Budapest for me, was one of the most vibrant and fun cities I've been to. We happened to be staying in a great area for nightlife, which helped, but the whole place seemed like it was one big party.
Our visit didn't start off to well. We caught the right number bus, but in the wrong direction, ending up in some random neighbourhood outside the centre. So we crossed the street and jumped on without a ticket. Bad move. We got busted almost straight away by a ticket inspector. Lucky for us, we held out and insisted they call the police when they tried to bargain a rate for the 'fine' with us. They pretended to call them and we were stuck in a bit of a stalemate, not knowing what to do, when we got saved by a friendly accomodation tout. pheew! 80 euros saved.
Our hostel was a converted apartment and very, very, 'cozy'. We were lucky to have a really fun aussie couple staying there who we hung out with a lot going to warehouse, cellar and rooftop bars all over the city. A perfect way to spend a week of 40 degree heat.
One of the biggest highlights of Budapest (especially in that type of heat) are the baths. Thermal and fresh water pools that have been in Budapest since the Romans wandered through. We spent two afternoons splashing around and trying out all the different saunas and plunge pools all the way from 80 degrees (sauna) to 18 degrees (the coldest plunge pool). We emerged both times wrinked, happy, and ready for some amayingly good Israeli falafel that was just across the street from the hostel. Quite possibly the best falafel in the world - even better than Rowda in Newtown.
I was so sad to leave this city - I'll definitely be back.
Photos to come probably in London. We're in Berlin at the moment, staying in a really cool district, 30 degrees every day, too many fun things to do, see, buy here!
Friday, August 21, 2009
Friday, August 7, 2009
Adventure 18: Eger
I had quite high expectations of Eger, a pretty town, lots of wine and our own apartment with no other stinky backpackers and it managed to live up to them.
It was great enough that we managed to give ourselves a proper scrub down after 6 weeks of travel let alone being able to sit in the bath tub with a book and a glass of local wine.
The town centre of Eger was stunning, little bridges, narrow cobbled streets and a town square with many cafes. It also has an minaret which you are able to climb and then view the whole town from a very narrow platform. I am usually pretty good with heights but the tiny platform freaked us both out and we were quite happy when we were safely back on the ground.
On our second day in the town we walked out to the wine region. It was very different from Australian wineries, as basically it was just a loop of cellar doors and you bought a large glass of wine to try rather than sampling a number of varieties. We managed to stumble upon this crazy old hungarian guy that was shouting at us as we walked past his cellar. He spoke no English, but we managed to order in German and then he had us try a ten year old rielsing and it was pretty tasty. So tasty in fact, that we got him to fill up a 2 litre coke bottle so we could drink it later. We tried to ignore the fact that he was sucking on the tube to siphon it into the bottle and happily made our way home with our booty.
We actually think he might have done the old switcheroo on the wine though when we drank it later but it was still tasty so all good in the end.
It was great enough that we managed to give ourselves a proper scrub down after 6 weeks of travel let alone being able to sit in the bath tub with a book and a glass of local wine.
The town centre of Eger was stunning, little bridges, narrow cobbled streets and a town square with many cafes. It also has an minaret which you are able to climb and then view the whole town from a very narrow platform. I am usually pretty good with heights but the tiny platform freaked us both out and we were quite happy when we were safely back on the ground.
On our second day in the town we walked out to the wine region. It was very different from Australian wineries, as basically it was just a loop of cellar doors and you bought a large glass of wine to try rather than sampling a number of varieties. We managed to stumble upon this crazy old hungarian guy that was shouting at us as we walked past his cellar. He spoke no English, but we managed to order in German and then he had us try a ten year old rielsing and it was pretty tasty. So tasty in fact, that we got him to fill up a 2 litre coke bottle so we could drink it later. We tried to ignore the fact that he was sucking on the tube to siphon it into the bottle and happily made our way home with our booty.
We actually think he might have done the old switcheroo on the wine though when we drank it later but it was still tasty so all good in the end.
Adventure 17: Krakow + Kosice
We were glad to be back in Krakow at our old cozy hostel, with hot water, semi normal people and other countless luxuries. Not much to report here, I wasn't keen on going to Auschwitz and the short tour to the salt mines was 30 euro so we just pottered around the town and paid a visit to our favourite Georgian restaurant. We grabbed Total Recall from the hostel reception and sat down to relax with our beers when 4 children came in to the lounge room with their mums. Apparently 9pm is a good time for small kids to be having dinner ... They all sat there and watched people get their heads blown off etc until there was one small sex reference and then they all packed themselves off to bed as the movie was now "unsuitable for children". Wtf how is horrible violence ok for kids but sex not?
Kosice in Slovakia was quite boring. A square, a church and lots of pizza and icecream restaurants. We attempted to go on a day trip to a nearby fortress but where thwarted when we turned up at the small siding 1 hour out of time and were told that there was no connecting train for over 3 hours. The people were nice though and suggested that we catch a bus from the centre of town. We walked 2km into the town, which seemed to be the gypsy capital of slovakia and stood at the bus stop. No timetable or information, just a picture of a bus on a pole and 12 gypsy men staring and staring at us. We wimped out and hiked the 2 km back to the train tracks. We thought we'd fill in some time by having a beer at the shed behind the station, but when we walked back around, this was now locked and bolted. We spend a lovely hour and a half waiting for the train back to Kosice where we got some pizza, had a beer and went to bed in the workers hostel that was the only budget accomodation in town, hoping that Eger would be a little bit more interesting.
