Eastern Europe 2005

I arrived in Milan this arvo. Went shopping - well didn’t really "acquire" that much - but by late afternoon it was absolutely pouring so I decided to seek shelter at Burger King, then headed back to the hotel.

Let’s recap my time in Verona. I went to have dinner at Piazza Bra (yes that’s what it’s called!) just where the Arena is, after I went online. Met this slightly weird English woman; the restaurant was full and there was a queue. She was alone and so was I so we thought it would be easier to get a table for two. I’m guessing she’s around 40 something, and she said she’s from Leeds. She was quite talkative and kept repeating the same thing. We also practically shared a table with this young German couple. They were all going to the opera that night. The Germans managed to "flee" faster since they had their own bill, while I had to wait for the not-so-friendly waiter to bring us our bill. The English woman kept going "too bad we can’t all have breakfast together tomorrow to talk about the opera", and I just grinned. Ha.

Anyway, I couldn’t be arsed walking so I caught a cab back to the hostel and had an early night. Well not really early, I watched tele til late. I slept in the next day. Woke up just in time before breakfast was over, and went back to sleep. Didn’t leave the hotel until 1 o’clock. Grabbed my lunch on the way to the centre. Man, it took FOREVER just to get a lasagna. Was quite annoyed. Luckily the food wasn’t too bad. Else I would’ve been even more pissed off.

Walked around in the city afterwards, window shopping mostly. Bought the program for the opera. Then walked back to the hotel and get ready for the opera. I dressed up a little bit; by that I mean as dressy as I could be while wearing sneakers (I haven’t got any dressy shoes with me). I put on my dressiest black top, and swapped my cargo pants with a fresh pair of jeans. Put on some make up (by that I mean lipstick - ha), and wore the necklace I bought in Venice.

When I went downstairs to wait for the shuttle bus, I saw all these old couples waiting in the lobby and I felt so out of place. Some of them were totally dressed up - formal gown and tux; totally putting me and my dressy clothes to shame.

I needn’t have bothered though.. I bought the cheap ticket for an unnumbered seat on the stone steps, and I could’ve worn shorts and t-shirt and it wouldn’t have made a difference. I went in after dinner, around 8, and the Arena was already packed with people. The opera didn’t start until 9.

People were selling cushions for €5, but I chose to use my jacket as a cushion. I couldn’t imagine sitting on the stone step for 3 or 4 hours.

There must’ve been thousands of people in the audience last night. It was almost full. And I had enough culture for the night. Three hours of opera is a LONG time. Two hours I could handle, but by the third act I was almost dozing off. It finished at 12.15 and I quickly made my way back to the shuttle bus. As quick as I can anyway, without trampling on other people.

Was gonna go to sleep straight away, but I switched on the tele and "Just Married" was on, so I watched it until about 2. It was in Italian, mind you, but since I’d seen it before it didn’t matter.

I slept in again this morning. Well, I woke up around 8.30 and it was absolutely pouring outside so I went back to sleep. Woke up at 9.30, went downstairs to have breakfast and started packing. Fortunately the rain had stopped by the time I checked out.

It was around 11 when I got to the train station, and caught 11.20 train to Milan. Man it was packed. Wasn’t expected it at all, since my train from Venice to Verona was practically empty. But today, people were standing on the corridors and stuff. Anyway I managed to get a seat, and met this cute Aussie guy who was on his way from Venice to Cinque Terre. Yes, finally, a cute guy!

Anyway, his name is Josh and he’s currently living in London on a working holiday (along with everyone else, I suppose). We chatted a little bit then this guy came in and started talking to me in Italian. The guy standing next to him explained that he’d reserved the seat I was sitting on, but he didn’t mind. He was really nice, he told me to just stay there and he’d sit outside.

I went to the toilet at one stage and man I got stuck in a traffic jam. The snack and drink trolley meet suitcases and people in a tiny corridor. It took me forever to get to the end of the car, and back.

It started raining again when I got here so I caught a cab to the hotel. Couldn’t be arsed trying to find the bus stop etc. After I checked in, the rain had stopped so I decided to go to the centre and check things out.

