Wednesday, December 07, 2005
I'm finally back in Sydney...back to the hot, sticky weather and the water restrictions. It is kind of weird being back right now, because it feels a little weird me being at home, unemployed and not travelling.
My time in LA was short...it was hot compared to the other places I visited. I was gutted to find out that every city in the US that I visited started snowing as soon as i left it. It was also nice to meet up with Scott in LA where we could spend time together doing the 'really' touristy things. We went to Universal Studios; watched a live taping of a new comedy show with Seth Green (he's really short!) - "Four Kings"; we saw the Mann's Chinese Theatre and the hollywood sign through the disgusting orange smog; and we caught the bus down to Santa Monica where we walked along the beach and strolled along the pier. It was interesting getting back downtown when we got lost in a dodgy area and tried to make a quick exist by catching a random bus...which didn't help our navigational skills much. Lucky for us we managed to walk to Sunset and found our way back.
I'm now back in Sydney and am feeling a little awkward back at home. It's nice to be back in the sunshine and to be around friends and family again. Scott is safe and well in his new London flat (in Angel).
My time in LA was short...it was hot compared to the other places I visited. I was gutted to find out that every city in the US that I visited started snowing as soon as i left it. It was also nice to meet up with Scott in LA where we could spend time together doing the 'really' touristy things. We went to Universal Studios; watched a live taping of a new comedy show with Seth Green (he's really short!) - "Four Kings"; we saw the Mann's Chinese Theatre and the hollywood sign through the disgusting orange smog; and we caught the bus down to Santa Monica where we walked along the beach and strolled along the pier. It was interesting getting back downtown when we got lost in a dodgy area and tried to make a quick exist by catching a random bus...which didn't help our navigational skills much. Lucky for us we managed to walk to Sunset and found our way back.
I'm now back in Sydney and am feeling a little awkward back at home. It's nice to be back in the sunshine and to be around friends and family again. Scott is safe and well in his new London flat (in Angel).
Tuesday, November 22, 2005
28th November, 2005
Gee it's funny how I never manage to get fully up to date with my blog. Everyone probably thinks I have fallen off the face of the planet or I'm lying in some gutter somewhere.
I have left London now...the last weekend in London was great - Scott and I went for a drive through Suffolk where we stopped off in Felixstowe (coool name for a town huh?) and stopped by a little soda cafe with this really adorable man - Joe. He was a good laugh and we had a great yarn.
Then we drove to Norwich for the night, a lovely cute quintessentially english town. On the way we saw a cute little village of Castle Acre (sort of similar to some of the little villages on the Isle of Wight). We saw the remains of the Castle Acre Priory there and it was really cute.
We also went to Leeds and Manchester (Where we rode the mini London Eye and saw the war memorial parade).
Since then I have left Scott to fend for himself in London, (I think he's doing quite fine) and I have been travelling through the US. About 2 weeks ago I landed in New York where I spent a week travelling around. It is a fabulous place and I thoroughly enjoyed myself. I was a little apprehensive going there on my own at first because of all the movies about the "Ghettos" and the dangerous subway, but I didn't experience that at all. The people in New York are so friendly and approachable (aside from the sleezy old men but that's the same in every city).
The people in the hostel were really nice also, I met some great friends. I was lucky in that one of the girls in my dorm was from London, and she had previously lived in New York for 6 months before. She took me out on a night on the town while I was there - a local bar, a really cool gay bar where they did loads of retro singing (just my type of scene) and a really bizarre club. It was a memorable night for sure! She also used to work at the museums in the city so she managed to get me tickets to the Museum of Modern Art (MOMA) for free...it was such a bonus because I saved $20. I did loads of touristy stuff as well - the Empire State Building, Walking through Central Park, I saw a Broadway show - really cool show called "Movin' Out" where the actors/dancers performed to Billy Joel tunes. It was quite good watching Billy Joel and Ballet co-exist on stage. I walked the Brooklyn Bridge, and I was part of a live studio audience for a Fox News program where there was a segment with Cynthia Nixon (from Sex & the City) being interviewed. It was loads of fun!
After that I went to Boston for a couple of days. Compared to New York, Boston was very quiet. Especially over the thanksgiving break...all the students from Harvard, MIT and U.Mass went home so the town basically became a ghost town. There were only 3 bars open on Thanksgiving day. I went for a bit of a wander there, saw a Comedy show and did the Freedom Trail walk. The best part of Boston for me was Boston Common. It was absolutely beautiful, especially being autumn so the leaves were all different colours and falling still. There was also a pond with ducks...it was just so peaceful. I didn't manage to go ice-skating in Frog Pond because it was so packed (plus it was freezing!)...I also saw the bar that "Cheers" was based on...it was cozy!
Being a geek I also walked around the MIT building...it was such a lovely campus...made UTS feel very very ugly. The hostel in Boston was pretty good, and the people I met were fab again. There were some people from the UK and New Zealand, and Australians...I can't seem to get away.
To be honest I was quite glad to leave Boston because I was getting tired of the lack of things to do and the freezing cold...so here I am now in Seattle. This hostel is not organised in such a way that I can meet people easily, and as far as I can tell people just come here to smoke weed. But the city of Seattle itself is quite pretty, especially today actually because overlooking the Puget Sound I can see loads of snow capped mountains. The first day I was here I went to the Space Needle, the Sci-Fi museum (I felt like a right geek), and the Experience Music Project (EMP). It was really quite good. Yesterday I went to my first Pro NFL game with the Seattle Seahawks vs. the New York Giants. It was a fantastic nailbiter game and such a great atmosphere...definately one of my favourite experiences here in the US. I also met a lovely couple who invited me to their house for dinner as well. I have met some really lovely people here in the US, people who are definately very generous...the stereotype of "the american" has definately changed in my mind.
I feel like my trip is coming to an end really soon (which it is!) I only have one more stop in LA, where i'm meeting up with Scott again. It feels like it has been ages!
So, when I get home I will try and post up my pictures of my travels over here...
Still having a blast, and still alive,
Khanh
Gee it's funny how I never manage to get fully up to date with my blog. Everyone probably thinks I have fallen off the face of the planet or I'm lying in some gutter somewhere.
I have left London now...the last weekend in London was great - Scott and I went for a drive through Suffolk where we stopped off in Felixstowe (coool name for a town huh?) and stopped by a little soda cafe with this really adorable man - Joe. He was a good laugh and we had a great yarn.
Then we drove to Norwich for the night, a lovely cute quintessentially english town. On the way we saw a cute little village of Castle Acre (sort of similar to some of the little villages on the Isle of Wight). We saw the remains of the Castle Acre Priory there and it was really cute.
We also went to Leeds and Manchester (Where we rode the mini London Eye and saw the war memorial parade).
Since then I have left Scott to fend for himself in London, (I think he's doing quite fine) and I have been travelling through the US. About 2 weeks ago I landed in New York where I spent a week travelling around. It is a fabulous place and I thoroughly enjoyed myself. I was a little apprehensive going there on my own at first because of all the movies about the "Ghettos" and the dangerous subway, but I didn't experience that at all. The people in New York are so friendly and approachable (aside from the sleezy old men but that's the same in every city).
