Slovenia: Bled & Ljubljana

Lake Bled had been recommended to me first by an Aussie in Bruges, and then by the Irish mob in Berlin. So after an epic 9.5 hr train from Budapest, 1 night sleep in a converted prison hostel in Ljubljana (unfortunatly it actually felt like a cell cos I was stuck in a tiny room with 3 old snoring men) and a bus trip the next day I got there. And it was incredible. Best colours I've seen since Northern Ireland coast.

The glacial lake is so bright turquoise against the almost autumn trees, a tiny island in the lake covered by a church, a castle on top of a cliff, and mountains all around some of which were snowcapped.
Woww Slovenia, didn't know what to expect, but I was blown away!
Walked around the lake taking too many photos because every step seemed to give a better viewpoint. Then got rowed in a gondola over to the island.

Unfortunately there were no backpackers in sight at my hostel so I was a bit lonely. The bar downstairs was overrun with an older Northern Irish crowd who travel together following the football (apparently there is a big game here on Friday.) So I hung out with them, but they were a bit old and drunk for my liking! But still, better to approach a random crowd and join them than sit in my room feeling bored and left out.
Some Brits arrived to my dorm later that night.

Hiked up to the castle the next day which gave the best views over the whole lake, lucky to get blue sky again. Wouldn't look nearly as stunning if overcast. Then bussed back to Ljubljana to have an explore before my overnight bus to Croatia!

Ljubljana is a really pretty city. It's small, surrounded by massive mountains. There are some ugly concrete flats in the outskirts but the centre is riverside streets overflowing with open air cafes, art nouveau buildings, flowers in balconies and kamikaze bike riders. Of course there is a castle on top of the hill, I'm taking them for granted now. Just hung around for a couple of hours before the bus.

Hungary: Budapest

Caught a train to Budapest with two cute Swedish girls who giggled and sung nonstop and then in a blink of an eye were both fast asleep with mouths wide open! Was hilarious but I didn't know them well enough to take a photo.. Haha

Loved my new hostel 'Enjoy Budapest hostel' in a big old apartment building. My huge bedroom had only 7 single beds spaced out in it, where other hostels would squeeze 20. Big lounge room, kitchen, big bathrooms. So warm and comfy. Met a Melbourne girl called Sarah and we had a funny night playing cards in the kitchen with an English girl, two Scottish girls, and three Canadian guys. Then we crossed the bridge from Pest into Buda to go to a club.

Sarah & I checked out the thermal bath-houses the next day. They are a leftover tradition from Turkish invaders. We had 3 main choices; the oldest baths, the grandest and poshest baths which is apparently like taking a bath in a cathedral, and the biggest baths with the most to do. We went to Szechenyi baths; the biggest one.

It was a massive mission trying to work out what sort of ticket to get (english translations made no sense) and then working out how to lock the lockers with our electronic wristbands, how to work the weird changeroom cupboards, how to get into the pools...

Inside were different size and temperature baths with different minerals in them. One made us smell of sulphur and turned Sarah's silver jewelry bronze much to her disgust. Outside was a whole other world. Massive pools, one had the strongest whirlpool I've ever been in. Get swept too close to the jets and you're at risk of having your bikini blown off! May have reverted into acting like kids in here. In the middle of the whirlpool was a spa.

On the other end of the lap pool was a hot 38 degree big pool with a fountain, and chessboards where old men were playing chess in the water. Had seen a photo of this in my big lonely planet at home, except it was in winter so hot steam was coming off the pool. Glad we chose these baths so I got to see it in real life. Was sunny but not quite warm enough to sunbake, still people were laying all over the concrete trying. Pity they were all saggy and fat and wearing ill-fitting bathers...

Went to a cool bar that night where seating choices included old cars, bath tubs and pommel horses.

Everyone deserted me next day; Sarah to Prague, Lizzie to Munich, Canadians to Bratislava, Scottish girls who knows where.
So I actually walked around the city. It has a pretty grungy vibe especially at night. So many homeless and crazies. Went on a communist walking tour and learnt about life during the regime, how Hungary was better off than other eastern bloc states after their uprising in 1956. But it rained and was freezing so I was happy to return to the awesome cosy hostel, cook pasta and not go out that night!

Slovakia: Bratislava

Just a quickie here; one night. Chilled in the comfy outside lounge of my nice little hostel being watched by the ugliest, smelliest bulldog you've ever seen. (Hostel pet.) And I'm a bulldog fan. He had his bottom teeth bared permanently as he lay in his kennel and ignored me when I tried to talk to him.

