After two months of travelling through villages and the back country of Turkey, Bulgaria, Romania and Hungary, we are now firmly-footed back in Europe and embarking on a whirlwind tour of some of the great cities. The itinerary includes Budapest, Vienna, Bratislava, Krakow, Prague, and then what we have time for.
All a bit of a culture-shock,and filled with tense moments as we approach the metropolis and search for our camping ground. Unfortunately we didn’t extend the capabilities of our Satnav to Eastern Europe, and have not been able to use it since we were in Italy – seems like a long time ago. So back to the old-fashioned technology of MAPS. It is most satisfying when it works –which is most of the time. However arriving in a new large town, looking for a campsite as darkness falls, can be stressful…”I said turn left – and you didn't”, “but I had to cross three lanes of traffic”, “don’t give me your problems; just do it or we will never……..” We are of course a cool, calm team – nobody swears, although sometimes there is a prolonged silence for some time after the event!
Budapest.
“Faded grandeur” as put by Joanna, put down to the Reds.
However the setting with the castle and old town on a hill overlooking the Danube is great,and the old town has been cleaned up and looks good. We wandered the streets and the palace (photo) before descending to the river, crossing the Chain Bridge and walking up the main drag – the Andrassy Ut. Looking pretty good with all the right design stores and all the chain stores, of course. Determined to live it up in the big cities we lunched on roast goose (in the oldest building -photo) and hit the town at night dining on goulash and a great local pinot noir, then onto a little, smoky basement bar, where a young guy was playing the violin, brilliantly. It was just perfect. Back to the camp on the tram.
Leaving the city in the morning we followed the Danube for as long as we could, meandering through some very pleasant green countryside and the town of Esztergon (large and important basilica), before taking to the motorway for Vienna.
Vienna.
We found a camp site on the west side of the city, after finding that the most convenient site was closed – the GPS guided through the streets, no problem. The camp is cramped and crowded with camper vans, tents and even a Kontiki tour bus load in tents, but well organised ‘facilities’’, with a bus and metro ride into the centre.
No time to see all the museums etc so we settled for a walking tour of the city, we walked and walked,with beer stops, coffee stops, lunch and a ride round the Ringstrasse in a tram. There are just so many fine buildings in a grand ensemble of streets, squares, palaces etc, all somewhat overwhelming to take in at one time. After Joanna’s bratwurst (photo) and then dinner, and as a special for Joanna’s birthday, we went to a Mozart concert in the Musikveiren by the Viennese Philharmonic- very pleasant in a beautiful hall. Kept up the dining out, sampling a variety of local goodies – sacher torte at the Sacher Hotel, sausages, more goulash. We did intend to visit the Schonbrunn Palace the next morning, but the sight of over 30 tour buses outside put us off and we drove on out of town, headed for Bratislava.
Bratislava.
Only 60kms from Vienna, but a motorway delay turned it into an epic journey of several hours. The camp ground is in a park with lake and on a direct tram line into town
Bratislava is a delightful city – pedestrianised, very picturesque and compact - the main thing to do is wander, admiring the classical architecture and the amazing statues, which are good for a laugh, and to sit in cafes or elegant old world coffee houses. Easily done. Such a pleasure after the tourist masses of Vienna, plus it was a sunny Sunday so locals relaxed in cafés etc. We did climb up the hill to the castle (gutted by fire in 1812 and bombed in WW2, now under reconstruction) but a good spot to view the city, the Danube and the fancy suspension bridge. Roast duck for lunch, with cabbage and dumplings and a starter of cabbage soup – much more delicious than it sounds. The meals are enormous – it is very sad to send back half a plateful, but impossible to eat. We discovered today that Bratislava has a cabbage festival in October – sad to miss it!!
Prague
We were lucky to find a campsite on an island on the Vltava river very close to the city centre, with a ferry into town and the tram back after the ferry stopped. We met Katie’s friend Maddie who is in Prague for a one semester law exchange. We walked and walked and walked in Prague, day one with Maddie, day two with a guide and back in the evenings to sample the beer in their pubs. Had an interesting meal at a typical Czech restaurant, according to the blurb outside. Joanna,who is very fond of offal and different cuts of meat, ordered Pig’s Knee, thinking that they must mean pigs trotters and had translated incorrectly. Was somewhat surprised to get an enormous joint of Pig, weighing at least a Kg.(see photo) Took home a doggy bag and dined on it for several days. After that we saw it regularly in restaurants,often being tucked into by a group of people. We really enjoyed the city, with the castle (really a palace) on the hill, the old town, the Jewish quarter. all the alleys and delightful buildings and churches. It is much less ‘formal’ than Vienna with a mix of buildings and styles.
