Bled, Slovenia 9/12-9/15

Jaka told us that Bled was beautiful, and that we can hike around the lake, and to the castle, and to another lake…  We were super excited to go, and it turned out to be everything Jaka said.

As soon as we arrived we went for a walk around the lake.  The lake is not huge, and you can circle it in a couple of hours. It is by far the prettiest lake we’ve ever seen with a castle on a cliff and a little island in the middle with a church. It looked like something out of a fairytale.

The weather was mostly cooperative - on a couple of occasions we had to hide under a tree from the rain, but it was warm, so little rain did not present a problem.   We also took out a boat to visit the church on a small island. There are steps that go from the water all the way up to the church. It was amazing.

After thoroughly photo-documenting the lake and the church we headed up to the castle.  It’s located on a small mountain (can’t really call it a hill), and is very picturesque.  It doesn’t have an extensive history though – nobody tried to conquer it.  But since they need to collect money for something, instead, the castle houses an ethnographic museum, which is interesting if you like that kind of stuff. 

On the way down from the castle we stopped by the desert place recommended by Jaka, and gave them a bit of business.  Later that day we went to the pizza place also recommended by Jaka, which was so good that Julie (who doesn’t like pizza) insisted we go there again the following day.

On the 2nd day in Bled we went to another local attraction – Vintgar gorge.  We’ve both been to Yosemite many times, but we were still very impressed.  The waterfall at the end of the gorge is of course not something to fly to Slovenia for, however the gorge itself is very beautiful.  They’ve built little bridges that go along the gorge a few meters from the water, and at times cross it.  While it was very, very hot on the surface, the weather down by the water was very enjoyable.

I talked to Marik after our trip to Bled and told him how much we enjoyed Slovenia. His response – “of course, there are lots of Jakas there”. Jaka, thanks again for this wonderful part of our trip.

2011.09.12 Bled

 

Ljubljana, Slovenia 9/10-9/12

First of all, great thanks to Jaka for his recommendations to visit Slovenia. To date it is one of our favorite places.

In Ljubljana we were greeted by Rok, a hostel owner. The hostel is very new, very clean with friendly staff, a very big kitchen and huge terrace. The reason I mention the indoors is because we actually spent quite a bit of time there as we were planning for the next leg of our trip. And it’s so rare to find a pleasant common area in a hostel.

Our first lunch was in a restaurant down the street. This place was recommended to us by a random American on a street that approached us, asked a few generic questions and then pointed us to this restaurant. A few minutes after we sat down, he caught up with us and joined us for a beer as he waited for a museum to open up.  Levka would like me to add to this entry that I got wasted from half a bottle of Radler. You can see the picture below. To my defense, it was really hot outside, we haven’t eaten all day and I didn’t know what Radler was when I started drinking it.

From 2011.09.10 Ljubljana

The city itself is probably the friendliest place that we have visited. The center of town is spread across two banks of the river. And the two banks are connected by a dozen walking bridges. The bridges are about 200 meters apart. So it’s easy to meander from one side to the other and spend an entire day walking around, eating, then walking, then eating, then resting, then eating. This is pretty much what we did. We also took a short break from the eating by hiking up to the castle. Apparently it is place where everyone gets married. Levka inadvertently walked in front of a video camera as it was taping the wedding procession. His back is forever immortalized in somebody else’s wedding video.

The evening  brought more eating and entertainment - we especially enjoyed a group of bachelors dancing on the streets. The groom-to-be was wearing only a thong and had 4 little kegs strapped to his back. Levka said that this is a bachelor party that the groom will never forget. I’m pretty sure he will never remember it :)

After 2 days of exploring Ljubljana we were off to Bled.

2011.09.10 Ljubljana

Zagreb, Croatia 9/8-9/10

Dear readers,

It’s been a few days since we’ve updated this blog. This is partially due to laziness, lack of Internet connection in the last few days and the fact that we’ve been moving around.

Last you heard from us, we were heading from Vienna to Zagreb (with a day stop over at Graz). On the night of 9/8 we did arrive to Zagreb as planned. We stayed at a little hostel a few miles away from center by the name of “Maliy Mrak”. The hostel was small and a little dusty, but otherwise was quite nice. Plus we were greeted by a cat who hung out with us the entire evening. Maybe it was because she was friendly or because we had pate̕.  We’ll never know.  Not much to report for that evening as we were exhausted from the day. 

