I got our tickets it was 10:13 and we had to run to catch our train once again. We got on with no problems and moved to the back of a car where we could spread out with our big bags. Our plan was to find a place to store them once we got to Bratislava.
The ride took just over an hour. We knew we were going to leave by bus from a different station so we decided to head there first and look for lockers. My first impression of Bratislava near the main train station was that it's a bit rough around the edges. Things are a bit more run-down and less cared for than in some of the other places we'd been. Little details like potholes in the roads, crumbling sidewalks, graffiti on the walls, and overflowing garbage cans all contribute to giving you a bit of a sketchy feeling even though it was quite safe.
I grabbed a map and we headed toward the main bus station where we planned to stash our big bags before exploring old town. Along the way we passed by a rather nice looking cemetery and park fenced in by a tall concrete dividing wall with interesting little portholes looking through. We got to the main bus station and it looked even more rough around the edges than the train station did. There weren't any pay lockers, but there was a luggage guy sitting behind a locked gate you could pay to watch your bags. It cost 1.5 euros for 1 day per bag, but only until 18:00. We planned to be leaving by bus around 19:45 so we took him up on it. We just had to be sure to be back before 18:00 or we weren't getting our bags back.
Our first priority after dropping off the bags was food. On our way toward old town we located "1. Slovak Pub", one of Rick's recommended eateries. At first I thought it was going to be a little gimmicky and overrated, what with the themed rooms and informative displays and such, but the meal turned out to be quite good. We left feeling full and refreshed and ready to explore.
The main approach to old town takes you down an angled alleyway and through Michael's Gate. Once you pass through the gate it feels like a whole different world from the rest of Bratislava. Where the rest of Bratislava felt ugly and dead, old town on the other hand is clean, charming, and vibrant. As we wandered down the alleyways we kept an eye out for cannonballs from the time of Napoleon's siege that were apparently still embedded in a few of the buildings in the area. We popped our heads into hidden courtyards looking for art and interesting cafes. We found some strange and whimsical sculptures and a tiny and high-strung dog in a track suit named Lenny.
When we got to the river we considered walking all the way across the UFO bridge and riding up to the top, but gave up and found the closest cafe with free wifi instead. It was only 15:00 or so, but we were already feeling about ready to move on. Our bus wouldn't be there for almost another 5 hours so we sat and had drinks while using the internet and rested.
After a couple hours we wandered back the way we came and finally spotted a couple of the cannonballs that had been incorporated into the building walls. We made it all the way back to the bus station in time to rescue our bags and then sat down to have a bagel sandwich and a glass of wine at a strange cafe made our of a bus inside the station. We continued to use the internet as we passed the time until the cafe eventually closed and shut their wifi down.
With only a half hour left to wait we headed outside to the platform and grabbed a bench. While waiting we met a family of American ex-patriots who were living in France and who were going to be on our bus to Budapest. We had a nice chat, but soon became concerned when the bus failed to arrive at the proper time. We saw other buses to Budapest come and go, but our bus was getting later and later. Finally after being almost 1.5 hours late the yellow internet bus arrived. I never did get an explanation as to why. It also came as a surprise when we were charged 50 euro cents per bag, which we'd hadn't had to pay on previous yellow internet buses. The final surprise came when we learned that there would be no internet available on the yellow internet bus. Apparently that only worked in Czechia. All in all it was our worst yellow internet bus ride ever.
It was an almost 3 hour ride to Budapest and it was well past midnight when we finally arrived. We walked to the closest Metro station, which had already closed down and was filled with sleeping homeless people and a group of rowdy drunk people. I nervously purchased our public transportation passes for the next few days from an automated machine and we hurried out to the bus stop to catch a night bus that would take us into town and closer to our hotel.
It was a short walk from the bus stop to our hotel, the K&K Hotel, which turned out to be in a very good central location near the Opera House. They did have these big chunky electronic key cards and these weird knobs on the doors though. When we got into our room we went right to sleep.
Vienna Day 2: Naschmarkt, Kaisergruft, & Treasury
Thursday, April 28th: In the morning we went straight back to the Naschmarket for a nibble. The weather had cleared up a bit and the sun was even beginning to peek out. Along the way we saw more of the same smug models in the video billboards, mocking us. It was still quite early and some of the stalls were still in the process of setting up, but we took our time and we both found warm and fashionable scarves to add to our growing collection. We shared a borek, spinach and cheese wrapped in a light pastry dough, and picked up a couple of fresh pears for our breakfast. What I really wanted was a Vienna sausage, but none of the sausage stands were ready for business yet.
Having accomplished our main goal for the day we headed back to the room to lock down some plans for the next leg of our journey. We needed to book a train to Bratislava, then a bus to Budapest, figure out how long we were staying in Budapest, and then reserve rooms. I think it was then that we realized it was going to be too expensive and time consuming to try to work our way back to Warsaw and Krakow after Budapest and changed our plans to go to Ljubljana instead. I hadn't had any troubles with my credit cards up until this point, since I had learned my lessons from before and let my banks know I would be traveling during this time and what countries I would be visiting. However, something about Vienna's train ticket site was off and it wouldn't accept payment for our tickets to Bratislava which triggered some sort of fraud alert and my main credit card stopped working. That proceeded to take up an exorbitant about of time as I tried to contact Bank of America to straighten out the issue. Emailing them through the website wasn't getting any response and since neither of us had needed to make any calls until now we didn't have a SIM card that worked in Europe and didn't really want to buy one now. I bothered Katriana for the use of her phone to make a toll free call, but as you would expect I was placed on hold for a long period of time and eventually hung-up on. Katriana had an appointment and apologized but had to run and take her phone with her. I returned to the room and hit upon the idea of using Skype to make a call via the internet. To my amazement it worked and I was finally able to get hold of a real person. She fixed it soon enough and I was back in business. Being a dummy I immediately tried to book that same train trip again using the same site, which failed again. I was too frustrated at this point to try and figure out if my card had been relocked and since it was getting toward lunch time we packed up and headed out again for more site-seeing. Besides, we'd managed to book the bus from Bratislava to Budapest, reserve a hotel room in Budapest for the next few nights, and booked train tickets to Ljubljana so we were pretty well covered. All we had to do was go to the train station and buy our Bratislava tickets in person when we were ready, since there was a train headed that way scheduled just about every hour.
