The cities we are in just keep getting prettier and prettier. We absolutely loved Stockholm, with its network of islands, then we arrived in Copenhagen and were blown away again, finding it even prettier. Now we are in Amsterdam, and it has taken it up another step. Part of Copenhagen is called "little Amsterdam", and now we see why. Miles and miles of serene canals, lined with tall gabled houses, brick or painted glossy black. There seems almost no part of it that is not quaintly pretty. Copenhagen is not quite the same, but has an immensely liveable feel to it - wide streets, relaxed atmosphere, nice buildings, and of course some canals as well. And our Australian princess lives nearby too, of course.
What I liked about Stockholm was the slight wild edge to it. The landscape under and around the city is islands of granite and fir trees. You still feel like you are quite far north, and only inches from wilderness. We took a ferry out to a small island on the closest edge of the archipelago (which stretches for tens of kilometres, and on that could almost imagine we were miles from anywhere. You could walk around the whole place in ten minutes, and there were a few cafes and so on, but on parts of it you could stand among stunted trees growing straight from the rock and look out towards heavily forested larger islands, with not a building in sight. We sat on a rock by the edge of the water and watched the sunset - only enhanced by the huge apartment building in the distance towards the west.
In Copenhagen we were totally back in civilisation. It did not at all feel like we were surrounded by dangerous wilderness. It was tamed and artificial, but not in a bad way. It suffered several bad fires in the 18th century, so most of the city dates from then, and of course this provided the opportunity of a rebuild. Hence the roads are wide and straight, with heaps of bike paths. There were nearly as many bikes there as here in Amsterdam, and we got a couple of free ones thanks to a scheme being run by the council and rode around the city for a couple of hours, seeing among other things the "Little Mermaid", a famous statue of a Hans Christian Anderson character. Afterwards we took to the water on a tour boat, which took us around many of the canals of the city, some of which are lined with very expensive-looking yachts - these canals have access to the sea.
Amsterdam of course is even less isolated than Copenhagen, and is dense and lively and gorgeous. In the old centre the streets are often tiny and twisty, and there are canals absolutely everywhere. They are covered in the evening with people out on little boats, leaisurely cruising and having dips and wine. The streets are jammed with people on bikes, all of whom look very cruisy, and there are bikes chained to every pole and fence. I have no idea how the place can be so busy all the time, even during weekdays, but it must have something to do with the tourists - the museums here all have huge queues, unlike anywhere else we've been. At night it seems everyone heads to the red light district, where there are many good bars and pubs, as well as the uniquely Amsterdam establishments; the "coffee" houses. It's not as seedy as I expected, which may have something to do with the beautiful canals running through it, and the fact that people still seem to live there as well.
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
A catch-up
I realise that I am incredibly far behind, so rather than go into huge detail about each place, I will just do a quick run-through to get up to the current point - Stockholm, where we don´t have easy internet access and also no time to waste. I will fill in more details at a later date for anyone who is interested.
So after Klaipeda we woke early for the bus to Riga. There we stayed in a hostel in part of a hotel, with a great view over the Opera House and a park, in a private room. We made all our own food, as everything was suddenly expensive and there was a good kitchen. The old town of Riga is very nice, and there´s a great few streets in the slightly less old town with amazing art-nouveau architecture. We walked around alot, and only went to a couple of museums, the highlight of which was the occupation museum - not the lightest topic but very informative and moving, covering both the Nazi and Russian occupations. We also went to the cinema to watch Harry Potter, not the most "authentic" Latvian experience, but fun nevertheless.
From Riga we took a one-night trip to Sigulda, a little resort town to the east. There we ate mostly sandwiches, but also ate at a cafeteria-like place which was ok. Margot braved the cable-car across the gorge and we saw some ruiny ruins and took a long walk through a forest which endowed me with around fourteen thousand mozzie bites. There are lots of "adventury" type things in the town, and we took a sort of toboggan mounted on a rail down a steep hill, which was awesome. On the second day we hire bikes for an hour, for which it poured with rain, I mean really the heavens opened, and stopped as soon as we returned the bikes. There were also some more awesome ruins of a slightly less ruined castle.
Back to Riga for a few hours, we snuck back into the unattended hostel to use the internet and the bathroom, very sneaky. Then it was a bus to Tallinn. First impressions of Tallinn is a super modern city with crazy awesome architecture. Our hostel was in a redeveloped industrial area just outside the old town, and feels like a giant modern art installation. The old town is absolutely stunning and amazing and awesome and I couldn´t get enough of it. There are tons of restored mediaeval houses, and the oldest pharmacy in the world, from which we bought panadol and passed on the dried toad. We ate lots and lots of pancakes. There is alot of town wall left and it looks very photogenic. We saw a really cool art museum a bit out of town in a posh park. Partway through we had to change hostels, because everything was suddenly booked out and one and a half times the price. This was apparently due to a Madonna concert, which infuriated me - we were getting free saunas at our hostel. In the new hostel though we made friends with a german guy. We went to dinner in the "oldest pub in Tallinn", then took some horrible drink he´d bought in Riga to a spot on Toompea overlooking the rest of the old town. All in all, I like Tallinn very much.
After Tallinn we took a "ferry", really a bunch of restaurants and bars that happens to float, over to Helsinki. We stayed in a hostel in the old Olympic stadium, which was the only place we could afford. Helsinki feels totally different to the baltic cities - in fact it feels a little like Melbourne, in that Melbourne feels a tiny bit European. We went out on a ferry to Suomelinna, a sea-fort on 5 islands built by the Swedes when they owned Finland. It is very picture-skew, and has people living on it, as well as a bunch of too-expensive museums. The prime noticeable thing about Helsinki is that it is really really expensive. We couldn´t buy anything at all. I checked, and a big mac is 6 euros. So, we walked around alot. But it´s a nice city and feels very cosmopolitan, if not as interesting as Tallinn - it was burnt down and rebuilt in the 18th century.