The next day we went to explore Zagreb. Although it is a capital, it is quite small and quaint. We got a self-guided tour book from the Information office and followed it all through the city. The lower city was nothing special and then we climbed up to the churches and the really old part of town and thought it was beautiful. As usual, we walked way too much. In the evening we found ourselves at a local brewery. And we were not disappointed. We waited for a place to sit for quite some time (as this was a popular place). The waiters even offered to bring us a separate table. But all worked out well when a large group decided to stumble their way home and we gladly took their seats. 

Overall it was a very good day. We tend to like cities that are smaller and not overrun by tourists. 

The next morning we were off to Ljubljana.

 

2011.09.09 Zagreb

We made plans!

It’s not like us, but we made some plans ahead of time. 

  1. We will be in Bulgaria (South of Varna), 9/25-9/30
  2. We will fly to Thailand on 10/8

Yes, bought our tickets to Thailand. When choosing the flights, we had some layover options. We could either go through Moscow or through Qatar. Having already been in a Moscow airport, we briefly considered the latter option. And then we checked the map to see where Qatar is…

From Random

Needless to say, we will be eating the very expensive sausages at the Moscow airport again :)

 

Graz

Next morning we were off to Graz, a much smaller town also in Austria that was on the way to Zagreb where we had decided to go next.  The train ride to Graz is extremely picturesque, kind of like taking a train through Yosemite, only we did not see waterfalls – instead we saw villages and castles.  Pictures through the glass did not really come out, so you’ll need to go there and see for yourself.

Graz does not have the grandeur of Vienna, but is very charming as many smaller towns with lots of history are.  We did not take any guided walking tours, instead we did the usual thing: went to the tourist info office, grabbed a self-guided tour brochure, and walked about at our own pace.  Pictures will hopefully tell more than I can, but the highlights were the Congress/Casino in one, cute courtyards, hidden church with modern art on the walls, Turkish soldier statue sticking out of the wall under the roof of a building, the clock with moving figures, another cool double staircase, and the castle on top of the hill with all the wonderful views.   

2011.09.08 Graz

Around 6pm we were off to Zagreb. 

 

Vienna

After Bratislava we made another venture out of the Eastern Europe, and into another German speaking country.  As I mentioned before, we did not plan a visit to Vienna (admittedly, we really have not planned much of our trip at all), but it was so damn close to where we were, and kind of on the way to where we wanted to be.  So, we took a train from Bratislava, and were in Vienna in about an hour.  

Vienna is a large city, unlike most of the ones we are visiting.  Suffices to say that our hostel was more like a hotel that tries to save on human labor – it housed easily over 250 residents on 5 floors, had a bar downstairs, offered rooms with bathrooms in-suite, and the only difference between it and a cheap hotel was that you probably shared a room with other folks, and had to take care of making your own bed.   The downside of a large city is there’s too much to do and see, and you can’t possibly cover it in a couple of days; so we had to compromise.  

We arrived to the hostel late afternoon, and after a steak dinner (I cooked stake on a frying pan while Julie made a salad) we set out to see Vienna at night.  After walking for well over a mile we established that my very manly decision to go left out the hostel door was completely unfounded, and in fact 100% wrong (I still do not know why I was so certain that we had to go left; it’s not like I misread the map, I did not even look at the map I was so sure.)  So we turned around, and a short 1 hour walk later we were observing some of Vienna’s old town.  Unfortunately we were quite tired by the time we got to the old town, and it was getting much too cold for our taste, so after just a bit of site seeing we went back to the hostel with the resolution to get an early start the next day.

In the morning we turned right from the hostel, and reached the old town in just 30 mins or so.  We were greeted by one of the many distributors of the tickets to various music performances.  Julie was enthusiastic about the full-on orchestra, as well as some opera performance, but my face must’ve been much less so, so the girl kept lowering the price without us even asking for it.  After 5 minutes or so we settled on something acceptable.  The concert was to take place at Schonbrunn palace that had a very nice park around it.  We would check out the park, the fountains, the zoo if we wanted to, and later see the concert.  We then proceeded to walk about Vienna by ourselves using a self-guide since we missed the walking tour.  

The performance was good as far as I was concerned, but Julie was a bit upset about the fact that it was not held in a proper music hall, and the sound was not as encompassing as it would otherwise be.  