The people in the hostel were really nice also, I met some great friends. I was lucky in that one of the girls in my dorm was from London, and she had previously lived in New York for 6 months before. She took me out on a night on the town while I was there - a local bar, a really cool gay bar where they did loads of retro singing (just my type of scene) and a really bizarre club. It was a memorable night for sure! She also used to work at the museums in the city so she managed to get me tickets to the Museum of Modern Art (MOMA) for free...it was such a bonus because I saved $20. I did loads of touristy stuff as well - the Empire State Building, Walking through Central Park, I saw a Broadway show - really cool show called "Movin' Out" where the actors/dancers performed to Billy Joel tunes. It was quite good watching Billy Joel and Ballet co-exist on stage. I walked the Brooklyn Bridge, and I was part of a live studio audience for a Fox News program where there was a segment with Cynthia Nixon (from Sex & the City) being interviewed. It was loads of fun!
After that I went to Boston for a couple of days. Compared to New York, Boston was very quiet. Especially over the thanksgiving break...all the students from Harvard, MIT and U.Mass went home so the town basically became a ghost town. There were only 3 bars open on Thanksgiving day. I went for a bit of a wander there, saw a Comedy show and did the Freedom Trail walk. The best part of Boston for me was Boston Common. It was absolutely beautiful, especially being autumn so the leaves were all different colours and falling still. There was also a pond with ducks...it was just so peaceful. I didn't manage to go ice-skating in Frog Pond because it was so packed (plus it was freezing!)...I also saw the bar that "Cheers" was based on...it was cozy!
Being a geek I also walked around the MIT building...it was such a lovely campus...made UTS feel very very ugly. The hostel in Boston was pretty good, and the people I met were fab again. There were some people from the UK and New Zealand, and Australians...I can't seem to get away.
To be honest I was quite glad to leave Boston because I was getting tired of the lack of things to do and the freezing cold...so here I am now in Seattle. This hostel is not organised in such a way that I can meet people easily, and as far as I can tell people just come here to smoke weed. But the city of Seattle itself is quite pretty, especially today actually because overlooking the Puget Sound I can see loads of snow capped mountains. The first day I was here I went to the Space Needle, the Sci-Fi museum (I felt like a right geek), and the Experience Music Project (EMP). It was really quite good. Yesterday I went to my first Pro NFL game with the Seattle Seahawks vs. the New York Giants. It was a fantastic nailbiter game and such a great atmosphere...definately one of my favourite experiences here in the US. I also met a lovely couple who invited me to their house for dinner as well. I have met some really lovely people here in the US, people who are definately very generous...the stereotype of "the american" has definately changed in my mind.
I feel like my trip is coming to an end really soon (which it is!) I only have one more stop in LA, where i'm meeting up with Scott again. It feels like it has been ages!
So, when I get home I will try and post up my pictures of my travels over here...
Still having a blast, and still alive,
Khanh
Thursday, October 27, 2005
So now I have managed to completely catch up with the blog it feels quite good - although I'm still a month out-of-date there hasn't really been that much to date that needs to be filled in.
The important things that happened are:
* Mendel has moved out and found a lovely place near Angel/Kings Cross;
* We have finally visited Cambridge - which was quite adorable really. It's very green and all the university colleges are quite cute. The novelty of punting down the river was quite unique and cool too.
* Sorted out my plane tickets finally!!! I am leaving the UK on the 15th November and onto (New York, Boston, Seattle and LA before I go home)...It's all quite sadness really. More so in the fact that I have quite a bit more to ship home than I originally thought and it costs a lot of money! Why do these compaies like to take all your money, especially considering the number of antipodeons here, they must be making a mint.
* Raquel and Curtis had their house-warming which was quite a good party.
* Mark is currently over to visit on his way snowboarding around the world for 6 months - lucky guy!;
* Visited the Imperial War Museum that I didn't even know existed (thank you Mark!!). It was really interesting too.
I suppose my days are filled at the moment with loads of procrastination and laziness.
The important things that happened are:
* Mendel has moved out and found a lovely place near Angel/Kings Cross;
* We have finally visited Cambridge - which was quite adorable really. It's very green and all the university colleges are quite cute. The novelty of punting down the river was quite unique and cool too.
* Sorted out my plane tickets finally!!! I am leaving the UK on the 15th November and onto (New York, Boston, Seattle and LA before I go home)...It's all quite sadness really. More so in the fact that I have quite a bit more to ship home than I originally thought and it costs a lot of money! Why do these compaies like to take all your money, especially considering the number of antipodeons here, they must be making a mint.
* Raquel and Curtis had their house-warming which was quite a good party.
* Mark is currently over to visit on his way snowboarding around the world for 6 months - lucky guy!;
* Visited the Imperial War Museum that I didn't even know existed (thank you Mark!!). It was really interesting too.
I suppose my days are filled at the moment with loads of procrastination and laziness.
Friday, September 30, 2005
30/09/05
So I left Waterloo on the Eurostar at 10am this morning. As per usual it was a mad hectic panic checking in (as per usual). The trick is to actually show up 30 minutes before your train leaves so you can avoid the 3 hour queues :P Once on the train it was a fast train ride into Paris Nord, the time flew by even faster with my companion - a Sudoku book.
I managed to wrestle my way through the Paris metro system with my back pack - only managing to get my pack stuck in the train doors once! Hooray for me, and made my way to my Great Uncle's place. It was about 2pm at this stage and they were at the airport waiting for my parents from Zurich. I was told that I could pick up the keys from the school gatehouse, (they live in a school as my great aunt works at the school). After managing to find the entrance to the school (some weird bizarre doorbell - on a school day during school hours! Go figure?), I had to communicate using my pathetic french. It took awhile, but I managed to get the point across. I was pleased to finally get into the apartment and have a nice shower.
It wasn't until 5 hours later that my parents arrived with my great uncle and aunt - about 3 hours behind schedule. Apparently they had to switch to another airline in Zurich so there was a huge miscommunication - thankfully it all worked out in the end! Once they had unpacked and everything, we loaded into the car ready for the drive up to Cabourg in Normandy.
Cabourg was a really quaint little french village on the sea. There was a beach (although it was too cold and windy to go for a dip), and a local farmers market right in the city only open on Sundays.
The following day we went to another local market at Dives-sur-mer. It was a gorgeous market with stalls setup in a 500 year old barn-style building (Les Halles). It was just enjoyable perusing the local grown fruit & veg, local cheeses, meats and seafood. I don't know why on every street corner was a stall selling roast chicken - each rotisserie holding a minimum of 12 chickens. Mind you I don't remember seeing anybody actually buying the chickens so I don't really know where they all go!
We went for a walk down the beach at Cabourg before heading to see all the Normandy WWII sites - Juno beach, Gold beach, Omaha beach, and Pointe du Hoc. It was really amazing to see the arromanches (remains of the make-shift floating port), the pegasus bridge, the cannons and bunker remains still on these beaches. It was moving to contemplate the bloodshed and the number of lives lost at these beaches. These numbers became more apparant when we visited the American Cemetery (the one with all the white crosses in all the movies) and we saw the thousands of soldiers that lost their lives in combat.