From Helsinki we also went to a town called Porvoo, a view of more traditional Finnish life. It has cobbled streets combined with painted wooden houses, which is a very pretty effect. We took lunch with us, of course, and spent a lot of time wandering around and poking into little souvenir shops, and taking photos.
After Helsinki, we took the worlds most partying ferry overnight to Stockholm. I won´t regale you with the sordid details of our tax-free wine purchasing activities on board, but suffice to say it was alot of fun. Arrival in Stockholm was marred slightly by the awful hostel, and the price of everything (and no kitchen this time, so´more difficult to feed ourselves). However, after a walk around, we realised that this is probably one of the most beautiful cities in the world. Not only does it have a nice old town, which I always like, it is built across a number of islands, and nestled in an archipelago, so there are channels and canals everywhere and constant water vistas. It´s like Sydney Harbour only flatter and with a fascinating 19th century city build all around it. We met up with an old friend of mine who was studying at Sydney Uni a number of years ago, and he took us on an unparallelled guided tour of the whole city, including a bar at the top of one of the only skyscrapers, with an incredible 360 degree view of the city.
So we´re up to today. We went to a modern art museum, and then my favourite museum that I have ever seen, the Vasa Museum. The Vasa is a huge warship built in 1628, which on its maiden voyage tipped over and sank after 25 minutes. It was preserved for 350 years at the bottom of the sea, almost intact, and they´ve salvaged it and restored and preserved it. It is sitting inside the museum, which is interesting in itself, but every time you turn around and there is this huge black warship that looks like something out of a pirate movie looming over you, and your head just explodes. I don´t think I´ve ever wanted to leave a museum less.
So that´s us up to date. I´m sitting in a 7eleven typing this, so now you know where we are and what we´re doing! I´ll hopefully write more in depth stuff soon, but it will probably wait until I´m back in the UK, judging from past performance.
So after Klaipeda we woke early for the bus to Riga. There we stayed in a hostel in part of a hotel, with a great view over the Opera House and a park, in a private room. We made all our own food, as everything was suddenly expensive and there was a good kitchen. The old town of Riga is very nice, and there´s a great few streets in the slightly less old town with amazing art-nouveau architecture. We walked around alot, and only went to a couple of museums, the highlight of which was the occupation museum - not the lightest topic but very informative and moving, covering both the Nazi and Russian occupations. We also went to the cinema to watch Harry Potter, not the most "authentic" Latvian experience, but fun nevertheless.
From Riga we took a one-night trip to Sigulda, a little resort town to the east. There we ate mostly sandwiches, but also ate at a cafeteria-like place which was ok. Margot braved the cable-car across the gorge and we saw some ruiny ruins and took a long walk through a forest which endowed me with around fourteen thousand mozzie bites. There are lots of "adventury" type things in the town, and we took a sort of toboggan mounted on a rail down a steep hill, which was awesome. On the second day we hire bikes for an hour, for which it poured with rain, I mean really the heavens opened, and stopped as soon as we returned the bikes. There were also some more awesome ruins of a slightly less ruined castle.
Back to Riga for a few hours, we snuck back into the unattended hostel to use the internet and the bathroom, very sneaky. Then it was a bus to Tallinn. First impressions of Tallinn is a super modern city with crazy awesome architecture. Our hostel was in a redeveloped industrial area just outside the old town, and feels like a giant modern art installation. The old town is absolutely stunning and amazing and awesome and I couldn´t get enough of it. There are tons of restored mediaeval houses, and the oldest pharmacy in the world, from which we bought panadol and passed on the dried toad. We ate lots and lots of pancakes. There is alot of town wall left and it looks very photogenic. We saw a really cool art museum a bit out of town in a posh park. Partway through we had to change hostels, because everything was suddenly booked out and one and a half times the price. This was apparently due to a Madonna concert, which infuriated me - we were getting free saunas at our hostel. In the new hostel though we made friends with a german guy. We went to dinner in the "oldest pub in Tallinn", then took some horrible drink he´d bought in Riga to a spot on Toompea overlooking the rest of the old town. All in all, I like Tallinn very much.
After Tallinn we took a "ferry", really a bunch of restaurants and bars that happens to float, over to Helsinki. We stayed in a hostel in the old Olympic stadium, which was the only place we could afford. Helsinki feels totally different to the baltic cities - in fact it feels a little like Melbourne, in that Melbourne feels a tiny bit European. We went out on a ferry to Suomelinna, a sea-fort on 5 islands built by the Swedes when they owned Finland. It is very picture-skew, and has people living on it, as well as a bunch of too-expensive museums. The prime noticeable thing about Helsinki is that it is really really expensive. We couldn´t buy anything at all. I checked, and a big mac is 6 euros. So, we walked around alot. But it´s a nice city and feels very cosmopolitan, if not as interesting as Tallinn - it was burnt down and rebuilt in the 18th century.
From Helsinki we also went to a town called Porvoo, a view of more traditional Finnish life. It has cobbled streets combined with painted wooden houses, which is a very pretty effect. We took lunch with us, of course, and spent a lot of time wandering around and poking into little souvenir shops, and taking photos.
After Helsinki, we took the worlds most partying ferry overnight to Stockholm. I won´t regale you with the sordid details of our tax-free wine purchasing activities on board, but suffice to say it was alot of fun. Arrival in Stockholm was marred slightly by the awful hostel, and the price of everything (and no kitchen this time, so´more difficult to feed ourselves). However, after a walk around, we realised that this is probably one of the most beautiful cities in the world. Not only does it have a nice old town, which I always like, it is built across a number of islands, and nestled in an archipelago, so there are channels and canals everywhere and constant water vistas. It´s like Sydney Harbour only flatter and with a fascinating 19th century city build all around it. We met up with an old friend of mine who was studying at Sydney Uni a number of years ago, and he took us on an unparallelled guided tour of the whole city, including a bar at the top of one of the only skyscrapers, with an incredible 360 degree view of the city.
