Stats & Annoyances

Stats:
- Countries Visited: 8
- Country Passport Stamps: 10 (Slovakia and Germany pass through)
- Total Number of Stamps: 20
- Night trains: 2
- Night van: 1
- Prettiest women: Krakow
- Ugliest women: Prague
- Friendly/Helpful people: Austria, Bosnia, Krakow
- Favorite cities: Krakow, Vienna, Salzburg, Ljubljana, Zagreb

Annoyances:
- side dishes cost extra
- cover charge for bread, salt, pepper, oil, etc even if you don’t use it
- pay to pee
- graffiti
- unhelpful/rude people
- lack of small denomination coins
- construction
- too many tourists

Trip Map

Each camera icon represents a place I'll be visiting. Click on the map to see the larger size.

Salzburg

The red eye flight from Dulles to Frankfurt was non-eventful, only about 7 hours thanks to the strong tail wind. We got our EU entry stamp here at Frankfurt; I guess the 1 hour flight to Salzburg is considered as a domestic within the EU.

After dropping off our luggage at our small hotel (too early to check-in), we were off to see the sights at about 11:30AM. It was a bright overcast day, so it was poor for landscape pictures. But on the plus side it was short sleeves weather.

Salzburg is a pretty little city nested in a valley and bisected by a river. Of course it is known as the birth place of music genius Mozart. And this year is the 250th anniversary of his birth. The movie Sound of Music is also filmed here I believe.

The streets in the old town are lined with boutique shops and cafes. Each shop has it own unique old world sign above the entrance. Some squares are filled rides and markets. We walked its streets countless time like tons of other tourists there. Many of the tourists looked very high fashioned, lots makeup and expensive clothing....

We visited the usual tourist sights: Festung Hohensalzburg, Mozart birth house. We also saw what look like Oktoberfest parade as well attended a dinner/concert at the fortress.

We got the 48 hours Salzburg card which makes most of the sights free as well local transportation. Good value I believe.

The next day we got up early to try to catch good light for pictures, but the cloud at the sunrise direction prevented the golden light, but it was still decent for good panoramic views of the city. After breakfast, we head to Hellbrunn Palace and Trick Fountains and the Zoo. Nice little break from Salzburg center, beside it was free with the card.

On the third morning, we got couple hours of free time before our train to Ljubljana, and there was brilliant blue sky, so we went back to old town to retake some of the pictures as well search for a church that was seen in the Sound of Music movie. Wendy’s idea 

As for people of Salzburg, I don’t really know, too many tourists mixed in for me to tell the difference. The receptionists at our hotel are pretty helpful and friendly. The city is clean and I don’t remembering seeing graffiti (not like the rest of the trip).

I have very good impression of the city, first stop, decent weather, relatively helpful people, lack of graffiti, and not over the top tourist traps all helped.

Accommodation we had was good. About 3 stars.

More Photos from Salzburg....

Characters from the trip

- Colin and Kate from England: Jolly retired couple. He is very fast hiker. They compliment each other very nicely.

- Donna and Steve from Australia: He a banker and she a travel agent. Steve does all the luggage carrying. Donna was cool in the beginning, but warm up to the group after few days.

- Ray from New Zealand: Pharmacist, working part-time after selling his share in the couple pharmacies he owned. Very funny and good guy.

- Marit from Belgium: working for a shipping company. Very blunt in her talking, but after you get used to it, she is actually pretty funny. Her feet were swollen during most of the trip.

- Brenda from Australia: studied psychology in college, now consulting as counselor. Thinking of teaching English in Japan. Tried drugs while young in which her mom did not care. She and Darren madly fall in love at the end of the trip. Always late, very slow in everything.

- Darren from Australia: work in IT, but quit his job more than a year ago, and is on his 2nd stint of around the world tour! Like to procrastinate, but fast when he put his mind to it. Initially he, Ray, and Paula, pretty much the clowns of the group.

- Terry from Australia: working as hr policy writer in the police department. Also a volunteer firefighter. She is traveling for more than month, and we celebrated her 40th birthday (a week of so early) for her. She is extremely organized, although a bit of bossy type, we felt that she is a very nice and considerate person and can always trust her; unlike our tour leader Jona and Paula. She is the only person in our group that smoked, but always polite to step outside to smoke.

- Paula from Australia (of Lebanese origin): now working in London in the economic law. Extremely outgoing and flirting type. She got a room to herself on the whole trip. She flirted pretty much with everyone guys and girls. But people sort of figured her out after a week that she can talk to talk, but sometime can’t walk to walk. She had us fools (single guys) helping to carry her stuff in the beginning. In the end, she just hung around with my family. I guess I am a sucker for this type of girls too. O, btw, her underwear is always showing (g-string and all).

Ljubljana. Slovenia

We took a mid-day train from Salzburg to Ljubljana, the capital of Slovenia, to join the package tour part of our vacation. The train ride was nice with mountain village/river scenery. The train stopped at the border, and the custom from each country came on board and inspected our passports. The Slovenia custom gave us an entry stamp, but the Austrian did not. As with many similar train/road border crossing we encountered in rest of our trip, exit stamps are rarely given (except at the airport). Sometime even entry stamps are not given unless you beg for it!

There were 3-4 high school/college year girls next to our compartment. They must be bored or something because they started to danced, crawled, hopped across our compartment. Our free entertainment of the ride.

We arrived in Ljubljana with very threatening sky of lightening and thunder. After collecting a map from the tourist info booth and withdrew some Slovenian Tolars from the ATM at the train station, we started walking toward our hotel. My guide book (Best of Eastern Europe from Rick Steve of PBS) says to avoid taxi from stations and streets in most of the Eastern Europe as they usually over charge. Luckily through out our trip, our hotels are always within walking distance of train/metro/tram stations/stops.

After few miss-steps, we were able to get to our hotel just before the sky opened up! It just kept on raining for rest of the night.

I end-up roomed with my mom and Wendy with a female member (Terry) of our group (see Character entry for the people on our trip).

The room is very basic and beds are too soft to sleep, so most of the people did not get a good night sleep. I would give it 1 star at best; there were even worst accommodation to come. This is coming from 3-star hotel from Salzburg, mom and Wendy complained often for the next couple days.

We met everyone in our group (there were 13 of us) with exception of Paula for dinner this night. Our tour “leader” is a local guy named Jona, where few of the people in our group nicknamed Yoda. He has shaved head. He took us to a restaurant in the old part of the town where he said it was 10 minutes away from hotel. But it ended up some 20 minutes away. This was first of endless misinformation he would provide us. So everyone was pretty wet by the time we got to the restaurant with exception of me; I had umbrella, quick dry shorts, and sandals. Rain jacket without rain pants just does not cut it in a downpour.

Jona obvious knew the restaurant owner and most likely gets free meal for bring in a group. I am ok with tour leader eat free as long as we’re not over charged. But the waiter was impatient and unfriendly, and we’re charged 10 euro per person cover charge for bread, oil, and 4 sample dishes. The food was ok, and definitely not worth the price we paid for or the service we got. I guess in every country/city one needs to be ripped off once to get initiated. I blame Jona for taking us to his friend and not inform us of the local custom of cover charges for food.