Our first priority was lunch so we headed into the town center. None of our recommended top choices were open so we settled on a place that advertised multiple kinds of schnitzels. I had the veal and Kat had the pork. Both were good and went well with our light beers. Feeling a bit rejuvenated and full of schnitzel we had the strength to carry on. There were a couple of sites I want to go into, the first being the Kaisergruft (Imperial Crypt) where the ruling Habsburg family kept their massive and intricate pewter coffins. It was an interesting counterpoint to Sedlec Ossuary where there were the bones of thousands of nameless simple people on display, while here the remains of the rich and famous of one of the most powerful families in history were hidden under lock and key of these elaborately sculpted pewter tombs.
After the Kaisergruft I dragged Kat along to see the Hafburg Treasury. As expected it was filled with rare and wonderful artifacts from throughout the period of time the Habsburgs ruled, but overall we found it a bit staid and underwhelming. We just seem to enjoy ourselves more when we're strolling along outdoor markets, exploring city streets, and people-watching while sipping drinks at corner cafes.
Having had our fill of crypts and museums for the day we headed back outside. The only thing left on our list was to go explore the Danube Canal area and hit another cafe for a quick rest. We decided to take the long way around, following the great ring roads around the city center, to catch sight of a few of the grand buildings we had yet to see. It was a longer walk than I think either of us really expected though and soon my feet started to get sore as I could feel a blister forming on the ball of my right foot. It took awhile to find the walkway along the Danube and then we managed to walk right past the cafe we were headed for, having been distracted by seeing a group of policemen arresting a pair of street artists who had been caught in the act with a bag full of spray paint cans.
Backtracking a bit on sore feet we finally found the cafe overlooking the Danube and grabbed a table for a much needed break. I got a coffee and a piece of carrot cake and Kat, having learned that chai lattes in Europe often came with coffee, ordered a hot chocolate, which came out as a warm cup of milk with a chocolate bar and a stirring stick, and a very rich brownie. We sat for a bit sipping our drinks and eating our treats and just enjoyed the moment. All too soon it was time to move on.
Further into our continued walking circuit around the city center Kat began to feel not so great. She thought it might have been all the rich and creamy food and drink and needed to find a bathroom quickly. We happened upon a large green space which seemed likely to have a pay-to-poop somewhere nearby, but it took us awhile to find one. We finally did and Kat seemed much better after the visit.
By the time we made it all the way around the ring we were both ready for a break. We trudged back down the boulevard to our room, passing the smug-looking models along the way as usual. When we got back we locked ourselves in the room and settled in for another long nap.
We woke up late and a bit hungry, but not really feeling up to a fancy sit down dinner so I offered to go wander the boulevard looking for some late night take out that I could bring back to the room for us. Kat said that sounded great, but she didn't want a sausage, which was just about the only thing I had on my mind. I locked her into the room and went out in search of food. Many of the eateries we had scoped out during our previous walks were closing up or already closed. I found a late night sausage stand that was still open and was sorely tempted to get one in spite of Kat's express instructions to the contrary, but I gave up and moved on. Next I found a KFC that was open and busy looking, but it just didn't quite appeal to me. Finally I settled on another pan-Asian place with a street-side window and ordered some vegetable stir-fry and some cashew chicken with rice. Loaded up with more food than we could possibly eat or want I headed triumphantly back to the room, having managed to resist sausagey temptation.
When I got back Kat mentioned that our hosts had tried to get into the room again, but since I had locked the door and taken the only keys with me Kat couldn't even open the door. I'm glad the place didn't catch on fire while I was away. We sat at the tiny table and ate about half of the food before putting the rest in the community fridge down the hall. We never did end up getting rid of it so it's probably still in there just smelling up the place. Sorry, Katriana.
We needed to pack up once again and head on to Bratislava in the morning so we brushed our teeth and went back to bed.
Having accomplished our main goal for the day we headed back to the room to lock down some plans for the next leg of our journey. We needed to book a train to Bratislava, then a bus to Budapest, figure out how long we were staying in Budapest, and then reserve rooms. I think it was then that we realized it was going to be too expensive and time consuming to try to work our way back to Warsaw and Krakow after Budapest and changed our plans to go to Ljubljana instead. I hadn't had any troubles with my credit cards up until this point, since I had learned my lessons from before and let my banks know I would be traveling during this time and what countries I would be visiting. However, something about Vienna's train ticket site was off and it wouldn't accept payment for our tickets to Bratislava which triggered some sort of fraud alert and my main credit card stopped working. That proceeded to take up an exorbitant about of time as I tried to contact Bank of America to straighten out the issue. Emailing them through the website wasn't getting any response and since neither of us had needed to make any calls until now we didn't have a SIM card that worked in Europe and didn't really want to buy one now. I bothered Katriana for the use of her phone to make a toll free call, but as you would expect I was placed on hold for a long period of time and eventually hung-up on. Katriana had an appointment and apologized but had to run and take her phone with her. I returned to the room and hit upon the idea of using Skype to make a call via the internet. To my amazement it worked and I was finally able to get hold of a real person. She fixed it soon enough and I was back in business. Being a dummy I immediately tried to book that same train trip again using the same site, which failed again. I was too frustrated at this point to try and figure out if my card had been relocked and since it was getting toward lunch time we packed up and headed out again for more site-seeing. Besides, we'd managed to book the bus from Bratislava to Budapest, reserve a hotel room in Budapest for the next few nights, and booked train tickets to Ljubljana so we were pretty well covered. All we had to do was go to the train station and buy our Bratislava tickets in person when we were ready, since there was a train headed that way scheduled just about every hour.