So we´re up to today. We went to a modern art museum, and then my favourite museum that I have ever seen, the Vasa Museum. The Vasa is a huge warship built in 1628, which on its maiden voyage tipped over and sank after 25 minutes. It was preserved for 350 years at the bottom of the sea, almost intact, and they´ve salvaged it and restored and preserved it. It is sitting inside the museum, which is interesting in itself, but every time you turn around and there is this huge black warship that looks like something out of a pirate movie looming over you, and your head just explodes. I don´t think I´ve ever wanted to leave a museum less.
So that´s us up to date. I´m sitting in a 7eleven typing this, so now you know where we are and what we´re doing! I´ll hopefully write more in depth stuff soon, but it will probably wait until I´m back in the UK, judging from past performance.
Saturday, August 1, 2009
Nida
On Friday morning (the 24th) we crept out of our dorm nice and early, and headed for the bus station. It's always strange to see that there are people up and about at 6.30 in the morning, when we, at least, are in the habit of sleeping in. Anyway, our bus came, to take us to the edge of the Baltic. The trip was perfectly pleasant, other than the horrible squat toilets at the one stop, and having reached Klaipeda, the bus trundled onto a ferry to cross to the spit, a long piece of land stretching down the coast, enclosing a lagoon. It is forested with conifer and moss, on sandy soil. You'll remember we had headed out here without booking accommodation, which was making M a little nervous. On arriving in Nida, after stops at some other tiny fishing villages, we headed straight for the tourist information office, where we'd heard they could find rooms. However before we even got inside, a tiny woman asked us if we wanted accommodation, and we said yes. She spoke no english, and just a tiny bit of german, but she led us past some dodgy-looking apartment buildings to a very nice new building, and up to a very new apartment. Our room was huge and comfortable, and only 100 litas a night. Which is about 50 bucks, for the two of us. We were pretty happy.
Having settled in, we went to explore the town. It is super-cute. Rows of brown and blue painted cottages, and nice gardens. A nice little harbour (the town is on the lagoon side), and paths through the forest up to the enormous sand dune. We walked up it, and the view was wonderful - we could see Russia. That's the bit of Russia tucked in between Lithuania and Poland, and cut off from the rest of the country. I can't really remember what we did for the rest of the day. We went to the supermarket at some point and bought food, and wandered around a bit looking at the village. We went for dinner at CiliPica, the local mass eatery type place on the harbour, which has decent cheap food. Oh, we had lunch at a nice little cafe recommended by the guide book.
The next day we hired bikes and rode for a long way through the forest up the spit, then across to the baltic side to the beach. Then back to town for some lunch at the same cafe, then we rode to Russia. We couldn´t go in, obviously, and couldn´t really even get close - there was a big no-man´s land between the customs houses on each side. But we took some forbidden photos and sort of milled about a bit. Then we rode to the proper beach, where all the people were. Very popular, despite the rather bracing water. We had dinner again at the same place, then took a beer and went up the sand dune to drink it overlooking the town as darkness descended. Very pretty.
The next day we were to leave, and had seen everything, so spent the day cafe-hopping, having a small beer and a snack in each one. We were quite sleepy by the time the bus came to take us back to the mainland, and Margot almost fell asleep on someone - the bus was absolutely packed full. Our hostel in Klaipeda was horrible and small and dirty and the mattresses were more like a bunch of rocks in a sheet, but it was right next to the bus station for the next morning, and in that was totally ok.
Having settled in, we went to explore the town. It is super-cute. Rows of brown and blue painted cottages, and nice gardens. A nice little harbour (the town is on the lagoon side), and paths through the forest up to the enormous sand dune. We walked up it, and the view was wonderful - we could see Russia. That's the bit of Russia tucked in between Lithuania and Poland, and cut off from the rest of the country. I can't really remember what we did for the rest of the day. We went to the supermarket at some point and bought food, and wandered around a bit looking at the village. We went for dinner at CiliPica, the local mass eatery type place on the harbour, which has decent cheap food. Oh, we had lunch at a nice little cafe recommended by the guide book.
The next day we hired bikes and rode for a long way through the forest up the spit, then across to the baltic side to the beach. Then back to town for some lunch at the same cafe, then we rode to Russia. We couldn´t go in, obviously, and couldn´t really even get close - there was a big no-man´s land between the customs houses on each side. But we took some forbidden photos and sort of milled about a bit. Then we rode to the proper beach, where all the people were. Very popular, despite the rather bracing water. We had dinner again at the same place, then took a beer and went up the sand dune to drink it overlooking the town as darkness descended. Very pretty.
The next day we were to leave, and had seen everything, so spent the day cafe-hopping, having a small beer and a snack in each one. We were quite sleepy by the time the bus came to take us back to the mainland, and Margot almost fell asleep on someone - the bus was absolutely packed full. Our hostel in Klaipeda was horrible and small and dirty and the mattresses were more like a bunch of rocks in a sheet, but it was right next to the bus station for the next morning, and in that was totally ok.
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
Vilnius
So after our extremely short flirtation with Warsaw, we were on our way out of Poland on the seven o'clock train. This time it was more how we like it - sharing a compartment with only one other person. It was a very comfortable trip, and we snoozed and played cards and ate bread and cheese and read and looked out the window throughout Eastern Poland. Despite the undeniable picture-postcard beauty of Bavaustria, I think this area was my favourite train-scenery so far. We spent a long time travelling through thick pine forests (I saw a deer at the side of the track), then emerged into rolling farmland, dotted with cows chained to stakes. There were lots of storks, on high nests, and a number of hawks. All very idyllic and fertile. Eventually we reached Sestokai, just over the border in Lithuania, where we changed trains to a local, and sped towards Vilnius, arriving only nine hours or so after leaving Warsaw. Thanks to everyone speaking english, as usual, we found our hostel (getting there via trolley-bus), which turned out to be our own little studio apartment opening right onto the street, in a really good location. We spent the evening doing our usual wander around.
