Newcastle - Edinburgh - (Glencoe - Loch Ness - Inverness) - Glasgow
Aye me laddies and lassies,
HADRIANS WALL
My last day in Newcastle involved venturing to the outskirts of the city to find the Segemum Museum which contained some Hadrian Wall ruins and a ruined fort. It was pretty unspectacular considering all that was really left was the foundations - you had to rely on their museum's computer reconstructions to work out exactly what you were looking at. I then continued on to Whitby bay, to see huge sandy beaches and freezing cold North Sea waters. Don't understand how the crazy Brits can go to beach resort places like this in the freezing cold wind and water, all in the name of relaxation and fun!
SCOTLAND
Scotland, the land of Kilts, Whisky and Haggis, also a land of large grey granite cities separated from one another by vast areas of desolate land, of highland hills and mountains, valleys and glens, and cold icy deep lochs. Also the land of thick accents and drinking lots at all hours of the day (clubs close at 3am but pubs open at 6am meaning virtually 24hr drinking if you went back to the hostel and drank during the 3hr transition period)!
Tried haggis the day I arrived. It's actually pretty good, it's just like eating the stuffing you get in your roast chicken (probably because it's made of the same stuff, just different animal). You can also have haggis on all sorts of things like jacket potatoes or some on some serving of meat. Just don't think about what it's made of (same goes with black pudding, hotdogs and minced meat).
EDINBURGH
Edinburgh is a beautiful windy city, full of grey Georgian? Style buildings which despite the bleak colours, it's style still manages to make the city very picturesque. Was fun just wandering the many closes and wynds of the old town, the model looking Edinburgh castle on top of a cliff in the centre, and the surrounding hills.
GHOST HUNTING IN EDINBURGH
I've become addicted to Ghost tours now, simply because you get a tour of the city at night, a bit of history, some cool stories, and a bit of scary fun. So I did two in Edinburgh.
One was the City of Dead tour, which has as it's drawcard the only keys to the infamous Black Mausoleum in Greyfriars Cemetery, regarded as one of the top five most scariest places in the world because of the "MacKenzie Poltergeist", known to attack tour groups and leave scratches and marks on people the day after (though that's probably due to the drinking - Edinburgh parties every night!). Didn't get attacked though it was frightening enough being locked up in a cemetery at night sheltering within the Black Mausoleum itself. One woman even fainted. And all this in the name of thrillseeking fun!
The other one was the Auld Reekies Terror tour, involving us going down to some haunted underground crypts and vaults, including an underground pagan temple. I actually found this alot more scary, especially as I swear I saw some white figures walking past the doorway behind the guide, this doorway leading to the most haunted dangerous (due to poltergeist attacks) vault in the complex. Which we then had to stand inside with the lights off while the guide explained the scary stuff about it.
Took some photos, but hard to tell if there are any strange floating orbs of light or shadows or ghostly faces until I extract the photos from my digital camera. (apparently 1 in 2 people have orbs appear in their photos).
I do however bear some scratch marks on my arm, which no reason as to what caused it. This is what reputedly many people who visit the poltergeist places end up with, and it's more freaky when you think it is all fake until it actually happens to you!
THE REST OF SCOTLAND IN A DAY
Due to time constraints I decided to do a day trip around Scotland that involved going all seeing the highlands, mountains and lochs, Glencoe, Loch Ness and Inverness - all in 12hrs, most on bus!
Scotland has truly extraordinary nature, with towering mountain ranges topped with frost and snow, to the flat glens of grass and heather, to the deep dark depths of the lochs full of mystery and intrigue, capable of hiding a monster despite our best scientific equipment. No sigh of Nessie the Loch Ness monster unfortunately, only
replicas dotted about as statues, paintings and merchandise.
GLASGOW
Glasgow is not really a city of sights. Besides the town hall and Cathedral, it has the usual shopping malls and chain stores which seems to be the standard British city these days. Did however enjoy the free Religious art and life museum depicting relics and exhibits on most religions in the world today. Only by comparing them can you notice the similarities of stories and rituals behind them.
I love their accent here, even though I can't understand a bloody word of it! Ireland is next on my list, and I reckon it would be even harder to understand there!