One funny thing Jona told us at the dinner was that local people don’t like to work, but still like to get paid. This was to explain to us why the waiter was so unfriendly, the waiter gets paid regardless if there are customers or not, so he rather have none. This is foreshadowing of the majority of the service people we met on our trip and that of our tour leader in particular!

Next morning, we met for a short orientation and paid a local payment of 200 euro per person to Jona. He then showed us around the city for couple hours, and after that we’re all off to explore the city on our own.

Ljubljana is relatively new to the tourist circuit, most people visiting this city are independent or in small group like ours. So you still get to interact naturally with local people in shops and markets without the pollution of massive tourism. The old city center is also small, with a river running through it. So it is a pretty cool city for aimlessly stroll. The only problem for us was the foggy and overcast weather. We visited most of the major tourist attractions, and basically just walk around the town with no real purpose or urgency.

We stopped for coffee, dessert breaks, as well as toilet breaks. Most of toilets in the European countries are not free, by end of the trip, we got smart. Instead just paying for the toilet and get nothing in return, we would stop at a café and order a drink/snack even if we’re not hungry, and all of us get to use the toilet for free.

At a lunch place, Ray spotted a waitress that looked like a young Michelle Pfeiffer. She commented that other people had made the same observation before as well. Her eyes definitely look like hers, anyway Ray posted with her for a picture.

The group went out to dinner again the 2nd night, but without Jona, which was busy with family matter. Collin and Kate took us to a friendly and decent place and no cover charge.

More Photos from Ljubljana....

Lake Bohinj, Slovenia

The sky finally cleared as we rode the local bus from Ljubljana to alpine Lake Bohinj. The lake is quieter than the more touristy and better known of the near by Lake Bled. It offers better view of Trigslav (part of Julian Alps), highest peak in Slovenia and Southern end of the Alps. The motif of mountain is part of the Slovenia flag.

Our hotel is in the middle of a hill, nice setting overlook the lake. But the problem is that it is good 10 minutes walk uphill. Luckily, the hotel transported our luggage up. The room is probably a 1.5 – 2 stars.

After a quick orientation about a possible hiking trail from Jona, we all went to get some quick snack/lunch before a hike to a waterfall. BTW, now that I am back at home and having a closer look of the map of the area, I found that Jona gave us the wrong information again about the trail.

The hike to the waterfall was pretty pleasant and easy. We started along the main road, passed a picturesque Church of St John the Baptist , then pass through a small charming village of Stara Fuzina dotted with gardens, horses, and cows. Then onto the beautiful and moisture laden Mostnica Canyon. There were many kinds of mushrooms that I have never seen before. When we’re in Ljubljana’s market, we saw many kinds of mushrooms, and now I know where and why.

We’re suppose to find a waterfall, but as the group split into 3 groups, fast hikers, regular, slow and photographers, we lost sight of each group very quickly. The trail itself is not very well marked with many side trails that looked lot like the main trail. When Kate, Terry, I the last group were at a cross road with many side trails we decided to stop there and wait because of lateness of the day and not sure which trail the groups took. We saw few hikers came back, but none of them have seen other members of our group. Anyway after 20-30 minutes Wendy and mom showed up. Apparently they took the wrong path. We decided to head back at this point as the fast group was not expecting us to wait for them.

Later the fast group came back and apparently they did not reach the waterfalls either. The time approximation given by Jona and ticket person was incorrect – again.

We’re told that apparently Paula was charged by a cow as she tried to take a picture of the cow. She got the shot, and barely able to get away.

That night, we had another food incident. Apparently some restaurants have the drink menu priced per 100ml instead of just a drink! So the unsuspected tourist ordering a drink and get a say 250 or 500 ml drink and then get charged 2.5 to 5 times the unit price. Very sneaky! The useless Jona did not tell us about this restaurant’s policy. For rest of the trip, we didn’t order drinks with our food (since the Ljubljana incident). We brought our own water from the grocery store.

The next day, we started the hike around the lake itself. Our leader Jona took us back to the village Stara Fuzina first then the lake. The lake is very clear and very few hikers. Jona took us to the cable car for the Vogel Mountain where we went up for a panoramic view of the lake. It was mid-day, so it was a bit hazy. The group divided again, Darren and Collin went for a hike to the peak, Jona, Kate, Dona, Steve, Merit, and Brenda walked back down (Brenda is afraid of height and not wanting to ride back down), and rest of us got back on the cable car to get back down and start our hike to the Slap Savica waterfall. The trail to the waterfall was pretty easy to follow and easy. The finally few hundred meters was uphill to the water fall itself. Let’s say I have seen many much more spectacular waterfalls in my traveling. But it was a good hike. After everyone got their pictures, we hiked back to hotel along the other side of the lake.

Couple nights here, few of us went up to Paula’s room for a little chat, view and wine and chip. Her room is on the top floor and lake side, therefore has the best view.

More Photos from Lake Bohinj....

Lake Bled, Slovenia

We took a day trip from Lake Bohinj to Lake Bled, which is opposite of what most of the tourists do. The lake is much more touristy and developed. It is a mountain resort for Slovenia. Tito had his vacation home here (now Hotel Vila Bled).

We visited the cliff hanging Bled Castle first. The castle existed in one form or the other on this site for over thousand years and was the seat of the Austrian Bishops of Brixen.

Then some of us started our hike around the lake. We first stop at Hotel Park’s terrace for a sampling of the local specialty, a vanilla-custard-and-cream cake called kremna rezina or kremsnita in German. Slovenes travel from all over the country to have a taste here.

Recharged, we continued our hike. There is a small island called Otok, literally mean The Island in the middle of the lake and it is constantly in view as you circumvent the lake. We all took many pictures of this island from various perspectives.

On this little island is the Church of Assumption . It has 98 steps from the water to the church. It is tradition for the groom to carry the bride up these steps to prove themselves fit for marriage, about 80% made it.

There are many boats that take you to the island. You can also row to the island yourself. The couples in our group did just that. Rest of us just walked around until we’re in a more remote section of the lake and was able to negotiate a good deal (thanks to Darren) since the boatman got no customers in this relatively secluded area.

The church is small, but in a very pretty setting. There were only few tourists around in the afternoon. There is a rope attached to the bell inside the church, the local superstition claimed that if you ring the bell, your dream will come true. Most of us gave it big tug…..

We also visited Vila Bled.

Upon finishing our walk around the lake, and stopping for a break, and most of the group head back to Lake Bohinj for dinner.

BTW, People of Slovenia are generally pleasant looking.

More Photos from Lake Bled....

Opatija, Croatia

The next morning we left Lake Bohinj for Opatija, Croatia. One the way we stopped to see Postojna Caves.

Postojna Caves is extremely touristy and it is the biggest cave system in Slovenia. The caves have lots formation. The only problem is that they put a train system in the caves! They also paved over the cave to make it easy for tourists to walk. No wonder the UN decided not to make it an UNESCO site. Pretty site, but messed up by over the zealous government.

