Central Europe
On 29th April I flew to Warsaw in Poland to start a trip through central Europe with Liang, my friend from high school and university. The 11 day trip would take us through Warsaw, Krakow, Prague, Vienna, Salzburg and then back "home" to Munich.
The visit to Warsaw was a brief one. I arrived on Saturday afternoon and met Liang and his friends from Warsaw, Tomasz and Alicja. There I stayed overnight and walked past (and sometimes through) numerous churches, former noble residences, institutions and also parts of the old town.
On the way we visited the Royal Palace, which was in the process of being refurbished but the new paint job was in a rather garish yellow colour. Our local tour guides kindly gave us a bit of history behind many of the buildings and the Polish religious traditions, and it became apparent that Pope John Paul was a very well loved and respected figure there. This theme would continue during our next few days in Poland.
The next morning we all hopped into Tomasz' car and took the 4 hour drive to Krakow. I'll point out a couple of things that I noticed during this trip - sometimes there are zebra crossings that go across highways where cars travel at 150 km/h; there are numerous little Fiats and Trabants, and I have attached here the fastest looking example of these vehicles.
During the 4 days that we stayed in Krakow, we made the mandatory trip to the old town, where we saw some parades and celebrations. This was followed by trips to Zakopane, a well known mountain resort; the Wielicka salt mine, where, amongst other things, some ancient miners carved a cathedral out of one of the salt-walled caves; and the Auschwitz/Birkenau concentration camp. The latter was a very serious place and it was a chilling experience to walk through some features of the camps.
One of the features of this trip to Poland was the amount of local cuisine that we sampled. The food in general is very hearty and filling - plenty of sausages, meat, potatoes, etc. There is a spread which they put on bread, which is composed of lard mixed with some herbs and spices. Tasty. We also managed to try out a lot of alcoholic beverages: Mead, warm wine, warm beer with spices or juice, tea with cherry liquer, and after that just plenty of good, cold Polish beer. Krakow was a very pleasant setting to chill out over a few drinks.
After an overnight train journey, we arrive in Prague. We slowed down the pace of our trip somewhat in Prague, and it was a good place for it. A beer at the Strahov Monastery with enchanting views over the city and the majestic St. Vitus Cathedral of the castle, a walk along the Vltava river and across it over Charles Bridge, walking around inside the Prague castle and a concert in the Ruldofinum concert hall was a pleasant way to spend two days there. Having said that, it was impossible to go anywhere without seeing a tourist - I think that some of the "beggers" on Charles Bridge may also fit into that category ...
A visit to Czech Republic wouldn't be complete without a few words on alcohol. The Budweiser there was nice (the Czech not the U.S. version), the Absynth turned out to be a bit strong to drink straight (70% alcohol, made in Czech Rep.), and then they sell these drinks which seem more like party drugs than refreshment drinks ...
Next stop was Vienna. Well, after they diverted us to the Slovkian town of Devinska Nova Ves and then dropping us off there, we eventually arrived in Vienna. There, we followed the Lonely Planet guide's suggestion of catching the number 1 tram around the Ringstrasse, which was the lazy way of seeing most of the significant buildings around the town in 15 minutes. 
We also found our way to the very large gardens behind the Schoenbruenn Palace, which was very impressive. But more importantly, by chance we came across Hotel Sacher (situated next to an Australian pub!), where the famous Austrian cake Sachetorte was first prepared. I found that it was great, Liang thought it was a bit dry. Oh well.
The next stop was Salzburg. Being the 250th anniversary of Mozart's birth, naturally everything that we came across had his name written on it. You can get Mozart balls (lollies), Mozart pretzels, etc.
While we visited the Mozart museums, I also found the beautiful scenery to be memorable. Outside the castle we ran into two students from the UK, Michi and Ayesha, with whom we waited until 6 p.m., when the entry to the castle was free of charge. Inside we met a couple of charming young local kids who wandered up to the castle in their free time ... it's a nice playground!
And then, back to work. Can't wait until my next trip.
The visit to Warsaw was a brief one. I arrived on Saturday afternoon and met Liang and his friends from Warsaw, Tomasz and Alicja. There I stayed overnight and walked past (and sometimes through) numerous churches, former noble residences, institutions and also parts of the old town.
On the way we visited the Royal Palace, which was in the process of being refurbished but the new paint job was in a rather garish yellow colour. Our local tour guides kindly gave us a bit of history behind many of the buildings and the Polish religious traditions, and it became apparent that Pope John Paul was a very well loved and respected figure there. This theme would continue during our next few days in Poland.
The next morning we all hopped into Tomasz' car and took the 4 hour drive to Krakow. I'll point out a couple of things that I noticed during this trip - sometimes there are zebra crossings that go across highways where cars travel at 150 km/h; there are numerous little Fiats and Trabants, and I have attached here the fastest looking example of these vehicles.During the 4 days that we stayed in Krakow, we made the mandatory trip to the old town, where we saw some parades and celebrations. This was followed by trips to Zakopane, a well known mountain resort; the Wielicka salt mine, where, amongst other things, some ancient miners carved a cathedral out of one of the salt-walled caves; and the Auschwitz/Birkenau concentration camp. The latter was a very serious place and it was a chilling experience to walk through some features of the camps.
One of the features of this trip to Poland was the amount of local cuisine that we sampled. The food in general is very hearty and filling - plenty of sausages, meat, potatoes, etc. There is a spread which they put on bread, which is composed of lard mixed with some herbs and spices. Tasty. We also managed to try out a lot of alcoholic beverages: Mead, warm wine, warm beer with spices or juice, tea with cherry liquer, and after that just plenty of good, cold Polish beer. Krakow was a very pleasant setting to chill out over a few drinks.After an overnight train journey, we arrive in Prague. We slowed down the pace of our trip somewhat in Prague, and it was a good place for it. A beer at the Strahov Monastery with enchanting views over the city and the majestic St. Vitus Cathedral of the castle, a walk along the Vltava river and across it over Charles Bridge, walking around inside the Prague castle and a concert in the Ruldofinum concert hall was a pleasant way to spend two days there. Having said that, it was impossible to go anywhere without seeing a tourist - I think that some of the "beggers" on Charles Bridge may also fit into that category ...
A visit to Czech Republic wouldn't be complete without a few words on alcohol. The Budweiser there was nice (the Czech not the U.S. version), the Absynth turned out to be a bit strong to drink straight (70% alcohol, made in Czech Rep.), and then they sell these drinks which seem more like party drugs than refreshment drinks ...
Next stop was Vienna. Well, after they diverted us to the Slovkian town of Devinska Nova Ves and then dropping us off there, we eventually arrived in Vienna. There, we followed the Lonely Planet guide's suggestion of catching the number 1 tram around the Ringstrasse, which was the lazy way of seeing most of the significant buildings around the town in 15 minutes. 
We also found our way to the very large gardens behind the Schoenbruenn Palace, which was very impressive. But more importantly, by chance we came across Hotel Sacher (situated next to an Australian pub!), where the famous Austrian cake Sachetorte was first prepared. I found that it was great, Liang thought it was a bit dry. Oh well.The next stop was Salzburg. Being the 250th anniversary of Mozart's birth, naturally everything that we came across had his name written on it. You can get Mozart balls (lollies), Mozart pretzels, etc.
While we visited the Mozart museums, I also found the beautiful scenery to be memorable. Outside the castle we ran into two students from the UK, Michi and Ayesha, with whom we waited until 6 p.m., when the entry to the castle was free of charge. Inside we met a couple of charming young local kids who wandered up to the castle in their free time ... it's a nice playground!And then, back to work. Can't wait until my next trip.
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