There is a bit of rivalry between Edinburghers and Glaswegians. Glaswegians say Edinboogers are moneypinchers and unfriendly snobs, whereas Edinburghers say Weegies are dirty and ugly and talk too much crap. I don't think either stereotype is true, but I do prefer the Glaswegians to the Edinburghers as I do think they are alot more
friendly and talkative. And as I said before, I love the accent.
Anyway, just arrived in Belfast now, more on that next email!
Thursday, November 17, 2005
Friday, November 11, 2005
James' Whirlwind Tour of UK - Part 1: England
Cambridge - Birmingham - Liverpool - Manchester - York - Newcastle
Good Day, Ladies and Gentlemen,
So, having left my lovely vivacious Cynthia back in Estonia, I flew to Stansted Airport in London, England, where I was to start a quick 26 day whirlwind tour of England, Scotland and Ireland, before flying home on the 27th Nov (unless I can get a stopover in Singapore to visit my sister, which means a few days after that).
YE OLD ENGLAND
So, England, a place where no one actually seems to speak it, a place where one is obsessed with football, birdwatching and queuing; a place that has brought us wonderful things like pub meals, English breakfasts, The Beatles, and Monty Python; a place where I am called "gentleman" rather than "mate", "man" or "dude"; a place that pretends to be small when in reality it is stuck in some space/time warp making it bigger than it appears on the map...
BRITISH TRANSPORT
There is something to be said about the trains in this country! They are immaculate, comfortable and absolutely fantastic! Even the conductor would tell you exactly where you are, and explain why the train has stopped in the middle of nowhere, and also kindly reminds you what the next station is, and to please "mind the gap" when
exiting! The only problem though is that they are expensive! Which meant I relied more heavily on the National Express buses which have a tendency of taking too long to get anywhere. At least they're comfortable and much cheaper than the trains...
EVENINGSONG AT CAMBRIDGE
First destination was Cambridge. Cambridge is a beautiful town consisting of alot of colleges, bridges and lovely cobbled streets. There are also more bikes scattered about the place than there are people that you could almost convince yourself that bikes here are the dominant species! Alot of people here don't seem to speak or even
understand English. Rarely did I overhear a conversation that was in English - because of the ethnic makeup of the area, everyone is speaking their own languages. Bit of a shame really; although I’m an advocate of multiculturalism, I do think that if you're going to live in a country, at least learn the country's language!
The colleges are full of gothic style buildings and immaculate green lawns you can't walk on, their piece de resistance the huge chapels, where every night there is a church service called Eveningsong which I attended, to hear the famous magnificent boys choir filling the chapel with their beautiful monastic voices.
BALTI IN BIRMINGHAM
Another flip of a coin landed me in Birmingham where I wanted to catch up with Jennie, an old friend from Melbourne (as well as have a place to crash ). I've been to Birmingham before, noting it for it's plethora of shopping malls, but there was also another reason to visit - to try the famous Balti curries that were invented in the region.
To do so, I was informed to head for the famous Balti Triangle just outside of the main center of town. So caught a bus and ended up getting lost (a bit like the Bermuda Triangle I guess). But then I managed to find my way by following my nose as you can smell the scent of curry and spices in the air. I picked a place called Adils, which
claims to have invented Balti. That's how much curry has integrated itself into English culture these days!
Balti comes in a wok shaped metal bowl, saucy, spicy and hot. One normally eats it with naan bread which, depending on how hungry you are, you could order the famous table naan - one that is as large as the table itself!
Verdict: I did find Balti spicy but a little bland - I prefer a nice plain curry instead.
BEATLEMANIA IN LIVERPOOL
Left Jennie after a good night at the Aussie bar "Walkabout" (and it turned out it wasn't the last time I would go to these "un-Aussie" Aussie bars) and headed to Liverpool.
I think everyone who has ever visited Liverpool and are a fan of the Beatles has at least one Beatles song repeating over in their heads while walking about! For me it started with "Penny Lane", then "Yellow Submarine", then "Please Please Me". Drove me insane in the end.
Of course I had to go to "The Beatles Story" museum, which ran through the lives of the Fab Four and contained many reconstructed famous places in their lives (the studio, the white room, etc) and Beatles collectors items, the most impressive being John Lennon's famous spectacles.