Our first priority was lunch so we headed into the town center. None of our recommended top choices were open so we settled on a place that advertised multiple kinds of schnitzels. I had the veal and Kat had the pork. Both were good and went well with our light beers. Feeling a bit rejuvenated and full of schnitzel we had the strength to carry on. There were a couple of sites I want to go into, the first being the Kaisergruft (Imperial Crypt) where the ruling Habsburg family kept their massive and intricate pewter coffins. It was an interesting counterpoint to Sedlec Ossuary where there were the bones of thousands of nameless simple people on display, while here the remains of the rich and famous of one of the most powerful families in history were hidden under lock and key of these elaborately sculpted pewter tombs.
After the Kaisergruft I dragged Kat along to see the Hafburg Treasury. As expected it was filled with rare and wonderful artifacts from throughout the period of time the Habsburgs ruled, but overall we found it a bit staid and underwhelming. We just seem to enjoy ourselves more when we're strolling along outdoor markets, exploring city streets, and people-watching while sipping drinks at corner cafes.
Having had our fill of crypts and museums for the day we headed back outside. The only thing left on our list was to go explore the Danube Canal area and hit another cafe for a quick rest. We decided to take the long way around, following the great ring roads around the city center, to catch sight of a few of the grand buildings we had yet to see. It was a longer walk than I think either of us really expected though and soon my feet started to get sore as I could feel a blister forming on the ball of my right foot. It took awhile to find the walkway along the Danube and then we managed to walk right past the cafe we were headed for, having been distracted by seeing a group of policemen arresting a pair of street artists who had been caught in the act with a bag full of spray paint cans.
Backtracking a bit on sore feet we finally found the cafe overlooking the Danube and grabbed a table for a much needed break. I got a coffee and a piece of carrot cake and Kat, having learned that chai lattes in Europe often came with coffee, ordered a hot chocolate, which came out as a warm cup of milk with a chocolate bar and a stirring stick, and a very rich brownie. We sat for a bit sipping our drinks and eating our treats and just enjoyed the moment. All too soon it was time to move on.
Further into our continued walking circuit around the city center Kat began to feel not so great. She thought it might have been all the rich and creamy food and drink and needed to find a bathroom quickly. We happened upon a large green space which seemed likely to have a pay-to-poop somewhere nearby, but it took us awhile to find one. We finally did and Kat seemed much better after the visit.
By the time we made it all the way around the ring we were both ready for a break. We trudged back down the boulevard to our room, passing the smug-looking models along the way as usual. When we got back we locked ourselves in the room and settled in for another long nap.
We woke up late and a bit hungry, but not really feeling up to a fancy sit down dinner so I offered to go wander the boulevard looking for some late night take out that I could bring back to the room for us. Kat said that sounded great, but she didn't want a sausage, which was just about the only thing I had on my mind. I locked her into the room and went out in search of food. Many of the eateries we had scoped out during our previous walks were closing up or already closed. I found a late night sausage stand that was still open and was sorely tempted to get one in spite of Kat's express instructions to the contrary, but I gave up and moved on. Next I found a KFC that was open and busy looking, but it just didn't quite appeal to me. Finally I settled on another pan-Asian place with a street-side window and ordered some vegetable stir-fry and some cashew chicken with rice. Loaded up with more food than we could possibly eat or want I headed triumphantly back to the room, having managed to resist sausagey temptation.
When I got back Kat mentioned that our hosts had tried to get into the room again, but since I had locked the door and taken the only keys with me Kat couldn't even open the door. I'm glad the place didn't catch on fire while I was away. We sat at the tiny table and ate about half of the food before putting the rest in the community fridge down the hall. We never did end up getting rid of it so it's probably still in there just smelling up the place. Sorry, Katriana.
We needed to pack up once again and head on to Bratislava in the morning so we brushed our teeth and went back to bed.
Arriving in Vienna: Walking Tour & Spittelberg
We've left Budapest behind and are currently on our way to Ljubljana via train and should be there in about 9 hours. It's the perfect time to try to catch up on my updates.
Wednesday, April 27th: We were a bit sad to leave Cesky Krumlov that morning and felt it had much more to offer, but we had a busy schedule to keep to and the shuttle to Vienna was already booked. After having breakfast at a restaurant on the main square we packed our stuff again and locked all the doors on our way out before dropping our key off and saying goodbye to the nice lady at the front desk. When we mentioned we'd be going to Bratislava, Slovakia, at some point she was excited to hear it because it was her home town.
Our shuttle was supposed to pick us up directly from the hotel, but the streets were so narrow and cramped I didn't really see how that would be possible so I had Kat camp out in the main square where I could see her while I kept an eye on the alley near the hotel door. Soon Kat caught sight of a blue van with the CK Shuttle logo and flagged down the driver and gave me the signal. I confirmed our reservation with the driver and we loaded up our gear and grabbed a seat. He had a couple more people to pick up and the van was fully loaded with 7 people before we headed out. It was a comfortable enough ride and I chatted briefly with our driver, Alex, who said he grew up in Cesky Krumlov. Kat and I had just been wondering if it was weird to grow up in such a time-warp of a place so I asked and he said it was pretty normal although he'd been able to travel a bit and see how different other places could be. Unfortunately there was no internet on this trip, which lasted about 4 hours, but we were able to survive it.