For tea we had a fabulous seafood platter full of Langoustines; baby shrimps almost like yabbies; sea snails (not so nice); and beautiful oysters! It was the first seafood extravaganza that I've had since being here! Fantastic!!
The following day we went to the Cabourg markets after wandering around to the Grand Hotel and some snow-globe shopping. At about lunchtime we started heading back to Paris via Honfleur and Deauville.
Honfleur was a beautiful port village with tiny cobblestone streets on a hill. There was a beautiful old church made entirely out of wood - St Catherine's (15th Century). It was magnificent and was only large enough to fit the population of the town in those days. Honfleur is predominantly an "artist's town" and to celebrate this fact most of the stores in the town are art galleries. There were some astounding pieces of work though - sadly a little too expensive for my art budget!
After Honfleur we headed to the 'Beverly Hills' of Normandy - Deauville. Once again it was another beautiful village, with very fancy designer stores. No bag was less than 400 euros :P It was still an amazing place though right next to a beach.
We made it back to Paris by nightfall capping off a wonderful weekend in the North of France.
I have to say, most of France is a lot more spectacular than Paris. Paris is a typical city speckled with some beautiful tourist sites (Sacre-Coeur, Eiffel tower, Notre Dame) but it has lost the french-flair. I can understand now why the french distinguish 'French' people from 'Parisiens'.
The remainder of our trip was catching up with my parents university friends and family in Paris, and taking them around to some of the sites (the Louvre, Montmartre, Place de Clichy, Chinatown). Sadly, I still have yet to see Versailles!!
After a couple of days in Paris, my parents and I bid farewell and returned to London (5/10/05). The following morning I accompanied them to Heathrow and saw them off at the airport. It was a little sad to see them go - I was starting to get used to their company.
So I left Waterloo on the Eurostar at 10am this morning. As per usual it was a mad hectic panic checking in (as per usual). The trick is to actually show up 30 minutes before your train leaves so you can avoid the 3 hour queues :P Once on the train it was a fast train ride into Paris Nord, the time flew by even faster with my companion - a Sudoku book.
I managed to wrestle my way through the Paris metro system with my back pack - only managing to get my pack stuck in the train doors once! Hooray for me, and made my way to my Great Uncle's place. It was about 2pm at this stage and they were at the airport waiting for my parents from Zurich. I was told that I could pick up the keys from the school gatehouse, (they live in a school as my great aunt works at the school). After managing to find the entrance to the school (some weird bizarre doorbell - on a school day during school hours! Go figure?), I had to communicate using my pathetic french. It took awhile, but I managed to get the point across. I was pleased to finally get into the apartment and have a nice shower.
It wasn't until 5 hours later that my parents arrived with my great uncle and aunt - about 3 hours behind schedule. Apparently they had to switch to another airline in Zurich so there was a huge miscommunication - thankfully it all worked out in the end! Once they had unpacked and everything, we loaded into the car ready for the drive up to Cabourg in Normandy.
Cabourg was a really quaint little french village on the sea. There was a beach (although it was too cold and windy to go for a dip), and a local farmers market right in the city only open on Sundays.
The following day we went to another local market at Dives-sur-mer. It was a gorgeous market with stalls setup in a 500 year old barn-style building (Les Halles). It was just enjoyable perusing the local grown fruit & veg, local cheeses, meats and seafood. I don't know why on every street corner was a stall selling roast chicken - each rotisserie holding a minimum of 12 chickens. Mind you I don't remember seeing anybody actually buying the chickens so I don't really know where they all go!
We went for a walk down the beach at Cabourg before heading to see all the Normandy WWII sites - Juno beach, Gold beach, Omaha beach, and Pointe du Hoc. It was really amazing to see the arromanches (remains of the make-shift floating port), the pegasus bridge, the cannons and bunker remains still on these beaches. It was moving to contemplate the bloodshed and the number of lives lost at these beaches. These numbers became more apparant when we visited the American Cemetery (the one with all the white crosses in all the movies) and we saw the thousands of soldiers that lost their lives in combat.
For tea we had a fabulous seafood platter full of Langoustines; baby shrimps almost like yabbies; sea snails (not so nice); and beautiful oysters! It was the first seafood extravaganza that I've had since being here! Fantastic!!
The following day we went to the Cabourg markets after wandering around to the Grand Hotel and some snow-globe shopping. At about lunchtime we started heading back to Paris via Honfleur and Deauville.
Honfleur was a beautiful port village with tiny cobblestone streets on a hill. There was a beautiful old church made entirely out of wood - St Catherine's (15th Century). It was magnificent and was only large enough to fit the population of the town in those days. Honfleur is predominantly an "artist's town" and to celebrate this fact most of the stores in the town are art galleries. There were some astounding pieces of work though - sadly a little too expensive for my art budget!
After Honfleur we headed to the 'Beverly Hills' of Normandy - Deauville. Once again it was another beautiful village, with very fancy designer stores. No bag was less than 400 euros :P It was still an amazing place though right next to a beach.
We made it back to Paris by nightfall capping off a wonderful weekend in the North of France.
I have to say, most of France is a lot more spectacular than Paris. Paris is a typical city speckled with some beautiful tourist sites (Sacre-Coeur, Eiffel tower, Notre Dame) but it has lost the french-flair. I can understand now why the french distinguish 'French' people from 'Parisiens'.
The remainder of our trip was catching up with my parents university friends and family in Paris, and taking them around to some of the sites (the Louvre, Montmartre, Place de Clichy, Chinatown). Sadly, I still have yet to see Versailles!!
After a couple of days in Paris, my parents and I bid farewell and returned to London (5/10/05). The following morning I accompanied them to Heathrow and saw them off at the airport. It was a little sad to see them go - I was starting to get used to their company.
Wednesday, September 28, 2005
28/09/05
This morning was our last morning in Krakow. I was sad to leave because I was loving the place so much. The people, the places and the history helped me to wake up smiling every single day. Fortunately I managed to find a snow globe at the last minute to remind me of our pleasant time in Krakow. We then caught the bus to the airport ready for our flight to Berlin. Of course the bus wasn't all it was cracked up to be (I hate catching buses with Packs!!) so it was a bit of a fight being pushed and shoved around luggage whilst Scott happily sat on his seat the entire 30 minute ride. The most exciting part was when a bunch of kids in a local village (we drove through paddocks and loads of farms) managed to place half a pumpkin on the bus just before the doors closed. It was amusing because all the older people on the bus started scowling and it was looking quite grim for awhile.
We managed to get on our flight to Berlin (hooray!). It wasn't the best flight because i wasn't feeling too good. It also didn't help that when we managed to catch the train, I followed the wrong directions and we went to the station that would be fondly known by Scott and I as 'Zoolander' station (Zoologicsher Garten). From there I was tired and couldn't be bothered catching more trains because it was raining, and i was not feeling well so we caught a cab to the cheap hotel.