Dined at "The Grapes" where the Fab four drank before performing at "The Cavern" down the road (before they got famous). Used the toilets, where I amused myself by thinking that the Fab Four probably also urinated at the same spot I was on right then. Then I had a look in "The Cavern" which still looks as it did when the Beatles were still
unknowns.
MANCHESTER
On first impressions is a very red coloured university industrial city with very nice architecture, a huge shopping centre, and alot of bars and clubs. To which I had managed to dance my little feet away in after lighting some fireworks for Guy Fawkes Night here with some other Aussie dudes (none of us had a clue what we were doing). I can say that Manchester nightlife is definitely better than Liverpool. But apart from that, unless you're into Man Utd, there isn't particularly much to see or do in Manchester.
SPOOKY YORK
York is a wonderful town to stroll through, admiring the beautifully preserved city gates and walls, the magnificant monolithic Gothic Minister (largest Gothic cathedral in Europe I think - though I’m sure Seville's is larger?), and the lovely medieval top stacked buildings jutting over cobbled streets. Even did the famous "Sights and Smells" tour of the Viking Museum. York is full of history, and is in fact considered the most haunted city in Europe. Because of this I had to do a ghost tour of York.
The Ghost Tour of York is definitely worth doing, as you are led around the town by a dramatic guide through dark alleys, and shown houses and other buildings where ghostly events have taken place. There were some scary ones I admit, and in fact during one story the lamp above us went out leaving us in darkness. Freaked out alot of us until the guide told us "not to worry, it's just one of those motion detector lights!" I tells you, after the tour I was glad I wasn't sleeping on my own that night...
NEWCASTLE - LAND OF THE GEORDIES
Decided to head north into Newcastle on route to Edinburgh, simply because I heard Newcastle is a party town (which it is – perhaps better than Manchester?), but also because I love the Geordie accent. I'm not sure why they are referred to as Geordies, but the accent has a kind of lilt to it that makes them sound so friendly and cheerful. I
find it hard to take a person with a Geordie accent seriously. (For those who want an example, famous Geordies are Ant and Dec, and Lister from Red Dwarf).
Besides that, Newcastle is quite a nice place, with not much to do but wander around, shop, and admire the quayside with the beautiful sleek modern millennium bridge. The city also contains heaps of overpasses that are old Romanesque style that is actually quite picturesque and monumental to the point that at night it's easy to imagine you're in a gothic Batman movie (or maybe I’m just reaching).
Anyway, I’m off to attempt to see something of Hadrian’s Wall (would you believe there is no public transport to the better areas of the wall in November!) within the Newcastle area, then tomorrow I enter Scotland! Woo hoo! Jolly good I say!
Good Day, Ladies and Gentlemen,
So, having left my lovely vivacious Cynthia back in Estonia, I flew to Stansted Airport in London, England, where I was to start a quick 26 day whirlwind tour of England, Scotland and Ireland, before flying home on the 27th Nov (unless I can get a stopover in Singapore to visit my sister, which means a few days after that).
YE OLD ENGLAND
So, England, a place where no one actually seems to speak it, a place where one is obsessed with football, birdwatching and queuing; a place that has brought us wonderful things like pub meals, English breakfasts, The Beatles, and Monty Python; a place where I am called "gentleman" rather than "mate", "man" or "dude"; a place that pretends to be small when in reality it is stuck in some space/time warp making it bigger than it appears on the map...
BRITISH TRANSPORT
There is something to be said about the trains in this country! They are immaculate, comfortable and absolutely fantastic! Even the conductor would tell you exactly where you are, and explain why the train has stopped in the middle of nowhere, and also kindly reminds you what the next station is, and to please "mind the gap" when
exiting! The only problem though is that they are expensive! Which meant I relied more heavily on the National Express buses which have a tendency of taking too long to get anywhere. At least they're comfortable and much cheaper than the trains...
EVENINGSONG AT CAMBRIDGE
First destination was Cambridge. Cambridge is a beautiful town consisting of alot of colleges, bridges and lovely cobbled streets. There are also more bikes scattered about the place than there are people that you could almost convince yourself that bikes here are the dominant species! Alot of people here don't seem to speak or even
understand English. Rarely did I overhear a conversation that was in English - because of the ethnic makeup of the area, everyone is speaking their own languages. Bit of a shame really; although I’m an advocate of multiculturalism, I do think that if you're going to live in a country, at least learn the country's language!