After the cave visit, we were off to Opatija. We’re hoping for passport stamps at the border crossing. But Slovenia custom had the day off (Friday) and its substitute, the police has no stamp. Then the Croatian custom came up, and again no stamp! We all begged, the guy motioned that he did not have stamp on him, and pointed to the building next to the train. So when he exited the train, we yelled out the window to have him get the stamp, and he did! He stamped our passport through the window. There must be an ink shortage in Croatia or something, since of the 5 Croatian stamps I received during my trip, only one is legible, rest of it is barely visible.

We arrived in Opatija in the late afternoon. The hotel was ok, but the room is extremely small, another 1.5 stars. After check-in, we met to goto the dinner together. On way some people exchanged for the Kuna, the local currency. Jona told us that banks will be open tomorrow (Saturday). After been burned by Jona a few times before with dinner, we’re quick to ask if there are any hidden charges at the restaurant. He said no, so Wendy, mom, and I decided to join the group. Another no so happy waiter, but the price was ok. I ordered one of the country specialties: octopus salad. A little bit too much onion, but delicious none the less. When the bill came, Jona took the bill again to decide who owes how what. But people just ignored him and checked with the menu to see how much they owe. The price for our dish was incorrect. We specifically asked the waiter if the side dish of potatoes/rice is extra or not, and he just shrugged off and indicated yes to us. But it was not! I blamed Jona again for not inform us of the local custom of meal not including side dish. If you order meat, that will be all you get. Not all restaurants do this, but some do, so I think it is a way for them to ripe tourists off, just like the drink incident in Lake Bohinj. Anyway apparently the sum came up short, and Jona then told us there is a cover charge after all, what a liar! Some people just ignored his call for cover charge anyway.

After dinner, Joan wanted people to goto a bar/club with him, half of the group went for it, rest of us not feel like to get burned again, decided to head back to the hotel. From what the people who stayed at the club told me, it was another scam by Jona. He basically ordered lots drinks (for everyone) without asking. And when the bill came, he asked people to help out with the bill. Only Darren, and Paula stayed with Jona the whole time (about 2AM), Ray gave up waiting for Paula to leave and went back around 12 after Paula repeatedly saying another half hour, even though she suppose to get up at 6:30AM to meet Terry for a walk or swim and 8AM to walk with us. Needless to say she wasn’t able to make it and made a half-hearted and failed effort to catch Terry, who was expecting her.

Terry, Donna, Steve, and us left the hotel around 8AM for the ocean side walk to a near by village. O, Paula showed at 8, but everyone already finished breakfast, so she joined the 9AM folks instead. I think that is when we realized that her words may be sweet, but sometime she can’t deliver the result. BTW, Jona was wasted the whole day, and Darren a little less so.

Little a about the town of Opatija, it is a resort town, and about 4-5 hours by boat from Venice. Nothing special, as it is not even mentioned in my guidebook. A nice half day here is plenty enough. Also this is part of the Dalmatian coast of rocky beaches, where weather is nice, lots sun.

The 2-hour walk along the ocean was pleasant at the morning. It did get hot in parts of the trail where there is no shade. Many nice and pretty building along the way, I am sure they are very expensive. And we saw our first nude sunbather, what a sight! Everyone turned away from her wrinkly body. She must be in her 60s or in the sun way too much. Majority of the sunbather here weren’t topless, but just as unpleasant looking as the first one we saw. Later on we did see one pleasant looking body :). We finished our walk at a small town, and after a visit to the tiny old town center and grabbed something to drink/eat, we parted company with Terry, Donna, and Steve. We tried to find a place for lunch, but there wasn’t anything open or interesting, so we hopped on a local bus and headed back to Opatija. We spend the rest of the afternoon just walking, resting, people watching, and internet. We’re glad to be resting after 5 days of intensive walking of may be 8 hours a day.

One thing we noticed here and rest of the trip is that some countries have shortage of low denomination coins. Sometime you get more changes back sometime less. I can’t figure out when they round up and when they round down.

Instead join Joan for dinner and get taken again, we decided to just eat at the hotel’s all you can eat buffet. It is a little more expensive, but no hidden charges. Besides it was going to be 10 hours+ van ride to Dubrovnik from here. Terry, Donna, and Steve joined us.

We have two vans to take us down to Dubrovnik, and Jona assigned people to their van, but in the end people just got on the one that had room, and also based on who will get car sick (seat in front). And we’re off to Dubrovnik. If you’re to ask me, we should have left Opatija in the afternoon instead of 10PM.

The drivers got lost couple times, and we stopped couple times for toilet break. Our drive was shaking the whole time according to Terry who sat in front. She thinks he has Parkinson. I did not get much sleep at all, more uncomfortable than airplane or bus. Also it was cold, the ac was on! Darren provided some music entertainment with his 80s CDs.

We crossed over Bosnia at about 7:30. This crossing is very informal, no passport inspection. I believe the reason for this tiny strip of coast of Bosnia is to give it access to the sea, else it would be a landlocked country. May be 20 minutes to half an hour later, we emerged again in Croatia.

More Photos from Opatija....

Dubrovnik, Croatia

I think we arrived in Dubrovnik around 9. Our hotel/hostel is away from the old town and requires a local bus to get there. The hotel is a big place with many young kids stay here including Contiki group. An one star kind of place as hot water are shared between adjacent rooms, and runs out after about two showers, so early raiser gets the hot shower.

After everyone checked-in and had showers, we hopped on the local bus and were off to see the old town.

I have seen picture of the old town, so my expectation was high. The verdict is yes it is a really pretty city. The only problem was that there were tens of thousands people thinking of the same thing and visiting the same time. And everyone cramped into the little city center. I believe there were couple cruise ships docked as well. Despite the massive tourists, I enjoyed my wondering here.

The city was attacked during Croatia’s independence war with Yugoslavia (Serbia) in the early 90s. Many citizen of the city died while defending the city. Although the city was a prosperous town in the ancient time, and survived various surrounding city-state and countries through pragmatic diplomatic skill, today it did not have any strategic value, but the Serb attacked out of hatred and the city’s nationalism symbol/pride.

We got a quick orientation from our useless and dishonest leader Jona, and then everyone was off to wonder the city. We checked out couple of the city’s many churches and then had a very good and cheap seafood lunch and the owner seems to be friendly, what a change…

We then visited 4 museums with couple drink/ice cream breaks mixed in. At around 4, we started our walk of the city wall. It was less hot and light was softer for pictures. I was running on fumes as I did not get much sleep from the van ride.

Afterward, Wendy and mom went back to hotel to eat the snacks we bought from the grocery store. Paula and I joined the rest of the group for dinner with Jona (again). Yes, I know, I should not, but the restaurant was recommended by my book, so I figure they probably don’t ripe people off that much. I had squids for dinner (no side dish). It was good, but not filling. We then went for a drink and called it a night. I was ready to drop.

Day 2 and 3 we visited Montenegro and Bosnia respectively. See its individual posts. Jona arranged with a local drive to take 7 of us. Jona took a cut from the transaction as well as a free ride on the Bosnia trip. Wendy wasn’t happy about this. It was still cheaper than join the bus tour.

We headed back north for Split/Trogir on day 4.

More Photos from Dubrovnik....