The next day we made it to the walking tour.  It was easily the oddest walking tour we’ve ever been on.  The lady that was our guide was probably around 70 years old, and knew a lot of Vienna’s history, however could not remember anything of what we told her a couple of minutes ago.  She gave us so much information that we barely had time to move from place to place; our first move from the starting point was 40 minutes after the tour started.  I was seriously concerned that our walking tour would not make it past the first square.  After about an hour, and roughly 300 meters of distance she insisted that we all had to sit down on a bench while she was standing because unlike her we had to be tired by then.  Julie and the other couple our age complied out of fear that the tour might become even stranger.  In another 30 minutes we were asked to sit by the fountain next to the library, because our lagging behind her to chat among ourselves was misinterpreted as inability to keep up with her.  “I could be your grandmother, you know!” she said.  After the library she walked right past the ancient ruins without as much as mentioning what’s there, and straight into what she called a “surprise” – a very nice and old bakery shop that used to cater to lords and counts, and had a small “museum” downstairs.  She pointed out her favorite cookies, mentioned that the shop doesn’t give her any concessions, took us to the basement of the shop with the museum, and left us there having thanked for attending the tour.  That was it… The upside was that after Prague’s prices this bakery shop did not appear all that expensive, and we got a couple of nice enough pieces of cake to go.

2011.09.05 Vienna

 

Bratislava

Bratislava was one of the places we wanted to visit, but it was not an absolute requirement.  However it was a convenient hub for our future travels, and since we were stopping by there, naturally we wanted to see the city.

“Thanks” to the post-WWII communist regime Bratislava’s old town is quite small, and can be covered in half a day.  As we learned, the soviets were trying to rejuvenate the economy by blowing up old buildings, and putting up the standard ugly 9-floor buildings; they've also built a highway right next to the church where Austro-Hungarian kings had been coronated for hundreds of years.  The church is now being repaired due to the vibrations of that road.

We were really lucky to catch a free walking tour with a young Australian guide Timmy! (The exclamation point is a reference to South Park :)  Timmy! majored in history back in Australia, has spent every summer in Eastern Europe for the past 10 years, and the last 2 or 3 doing these tours.  So he was rather good.  He did not just cover the old town; he took us outside as well, and talked a lot about the pre and post-war history.  I personally learned a lot about the formation, and break up of Czechoslovakia, and the role of Bratislava in the events.

Some of the history buffs might be interested to know that the famous historic photograph that to this day is considered one of the best photos from the Prague spring (or rather the Soviet invasion that followed) was not taken in Prague, but in Bratislava.  Timmy! was telling us that story as we were sitting on this very square.

After the tour we went to one of the man-made beaches that are so popular all around Europe (we saw a couple in Berlin.)  They are not so much beaches but large sandboxes with beach accessories – lounge chairs, sun shades etc.  But we found it very nice to relax on one of those despite the absence of any swimmable body of water nearby.

The following day we visited the Bratislava castle up on the hill which was recently opened after a big renovation.  Apparently it was the first year that it was in decent condition in almost 200 years.  So we were quite lucky.   The castle did not take too long, so by 4pm we were on the train to Vienna.  It was just too close to miss…

2011.09.04 Bratislava

Olomouc

Olomouc was a welcome break from the tourist crowds and prices of Prague.  As soon as we saw the main square in Olomouc, which by the way has a great name Horni namesti, we knew this place was different from Prague – there was just one money exchange office that we could spot, and only a handful of restaurants, and no souvenir shops.  It looked like (I imagine) Prague looked about 15 years ago.  Actually, come to think of it, we first realized this town was different even before we saw the square - when we went to a local brewery, and were able to eat 2 full meals and drink 2 beers for the price of 1 meal in any equally well located restaurant in Prague.  Beers were great, meals were too, so we liked the place immediately.

Shortly after lunch, Greg, one of the owners of our hostel Poets’ Corner, took us on a free walking tour of Olomouc.  Apparently they (Greg and Francine, both Aussies who settled in Olomouc) take it very personally when people view Olomouc as the place to crash for the night on the way to Prague.  It really bugs them when people stay the night, maybe visit one pub, and then write on the page that the hostel was great, but the town is nothing much to look at.  Plus it’s not good for their business.  So, they do whatever they can to promote Olomouc, and they do a great job.   The tour gave us a great overview of the town’s history, most prominent buildings, and (very importantly) the local eateries and dive bars.   It even covered in some detail the torture technics used on a local priest (later canonized as a martyr.)  The day ended with the wireworks shot right in front of our eyes.  So much so, that when I was filming it, and was looking up to do so, I was getting crap in my eyes.  They don’t care much about fire safety there, I gather.   Oh, and right before the fireworks the local orchestra played (and the 70 year old Czech star sang) some classical pieces including “Yesterday” by Beatles, “Bohemian Rhapsody” by Queen,  cover from the movie “Flash Dance”, “I will Survive”, and that song that made Susan Doyle famous on the  British version of American Idol.  We were thoroughly entertained, and danced the night away on the Horni Namesti.  We did so with our newly found friends – 2 more Aussies and a German girl.

