Budapest

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

"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! Berlin!

"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!

In die Berge... (Osttirol) - Week 1

So now that things are starting to even out again I will like to begin with Osttirol. 

The problem with going to Austria during the Summer is that the car journeys are just the worst. I am certainly not one for them and find them extremely uncomfortable. The idea of travelling across 5 countries for 14/15 hours is not by my standards ideal. However arriving in Osttirol is certainly worth the wait. Although me and my friend stayed there for a day (the rest we spent in Vienna before setting off to Berlin) we still managed to go for a decent enough hike. It's weird, the difference between hiking in the Alps in comparison to hiking in the Lake District. I'm not knocking the Lake District here but for what's worth I would prefer a hiking holiday in a non-touristy area with good company and remote enough to not rely on internet access or telephone signals. Anyway I digress...

Because the Summer in Austria (depending on where you are) has been a little stop-start, it comes as no suprise to find snow on top of the mountain, which we were climbing. This unfortunately meant that we weren't able to go to the top - for safety reasons. The only problem I had though hiking up is the flies. Whether it is because I'm English (well half-English) and am not used to the environment (wasn't born there) and climate, which meant that I became a sudden target to 30 flies buzzing around your head as I tried to make my way aimlessly up the mountain. Or they just felt the need to annoy me. Either way the climb was definitely worth it, with a mountain lake to finish the hike off. As I we were only spending a day here meant that we had to make the most of the day's hike. Fortunately the weather was kind to us, making great views down into the valley.

So from Osttirol we took a train to Vienna (via Villach) and just spent the time there going to museums and just generally waiting to start our interrailing do! So Berlin next...

I'm back...

Hi! So I'm back...

Since the last time I wrote a post, I have:

1) Revised for exams
2) Took exams
3) Finished school
4) Went interrailing for 4 weeks
5) Came back from interrailing
6) Got exam results
7) Got into university

That has been quite a big jump over the last few months. But now that everything has calmed down a little, I can go back to my blog, something I set out to do from the start of year as a somewhat New Year's resolution. To some extent this is a documentation of a clinical year for me (i.e. finishing school and starting university). It's simultaneousely scary and exciting how much is changing and has changed. The mixture of emotions, nostalgia and impatience, can be overwhelming at certain moments, but that's normal right?

So anyway over the Summer (now I'm back in England) I went interrailing with two school friends around central Europe. From Berlin to Mostar, Lake Bled to Split. I just want to warn you that the upcoming photos aren't to be taken as anything arty, rather more of a travel-type photography (i.e. not my best work).

So the list of places visited are as follows:

Osttirol
Vienna
Berlin
Prague
Vienna
Bratislava
Budapest
Ljubljana
Lake Bled
Split
Mostar
Zagreb
Vienna

So, now that you know where we went, let's begin...

The Snow Island

Hello!

I was just looking back through my post and realised that I forgot to add my favourite photo of the set in the previous set. So instead of editing it in I thought I will just do a small post on it - separately from the others. Like I said it is my favourite one from the set; it is extremely simple and yet extremely beautiful. The balance is just right horizontally as you get a sense of space, which essentially defines the region the photo (Northern Austria) was taken in - because it is extremely rural. Again I think it works in black and white, that way you can see the cloud merge with the snow on the left side of the photo.

As always feedback very much appreciated!

p.s. As you may notice with the other photos, it may appear blury, I can assure you it is not, it's just the blog settup doing that. If you click the picture you may see it better/clearer...

Here is the photo:

Enjoy!