The colleges are full of gothic style buildings and immaculate green lawns you can't walk on, their piece de resistance the huge chapels, where every night there is a church service called Eveningsong which I attended, to hear the famous magnificent boys choir filling the chapel with their beautiful monastic voices.
BALTI IN BIRMINGHAM
Another flip of a coin landed me in Birmingham where I wanted to catch up with Jennie, an old friend from Melbourne (as well as have a place to crash ). I've been to Birmingham before, noting it for it's plethora of shopping malls, but there was also another reason to visit - to try the famous Balti curries that were invented in the region.
To do so, I was informed to head for the famous Balti Triangle just outside of the main center of town. So caught a bus and ended up getting lost (a bit like the Bermuda Triangle I guess). But then I managed to find my way by following my nose as you can smell the scent of curry and spices in the air. I picked a place called Adils, which
claims to have invented Balti. That's how much curry has integrated itself into English culture these days!
Balti comes in a wok shaped metal bowl, saucy, spicy and hot. One normally eats it with naan bread which, depending on how hungry you are, you could order the famous table naan - one that is as large as the table itself!
Verdict: I did find Balti spicy but a little bland - I prefer a nice plain curry instead.
BEATLEMANIA IN LIVERPOOL
Left Jennie after a good night at the Aussie bar "Walkabout" (and it turned out it wasn't the last time I would go to these "un-Aussie" Aussie bars) and headed to Liverpool.
I think everyone who has ever visited Liverpool and are a fan of the Beatles has at least one Beatles song repeating over in their heads while walking about! For me it started with "Penny Lane", then "Yellow Submarine", then "Please Please Me". Drove me insane in the end.
Of course I had to go to "The Beatles Story" museum, which ran through the lives of the Fab Four and contained many reconstructed famous places in their lives (the studio, the white room, etc) and Beatles collectors items, the most impressive being John Lennon's famous spectacles.
Dined at "The Grapes" where the Fab four drank before performing at "The Cavern" down the road (before they got famous). Used the toilets, where I amused myself by thinking that the Fab Four probably also urinated at the same spot I was on right then. Then I had a look in "The Cavern" which still looks as it did when the Beatles were still
unknowns.
MANCHESTER
On first impressions is a very red coloured university industrial city with very nice architecture, a huge shopping centre, and alot of bars and clubs. To which I had managed to dance my little feet away in after lighting some fireworks for Guy Fawkes Night here with some other Aussie dudes (none of us had a clue what we were doing). I can say that Manchester nightlife is definitely better than Liverpool. But apart from that, unless you're into Man Utd, there isn't particularly much to see or do in Manchester.
SPOOKY YORK
York is a wonderful town to stroll through, admiring the beautifully preserved city gates and walls, the magnificant monolithic Gothic Minister (largest Gothic cathedral in Europe I think - though I’m sure Seville's is larger?), and the lovely medieval top stacked buildings jutting over cobbled streets. Even did the famous "Sights and Smells" tour of the Viking Museum. York is full of history, and is in fact considered the most haunted city in Europe. Because of this I had to do a ghost tour of York.
The Ghost Tour of York is definitely worth doing, as you are led around the town by a dramatic guide through dark alleys, and shown houses and other buildings where ghostly events have taken place. There were some scary ones I admit, and in fact during one story the lamp above us went out leaving us in darkness. Freaked out alot of us until the guide told us "not to worry, it's just one of those motion detector lights!" I tells you, after the tour I was glad I wasn't sleeping on my own that night...
NEWCASTLE - LAND OF THE GEORDIES
Decided to head north into Newcastle on route to Edinburgh, simply because I heard Newcastle is a party town (which it is – perhaps better than Manchester?), but also because I love the Geordie accent. I'm not sure why they are referred to as Geordies, but the accent has a kind of lilt to it that makes them sound so friendly and cheerful. I
find it hard to take a person with a Geordie accent seriously. (For those who want an example, famous Geordies are Ant and Dec, and Lister from Red Dwarf).