On Tuesday morning (21st) it took us a while to get organised, as we slept in a fair bit, and also there was a flat screen tv in our flat. We were waiting, as well, for the girl to come and collect our clothes, which she did without any evident distress, despite the smell. Freed, we went to visit the cathedral, which was ok, and then had some mexican food at a little place run by a very friendly mexican guy who had a chat to us. After lunch we walked off the burritos by climbing to the top of the hill to the upper castle, or what's left of it. They have reconstructed one tower, which contains a very small museum, and grants a wonderful 360 degree view of the city. Then we took the tiny funicular to the bottom of the other side of the hill, to go to the prehistory museum, which was pretty rad. We walked back around the hill to the old town, then stumbled across a Thai massage place, which gave Margot an idea. Which was to get a massage. So I went off by myself for an explore, after pilfering some of the ginger biscuits in the waiting room. I basically just saw lots of churches, but also the only remaining synagogue (there used to be 100), which was closed. There are some really cool churches, my favourite being a baroque one in an enclosed courtyard. It was totally run down and shut, but the whole space had a very cool dilapidated feel. Anyway I went and picked up a battered Margot, and we wandered around again for an hour or so before heading back to our little flat, to make dinner and drink beer. We'd finally found some Czech beer, after craving it since Prague.
Wednesday morning, changeable again. Clouds move really really fast in Europe for some reason. We got up fairly early and went to the bus station to sort out our transport for the next couple of cities, then hopped on a bus to Trakai, which we'd heard had a castle in the middle of a lake. We heard right, it was super-amazing! After lunching on some traditional Karaim food (they were a sect, some of which were brought from the Crimea in the Middle Ages to serve as guards for the local bigwig), which was basically a pastie, we walked through the cute painted wooden cottages to the water's edge. Picturesque, let me tell you. From the town, there is a wooden bridge across to a little island, and from the other side of that island another wooden bridge across to another little island, which is taken up almost entirely by a brick castle. The scene is set of with gently whispering reeds, and tourists pedalling around in stupid dolphin-shaped boats. The whole effect is quite photo-worthy. The castle is mostly reconstructed, having been destroyed a number of different times, but the foundations are original, and they've done a very good job with the rest. There was a random exhibition of porcelain, pipes and whatnot in the main part of the castle, but after you crossed the drawbridge into the keep and climbed rickety stairs into the upper floors, there was a very good little local history museum.
After exhausting the potential photographic opportunities offered by the castle, we headed to the other castle, which was much closer to its ruined state, being, in point of fact, just some ruins. However, it was very nice, and there were some people doing traditional type things inside. Pottery and so on. Anyway we had seen a fancy chocolate place on our way from the bus station, so we headed back there and each had two fancy chocolates for afternoon tea. And the fist unburnt coffee that I've tasted so far on this trip. Then back to the bus, and back to Vilnius, then made another huge dinner (I'm not good at judging amounts of uncooked pasta), accompanied by Zlaty Bazant, my favourite Slovakian beer.
Thursday dawned to pouring rain, which is no fun. We watched some cartoons for a bit, and cleaned up and repacked, as we had to change hostels. Thanks to the vagaries of pricing, we had to tramp for twenty minutes through the rain so that we could sleep in a six-bed dorm for the same price as our little studio apartment. It being horrible weather, we dumped our stuff and tried out the local contemporary art gallery, which turned out to be very good. Then for lunch we sat in a chain cafe and were ignored by the waitress. I gorged myself on herring, which wasn't the smartest thing ever. To walk it off, we went back to the bus station to sort out some more reservations, then back again to go to the internet cafe, where we discovered that pretty much everything is booked out in scandinavia, and it all costs two or three times as much as anywhere else. So that wasn't fun, but we made what bookings we could, though we'll have to be in large and sometimes seperate dorms. Then we had another walk around, then had dinner and more beer, and then did more walking around. I really like Vilnius, it's got a huge old town centre which all looks gorgeous, but doesn't feel as touristy as alot of other cities. It feels very much like a functioning city centre, populated more by locals than by tourists.
On Tuesday morning (21st) it took us a while to get organised, as we slept in a fair bit, and also there was a flat screen tv in our flat. We were waiting, as well, for the girl to come and collect our clothes, which she did without any evident distress, despite the smell. Freed, we went to visit the cathedral, which was ok, and then had some mexican food at a little place run by a very friendly mexican guy who had a chat to us. After lunch we walked off the burritos by climbing to the top of the hill to the upper castle, or what's left of it. They have reconstructed one tower, which contains a very small museum, and grants a wonderful 360 degree view of the city. Then we took the tiny funicular to the bottom of the other side of the hill, to go to the prehistory museum, which was pretty rad. We walked back around the hill to the old town, then stumbled across a Thai massage place, which gave Margot an idea. Which was to get a massage. So I went off by myself for an explore, after pilfering some of the ginger biscuits in the waiting room. I basically just saw lots of churches, but also the only remaining synagogue (there used to be 100), which was closed. There are some really cool churches, my favourite being a baroque one in an enclosed courtyard. It was totally run down and shut, but the whole space had a very cool dilapidated feel. Anyway I went and picked up a battered Margot, and we wandered around again for an hour or so before heading back to our little flat, to make dinner and drink beer. We'd finally found some Czech beer, after craving it since Prague.
Wednesday morning, changeable again. Clouds move really really fast in Europe for some reason. We got up fairly early and went to the bus station to sort out our transport for the next couple of cities, then hopped on a bus to Trakai, which we'd heard had a castle in the middle of a lake. We heard right, it was super-amazing! After lunching on some traditional Karaim food (they were a sect, some of which were brought from the Crimea in the Middle Ages to serve as guards for the local bigwig), which was basically a pastie, we walked through the cute painted wooden cottages to the water's edge. Picturesque, let me tell you. From the town, there is a wooden bridge across to a little island, and from the other side of that island another wooden bridge across to another little island, which is taken up almost entirely by a brick castle. The scene is set of with gently whispering reeds, and tourists pedalling around in stupid dolphin-shaped boats. The whole effect is quite photo-worthy. The castle is mostly reconstructed, having been destroyed a number of different times, but the foundations are original, and they've done a very good job with the rest. There was a random exhibition of porcelain, pipes and whatnot in the main part of the castle, but after you crossed the drawbridge into the keep and climbed rickety stairs into the upper floors, there was a very good little local history museum.