Montenegro

Montenegro just voted to become independent from Serbia few months ago. And there was no war for once. Montenegro means black mountain as the country is very mountainous.

We had Terry, Paula, Steve, Donna on this trip. The drive along the winding road was slow, we did not get to our first stop Kotor until about 11. The sun was high which means bad photos. But the bus load of tourists was leaving.

Kotor is another old city surrounded by a wall and on the foothill of a white colored mountain. It is smaller than Dubrovnik.

A quick toilet break (free!), we started to explore this tiny old city. After few pictures I realized that I had forgot to adjust the white balance of my camera and was shooting with fluorescent light since this morning! That included morning light on Dubrovnik- wasted a beautiful setting.

After readjusted my camera, we went up the St Ivan Fortress on the mountain behind the city to take a panoramic view of the city. A good hike! I wished we had little more time to explore the city and have lunch here, but we’re rushed to next stop: Cetinje.

The winding road up to Cetinje provided good view of Kotor bay and the fiord.
Cetinje is the old capital of the country, apparently not on the tourist radar yet. Very little English is spoken here, and very few tourists as well. I saw Cyrillic signs for the first time here. There are not many sights to see here beside an interesting monastery. But the quiet and local atmosphere, gave us a break from touristy nature of our trip.

After the visit to the monastery, we’re off to our last stop: Budva, another old town surrounded by resorts. This town was destroyed by an earthquake in 1979. It has since been rebuilt, so it has less of an old town feel as others. This area is also the country's most fashionable beach town. Before the fall of Yugoslavia, this was a party town for the models, monarchs and movie stars.

It was a long day, and we did not get back to Dubrovnik till 8 I believe.
If I were to redo this trip, I’ll skip Budva, and spend more time in Kotor and Cetinje.

More Photos from Motenegro....

Bosnia

We had Terry, Paula, Merit, Brenda, and Jona on this trip. The drive was straighter than to Montenegro, although there is only one road to the official crossing and it is not the shortest distance between two points.

Today we covered only Mostar with a quick stop before it.
Apparently there are many tourists visiting Bosnia these days. We stopped at the small village of Počitelj, which has a mosque and an old fortress. Many buses came and went as we explored this small place, but most of them did not bother to walkup to the fortress. After the short run up to the fortress, I randomly walked up a road and was able to get a picture that captured the soul of this place. It is one of my favorite pictures for this trip.

Then it was time to visit the war torn old city of Mostar. The city was developed in the 15th and 16th century. It is known for its old bridge (Stari Most) and Turkish houses. The city is divided into two half by Neretva River, where one side is the Christian sector and the other is the Muslim sector.

During the war of independence of early 90s, much of the city was destroyed included the bridge. Much of the old city and the bridge was recently restored or rebuilt. But in other parts of the city, one can still see the scars of the war.

Despite the very touristy atmosphere and souvenir shops around the old bridge, I enjoyed my time here. It is different than Croatia and Slovenia, people are friendlier. We had lunch at a local restaurant away from the old town, had our best and cheap meal yet. Best of all was that no one spoke English, and we just pointed to other people’s plate to indicate that was what we wanted. The waitress was friendly and patient with us!

I took out 50 marks, the local currency, from the atm to pay for things and to add to my coin collection. Actually they take euros, kunas as well (but not dollars).

With our tummies full, we’re ready to shop a little. We bumped into other people in our group, and everyone was in shopping mood as well! Even Jona got something.

We saw few UN peacekeepers walking around. They were not armed and looked like just having a day off as tourists.

Just as we’re heading back to our van with ice cream in hand, bunch of UN helicopters buzzed overhead, and we all rushed for our cameras. A poetic ending to a perfect outing.

As for people of Bosnia, it’s a fixed bag; some are good looking while some aren’t.

More Photos from Bosnia....

Split, Croatia

On our way to Trogir, we stopped for half day at Split, the 2nd largest city in Croatia, to visit the Roman ruins there. In the 4th century AD, Roman Emperor Diocletian built his retirement palace here. He was born in a near by town. Today the city is a vibrant industrial city, with ugly sprawl. No made for tourist town here!

We explored the nucleus remained the ruins of the palace as well walked the Riva, the pedestrian drag between the palace and the sea.

More Photos from Split....

Trogir, Croatia

We arrived in Trogir in the late afternoon sun, perfect for pictures, but unfortunately we needed to get to our hotel first. We had a problem with rooms at the hotel; apparently they ran out the double-bed rooms, so Jona tried to stick my mom and me in a single bed room for the 2nd time, but this time I told him no. I asked for a separate room, and was able to get one. Jona should have been smart enough to ask the owner instead having me tell him that. Need I say again, he is useless! The place is about 1.5 stars.

Felt like that I have been seating a lot the last few days, and with pent-up energy, I decided to go for a run before dinner. I spotted a possible trail from the bus ride, so I followed it along the coast. I must have lost some weight and that my leg muscle has strengthened with all the walking, I felt very good and fast during and after the 26-minute run.

I decided before the run that I would not goto dinner with Jona and the group. So after a shower, I grabbed my monopod and headed to the harbor to take some night time pictures. It was good to wonder around by myself for once. I needed my alone time. As I walked around the harbor and talking pictures, I also tried to find a place to eat, but there were not many good choices. The price here is way more expensive than Dubrovnik. In the end, I managed to find a no-so touristy place to eat, and snoop on an interesting conversation between some Norwegian tourists and the waitress – my free entertainment for the night.

After the dinner, I decided to find the group. Jona had given me a map to the restaurant. I arrived just as they were paying the bill. Apparently there were extra dishes served up, but luckily this time it was really complimentary of the restaurant.

O, on the way from our hotel to the town, I walked by what I think is an insane asylum. At first I did not know what it is. I was spooked when voice and hands stretched out the bushed lined fence in the dark. Next morning I saw few more people inside the compound. It could have been an elderly home Croatian style for all I know.

The town of Trogir is actually a small island squeezed between the mainland and much bigger Ciovo island, where we stayed. This made-for-tourists village is like that many coastal resorts that dotted the coast. I enjoyed its harbor view more than the old city center itself. There was a very expensive looking boat docked there. It was well maintained and polished. I saw crew members polished this already shinny ship. Just think of the up-keep on this baby.

After lunch, we took a slow but scenic local bus ride for Plitvice National Park. The bus wind along the coastal towns and then inland up and down couple gorges before dropping us off near the park (but not inside the park). This was when we realized that something was wrong. See Plitvice accommodation nightmare post for accommodation nightmare.

More Photos from Trogir....

Nightmare at Plitvice National Park

According Jona, our original accommodation inside the park was bumped because the hotel was overbooked, and we’re a small group. And then there were some problems with backup place, so we ended up in an unfinished “hotel”. I guess these kinds of things can happen, but what happened next, got most people really mad.

Jona started to assign people to their rooms. The “hotel” did not have enough room as it turn out, so Jona decided to put Wendy, mom, Terry, and I all in one room with single bathroom, while almost everyone else have 2 per room. This was the final straw for me with Jona always picking us as solution to any problems that came up. Terry went out to the balcony to smoke and cool down while I gave Jona a lecture about being picked on.