Kosice in Slovakia was quite boring. A square, a church and lots of pizza and icecream restaurants. We attempted to go on a day trip to a nearby fortress but where thwarted when we turned up at the small siding 1 hour out of time and were told that there was no connecting train for over 3 hours. The people were nice though and suggested that we catch a bus from the centre of town. We walked 2km into the town, which seemed to be the gypsy capital of slovakia and stood at the bus stop. No timetable or information, just a picture of a bus on a pole and 12 gypsy men staring and staring at us. We wimped out and hiked the 2 km back to the train tracks. We thought we'd fill in some time by having a beer at the shed behind the station, but when we walked back around, this was now locked and bolted. We spend a lovely hour and a half waiting for the train back to Kosice where we got some pizza, had a beer and went to bed in the workers hostel that was the only budget accomodation in town, hoping that Eger would be a little bit more interesting.
Adventure 16: leaving Kiev
So after 5 days in Kiev, we decided that it wasn't too bad after all. We made some fun new friends with the people in the hostel who weren't weirdos and went on a pub crawl with them to some of the bars in the area. One of them had a local band that played modern takes on traditional music which was fun.
The one saving grace of our weird hostel was that there was a super local bar called hospital just around the corner. It was in the basement of an apartment building and had no signs on the street, so you had to know it was there to go. It had the best food we ate in Kiev (we even had steak!) and it was really cheap too. Highlight was when the hostel owner asked Emma if she wanted a fucking cocktail. It later transpired that this was a cocktail he had created while he was running an irish pub in Dusseldorf and was trying to come up with gimmicks for New Years Eve. Emma guessed all the ingredients correctly and so he bought it for her. Pretty good all round.
We were also sad to leave the Varenicki - cherry dumplings - which we had grown to love, because a, they were tasty, and b, they were 90c for a big plate. I'm going to try to find a recipe when I get home and try to recreate them.
So with all this in mind, we were a bit sad to leave Kiev and were in high spirits as we took the taxi to the airport. When we arrived, the airport was like a bus station, crammed with people and with no mod cons. We waited our turn and finally presented our Wizz Air confirmation email to the guy. He checked the computer and then said something to us which we couldn't really understand exept for the words ticket and ticket office. So we traipsed over to the ticket counter and when they checked our confirmation, they said that we had no reservation, even though the money had dissapeared from my account and we had a confirmation email with us. They then told us that if we wanted to fly we would have to buy new tickets, at double the price, in cash. $400 AUD worth. So we yelled, and we screamed and Emma even stomped her foot in anger, but they wouldn't budge. Even when we printed out the bank statement showing that the money was gone. All we got was an unimpressed look from the brick face behind the counter who tapped her watch and said - time's running out, do you want the tickets or not. So we bought the tickets and stormed out way onto the plane happy to be heading back to Poland and civilisation :)
The one saving grace of our weird hostel was that there was a super local bar called hospital just around the corner. It was in the basement of an apartment building and had no signs on the street, so you had to know it was there to go. It had the best food we ate in Kiev (we even had steak!) and it was really cheap too. Highlight was when the hostel owner asked Emma if she wanted a fucking cocktail. It later transpired that this was a cocktail he had created while he was running an irish pub in Dusseldorf and was trying to come up with gimmicks for New Years Eve. Emma guessed all the ingredients correctly and so he bought it for her. Pretty good all round.
We were also sad to leave the Varenicki - cherry dumplings - which we had grown to love, because a, they were tasty, and b, they were 90c for a big plate. I'm going to try to find a recipe when I get home and try to recreate them.
So with all this in mind, we were a bit sad to leave Kiev and were in high spirits as we took the taxi to the airport. When we arrived, the airport was like a bus station, crammed with people and with no mod cons. We waited our turn and finally presented our Wizz Air confirmation email to the guy. He checked the computer and then said something to us which we couldn't really understand exept for the words ticket and ticket office. So we traipsed over to the ticket counter and when they checked our confirmation, they said that we had no reservation, even though the money had dissapeared from my account and we had a confirmation email with us. They then told us that if we wanted to fly we would have to buy new tickets, at double the price, in cash. $400 AUD worth. So we yelled, and we screamed and Emma even stomped her foot in anger, but they wouldn't budge. Even when we printed out the bank statement showing that the money was gone. All we got was an unimpressed look from the brick face behind the counter who tapped her watch and said - time's running out, do you want the tickets or not. So we bought the tickets and stormed out way onto the plane happy to be heading back to Poland and civilisation :)
Tuesday, August 4, 2009
Adventure 15: so much to do so little time
we are alive and in budapest. so much going on here, no time for internet but will try to blog tonight or tomorrow and catch up on everything although it might have to wait until we are in Bonn and very bored hahaha
Saturday, July 25, 2009
Adventure 14: Kiev
So after 4 days we have decided that we don't hate Kiev afterall. It is actually a pretty cool city and we even started to get used to our crappy hostel and weird guests.
We have befriended two english girls and given nicknames to all freaks who are staying at our hostel.
First up: Mr America, middle aged sex tourist always demanding pepsi and ham if anyone mentions they are going to the shops
Next is Mr Japan: A perverted 20 something guy, who kisses peoples necks and peers under the bed sheets while girls are sleeping. Last seen fist pumping after getting a phone number off a poor unsuspecting Ukrainian girl.
Number 3 Mr Hostel: A chain smoking, alchoholic German who has recently taken over the hostel and has no idea what he is doing or where the key to front door is.
We also have Mr Canada: A vague university professor who keeps asking us if we are English despite lengthy conversations about life in Australia.
Finally Mr Spain: An overweight and "definately not a sex tourist" who's favourite pastime is harrasing all women in a 5 meter radius. He also enjoys dancing on one leg and getting into fights with Ukrainian bouncers. Last seen in a headlock after harrassing one to many women in a late night Ukrainian bar.
The unfortunate thing is that all these freaks seem to drawn to Scotty. She is the freak magnet. Please check back later because we will be providing photgraphic evidence later.
Anyway off to a soccer game now so will write more about our Kiev adventures later.
We have befriended two english girls and given nicknames to all freaks who are staying at our hostel.
First up: Mr America, middle aged sex tourist always demanding pepsi and ham if anyone mentions they are going to the shops
Next is Mr Japan: A perverted 20 something guy, who kisses peoples necks and peers under the bed sheets while girls are sleeping. Last seen fist pumping after getting a phone number off a poor unsuspecting Ukrainian girl.