After exhausting the potential photographic opportunities offered by the castle, we headed to the other castle, which was much closer to its ruined state, being, in point of fact, just some ruins. However, it was very nice, and there were some people doing traditional type things inside. Pottery and so on. Anyway we had seen a fancy chocolate place on our way from the bus station, so we headed back there and each had two fancy chocolates for afternoon tea. And the fist unburnt coffee that I've tasted so far on this trip. Then back to the bus, and back to Vilnius, then made another huge dinner (I'm not good at judging amounts of uncooked pasta), accompanied by Zlaty Bazant, my favourite Slovakian beer.
Thursday dawned to pouring rain, which is no fun. We watched some cartoons for a bit, and cleaned up and repacked, as we had to change hostels. Thanks to the vagaries of pricing, we had to tramp for twenty minutes through the rain so that we could sleep in a six-bed dorm for the same price as our little studio apartment. It being horrible weather, we dumped our stuff and tried out the local contemporary art gallery, which turned out to be very good. Then for lunch we sat in a chain cafe and were ignored by the waitress. I gorged myself on herring, which wasn't the smartest thing ever. To walk it off, we went back to the bus station to sort out some more reservations, then back again to go to the internet cafe, where we discovered that pretty much everything is booked out in scandinavia, and it all costs two or three times as much as anywhere else. So that wasn't fun, but we made what bookings we could, though we'll have to be in large and sometimes seperate dorms. Then we had another walk around, then had dinner and more beer, and then did more walking around. I really like Vilnius, it's got a huge old town centre which all looks gorgeous, but doesn't feel as touristy as alot of other cities. It feels very much like a functioning city centre, populated more by locals than by tourists.
Monday, July 27, 2009
North Pole-land
On Friday morning the 17th, we had an absolutely thrilling day of travel. Checking out of our hostel (in Krakow), we headed to the train station bright-eyed, ready to venture north. The main train station is a bit of a dump, and despite having the train timetable information printed on small yellow posters, they never display it on the boards until about 5 minutes before the train arrives, so you've no idea what's going on, especially when the train is late, as ours was. But it came, and we hopped on. The journey to Warsaw took about 5 hours, and we had a connecting train 10 minutes later. As our train was running 10 minutes late, you can imagine that I was keen to leap off and find our train as soon as we got there. However, such was not to be. It was all far too confusing - a warren of concrete tunnels lined with gaudy stalls. So, we had to wait for 2 hours for the next train, which we did with the help of a beer at a nearby cafe. When the train did arrive, it was chaos; hundreds of people pushing their way through the tiny corridor at the side of the carriage, fighting for seats. We ended up standing for the first 5 or ten minutes until it sorted itself out a bit and we crammed into a compartment with six other people.
After that the ride was perfectly pleasant - complete with helpful english-speaking Polish man - and we arrived in Torun, the birthplace of Nicholas Copernicus, without any more drama. After consulting a map, we decided to walk to our hotel, which didn't look far. More fool us. The bridge over the river is nearly two kilometres long, stretching for ages over wetland first. We made it, with beautiful views of the town as we crossed, comforted that there was a nice hotel room waiting for us. But, alas, apparently our booking had never occurred. Whether the fault was with the booking website or the hotel, I've no idea, but we convinced the receptionist to house us, insisting that we pay only the price we had been quoted on the hostel site. Having achieved that, we were satisfied, as the room was really very nice. It was late and we were tired, so we did not explore the town that evening.
The next morning, though, we set off refreshed to see Torun. It was very, very hot, and we walked the streets of the mediaeval town sweating like knights in plate armour. In a street near the cathedral is the house where Copernicus was (probably) born, and there was a very boring museum in the attached building. The house itself was fascinating - a 14th century merchant's house, with huge dark beams on the ceilings, and disconcertingly few rooms. Heading back into the heat, we discovered the ruins of the Teutonic castle in one corner of the town, torn down after the townspeople somehow captured it and got rid of the knights, possibly not in the nicest possible way. It was quite a structure in its day, made of red brick, and there were interesting mannequins in the crypt, and poor displays of mediaeval fighting going on above ground. It was absolutely scorching in the uncovered ruins, though, so we headed to a big gothic building that was a palace and a granary, but I can't remember in which order. It housed an exhibition of oriental weaponry, which I thought was very cool, despite the lack of information in english. There was also an exhibition about Torun, which was incomprehensible.
After lunch, we walked north, just outside the border of the old town, to the outdoor Ethnographic Museum they have erected in a park. I like that sort of thing, and soon we were poking our noses into reconstructed farmhouses, mills, and smithies, imagining what life would have been like for the poor sods who occupied them. This was hot business, the sun didn't let up all day, and we had to force ourselves to see the last couple of things before retiring for a drink. We were pretty wiped out after walking around in the heat all day, so we went back to the hotel and had a bit of a nanna-nap until it cooled down, then wandered around looking at all the pretty lights, and had the old staple of pizza and pasta for dinner. We got back to our room just in time, before a storm wiped away the last of the heat, and flooded the street in front of the hotel, great sheets of water gusting sideways and lightning lighting the sky.
On Sunday we had to check out, despite the rain, but to Goretex, rain is as nothing, so we were able to wander around a bit more with no difficulty. We finally went into the old town hall in the main square, where there was an art deco exhibit that was mildly interesting, and various galleries of ho-hum paintings. Despite the Goretex, we welched on the long walk back to the station, and got ourselves driven there by the least emotional taxi driver in the world. The train back to Warsaw was just as full as the train to it, and this time we weren't lucky enough to get a seat, and had to stand in the tiny corridor the whole three hours. The two compartments near us were full of drunk people, one of whom thought that the corridor was outside, and lit up cigarette after cigarette, so all in all a good time was had by all. But we arrived eventually, and made our way to our hostel, housed in the old Department of Sugar Distribution (or something) building. Checking train times for the morrow, we quickly realised that there was only one train a day to Vilnius, our next stop, and that it left at 7am. So it was back to the station to buy the tickets, then basically straight to bed, and as it was fairly late, did not get a huge amount of sleep. But that story's for next time!
