Hi!
So the next part of the journey was from Budapest to Ljubljana - which was a nice but brief stay. Ljubljana is not the biggest of cities, which meant that we only stayed for the night. When we left Budapest we had to go around the Lake Balaton, which took an absolute age, we eventually arrived in Zagreb and then took another train to Ljubljana, which didn't go much faster either. When we arrived in the hostel it was nearing two o’clock in the morning, however despite us booking in advance they had to give up the room, because they classified us as a ‘no show’, which meant that we had to switch hostels again. The next day we looked around Ljubljana, went to the Ljubljana Castle and just relaxed for the day.
We took an afternoon train to Bled, which was to the north of Ljubljana. My feelings on Lake Bled were mixed. On the one hand it is a beautiful glacial lake in the Julian Alps, on the other hand it is because it is so idyllic place that you paradoxically get all these tourists wanting to appreciate this place. For me, I much appreciated the smaller and much quieter Lake Bohinj. However when we took the bus up we got off to early and had to walk for an hour to get to the lake. Of course it being summer, there were going to be tourists but when you moved away from th crouds and found a nice and quiet spot, it almost felt like you had the lake to yourself. The water was cool, which was exactly what we needed, and when you went in the fish would swim around your feet. We stayed for about three or four hours, but as soon as we were about to leave a storm appeared - this was a very surreal experience. It was a hot and sunny day, but then this big grey cloud appeared, and eventually started moving closer. The wind picked up and became suprisingly strong. The rain plummeted down, along with branches from the tree. We luckily got back in time, but the storm became stronger and stronger.
We left Bled for Split in Croatia (the last stretch of our trip)...
I know it has been a while (again), but I thought I will carry on describing our Interrailing trip, which we did this Summer around Europe. So from Prague my friend (Friend 1) and I took the bus to Vienna to drop some of our stuff off, and then take a train later that day from Vienna to Bratislava where we were staying for a night (and where we were meeting Friend 2). So it was a breakfast in Prague, lunch in Vienna and dinner in Bratislava type scenario. Like Prague and Berlin before that, we couldn't really go to too many museums as we were on a tight budget. Due to our short stay I only managed to get the one photo, which isn't the best...
However, if you have a chance, have a look at some of Matej Krén's work. You could see some on Google. There was this one instalment in particular called Passage, which is incredible. You walk along along a lighted path on both sides of you are mirrors creating this everlasting illusion, and the walls to the right and left of you are just filled with books. This creates the illusion that you are walking across a suspended footpath and that on both sides of you are these neverending wall's of books (effect created by the mirrors) - definitely worth looking at a few of his work!
So anyway... we took a evening bus from Bratislava to Budapest (all three of us this time) arriving pretty late at night. We were staying for three nights in a hostel not very from the river, right in the centre of the nightlife area. So anyway we did A LOT of walking. We walked to the Buda Castle, to the Great Market Hall, along the Chain Bridge to the Pest side. So much walking was done, it hurts just thinking about it. What made it worse was that it was humid and sticky...
But anyway, I've been to Budapest already a few times, however it was nice to see what the city was like during the Summer. This included going to the ruin pubs and playing frisbee in the parks. Again due to budget, we couldn't unfortunately go to the Budapest baths, although I can't really imagine it being too nice, when there are loads of people kind of ruining the experience for you. That being said, Budapest is definitely one of my favourite cities and probably the best one on our travels. There was so much to do. Places to see, museums to visit, food to eat!
If any of you are planning on going to somewhere in Europe at any time of the year, naturally Vienna should be your first choice, but Budapest comes definitely a close second. It is a huge city with loads of interesting things to see and do. The cuisine is definitely up there, me being a foody and all, and can very much recommend it *however if you are not a big fan of sauerkraut, you may have a few troubles* as they have very homely and warming dishes (there is no better way to have lunch than to go to the Great Market Hall and have a warm lunch on a cold Winter's day.
So, role on the photos...
So the next leg of the journey was from Budapest to Ljubliana, which was a rather uncomfortable journey, but definitely wasn't the worst one (that come later). That being said, I generally get very excited from travelling by train, which I often enjoyed as a child, when going on train journeys with my grandfather and brother in and around Vienna as a child. Budapest has two of the most beautiful train stations in Europe the Budapest-Nyugati Railway Terminal (pictured above) and the Budapest Keleti Railway Station are just incredibly beautiful stations. Getting carried a way a little, but anyway, we travel next to Ljubliana!