Besides that, Newcastle is quite a nice place, with not much to do but wander around, shop, and admire the quayside with the beautiful sleek modern millennium bridge. The city also contains heaps of overpasses that are old Romanesque style that is actually quite picturesque and monumental to the point that at night it's easy to imagine you're in a gothic Batman movie (or maybe I’m just reaching).
Anyway, I’m off to attempt to see something of Hadrian’s Wall (would you believe there is no public transport to the better areas of the wall in November!) within the Newcastle area, then tomorrow I enter Scotland! Woo hoo! Jolly good I say!
Monday, October 31, 2005
Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia and Finland
(Lithuania) Vilnius - Trakai - Siausiai - (Latvia) Riga - (Estonia) Tallinn - Paldiski - (Finland) Helsinki
Labos/Labdiens/Tere!
TRAVEL LESSON 1: Never order a very spicy kebab before catching an overnight bus.
Clearly I wasn't thinking when, cold and hungry, I went for a kebab with extra spice. The vendor put so much chill sauce in it that I think there was actually more chilli than kebab!
TRAVEL LESSON 2: Just because you paid for it out of your little travel budget, doesn't mean you have to eat the whole thing!
A typical and illogical backpacker trait, where even though it's burning the inside of your mouth and your stomach is not taking to it AT ALL, the little voice in the back of your head is saying "but you paid for it, and you don't want it to go to waste, after all you're on a budget!!"
TRAVEL LESSON 3: Despite your best intentions and strictest vows, if you gotta go, you gotta go.
I broke one of my travel vows that night, which is for the sake of my sanity and for others, to never use the toilet on the bus! Thankfully it was one of those fancy Euroline buses and not a clattering cold dirty hunk of metal on wheels. I certainly got my money's worth that night!
Anyway, arrived in Vilnius at 3:30am (the stupid company told us 6:30am), tired, cold, and needing to use the bathroom (which there was an absence of in the immediate 1km radius of where I was).
FUNKY VILNIUS
Vilnius is quite a pretty city with the largest old town in Europe, but there's no people! I would be out on the streets at 2pm and I would hardly see a soul, and this is the capital of Lithuania! They seem to have an obsession with churches as they are everywhere. Perhaps that's where they are all hiding.
Anyway, I caught up with Cynthia, who I had hooked up with in Suceava, Romania. A funky cool free spirited New Zealand chick and partner in crime, we had so much fun last time we decided to meet up for round two and do some travelling through the rest of the Baltics together.
Discovered some pretty funky cool cafes and restaurants in Vilnius, though the food is so very rich in their potatoes and meats that even I had difficulty finishing my meals (and this rarely happens!). One such notable Lithuanian cuisine is the Zeppelins, which are basically football shaped mashed potato with minced meat inside. Very filling!
Checked out some interesting places such as the only monument in the world to Frank Zappa, the former KGB prison/torture cells, and Uzupio, Lithuania's answer to Copenhagen’s Christiania, which is another area of land in the capital claimed by squatters to be an independent republic outside of the EU!
TRAKAI
We did a day trip to Trakai, which is a lovely little series of lakes out in the countryside containing several small islands joined together by floating wooden bridges. One of the islands contains a very well reconstructed castle. Quite a cool place to live I reckon.
SIAUSIAI - HILL OF CROSSES
We decided to head to Riga in Latvia, stopping via Siausiai, a town in Lithuania famous of it's rather peculiar hill of crosses. This hill pretty much consists of a multitude of wooden crosses, all crammed together in such a small hill. Crosses would be hanging off crosses, some crosses where enormous and lavishly decorated, all of them
memorials to those deported to Siberia after the Soviet occupation. The Soviets actually bulldozed the original hill of crosses, but the proud and persistent Lithuanians continued to rebuild it over and over again. It really is quite a bizarre sight to see, especially as it is in the middle of nowhere in the center of a cold flat field.
Crazy Lithuanians.
SEEDY RIGA
Riga is a joy to wonder in the beautiful art nouveau old town, although there seems to be a excess of strip joints around the place! You can be in a restaurant that would have a strip joint underneath, or wander in seemingly ordinary bars to discover scantily clad ladies dancing on poles. The hostel we stayed at is actually on top of a
strip joint itself!