The hostel was right near the station so it was a 2km trek into town in the rain for a walking tour. Didn't stop raining! We all froze in summer clothes it's been so hot lately. It's a tiny old town centre because most of the old city was flattened for more practical communist use.

Learnt interesting Slovakian pov on the whole Czechoslovakia thing. That they were allies of Germany before Nazi had bad connotations. And how their uprising against Nazis in 1944 failed miserably.

Also saw an awesome art nouveau church called the little blue church. It looks like a smurf marshmellow birthday cake jumping castle.

The bar under the hostel had a slightly morbid torture chamber theme, discovered it's because the movie 'Hostel' was set in Bratislava as an obscure eastern European city!

Austria: Vienna

Bad first impression of Wien. Grey cold and raining, and a terrible 'traditional' lunch of the most albino luke-warm sausage you've ever seen. Went sightseeing in the rain; Mum's umbrella broke and I was having brolly battles with other tourists. Big grand concrete boulevards, elegant buildings, designer shops, museums. Not really my thing.

But we went to see one of my favourite movies 'The Third Man' at a cute little cinema that night which was awesome. Love that movie so much. And walking out into modern Vienna after seeing Post WWII bombed and occupied Vienna was cool.

Mum was feeling the same way about the city so we escaped down the Danube on a boat the next day between Krems and Melk. That section of river is called the Wachau, it was speccy with steep vineyards, castle ruins and old towns on the banks. Plus it was sunny :)

We ate an amazing Wiener Schnitzel and some Sachertorte (chocolate cake) so okay Vienna, I forgive you.
For our last night we went up the Riesenrad which is the ferris wheel in The Third Man where Orson Welles makes his famous speech about bloodshed, brotherly love, and the cuckoo clock.

Then Mum's two weeks were over and she jetted back to Melbourne! We'd had a lot of fun, kept thinking the same things as each other, and always liked the same things on the menu so could share. She went home with half a kilo of chocolate, a tan, and without her cold. I caught a train to Bratislava captial of Slovakia, 1 hour away. Imagine going to Geelong and it's the capital of a different country. Vienna and Bratislava are the two closest capital cities in the world! I was there before she even boarded her flight.

Czech Republic: Cesky Krumlov

3 hours from Prague is this cute little town. So cute if it was a baby you'd tug at it's cheeks. A loop in the river with this tiny town squished in the middle, castle hanging over the riverbanks, all cobbled and crowded with a mini old square and hills all around. We stayed in a lovely hostel called Krumlov House in a private attic room. So chilled out with friendly & helpful staff unlike at hotels. And no crowds! And no bugle every hour! Amazing.

We loved sitting at riverside cafes watching families (usually with dog included) raft down the river eating and drinking and calling Ahoj to each other. Lots of kayaks capsized on the little rapids and slightly intoxicated people struggled to right them.

The castle has a moat with two real big fat brown bears prowling around it: Bruno and Boris. They looked pretty happy with a cave, pool, bushes and rocks to scratch themselves on.

The castle and gardens were fairytale, and there was a revolving theatre in the castle grounds (so audience in stands revolve to watch different scenes around them in the garden). Would be perfect for Midsummer Night's Dream. Wanted to watch a play but 1. There was nothing on and 2. It would have been in Czech.

So we kayaked down the river in an inflatable canoe. Mum didn't trust us by ourselves so we had a 15 year old kid who didn't speak English sit in the back and steer us. He got laughed at by his female friends on the banks. I felt that if I paddled I annoyed him so I just chilled. And we didn't tip over. Prob lucky he was there because we wouldn't have known where to get out.
Ate some reccommended blueberry dumplings with cream and caramel.... Yumm

Czech Republic: Prague

Found our hotel directly opposite the Astronomical Clock (massive tourist attraction) in the Old Town square, where hundreds of people gather every hour on the hour to watch the clock do it's little dance, and the Bugler to play his tune from the tower. Somehow for our whole stay, we managed to come and go from the hotel exactly on the hour so we'd have to fight through this mob of craned-neck gawkers. Weird timing.

Anyway Prague (Praha) was gorgeous. Every building so beautiful, cobbled
streets, bridges, murals, from above it's just a golden haze of rooves and churches, statues and spires. Enjoyed the elevator ride up the clock tower (not sure if it's just meant for disabled people, we got some jealous stares, but hey our quads had hardly recovered from the Krakow tower.) We went across the famous Charles Bridge early one morning to avoid the tourist hordes... Lonely Planet suggested doing this unless you enjoy shuffling 'cheek to jowl' with other tourists.

