Prague - Day 1

We arrived late at night to Prague (from Dresden). I can proudly say that we’re getting much more efficient at loading and unloading buses, finding places to exchange money, at navigating the new transit systems and most importantly at not stressing out when the ATM machine declines the card. The latter occurred upon our arrival to Prague and our attempt to purchase transit tickets.  But all was semi-quickly resolved and we were on our way.

The things that we read about Prague in our little Lonely plant guide: Beware of pickpocketers, they work like clockwork all around the city. Oh and if you’re ever approached by a police officer, most likely he is fake and it’s a scam.

With those happy warnings, we set off to find our hostel. We were weary but all ended up well. The hostel was right in the middle of the city, but was very secure and clean.

Other thing we quickly learned about Prague: It has become a tourist trap over the last few years and the prices have been adjusted accordingly. So aside from it crawling with tourists, the food is extremely expensive. On that first night, we were hungry after our long bus ride and went to a café around the corner. I admit that it was our fault that we didn’t check the prices beforehand, but even if someone said that we’re going to pay 4 euros for a cup of tea we wouldn’t have believed it. Yes, it was a regular tea, out of a teabag, served with half a cup of hot water and nobody even danced around while serving the tea! (Цены на сосисечки в Московском аэропорту отдыхают)

After the first time, it was resolved that we eat at home and this worked out wonderfully.

So the next morning, we started out to see Prague. Earlier, I mentioned that Prague is crawling with tourists; well that’s practically an understatement. In the center, you pretty much had to push yourself through the crowds. And every two steps there was somebody who tried to sell you something. Being already tired from walking for 9 hours the previous day, my patience to deal with the crowds was low. But we managed to have a decent day. We took a tour of the castle, which is the biggest one in Europe and it was well worth it.  One note from Levka: Julie learned a new word – “defenestration”: a process of throwing one from a window.  We saw the very window from which the Catholics were throwing the Protestants into the moat (or the other way around Protestants did that to Catholics, I can’t remember for sure.)  The word comes from the French “fenetre”, the “window”.

Side note on tours: Our spell of not making it to museums is finally broken! After not getting into the  Wawel castle and Schindler’s factory Museum in Krakow, Reichstag, the Dresden gallery (and a few other places), I was happy that we were able to book an English speaking tour the same day.

So the tour was good and the walk was OK and the bridge was pretty. But all the excitement that I had expected from Prague was just not there on that day.

It all turned around the next day….

Dresden

A trip to Dresden, Germany was unplanned and was decided upon last minute (as most things are in the last month). We were in Berlin and had planned to go to Prague next. As it was a long drive, we looked at what was on the way. When I heard that buses went through Dresden, I was quite excited. I had heard about the Dresden gallery as a child (yes, I’m that geeky) and thought it would be great to see.

So Monday morning, Aug. 29th, we set off to Dresden. We arrived there early and had over 9 hours to walk around and check out the city. We were quite unprepared for this trip. We didn’t plan to end up in Germany so we didn’t have any maps with us and the “Eastern Europe” lonely planet guide didn’t include it either. Luckily there was a nice elderly Russian couple who sat next to us on the bus. So they gladly told us the best sites to see, how to get to Old Town, where to store our bags for the day and other useful facts.

The verdict: Dresden is the prettiest place we have visited so far! I want to say that it is the prettiest place in Europe, but it’s too early to make that judgment 

We were so amazed by the city and took our time visiting each building, the castle, and the funky neighborhoods. Usually we can cover an entire city in a day, but the 9 hours flew faster than we had expected and we felt that there was still a ton to see. I even thought about staying an extra day there, but we already had bus tickets to Prague and hostel reservations. So it was resolved that we will return.

The only disappointment: Apparently the gallery is closed on Mondays. However, we were so busy exploring the city that I doubt we would have made it to the gallery.

Note that Dresden is only two hours away from Berlin and it is a worthy 1-2 day trip. So if any of you ever get the opportunity, I highly recommend that you take it.  I know that the next time my life brings me to Germany, Dresden gallery is first on my list of things to do.

Tired but happy, we loaded the bus once again to head to Prague….

2011.08.29 Dresden


PS: Would love to hear from the burners!

Berlin

Hi there -

As we mentioned earlier, we took a bit of a detour because of the ticket prices, and visited my friends in Berlin.  We got to stay a night at Olga's place (who is my very good friend from back in St.Petersburg), and a couple more at Kolya's place (who I met during my stay in Paris.)  Both our hosts made sure that we slept comfortably, and did not lose any weight due to malnutrition. 