Jona then reassign Terry and me to our own room with share bathroom. This bumped Merit, Brenda, and Jona to a private accommodation at the restaurant where we later had our nightly dinners. We stayed far away from any eating place, so I had little choices. The nightmare continued, since the place is still under construction, the hot water and its steam pipe system did not work after few people took their showers after the dinner. And in Ray/Darren’s room, the first night, they can only get scolding hot water from their facet. Jona ridiculously asked Ray to brush his teeth from the shower head! He should have bought bottle water as temporary fix until the pipe is fixed, he was useless to Nth degree. I was ok with the room temperature, but many (women) complained as being too cold. Even though there was no hot water for most of us, luckily the water temperature felt cool to me and not too cold to have a shower anyway. No star for this unfinished place!

Later, after the dinner at the first night, Jona pull Ray and I aside to talk to us individually. He did not understand why I am so mad with him earlier. I told him again how my family always got picked on as the solution to any accommodation problems that came up with the group. He said it only happened twice, then I mentioned the other incident at Lake Bohinj where I have to share a bed with my mom. He then apologized for unconsciously picked on us. I also mentioned that how come Paula never have to share with other people if she did not paid the single supplement? Jona said it was hard to deal with my mom, he did not know how to accommodate her in the scheme. What an idiot, he can always assign my mom with me or Wendy.

O, Ray gave Jona an earful as well on how it was unacceptable with his accommodation problem.

At next night’s dinner, where we celebrated Terry’s birthday. Jona announced that the tour company will pick up the tap for any drinks tonight. So everyone ordered couple drinks each. A big cake was also brought out for Terry. Then the next day when Jona showed us his tipping kitty sheet, he had paid 40 euros for the cake. We all suspect that he probably paid the drinks along with the cake. So much for free drinks. Needless to say, we got no money back from tipping kitty.

Plitvice National Park, Croatia

We had a full day to explore the park. Because we did not stay within park, we lost some valuable time as result. One FULL day at the park is sufficient for most of the people, unless you’re a nature photographer. After breakfast at the same restaurant as our dinner, we all hopped into two separate vehicles to get to the park. The one I was in was full, and Jona rode with the other smaller car. As soon as our car pulled out, people started to say “I hope we got everybody”. Then someone chimed in and said where Brenda is. Lord and behold, Jona has left Brenda back at the restaurant! I don’t blame Jona on this one, as Brenda is notorious being late and slow. She told Merit that she’ll be in the room, but that was may be 20 minutes ago. And yes Jona went back to get Brenda after we stopped to inform him that he was missing one client.

Finally we’re off to see the beautiful park. I saw a PBS nature show on this park few years ago, and was fascinated by its 16 terraced lake, laced together by cascading waterfalls. Although it is still pretty and worth a visit. It was not as dramatic and breathe taking as I have seen on TV. I think the water flow was low and bright sky reduced its appeal. I also remembered the winter scenery I saw on TV, which I think is better view than the current view. The leaves were just about to change color here, which was a plus.

Jona guided us around the lower lakes to the big waterfall. Let’s say, someone forgot to turn it on. After seeing many waterfalls in my travel, most of the waterfalls I saw now are usual anticlimactic end to a good hike. We continued on along the lake, and skipped parts of the close-up trails in the lower lakes. After a quick lunch break, we continued on the upper lake trail.

The water at lakes are extremely clear and of turquoise color. They are filled with underwater grass, trout, and fallen trees. No fishing or swimming is allowed. So the lake is well persevered, as required to be an UNESCO site.

Our group got separated into many small groups. I ended up with Paula and did not explore the park further after we completed our upper lake walk. In hind sight, I wished we had gone back to lower lakes to walk the sections that we skipped in the morning and I believe the light would have been better as well. If we had stay within the park, we would have gone back to visit as we didn’t need to meet up to be transported back to the restaurant at 5:30.

This evening we celebrate Terry’s birthday. She was totally surprised with tears; a good ending to this trip. One last day for us: Zagreb, the capital of Croatia.

O, the love between Brenda and Darren continued to blossom as they are at the stage where they can’t get away from each other.

More Photos from Plitvice National Park....

Zagreb, Croatia

Before the trip, I did not think much of Zagreb, I did not even bother to read up on it. But after reading up on it the night before, I was looking forward to a short visit of the city.

Apparently there was some sort of festival/concert being setup at the main square, so it was too distracting for pictures. On top of this, scaffolding covered many of the sights we visited. Not many photo ops, but the city was nice for strolling and not many tourists. It is more real, even more so than Split. Jona guided us around the main area and got us together at a status for group photos. Jona again showed his uselessness. We had lot of cameras, so he went through each one to take the picture for us. Guess what, he did not know how to take a half decent picture. His pictures have the subject (in this case the group/people) take up only half the frame! I am the only one that did not give my camera to him. Although I didn’t have a proper group picture, I did take some of the group as they were getting ready.

Because our train this evening won’t arrive in Ljubljana until 9PM or so, we also checked out a possible dinner place mentioned in our guide book. And unfortunately when we went back later around may be 5, the place closed! We ended up just bought some snack and sandwiches near the train station. That left us with more kunas than we had hoped. Luckily I was able to sell some to my coworker when I got back. Terry also checked out the hostel that she will be staying when she comes back here by herself. She still has couple weeks of traveling around Italy, Croatia, and Slovenia.

The train ride back to Ljubljana was none-eventful. Brenda and Darren were secluded in their own compartment. Steve was funny to put up a sign that says “Love in Progress; Do not disturb”. Some of us were seated in the 1st class compartment with 2nd class tickets. It was empty we figure why not, besides there was no difference between the two classes other than the seats was softer. The conductor gave Brenda and Darren some hassle, but left them there, and by the time he got to us, he just ignored us.

As the train was pulling into Ljubljana train station, we got our luggage and headed for the doors. Then a loud bang. I was in the front of the door with the conductor, while Paula, Ray, Wendy, Ray, Terry were still in the hallway leading to the door, so the conductor and I weren’t aware what had cause the sound. But when we got off the train it was determined that someone has threw rocks at the train. Some broke the windows behind us, and the loud bang I heard was a one that went through an open window, nicked Wendy on the lower ear and hit Paula below the right eye.

Jona was very concerned about the incident. He called taxi to take Wendy and Paula to the hotel where we stayed the first couple nights. Wendy said that she was ok, but Paula wasn’t sure about her pain. So after everyone said goodbye to each other in the hotel lobby, Jona took Paula to a near by hospital for examination. As with US, unless your life is in jeopardy, you wait for hours to be examined. So Paula and Jona decided not to wait for 4 hours for an x-ray.

This time our room has no shower curtain, definitely a 1 star.

Next morning, we had quick breakfast and were on our way to catch the 7:41 train to Budapest.
Terry and Paula got up to see us off before went back to sleep.

People of Croatia are generally pleasant looking.

More Photos from Zagreb....

Budapest, Hungary

The 8.5 hours ride from Ljubljana to Budapest was incident free. We did notice the country side of Hungary seems to be “poorer” than that of Slovenia.