We arrived in Vienna in the early afternoon at the Westbahnhof station which was at the end of a long pedestrian boulevard lined with shopping centers that ran toward the center ring of town where all the major sites are located. Our rooms were situated somewhere at about the halfway point along this boulevard. After getting only a little bit turned around on a side street we found the nearly hidden entrance to the K&T Boardinghouse where we were staying. I pressed the button on the callbox and we were buzzed in. Off the street was a grand entry hall with a few short flights of stairs. Katriana, we assume the K of K&T, was waiting for us at the boardinghouse entrance at the side of the hall where she got us checked-in. We were handed a bundle of keys: one for the outer door, one for the inner door, and another for our room #5. Rick Steves had described the rooms as "spacious" and I would have to agree. It consisted of one large square room with high vaulted ceilings, tall windows facing the alleyway along one wall, and wood floors. One corner of the room had a little bathroom built into it. There was a low profile bed, complete with complementary slippers nearby, a tiny round table and chairs in one corner, a divan along one wall, and large armoire in the other corner. This left a massive amount of empty space in the center of the room. We could have invited most of the people at Czocha over for a party and still not have felt too cramped.
Katriana and her partner we very friendly and helpful during our stay and seemed especially eager to clean our room, even while we were still in it. Even when I had the door locked they would often knock once and then come on in only to be surprised to see us there in bed. This happened several times while we were there and frequently we would come back to our room to find the door wide open while they were quickly cleaning it. It was slightly disturbing because it felt like we weren't getting a private room and if they had had a "Do Not Disturb" sign we would have used it, although I don't know if it would have done any good.
There was still plenty of time left in the day so we decided to get started on our walking tour of the town center and grab a bite to eat along the way. The weather had turned a bit gloomy and rainy, although not quite as windy as Berlin or as cold as Prague. This was no deterrent however and we got out our lightweight rain jackets and carried on. It was a brisk walk to the end of the boulevard and the outer ring road. This area was very commercial and had lots of recognizable stores and brands. Along the way we made note of the local Starbucks, McDonalds, and The Body Shop which seemed to be everywhere. We also caught our first glimpse of the video billboards running continuous repetitive loops with the same smug-looking models. We were already getting a sense that Vienna had a more urban and modern city feel.
When we reached the city center we started our Rick Steves guided walking tour which took us on a serpentine path through the streets surrounding the opera house, through several sculpture filled squares, past grand churches, and wrapping around the massive, sprawling, many armed, and courtyard riddled Hofburg Palace. Vienna is an especially grand and imperial feeling city. Everything is done on a large scale and at great expense. Yet it also has an almost sterile feel to it, lacking a bit of the old world charm of Prague or Krakow.
About halfway through our walk we stopped at Trzesniewski as recommended for some tiny open faced egg sandwiches and small beers and then still feeling a bit peckish crossed the street to get a coffee, hot chocolate, and a slice of slightly dry chocolate cake from Cafe Hawelka. We continued along until Neuer Markt where we found the Kurkonditorie Oberlaa where we nibbled on delicious macarons and I picked up an apple-strudel for later.
By the time we got back around to the palace and nearing the end of our walking tour we were both getting fatigued from our travels and looking forward to resting back at the room. Thankfully my stomach troubles seemed to be clearing up and I wasn't running to the bathroom quite as urgently, but the Czocha crud was still with me making my nose and throat a bit sore. We hurried through the last couple sites and hiked up the long boulevard to our semi-private room.
Back at the K&T Boardinghouse we both got into bed and fell fast asleep for several hours. When we finally woke up it was about 21:00 and we figured we better eat some dinner before returning to bed. The rain had stopped and I took the opportunity to dress up slightly for dinner with my fancy jacket and my new scarf from Prague. We decided to explore a couple of neighborhoods outside of the center ring and closer to our room. First we wandered up to the trendy neighborhood of Spittleberg where we decided on eating at Amerlingbeisl. The covered courtyard was shrouded in cigarette smoke, but we found an indoor area that was relatively smoke free. Kat had a pasta dish with cream sauce and I had a steak and egg wrap with potatoes which was fine, but not amazing.
After dinner we decided to do a little bit more exploring and continued over to the Naschmarkt (Nibble Market), a long line of permanent market stalls that reminded us both a little bit of Pike's Place in Seattle. At night one whole side of stalls was closed up, but the other side was open late with many interesting looking eateries and bars. We enjoyed a long looping stroll and decided it would be worth coming back in the daytime to see it when the rest of the market would be open.
We returned to our room late that evening and went straight back to bed. I may have stayed up for a little while longer to upload pics and blog before passing out myself.
Wednesday, April 27th: We were a bit sad to leave Cesky Krumlov that morning and felt it had much more to offer, but we had a busy schedule to keep to and the shuttle to Vienna was already booked. After having breakfast at a restaurant on the main square we packed our stuff again and locked all the doors on our way out before dropping our key off and saying goodbye to the nice lady at the front desk. When we mentioned we'd be going to Bratislava, Slovakia, at some point she was excited to hear it because it was her home town.