After that the ride was perfectly pleasant - complete with helpful english-speaking Polish man - and we arrived in Torun, the birthplace of Nicholas Copernicus, without any more drama. After consulting a map, we decided to walk to our hotel, which didn't look far. More fool us. The bridge over the river is nearly two kilometres long, stretching for ages over wetland first. We made it, with beautiful views of the town as we crossed, comforted that there was a nice hotel room waiting for us. But, alas, apparently our booking had never occurred. Whether the fault was with the booking website or the hotel, I've no idea, but we convinced the receptionist to house us, insisting that we pay only the price we had been quoted on the hostel site. Having achieved that, we were satisfied, as the room was really very nice. It was late and we were tired, so we did not explore the town that evening.
The next morning, though, we set off refreshed to see Torun. It was very, very hot, and we walked the streets of the mediaeval town sweating like knights in plate armour. In a street near the cathedral is the house where Copernicus was (probably) born, and there was a very boring museum in the attached building. The house itself was fascinating - a 14th century merchant's house, with huge dark beams on the ceilings, and disconcertingly few rooms. Heading back into the heat, we discovered the ruins of the Teutonic castle in one corner of the town, torn down after the townspeople somehow captured it and got rid of the knights, possibly not in the nicest possible way. It was quite a structure in its day, made of red brick, and there were interesting mannequins in the crypt, and poor displays of mediaeval fighting going on above ground. It was absolutely scorching in the uncovered ruins, though, so we headed to a big gothic building that was a palace and a granary, but I can't remember in which order. It housed an exhibition of oriental weaponry, which I thought was very cool, despite the lack of information in english. There was also an exhibition about Torun, which was incomprehensible.
After lunch, we walked north, just outside the border of the old town, to the outdoor Ethnographic Museum they have erected in a park. I like that sort of thing, and soon we were poking our noses into reconstructed farmhouses, mills, and smithies, imagining what life would have been like for the poor sods who occupied them. This was hot business, the sun didn't let up all day, and we had to force ourselves to see the last couple of things before retiring for a drink. We were pretty wiped out after walking around in the heat all day, so we went back to the hotel and had a bit of a nanna-nap until it cooled down, then wandered around looking at all the pretty lights, and had the old staple of pizza and pasta for dinner. We got back to our room just in time, before a storm wiped away the last of the heat, and flooded the street in front of the hotel, great sheets of water gusting sideways and lightning lighting the sky.
On Sunday we had to check out, despite the rain, but to Goretex, rain is as nothing, so we were able to wander around a bit more with no difficulty. We finally went into the old town hall in the main square, where there was an art deco exhibit that was mildly interesting, and various galleries of ho-hum paintings. Despite the Goretex, we welched on the long walk back to the station, and got ourselves driven there by the least emotional taxi driver in the world. The train back to Warsaw was just as full as the train to it, and this time we weren't lucky enough to get a seat, and had to stand in the tiny corridor the whole three hours. The two compartments near us were full of drunk people, one of whom thought that the corridor was outside, and lit up cigarette after cigarette, so all in all a good time was had by all. But we arrived eventually, and made our way to our hostel, housed in the old Department of Sugar Distribution (or something) building. Checking train times for the morrow, we quickly realised that there was only one train a day to Vilnius, our next stop, and that it left at 7am. So it was back to the station to buy the tickets, then basically straight to bed, and as it was fairly late, did not get a huge amount of sleep. But that story's for next time!
Thursday, July 23, 2009
Krakow
On Tuesday the 14th, our first morning in Krakow, we did the obvious thing and wandered into the old town. The central square was the biggest in mediaeval Eastern Europe, and it's easy to see why - the centre of it is taken up by an arcaded covered market, and there is still enough room on every side to fit in any other town square we've seen. There is also a free-standing tower which is all that remains of the old town hall, and a very wee church. In the next corner from this cute little building is something a little more impressive - St. Mary's cathdral. It is a huge brick gothic church, with two asymmetrical towers, from the top of which, each hour (or day, I forget) some firemen play a tune on a trumpet, cutting off mid-bar in memory of a trumpeter who was shot trying to warn the city of invaders in the middle ages. It's the inside of the cathedral which is the most interesting, however. Like a cathedral would have been, it is completely painted inside, and the effect is astonishing. The vaulted ceiling is painted dark blue and covered with gold stars, and the walls and columns are coloured in bright patterns. It's definitely my favourite so far.
Seeking something a little less devout, we headed to Collegius Maius, the original college of the University, with a museum holding great treasures including some of the instruments Copernicus, who was a student of the university, used when developing his heliocentric theory. He didn't develop them while at this university, but it was amazing to see the actual instruments he used. After being led at breakneck pace through thousands of other items in the museum, we headed to Wawel Castle. It holds a very imposing position on what appears to be the only hill in Krakow. It became very very run down under the Hapsburgs, and was in fact used as the army barracks, but they've done a great job restoring it, and we went through the old State Rooms. I can't tell you much about them, as there was no useful information provided at all, but I can tell you that some of them had a sort of wallpaper made out of leather. So that was pretty gross. After the castle we headed back to the hostel for dinner, sticking our noses into a couple of other churches on the way.