We took a metro from the train station to the stop near hotel. After settled in, we went out to find a restaurant listed in our guide book for dinner. The food was OK, a bit more expensive than we had hoped. Afterward we decided to check out the night scenery of the city. We wondered down to the Danube riverbank and enjoyed the brightly-lit view of the Royal Palace, Matthias Church, Parliament, and Chain Bridge, which was good since the day time weather has been a bit overcast and hazy. It reminded me of the Hong Kong where during the day the city is hazy and night time provided better atmosphere.

O, we got a Budapest Card, which I believed was not a good deal. You’re better off with may be an all day transit pass, and pay the individual admission.

The breakfast at the Best Western Grand Hungarian hotel was like a feast with so many items to pick from! Ranging from the typical cold cuts/bread/cheese/eggs/cereal to cake, hot vegetable, and pasta. It is like having breakfast and lunch at same time! I gave the hotel 3 stars.

For the next couple days in Budapest, it was strange not to see the people from our Slovenia/Croatia tour as we wondered around.

In most of the Europe, museums are closed on Monday (blue Monday), so we just walked around the city and see the sights from the outside that day. For some reason, after that, we could not be bothered to check out any indoor sights with exception of the Great Market Hall (for shopping) and Matthias Church.

We also visited the Parliament, the site of riots and protests before we came. They are protesting against the president of the country who lied to win election. I guess all politicians are the same. Pretty quiet when we visited. Just some signs, tents, and stage. We saw on news later in our trip that there was another big protest that weekend.

Overall we did not like Budapest. May be we’re just a bit tired after Slovenia and Croatia, hazy weather, more rude people, more graffiti, blue Monday, construction/restoration, just all conspired to uninspired us.

Although most of the stuff wasn’t as cheap as I hoped, we did find internet here very cheap. We finally able to use it for a full hour for about may be $1.2.

We did took couple short excursion away from city center. The first one was to a small post-card like village Szentendre on the Danube bend. It was an easy/short suburban train ride from Buda. We met a couple from Florida that carried same guide book (an identifiable item). We got there before most of the tourists. Strolled around its streets, checked out some tourist shops, relaxed at a chestnut lined bench outside a church, and had pastries at a café. We even helped a local (I assume she is local) pretty young lady find her run away dog (we pointed the way where the dog went). Not too bad for 3 hours of relaxation.

After we got back to Buda, we then went to check out a statue park that collects some old communist era statues. We had minor communication problem with the bus ticket agent, and I ended up gave her my credit for a charge of couple dollars! If we could have figured out what she wrote, we would have paid in cash. Luckily no harm was done as my Capital One Visa does not charge fee for foreign transactions.

The park itself was smaller than I had expected. I thought there would a lot of the statues from that era, but I guess they were probably destroyed and melted during the initial phase of the collapse of communism. The place was pretty deserted when we were there around 2PM. But it was a nice change and different than what we had seen the last couple weeks.

Afterward, we decided to go for a late/lunch dinner. We had already stock up for tonight’s 10.5 hours train ride to Krakow Poland. So we’re ready to spend the last of our Hungarian Forint. We ended up at a Chinese food place because we didn’t have enough for a formal meal. Our first Chinese food on the trip. We’re tempted at Ljubljana, but it was too early to give in at that stage. The food was ok. They are real Chinese as we spoke Mandarin to the owner.

We then head back to our hotel to get our luggage and get ready for our sleeper train. We’re hoping a change of city/scenery would boost our sightseeing morale.

People here I would say are about slight below average looking.

More Photos from Budapest....

More Photos from Szentendre....

More Photos from Statue Park....

Krakow, Poland

Not sure what to expect from the sleeper train, we’re pleasantly surprised to see that only 3 people per compartment, and we got wash basin, towels, sheet and blanket, bottle water, and a small snack. There was only one sleep-cart for this train and it is not accessible from other cart. And almost everyone is American! I guess $85 is too much most of the people.

I started on the top bunk, but it got too hot, so I switched with Wendy at the lower bunk. I must jinxed by complaint being too hot, as our next train ride was freezing (see Prague blog). We got decent sleep, although we woke up twice for border crossing (enter and leaving Slovakia).

We arrived in Krakow around 6AM, still dark and with very light rain. Not what I had hoped. Again, worry about taxi scams in Eastern Europe, we walked to our hotel instead. It was a bit longer than I expected. May be 10-15 minutes. We got there, and asked if we can store our luggage until check-in time, but the receptionist told us, they have a room ready, and we can check-in, someone will come around 8 to prepare the 3rd bed. We even got breakfast! All the sudden the damp and cloudy weather didn’t seem to be that bad, and we liked the people and city already even before our first sightseeing! O, one of the receptionists, looked lot like Paris Hilton. Not sure if she dressed up to look like her intentionally or not. I give it a solid 3 stars.

I think because of the damp weather, there weren’t too many people out in the old town. We exchanged some local money. There are tons of money changers in the old city!

We also purchased train ticket for tomorrow night to Prague. We figured that since the Budapest to Krakow sleeper was bit too nice and expensive, and of all the train rides so far, the seated cart has been nice and so we decided to go with just regular seated cart, how bad can it be right? Boy are we wrong, see Prague entry.

The old Krakow itself is very small, again without real purpose or urgency we wondering around the main square, visited couple churches, had fast food Greek sandwiches. I think we’re all a little tired from the train ride, so we had a good long nap back at the hotel. The first and the only nap we had on our trip.

Waking up from our nap, the sky was still heavily overcastted, not knowing if it will improve before we leave tomorrow night, we headed back out to visit the Wawel Castle. There was some construction, but the main part of the compound was not. It is a nice little castle sits on top a small hill, even though everything was closed when we arrived (around 4:30), the crowd had thinned, the castle ground provided a nice quiet and relaxing stroll.

Afterward, we went to the internet for about half an hour. The internet here is very cheap as well, about the same as Budapest. When we came out, the dust was settling in and we’re able to get some good picture just in time (with help of post, trash can, etc to steady my camera). We then wondered around looking for a decent place to eat, but we did not like many of the places around the square, and we ended up at a fast food kind of deli place that served local food. Good and cheap, and many local people ate here as well. We then walked a little more and retired for the night.

We also wanted to visit Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp which is about one hour from Krakow and the near by Wieliczka Salt Mine as well. So we followed an advice from Steve (from Slovenia/Croatia tour) to get a driver to get us there early (8:30AM) before the massive tourists arrive around 9:30AM.

See the Auschwitz-Birkenau entry for more detail of the visit there.

After the visit to the camps, Marta drove us to Wieliczka Salt Mine, which is about an hour 10 minutes away. It is definitely a change of scenery. The place is bit touristy, but it was something different since none have us has been to a mine before. Marta waited for us up top as we joined the 12:30 English tour. The guide was funny, and tall, which is a bad thing in a mine, as the ceiling is low. This was a working mine before it was turn into a tourist attraction. A near by salt mine is still working. They have curved the rock salt into various statues. And at one place they even curved Chapel of the Blessed Kinga, a huge chamber filled with all things curved from the salt. There were also models of the machines that the miners used. A nice little side excursion.