Our shuttle was supposed to pick us up directly from the hotel, but the streets were so narrow and cramped I didn't really see how that would be possible so I had Kat camp out in the main square where I could see her while I kept an eye on the alley near the hotel door. Soon Kat caught sight of a blue van with the CK Shuttle logo and flagged down the driver and gave me the signal. I confirmed our reservation with the driver and we loaded up our gear and grabbed a seat. He had a couple more people to pick up and the van was fully loaded with 7 people before we headed out. It was a comfortable enough ride and I chatted briefly with our driver, Alex, who said he grew up in Cesky Krumlov. Kat and I had just been wondering if it was weird to grow up in such a time-warp of a place so I asked and he said it was pretty normal although he'd been able to travel a bit and see how different other places could be. Unfortunately there was no internet on this trip, which lasted about 4 hours, but we were able to survive it.
We arrived in Vienna in the early afternoon at the Westbahnhof station which was at the end of a long pedestrian boulevard lined with shopping centers that ran toward the center ring of town where all the major sites are located. Our rooms were situated somewhere at about the halfway point along this boulevard. After getting only a little bit turned around on a side street we found the nearly hidden entrance to the K&T Boardinghouse where we were staying. I pressed the button on the callbox and we were buzzed in. Off the street was a grand entry hall with a few short flights of stairs. Katriana, we assume the K of K&T, was waiting for us at the boardinghouse entrance at the side of the hall where she got us checked-in. We were handed a bundle of keys: one for the outer door, one for the inner door, and another for our room #5. Rick Steves had described the rooms as "spacious" and I would have to agree. It consisted of one large square room with high vaulted ceilings, tall windows facing the alleyway along one wall, and wood floors. One corner of the room had a little bathroom built into it. There was a low profile bed, complete with complementary slippers nearby, a tiny round table and chairs in one corner, a divan along one wall, and large armoire in the other corner. This left a massive amount of empty space in the center of the room. We could have invited most of the people at Czocha over for a party and still not have felt too cramped.
Katriana and her partner we very friendly and helpful during our stay and seemed especially eager to clean our room, even while we were still in it. Even when I had the door locked they would often knock once and then come on in only to be surprised to see us there in bed. This happened several times while we were there and frequently we would come back to our room to find the door wide open while they were quickly cleaning it. It was slightly disturbing because it felt like we weren't getting a private room and if they had had a "Do Not Disturb" sign we would have used it, although I don't know if it would have done any good.
There was still plenty of time left in the day so we decided to get started on our walking tour of the town center and grab a bite to eat along the way. The weather had turned a bit gloomy and rainy, although not quite as windy as Berlin or as cold as Prague. This was no deterrent however and we got out our lightweight rain jackets and carried on. It was a brisk walk to the end of the boulevard and the outer ring road. This area was very commercial and had lots of recognizable stores and brands. Along the way we made note of the local Starbucks, McDonalds, and The Body Shop which seemed to be everywhere. We also caught our first glimpse of the video billboards running continuous repetitive loops with the same smug-looking models. We were already getting a sense that Vienna had a more urban and modern city feel.
When we reached the city center we started our Rick Steves guided walking tour which took us on a serpentine path through the streets surrounding the opera house, through several sculpture filled squares, past grand churches, and wrapping around the massive, sprawling, many armed, and courtyard riddled Hofburg Palace. Vienna is an especially grand and imperial feeling city. Everything is done on a large scale and at great expense. Yet it also has an almost sterile feel to it, lacking a bit of the old world charm of Prague or Krakow.
About halfway through our walk we stopped at Trzesniewski as recommended for some tiny open faced egg sandwiches and small beers and then still feeling a bit peckish crossed the street to get a coffee, hot chocolate, and a slice of slightly dry chocolate cake from Cafe Hawelka. We continued along until Neuer Markt where we found the Kurkonditorie Oberlaa where we nibbled on delicious macarons and I picked up an apple-strudel for later.
By the time we got back around to the palace and nearing the end of our walking tour we were both getting fatigued from our travels and looking forward to resting back at the room. Thankfully my stomach troubles seemed to be clearing up and I wasn't running to the bathroom quite as urgently, but the Czocha crud was still with me making my nose and throat a bit sore. We hurried through the last couple sites and hiked up the long boulevard to our semi-private room.
Back at the K&T Boardinghouse we both got into bed and fell fast asleep for several hours. When we finally woke up it was about 21:00 and we figured we better eat some dinner before returning to bed. The rain had stopped and I took the opportunity to dress up slightly for dinner with my fancy jacket and my new scarf from Prague. We decided to explore a couple of neighborhoods outside of the center ring and closer to our room. First we wandered up to the trendy neighborhood of Spittleberg where we decided on eating at Amerlingbeisl. The covered courtyard was shrouded in cigarette smoke, but we found an indoor area that was relatively smoke free. Kat had a pasta dish with cream sauce and I had a steak and egg wrap with potatoes which was fine, but not amazing.
After dinner we decided to do a little bit more exploring and continued over to the Naschmarkt (Nibble Market), a long line of permanent market stalls that reminded us both a little bit of Pike's Place in Seattle. At night one whole side of stalls was closed up, but the other side was open late with many interesting looking eateries and bars. We enjoyed a long looping stroll and decided it would be worth coming back in the daytime to see it when the rest of the market would be open.
We returned to our room late that evening and went straight back to bed. I may have stayed up for a little while longer to upload pics and blog before passing out myself.
Sunday, May 01, 2016
Czechia Excursions
We've just returned from a very relaxing soak at the Szechenyi baths here in Budapest. This is our last night here and tomorrow we'll be taking the train to Ljubljana, Slovenia. It's time now to get back to my overdue updates.