It eventually dawned upon us why it was such a cheap hotel - it really was in the middle of nowhere. The only bonus was that it was right next to a metro station, so all was not lost. Once we had checked in and had a shower, we went out to find somewhere to eat and some nightlife. The thing we found really difficult was that it seemed that Berlin really didn't have "city centre" so to speak, but several areas that had restaurants, bars and clubs. We went to one of the popular night spots with loads of restaurants and a few people. It seemed like everything was really dead - especially around Alexanderplatz.
29/09/05
Sadly this was our ONLY full day in Berlin. It turned out that way purely because there were insufficient flights from Krakow to Berlin. We definately jam-packed as much into the day as possible. We started off by doing a 'Berlin Wall' walk, beginning with Checkpoint Charlie. I couldn't believe that the shed was still in tact although a lot of the memorabilia is now located in the museum. It was really interesting to see the original buildings (very few of them are left) and some watch towers that are still there.
We followed the metal line in the middle of the road which now denotes where the wall originally stood. We walked through a display of old german photographs in the 'Topographie of Terror' display. We walked through Potsdamer Platz to the Brandenburg Tor (Brandenburg Gate). We saw the Siegessaule column (victory column) before we headed to the East Side Gallery (on the Eastern side of the Berlin Wall) which had some amazing works of art. It's a shame that people graffiti all over the works. It's really nice that some of the original works were re-created in 2000. Scott also managed to score himself a small part of the wall.
We then went down to 'zoolander' for some shopping, before heading back to Podtsdamer Platz where we found a fabulous Gelato store in the Aradem. The servings were huge and very YUMMY! After having a quick beer, we went back to the hotel to pick up our luggage before catching the train to the airport. Our flight was at 7pm and we managed to get back into London and home sweet home at about 11pm. It was nice to be back, but I definately missed the short holiday.
That night I had to unpack, wash and dry my clothes and re-pack for my journey to meet the family in Paris the following morning. It is insane to think that within 2 weeks I travelled through Hungary, Poland, Germany and France.
This morning was our last morning in Krakow. I was sad to leave because I was loving the place so much. The people, the places and the history helped me to wake up smiling every single day. Fortunately I managed to find a snow globe at the last minute to remind me of our pleasant time in Krakow. We then caught the bus to the airport ready for our flight to Berlin. Of course the bus wasn't all it was cracked up to be (I hate catching buses with Packs!!) so it was a bit of a fight being pushed and shoved around luggage whilst Scott happily sat on his seat the entire 30 minute ride. The most exciting part was when a bunch of kids in a local village (we drove through paddocks and loads of farms) managed to place half a pumpkin on the bus just before the doors closed. It was amusing because all the older people on the bus started scowling and it was looking quite grim for awhile.
We managed to get on our flight to Berlin (hooray!). It wasn't the best flight because i wasn't feeling too good. It also didn't help that when we managed to catch the train, I followed the wrong directions and we went to the station that would be fondly known by Scott and I as 'Zoolander' station (Zoologicsher Garten). From there I was tired and couldn't be bothered catching more trains because it was raining, and i was not feeling well so we caught a cab to the cheap hotel.
It eventually dawned upon us why it was such a cheap hotel - it really was in the middle of nowhere. The only bonus was that it was right next to a metro station, so all was not lost. Once we had checked in and had a shower, we went out to find somewhere to eat and some nightlife. The thing we found really difficult was that it seemed that Berlin really didn't have "city centre" so to speak, but several areas that had restaurants, bars and clubs. We went to one of the popular night spots with loads of restaurants and a few people. It seemed like everything was really dead - especially around Alexanderplatz.
29/09/05
Sadly this was our ONLY full day in Berlin. It turned out that way purely because there were insufficient flights from Krakow to Berlin. We definately jam-packed as much into the day as possible. We started off by doing a 'Berlin Wall' walk, beginning with Checkpoint Charlie. I couldn't believe that the shed was still in tact although a lot of the memorabilia is now located in the museum. It was really interesting to see the original buildings (very few of them are left) and some watch towers that are still there.
We followed the metal line in the middle of the road which now denotes where the wall originally stood. We walked through a display of old german photographs in the 'Topographie of Terror' display. We walked through Potsdamer Platz to the Brandenburg Tor (Brandenburg Gate). We saw the Siegessaule column (victory column) before we headed to the East Side Gallery (on the Eastern side of the Berlin Wall) which had some amazing works of art. It's a shame that people graffiti all over the works. It's really nice that some of the original works were re-created in 2000. Scott also managed to score himself a small part of the wall.
We then went down to 'zoolander' for some shopping, before heading back to Podtsdamer Platz where we found a fabulous Gelato store in the Aradem. The servings were huge and very YUMMY! After having a quick beer, we went back to the hotel to pick up our luggage before catching the train to the airport. Our flight was at 7pm and we managed to get back into London and home sweet home at about 11pm. It was nice to be back, but I definately missed the short holiday.
That night I had to unpack, wash and dry my clothes and re-pack for my journey to meet the family in Paris the following morning. It is insane to think that within 2 weeks I travelled through Hungary, Poland, Germany and France.
Sunday, September 25, 2005
Sun 25/09/05
We awoke today and had to race to catch a coach to Oswiecim where we would visit Auschwitz and Birkenau death camps. The only downfall of our plan to arrive there on time was we didn't factor Scott having to blow-dry his hair because Anja (the lovely girl working at the hostel) wouldn't let him leave in fear that he could catch pneumonia. She was so sweet! Also, because we only had the dodgy map of krakow from the Lonely Planet book we struggled to find the place, and we arrived just as the bus had left. Lucky for us this man was nice enough to call the bus back - the guide woman wasn't too impressed.
The day was extremely foggy, frosty and cold! I was glad I bought my winter coat. It also meant that looking out the window anytime during our 1.5 hr drive there, all we could see was fog. We did a tour of Birkenau (Auschwitz II) first where we saw the eerie remains of the camp. The barracks where the prisoners were crammed up to 10 to a bunk, all of which would eventually collapse due to the weight. We also saw the toilet block where the prisoners where only allowed to use twice a day for 5 seconds (at specified times); the selection ramp where the Nazi's would choose whether a person became a prisoner or should die in the gas chamber. I suppose the most terrifying part was walking into the gas chamber at Auschwitz I and seeing the crematorium ovens. It brought chills down my spine walking through the Auschwitz museum where we could see things like the hair from the corpses of women that they saved to make socks and carpet; there was also a display of the suitcases and belongings of the victims. It brought tears to my eyes watching scenes of the atrocities and hearing stories of children being killed and seeing their belongings. I had heard all these stories before, and I had seen them in movies, but nothing really prepared me for the reality of it being at the actual camp.
'Auschwitz I' was based in the old Polish military barracks - from the outside it looked quite an innocent camp. Inside, the thousands of people killed (not just jews) was incredible. I found the story about the priest - Maximilian Kolbe (now a saint), was the most moving. The story was told that during a roll call of the prisoners at the camp, the nazi commander was finding somebody to punish and put in the starvation cell. A lone prisoner called out "what will happen to my family if I die" which obviously made the prisoner a target. As the commander began to approach the prisoner, Father Maximilian Kolbe sacrificed himself in place of the prisoner! It was an amazing story depicting a very special man with amazing faith and courage! The Polish people now worship and treat him as an important figure of their country.