Man, I was so pissed off when I found out the front of the Duomo is COMPLETELY covered in scaffoldings! I mean, there I was, jumping off the bus and started walking oh so excitedly towards the piazza after catching a glimpse of the top of the Duomo (which looked very impressive), and when I got there, I could see nothing. I couldn’t even take any photos of the front. Am still pissed off now actually, thinking about it. Unbelievable. I think they should be a regulation that forbids renovation or any sort of reconstruction work during tourist season. So many times now I’ve come across sights and monuments covered in scaffoldings, it’s not funny.

Anyway, had lunch at this restaurant with not-so-friendly waiter (I’ve found that Milanese are not the friendliest bunch actually), then started walking around at the main shopping street. Then it started pouring again, and here I am back at the hostel. Thanks to the free internet I can write a longish post. Or I think it’s free anyway. I saw this sign next to the computer that it costs €4 an hour, but I’m PRETTY sure it’s free for hotel guests. The guy at the reception didn’t say anything.

Well, better go have a shower. I’m not feeling that great at the moment, afraid I might be coming down with something. GG is on the plane now on his way here. Should arrive in Bergamo at 20.30 then it’s about an hour journey to Milan.

Romeo, Romeo.. wherefore art thou, Romeo?

Yup, am in Verona now, the home of Romeo & Juliet. The old town itself is quite pretty. Like Cesky Krumlov and Sighisoara, the whole city is on Unesco’s World Heritage List. And the shopping!! Although I think I might hold off til Milan. Don’t really want to carry too much stuff with me now.

I don’t really like my hotel though. It’s far from the town centre - or the train station, for that matter - and my room is kinda cramped. And yes it’s a hotel so I won’t get to meet anyone. Would not recommend it. I wish I’d booked a room somewhere closer to town. Oh well.

Have bought my ticket for the opera tomorrow night. Yes, it’s the opera season. And it’s at the ancient Roman Arena, which looks pretty much like a smaller Colosseum. Should be very cool. I’ve seen the outside but did not bother buying the ticket to get in as am gonna be there tomorrow anyway.

Piazza Erbe is pretty cool.. the buildings are gorgeous, but too bad it’s cramped with too many market/souvenir stalls. Still, I think I might head back there for dinner tonight.

I went to Juliet’s house, which was packed with tourists rubbing her right breast for better luck in their love life (I, of course, had to do the same, being a tourist and all) and later on went up the Bell Tower.

When I first got to Verona and was making my way down from the hotel to town, I didn’t like it at all. It’s just a typical modern city, a bit dirty, and the weather was hot and muggy. It’s probably about half an hour walk to the centre, which is just about the same as the walk from my hostel in Venice to St Mark’s Square, but somehow it is A LOT different.

In Venice you hardly feel it because the whole town is gorgeous. You can just stroll along the narrow alleys and cross the tiny bridges and watch the gondolas and stop by at souvenir shops or gelateria - pretty much enjoying the whole experience - and before you know it, you’re there. Whereas here, you don’t see nothing but busy roads and cars. And I must say it’s not very pedestrian-friendly either. Not a lot of pedestrian crossings here, so you just have to risk it!

Anyway, at least the town centre is pretty so it’s worth it. Kind of.

I stopped on my way to the Arena to get some Chinese food. Yeah, I was craving Chinese food - getting a bit sick of pizza and pasta all day. Plus I was hungry and dehydrated. The food itself was mediocre, but at least it wasn’t another slice of pizza. I might get some Italian food tonight for dinner.

Spent all day souvenir shopping in Venice yesterday, and got ripped off. Bought some bracelets for €6 only to find the exact same item for €3.5 elsewhere. Doh! So beware when you shop in Venice!

Anyway, better go. I’m not even sure how much this is costing me.

Just heard the news about the floods in Romania, Austria, Switzerland and Bavaria in Germany. Can’t believe I got out of there just in time!

Mike is currently still in Switzerland and trying to get to Salzburg. God aren’t I lucky! I wonder how Steve and the Portuguese girls are doing…

Time is running out soon so better keep this short. Will write more next time.

Venice is still as stunning as I remembered it. Every corner and tiny little alley is picturesque, it’s unreal. Everything is almost unbelievably expensive, and there seems to be more tourists (and pigeons) than locals, but like Cesky Krumlov, it is a tourist destination for a reason.

My hostel is almost like a hotel, really. It’s double the price of what I’ve been paying (and in some cases like Eastern Europe, triple) but it’s a very nice room with ensuite bathroom. It’s got a fridge, a kettle, TV(!) and they even make your bed everyday. Unreal. I can’t remember the last time someone’s made my bed for me. Oh, and no bunk beds!