"Prague never lets you go..." Kafka
So we took a bus from Berlin to Prague, which was more comfortable than the train we took to get into Berlin. The plan was that we would meet our friend at the hostel, who was bringing his golf clubs with him. As was the case with Berlin, I'd never been to Prague either. I'd only heard about it from my mother who said that my grandfather had to leave Prague during the war, solely for being Austrian and could not be trusted. From what I saw Prague was quite the place in terms of architecture - before the Communists started infiltrating their designs and ideas too. However there is lots to see: from the Charles Bridge to the Astronomical Clock Tower. However as always there is a lot of walking involved, and when crossing the Charles Bridge to get to St. Vitus Cathedral required extra effort to get to the top of the hill.
Prague is an interesting, beautiful, historical city and it comes as no suprise to hear such praise for the city. There is a lot to do and see. One could just explore the old historical parts of the city or just eat and drink at various pubs and restaurants around the city serving traditional Czech cuisine (one of my favourites) such as Svíčková or just to drink Czech beer (cheap and lots of it). You can see where it gets its influences from, with its Austro-Hungarian ancestry and being exposed to Eastern influences. It's a great place to visit, maybe better at another time of the year, but still for all it's worth it's a great place to visit and I highly recommend it.
Breakfast in Prague, lunch in Vienna and dinner in Bratislava. Til' then!
"Berlin is mehr ein Weltteil als eine Stadt" Jean Paul
We left Vienna at 10 o'clock taking a 10 hour night train to Berlin. Although I love travelling by trains, nighttrains are just something else - having said that the train to Berlin wasn't even the worse one (that goes to Zagreb-Vienna, which I will explain later in another post). Me and my friend (Rob) were positioned right next to the door in a carriage of six (fortunately we weren't in the middle seats, which would have been just the worst). The problem with nighttrains are (especially if you are travelling through countries) that they require you to wake up at 3 o'clock in the morning just to show your ticket and passport although you've showed it three times already and only managed to get an hours sleep because someone had to get up and go to the loo.
So we managed to get into Berlin all safe and fine. One thing I noticed was that Berlin is expensive - not London or Stockholm expensive, but expensive enough. A underground ticket for 5 days came to €30 (I think!); while entrance to the Alte Nationalgalerie came to €10. In comparison to other places (in particular Western more capitalist dependent countries and societies) Berlin isn't too bad, but seeing that we were on a budget we had to keep ourselves grounded, which ment eating in (something I have no problems with) and not being able to appreciate Berlin when going out.
But from all the things I saw and did, Berlin is definitely up there with being one of the best cities to visit in Europe. We managed to get a free walking tour of the city on the first day (they rely on tips) not because we were stingy or anything (well maybe a little) but more because it was highly recommended. We managed to get quite a lot done, including museums, galleries, the television tower (which I found really impressive as one gets a real insight in the divide between East and West left by the wall).
The place where we were staying at was pretty awesome as well. Only 50 metres away from Hitler's bunker and right in the middle of berlin, allowing us quick and easy access to wherever we wanted to go. The place itself was an apartment in the Eastern side of where the wall was, meaning that there was quite a bit of reconstruction going on (fun to wake up to)... The owner of the apartment had about four or five rooms, where people were allowed to sleep in. This I liked a lot, because it is not one of these really big hostels making it impossible to speak to fellow travellers. It was also very easy to talk to the owner, making the stay pretty ideal.
Anyway photos...
The Berlin Wall I found very interesting too. There is a section still remaining which has still the original artwork on it from when the borders opened. It is like this mile long canvas wich expresses feelings, emotions, beliefs, thoughts etc. It was great fun taking photos of...
Fortunately the thing with Berlin is that it is so diverse. It has so much to offer culturally and historically - from the Reichstag to a former Stasi prison. There is so much to see and do (probably more limited on a budget) which meant that 5 days was not enough. The problem with the Stasi prison was that because it was somewhere more in the outer districts making it a pain to get to. This meant that we missed the English tour and had to go with the German-speaking one. Not too much of a problem one would have thought, but because this guy spoke so quickly it meant that we only managed to get bits and pieces. That being said, it was certainly worth while visiting the Berlin-Hohenschönhausen Memorial, mainly because the tour-guides were former prisoners - something I probably wouldn't be able to do.
All in all, Berlin is a fantastic place to go to. Expensive but in the light of things understandable. There is a lot of things to do and places to see, making it a very recommendable place to visit.
Prague next!
