Hallstatt, Austria

I have so much to post that I do not know where to start...so I will start with the present and work backward. After my brother left for the states, I stayed in Vienna for another night. I tried to catch up on emails and decide what I was going to do for the next few days before heading back to Poland. I actually did not decide until I was sitting in the train station. I had eaten breakfast at the hotel and checked out, caught the metro to the train station and was looking at the reader board when I decided to go to Hallstatt. It was one of the towns in my guidebook so I got the fahrplan from the infodesk and boarded the next train. A few hours later I got off the train and waited for a boat to take me across the lake. The town was so small and cute. I did not have a hotel reservation and the three places I called were booked. I headed for the information desk to see if they could help me and was told all rooms were full for the night. I figured I would just go to another town closer to Switzerland but a gal stopped me outside the info center saying that they just cancelled their room and told me where to go. I got a room to myself at the youth hostel!! ...with the waterfall right outside my single pane window. I dropped my things and headed out on the town...okay there is a main street and offshoots that lead to houses or hotels and restaurants.
I walked and took pictures. I found the internet cafe that was mentioned in my book--actually it was under a huge umbrella and you sit by the water as you surf the internet. I ended up at Strand Cafe for dinner. I had a pretty good Weinersnitzle and boiled potatoes. When I was done, a lady started talking to me and invited me to join the "locals" at the big table. We talked for quite some times and I also got to see some swans and babies--the dog tried to jump in the water and one of the swans started hissing and got really big, very protective of her little ducklings. We had spurts of rain and sun, but I stuck it out. I toured around the town a bit after dinner and listened to the booming thunder. I watched the sun kiss the mountains goodnight and then headed for the hotel.
This morning I packed up my things and went down for breakfast. I ate with a guy from Minnesota who had been studying in Germany. After breakfast I walked by the water trying to get that perfect reflection picture off the lake. Not quite crystal clear water, but pretty nonetheless. I checked out and headed for the boat dock to get to where the train stopped. I saw the guy I ate breakfast with at the boat dock. We talked and traveled to Salzburg together. I got on another train headed toward Innsbruck with a final destination of Chur. My first train left 5 minutes late--af first I was happy because I was able to get some lunch but then we had a 25 minute delay at one of the country borders. Miraculously enough my next two connection trains waited for us!! I arrived in Chur about an hour later than anticipated and headed to my hotel. The town looks cute and I will explore it in the morning. My goal for tomorrow is to get on the Glacier Express Train and ride through the Alps. I missed out on this when I was here in February and I do not have a ticket yet so we will see how it goes in the morning. A long travel day, but beautiful scenery and now I am back in Switzerland!!! I remember now why I loved it so much the first time!! Lots more posts to come!

Vienna in Bloom

I had already been to Vienna, but I went back with my brother. As we were coming out to the metro and before we checked into our hotel we were greeted by people trying to sell concert tickets. We left Everett to take care of the tickets and Chris and I went to check into the hotel. We dropped our things and headed for our concert. The map they gave up had three things circled and the tickets had another address where the doors were locked. We decided to cut our losses and head for dinner...the next day we saw the same people, told them what happened and actually got our money back. We stayed at a nicer place (not up to the standards of the other hotels of the trip)than the youth hostel and ate at restaurants that had cloth table cloths--a different experience than the last time.



We went out to Shonbrunn Palace and the flowers were in bloom and the apple strudel demonstration was in full swing.

We spent most of the day there and even got to see the city from the top of Gloriette. It was a beauitifully sunshiny day and the flowers were so pretty. They were preparing for some kind of concert so our pictures have disruptions, but the view was still amazing. We toured the palace, walked to the Gloriette, watched the strudel demonstration, had lunch at the cafe and looked at the gardens. It was a great afternoon and then we headed back to the downtown area to see the Hofburg area and have dinner before the guys had to catch their flight to Berlin. A quick trip, but fun nonetheless.

Budapest-how much is 10,000?

We went to Budapest for a few days and I took 10,000 out of a cash machine. The ATM gave me one 10,000 note. It actually only calulated to $65. We got a taxi to our apartment and unloaded our stuff. Our night train from Prague to Budapest was the nicest that I had been on--there was a shower in the bathroom and towels in our compartment! I booked us a city tour to start our time in Budapest. We learned about Buda, Pest, and Budapest. We spent some time and almost left Ev at Hero's Square. We went up to Matthias Church and got a comanding view of both sides of the Danube.