The location is perfect - only 3 minutes walk from the train station, which is very handy because I can’t imagine lugging around my backpack trying to find my hostel in Venice! I’ve only been here for 2 nights and been lost numerous times. I think EVERYONE must have gotten lost in Venice at least once. I’m not even sure if the locals know the streets that well. It’s impossible. And no single map is accurate. But I suppose that’s part of the fun of being in Venice.

The first night I was here I went for dinner with my roommate, an American guy called Will, and his two friends (American girls he’d met in his hostel room the night before) and we spent almost an hour trying to find the restaurant he wanted to go to. The rain didn’t help either. When we finally found the place, it was closed. Ha. We ended up going to a restaurant nearby - the food was ok, but what’s most interesting was the menu. It’s a handwritten piece of paper - or, should I say, scrap paper. Hmmm.. very interesting indeed.

Anyway, since yesterday the weather’s been great though. Sunny and warm. The kind of Venice I was expecting. Last time I was here it was overcast. Still, despite the clear weather, St. Mark’s Square was flooded. It made quite cool pictures. I spent the day just sightseeing (caught the vaporetto from the hostel to the square) with Will as my tour guide - went to the basilica and Palazzo Ducale. Pretty impressive. Oh and the view from up the Clock Tower was totally awesome. Still, everything in Venice is gorgeous. I must’ve taken hundreds of pictures yesterday. I imagine it would be much better off season though, when it’s less touristy.

There are gelati shops in every corner. I had gelati for breakfast, gelati after lunch, and another one just after dinner. The fact that there’s one right next door to the hostel doesn’t help either. Oh, I just had the BEST gelati this morning. The lady who sold it told me it was a bit soft because it was just freshly made.. and it was absolutely divine.

Been souvenir shopping this morning. Will left this morning so I’ve just been walking around on my own, which is cool. It’s about 40 minutes walk from my hostel to St Mark’s Square (I haven’t even reached it yet!) but you don’t really feel it. Venice is unbelievable. Definitely one of my favourite places in the world.

Am off to Verona tomorrow. From then on I won’t be staying in any hostels which means I won’t get to meet anyone. Meeting GG in Milan after that. Staying in a hotel will be good for a change though. I want a bath!

Exactly 1 week from now I’ll have to fly back home. *sigh* Not looking forward to it.

Been having fun here in Salzburg. Met up with Stevo on the second day. Stayed at the bar that night, chatting with Teresa and Isabel, the Portuguese girls (I’d met one of them in the shower block on my first day). Didn’t end up meeting up my Irish roommates that night. Too tired to walk all the way to the old town. Which was good anyway, cos they ended up going back early to the hostel.

We went to do the Sound of Music tour yesterday morning, with Teresa and Isabel. The weather was crap but it was still pretty good. Then Steve and I went to the saltmine in the arvo. It was in Germany! Didn’t realise I was gonna go to Germany on this trip. But yeah, we popped over to Germany for the afternoon. It was pretty cool. Stopped by at this little town in Bavarian mountains called Berschtergaden (or something like that), just near when the saltmine was.

Did my laundry last night. There was a bit of a queue so I had to keep popping back to the laundry room to see how things were going. Spent most of the night at the bar, chatting to a couple of Aussies, a Kiwi and a Scottish girl. Then Teresa and Isabel turned up, and we stayed there chatting until they had to leave just before midnight. I was a bit sad to see them go.

This morning Steve and I went for a quick walk up the Monschberg hill, around the forest and back down to the old town. He’s leaving today at noon. Am going to the ice cave this arvo. Should be cool - literally.

Tomorrow I’m off to Venice. Looking forward to Italy. Hopefully the weather will be much better there. Can you believe I’ve only got 10 days left?? It’s crazy!

Am here in Salzburg now where the hills are alive with the sound of music… It’s a very pretty little town… I love it here. Absolutely gorgeous. And there are so much to do! I’ve got 4 nights here and I won’t even make it to Hallstatt, I don’t think.

You know how I said Prague’s old town is a bit like Disneyland. Well, Salzburg is a lot like that too, with Western European standard cleanliness. Walked to town to grab some dinner last night and it was just charming with all the lights and everything.