My highlights were Petrin hill- a massive hill park we staggered up because the queue for the train was too long. It was so pretty like a botanic garden on a steep hill. With apple orchards and vineyards and a rose garden up the top where we flopped and ate chocolate. Best view over the castle (biggest medieval castle in the world) and the city. Susceptible romantics have been known to spontaneously kiss passersby here, it's so pretty.

Enjoyed the history we learnt on a walking tour; defenestration is a new favourite word. Means 'de-windowing' ie "I didn't like him so I threw him out the window." Saw a monument to the Velvet revolution made out of thousands of keys, because in that protest they all jangled their keys. And the memorial to the victims of
Communism.

The communist museum was good becuase it had a film made from handheld cameras secretly documenting all the protests and strikes during the Soviet occupation after prague spring. Just being smashed, chased, shot, bashed by police eveytime, people crying at the unfairness, students burning themselves to death in protest, calling 'cops join us!' they had to keep doing that year after year for the whole regime before anything changed.

The old Jewish cemetery was a sight.. Ridiculous amount of headstones jammed in higgldypiggldy becuase it was the only plot of land that Jews were allowed to be buried in from 1400s to 1700s! 12,000 tombstones looking like teeth in an overcrowded mouth. Another 100,000 bodies underneath in 12 layers.

Mala Strana was a cool area on the other side of the river. The old houses still have symbols on them that were used before houses were numbered. So they were known as House of the 3 Fiddles/ red lamb/ key/ bunch of grapes/ cart wheel etc.

So I liked all of that about Prague, but hated the tourist crowds, the queues, and the horrible crystal and junk shops that were everywhere. Also didn't like the food as much as Poland, but maybe that was bad luck.

Poland: Zakopane

At the southern border of Poland with Slovakia is a town called Zakopane, at the base of the Tatra mountains. It's really popular for Polish tourists in summer, as we found out. Hardly any English speaking tourists, only Polish and German, but it was packed out. The main street was a circus.. maybe literally a fair. Amusements and pony rides, bouncy flashy toys, icecream and fairy floss, balloons beggers and buskers.

It started to pour and everyone whipped out their bright-coloured, cone-headed raincoats and turned into a mass telly-tubby / KKK tribe. All bright colours, baby sized up to adult. There were whole matching families, like on the snuggie ads. Mum loved it but I wouldn't let her buy one.

We searched the whole town for niegazowana water (no gas) to no luck... They love their sparkling water! Our hotel room had a great view to the Tatras, with Christmas tree forests in front. I love the look of those forests (woods?) They remind me of Hansel & Gretel and all sorts of fairytales. Don't think I've seen anything like them before! Would love to see the town in winter under snow, with its steep rooved gingerbread houses. Would be magical.

One day we caught a little train up the small hills and walked along looking down at the town with Tatras behind. Really touristy up there- you could do anything from zorbing (rolling down the hill in an inflatable ball) to high ropes courses, quad biking, rolling around in a giant bubble on top of a pool... Could get a photo with a giant beethoven Bernese mountain dog, or with a woolly white one that pulls sleighs in winter. We caught the chairlift back down.

Next morning we got up so early to get in the queue for the cablecar up the Tatras. We were in the queue by 7am.. but 8am at the front of the queue. Soared backwards over needlesharp forests, rocky faces, billowing green slopes with empty chairlifts. Moments of stomach dropping as we lurched past each tower made everyone say 'woo' at the same time regardless of language.

Mum had somehow allowed me to dress myself completely in cotton to go up a mountain.. maybe she thought I was old enough to know these things. I froze. I thought my ears nose ankles and hands were going to fall off they hurt so much. Lucky I brought a waterproof jacket incase of rain. Had a moment where I thought I wasn't going to make it. But then the wind stopped and I could function enough to pose with 1 foot in Poland and 1 foot in Slovakia, and play around on some rocks trying to get the 'Aunty M sitting on a mountain' pose. It was spectacular up there. Definitely a highlight of the whole trip so far. We were only 2000m up but felt on top of the world (kosciosko is 2200, Buller & Hotham around 1800. Everest 8848)

When we got back down, the queue was 6 hours long. Yep early morning was worth it. Our hotel had two saunas for all those winter ski bunnies- a Finnish dry one and a Turkish steamy one. I was so chilled to the bone those saunas got a good workout from us!