Number 3 Mr Hostel: A chain smoking, alchoholic German who has recently taken over the hostel and has no idea what he is doing or where the key to front door is.
We also have Mr Canada: A vague university professor who keeps asking us if we are English despite lengthy conversations about life in Australia.
Finally Mr Spain: An overweight and "definately not a sex tourist" who's favourite pastime is harrasing all women in a 5 meter radius. He also enjoys dancing on one leg and getting into fights with Ukrainian bouncers. Last seen in a headlock after harrassing one to many women in a late night Ukrainian bar.
The unfortunate thing is that all these freaks seem to drawn to Scotty. She is the freak magnet. Please check back later because we will be providing photgraphic evidence later.
Anyway off to a soccer game now so will write more about our Kiev adventures later.
Adventure 13: Lviv in more detail
It is 37 degrees today in Kiev so we thought we would spend more quality time in our favourite internet cafe inside the post office ( the only building that actually has air conditioning)
As mentioned earlier, Lviv was fantastic. I am really glad we had the opportunity to see it before it changes into the new hot spot destination for drunken british tourists. The city centre is extremely beautiful with lots of unrenovated russian style churches, little lanes and cobbled streets.
Lviv was where we started out love affair with Puztis Kase, a dirt cheap buffet restaurant which serves up tasty Ukrainian food such as dumpings, chicken kiev, borscht, Russian potato salad and of course Compot, a delicious berry beverage (cordial). A meal at Puztis costs around $4 au so if you order something horrible it doesn't too much cause you can always go back an order and extra plate of cherry dumplings with sour cream - see plently for vegetarians :)
One of culinary highlights to date was the Ukrainian Nationalist restaurant which asked you for a password to enter and then served up a shot of vodka if you successfully gave them the correct password. We were taken by some of the girls that worked at the hostel so we let them order specialty dishes and the famous honey vodka while we sat back and clapped along to the live folk band.
Another amazing site in Lviv was the cemetary. It is one of the biggest in eastern europe and was a sprawling mass of elaborate monuments and was no where near as touristy as the one in France (can't remember the name) as there were not masses of people searching for Jim Morrison's grave.
All in all Lviv was a fantastic introduction to the Ukraine, although still very much developing there is this feeling of excitement in the air that big things are soon going to happen in this small city.
As mentioned earlier, Lviv was fantastic. I am really glad we had the opportunity to see it before it changes into the new hot spot destination for drunken british tourists. The city centre is extremely beautiful with lots of unrenovated russian style churches, little lanes and cobbled streets.
Lviv was where we started out love affair with Puztis Kase, a dirt cheap buffet restaurant which serves up tasty Ukrainian food such as dumpings, chicken kiev, borscht, Russian potato salad and of course Compot, a delicious berry beverage (cordial). A meal at Puztis costs around $4 au so if you order something horrible it doesn't too much cause you can always go back an order and extra plate of cherry dumplings with sour cream - see plently for vegetarians :)
One of culinary highlights to date was the Ukrainian Nationalist restaurant which asked you for a password to enter and then served up a shot of vodka if you successfully gave them the correct password. We were taken by some of the girls that worked at the hostel so we let them order specialty dishes and the famous honey vodka while we sat back and clapped along to the live folk band.
Another amazing site in Lviv was the cemetary. It is one of the biggest in eastern europe and was a sprawling mass of elaborate monuments and was no where near as touristy as the one in France (can't remember the name) as there were not masses of people searching for Jim Morrison's grave.
All in all Lviv was a fantastic introduction to the Ukraine, although still very much developing there is this feeling of excitement in the air that big things are soon going to happen in this small city.
Friday, July 24, 2009
Adventure 12: Krakow in more detail
So, seeing as we now have 5 days in Kiev and I have loads of time to spend at dodgy internet cafes, I thought I'd write a bit more about Krakow, and then chuck some pics up tomorrow.
The 9 hour bus to Warsaw wasn't nearly as bad as we expected, except when we got to the bus station, the bus/train set up was so confusing that not only could we not figure out how to buy a ticket to the central train station (even after lining up for 20 mins at 2 separate counters) but we couldn't even find the right platform! So we hedged our bets and jumped on a train that said warsaw centralna. Despite having this clearly written on the front of the train, the destination was not Warsaw, but Krakow. Fine by us, we thought, except we don't have a ticket - woops! Train guards were very nice though and let us off without a fine and in 3 short hours we were in Krakow!
I loved pretty much everything about Krakow except for the pigeons. These rats of the sky were everywhere! As I mentioned in the other post, we pretty much lazed around and saw the main tourist sights like the big cathedral in the main square which was one of the most spectacular inside that I've ever seen despite being described by Emma as "it's ok". We also went to the Georgian restaurant Eva, and it was fantastic and we generally super over ordered at every restaurant we went to, trying all of the dumplings and different kinds of borsht.
One notable highlight was my first temper tantrum. In eastern europe you have to queue for everything, and i mean everything! Behind a counter is a relic from soviet times who seems to take pleasure in making you wait as long as possible while they answer the phone, talk to their colleagues and generally mess around. The best part is after you have waited for about an hour and reached the front of the queue, they decide to take their hourly ten minute break - leaving you there fuming.
We dutifully lined up to get our tickets to the castle in Krakow. The price was 17 zlotys. I put down 27 (because people yell at you if you need any kind of change) and said in my clearest voice "1 ticket please" a barrage of polish ensued and then once it became clear I couldn't understand, the ticket lady yelled "1 NORMAL ticket?!?!?!" I snapped and yelled back "YES of COURSE 1 NORMAL ticket". Please see 1 normal ticket and it's proud bearer below.
It seems that Poland is well and truely in the EU now, as it has a big new shiny mall complete with Zara and H&M. I was extremely grateful for this as it gave me the chance to replace the sunnies I'd lost with a pair that actually look decent and have some kind of UV protection.
