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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A selection of Viennese photos

Karlplatz station by Otto Wagner




Amazing shoe patterns.



Secession by Olbrich




Rachel Whiteread's Jewish memorial

So that was Vienna....

I've got one of the front seats on the ferry from Vienna to Bratislava. It is a high speed boat a bit like the Redjet to the Isle of Wight. I don't want to bang on about it but the Blue Danube is distinctly green.




Front row seat.


All along the Danube are little fishing huts that families own and use at weekends and for holidays.

The Third Man

Being both a tourist and film society member it is obviously mandatory to have a ride on the big wheel that featured in The Third Man.

Location:Vienna

Testing patience to the limit

Having arrived in Vienna following an uneventful journey I obviously decided that I needed something to blog about. I know, I'll crash my iPhone. That'll do it, and indeed it did.

I knew I'd become addicted, but was shocked at how bereft I was at the loss. So the first port of call was to the tourist office to see if there was an Apple store in Vienna.

Luckily the office was quiet and the woman serving me was blessed with saintly patience. She wasn't sure if there was a store so called Apple's Austrian HQ.

All of a sudden I was talking to an English chap, in Germany, who could help. My details weren't on the Apple database so I needed the serial number on the sim carrier. First helper took her desk apart to find one. No luck.

A second tourist office helper was despatched to locate one. No sorry that's too fat, have you got a pin.

Third tourist office helper brought in to locate a pin while helpers 1 and 2 put their desks back together again. Success!

So I'm on the tourist office phone talking on the O2 help line to an English chap in Germany who has a friend in Basingstoke, but no he doesn't visit Winchester often, but he understands that it is a lovely place. Sorry, what did I come here for?

With a an Apple store located I was furnished with a map and I'm blogging from my phone again, so all is well and I can start populating the phone with useless apps again and the Archers's podcasts again.

Order and balance in the universe are restored.


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Location:Vienna

Where next.....?

It's time to dust off the blog and start writing again. I'm packed. I've checked and I've faffed! (I should be asleep but I'm a little bit excited!)

My world for the next 5 weeks is in a ruck sack and a day pack on the floor at the end of the bed.

The alarm is set for too early o'clock! And we're off......

So where is off? Well since you ask, it is a tour taking in Vienna, Bratislava, Brno, Prague, Krakow, Zakopane, Bialowieza (north east Poland near Belarus), Berlin and Rugen (home to the 4.5 kilometre long 20,000 bed youth hostel). What's the betting it'll be fully booked?

Anyway. Night all. More to follow when I'm on the road.




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