Still going!

Hey Team!

Okay, the last time we left you was in Wien (Vienna) right? Well since then we've really started to step up our pace a bit! Our first stop was Cesky Krumlov in the Czech Republic, we spent a few rainy days here but still managed to get out and enjoy the food and beer. Now that we are in the more-decently-priced East we can finally go to restaurants and buy meat and more than 1 beer... Hooray! Krumlov was awesome and we of course made another handful of friends to take home with us (they were pretty much all Australian) we didn't do much because of the rain but we saw the castle and gardens and the bears that live in the moat, walked around town, had a bad massage and hung out with some cool people, all in all we had a great time!! Next In the Czech Republic was Prague, although it was a great place it was another huge old city that makes us really appreciate the smaller towns we visit. We also went on a day trip to the town of Kutna Hora which is famous for a really old church, where the local priest in the 1870's was given a totally macabre commission. The local mayor had told him to do something useful with the skeletons of forty odd thousand people that had been laying about for centuries (what else do skeletons do). So he built a chandelier, a couple of urns, 4 huge pyramids, the local coat of arms and this weird alter... super creepy stuff (We loved it!!).

Our hostel in Cesky Krumlov

Cesky Krumlov

John Lennon wall in Prague

The Ossuary in Kutna Hora

Now begins the whirlwind part of our trip... first stop Krakow, Poland! Many people have told us how great this city was so we were a little worried that our expectations might be a bit high. But I'm glad to admit that everything they told us was true!! The old town and main square have a nice modern and "in-use" vibe that is generally lost in lots of old towns that are more often than not just filled with tacky souvenir shops. The Castle had an armoury exhibition which is something I try to check out when in a castle (I really like all the old swords and armour). There was also a very atmospheric dragon cave beneath the castle because, as I'm sure you all know, the city of Krakow was founded on the spot where a great dragon was slain. We also went out one morning to Nova Huta the great Communist "workers paradise" all I can say is it was pretty lame, I'm definitely glad I never had to live under communism here in Еastern Europe, the nuclear power plant smoke stacks in the far too near distance are very picturesque.

View down on the main square in Krakow

Next stop: The Slovakian side of the Tatras Mountains! Unfortunately we didn't get to do as much hiking as we wanted due to the fact that it rained for half of the first day and was soooo foggy on the second day we had trouble seeing more than 2 metres in front of ourselves. We still managed to get some nice photos during a short hike to a nearby lake. Whilst up there we found a symbolic graveyard that provides a place of memorial to all the people that have vanished and died in the mountains over the past 150 odd years. There are some very ornately and colourfully decorated crosses that stand about 2 metres high around the graveyard, making it a somewhat surreal experience. Unfortunately the towns around the Tatry mountains are all purpose built for the skiers in Winter, so are rather ugly, and due to the poor weather we were not left with a lot of options... a bit of a shame but it can't be helped.

Tatras Mountains

Tatras Mountains

Symbolic graveyard in the Tatras Mountains

So after 3 days we headed for Budapest, yet another big old city, in another big old country! Although Jo and I really enjoy small towns, Budapest could not be missed and unfortunately due to our very tight schedule these days it was the only place we could visit in Hungary. Given more time we would have liked to visit the wine country around Eger... we like wine! But we had to settle for just drinking it in Budapest and thanks to some friends we met in Slovenia, we had a really good place to do this and also to get some fantastic food! Actually the restaurant scene in Budapest is one of the best I have seen in Europe so far... but maybe that's just me :) Anyway while in Budapest we checked out the usual allotment of old monuments and castles, through in a labyrinth beneath the old castle district and went and visited the old communist statue park where all the hideously ugly statues from Hungary's communist days are kept. But we needed to keep moving, we are running out of time!

Budapest

Budapest

Budapest

Fountain of (bad) wine in the labyrinth beneath the old castle district, Budapest

Memento Park, Budapest

So we took the overnight train to Belgrade in Serbia! After visiting a few different countries in the Balkans (Croatia and Bosnia in particular) it was important for me to see if there was another side to the big story of conflict down here. Unfortunately Serbia let me down, rather than defending themselves or there actions during the recent conflicts, the military museum is more like a trophy room than any sort of emotionally biased account of history (as all the other countries have managed to put together). They have American military uniforms on display that were taken from POW's and weapons that were confiscated from "illegal" Croatian resistance groups. They also have a map that shows a lot of arrows pointing toward Serbia, I guess it is meant to imply how the rest of the world was picking on them! The rest of the city is a bit of a non-event, it is big and ugly and we are glad we were only there for one day as we left that night on yet another night train! this one was coming to Bulgaria!!!

Belgrade

Bulgaria wasn't on our initial itinerary but we have managed to squeeze it in by sacrificing time in other places (see above) and we are certainly glad we did!! Veliko Tarnovo is amazing!! One of our favourite places by far! The first evening we walked up to the old fortified citadel, The restored church up on the top of the hill inside the fortifications has been decorated with some very modern murals, still in the old fashioned theme, but with an almost cubist intention. The same Citadel is apparently lit up with a 20 minute, coloured light show some nights. Unfortunately the night and the time of these events seems to be based on certain cosmological elements of chance, so we didn't get to see it (in the middle of summer though they sometimes show it twice). On our second and third days we went hiking into the forests around Veliko to see some old Orthodox Monasteries, it took us longer than anticipated as Jo kept stopping to take photos of all the butterflies, admittedly there were some very nice ones up there. But Yet another night train beckons us, this time North to Romania, Particularly the region of Transylvania!

Veliko Tarnovo

At the Preobrajenie Monastery, Veliko Tarnovo

Butterflies on the walk to the Preobrajenie Monastery

Dryanovo Monastery

Walking from the Dryanovo Monastery

Walking from the Dryanovo Monastery

Walking from the Dryanovo Monastery

I would also like to add that the hostel where we stayed in Veliko Tarnovo has been probably the BEST hostel of our trip so far! Big thanks to Mariya and Georgi for looking after us so much! If you need a place to stay in Bulgaria we insist on 'Nomad's Hostel'!

But now we have arrived here in Romania, currently hanging about in Brasov, but this afternoon we'll be heading over to Sigisoara the birthplace of Vlad Tepes (the original Dracula). Today we just went out to visit Bran 'Dracula' Castle (closed on Mondays... Damn!) and Rasnov Fortress. Hopefully that brings you all up to speed! Oh, one more interesting observation up here is the habit of a few towns to build massive "Hollywood" style signs announcing the location of a town to everybody within a 40km radius! These things are huge!

Brasov

Rasnov Fortress

Rasnov Fortress

Rasnov Fortress

Signing off.