Mon 26/09/05
The next day we decided to go on a walking tour of Krakow. Although we were a little aprehensive, it was actually really quite good because our guide was a 5th year medical student who not only showed us the sites but gave us an insight into polish history and polish culture. The other bonus was that noone else showed up so we found ourselves on a private 3 hour tour of Krakow.
First we started with Warwel Castle (which actually encompasses Warwel Cathedral and Warwel Palace). Amazingly this castle was renovated and refurbished through funds volunteered by local polish people. The poles are extremely patriotic and generous. Their mentality is based on the thinking that any refurbishment or renovations to degraded buildings through time should all be restored to the original architectural specifications. This is what has kept the uniqueness of Krakow, and what has retained its beauty (completely different from Warsaw).
On top of the Sigismund Tower in the cathedral is Sigismund bell (huge) that requires 16 people to ring it. Only few people actually know how to do it, so it now only rings on special occasions. Also, for females that visit the bell, one needs to be aware that depending on which hand you touch the bell with you may either be wishing to come back to Krakow (right hand) or wishing for marriage.
Inside the cathedral is also a crypt containing the bodies of all the Polish kings that have ever reigned throughout history. It is well respected that all kings (including a woman king) be coronated and buried in this cathedral, however there was supposedly a curse that stated that no king by the name of Stanislaus would ever be buried in this cathedral. Stanislaus is a really common name (apparently) and coincidently, the two kings with this name were not able to be buried in the cathedral - not because people refused to bury them there, but because of other factors.
Behind the cathedral was a beautiful Italian palace. It was designed by a famous Italian architect employed by King Zygmunt to woo a beautiful Italian princess. It worked and inside lies the largest tapestry collection in the world.
Further along on our tour we saw Oscar Schindlers' house; the Warwel Dragon and the cave which was the home to this dragon, located directly beneath the castle; we saw several amazing churches all of different styles. Our guide mentioned that because Poland was always so behind in terms of artistic eras (renaissance, baroque, etc) they always managed to get the best architects and artists of each era. They are also an extremely religious race with over 300 churches in Krakow alone - one street we walked along had 15!
There was also mention once we reached the market square that the two towers of St Mary's church was built by two brothers - a result of a competition between the two brothers to build the tallest tower. The brother that actually won the competition was killed by his competitive brother, and thus the loser actually won. The knife used to kill the brother is still on display in the cloth hall - however we couldn't find it!
In the middle of the square was another monument to Adam Mickiewicz. During the war the nazi's demolished his statue however some women flower sellers managed to salvage his head. After the war, the statue was restored with the original head. Now those ladies (and their children) can sell flowers in the square without paying any taxes.
The statue is now traditionally used by secondary school students on the night of their ball (before their exams). It is said that if you manage to hop around the statue 6 times you will pass all your exams, only once around indicates you will fail; and any more than that indicates the number of subjects you will pass! It is an amusing tradition considering it is done in the middle of winter when it is terribly cold, and after (i would imagine) a lot of vodka.
Tue 27/09/05
We had a slow start to the morning where we walked around town again - to the Barbican, Florianska gate and a proper look at the Warwel dragon. Around lunchtime we bought a train ticket to Wieliczka where we visited the salt mines. They were amazing and to think they have lasted hundreds of years is so brilliant. Inside there were carved saints, a huge chapel and a brilliant sculpture of Pope John Paul II with amazing detail. We had to walk down 147m below sea level through winding caves and monuments displaying how the salt mines were operated using poor horses. It was quite cold and impressive. I was quite scared getting into the makeshift lifts to get back to the surface at the end of the guided tour of the mines. Oh, they also had bars made from salt down there!
We awoke today and had to race to catch a coach to Oswiecim where we would visit Auschwitz and Birkenau death camps. The only downfall of our plan to arrive there on time was we didn't factor Scott having to blow-dry his hair because Anja (the lovely girl working at the hostel) wouldn't let him leave in fear that he could catch pneumonia. She was so sweet! Also, because we only had the dodgy map of krakow from the Lonely Planet book we struggled to find the place, and we arrived just as the bus had left. Lucky for us this man was nice enough to call the bus back - the guide woman wasn't too impressed.
The day was extremely foggy, frosty and cold! I was glad I bought my winter coat. It also meant that looking out the window anytime during our 1.5 hr drive there, all we could see was fog. We did a tour of Birkenau (Auschwitz II) first where we saw the eerie remains of the camp. The barracks where the prisoners were crammed up to 10 to a bunk, all of which would eventually collapse due to the weight. We also saw the toilet block where the prisoners where only allowed to use twice a day for 5 seconds (at specified times); the selection ramp where the Nazi's would choose whether a person became a prisoner or should die in the gas chamber. I suppose the most terrifying part was walking into the gas chamber at Auschwitz I and seeing the crematorium ovens. It brought chills down my spine walking through the Auschwitz museum where we could see things like the hair from the corpses of women that they saved to make socks and carpet; there was also a display of the suitcases and belongings of the victims. It brought tears to my eyes watching scenes of the atrocities and hearing stories of children being killed and seeing their belongings. I had heard all these stories before, and I had seen them in movies, but nothing really prepared me for the reality of it being at the actual camp.
'Auschwitz I' was based in the old Polish military barracks - from the outside it looked quite an innocent camp. Inside, the thousands of people killed (not just jews) was incredible. I found the story about the priest - Maximilian Kolbe (now a saint), was the most moving. The story was told that during a roll call of the prisoners at the camp, the nazi commander was finding somebody to punish and put in the starvation cell. A lone prisoner called out "what will happen to my family if I die" which obviously made the prisoner a target. As the commander began to approach the prisoner, Father Maximilian Kolbe sacrificed himself in place of the prisoner! It was an amazing story depicting a very special man with amazing faith and courage! The Polish people now worship and treat him as an important figure of their country.
Mon 26/09/05
The next day we decided to go on a walking tour of Krakow. Although we were a little aprehensive, it was actually really quite good because our guide was a 5th year medical student who not only showed us the sites but gave us an insight into polish history and polish culture. The other bonus was that noone else showed up so we found ourselves on a private 3 hour tour of Krakow.
First we started with Warwel Castle (which actually encompasses Warwel Cathedral and Warwel Palace). Amazingly this castle was renovated and refurbished through funds volunteered by local polish people. The poles are extremely patriotic and generous. Their mentality is based on the thinking that any refurbishment or renovations to degraded buildings through time should all be restored to the original architectural specifications. This is what has kept the uniqueness of Krakow, and what has retained its beauty (completely different from Warsaw).
On top of the Sigismund Tower in the cathedral is Sigismund bell (huge) that requires 16 people to ring it. Only few people actually know how to do it, so it now only rings on special occasions. Also, for females that visit the bell, one needs to be aware that depending on which hand you touch the bell with you may either be wishing to come back to Krakow (right hand) or wishing for marriage.