After our tour ended, we had lunch and did some shopping. Later that evening Ev and I enjoyed a dinner cruise along the Danube and Chris opted for Fusion, a nice Asian restaurant.
The next morning we had our planned Parliament Tour. The exterior was seriously amazing and the interior was pretty cool as well.

Besides us there were two other American couples on our tour that we chatted with. We meet interesting people wherever we go! After the tour, we took a taxi back to our apartment, checked out and went to lunch at the Asian restaurant Chris had tried the night before.
We also went the Shephan's Cathedral which we had passed on our tour.
We rushed back to get our bags and caught a taxi to the train station...only to find that our train was almost a half hour late. We also found out that there was no First Class wagons...it was seriously hot and we all took naps. Luckily the train was not too busy and we had a two couchettes to ourselves.

Beautiful Prague

Prague was an amazing city. We left our bags at the hotel and then headed for breakfast. With found a little cafe with croissants and drinks. I was astonished at the cost...for three people breakfast and water--something like 600Kc. It was expensive even in American dollars but not anywhere near $600. we headed for Prague castle and toured around there for quite some time and then headed back toward the hotel to see if our room was ready. We had lunch outside in the middle our our little square by our hotel. We explored more of the city and found paddle boats...the line was long so we decided to come back the next day. We stopped for a break and a cafe/bar and it was a nice rest to rehydrate.




For dinner we went to a fancy restaurant situated on the water. I got some sunset pictures of the castle but none that were that good. We went to a club next door and there were four totally different floors...the first three were completely dead but there were people on the top floor. A few bachelorette parties and old music...music I cannot dance to...my btother was really fun though. He danced with each of the bachelorettes and made their friends laugh!! I called it an early 1 am evening and headed back to the hotel...getting lost for about an hour...kinda scary but I finally made it back. Chris did the same thing an hour later and who knows when Ev rolled in.



The next day we went out on the water in the paddle boat first thing to avoid the crowds. It was lovely!! We toured around Prague the rest of the day and then headed back to the train station for our last night train. Our compartment was really nice and there was actually a shower in the WC. We all took showers and got a good night's rest...I did anyway. Budapest was an complete unknown or me so I was excited and nervous for the next few days!

Krakow--round 2

We went to Krakow because my brother & Ev had not been there. We arrived safely from our night train and I was ready to leave my bags at the train station for the day and head to Krakow, but the guys wanted a shower. We did not have a hotel because we were taking the night train out that night. We tried to rent a room somewhere that would let us check in then but were unsuccessful. Ev did find a hotel that would keep our bags for us though. After we unloaded our bags we went in search of transportation out to Auschwitz. We ended up taking a big bus tour that was a reasonable price. We had soem time to get breakfast before boarding our bus. We watched a video on the way out to Auschwitz that kinda puts you into that mindframe. Our guide at Auschwitz was way different thatn the one I had last time. She was very serious and educational.




I tried to get some good pictures this time around. We made our way to Auchsitz II and were informed that we had 45 minutes there...doing the math I realized this was nowhere near enough time. After our guided tour ended I told the guys to follow me to the gas chamber remains---surprised that the tour did not cover these. We got a quick glimpse and then literally Chris and I ran back to the bus. Ev decided the bus would wait for him and walked...made me mad actually. We made it back to Krakow and headed for some lunch and shopping. The guys each got something from a store, but things are too expensive for my tastes. We got to see a speed walking race...I thought the women looked funny but then later we saw the men and it was absolutely hysterical. Where we ate dinner there was a view down to the course.




After dinner, we headed back to the place where are bags were stored. The guys sweet talked (and tipped) the gal at the desk and they let us go downstairs to their fitness center to relax and take showers. They actually broght us robes, soap, slippers, and big towels. I was slightly embarassed but have to admit that I enjoyed my shower! We left there and went to the mall next to the train station to wait for a while. Chris and I ordered these huge fruit deserts served in Margarita glasses. We boarded our train and this time we all were in the same compartment. When we woke up, we were in Prague!