Went to do some sightseeing today.. Walked around the old town and up to the fortress. Gorgeous view from the top, but man everything is expensive here. €9.6 to catch the funicular up. Had lunch at this Chinese buffet place - not bad, €6.9 for all you can eat. They didn’t have that many varieties but it’s reasonably cheap compared to other places. But I miss Eastern Europe!

Caught a bus to Hellbrunn Castle. I found myself humming the tune of 16 going on 17 as I strolled down the park there. Ha. Couldn’t help it. Did a guided tour of the "Trick Fountains" park, which was pretty cool. I got wet though. Damnit. Oh well, it was fun.

Met up with Stevo this arvo. He’d just arrived today. We had dinner at the hostel and booked for our Sound of Music and Saltmine tour tomorrow. It’s gonna be a full day!

Am planning to go do the ice cave tour the day after. Apparently it’s the world’s largest ice cave so it should be interesting. And because that means I won’t get to go to Hallstatt, I decided to do the saltmine tour here. Same thing.

Might be meeting my two Irish roommates at the Irish pub in the old town tonight around 11. If I’m not tired, that is. We’ll see.

Anyway, I’m off. Must reply some emails etc.

I just had another massage today…. it was great. Mike is leaving this evening so I’m gonna go to the train station with him a bit later - I need to book for my train tomorrow.

We met up with Stevo last night, walked back to his hostel near Oktogon, hung out there for a little bit and went out for lunch with a couple of his friends. The place we wanted to go to was full, and the one Jason thought he’d been to before once was in fact only a bar, so we ended up getting stuck at this Mexican restaurant. It wasn’t bad.. I just had dessert cos I was still full from the late lunch.

Oh, while we’re on the subject, I forgot to mention the most revolting Spaghetti Bolognaise I had in Sighisoara on our last night. Yuck.. it still makes me sick thinking about it. I could literally scoop out the oil. The noodle was soggy and drenched in oil and it could almost pass as a noodle soup. If you ever go to Sighisoara, don’t go to the restaurant at Burg Hostel!

Anyway, off to Salzburg tomorrow. I don’t know what I’m gonna do there for like 4 days. I might take a day trip here and there, but I’m supposed to be doing the Sound of Music tour with Stevo on 20th. He’s gonna be there on 19th and 20th and staying at the same hostel.

I’m not looking forward to travelling again tomorrow. I hate sitting on the train or lugging around my backpack for that matter. But I can’t get stuck in Budapest, as tempting as it may sound. Oh well, at least I don’t have to sit through 13 hour train ride like what Mike.. haha.. *evil laugh*

Bracing myself for more expensive places now as am heading back to Western Europe. *shudders* I better have more hot chocolate from Cafe Havana later tonight. Supposed to meet up with my roommate for dinner a bit later.

As it turned out, I didn’t get to update my blog in Sighisoara. Went online once and it was horrible, I wanted to throw their PC out the window. It was old Windows 98 PC which froze everytime I opened more than one window at a time, and since they were running IE 5, Friendster didn’t work. And the connection was SLOOOW… that was such a waste of time. I didn’t get to do anything. Didn’t even get to check the news website.

I have to say that Sighisoara is nicer than Brasov though. It’s a tiny medieval town, not unlike Cesky Krumlov, but a bit run down and smaller. To get to the old town you have to climb a lot of stairs, which was crap. Our hostel was only 5 minutes walk from the train station - or should I say, the super dodgy train station - and it was awesome. There were only 3 of us in the 5 bedroom dorm, with ensuite! Man it was GREAT having your own bathroom.

The third person, by the way, was Damon, a Kiwi guy who hung out with us for pretty much the whole time we were there. He’d arrived on the same day.

The town was so tiny we literally ran out of things to do. Walked around the small souvenir market, went up the clock tower, and sitting around having drinks..

There were a lot of kids begging for food/money on the streets or when we were sitting in a restaurant. The food and everything were cheap, although the currency still tripped us out sometimes.

The most memorable thing was definitely when we went horse riding through the countryside yesterday. I was bloody scared at first, never really having ridden a horse before, but you sort of get used to it after a while. We went through the forest and a tiny little village called Prod, where we found roosters and all sorts of poultry running around on the street. It was charming. The guy who owned the horses (and the business) was great. He picked us up from the hostel and drove us about half an hour out of town, and we rode for about 1.5 hours. It was definitely something I’d recommend to anyone.

