Krakow

Krakow is such a great city. It bustles bust isn't overpoweringly busy as I think I have caught it just before the season really kicks off. Very lucky with the hostel again, it is very reasonable, clean and 10 minutes walk from the Old Town Square.


That's not my hostel, by the way, but old town square which is huge. I'm hoping they have s market while I'm here.

I missed the Krakow film festival by 2 days. Knickers! It looked pretty good:

http://www.kff.com.pl/en/filmy/in_competition

I had forgotten that Pope John Paul the Second was from round here. You can on tours to visit the flat where he was born and I kid you not "walk in his footsteps and taste his favorite cream puff."

Here he his, surrounded by adoring fans:


Just one more miracle and the fast track pope will be a Saint! Go....go...JP II......

Zakopane back to Krakow

Back on the bus to Krakow and a 4 night stop. I have had a slight change of plan and rather than heading over to the far East of Poland I'm just heading up to Warsaw for three nights.

The hostel on Zakopane has been great and I've met loads of people. Probably for the first time I've understood what staying in hostels is all about. Meeting other travelers, talking, swapping tips and planning and doing days out with complete strangers.

I'm going to be sad to leave the mountains behind and a great hostel too. Having spent a week in the mountains I'll need to be prepared for the shock of big city life again! Looking forward to the hustle and bustle and all that brutal communist inspired architecture.

Kasprowy Wierch

This was probably one of the toughest days hiking I've ever done. Technically the hike was pretty straightforward but just really grueling. The summit is 1987m above sea level and from Zakopane the climb is about 1200m.

I thought I could walk to the start point but when that took an hour I realised I would pay for that later. This is the view after an hour of climbing and the direction sign said that there was another two and a half hours to the summit:



These are a couple of shots on the way up back to the climb I tried yesterday:






So after about 4 hours of wheezing and swearing with rest breaks and taking other people's photos on the way up I reached the summit:



I seam to have lost something on the way......oh yes.....the beard. It's just too hot here for a beard....

Some caves tomorrow for a lighter day.

First pukka hike

With a deep blue sky and not a cloud in sight I headed out for the first hike of this trip. The aim was to get to the top of Maly Giewont which is the peak on the right of the photo:



The first couple of hours were on a path through the woods following a river gorge. Lots of waterfalls and crystal clear ice cold snow melt water.



The gradient kicked up for the next couple of hours and popped out above the tree line and turned into a tiny path clinging to the side of the rock. I turned back at a really technical section that required and unprotected descent of about 15m on footholds cut into the rock.

I found a lower loop to get back home and will have a bash another day following another path up the back that I checked out with some people at the hostel. It was still a great hike with about 1000m of ascent.

In need of food and beer now. A kindly couple took my photo half way up so I returned the favour and arranged them with their son and took a pic. Slightly confused smiles and thanks.....turns out it wasn't their son but a complete stranger! Ho hum!

Warm up on Gubalowka and Butorowy

After a quiet orientation day on arrival the first warm up hike was to the small hills of Gubalowka and Butorowy. The peaks are just over 1000m high but only a 300m climb from Zakopane. On the map it looked like there was a great saddle ridge linking the two peaks. Indeed there was but rather than being an alpine path it was a market selling Tatra Tat to the tourist spewing from the fenicular railway every 20 minutes. Had I wanted slippers, wooden axes or hair extensions I was in the right place.

This is the view from Gubalowka towards the peak of Giewont that is stubotnly covered in cloud.


Tatra Tat on the 'ridge' path:




This the view I had from my lunch stop on the way down:



This is me, just about to eat said lunch:

Prague to Krakow

My first over night on the train was from Prague to Krakow. Czech railways do a great line in sleeper wagons and due to some booking confusion I was in First Class. So my bed for the night is below:



and me nearly in it:



One last view if Prague:



This took me by surprise, just in case I was thinking of disposing of coke cans, toothpaste or what looks like a duster down the toilet on the train:



I was that close to chucking all three but this great graphic stopped me in my tracks!

Following the usual sort of nights sleep I get on board trains I headed for the bus station with my usual drunken sailors roll as it usually takes me a day to get over the motion of the train when I get off. A two and half hour bus ride through the foot hills of the Tatra mountains saw me safely to the mountain town of Zakopane.