The Tatras
Four big cities in a row was all we could take and we made a run from Prague to the Carpathian Mountains of Slovakia and Poland. The only real mountains in Central Europe. We spent several days in an area called the High Tatras, which has national parks in both countries. The walks are well-organised and all interlinked between the two. We loved the mountain huts where you can buy soup, a spicy sausage ,a beer, mulled wine and so on. Bliss, when the shadows are getting long and the muscles are aching.
We toured through a series of resorts along the Slovakian side. Places with wonderful names such as Stary Smokovec and Lomnicky Stit. A lot of it is a bit shabby and crying out for redevelopment – there is no shortage of visitors. However we stayed in the back yard of a delightful pension. It appears that it was the start of the shooting season and the restaurant was only serving goose or duck. Suited us – we love both. A great restaurant full of old ski and hiking memorabilia, heavy, hand-hewn wooden furniture and a blazing fire. Hard to go back to Stan. However the gas heater has now been commissioned and functioning to Joanna’s satisfaction, when David gets up in the morning and turns it on.
Went up one mountainside in a very smart, state-of-the-art funicular, had coffee at one of the mountain huts, then walked down. To Joanna’s eternal regret we missed the opportunity to go down the sealed service road on scooters. It looked brilliant as the lucky ones raced past. Also failed in our attempt to go up the famous Lomnicky Stit teleferique next day.It goes up around 2000 metres to a height of 2600. Even after a fantastically early start we would have had to wait until 3.15pm to go up and we are running out of time now. So off around to the Polish side, through pretty mountain villages and a quick walk up through the meadows, to Zakapone. What a difference. Zakapone was the site of the 2006 Winter Olympics, so has well developed tourist facilities – and the tourists to go with it! Sort of put a dampener on the get-away-from-it-all mountain walks, but you just had to view it as an interesting phenomenon, that so many people in Poland are keen to get up into the mountains, every path, track and summit was alive with healthy Poles in hiking boots etc. We even came across several groups of nuns, in full nun regalia,who had walked up to the ridge straddling the border between Slovakia and Poland. Not an especially easy walk even without flowing robes! We chose the easy option to catch the teleferique up (two hour queue) and walk along the ridge and then down past a mountain hut serving soup and hot wine!!. However days later we are still recovering from aching legs. We did enjoy the night life in the town, with David drooling over beer and meat restaurants with an enticing array of meats and sausages sizzling away on the open grills.
Krakow
The good thing about not having an itinerary planned in advance are the surprises. First it was – you have to visit Krakow, then the route to get there included the Tatra Mountains, then ‘you have to visit the salt mine’ and so we did. It is just east of Krakow and we found a pleasant camp site near. Spent a few hours underground in the mine and the extraordinary sculptures, even chandeliers all carved from salt by the miners. We were mind –boggled by the amazing Kinga Chapel (see photo, which doesn’t do it justice), which took 72 years to complete. The mine only closed in 1995 but they now have a million visitors per year. We bussed into Krakow town and, as is our habit, walked and walked on our own, and later with a 4 hour walking tour. It is an attractive city with a wonderfully preserved old town but in the end we did not enjoy the town nearly as much as Prague. No doubt in a few years when the buildings have been cleaned up it will be better. Part of the town is the Jewish quarter which after the devastation of the Nazi war crimes is being slowly refurbished as an artistic area. In these towns we have always been eating out but of late it has almost always included pork grilled or in sausages plus sauerkraut, culminating in a pork knuckle each (total 1.5kg) at lunch which was delicious but half came home in a doggy bag.
Next morning made our way cross-country to Auschwitz. Had been debating whether to go or not. Whether we wanted the harrowing experience, but were told firmly by a Swedish lady that we met, “That we must not forget.” So we went and visited Auschwitz and the nearby Birkenau camps where one and a half million Jews, Gypsies. Poles and others were exterminated in gas chambers 2,000 at a time. Yes it was harrowing, but worthwhile experience. Photos show the remains of gas chamber No2 and memorials. A meaningful finale for our four month journey. We needed a night in the car park to regroup our thoughts. Time to head for England and the joys of central heating.
Conclusion
Our quick fire visit to capitals and parts of the countries of Eastern Central Europe sorted out our notion of country boundaries. The admission, or pending admission to the EU has enabled them to retain their own language, customs trade and infrastructure within the framework of a closer Europe. Although as we moved around we became aware that not everyone is enamoured with the EU and the accompanying rising prices, but not necessarily rising wages. Time will tell, at the moment the increasingly united Europe looks great to us.
Auschwitz reminded us of the legacy of the Nazi regime but after liberation by the Russians, and the bleak years of communist rule, everyone we met is so glad to be free of communism and rebuilding their own nations.