The 9 hour bus to Warsaw wasn't nearly as bad as we expected, except when we got to the bus station, the bus/train set up was so confusing that not only could we not figure out how to buy a ticket to the central train station (even after lining up for 20 mins at 2 separate counters) but we couldn't even find the right platform! So we hedged our bets and jumped on a train that said warsaw centralna. Despite having this clearly written on the front of the train, the destination was not Warsaw, but Krakow. Fine by us, we thought, except we don't have a ticket - woops! Train guards were very nice though and let us off without a fine and in 3 short hours we were in Krakow!
I loved pretty much everything about Krakow except for the pigeons. These rats of the sky were everywhere! As I mentioned in the other post, we pretty much lazed around and saw the main tourist sights like the big cathedral in the main square which was one of the most spectacular inside that I've ever seen despite being described by Emma as "it's ok". We also went to the Georgian restaurant Eva, and it was fantastic and we generally super over ordered at every restaurant we went to, trying all of the dumplings and different kinds of borsht.
One notable highlight was my first temper tantrum. In eastern europe you have to queue for everything, and i mean everything! Behind a counter is a relic from soviet times who seems to take pleasure in making you wait as long as possible while they answer the phone, talk to their colleagues and generally mess around. The best part is after you have waited for about an hour and reached the front of the queue, they decide to take their hourly ten minute break - leaving you there fuming.
We dutifully lined up to get our tickets to the castle in Krakow. The price was 17 zlotys. I put down 27 (because people yell at you if you need any kind of change) and said in my clearest voice "1 ticket please" a barrage of polish ensued and then once it became clear I couldn't understand, the ticket lady yelled "1 NORMAL ticket?!?!?!" I snapped and yelled back "YES of COURSE 1 NORMAL ticket". Please see 1 normal ticket and it's proud bearer below.
It seems that Poland is well and truely in the EU now, as it has a big new shiny mall complete with Zara and H&M. I was extremely grateful for this as it gave me the chance to replace the sunnies I'd lost with a pair that actually look decent and have some kind of UV protection.
Thursday, July 23, 2009
Adventure 11: Krakow, Lviv, Kiev
Internet! Long time no see!
Here we are in Kiev with 17 mins left on the internet cafe clock. We have so many stories since we left Vilnius, but so little time.
Krakow was lovely as we expected. Emu had been there several times before so I was happy to take the back seat and be tour guided around. We ate dumplings, looked at churches, wrote postcards and listened to tourist couples fight in outdoor cafes. All up, it was pretty awesome.
Next, we hit Lviv and we super pleasantly surprised at not only how beautiful it was but how nice and friendly the people were! Hardly any English spoken outside the really touristy places, but people smiled and waited while we struggled and struggled with the language. We had one notable failure where after waiting 1 1/2 hours for her dinner, Emma finally asked where it was. It's not coming was the blunt sign language reply. Ahhhhhhhhhh, we said to ourselves, that was what she spent 10 mins trying to explain to us earlier! No problem though, we went to our by now most favourite Ukranian eatery and had their excellent cherry dumplings for the very expensive price of $2AU per plate. Night saved.
Kiev is nice too, but has a much more "big city" feel. Our hostel booking was messed up and after an hour of walking around trying to find our hostel, we were told that we didn't have a booking and would have to go to their sister hostel. This was fine and we are now shacked up in a strange little apartment building in the centre. People have no concept of personal space here and if you leave even a centimetre in front of you in a line someone will push in! I even had to wave away a man who was standing right on my back, peering over my shoulder as I tried to use the ATM. This was after he came through and tried to beat me to the card slot even though I already had my card out and was reaching for the machine!
Must dash, we are sick of long train trips already and will be flying back to Poland in 5 days ($100Au flight! Woohoo!) so we will have lots of time to spend at this weird little internet cafe in the post office.
Missing you all (we've hit the 4 week nostagia for home + we are getting lazy and want to speak english and understand what is going on), please write to us!
Here we are in Kiev with 17 mins left on the internet cafe clock. We have so many stories since we left Vilnius, but so little time.
Krakow was lovely as we expected. Emu had been there several times before so I was happy to take the back seat and be tour guided around. We ate dumplings, looked at churches, wrote postcards and listened to tourist couples fight in outdoor cafes. All up, it was pretty awesome.
Next, we hit Lviv and we super pleasantly surprised at not only how beautiful it was but how nice and friendly the people were! Hardly any English spoken outside the really touristy places, but people smiled and waited while we struggled and struggled with the language. We had one notable failure where after waiting 1 1/2 hours for her dinner, Emma finally asked where it was. It's not coming was the blunt sign language reply. Ahhhhhhhhhh, we said to ourselves, that was what she spent 10 mins trying to explain to us earlier! No problem though, we went to our by now most favourite Ukranian eatery and had their excellent cherry dumplings for the very expensive price of $2AU per plate. Night saved.
Kiev is nice too, but has a much more "big city" feel. Our hostel booking was messed up and after an hour of walking around trying to find our hostel, we were told that we didn't have a booking and would have to go to their sister hostel. This was fine and we are now shacked up in a strange little apartment building in the centre. People have no concept of personal space here and if you leave even a centimetre in front of you in a line someone will push in! I even had to wave away a man who was standing right on my back, peering over my shoulder as I tried to use the ATM. This was after he came through and tried to beat me to the card slot even though I already had my card out and was reaching for the machine!
Must dash, we are sick of long train trips already and will be flying back to Poland in 5 days ($100Au flight! Woohoo!) so we will have lots of time to spend at this weird little internet cafe in the post office.
Missing you all (we've hit the 4 week nostagia for home + we are getting lazy and want to speak english and understand what is going on), please write to us!