Last day in Prague

Well I rounded of my trip to Prague with a trip to a market that had been recommended in all the guides. Turns out it was World of Tat! Bit of a let down but undetered, there was another tower that needed scaling. It was on the top of a hill accessed by a fenicular railway. It looked like a grey Blackpool tower. Built about 1890 and it had a disconcerting sway in the wind. Great view from the top and a clever double helix stair case so you went up one and came down the other flight. Unless that is you are a particularly dim English tourist and you go down the wrong one telling everyone coming up towards you that they are on the wrong stair! Grins sheepishly. I got a very weary shake of the head from the attendant at the bottom. Luckily he didn't send me back up to do it properly!

Pics below:
View from the top


Long way down



Tiny stair, not ideal for passing people coming up!



Lastly I found an intriguing dot on my Prague map. "Prague metronome". So here it is, the worlds biggest metronome in a derelict park and over grown with bushes so not visible from anywhere but still keeping time!




Right I'm off to wait for my bed to arrive.

Second hand books, coffee, Elvis and beach volleyball

Yep! Just another Sunday in Prague. I had read my books faster than I thought I would so was in need of new fiction for the rest of the trip. I found a great book shop that sold second hand English books and had a cafe. After buying a Margaret Attwood book and a Neil Gaiman book, I had a quick latte in the cafe. The shop web site is:

www.globebookstore.cz

Elvis was being played on the juke box and I sniggered into my latte foam when In The Ghetto came on. It reminded me of an episode of Southpark when Cartman is invited back to Kenny's somewhat humble home for tea and sings In The Ghetto under his breath but loud enough for everyone to hear.

Next stop beach volleyball! My brother's business partner was in town commentating on the Prague Open so I went over to watch the finals:


A great supper in the old town was rounded off by a car chase up Wenceslas Square as I was strolling home enjoying an ice cream. Imagine my surprise as a car speeds past followed by two police cars. The chase was ended by a third police car ramming the offending car off the road from a side turning. It was a classic T-Bone and ended up next to the statue of Wenceslas.

Night all....

Prague

I spent most of yesterday walking round Prague so decided on the tram for today. I even braved the Charles Bridge along with all the tourists in Prague it seemed. There are either lots of people here or a small group that all turn up where I'm going at the same time! I'm developing sharp elbows!!

A quiet moment in Old Town Square with a few thousand close friends:



I obviously had to go and check out Frank Ghery's "Fred and Ginger" building, which was ok but smacked a little of something that rolled off the FG production line. It is obviously a landmark building and a sign of Prague's emergence as a great European city but I think it could maybe have had a little more bite!



Today was free museum day today so The National Museum had to be visited and didn't disappoint. A rather grand staircase:



Gave on to case after case of minerals with exotic names:



Skulls:



Dead birds (sorry Meg):



Things on pins and things to small to fit on pins:







Another great day but really warm and really crowded. Hoping for another thunderstorm tonight. They are pretty spectacular when your room is in the attic.

Art house cinema

Found a great little art house cinema just off Wenceleslas Square last night. It had everything from basement screens and black interior to full mini bar with drinks you can take in. Link below if you are visiting:

http://www.kinosvetozor.cz/en/

I went to see Exit Through the Gift Shop, the film that Banksy made and that isn't about Banksy. It was English with Czech subtitles so I was laughing just before everyone else!! Great film though and really wish we'd shown it at the film society now.


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To Prague

Whilst waiting for the regional train from rural Bohemia to the heaving metropolis of Pardubice and then onwards to Prague, this little loco was busy shunting rolling stock.



Each shunting operation had to be signaled by the station master with her flag and whistle. This was obviously much to the annoyance of the engine driver. I passed a happy hour watching a repetition of whistle, wave flag, shunt up the line, shunt back, stop then wave frantically at the station master to start the whole thing again. They were still at it when I left!