Caught a night train back here last night at 11.20PM. It was AWFUL. I distinctly remember ordering a 4-bed sleeper but we got a 6-bed compartment. It was tiny and cramped, and we got the top bunks! The compartment was probably the same size as the one we had on the way to Brasov, but with 6 beds instead of 2. I was so pissed off, but hey what can you do.

Got here about an hour late from schedule, checked in to Red Bus (definitely one of my favourite hostels, I’ve stayed here 3 times now!) and went for breakfast. Am so glad to be back in Budapest. I was ready to leave Romania.

Everything was difficult there. The internet was crap, only one girl at our hostel speaks English - hey I mean the hostel was great and everything, but it was almost impossible to communicate with them when that girl wasn’t around - and even still water was so precious because it was bloody difficult to find! They only sell soda water everywhere, for some stupid reason that we can’t comprehend. I mean, we find a lot of that everywhere in Europe, but in Sighisoara it was especially difficult to find non-carbonated water. I don’t know why people even drink soda water.. it tastes disgusting!

It was so hard to find, we even know the Romanian word for it - Apa Plata. Apa means water, and plata means flat. Other than that, the only Romanian word I know is Multumesc, which means thank you.

So yeah I’m happy to be back here, with the great Goulash soup and yummy hot chocolates. Am staying here for 2 nights before heading off to Salzburg. Mike is leaving to Interlaken tomorrow night.

We might be meeting up with Stevo, the Aussie guy we met in Brasov, tonight for dinner or something.

Anyway, I’m off to have a shower and SLEEP!

Been spending the last two nights in Brasov and we’re off to Sighisoara this arvo.

Got here very early in the morning and had to tackle some random people who tried to offer us accommodations and taxis etc. I was absolutely knackered and wasn’t in the best mood. And it was COLD. Anyway we caught a cab to the hostel and just crashed there. They said we were lucky because it wasn’t full. Just a couple of days earlier people had to sleep on the floor because there were no free beds.

Brasov is interesting. It’s quite pretty.. not stunning pretty like Prague or Cesky Krumlov, but it’s.. nice. Just have to be careful when you walk down the streets because at any moment you may step on a dog poo. Yuck.

The currency here is confusing the hell out of everyone. They just had a new currency in July where they cut down 4 zeros out of their money and now they still use both currencies and it’s so bloody confusing. I think even the locals are confused. It sounds scary sometimes to pay 250000 for a meal where in fact it’s worth nothing. Takes a while to get used to.

Met a great bunch of people at the hostel. Been having dinners together in a big group for the past two nights. There are like 8-10 beds in a dorm room so it’s a bit cramped. But it’s ok, I suppose. They have a big living area and cable, so we’ve been hanging out in the living room watching A LOT of MTV (or Discovery Channel, or National Geographic….).

We went to Rasnov and the Dracula castle in Bran yesterday. As expected, it wasn’t too impressive or "draculaey" but it’s something that you have to do when you’re here. The rain was pouring in the arvo when we were waiting to catch a bus to the train station to book our tickets. I was drenched, and not happy. The bus was jampacked full of people and it was so stuffy.. no wonder people get jacked all the time on the bus. I have to put a padlock on my backpack all the time here, which is kind of a pain, but necessary.

Sighisoara is supposed to be a tiny town (with only 4 streets!) so we might have made a mistake booking a hostel for 2 nights, but oh well. Just gonna chill I suppose.

Well, not much time left so I better go. Will write more when we get to Sighisoara, if we can find an internet cafe.

Mike and I are off to Romania this evening. 11 hrs train.. not looking forward to it. But oh well, what can you do. I haven’t decided what to do yet after I come back from Romania. Don’t really want to stay in Budapest for too long. Bored sh*t here.

Somehow Budapest seems less beautiful this second time around. I don’t know way. Not saying that I haven’t been having fun. We went around Buda yesterday, had a bath in the arvo.. man that was quite a traumatic experience. I saw a lot of unpretty sights… naked fat, old women walking around so proudly. I prefer Szechenyi bath.. at least bathing suit is compulsory there!

Had a massage afterwards… oh god that was good. I so needed that! Paid 7000 HUF which wasn’t really cheap but it was worth it. I could use it every couple of days or so. Yeah right. We’ll see if we can get a cheap massage in Romania.

Hot chocolate here is absolutely divine. Definitely the best I’ve ever had.

Anyway better go now. Supposed to meet up with Mike in 10 mins time.