We’re arrived back in Krakow about 3 in the afternoon; we stopped by what was remained of the Schindlers Factory. And Marta dropped us off near St Mary’s Church. She told us to see the inside of this church as its wooden altarpiece is the best in Poland. We said good bye to Marta and thanked her for the wonderful guide as well paid her. I am not sure if tipping is required so I hope, she did not expect one.

After the visit to St. Mary’s the sun came out along with patches of blue sky. Thanks to the low angle of sun at this time of the year, it was finally perfect picture taking light! We retraced out steps to visit the Wawel castle again. What a difference!

Feel a little unease about our train ride tonight after reading up on thefts on some Eastern Europe night trains, we tried to change our ticket to a sleeper cart, but was told it was not possible. So we have no choice but to ride it out in normal cart.

One thing I noticed about Krakow, is that its people seen to be more industrious than most of the European countries. Stores opened longer. There seems to be more energy to its people. I believe of all the cities we visited on this trip, it has to be my favorite.

I also believe Polish women are the best looking of the countries we visited. But same thing can’t be say of its men.

More Photos from Krakow....

More Photos from Wieliczka Salt Mine....

Auschwitz-Birkenau, Poland

I had called Marta the day before to see if she is available to guide us and at what price. She was recommended by Rick Steve. We called another lady also from the book just to compare the price, and decided to go with Marta because her price is lower.

Marta picked us up at our hotel around 7:30AM. She told us that her car had been stolen recently and so she was using her mother’s car. She was very informative about the sights around Krakow, which was nice change compare to the useless Jona. We discussed a little about Polish family and politic.

We arrived at Auschwitz around 8:37AM, and to our surprise, there were about 7-8 big buses parked at the parking already. They were groups of grade school kids waiting to get in. It is a requirement in Poland that every kid visit this site at least once.

Since we’re small, we were able leap frog the big groups in no time.

This place can give anyone a chill. Just thinking of walking and standing at the same ground where only 60+ years ago, a million plus of people were systematically, and cruelly, gassed, and executed here. The Nazi not only took all the belonging the people brought with them here and sold for profit, worked the lucky few who did not get gassed right away worst than animals, they also took the hair, skin, dental filling of the gassed victims, and sold and made products out of it!

The camp commandant, Rudolf Hess, was brought back here after his trial, and hung here. He got off easy if you asked me.

The process of extermination was at such high speed, the Nazi expanded the camp by building a new camp near by: Birkenau. It was much bigger, and train-cart load of Jews, and other victims, were shipped directly to this new camp, where the camp doctor Josef Mengele (doctor death), selected who goes straight to the gas chamber (mainly women with kids, kids, elderly, disabled) and who was to be a laborer. The prisoners were color coded according the category setup by the Nazi: example: Jews, Gypsy, Russian prisoners, political dissidents, gays, etc.

Mengele also performed cruel experiments on the prisoners. And was fascinated with twins, and how he can create more twins therefore increase population of the German nation.

As we leaving the camps, I wondered the voices of the victims of past and present still crying out. Many of the cries are forgotten (Japanese WWII atrocities), and many fallen on the deaf ears (Balkan, Rwanda and now Darfur). We human are capable of many great things, and at same time repeating the same heinous acts over and over again.

More Photos from Auschwitz-Birkenau....

Prague, Czech Republic

When we boarded our Krakow to Prague train, we noticed the seats were not as comfortable as other trains we had rode before and the compartment is designed for 8 people instead of normal 6. But I figure it should not be a crowded train, which it wasn’t. We dressed normally: long sleeves, and pants. A layer or two. As train traveled on, we’re wondering when will they turn on the heat. It turned out to be never. Not sure if it has a heating system at all or just broken. The train cart is old so there was draft. We started to put on layers, and at the end we put on all the clothing we had with us. I have 3 layers on the legs (used rain jacket for the third one) and 4 layers top and I was still a bit cold. 8.5 cold and merciless hours later we arrived in Prague.

We took the metro from the train station to our hotel. Initially we could not find the ticket booth where we can purchase a transit day-pass, so we asked a newspaper stand lady (some sell tickets), the very unfriendly lady told us no and pointed to an English sign that she does not sell tickets. The thing that I found more annoying about these Eastern European people (with exception of Poland and Austria) is not the unfriendly nature, but the obvious withholding of information. As it turn out the small ticket office was just may be 20 feet from her. She did not point it out as with many other encounters of these kinds before.

We’re hoping for the same luck as in Poland where the hotel let us check-in early and offer us free breakfast. Nope, no luck with the big chained Hotel Ibis. So we checked our bags with the hotel and start our sightseeing in the main square.

Prague is a big city, but its tourist sights are little closer than that of Budapest. It turn out the weather in Prague is just the opposite of Krakow; we got couple hours of sun to start and then cloudy weather for the rest of the time.

We waited at main square clock tower for its famous on-the hour display. Crowd gathered every hour to gawk at the short performance. We found it interesting, but rather anticlimactic. We then bought concert tickets at near by church for tonight. My book said the Polish are very religious and Czechs on the other hand are not, that explain concert in the church. May as well put it to good use if no one is attending. In Krakow, many churches are closed to tourists at certain hours for people to pray. We then went to checkout the Jewish quarter. But we did not visit many of its synagogues, since they are not free.

For lunch we ate a Thai restaurant listed in our guide book, good food and reasonable price. There was cover charge though. We retired back to our hotel and check-in to rest for the afternoon.

Before the concert we went to the scenic Charles Bridge to take some dust pictures on the castle as well as to find a place to eat. More cover charge even if you refuse any bread, oil, etc.

I found the concert of small orchestra and opera singer boring, but Wendy and mom enjoyed more than the one from Salzburg.

Next morning, we got up and look out the window, another gray day ahead for us, sigh. We went straight for the Prague castle hoping to avoid the crowd. No luck, there were many big tour groups here already. Unwilling to paid more money to see churches, we opted for palace, golden lane, and one small church. The small Basilica of St George was ok, it is more of historical value than anything. Could have skip it. The Golden lane was interesting; it “recreates” the street of old Prague lined with small specialty shops. Very touristy of course. The garden on castle ground was nice to stroll through and a good view of the city below and it was free! The Old Royal Palace is let say old. Big and empty with exception of one room which was nicely restored.

There was a changing of guard when we came out the Palace; it was interesting with the band playing. After lunch near by, we headed up the hill to visit Strahov Monastery and Library. For some reason the monastery was closed, but the library wasn’t. The library had couple really nice painted ceiling rooms as well as some old manuscripts and scientific specimen displays. Included a baby dodo bird.

With our castle sightseeing done we hopped back on the tram to get to the Charles Bridge, and walked back to the other side of the river. We then walked along the river southward to the last sight on our list: Dancing House. Literally this building is designed to look like its dancing.

We had noticed a shopping mall near our hotel, so we decided to end our Prague tour by checking it out. The mall is almost like any in US, stores, Costco like store, restaurants, movie theater, video arcades. I was tempted to buy a pair of Spanish made dress shoes, but the $100 price tag held me back. We stocked up on some food for tomorrow morning train ride to Vienna.