What was annoying was the high number of drunken British lads on their stag parties, staggering about drunk by day, throwing up everywhere at night. Though they are generally harmless as they're only having a fun time, but it's come to the point where some bars advertise themselves as places which do not have stag parties, to attract those who want a pleasant night out rather than raucous.
One thing I did notice about the Baltic countries is the way that all the bars and clubs would have numerous places to hang coats, useful in a place where the weather is usually extremely cold (whilst in contrast the bars themselves are usually extremely hot, seems like the Baltics have no concept of moderation, it's all extremes here!).
Latvian cuisine consists of Pelmenti, which are basically dumplings reminiscent of won ton dumplings or even dim sims, fried or served in soup.
FUNNY TALLINN
-The Estonians (and Finnish) seem to love double letters in their words. Many words contain double vowels (eg ee, aa, ii, oo). For example, the word Tallinn -does it really need the extra L and N?
-Its fun pronouncing their currency (EEK) - sounds like you're strangling a small rodent ("That would be 40 EEK!). Well actually you just call it "Kroon"...
-"Ravioli served in broth soup" is almost exactly the same as Asian won ton soup! All it is missing is the bean sprouts and chilli (and the chopsticks)!
-They love their pancakes here, and they are so big I have trouble finishing them (which is becoming the norm for me in the Baltic countries, and many of you know how much I can eat (a helluva lot)) so you can imagine how big and filling they are!)
-Tallinn is not as pretty as Riga, but more interesting in it's layout, featuring huge city walls with towers and turrets, and a hilly section containing the palace and beautiful Russian basilica comparable to the big one in Moscow.
-Estonians are a lot more reserved and introverted than the lively Latvians and Lithuanians. This is probably due to their conservative Finnish-Ugaric roots, whereas the Lithuanians/Latvians are a derivative of Indo-European and lively extroverted Russian roots.
THE EX SOVIET MILITARY TOWN OF PALDISKI
Did a day trip to Paldiski, which was a Soviet Military training town, closed to the public until recently after the collapse of the Soviet Union. Before, only relatives of the people training there could visit.
It was quite remarkable braving the cold and visiting the ruins of the military school, where much of it is being demolished now, but you can still see the main buildings, the training grounds and some of the barracks where the soldiers slept.
DULL, PLEASANT HELSINKI
Helsinki isn't the most exciting beautiful town to be in. There's no real pretty old town, it's cold, dark, the people are a little more reserved, there is nothing open on Sundays.. There are a few churches and some boat trips around the surrounding islands, but that's pretty much it. In fact Helsinki doesn't really have much going for it except the nightlife, though the nightlife seems to finish up early. But despite all this, I am quite fond of little Helsinki, chilling out in it's warm atmospheric cafes, bars and restaurants, walking the empty cold streets (everyone is inside away from the cold - as I would like to be - but the sightseeing must be done (observing the Finnish philosophy of Sisu)!), and observing the way the city lights up at night wonderfully.
AND THE BEAUTIES OF THE BALTICS AWARD GOES TO:
1. Estonians (OH MY GOD!! They are the stunning blond blue eye equivalents of the olive skinned dark haired girls in Beirut!)
2. Lithuanian (here the girls are either really attractive, or really ugly, some actually have moustaches and manly figures).
3. Latvian (though they are still slightly better than average looking compared to other countries)
4. Finland (quite shocked at this, but then I wasn't too impressed with the Swedes either, so I guess it's beauty in the eye of the beholder)
WHAT'S NEXT?
Tomorrow I head back to Tallinn, then leave Cynthia behind when I fly the following day to London, where I will begin a whirlwind tour of England, Scotland and Wales in the 26 days I will have left to go before flying home to Melbourne on the 27th Nov(?) So hopefully I will be able to catch up with all your people in the UK while doing so..
And then I'm planning to go on a two year travel stint in Asia...
Labos/Labdiens/Tere!
TRAVEL LESSON 1: Never order a very spicy kebab before catching an overnight bus.
Clearly I wasn't thinking when, cold and hungry, I went for a kebab with extra spice. The vendor put so much chill sauce in it that I think there was actually more chilli than kebab!
TRAVEL LESSON 2: Just because you paid for it out of your little travel budget, doesn't mean you have to eat the whole thing!