Tuesday April 26th: This was an action packed day and still one of our favorites of the whole trip. As planned we packed up our things, strapped our front and back packs on, and checked out of the hotel. I'd rebooked us on the early morning train to Kutna Hora which is about an hour outside of Prague. The plan was to leave our big packs in lockers at the train station, pop out to Kutna Hora for a quick tour and lunch, get the first afternoon train back to Prague, grab our packs, and then jump on a yellow internet bus headed to Cesky Krumlov for the night where I'd already booked a room for us. Cesky Krumlov is about 3.5 hours South of Prague and a good halfway stopping point between Prague and Vienna. I'd even booked a van from CK Shuttle company to pick us up at our hotel in Cesky Krumlov and take us the rest of the way to Vienna the next morning. It was all perfectly planned out.
On our way to the train station that morning we reencountered the hole in the sidewalk that almost claimed Kat from a couple nights ago. We decided to do a quick reenactment of the event and record it as a warning and a public service. At the train station we eventually found the lockers and stored our big bags for later then we scrambled to find our platform because it was getting close to departure time. Along the way we encountered another group of tourists heading to Kutna Hora who asked me directions to the train, because I look like a directions-knowing kind of guy I guess. Together we made it to the right platform in time and Kat and I got comfortable in our own private little cabin on the train.
The ride was relatively short and right on time, about 50 minutes, even with a couple stops along the way. The train station was a bit of a ways outside of Sedlec and Kutna Hora but we opted to walk rather than take the crowded tourist bus. A few minutes later we were at the Sedlec Ossuary. This was the main attraction for me and had been something I wanted to do ever since I learned I had missed it the first time I was in Prague. The chapel wasn't much to look at yet the small graveyard around it was well maintained. The real good stuff was in the crypts below the chapel however. There lies the remains of somewhere between 40,000 and 70,000 people fully on display, their bones arranged in gigantic bell shaped piles, swooping garlands, crosses, urns, goblets, spires, and even in the form of the crest of House Schwarzenburg. Unfortunately, the famous chandelier was missing, having been taken down to be repaired. Still I was struck dumb by the powerful atmosphere of the place. It was mind-boggling to think on how every skull in that place represented an individual who had lived hundreds of years ago and died probably from a plague or from some violent war, to be buried in the church yard only to be dug up again centuries later when they needed more room, and have their bones arranged artfully by a half-blind monk, and then to be forever on display to a never ending parade of strangers who snap a few pictures or maybe even toss a few coins into empty eye-sockets, like some sort of absurdly morbid carnival game. It kind of made me want to have my bones sent to Sedlec when I die.
Once I had had my fill of staring my own mortality in the face so to speak, it having been my 40th birthday the previous day and all, we left the ossuary and returned to the main road. Along the way we stepped into the tourist information center to pick up a map and ask directions to Kutna Hora town center. They suggested we take the bus instead of walking because in their own words, "There's nothing between here and there." It looked like it would only take 10-15 minutes walking and we really don't like packing into tight buses and trams so we chose to walk in spite of their advice. There wasn't much to look at, as they said, but we still found it enjoyable. It is interesting to watch a gritty and sprawling industrial town, where the main industry is a Phillip Morris factory, slowly morph into a tightly packed and alley riddled medieval city at its center.
When we got to the old town square we stopped at a cafe for some hot caffeinated drinks and free wifi. I ordered a coffee with whipped cream and Kat ordered what she though was going to be a chai tea latte, but what turned out to be a caffe latte with chai flavoring. I ended up drinking both coffee drinks and she ordered a hot chocolate instead. We spent the rest of the morning wandering the old town center, admiring the cute buildings as we went, and marking off the landmarks and sites listed in Rick Steves' walking tour. Because we had both had Alchemy classes at Czocha we could not pass up the small Alchemy museum in a cellar beneath the tourist info center in the middle of old town. It consisted of about four rooms in a cramped basement complete with cheesy mannequins, displays, and sound effects. The best part was it didn't take too long. Then we stopped by the Stone House, which Kat had misheard me read as the "Scone House" while we were on the train. Unfortunately they were not serving any scones there. At some point during the walk a local man noticed my book and took issue with it. He said, "This is Central Europe, not Eastern Europe." There was nothing I could really say to that though and we went our separate ways. At the end of our walk we reached St. Barbara's Church where we were rewarded with a spectacular view.
It was getting on toward lunchtime and Kat and I had worked up an appetite so we got our or trusty guide Rick and had him lead the way. Our first choice turned out to be closed, but the runner-up was nearby and served a delicious pizza that went quite well with a couple of cold beers. Then it was time to get back to the train station and catch our ride back to Prague. We took a smaller shuttle train from the old town station back to the main station and waited. Our train arrived pretty much on schedule, however we had heard that the other train coming in from Prague had been delayed by at least 20 minutes. It didn't register at the time, but it should have dawned on me that we might encounter the same delay heading that direction.
It turned out to be a much longer trip back to Prague. We were late by almost 40 minutes, just shy of twice the time it took to get out there. This was a major problem because I had booked the internet bus for an hour after we were supposed to be back and the bus station it left from was on the other side of the river. Kat and I booked it off the train as soon as it stopped, ran to the lockers to grab our packs, strapped them on in a hurry and then ran through the streets of Prague to the closest Metro station that would take us across the river. Several stops later and with less than 5 minutes on the clock we charged up the stairs into an unfamiliar part of town and tried to locate the bus station. A helpful man on a bench saw our frantic looks and pointed us in the right direction and we took off running again. We came around the corner, spotted the buses and with 30 seconds left on the clock we reached the big yellow internet bus and were the last ones on. We threw our big packs in the luggage compartment and then collapsed into our seats while sweating profusely.
