So im on the train again.. (writing blogs is a great way to pass the time on trains) this time im leaving Budapest (Hungry) and heading to Salsburg (Austria), with a stop in Vienna for Lunch and sight seeing.
We have hit the intense period of our trip as days begin to run fine, and have opted to cover more ground and fast. In 6 days we will be in 5 countries, ending in Greece for a few days before I fly out back to London.
Since I last wrote I have been in Krakow (Poland) and Budapest. After Slot we made our way to Krakow and had a fun time there. We stayed at what has been the best backpackers so far in the heart of the city. It was on the third floor and had a great atmosphere. Everyone was so friendly cooking up big meals to share, and the staff so helpful, giving great advice on places to go. Not to sure about the European men though, very free in their dress code, with lots of partial nudity.. We got told about this awesome restaurant which we went and checked out. We ordered out perogi, and because there was no seats upstairs went down stairs to eat our meal. It was amazing little cellar style thing all dark with candles and so beautiful. I wish the sunshine coast had somewhere like that. We ate our meals, and I had a great Polish beer and it was grand!
We also went to Auschwitz when we were in Krakow. It was an hour and half bus trip out there and was a horrible yet amazing experience. It was disgusting, the stuff that happened, and the things the victims were forced to endure. The Nazi’s used the prisoners of the concentration camp for every thing. They were used for labour, their hair was shaved and sold to make material, their possessions sold or given to Nazi personnel. Everything was taken from them, so much that when the camp was liberated there was so much stuff still there, and it is all on display. It made the whole things so real to see a room full of the victims hair laying before you and within it all a plaited pony tail. To see thousands and thousands of shoes, all sizes including children, and all the suitcases people bought with them, unaware they were heading to extermination. It was so hard to believe that the paths that I walked and the rooms I was in was the camp itself. That so many people had lived in those rooms, hundreds at a time, and died either by the gas chambers, starvation, disease or exhaustion. They also had photos of many of the people who came and died there. As you walk through the halls it is so painful to look them in the face. With each photo is the date of birth, arrival to the camp, and death. They documented everything, its incredible, and horrible. We must make sure an event like this never happens again.
We had a great second night and met some fun people. Some Italian guys shared their spaghetti with us, very tasty, and we got chatting with some other Aussies. The next day I went exploring while Esther had a sleep in and found heaps of Pope stuff. There was a big photo exhibition with images of the past Pope, John Paul II and the current Pope, Benedict IX (I think). John Paul was the Archbishop of Krakow so was very special to the city. There was some more memorial stuff, and beautiful gardens. I went back to the hostel and then me and Esti set out to see the Castle and find the Jewish sector. About 20mins into our walk circling the city it begins to spit, then rain and then soon enough its bucketing down and we are getting soaked. There was no shelter anywhere and the rain looked like it was setting in for a while. We were close to the hostel so tried to get back, get changed and head out with an umbrella. As we got closer, and wetter the rain eased up and we were soaked and it was no longer raining. We got changed and head out for round two. This time we made it to the Jewish sector of town to see the buildings and find me a music store to buy a CD I want of a Polish band. By the time we got there it was closed. We had an amazing dinner that night at this great vegitarian place. We ordered this one thing which was like a sample of everything to share, it was massive and so good. We raced back to the hostel, and then back to the rain station to get our night rail to Budapest.
Ok, so a new day now. At the moment I am on the train (once again) heading to Bari in the very south of Italy to catch the ferry over to Greece tonight. It has been a crazy few days and ill try and catch you up.
Budapest.. The train trip was great as we only had seats but it was very empty so we could spread out and lie down. This meant we could actually sleep and arrived in Budapest ready for a big day ahead. We found the hostel and went adventuring. This was a crazy busy day, but very fun. Budapest is actually 2 cities separated by the Danube river. You can climb Castle Hill in Buda and look out over the two cities, it was great and once again saw this at sunset. Before this we went to the thermal spa and had a great afternoon just floating in the water and restoring our sore muscles. My favourite pare of Budapest was we climbed another hill and found the Fishermans Bastion, which was an amazing building, kinda like a castle looking out over the city. As I walked out on the ledge I looked over and saw the full moon, shining red. It was amazing! On our way home it rained again, and we got drenched once again, and after a 30min walk wet, we got to the hostel. The next day we head out straight away back to the station to train to Salzburg, via Vienna (where I began this blog).
We broke this day up to have the day in Vienna and the night in Salzburg, Austria. When we arrived in Vienna we ditched out bags at a locker and head off to see this beautiful city. After a confusing start we found the city centre and after a disappointing lunch (I ordered a Viennese Hamburger, and just got a meat patty) set out on the tram around the city. The city has a circle tram that goes around and sees all the amazing buildings, so we could just hop on and hop off. We saw some amazing stuff, there was big buildings everywhere, and were very impressed. We also found a 1950’s style coffee house and splurged on coffee and cake. It was so lovely, and my cappuccino had whipped cream on the top. After some more wondering we got back on the train to head to Salzburg. On our way to the hostel we befriended a Dutch girl who was looking for a hostel, so she followed us to ours. We got a room and proceeded to plan our days ahead. After hours of trying to work things out so we could go through Switzerland to Italy, we decided to can that idea and stay in Salzburg another day.
and we did.. mwahh hahah..
ok.. so ill catch you up to athens soon.. but for now.. just know we got to salzburg..
No comments:
Post a Comment