A typical and illogical backpacker trait, where even though it's burning the inside of your mouth and your stomach is not taking to it AT ALL, the little voice in the back of your head is saying "but you paid for it, and you don't want it to go to waste, after all you're on a budget!!"
TRAVEL LESSON 3: Despite your best intentions and strictest vows, if you gotta go, you gotta go.
I broke one of my travel vows that night, which is for the sake of my sanity and for others, to never use the toilet on the bus! Thankfully it was one of those fancy Euroline buses and not a clattering cold dirty hunk of metal on wheels. I certainly got my money's worth that night!
Anyway, arrived in Vilnius at 3:30am (the stupid company told us 6:30am), tired, cold, and needing to use the bathroom (which there was an absence of in the immediate 1km radius of where I was).
FUNKY VILNIUS
Vilnius is quite a pretty city with the largest old town in Europe, but there's no people! I would be out on the streets at 2pm and I would hardly see a soul, and this is the capital of Lithuania! They seem to have an obsession with churches as they are everywhere. Perhaps that's where they are all hiding.
Anyway, I caught up with Cynthia, who I had hooked up with in Suceava, Romania. A funky cool free spirited New Zealand chick and partner in crime, we had so much fun last time we decided to meet up for round two and do some travelling through the rest of the Baltics together.
Discovered some pretty funky cool cafes and restaurants in Vilnius, though the food is so very rich in their potatoes and meats that even I had difficulty finishing my meals (and this rarely happens!). One such notable Lithuanian cuisine is the Zeppelins, which are basically football shaped mashed potato with minced meat inside. Very filling!
Checked out some interesting places such as the only monument in the world to Frank Zappa, the former KGB prison/torture cells, and Uzupio, Lithuania's answer to Copenhagen’s Christiania, which is another area of land in the capital claimed by squatters to be an independent republic outside of the EU!
TRAKAI
We did a day trip to Trakai, which is a lovely little series of lakes out in the countryside containing several small islands joined together by floating wooden bridges. One of the islands contains a very well reconstructed castle. Quite a cool place to live I reckon.
SIAUSIAI - HILL OF CROSSES
We decided to head to Riga in Latvia, stopping via Siausiai, a town in Lithuania famous of it's rather peculiar hill of crosses. This hill pretty much consists of a multitude of wooden crosses, all crammed together in such a small hill. Crosses would be hanging off crosses, some crosses where enormous and lavishly decorated, all of them
memorials to those deported to Siberia after the Soviet occupation. The Soviets actually bulldozed the original hill of crosses, but the proud and persistent Lithuanians continued to rebuild it over and over again. It really is quite a bizarre sight to see, especially as it is in the middle of nowhere in the center of a cold flat field.
Crazy Lithuanians.
SEEDY RIGA
Riga is a joy to wonder in the beautiful art nouveau old town, although there seems to be a excess of strip joints around the place! You can be in a restaurant that would have a strip joint underneath, or wander in seemingly ordinary bars to discover scantily clad ladies dancing on poles. The hostel we stayed at is actually on top of a
strip joint itself!
What was annoying was the high number of drunken British lads on their stag parties, staggering about drunk by day, throwing up everywhere at night. Though they are generally harmless as they're only having a fun time, but it's come to the point where some bars advertise themselves as places which do not have stag parties, to attract those who want a pleasant night out rather than raucous.
One thing I did notice about the Baltic countries is the way that all the bars and clubs would have numerous places to hang coats, useful in a place where the weather is usually extremely cold (whilst in contrast the bars themselves are usually extremely hot, seems like the Baltics have no concept of moderation, it's all extremes here!).
Latvian cuisine consists of Pelmenti, which are basically dumplings reminiscent of won ton dumplings or even dim sims, fried or served in soup.
FUNNY TALLINN
-The Estonians (and Finnish) seem to love double letters in their words. Many words contain double vowels (eg ee, aa, ii, oo). For example, the word Tallinn -does it really need the extra L and N?
-Its fun pronouncing their currency (EEK) - sounds like you're strangling a small rodent ("That would be 40 EEK!). Well actually you just call it "Kroon"...
-"Ravioli served in broth soup" is almost exactly the same as Asian won ton soup! All it is missing is the bean sprouts and chilli (and the chopsticks)!