Thursday, July 16, 2009
Adventure 10: Vilnius and Trakai
So here we sit, in a slightly depressing internet cafe, killing time before the joy that is to be a 9 hour bus to Warsaw. The last couple of days, like the weeks before, have been completely amazing and to be honest, we've packed so much in that I'm a little grateful that we have nothing to do for the next couple of hours.
We arrived in Vilnius hung over as hell and with little clue as to where our hostel was. I gathered up my courage to ask directions but managed to find the only person in Lithuania who spoke neither English or Russian. A bit dejected, we wandered around the grotty new town until we finally found our hostel. The staff were unfriendly and were "brick faces" - a term a much friendlier Russian in Riga had taught us, which they use to describe people who show no emotion - and our bathroom had a big sign telling us to put all of the dirty toilet paper in the bin instead of the toilet, so at this stage we weren't feeling too enthusiastic about Vilnius...
However, as soon as we entered the old town, that all changed. It's a beautiful, lived in town that has neither the disneyland feel of Tallinn or the sleaziness of Riga. It's just wonderful. It was pelting with rain (we were getting used to this) so we headed to the Museum of Genocide which did not document the genocide of jewish people like we thought, but instead the genocide that the Russians had attempted to inflict on all Lithuanians. It was housed in the old KGB headquarters and you could even go down into the basement prison and torture cells. The prison was amazingly well preserved as it was used up until 1991 (!). A really spooky, horrible place.
After wandering round the many streets of the old town, we went to bed early, but not before a (not so) tasty meal of Lithuanian zeppelins (one of the national dishes). Hugly fatty potato dumplings that are mushy and stuffed with pork mince and then smothered in sour cream. Or in Emma's case pork fat and sour cream - YUM.
After our fantastic experience with the alternative tour in Riga, we decided to do the local equivalent. It was hugely worth it again as we managed to get out of the old town and see more of what the regular people see of Vilnius.
The quick trip to Trakai the following day was easy and cheap. That town is so relaxing - it has one ruined castle and one renovated castle, but apart from that, there is not much to do except wander round and lay in the sun. Trakai's one other claim to fame is that it is home to a weird middle eastern sect who make their money through several restaurants of Kariate (spelling?) food. It was pretty good - and great to have some spicy food too!
So again, here we are in Vilnius. Today we found the "secret" tile in the cathedral forecourt. It's the point at which the 2 million person long chain from Tallinn to Vilnius which was protesting Soviet occupation in 1991 finished. So the saying goes, if you find the tile and turn around on it clockwise, your wish will come true. It was a surprisingly moving little monument as you realise just how bad things must have been to mobilse 2 million people across three countries.
That has been the one surprising thing about all three Baltic states - they are all really quite soviet feeling still. People speak Russian, there are loads of big anonymous soviet housing blocks and there is a feeling in the air that this is not quite the "cheap scandanavia" that you read about in the guide books. That said, I don't think I'd have it any other way. It's a truely unique place in the world.
Thanks to all the people who have been commenting, it has been great to hear from you all!
We arrived in Vilnius hung over as hell and with little clue as to where our hostel was. I gathered up my courage to ask directions but managed to find the only person in Lithuania who spoke neither English or Russian. A bit dejected, we wandered around the grotty new town until we finally found our hostel. The staff were unfriendly and were "brick faces" - a term a much friendlier Russian in Riga had taught us, which they use to describe people who show no emotion - and our bathroom had a big sign telling us to put all of the dirty toilet paper in the bin instead of the toilet, so at this stage we weren't feeling too enthusiastic about Vilnius...
However, as soon as we entered the old town, that all changed. It's a beautiful, lived in town that has neither the disneyland feel of Tallinn or the sleaziness of Riga. It's just wonderful. It was pelting with rain (we were getting used to this) so we headed to the Museum of Genocide which did not document the genocide of jewish people like we thought, but instead the genocide that the Russians had attempted to inflict on all Lithuanians. It was housed in the old KGB headquarters and you could even go down into the basement prison and torture cells. The prison was amazingly well preserved as it was used up until 1991 (!). A really spooky, horrible place.
After wandering round the many streets of the old town, we went to bed early, but not before a (not so) tasty meal of Lithuanian zeppelins (one of the national dishes). Hugly fatty potato dumplings that are mushy and stuffed with pork mince and then smothered in sour cream. Or in Emma's case pork fat and sour cream - YUM.
After our fantastic experience with the alternative tour in Riga, we decided to do the local equivalent. It was hugely worth it again as we managed to get out of the old town and see more of what the regular people see of Vilnius.
The quick trip to Trakai the following day was easy and cheap. That town is so relaxing - it has one ruined castle and one renovated castle, but apart from that, there is not much to do except wander round and lay in the sun. Trakai's one other claim to fame is that it is home to a weird middle eastern sect who make their money through several restaurants of Kariate (spelling?) food. It was pretty good - and great to have some spicy food too!
So again, here we are in Vilnius. Today we found the "secret" tile in the cathedral forecourt. It's the point at which the 2 million person long chain from Tallinn to Vilnius which was protesting Soviet occupation in 1991 finished. So the saying goes, if you find the tile and turn around on it clockwise, your wish will come true. It was a surprisingly moving little monument as you realise just how bad things must have been to mobilse 2 million people across three countries.
That has been the one surprising thing about all three Baltic states - they are all really quite soviet feeling still. People speak Russian, there are loads of big anonymous soviet housing blocks and there is a feeling in the air that this is not quite the "cheap scandanavia" that you read about in the guide books. That said, I don't think I'd have it any other way. It's a truely unique place in the world.
Thanks to all the people who have been commenting, it has been great to hear from you all!
Adventure 9: Riga
We have had quite a few adventures since super exciting Parnu so thought it best to split it into two blog posts.