Inside the cathedral is also a crypt containing the bodies of all the Polish kings that have ever reigned throughout history. It is well respected that all kings (including a woman king) be coronated and buried in this cathedral, however there was supposedly a curse that stated that no king by the name of Stanislaus would ever be buried in this cathedral. Stanislaus is a really common name (apparently) and coincidently, the two kings with this name were not able to be buried in the cathedral - not because people refused to bury them there, but because of other factors.
Behind the cathedral was a beautiful Italian palace. It was designed by a famous Italian architect employed by King Zygmunt to woo a beautiful Italian princess. It worked and inside lies the largest tapestry collection in the world.
Further along on our tour we saw Oscar Schindlers' house; the Warwel Dragon and the cave which was the home to this dragon, located directly beneath the castle; we saw several amazing churches all of different styles. Our guide mentioned that because Poland was always so behind in terms of artistic eras (renaissance, baroque, etc) they always managed to get the best architects and artists of each era. They are also an extremely religious race with over 300 churches in Krakow alone - one street we walked along had 15!
There was also mention once we reached the market square that the two towers of St Mary's church was built by two brothers - a result of a competition between the two brothers to build the tallest tower. The brother that actually won the competition was killed by his competitive brother, and thus the loser actually won. The knife used to kill the brother is still on display in the cloth hall - however we couldn't find it!
In the middle of the square was another monument to Adam Mickiewicz. During the war the nazi's demolished his statue however some women flower sellers managed to salvage his head. After the war, the statue was restored with the original head. Now those ladies (and their children) can sell flowers in the square without paying any taxes.
The statue is now traditionally used by secondary school students on the night of their ball (before their exams). It is said that if you manage to hop around the statue 6 times you will pass all your exams, only once around indicates you will fail; and any more than that indicates the number of subjects you will pass! It is an amusing tradition considering it is done in the middle of winter when it is terribly cold, and after (i would imagine) a lot of vodka.
Tue 27/09/05
We had a slow start to the morning where we walked around town again - to the Barbican, Florianska gate and a proper look at the Warwel dragon. Around lunchtime we bought a train ticket to Wieliczka where we visited the salt mines. They were amazing and to think they have lasted hundreds of years is so brilliant. Inside there were carved saints, a huge chapel and a brilliant sculpture of Pope John Paul II with amazing detail. We had to walk down 147m below sea level through winding caves and monuments displaying how the salt mines were operated using poor horses. It was quite cold and impressive. I was quite scared getting into the makeshift lifts to get back to the surface at the end of the guided tour of the mines. Oh, they also had bars made from salt down there!
Monday, September 19, 2005
After spending a total of 2 days with Mendel we got up early on Monday 19th and did a last minute pack for our short visit to Eastern Europe. The only thing was that due to our frequent house guests we were a little all over the place. We hadn't organised anything other than our getting to budapest on a plane and a few nights accomodation after that.
It was quite a frantic moment when about an hour before we left I started browsing through the Lonely Planet guide and it indicated that we needed visas!! The book was 2 years old so we searched on the internet, which gave us other information about requiring a return ticket. Either way, we decided to just try our luck (not really prepared for what could happen...) so we caught our Easyjet flight from Gatwick to Feringhy after a 2 hour delay and a change in aircraft. It was almost as though the gods were trying to tell us something. It wasn't exactly a great start, but we perservered. We were extremely relieved when we landed safely in Budapest without any problems at all.
As soon as we stepped outside, it was pouring down with rain and we couldn't handle waiting 40 minutes for the next bus to get to the train (the cheapest option). Instead we caught a taxi to the hostel which cost us 8600 forints which was the same cost of the mini-bus. It was a good option because it was dark and late, and I have no idea how we would've found the hostel.
I was relieved once we arrived at the hostel (about 11pm), only it was very short lived. I had managed to book the hostel for 2 days time. Lucky for us they had room and we met some interesting people during our stay there. That evening Scott and I went out to find some food and a pub. We found both in the form of Gyros (£1.35) and a small local pub. It was quite interesting.
Tue 20/09/05
The next day we found an Illy coffee house serving quite good coffee. So we had breakfast there and wandered into the tourist information to see what the "must-see's" were, or whether there was a hop-on, hop-off bus. We ended up leaving with tickets to a City Tour bus for 2 hours. It was quite good because it was raining and quite miserable outside, and being in the warmth of a heated bus was quite nice. It was also nice to have live commentary and the history of the sites. I had no idea that Ghenghis Khan once ruled Budapest!
Comparatively, the city is a lot more developed than Prague and everyone speaks english because they all appreciate that Hungarian is the 2nd hardest language in the world to learn. That evening we went to a really nice posh bar in Liszt Square called 'Incognito', and had a lovely cocktail. I had a traditional hungarian meal of 'Chicken Paprika' for lunch that kept me full until the following day.
Wed 21/09/05
The next day we awoke early-ish and had a coffee & breakfast with some great people from the hostel - David, a french ski instructor; Annette, a swiss girl working in Geneva indirectly for the UN; and Dina, another Swiss web-designer/developer. They were all quite lovely and interesting people. After we parted with those guys, we walked over the Danube to the beautiful 'Buda' side. [The whole city of Budapest is divided into two sides (Buda - meaning Water, and Pest - meaning Fire) by the Danube River].
We walked down to the Chain Bridge and from the distance on the hill we could see the Liberty Statue, the citadel, the palace and the fisherman's Bastillion. As we walked over the bridge between the two lions guarding it (they were statues), we spotted the old furnicular that would take us all the way to the top of the hill where the castle stood.
We got off the furnicular car and we were immediately amazed by the view from the top. We could see Parliament House beautifully situated right on the water (the most amazing parliament building I have ever seen in my life!). We briefly wandered around the castle, amazed by the copper fountains and the statues of dogs (!?!). It was quite lovely but also very different to western design. The castle was no longer inhabited, and a gallery now resides in its place. What did strike me was how amazing the gardens were maintained and the little bit of colour that was added made a great difference. This refers to all of Budapest actually - all the parks and gardens were magnificent.
We walked around the area of the castle up to St Matthias church with the colourful roof, and then to the Fisherman's Bastillion which still takes my breath away. I know it may sound like an over-used cliche, but it truly was an architectural masterpiece. The name arose because apparently the ramparts used to rise above a town called Fisherman's town. There were stairs going up and down every-which way culminating in several towers. There were statutes of soldiers/knights lining the covered stairs and an interesting fountain in the centre of the courtyard. A beautiful fortress, and my favourite part of Budapest!
That evening I tried by first bowl of hungarian goulash and we had a brilliant bottle of Hungarian Merlot to accompany the meal! (Brilliant wine, pity I don't remember the name of it!).
Thu 22/09/05
The following morning we packed up and headed to the station to catch our 10 hour train to Poland. I was still cut that we didn't have time to see the Communist statue park, and the thermal baths. Next time gadget, next time! Most of our time in Budapest was terribly wet, except the last day! How typical is that!?