The next morning we got up nice and early, were picked up in a van/minibus, and driven to Auschwitz by a very angry Polish man. The weather was scorching hot, which probably made the impact of the camp stronger, as we were able to picture prisoners standing or working in the heat, and how weakening that would have been. On the other hand the bright sunlight seemed almost incongruous with the dark history of the place, but I think despite the huge crowds, everyone was very sombre. We were led through some of the buildings in which prisoners lived, and shown punishment cells and execution places, as well as the poor conditions in the living quarters. There were extremely disturbing displays of personal items, the pile of shoes of children sent straight to the gas chambers being probably the hardest to see, as well as actual hair taken from the bodies of victims before cremation. We also went to Birkenau, which had the remains of hundreds of horrible wooden barns, where prisoners were made to sleep packed together in horrible conditions, and the platform and tracks were people were unloaded and sorted into people who were made to work, and people who were sent straight to the gas chambers to be murdered.
So not the most cheerful start to the day. But it's something which I think we had to do, while here. The holocaust may not have much to do with me personally, but it is a huge event in our cultural history, and therefore a part of my history. So I'm glad we went.
Afterwards we were a bit exhausted and dehydrated, so we went back to the hostel for a bit of a nap, before heading out again. We had dinner at a cafe on the small town square (right near the big one), including some traditional polish dumplings, which were delicious. After dinner we went to a nearby bar for a drink. At about a quarter past nine, an absolutely beautiful thunderstorm swept overhead, which was wonderful for us visually, but not so great for the organisers of the animation festival taking place in the square. However, the rain was light, and the festival started on time at 21:30, with us in the audience. We watched a few of the films, which weren't too bad, and then home to bed.
Thursday morning promised another hot day, which was duly delivered. We made use of the internet in the hostel to Skype parents, then went back into the old town to go to a gallery the name of which I can't remember. It contains a very famous painting but Leonardo da Vinci which I'd never heard of, called "Lady with Ermine", which Margot was hanging out for. I have to admit I myself was more impressed with the armoury, a gallery of weapons containing a lot of very impressive swords.
Escaping back into the heat, we decided cleverly to do a touristic walk of the old Jewish quarter, including the old synagogue which has some surviving bits of city walls attached to it. There is a lovely square near it with Jewish restaurants and so on, and an old Jewish cemetery, which was shut. The main square in this part of town (Kazimierz, originally a different city) has some very cool little bars around it, so we sat in one and had some vodkas. After a while we moved on to the bar we'd gone to the night before, then went home to make ourselves a late dinner. After dinner we went out for a walk around the nightlife, and watched some more animation in the small square. All in all not a bad day.
Seeking something a little less devout, we headed to Collegius Maius, the original college of the University, with a museum holding great treasures including some of the instruments Copernicus, who was a student of the university, used when developing his heliocentric theory. He didn't develop them while at this university, but it was amazing to see the actual instruments he used. After being led at breakneck pace through thousands of other items in the museum, we headed to Wawel Castle. It holds a very imposing position on what appears to be the only hill in Krakow. It became very very run down under the Hapsburgs, and was in fact used as the army barracks, but they've done a great job restoring it, and we went through the old State Rooms. I can't tell you much about them, as there was no useful information provided at all, but I can tell you that some of them had a sort of wallpaper made out of leather. So that was pretty gross. After the castle we headed back to the hostel for dinner, sticking our noses into a couple of other churches on the way.
The next morning we got up nice and early, were picked up in a van/minibus, and driven to Auschwitz by a very angry Polish man. The weather was scorching hot, which probably made the impact of the camp stronger, as we were able to picture prisoners standing or working in the heat, and how weakening that would have been. On the other hand the bright sunlight seemed almost incongruous with the dark history of the place, but I think despite the huge crowds, everyone was very sombre. We were led through some of the buildings in which prisoners lived, and shown punishment cells and execution places, as well as the poor conditions in the living quarters. There were extremely disturbing displays of personal items, the pile of shoes of children sent straight to the gas chambers being probably the hardest to see, as well as actual hair taken from the bodies of victims before cremation. We also went to Birkenau, which had the remains of hundreds of horrible wooden barns, where prisoners were made to sleep packed together in horrible conditions, and the platform and tracks were people were unloaded and sorted into people who were made to work, and people who were sent straight to the gas chambers to be murdered.
So not the most cheerful start to the day. But it's something which I think we had to do, while here. The holocaust may not have much to do with me personally, but it is a huge event in our cultural history, and therefore a part of my history. So I'm glad we went.
Afterwards we were a bit exhausted and dehydrated, so we went back to the hostel for a bit of a nap, before heading out again. We had dinner at a cafe on the small town square (right near the big one), including some traditional polish dumplings, which were delicious. After dinner we went to a nearby bar for a drink. At about a quarter past nine, an absolutely beautiful thunderstorm swept overhead, which was wonderful for us visually, but not so great for the organisers of the animation festival taking place in the square. However, the rain was light, and the festival started on time at 21:30, with us in the audience. We watched a few of the films, which weren't too bad, and then home to bed.
Thursday morning promised another hot day, which was duly delivered. We made use of the internet in the hostel to Skype parents, then went back into the old town to go to a gallery the name of which I can't remember. It contains a very famous painting but Leonardo da Vinci which I'd never heard of, called "Lady with Ermine", which Margot was hanging out for. I have to admit I myself was more impressed with the armoury, a gallery of weapons containing a lot of very impressive swords.
Escaping back into the heat, we decided cleverly to do a touristic walk of the old Jewish quarter, including the old synagogue which has some surviving bits of city walls attached to it. There is a lovely square near it with Jewish restaurants and so on, and an old Jewish cemetery, which was shut. The main square in this part of town (Kazimierz, originally a different city) has some very cool little bars around it, so we sat in one and had some vodkas. After a while we moved on to the bar we'd gone to the night before, then went home to make ourselves a late dinner. After dinner we went out for a walk around the nightlife, and watched some more animation in the small square. All in all not a bad day.
Monday, July 13, 2009
Cesky Krumlov, and beyond!