On the first day, armed with the book Olga gave us, we covered most of the Unter den Linden, which is an important street/avenue/prospect in Berlin.  That's where the  Brandenburg Gate is located and a bunch of other important buildings and monuments.  We started walking from the Brandergurg Gate, and finished around the Alexanderplatz, which doesn't seem like a lot, but we did wonder around a lot.  We stopped by the Reichstag, of course, but we could not get in because of the new security measures.  Apparently you need to book in advance.  The day ended with some vodka and pel'meni over at Kolya's place.

Next day was a Saturday, so Kolya and Marina (his wife) were free to take us around.  We went out for brunch to meet Olga and family, and then to a park near their house.  I think it was called Schlosspark Charlottenburg.  Reminded me of Paris's Versailles.  As professional travelers, Julie and I had our waterproof jackets with us, but Kolya and Marina did not, so we had to hide out from the rain under the trees for a bit.  Kolya rediscovered his long-lost passion for photography (on his iPhone.)  We finished the day with a friendly game of pool (Julie and I crashed Kolya and Marina 3 times in a row.)  They shorlty payed us back by crashing us in darts.  So it all worked out.

On Sunday Julie and I were left to our own devices, so we set out to see some more of Berlin.  This time we concentrated on its post-war history, aka FRG vs.GDR.  We visited the East Side Gallery, which is the remaining piece of the Berlin Wall, now painted by different artists.  From there we set out to see the Checkpoint Charlie, walking through a funky neighborhood on the way.  It had the most peculiar street art (see pictures.)    At the checkpoint we met up with Olga, who took us to one of her favorite cafes (she works nearby), and showed us 2 nearly identical cathedrals facing each other - one is German, the other is French.

After Olga left, we walked a bit more to see the Potsdamer Platz.  On the way we saw a couch that we gave away for free before setting off on this trip being sold for 3.5K Euro.  I guess we should've shipped it to Germany instead.  Potsdamer Platz was quite fascinating example of modern architecture.  In general, I must say, I love modern German architecture.  In a lot of places we've visited new buildings don't fit in with the old buildings.  But in Berlin it all works out.  I had the same feeling about Dresden as well, which we visited on Monday on our way to Prague, but that's the next post that Julie wanted to write...

2011.08.25 Berlin

The Kas

P.S. as we're writing this we've drank beer for 3 days in Prague, and tomorrow we are setting out to see Olomouc.

Warsaw and Krakow

Initially we were supposed to spend just a day in Warsaw, and move to Krakow for the “real” site seeing.  We were told by more than one person that there’d be little to see, and one day was enough.  So we booked just one night in a hostel, but after the first evening walk through the old town (the hostel was right on the outskirts of it) we booked the 2nd night as well.  I must say, the only thing we did not like about Warsaw was their “pirogi”.  “Pirogi” is what they call “pel’meni”, but we just like Russian version better. 

What we saw of Warsaw was very clean, well taken care of, and just very nice to look at.  The streets, the old buildings, the parks, the squares – pictures will hopefully tell the story.

Aside from the pirogi the food was great.  There was a street market right next to our hostel, and we kept them in business for the 2 days we were there. Our lunches included sausages, pickles, bread, waffles with boiled condensed milk, and lots and lots of Kvas.

Another thing that was right around the corner from the hostel was a daily fountain laser show that is choreographed to music, and tells stories; we wanted to post a video, but it turned out to be crappy (the video, not the show, you may blame the camera operator if you will)

We also covered a great deal of sites with Jewish history – we did the entire Jewish Warsaw walk which tells the story of the Jewish history of Warsaw, and commemorates the victims of the Holocaust.

2011.08.20 Warsaw

From Warsaw we took a long train ride to Krakow.  It took us almost all day, so we had a chance to catch up on our reading.  Not on writing though, sorry.   Krakow is another beautiful city however we felt it was too commercialized, too touristy.  It also felt like too many youngsters come there just to drink.  It might’ve been the impression we got from our 1st hostel.  We, being the good tourists, covered most of the ground– the Wawel castle, the squares, the old Jewish neighborhood Kazimierz and more.  Also followed most of the recommendations from Vahe, and enjoyed them tremendously (thank you very much, Vahe)

The tours offered by the local agencies are mostly very expensive, so we only took the one that we absolutely had to being so close to the place – Auschwitz.  No matter how many times you hear about the Holocaust, the feeling does not change… 
Luckily that evening we happened to hear some live music, and stopped by to see what was going on.  Turned out to be a courtyard with a bar, and a band playing on stage.  They were playing mostly rock-n-roll covers, and were super good at it.  Beer was good too.  They were also very funny apparently, but we did not get much – they unfortunately were being funny in Polish.