The journey to Warszawa was quite uneventful other than it was extremely long, and a waste of a good day. It was exciting having our passport checked twice (Czech border; and the Polish border), and we even got a stamp for Poland! Yay! We arrived at Warszawa Centralna Station at 10pm and managed to successfully navigate ourselves and our luggage to the Hostel (which conveniently was hidden around the back of the building! Some kid on roller blades was kind enough to help us out!).
We went that evening down the main street and although it was a thursday night, we were suprised that there weren't that many people about. There were loads of posh bars and restaurants open, but very few people. We went to a mexican place (it was a choice between that, pasta or kebabs), and I had the best Mohito I have ever tasted in my life!
I was suprised by Warsaw, arriving into the station I was expecting old run-down communist buildings and loads of ghettos. I had read that the city had been re-developed and all that, but I thought there would be remnants of the old days (I don't know why). It was quite a modern place with loads of shopping areas and bars. All the major roads (and there were a lot of them) were connected for pedestrians via a myriad of tunnels underneath. This was mainly at Central station, and with the huge number of exits, it managed to confuse me on more than one occasion.
Fri 23/09/05
The morning after, (Friday) we spent getting a train ticket to Krakow for Saturday afternoon, and trying to find a tourist information place to aquire a map that was more comprehensible than a 2 year old Lonely Planet guide. We gave up after about an hour and headed towards the Jewish Quarter (the reason for my desire to see Poland). We found the monument to the Heros of the Ghetto which referred to the Jewish people that resisted arrest and committed suicide in the Ghetto rather than being killed by the bombs from the Nazi's. We found a stall with maps at the monument, and a lovely man who showed us the jewish path to the wall, and a really interesting wagon monument depicting a railway track with a broken wagon full of crosses. A really heart-wrenching tribute. I was so moved to see so many lit candles still at these monuments.
On the way to the statue, we passed the park with the tomb of the unknown soldier. A flame was burning and the tomb was guarded by 2 armed soldiers. It was very full on! After completing the jewish walk, we began the 'Royal walk' past the Grand Opera Theatrewhich was quite a grand building, but it was over-shadowed by the numerous palaces about the place. All of which are now occupied by the government. We took a brief detour away from the Royal Square to have a look at the "Monument to the Uprising" commemorating Polish independence. It was a beautiful monument - very brilliantly created and very impressive. It is almost as though half of the monument is underground the way that it is designed.
We joined the Royal Walk back where we left it, and walked past St John's church (with a gorgeous interior). There were too many churches to count! We walked past the Old Town Square with the Mermaid 'Syrena' on display in the middle of the square, to the Royal Square via the Barbican. After walking back down the main street we saw the Monument to Adam Mickiewicz (a famous Polish poet), we peered into the Carmelite church (beautiful), past Radziwitt palace to the huge statue of Nicolaus Copernicus.
That evening we went down to Foksal St again and ate in one of the many lively cafes surronding the main Nowy Swiat street.
Sat 24/09/05
This morning was our last day in Warszawa and we spent it cramming in several tourist bits we missed out on, namely the Royal Palace. We walked around viewing the state apartments and were intrigued by the paintings and furniture (including an extremely tiny bed). The palace also showcased the wealth of the kings with their china, gold and brilliant portraits and statues. I was extremely impressed with the detailed life-size wood carving of a boy (it was taller than me!). The palace contained one really special room - it was a small cylindrical room covered from floor to ceiling in marble. Each king had a portrait and a marble plaque commemorating their reign. I am not so sure whether they were actually buried there because historically all kings of Poland are buried in Warwel Cathedral in Krakow.
We had lunch of traditional Polish dumplings (Pierogi) which has become my favourite meal now! At 3pm we had to head down to the train station to catch our 4 hour train to Krakow. It was actually quite an ordeal to orient ourselves at the station as there were 2 platforms with the same number. Luckily for us a lovely polish woman managed to help us, and we found ourselves in quite a busy cabin. I had a difficult encounter with an old man wanting to sit in a seat next to me (which was already taken!). Then I had to spend the next 10 minutes explaining to him how to do a SuDoku. I was well relieved when we pulled in to Krakow Glowny station.
We arrived at about 8pm and found our hostel really easily. It was situated right on one of the main streets and a stones throw away from the Main Market Square. The only downfall was that it was so close to the bugle that was played after the clock chimed every hour (regardless of the time of day!) that we found it difficult to sleep. The bugle only plays half a tune because it is supposed to commemorate the fact that an original bugler got shot with an arrow in his throat mid-tune, since then the tune has never been played completely.
We got to know the square pretty well that night and I learnt an important polish word "Lody" which means ice-cream! I found the best ice-cream place in the square, where one scoop only cost 2 PLN. That same night, the square was packed full of people as there was a Sting concert being telecast live. That is one thing we noticed in Eastern Europe (well Budapest and Poland) was that they were really 'behind' in terms of music. All the 80's retro is considered new for them.
It was really good staying so close to the city centre (plus the hostel had really good hot showers too!).
It was quite a frantic moment when about an hour before we left I started browsing through the Lonely Planet guide and it indicated that we needed visas!! The book was 2 years old so we searched on the internet, which gave us other information about requiring a return ticket. Either way, we decided to just try our luck (not really prepared for what could happen...) so we caught our Easyjet flight from Gatwick to Feringhy after a 2 hour delay and a change in aircraft. It was almost as though the gods were trying to tell us something. It wasn't exactly a great start, but we perservered. We were extremely relieved when we landed safely in Budapest without any problems at all.
As soon as we stepped outside, it was pouring down with rain and we couldn't handle waiting 40 minutes for the next bus to get to the train (the cheapest option). Instead we caught a taxi to the hostel which cost us 8600 forints which was the same cost of the mini-bus. It was a good option because it was dark and late, and I have no idea how we would've found the hostel.
I was relieved once we arrived at the hostel (about 11pm), only it was very short lived. I had managed to book the hostel for 2 days time. Lucky for us they had room and we met some interesting people during our stay there. That evening Scott and I went out to find some food and a pub. We found both in the form of Gyros (£1.35) and a small local pub. It was quite interesting.
Tue 20/09/05
The next day we found an Illy coffee house serving quite good coffee. So we had breakfast there and wandered into the tourist information to see what the "must-see's" were, or whether there was a hop-on, hop-off bus. We ended up leaving with tickets to a City Tour bus for 2 hours. It was quite good because it was raining and quite miserable outside, and being in the warmth of a heated bus was quite nice. It was also nice to have live commentary and the history of the sites. I had no idea that Ghenghis Khan once ruled Budapest!
Comparatively, the city is a lot more developed than Prague and everyone speaks english because they all appreciate that Hungarian is the 2nd hardest language in the world to learn. That evening we went to a really nice posh bar in Liszt Square called 'Incognito', and had a lovely cocktail. I had a traditional hungarian meal of 'Chicken Paprika' for lunch that kept me full until the following day.