Our train to Cesky Krumlov was nice at first, then we changed at Ceske Budejovice to a tiny shuttle train packed to the gills with backpackers. That was ok - we were quickly there, and made our way down the hill towards the town. Not having a map, and the directions to the hostel assuming we had arrived at the bus station, we were quickly lost. Luckily, we discovered some people speaking english (not, as we found out soon enough, a very uncommon thing), and they helped direct us. Margot was very keen to get there and check in, but my mind was exploding as we walked through the town, and I was trying to photograph everything at once. Cesky Krumlov is more awesome than any town has a right to be. It is obscenely pretty, and it is not fair that I don't live there. Not that anyone else does either - every building that isn't a shop is a hotel or pension. Our hostel was very nice and quirky, in a 250 year old building that used to be a bakery. The managers there were a couple of Australians, who'd gone travelling a couple of years ago and never gone home again. It had a very nice relaxed atmosphere. However, we just dumped our bags and went out to explore the town. I think I took about three or four hundred photos in Cesky Krumlov. We had dinner at a restaurant with tables right down at the water level of the dangerously swollen and terrifically fast-flowing Vlatava. The dinner was fantastic - a feast of potato related bohemian things, as well as smoked meat and rabbit (chicken for Margot). After dinner we had a hot spiced mead. Delicious. Then a walk around the town in the dark, including up to the castle (the second biggest in CZ, after Prague), where we discovered that they keep bears in the moat.
In the morning we had breakfast at a nice cafe, which was seemingly full of Australians, then went up to the Castle and did a tour with about 15 thousand other people. You can't learn much in a group that size, but the tourguide was lovely. The castle is just amazing - built as a continuation of a cliff above the Vlatava, started in the 14th century and added to and changed over the years. The few days we were there I just never got over it. After the tour we went back to the hostel for some lunch, then went out to go on a trail ride, which was one of the activities suggested in the guidebook. I was looking forward to it, and it was kind of fun, but very boring as we never went above a walk, although I held my horse back a couple of times then made her trot to catch up. After the ride we went back into town and wandered around in awe for a while, then had dinner at the Two Mary's, the same place as the night before, only I had the pheasant rather than the rabbit this time. Awesome. Then we spent the evening wandering around town, including going for another stickybeak at the bears. I could walk around this town forever. It has been so beautifully restored, and every building is newly rendered and painted, making it feel much as it must have done in its heyday (only with way more hotels and tourists).
On Sunday morning (only yesterday!) we had one last long explore, walking around the other side of the old town, and seeing some lovely parts we hadn't previously, as well as getting different views of the castle and the cathedral. There is a huge mansion for sale on a hillside on the other side of the town from the castle, and we both agreed that that is the house we will buy. We said our goodbyes, hoping we'd be back, then almost didn't leave when our taxi inexplicably didn't show up. Eventually the manager of the hostel called a different company, so we just made it to our train back to Prague. We arrived latish, checked into the hostel that we'd accidentally gone to the first time we'd arrived in Prague, then spent a quiet evening with some takeaway chinese food and a cutthroat game of Gin played with our Mucha cards.
After an uncomfortable sleep (they really don't know how to do pillows in hostels), we awoke early this morning, packed, and went to the train station to head east. Waving goodbye to Prague, we spent the next 8 hours on the train, broken only by a stop in a frankly horrible train station in Katowice, where we had to change trains. The train for the remainder of the journey had no WC, so at the end of the two hour leg, we were in no position to have no local money, no idea how to get anywhere, and to be late to check in to our hostel. However, it worked itself out, with the help of a man working behind a hostel-booking desk, and we found our way here. So here we are. We have seen only as much of Krakow as we could see from the rickety old tram. Our hostel is lovely - a private room with a balcony overlooking a park, lots of space, nice kitchen, and most importantly free internet, which is why I have spent the evening getting this blog up to date rather that wandering around outside.
In the morning we had breakfast at a nice cafe, which was seemingly full of Australians, then went up to the Castle and did a tour with about 15 thousand other people. You can't learn much in a group that size, but the tourguide was lovely. The castle is just amazing - built as a continuation of a cliff above the Vlatava, started in the 14th century and added to and changed over the years. The few days we were there I just never got over it. After the tour we went back to the hostel for some lunch, then went out to go on a trail ride, which was one of the activities suggested in the guidebook. I was looking forward to it, and it was kind of fun, but very boring as we never went above a walk, although I held my horse back a couple of times then made her trot to catch up. After the ride we went back into town and wandered around in awe for a while, then had dinner at the Two Mary's, the same place as the night before, only I had the pheasant rather than the rabbit this time. Awesome. Then we spent the evening wandering around town, including going for another stickybeak at the bears. I could walk around this town forever. It has been so beautifully restored, and every building is newly rendered and painted, making it feel much as it must have done in its heyday (only with way more hotels and tourists).
On Sunday morning (only yesterday!) we had one last long explore, walking around the other side of the old town, and seeing some lovely parts we hadn't previously, as well as getting different views of the castle and the cathedral. There is a huge mansion for sale on a hillside on the other side of the town from the castle, and we both agreed that that is the house we will buy. We said our goodbyes, hoping we'd be back, then almost didn't leave when our taxi inexplicably didn't show up. Eventually the manager of the hostel called a different company, so we just made it to our train back to Prague. We arrived latish, checked into the hostel that we'd accidentally gone to the first time we'd arrived in Prague, then spent a quiet evening with some takeaway chinese food and a cutthroat game of Gin played with our Mucha cards.
After an uncomfortable sleep (they really don't know how to do pillows in hostels), we awoke early this morning, packed, and went to the train station to head east. Waving goodbye to Prague, we spent the next 8 hours on the train, broken only by a stop in a frankly horrible train station in Katowice, where we had to change trains. The train for the remainder of the journey had no WC, so at the end of the two hour leg, we were in no position to have no local money, no idea how to get anywhere, and to be late to check in to our hostel. However, it worked itself out, with the help of a man working behind a hostel-booking desk, and we found our way here. So here we are. We have seen only as much of Krakow as we could see from the rickety old tram. Our hostel is lovely - a private room with a balcony overlooking a park, lots of space, nice kitchen, and most importantly free internet, which is why I have spent the evening getting this blog up to date rather that wandering around outside.
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