2011.08.22 Krakow

As we are writing this, we are sitting at a café in Berlin waiting for Olga to come join us.  Last day in Krakow we went to the bus station to get a ticket to Prague, and it turned out to be more expensive that we’d hoped, so right there on the spot we decided to go to Berlin instead – the tickets were cheaper, and it would add to our trip. 

As we are finally posting this online, we’re in Prague after a full day of site seeing.  Hopefully soon enough we’ll post our impressions of Berlin (and Dresden, which we visited on the way to Prague), and of course Prague itself.

To all our friends who are going to BM – have a blast!  We wish we could’ve joined you this year.

Kuldiga, Liejapa, Klaipeda, Vilnius

After Kolka the plan was to make our way to Lithuania.  Going back to Riga did not make much sense, and we heard that there was a bus out of Liepaja to Klaipeda.  So we decided to go in that direction while stopping to see what interesting towns were on our way. We took a bus to  Kuldiga, and once there checked out the bus schedule.  Turned out that there was one bus per day going in the direction of Liepaja, and since what we deemed interesting in Kuldiga could be covered in less than a day we figured we’d take the bus the same day.  Since we left Kolka around 6:30, we still had the whole day ahead of us.

As many towns on our way Kuldiga also had an old town.  We followed the usual routine – found the tourist office, got a local map, and followed the route to the points of interest.  We continue to be impressed with the cleanliness of the towns. The buildings may be old and some of them have not been reconstructed since the 1600s, but the parks, lawns, little nooks on the street are all planned, manicured, perfectly green and always pleasant. It seems like entire towns are made for walking.  Since locals don’t like to pick up dogs’ poop, dogs here are not allowed to poop on the manicured lawns (see pictures.)

 

2011.08.16 Kuldiga

 

After spending half a day walking around we went back to the bus station to catch our next bus to Liepaja.  At this point we did not know where we’d spend the night, however after the night in a tent we wanted to be in a warm room, and have a hot shower in the same building.  So as soon as we arrived to Liepaja we set out to find an internet connection to look for our next accommodation.  Liepaja had little to offer us in terms of sightseeing, and we decided to push forward to Klaipeda the same night.  Once we found internet connection we tried the usual sites to get the hostel, or a cheap hotel, and failed to find anything available.  So we started calling places (via Skype), and finally found one available.  It turned out to be a very nice hotel, which was a welcome change from the tent.  It did however cost 55 euro, which is the most expensive accommodation we had to date.

The next day we walked around Klaipeda.  It’s a port town with a small museum in the remains of a castle covering Klaipeda’s history, and a small old town.  Most of it was destroyed during WWII.  The main square houses a Drama Theater where in 1939 Hitler stood on the balcony and announced incorporation of Memel (county) into Germany.

 

2011.08.17 Klaipeda

 

Next stop was Vilnius.  Originally we were going to skip it, but after seeing Uncle Igor’s pictures from the early 80s (yes, they were older than Julie) we decided to see how much the town changed.  Since the time of the pictures, it changed quite a bit. You can primarily see the change in the commercialization of everything (which is not surprising). There is now a ton of little souvenir shops, cafes, restaurants, bars. And in a very European style, all of the eating is set up on the street. However, in comparison to the other two capitals that we already visited (Riga and Tallinn), Vilnius still felt Soviet. It was relatively dirty. There was no attempt to restore the Old Town. The hundreds of churches (yes, there are hundreds) looked very sad and gray. Don’t get me wrong, the town is still beautiful and has an amazing history. But in comparison to Tallinn it felt like it needed some care. We only spent one day in Vilnius and due to the inconvenient bus schedule moved on to Poland the next morning. This is one city that we should have devoted more time to in order to understand it.

 

2011.08.18 Vilnius

 

Final note on Lithuania: To date, it was the only country that greeted us with constant sunshine. Thank you for that. (We really start to appreciate this as train is moving through thunder and lightning in Poland).

Hugs to all the readers!

The KAs

Latvia Day 3: Kolka

Kolka was by far the most adventurous part of the trip so far. 

The thing to know about Kolka is that it's not your usual touristy destination with the hotels, restaurants, services etc.  We figured that since it's mentioned in the Lonely Planet, we should be able to (for example) find a place to stay the night even though the only hostel mentioned in the book did not have any space for us.  So without fear we boarded the bus from Riga, and were on our way at about 6:30am. 