Wed 21/09/05
The next day we awoke early-ish and had a coffee & breakfast with some great people from the hostel - David, a french ski instructor; Annette, a swiss girl working in Geneva indirectly for the UN; and Dina, another Swiss web-designer/developer. They were all quite lovely and interesting people. After we parted with those guys, we walked over the Danube to the beautiful 'Buda' side. [The whole city of Budapest is divided into two sides (Buda - meaning Water, and Pest - meaning Fire) by the Danube River].
We walked down to the Chain Bridge and from the distance on the hill we could see the Liberty Statue, the citadel, the palace and the fisherman's Bastillion. As we walked over the bridge between the two lions guarding it (they were statues), we spotted the old furnicular that would take us all the way to the top of the hill where the castle stood.
We got off the furnicular car and we were immediately amazed by the view from the top. We could see Parliament House beautifully situated right on the water (the most amazing parliament building I have ever seen in my life!). We briefly wandered around the castle, amazed by the copper fountains and the statues of dogs (!?!). It was quite lovely but also very different to western design. The castle was no longer inhabited, and a gallery now resides in its place. What did strike me was how amazing the gardens were maintained and the little bit of colour that was added made a great difference. This refers to all of Budapest actually - all the parks and gardens were magnificent.
We walked around the area of the castle up to St Matthias church with the colourful roof, and then to the Fisherman's Bastillion which still takes my breath away. I know it may sound like an over-used cliche, but it truly was an architectural masterpiece. The name arose because apparently the ramparts used to rise above a town called Fisherman's town. There were stairs going up and down every-which way culminating in several towers. There were statutes of soldiers/knights lining the covered stairs and an interesting fountain in the centre of the courtyard. A beautiful fortress, and my favourite part of Budapest!
That evening I tried by first bowl of hungarian goulash and we had a brilliant bottle of Hungarian Merlot to accompany the meal! (Brilliant wine, pity I don't remember the name of it!).
Thu 22/09/05
The following morning we packed up and headed to the station to catch our 10 hour train to Poland. I was still cut that we didn't have time to see the Communist statue park, and the thermal baths. Next time gadget, next time! Most of our time in Budapest was terribly wet, except the last day! How typical is that!?
The journey to Warszawa was quite uneventful other than it was extremely long, and a waste of a good day. It was exciting having our passport checked twice (Czech border; and the Polish border), and we even got a stamp for Poland! Yay! We arrived at Warszawa Centralna Station at 10pm and managed to successfully navigate ourselves and our luggage to the Hostel (which conveniently was hidden around the back of the building! Some kid on roller blades was kind enough to help us out!).
We went that evening down the main street and although it was a thursday night, we were suprised that there weren't that many people about. There were loads of posh bars and restaurants open, but very few people. We went to a mexican place (it was a choice between that, pasta or kebabs), and I had the best Mohito I have ever tasted in my life!
I was suprised by Warsaw, arriving into the station I was expecting old run-down communist buildings and loads of ghettos. I had read that the city had been re-developed and all that, but I thought there would be remnants of the old days (I don't know why). It was quite a modern place with loads of shopping areas and bars. All the major roads (and there were a lot of them) were connected for pedestrians via a myriad of tunnels underneath. This was mainly at Central station, and with the huge number of exits, it managed to confuse me on more than one occasion.
Fri 23/09/05
The morning after, (Friday) we spent getting a train ticket to Krakow for Saturday afternoon, and trying to find a tourist information place to aquire a map that was more comprehensible than a 2 year old Lonely Planet guide. We gave up after about an hour and headed towards the Jewish Quarter (the reason for my desire to see Poland). We found the monument to the Heros of the Ghetto which referred to the Jewish people that resisted arrest and committed suicide in the Ghetto rather than being killed by the bombs from the Nazi's. We found a stall with maps at the monument, and a lovely man who showed us the jewish path to the wall, and a really interesting wagon monument depicting a railway track with a broken wagon full of crosses. A really heart-wrenching tribute. I was so moved to see so many lit candles still at these monuments.
On the way to the statue, we passed the park with the tomb of the unknown soldier. A flame was burning and the tomb was guarded by 2 armed soldiers. It was very full on! After completing the jewish walk, we began the 'Royal walk' past the Grand Opera Theatrewhich was quite a grand building, but it was over-shadowed by the numerous palaces about the place. All of which are now occupied by the government. We took a brief detour away from the Royal Square to have a look at the "Monument to the Uprising" commemorating Polish independence. It was a beautiful monument - very brilliantly created and very impressive. It is almost as though half of the monument is underground the way that it is designed.
We joined the Royal Walk back where we left it, and walked past St John's church (with a gorgeous interior). There were too many churches to count! We walked past the Old Town Square with the Mermaid 'Syrena' on display in the middle of the square, to the Royal Square via the Barbican. After walking back down the main street we saw the Monument to Adam Mickiewicz (a famous Polish poet), we peered into the Carmelite church (beautiful), past Radziwitt palace to the huge statue of Nicolaus Copernicus.
That evening we went down to Foksal St again and ate in one of the many lively cafes surronding the main Nowy Swiat street.
Sat 24/09/05
This morning was our last day in Warszawa and we spent it cramming in several tourist bits we missed out on, namely the Royal Palace. We walked around viewing the state apartments and were intrigued by the paintings and furniture (including an extremely tiny bed). The palace also showcased the wealth of the kings with their china, gold and brilliant portraits and statues. I was extremely impressed with the detailed life-size wood carving of a boy (it was taller than me!). The palace contained one really special room - it was a small cylindrical room covered from floor to ceiling in marble. Each king had a portrait and a marble plaque commemorating their reign. I am not so sure whether they were actually buried there because historically all kings of Poland are buried in Warwel Cathedral in Krakow.
We had lunch of traditional Polish dumplings (Pierogi) which has become my favourite meal now! At 3pm we had to head down to the train station to catch our 4 hour train to Krakow. It was actually quite an ordeal to orient ourselves at the station as there were 2 platforms with the same number. Luckily for us a lovely polish woman managed to help us, and we found ourselves in quite a busy cabin. I had a difficult encounter with an old man wanting to sit in a seat next to me (which was already taken!). Then I had to spend the next 10 minutes explaining to him how to do a SuDoku. I was well relieved when we pulled in to Krakow Glowny station.
We arrived at about 8pm and found our hostel really easily. It was situated right on one of the main streets and a stones throw away from the Main Market Square. The only downfall was that it was so close to the bugle that was played after the clock chimed every hour (regardless of the time of day!) that we found it difficult to sleep. The bugle only plays half a tune because it is supposed to commemorate the fact that an original bugler got shot with an arrow in his throat mid-tune, since then the tune has never been played completely.
We got to know the square pretty well that night and I learnt an important polish word "Lody" which means ice-cream! I found the best ice-cream place in the square, where one scoop only cost 2 PLN. That same night, the square was packed full of people as there was a Sting concert being telecast live. That is one thing we noticed in Eastern Europe (well Budapest and Poland) was that they were really 'behind' in terms of music. All the 80's retro is considered new for them.
It was really good staying so close to the city centre (plus the hostel had really good hot showers too!).