First up Riga, which was a really awesome mix of alternative clubs, soviet museums and a really touristy old town. It was really interesting to see how much this small country had been through in the last hundred years of continuous occupation and just how quickly things were changing
Unlike Tallinn, we managed to get out of the fairy tale old town and go on a 3 hour " alternative free walking tour" run by this recovering drug addict with an attention span of 30 seconds, and it was awesome. We saw the black market market, the russian quarter, the art noveau district as well as a bunch of creative arty areas. We also took the guides advice and tried some local beers which were specially brewed with honey and berries at an out of the way local bar and served by a stern Latvian bar girl, super tasty. As you can see below, Latvians have a really good sense of humour - this statue is on the outside of a building that's currently being renovated :)
The walking tour was so good we though we would take a chance on a bike tour run by the same guy. Miraculously it DID NOT RAIN, and we managed to get further out of the old town and visit the fishermens district, and old warehouse district and some other cool places across the city.
Scotty did slightly struggle with the cobblestones in the old town, and managed to do a face plant in the middle of the busiest tourist street, wrecking her brand new G-star jeans in the process. However, she bravely soldiered on, bleeding knee and all to nearest bar.
On a final night in Riga, we went to a scary warehouse club which was playing minimal and tech trance (which we hate) but it actually ended up being a good night. We met some crazy brits and actually even managed to fit in a dance ( a very slow, very boring minimalist dance). However, this late night did cause us some pain in the morning as we slept though our alarm, waking up at 8.20am when our bus to Vilnius was scheduled to leave at 8.50am. :)
Who knew we could pack and run so fast in that condition :) Vilnius update and photos to come.
First up Riga, which was a really awesome mix of alternative clubs, soviet museums and a really touristy old town. It was really interesting to see how much this small country had been through in the last hundred years of continuous occupation and just how quickly things were changing
Unlike Tallinn, we managed to get out of the fairy tale old town and go on a 3 hour " alternative free walking tour" run by this recovering drug addict with an attention span of 30 seconds, and it was awesome. We saw the black market market, the russian quarter, the art noveau district as well as a bunch of creative arty areas. We also took the guides advice and tried some local beers which were specially brewed with honey and berries at an out of the way local bar and served by a stern Latvian bar girl, super tasty. As you can see below, Latvians have a really good sense of humour - this statue is on the outside of a building that's currently being renovated :)
The walking tour was so good we though we would take a chance on a bike tour run by the same guy. Miraculously it DID NOT RAIN, and we managed to get further out of the old town and visit the fishermens district, and old warehouse district and some other cool places across the city.
Scotty did slightly struggle with the cobblestones in the old town, and managed to do a face plant in the middle of the busiest tourist street, wrecking her brand new G-star jeans in the process. However, she bravely soldiered on, bleeding knee and all to nearest bar.
On a final night in Riga, we went to a scary warehouse club which was playing minimal and tech trance (which we hate) but it actually ended up being a good night. We met some crazy brits and actually even managed to fit in a dance ( a very slow, very boring minimalist dance). However, this late night did cause us some pain in the morning as we slept though our alarm, waking up at 8.20am when our bus to Vilnius was scheduled to leave at 8.50am. :)
Who knew we could pack and run so fast in that condition :) Vilnius update and photos to come.
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
Adventure 8: Pärnu
So here we are in lovely Pärnu. We were very much looking forward to working on our Moon tans and swimming in the lovely Baltic Sea, but instead it is 14 degrees and pissing with rain.
Today we decided to hire some bikes, but in the Scotty and Emu tradition it rained as soon as we hopped on. No matter we thought, we will go to the indoor mud baths where it will be nice and warm. Closed. We were comforted to see though that it was open every other day of the week except for the days that we are here. (You can see the lovely building below)
A quick ride past the indoor water park was enough to show us that it was too full of children and we decided that riding in the rain out to the "breakwater" (flat as flat could be) was preferable.
We are now sitting in the hostel waiting for our clothes to dry and trying to decide on a decent hour to head to the pub, we are trying to hold out till 5pm.
However, despite the bad weather Pärnu really isn't so bad. There are nice green parks, quaint old buildings and a comfy wine bar which serves tasty apple cider and real cafe lattes. Plus we are still able to get our favourite salmon soup.
P.S We did not try any bear or other weird meats at the medieval restaurant in Tallinn. Instead we had the local specialty which a mixture of pork and beef with cabbage and berries as well as some honey and cinnamon beer which was really tasty. The restaurant was really cool inside, you can see the level detail they went to in the photo below. A medieval style toilet.
Today we decided to hire some bikes, but in the Scotty and Emu tradition it rained as soon as we hopped on. No matter we thought, we will go to the indoor mud baths where it will be nice and warm. Closed. We were comforted to see though that it was open every other day of the week except for the days that we are here. (You can see the lovely building below)
A quick ride past the indoor water park was enough to show us that it was too full of children and we decided that riding in the rain out to the "breakwater" (flat as flat could be) was preferable.
We are now sitting in the hostel waiting for our clothes to dry and trying to decide on a decent hour to head to the pub, we are trying to hold out till 5pm.
However, despite the bad weather Pärnu really isn't so bad. There are nice green parks, quaint old buildings and a comfy wine bar which serves tasty apple cider and real cafe lattes. Plus we are still able to get our favourite salmon soup.
P.S We did not try any bear or other weird meats at the medieval restaurant in Tallinn. Instead we had the local specialty which a mixture of pork and beef with cabbage and berries as well as some honey and cinnamon beer which was really tasty. The restaurant was really cool inside, you can see the level detail they went to in the photo below. A medieval style toilet.
Monday, July 6, 2009
Adventure 7: Helsinki and Tallinn
Well after our quick update about the weather being great in Helsinki, it proceeded to rain and rain. We headed inside and found a great goth shop in Helsinki and I bought a really cute polka dot skirt. Our last night was spent dodging the rain drops to find Seahorse, a traditional Finnish restaurant famous for its salmon soup, meatballs and cabbage. As usual, we grossly over-ordered getting a main and an entree to start with two big main meals to follow. It was all really tasty especially the salmon soup with potatoes. Emma suffered the whole way home from her gluttony.