Kolka was about 3-3.5 hrs away. On the way there we passed the place where Victory Tsoy (Russian rocker) died in the car crash.  We did not see the place ourselves, but we know we passed it because some Russian passenger was arguing with the Latvian driver whether he is taking him to the right stop, and only stopped arguing when someone said that this is where Tsoy died.  Apparently the road has changed quite a bit since the last time this guy saw it, and he did not recognize it; he did however know about its proximity to his car crash.  Anyway, that was our only entertainment during the ride.  So naturally we were falling asleep all the time, and missed our stop. 

Luckily we did not miss it by much, only about 1km.  I happened to open my eyes to see the sign with the word "Kolka" crossed out, which means the end of Kolka.  So we de-boarded, and hiked back to town.  The weather was nice and sunny, and we were passing bunch of people drawing churches and old abandoned houses.

As we were walking, we saw the sign for that hostel that did not have any space available.  So we figured we'd stop by, and give it another shot.  The barefooted girl who greeted us in front of a huge lawn with the tents on it confirmed that they were booked.  I guess it's not that unusual given they have a total of 8 beds or something around that number.  We asked her what alternative accommodations she'd suggest, and she mentioned a "hotel" about half a mile away.  That was it - no other accommodations there.  She also mentioned that we can stay in a tent on that lawn.  We inquired whether we could rent the tent, the pads to sleep on etc., and she said we could.  We compared the expenses of going to the hotel, and staying in a tent, and figured we'll be just fine with the tent (7 vs. 25 euro.)  Side note - the next day we met a German couple that also went to Kolka, and did stay at that hotel, and deemed it the worst place they stayed at in years.

After setting up the tent we set out to see the local attractions which are a very nice beach, a cape where the Baltic Sea meets the Gulf of Riga, and the village itself which is well preserved because of the high security military base that Soviets had there during their rule.  The weather was great, and we enjoyed ourselves tremendously.  I'd highly recommend this spot to anyone who loves the outdoors.  We even sat down in one of the 2 cafes that operate in the area, and had dinner there.

When we were back to the camp we made fire, and were taking pictures of the sunset when we started hearing thunder, and felt a few drops of rain.  In about 10 seconds the few drops became a downpour.  We barely made it inside the tent.  In about 10 minutes the inside shell of the tent started to get wet.  We remembered what Uncle Igor was telling us in Sigulda - it would not rain that hard for long.  We're not in the tropics he'd say.  So we waited patiently, and the rain did subside.  We got out, surveyed the damage, and conversed with the other campers who were huddled under the large tent covering the picnic area with the tables and benches.  Then we made a strategic decision to move our not-so-waterproof tent under this big tent.  As the following hour, and the night have shown - a wise decision.  Basically it would not stop raining all night.  The rain would subside, but then get super strong again. 

We had to catch the 6:30am bus to our next destination, so we got up at 5:30, and at 6am started walking towards the bus stop.  It was still pouring...

 

2011.08.15 Kolka

Latvia Day 2: Sigulda

Uncle Igor was telling us about this place called Sigulda that had a castle, and he laid out the program that we were supposed to follow on our 2nd day in Latvia.  We checked out our Lonely Planet guide, found Sigulda there, and compared notes.  Turned out Uncle Igor’s version of the plan was word for word identical to the one suggested by the guide.  Without any doubts we settled on that plan.  That is until the morning of the day when we were supposed to set out on our (mostly) outdoor adventure.  The thing was it was raining cats and dogs (extra points to whoever can tell where this expression comes from).   All night long.  And then in the morning.  We were woken up by the sound of the rain hitting the trees outside not to mention the thunder and lightnining.  After some consideration we decided to proceed, and settled on a slogan for the trip “Tourists don’t chose the weather”.  To date, our rain jackets are the most useful piece of equipment we brought with us.
Sigulda is about an hour away from Riga.  It’s a nice little town with a castle, and a bunch of other very old buildings.  One of the ways to get to the castle is via a cable car (“funikuler”), which is what we did.  It runs about 150 feet above the ground, and the ride is picturesque (see videos, we’ll eventually upload it there).  As we were riding the train, and the cable car the weather was calm, as it was during the first hour of our walk.  However as we were making way from Krimulda (one small town) to the castle with a stop for lunch at a cave, we got caught in a storm.  As we’re writing this on the next day, we can tell you that’s not the last time we got caught in a storm.  More on this subject in the next post.
By the time we got to the castle, and climbed up and down the tower, the weather improved, and we were able to explore, and enjoy the castle with its museums, and the surroundings.  Again, the whole thing is best described in pictures rather than words.
We brought some apples with us, but instead ate those that we knocked down from the trees using Uncle Ugor’s umbrella. 

By now we owe you write ups about 2 more places we’ve visited, but we gotta go fetch the next bus. 
Till next free wifi,

Lev & Julie

2011.08.14 Sigulda