During the ride I uploaded some pictures and worked on a blog post which made the time go by quickly. I overheard a couple behind us reading about Cesky Krumlov from the same Rick Steves guidebook so I struck up a short conversation with them and we shared our mutual love for Rick. Before I knew it we were pulling into Cesky Krumlov and it was time to put our packs back on again. The bus station wasn't at all far from old town so walked again. Coming over the hill we got our first good look at the town. If we thought Kutna Hora was picturesque Cesky Krumlov was downright quaint and charming. The entire place is crowded with tiny cute buildings with towers and steeples protruding upward here and there. The old town is surrounded on three sides by an oxbow in the river and connected to the other side with little bridges. All the streets are cobbled, but well maintained. It was an absolutely adorable place and we wish we could have stayed more than just a night there.
Our first stop was our hotel of course. We met the very nice front desk lady and got our key, which we needed to use on the front door, an inner door, and our room door. So many doors to unlock and lock behind us when they came and went. The room was amazing, even more so in person than it looked on the website. I got us the attic room with a castle view and it really was a great spot even though I cracked my head on one of the many low beams. It was a charming sort of smack to the head. Kat was super excited to see that we even had a full bathtub and one of those heated drying racks in the bathroom so we could do a bunch of laundry and have it dried by the morning.
After unloading a bit we set out to do a quick tour of the place and then find some dinner. It was a little after 18:00 and still light out for a bit. We saw all the things including old town square, the castle, and the castle gardens. At the castle the drawbridge was guarded by a bear pit, but there weren't any bears in it that we could see so we decided they were invisible bears. Rather than throwing food into the pit you are encouraged to drop coins in a slot which will be used to buy the bears a more diverse diet. Kat got really excited about that so I gave her a coin so she could feed the invisible bears. All throughout the castle complex, which seemed to wind on forever, there were these squat little half-sized doors that were just about the right height for Kat. I made her model in front of one for me and then I stood in front of a slightly larger one for comparison.
When we got done with our walk we were ready for dinner. The top recommendation turned out to be directly across from our hotel. We attempted to get seated but they said they were booked up until at least 21:00. That gave us about an hour so we said to put us down for it and we'd be back. I took the opportunity to shower and Kat took a bath and then we did laundry together before getting dressed for dinner and heading back downstairs, unlocking and locking all the doors as we went.
We arrived at the designated time and found another American couple in front of us getting the same routine, no room until at least an hour from now. They were about to leave but Kat thought it might be nice to invite them to join us. I made sure there would be room at our table and then extended the invitation. They were taken by surprised and delighted to say the least. We ended up having a great time and conversation with them during dinner, sharing stories about our travels, how we met our significant others, and life in general. Then at the end of the meal they surprised us by picking up the check. I'd say it definitely pays to be nice sometimes.
After dinner we said our fond farewells and then Kat and I made the long trek across the street back to our room, unlocking and locking all the doors along the way, and finally collapsed into bed to get some much needed rest from such a long, eventful, and fun-filled day.
Tuesday April 26th: This was an action packed day and still one of our favorites of the whole trip. As planned we packed up our things, strapped our front and back packs on, and checked out of the hotel. I'd rebooked us on the early morning train to Kutna Hora which is about an hour outside of Prague. The plan was to leave our big packs in lockers at the train station, pop out to Kutna Hora for a quick tour and lunch, get the first afternoon train back to Prague, grab our packs, and then jump on a yellow internet bus headed to Cesky Krumlov for the night where I'd already booked a room for us. Cesky Krumlov is about 3.5 hours South of Prague and a good halfway stopping point between Prague and Vienna. I'd even booked a van from CK Shuttle company to pick us up at our hotel in Cesky Krumlov and take us the rest of the way to Vienna the next morning. It was all perfectly planned out.
On our way to the train station that morning we reencountered the hole in the sidewalk that almost claimed Kat from a couple nights ago. We decided to do a quick reenactment of the event and record it as a warning and a public service. At the train station we eventually found the lockers and stored our big bags for later then we scrambled to find our platform because it was getting close to departure time. Along the way we encountered another group of tourists heading to Kutna Hora who asked me directions to the train, because I look like a directions-knowing kind of guy I guess. Together we made it to the right platform in time and Kat and I got comfortable in our own private little cabin on the train.
The ride was relatively short and right on time, about 50 minutes, even with a couple stops along the way. The train station was a bit of a ways outside of Sedlec and Kutna Hora but we opted to walk rather than take the crowded tourist bus. A few minutes later we were at the Sedlec Ossuary. This was the main attraction for me and had been something I wanted to do ever since I learned I had missed it the first time I was in Prague. The chapel wasn't much to look at yet the small graveyard around it was well maintained. The real good stuff was in the crypts below the chapel however. There lies the remains of somewhere between 40,000 and 70,000 people fully on display, their bones arranged in gigantic bell shaped piles, swooping garlands, crosses, urns, goblets, spires, and even in the form of the crest of House Schwarzenburg. Unfortunately, the famous chandelier was missing, having been taken down to be repaired. Still I was struck dumb by the powerful atmosphere of the place. It was mind-boggling to think on how every skull in that place represented an individual who had lived hundreds of years ago and died probably from a plague or from some violent war, to be buried in the church yard only to be dug up again centuries later when they needed more room, and have their bones arranged artfully by a half-blind monk, and then to be forever on display to a never ending parade of strangers who snap a few pictures or maybe even toss a few coins into empty eye-sockets, like some sort of absurdly morbid carnival game. It kind of made me want to have my bones sent to Sedlec when I die.
Once I had had my fill of staring my own mortality in the face so to speak, it having been my 40th birthday the previous day and all, we left the ossuary and returned to the main road. Along the way we stepped into the tourist information center to pick up a map and ask directions to Kutna Hora town center. They suggested we take the bus instead of walking because in their own words, "There's nothing between here and there." It looked like it would only take 10-15 minutes walking and we really don't like packing into tight buses and trams so we chose to walk in spite of their advice. There wasn't much to look at, as they said, but we still found it enjoyable. It is interesting to watch a gritty and sprawling industrial town, where the main industry is a Phillip Morris factory, slowly morph into a tightly packed and alley riddled medieval city at its center.