Being in Finland in the middle of summer is a really bizarre feeling. The sun doesn't set until 11:30pm and then rises again at about 3am so you aren't really tired when you go to bed, even though your body is exhausted, and then you're up again at 5am because it's like midday outside. We still haven't really adjusted, but it's great for sightseeing, I think we've been packing two days worth into every one.
The ferry across to Tallinn was super quick and our passports were not even checked. I was disappointed not to get an Estonia stamp in my passport, so am hoping for one at the Latvian border.
Tallinn is possibly one of the most beautiful places I've ever seen. So many tourists though - it's especially popular with Finns as the booze is much, much cheaper here. We were lucky enough to have some crazy Finnish hillbillies in the room down the hall from us who drank all day and night and then vomited allllllll over the bathroom :(. They were a bit freaky, but we had some nice Swiss people in our room, so it wasn't too bad.
Tallinn is a lot more expensive than I had imagined, but we're still doing pretty well for money considering we have been eating pretty well here. Today we hit the jackpot with a place that served HUGE pancakes with all types of fillings that were only 55EEK ($6 AU). Tonight we are splashing out on a medieval restaurant which specialises in boar and bear. I am daring Emma to try the bear, but it is TOO expensive, so we will probably have to miss out.
Highlight of Tallinn was definitely the Dominican Monastery which was built in 1242 and nearly all of it is still standing. It's just like In The Name of the Rose, that Sean Connery movie. Sooo cool, and you can walk all around inside and climb up and down the crazily steep stone spiral staircases. We've got lots of photos but cannot load on this computer. Will really have to try to find one with a USB port in Riga so we can put some up.
Off to Pärnu tomorrow to visit the beach. Pity it is 14 degrees and rainy! We will go to the weird Estonian indoor water park instead. There are also mud baths and some cute pubs, so we'll be putting on even more weight.
Belarus looks like it might be back on the agenda as we've found out that it is supposedly quite easy to get a visa from Lithuania. Will keep you updated on how we go with that one.
And lastly, if you're reading this, please comment! We are sick of talking amongst ourselves :)
Being in Finland in the middle of summer is a really bizarre feeling. The sun doesn't set until 11:30pm and then rises again at about 3am so you aren't really tired when you go to bed, even though your body is exhausted, and then you're up again at 5am because it's like midday outside. We still haven't really adjusted, but it's great for sightseeing, I think we've been packing two days worth into every one.
The ferry across to Tallinn was super quick and our passports were not even checked. I was disappointed not to get an Estonia stamp in my passport, so am hoping for one at the Latvian border.
Tallinn is possibly one of the most beautiful places I've ever seen. So many tourists though - it's especially popular with Finns as the booze is much, much cheaper here. We were lucky enough to have some crazy Finnish hillbillies in the room down the hall from us who drank all day and night and then vomited allllllll over the bathroom :(. They were a bit freaky, but we had some nice Swiss people in our room, so it wasn't too bad.
Tallinn is a lot more expensive than I had imagined, but we're still doing pretty well for money considering we have been eating pretty well here. Today we hit the jackpot with a place that served HUGE pancakes with all types of fillings that were only 55EEK ($6 AU). Tonight we are splashing out on a medieval restaurant which specialises in boar and bear. I am daring Emma to try the bear, but it is TOO expensive, so we will probably have to miss out.
Highlight of Tallinn was definitely the Dominican Monastery which was built in 1242 and nearly all of it is still standing. It's just like In The Name of the Rose, that Sean Connery movie. Sooo cool, and you can walk all around inside and climb up and down the crazily steep stone spiral staircases. We've got lots of photos but cannot load on this computer. Will really have to try to find one with a USB port in Riga so we can put some up.
Off to Pärnu tomorrow to visit the beach. Pity it is 14 degrees and rainy! We will go to the weird Estonian indoor water park instead. There are also mud baths and some cute pubs, so we'll be putting on even more weight.
Belarus looks like it might be back on the agenda as we've found out that it is supposedly quite easy to get a visa from Lithuania. Will keep you updated on how we go with that one.
And lastly, if you're reading this, please comment! We are sick of talking amongst ourselves :)
Thursday, July 2, 2009
Adventure 6: Helsinki
We're in super beautiful and super expensive Helsinki right now.
The things that are trendy at the moment seem to be public nudity, berries of all types and viking beards.
Salmon is great, weather is great.
I'll write more when we can find somewhere that has less expensive internet!
The things that are trendy at the moment seem to be public nudity, berries of all types and viking beards.
Salmon is great, weather is great.
I'll write more when we can find somewhere that has less expensive internet!
Monday, June 29, 2009
Adventure 5: Namja Town and Piss Alley
We've been spending a lot of time wandering around in the heat, so we thought we'd take a break and head to sunshine city. Sunshine city is a mall COMPLEX with 4 or 5 multi storey buildings and is home to Namja Town.
Namja Town is a food theme park where you can eat every type of icecream know to man (chicken wing flavour anyone? Shark fin? Potato and butter? Charcol?) We proclaimed deep sea water the best, ate a big pile of dumplings in the gyoza stadium and then headed back out into the heat.
The goal of the evening was to find a place full of food stalls called Memory Lane - known to locals as piss alley. We found it after only 40 mins or so of wandering aimlessly in the heat which was a new record for us, so we celebrated at a tiny rooftop bar of questionable construction. We then found a yakatori place that looked good and ate freshly cooked bbq and big glasses of beer with randoms that soon became our friends giving us fans and buying us plates of food.
Off to Taito Ryokan tonight - will post a couple of photos later camera already packed in bag
Namja Town is a food theme park where you can eat every type of icecream know to man (chicken wing flavour anyone? Shark fin? Potato and butter? Charcol?) We proclaimed deep sea water the best, ate a big pile of dumplings in the gyoza stadium and then headed back out into the heat.