We went to sleep early because the train is at 6:10AM. We picked this one because it was direct and we wanted as much time as possible for sight-filled Vienna. We arranged with hotel taxi to take us to the train station in the morning.

We had not made any mistakes of transportation connections or to and from hotels thus far. But this time, the train station stated on our ticket which we got in the US as part of the hotel/air package was incorrect for the train leaving at 6:10. Instead of the much bigger station where we arrived from Krakow, we were taken to the very small and further away secondary station. We wondered around the station back and forth and couldn’t find our train or a status board. Then Wendy spotted what looked like a schedule in a display case, and our worst nightmare came true, there didn’t appear to be a train leaving from here for Vienna until 2PM.

With 6:10 departure time approaching we’re wondering what can we do at this remote station. Luckily the ticket booth just opened up and the ticker person told us the 6:10 train is departing from main station and there is a metro below the station to take us there. So we hurried to catch the metro train, but then we realized that we had packed out transit day-pass in our luggage. It was still good, but it will be very difficult to find not to mention time consuming if a ticker inspector were to stop us. Again luck was on our side, no ticket inspector (Sunday morning probably too early for them, besides there were few other riders to make the job worth while). The right station is only 3 stops away and no train change. We got there with about 10 minutes to spare. I guess the hotel taxi was a waste of money, but we got on our train in the end!

BTW, I think Czech chicks are the ugliest we seen on our trip.

More Photos from Prague....

Vienna, Austria

Train from Prague to Vienna was nice and has heat! The weather was improving as well with clear blue sky in Prague as well when arriving in Vienna. We arrived in Vienna around 10:40. I wasn’t sure what the easiest way to get to our hotel from the train station. But from the transit map I had with me I knew I can get close by taking a suburban train and then couple metro transfers. So we went to look for a place to buy an all-day transit pass. I was very apprehensive when approaching a newspaper stand, fearing another rude person, I had Wendy ask instead. The lady was actually nice!

There are many platforms in the stations and on 3 floors. Looking at my map, we took the train that listed the direction we wanted to go. I was not sure what went wrong but the train was not heading to the direction/place we had in mind. So we got off at the first stop, and tried to ask for help. But no one really speak any English, but that did not stop one really kind old lady from trying to help us. We ended up going back to the main train station and asked the information booth. We were shown an easy way of get to our hotel – tram D without any line changes!

We got to our hotel without any further incidents, and were able to check-in early. Another benefit of staying in a smaller hotel. There was no more transportation snafu for rest of the trip. The hotel looked old, may be a 2.5-star kind of place.

I don’t remember if I ate lunch or not, probably just snacks. I noticed I had lost some weight (turn out to be about 5-6 lbs, which is a lot for me). Anyway we walked along the ring road to snap few pictures on the sights on it. We ended up at the Opera House.

None of us are opera fan, but I figure we should have at least checkout the inside of the world renowned opera house while here. So we joined many other tourists for a tour the opera house. The rebuilt Opera is very elegant. Definitely worth a tour for anyone.

We then went to checkout the Belvedere Palace, the home of Prince Eugene of Savoy (1663-1736), the conqueror of the Turks. Now it contained Austrian gallery of 19th and 20th century art. It also has a picturesque garden. Like many old building in Europe, it was under construction.

Afterward, we went back to the old city center to checkout the Karntner Strasse, the grand shopping traffic free street. We checked various chocolate shops to see what the best price is for Mozart balls. We wondered to St Stephens Cathedral, and Hofburg. The late afternoon sun cast a soft golden the building, really pretty.

After resting a bit back in hotel, Wendy and I went back out to buy some chocolate from the cheapest shop we found, and to take some nighttime pictures. Like many stores in Europe, the chocolate shop closed at 7. We also did not find much nighttime scenery to take pictures of. I guess Austrian like to conserve energy. After that all that walking, I felt hungry, so we stopped at a McDonalds for milk shake.

Next morning we got an early start to beat the crowd and catch the good light. First stop, St. Stephen’s Cathedral. Nothing interested us inside of the church (still all churched out), the view from the tower of the church was not that spectacular either, too many construction cranes. Next stop, Hofburg Palace. It is an impressing place. Represented the glory and power of Hapsburg Empire. We checked out the magnificent Imperial Apartment and Treasury.

Next we went hunting for royal body parts, first the Augustinian Church where the Hapsburg got married and where their hearts (literally) are buried. We did not get to see the vault where the hearts are kept. So we went to search for the bodies in Kaisergruft. All the big shots are buried there: Empress Maria Theresa, Emperor Josef II, and Emperor Franz Josef. Final notes, the entrails of the royals are buried in the crypt under St. Stephen’s Cathedral.

Had enough of royal body parts hunting, we headed back to our hotel to have our lunch. This morning before we head out, we went to the near by supermarket to get water and snack. We noticed the Mozart balls were on sale there, so we cleaned the shelf on our way back to our hotel room. The next morning before our ride to the airport, we also raided another grocery story near by as well.

Refueled, we were off to see our last sight: Schonbrunn Palace, the summer residence of the Hapsburgs and only palace to rival Versailles. There are many other good sights in Vienna, we just did not have time to see them all, and so we picked the most important ones.

The Royal Apartments and the Palace Gardens are just amazing, especially in the late afternoon light. Most the crowds were gone as well. Many local runners came here to jog and run in the garden.

For the last night here in Vienna and of our trip, we decided to check out the local eatery of Wine Gardens. This is a uniquely Viennese institution. It was created when Hapsburg let Vienna’s vintners sell their own wine tax-free. Now the wine gardens, maintain the old-village atmosphere, serving homemade wine and light meaty meals. We went to Nussdorf district since it is less touristy and popular with locals. We picked Heuriger Kierlinger listed in the guide book. We’re not sure how to order even though the book had some helpful hints. A couple who spoke some English helped us out. We just pointed to the item we like and indicated how many serving we want each. Once paid for it, we went to seat down and the waitress brought wine, and we had a wonderful and delicious feast! All these with good service and relative cheap.

After the dinner we went back to our hotel to pack our back for tomorrow.

As for people of Vienna, it has the most mixed bags of races of all the places we visited. But it is still no close to that of US. People here are bit bigger relative to people of Eastern Europe. But more people are out running/jogging, mostly skinny or fit looking people, just like US. Women here aren’t particular good looking.

My friend/ex-coworker Aprille and her husband apparently were able to sort out their visa problem get into Vienna this day. No knowing this, I did not bother to check my email until we got back to the states. It was a bummer that I missed them on a stop in their 1 year around the world trip.

Next morning our ride to airport was without incident, except that the taxi driver did not take credit card even though we confirmed with our hotel receptionist that the taxi do take credit card. But this kind things must happened before our taxi driver knew where the ATM is located in the airport.

O, the taxi drivers in Austria all dress very nicely! At least the ones we saw.

Our flight was late taking off, because I think the plane was waiting for some people from another plane. That plane must be late. Our plane had more than the usual number of kids and elderly people! I have kids to the left, front and back of me. The one on my row threw up.

9.5 hours later, we finally got off the plane and were glad to be home!

More Photos from Opera House....

More Photos from Schonbrunn Palace....

More Photos from Vienna....