The following day brought around more surprises.  As we stood waiting for the Astronomical clock to do its Communist dance at noon (the clock was rebuilt after the war to fix the façade, and the moving Saint figures were replaced with the working class ones), there was some sort of celebration going on at the Horni namesti where 4 marching bands from different countries were showing off their skills.  Another surprise was when we were allowed to climb the towers of the tallest buildings for free – feat almost unachievable in Prague, or any other touristy place.  Naturally, we ended this day at the pub as well.

In the morning we were off to Bratislava, which was a short 1hr train ride away.

2011.09.02 Olomouc

 

Prague – Day 3.5 and Final


After some research about where to go next and checking of the bus schedule, we decided to stay an extra night in Prague. On top of that we were really starting to enjoy Prague and our hostel was fabulous (clean, friendly and we had a private room). If any of you visit Prague, consider staying at Miles Hostel.

Given that we have seen all the highly recommended / standard touristy places, on our last day, we decided to venture out. We got a suggestion from the Hostel manager about Vyshnegrad, another castle not far from center.  Apparently 2 metro stops is too much of a distance for many tourist to travel so we were able to enjoy this castle in peace.  Oh and the entrance was free!  Even the public bathroom was free – what difference 2 metro stops make.

Despite the recommendation from our hostel receptionist we decided not to take the metro back, but walked instead.  We knew the general direction and walked for hours.  We ended up on a short hike up a hill with a memorial to the victims of the Communist oppression, a garden, a restaurant, an observatory, and a tower over 50m high (which we of course climbed.)  Found a nice market where we bought veggies for the evening.  Found more beer with an odd “beer gourmet” snack consisting of sausages, cheese, peppers, onions, all in some liquid marinate.  It was a bit odd, so even I (Levka) could not finish it.

On the way down from the hill we crossed some garden with apple trees, and Julie wanted an apple from one of them, but since we did not have an umbrella with us (ref: post about Sigulda), we could not get it.

When we finally got back to the hostel it was getting late, so we ate the salad Julie prepared, polished it with a cake purchased at a normal price (by now we’d really got the hang of buying things cheaply in Prague), and booked the next leg of the trip.

2011.08.30 Prague

In the morning we were off to Olomouc.

Prague – Day 2

On Day 2 we got a wonderful advice from Igor (Levka’s brother in law). Here is an excerpt from his email:

“Stay hydrated with the best (Prague) beer in the world. Make sure to get at least 0.5 liter with every meal. Remember, traveling from one bar to another is a great way of sightseeing in Prague.”

Spasibo Igor! We did not take this advice lightly and strived to accomplish it the rest of our stay there. In fact we extended our stay by another day (to 4 days total) because we felt that we didn’t see all the “sights” in the first 3 days. The best part is that beer is much cheaper that food or even water.
1 cup of coffee = 2 beers. Since we’re all about saving money on this trip, Levka was taken off of coffee for the duration of our stay.

So on day 2.5, we decided to visit the Jewish neighborhood.  All synagogues are well preserved. Most of them have been made into museums with a ton of history and artifacts from Jewry from all over Europe. Apparently, all this survived WWII because Nazis wanted to make “a museum of an extinct race”.

On the way to the first Synagogue, we passed by an Orthodox Jew, who saw Levka, by his nose, determined that he is part of the tribe and chased him down the street offering to tie a tfilin. Levka kindly refused (on moral grounds.)  The rest of the day as we meandered through the neighborhood, the same guy (and sometimes with the help of a friend) was very persuasive.  But Levka withstood the pressure!  Once the guy realized on the 3rd attempt that this was not happening, he instead offered a card of a nearby kosher restaurant.

In the evening, we went through old town again and were able to visit the Presidential palace, which is closed to the public during the day. In my opinion, the evening Prague is much more pleasant as the tourists congregate in the local bars and clubs and the souvenir shops close down for the night. We were able to walk in peace and enjoy the beauty of the city. Here is one of the pics, but there are a lot more in the gallery.

All of the above was done with frequent stops for been and/or food. Igor, you’d be proud!

From 2011.08.30 Prague

We finished the evening walk with a local pub suggested to us by the receptionist at the hostel, and had a couple of beers from the smaller, less known local breweries.