The goal of the evening was to find a place full of food stalls called Memory Lane - known to locals as piss alley. We found it after only 40 mins or so of wandering aimlessly in the heat which was a new record for us, so we celebrated at a tiny rooftop bar of questionable construction. We then found a yakatori place that looked good and ate freshly cooked bbq and big glasses of beer with randoms that soon became our friends giving us fans and buying us plates of food.
Off to Taito Ryokan tonight - will post a couple of photos later camera already packed in bag
Friday, June 26, 2009
Adventure 4: Arriving in Tokyo
So after the quickest flight in history due to some serious stillnox induced snoozing, we have arrived in Tokyo.
It's reeeeeeaaaaallllllly hot here! Scotty has been suffering from the heat quite badly and was even more bossy than ususal when we arrived.
Luckily, after we had some food and finally found the temple, she calmed down and we're now having a fantastic time as you can see
After briefly getting lost (walking half an hour in the wrong direction) we managed to find Leon at the Sensoji Temple.
It's reeeeeeaaaaallllllly hot here! Scotty has been suffering from the heat quite badly and was even more bossy than ususal when we arrived.
Luckily, after we had some food and finally found the temple, she calmed down and we're now having a fantastic time as you can see
Yesterday we walked all around the area we have been staying and then took a break from the heat by relaxing on our roof top terrace with some $3 Asahis from the 7-11
Surrounded by the "beautiful" city-scape, the rooftop is surprisingly nice and catches a great breeze. The sign we're displaying here is what people do if they find you wandering in to places you aren't supposed to be, or are just doing something you shouldn't.
Yesterday afternoon was spent checking out the freaky sites of Akihabara (the electronics district). We went into a couple of fetish shops (Heroine, one that specialises in female super heros was a definite highlight) and ate some cake in a maid cafe.
The best tempura ever for dinner topped off a brilliant day, and like the party animals we are, we were in bed by 10pm.
Best thing ever to date: Coffee in a can!
- Emma and Nicole
P.S. click on the images to see large versions :)
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
Adventure 3: the anticipation
Sitting in my room, waiting for the hours to tick by until it's go time. I suppose I could be cleaning. Or packing... but why do that when you can waste ages online looking up incredibly detailed information about your destinations that you're never going to use.
One thing I think we will use though is this site that Leon found before he left for Japan: Tokyo Damage Report: the tour guide. It covers all the most crazy and bizarre things to do in Tokyo (things that would never, ever make it into a guide book) and also has some great tips on reading maps (more difficult than it sounds!), finding your way around and best of all, it explains really well where yakitori alley in Shinjuku is woohoo!
One thing I think we will use though is this site that Leon found before he left for Japan: Tokyo Damage Report: the tour guide. It covers all the most crazy and bizarre things to do in Tokyo (things that would never, ever make it into a guide book) and also has some great tips on reading maps (more difficult than it sounds!), finding your way around and best of all, it explains really well where yakitori alley in Shinjuku is woohoo!
Thursday, May 28, 2009
Adventure 2: The actual planning
Planning out a 10 week trip is always going to be a bit painful, but when your travelling companion insists on booking every night of accommodation - you know it's going to be hell.
It wasn't completely horrible. We spent 2 solid days and about $300 on booking fees. We have a nerdburger spreadsheet. But the Emu promises me that it is all worth it and that soon we will laughing at people unable to get accommodation in the mosh pit that is Europe in summer.
So! As it stands, our plan is as follows:
Leave Sydney on June 24.
Japan
Finland
Estonia
Latvia
Lithuania
Poland
Ukraine
Hungary
Austria
Germany
UK
Then arrive back in Sydney on August 29.
It wasn't completely horrible. We spent 2 solid days and about $300 on booking fees. We have a nerdburger spreadsheet. But the Emu promises me that it is all worth it and that soon we will laughing at people unable to get accommodation in the mosh pit that is Europe in summer.
So! As it stands, our plan is as follows:
Leave Sydney on June 24.
Japan
Finland
Estonia
Latvia
Lithuania
Poland
Ukraine
Hungary
Austria
Germany
UK
Then arrive back in Sydney on August 29.
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Adventure 1: the planning
I wanted to go and live in the UK, do the Aussie working holiday thing. But when the stock market collapsed so did my dream.
Luckily, the downturn also meant that my company jumped at the chance to save some money on wages and I was granted a 10 week leave of absence!
With our plans now only mildly thwarted, The Emu and I set about planning an amazing trip. Except we had one we'd prepared earlier. So in the spirit of efficiency, we kept our original plan to travel deep into far Eastern Europe visiting the Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania as well as Poland the Ukraine and Hungary. Throw Japan, Finland, Austria and Germany in there as well and our "choose your own adventure" plan was almost complete.
And so it is that these two intelligent (know it all), enthusiastic (hyperactive), capable (control freak) women will travel together in close quarters across borders, time zones and cultures for 66 days until their journey culminates with goth clubs and gin in London.
In the meantime, stay tuned for such fascinating planning tales as: "The Emu's guide to rail passes" and "What do you mean I have to stay in a dorm!?!"
Luckily, the downturn also meant that my company jumped at the chance to save some money on wages and I was granted a 10 week leave of absence!
With our plans now only mildly thwarted, The Emu and I set about planning an amazing trip. Except we had one we'd prepared earlier. So in the spirit of efficiency, we kept our original plan to travel deep into far Eastern Europe visiting the Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania as well as Poland the Ukraine and Hungary. Throw Japan, Finland, Austria and Germany in there as well and our "choose your own adventure" plan was almost complete.
And so it is that these two intelligent (know it all), enthusiastic (hyperactive), capable (control freak) women will travel together in close quarters across borders, time zones and cultures for 66 days until their journey culminates with goth clubs and gin in London.
In the meantime, stay tuned for such fascinating planning tales as: "The Emu's guide to rail passes" and "What do you mean I have to stay in a dorm!?!"
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