I have only spent an afternoon and evening so far in Prague and it is taking me ages to get anywhere as I stop look and take photos of every other building. Not only are the buildings well looked after but the sheer density of great buildings is almost overwhelming. A couple of the highlights from this afternoon were a Greek Othodox church:



The Prague Tower with tv telecoms transmitters on top and babies climbing up it:



The view from the top:



After dinner I had a stroll along Wenceslas Square with an ice cream before the stag and hen parties hit it. There were lots od police but all very low key. Have to say it looked fantastic with all the lights and the promenaders:



Launderette tomorrow, just to keep my feet on the ground.

Hlsinko

Hlsinko is a very small town about 100 km southwest of Prague in the gently rolling hills of Bohemia. The reason for coming hear was to locate a church that is pictured in a small painting that I inherited from my step Grandad. I thought it may or may not shed some light on his family history.

The church was very easy to find and photographs were taken as close as I thought the picture was drawn. I didn't come across anything related to the family history but it was fun. Pictures below:






I thought a visit to the local museum might be useful but I font think many English visitors pass through. I've been using my rudimentary German to get by. When the curator found I was English. There was a commotion and her daughter was summoned from school to give me a guided tour. The genuine friendliness and welcoming is amazing. I can't get over just how welcoming people are to complete strangers just visiting for a couple of days.

Brno

Well I thought Bratislava was in need of a bit of tender loving care. Brno needs to start with underpinning and shoring up before they get the paint out. The city centre is in pretty good nick but stray much further and it's struggling.

After the disappointment of the Villa Tugendaht being closed there were quite a few disheveled looking gems of 1920's and 30's architecture to be found.

Student halls of residence



There was also a great church that was now a snooker hall and restaurant! Pics of that will be on Facebook when I'm back.

A lot of yesterday was spent locating a hacksaw and padlocks to remove and replace those broken or lost from luggage. Has anyone ever tried miming a padlock. That would have had Lionel Blair on his knees!!

Came across an awesome cooked meat shop. Smoked spine anyone?



I found another shop that was cheap, even by Czech standards so stocked up on train snacks :-) Got back to B and B and found they were all at least 2 years out of date! Doh!

Right. A train awaits.......

Brno to Hlinsko

Had a great ride in Czech trains today and am totally in love with the Czech railway. The intercity train from Brno to a place called Huclav Brod was fairly un remarkable but then I changed on to a little 2 carriage local train which puttered and clanked it's way through the Czech hills until it got to a town called Hlinsko.

I'm here to find a church in a little picture that I inherited from my step grandad. The hotel owner got quite excited and will show me the church tomorrow.

Train below:



I had a little walk this afternoon and found my almost ideal holiday cottage:



Almost ideal, this is the ensuite:

Hi John

Hi John

Thank you for your note. Having trouble sending emails so this is the easiest way!! Switched to lighter beers now :-)

Catch up when I'm back in June

Cheers

Ollie


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Bratislava to Brno

Other than being 45 minutes late the train from Bratislava to Brno was great. The centre of Brno is in pretty good nick and has had some recent TLC. Get a couple of tram stops from the centre and the whole place really needs a bit of an overhaul.

I assumed that the Villa Tugendaht would be closed on Sunday but I couldn't wait to go and have a look before getting on a tour for tomorrow. I was absolutely gutted to find that it was going through extensive renovations and was SHUT!!!

It's great that it'll be preserved for future generations and all that but what about me. I wanted to see it NOW! I'm stamping my foot in a rather petulant fashion but it's not going to open. In fact someone think about calling the police if I hang about much longer with my bottom lip out as far as it will go!

This is all I got:



Site hoarding and an apology!

Bratislava

After some research on the net, I had a day of communist influenced architecture, a castle and bridges planned. However........

It turns out it was:

Steam train day




One man band day



Slovak food fair day



So with a fist full of tokens



Pork knuckle in jelly with sauerkraut (not pictured).

Pork rib on creamed pea and potato with beetroot



Venison goulash and dumpling



Poppy seed cake with apple and red currant



Oh and a small glass of dark beer to wash it all down. Only after I had downed it, I realized that it was 11.5%!!! This required an afternoon nap under a tree at the festival and a leisurely stroll round the old town to finish the day before getting very wet in a thunderstorm.

Arriving in Bratislava

Last one for tonight. Great bridge on the way into Bratislava.




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