When we got to the old town square we stopped at a cafe for some hot caffeinated drinks and free wifi. I ordered a coffee with whipped cream and Kat ordered what she though was going to be a chai tea latte, but what turned out to be a caffe latte with chai flavoring. I ended up drinking both coffee drinks and she ordered a hot chocolate instead. We spent the rest of the morning wandering the old town center, admiring the cute buildings as we went, and marking off the landmarks and sites listed in Rick Steves' walking tour. Because we had both had Alchemy classes at Czocha we could not pass up the small Alchemy museum in a cellar beneath the tourist info center in the middle of old town. It consisted of about four rooms in a cramped basement complete with cheesy mannequins, displays, and sound effects. The best part was it didn't take too long. Then we stopped by the Stone House, which Kat had misheard me read as the "Scone House" while we were on the train. Unfortunately they were not serving any scones there. At some point during the walk a local man noticed my book and took issue with it. He said, "This is Central Europe, not Eastern Europe." There was nothing I could really say to that though and we went our separate ways. At the end of our walk we reached St. Barbara's Church where we were rewarded with a spectacular view.
It was getting on toward lunchtime and Kat and I had worked up an appetite so we got our or trusty guide Rick and had him lead the way. Our first choice turned out to be closed, but the runner-up was nearby and served a delicious pizza that went quite well with a couple of cold beers. Then it was time to get back to the train station and catch our ride back to Prague. We took a smaller shuttle train from the old town station back to the main station and waited. Our train arrived pretty much on schedule, however we had heard that the other train coming in from Prague had been delayed by at least 20 minutes. It didn't register at the time, but it should have dawned on me that we might encounter the same delay heading that direction.
It turned out to be a much longer trip back to Prague. We were late by almost 40 minutes, just shy of twice the time it took to get out there. This was a major problem because I had booked the internet bus for an hour after we were supposed to be back and the bus station it left from was on the other side of the river. Kat and I booked it off the train as soon as it stopped, ran to the lockers to grab our packs, strapped them on in a hurry and then ran through the streets of Prague to the closest Metro station that would take us across the river. Several stops later and with less than 5 minutes on the clock we charged up the stairs into an unfamiliar part of town and tried to locate the bus station. A helpful man on a bench saw our frantic looks and pointed us in the right direction and we took off running again. We came around the corner, spotted the buses and with 30 seconds left on the clock we reached the big yellow internet bus and were the last ones on. We threw our big packs in the luggage compartment and then collapsed into our seats while sweating profusely.
During the ride I uploaded some pictures and worked on a blog post which made the time go by quickly. I overheard a couple behind us reading about Cesky Krumlov from the same Rick Steves guidebook so I struck up a short conversation with them and we shared our mutual love for Rick. Before I knew it we were pulling into Cesky Krumlov and it was time to put our packs back on again. The bus station wasn't at all far from old town so walked again. Coming over the hill we got our first good look at the town. If we thought Kutna Hora was picturesque Cesky Krumlov was downright quaint and charming. The entire place is crowded with tiny cute buildings with towers and steeples protruding upward here and there. The old town is surrounded on three sides by an oxbow in the river and connected to the other side with little bridges. All the streets are cobbled, but well maintained. It was an absolutely adorable place and we wish we could have stayed more than just a night there.
Our first stop was our hotel of course. We met the very nice front desk lady and got our key, which we needed to use on the front door, an inner door, and our room door. So many doors to unlock and lock behind us when they came and went. The room was amazing, even more so in person than it looked on the website. I got us the attic room with a castle view and it really was a great spot even though I cracked my head on one of the many low beams. It was a charming sort of smack to the head. Kat was super excited to see that we even had a full bathtub and one of those heated drying racks in the bathroom so we could do a bunch of laundry and have it dried by the morning.
After unloading a bit we set out to do a quick tour of the place and then find some dinner. It was a little after 18:00 and still light out for a bit. We saw all the things including old town square, the castle, and the castle gardens. At the castle the drawbridge was guarded by a bear pit, but there weren't any bears in it that we could see so we decided they were invisible bears. Rather than throwing food into the pit you are encouraged to drop coins in a slot which will be used to buy the bears a more diverse diet. Kat got really excited about that so I gave her a coin so she could feed the invisible bears. All throughout the castle complex, which seemed to wind on forever, there were these squat little half-sized doors that were just about the right height for Kat. I made her model in front of one for me and then I stood in front of a slightly larger one for comparison.
When we got done with our walk we were ready for dinner. The top recommendation turned out to be directly across from our hotel. We attempted to get seated but they said they were booked up until at least 21:00. That gave us about an hour so we said to put us down for it and we'd be back. I took the opportunity to shower and Kat took a bath and then we did laundry together before getting dressed for dinner and heading back downstairs, unlocking and locking all the doors as we went.
We arrived at the designated time and found another American couple in front of us getting the same routine, no room until at least an hour from now. They were about to leave but Kat thought it might be nice to invite them to join us. I made sure there would be room at our table and then extended the invitation. They were taken by surprised and delighted to say the least. We ended up having a great time and conversation with them during dinner, sharing stories about our travels, how we met our significant others, and life in general. Then at the end of the meal they surprised us by picking up the check. I'd say it definitely pays to be nice sometimes.
After dinner we said our fond farewells and then Kat and I made the long trek across the street back to our room, unlocking and locking all the doors along the way, and finally collapsed into bed to get some much needed rest from such a long, eventful, and fun-filled day.
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