-They love their pancakes here, and they are so big I have trouble finishing them (which is becoming the norm for me in the Baltic countries, and many of you know how much I can eat (a helluva lot)) so you can imagine how big and filling they are!)
-Tallinn is not as pretty as Riga, but more interesting in it's layout, featuring huge city walls with towers and turrets, and a hilly section containing the palace and beautiful Russian basilica comparable to the big one in Moscow.
-Estonians are a lot more reserved and introverted than the lively Latvians and Lithuanians. This is probably due to their conservative Finnish-Ugaric roots, whereas the Lithuanians/Latvians are a derivative of Indo-European and lively extroverted Russian roots.
THE EX SOVIET MILITARY TOWN OF PALDISKI
Did a day trip to Paldiski, which was a Soviet Military training town, closed to the public until recently after the collapse of the Soviet Union. Before, only relatives of the people training there could visit.
It was quite remarkable braving the cold and visiting the ruins of the military school, where much of it is being demolished now, but you can still see the main buildings, the training grounds and some of the barracks where the soldiers slept.
DULL, PLEASANT HELSINKI
Helsinki isn't the most exciting beautiful town to be in. There's no real pretty old town, it's cold, dark, the people are a little more reserved, there is nothing open on Sundays.. There are a few churches and some boat trips around the surrounding islands, but that's pretty much it. In fact Helsinki doesn't really have much going for it except the nightlife, though the nightlife seems to finish up early. But despite all this, I am quite fond of little Helsinki, chilling out in it's warm atmospheric cafes, bars and restaurants, walking the empty cold streets (everyone is inside away from the cold - as I would like to be - but the sightseeing must be done (observing the Finnish philosophy of Sisu)!), and observing the way the city lights up at night wonderfully.
AND THE BEAUTIES OF THE BALTICS AWARD GOES TO:
1. Estonians (OH MY GOD!! They are the stunning blond blue eye equivalents of the olive skinned dark haired girls in Beirut!)
2. Lithuanian (here the girls are either really attractive, or really ugly, some actually have moustaches and manly figures).
3. Latvian (though they are still slightly better than average looking compared to other countries)
4. Finland (quite shocked at this, but then I wasn't too impressed with the Swedes either, so I guess it's beauty in the eye of the beholder)
WHAT'S NEXT?
Tomorrow I head back to Tallinn, then leave Cynthia behind when I fly the following day to London, where I will begin a whirlwind tour of England, Scotland and Wales in the 26 days I will have left to go before flying home to Melbourne on the 27th Nov(?) So hopefully I will be able to catch up with all your people in the UK while doing so..
And then I'm planning to go on a two year travel stint in Asia...
Monday, October 10, 2005
The North Poland
Berlin - (POLAND) Poznan - Gdansk - Sopot - Westerplatte - Warsaw
Dzien Dobry,
Aaahh! Less than two months left before I have to go home, after an amazing and educational two years travelling Europe and the Middle East! Plans for travelling the rest of the world for the next 5 years are in the making though, so will keep you posted!
GERMAN INNOCENCE
One thing I must say about the Germans is how adorably childlike and innocent they can be. For example, a traveller recounting an experience where he was in a movie cinema:
"The cinema showed an advertisement of happy people eating ice cream. When the advertisement was over, the lights went up and a guy emerged from the front with a tub and saying something along the lines of "so, anyone for ice cream?" Several happy eager German hands went up."
Bless them.
Another example was when I boarded a train to the bus station. Unsure if the train was going the right way I ask a dignified middle aged woman for assistance. Looking at my metro map she proceeded to trace the path of the train with her finger whilst making little choo choo train noises to the destination.
Bless them. Bless them all.
GASTRONOMY AND NIGHTLIFE IN BERLIN
Spent the last nights generally chilling out in cafes, eating currywurst from a stand punningly titled "Checkpoint Curry", and even went to eat in a Vietnamese restaurant (you don't see many of these) to see how it compares to Melbourne Vietnamese restaurants (it doesn't - not to be biased but there is nothing like the quality and diversity
that is Melbourne food. Melbourne cafes also makes the best coffees!). Also went out on the town with hostel folk, drinking at a squatter owned bar, avoiding the numerous black leather corseted prostitutes on the streets, and ending the night by hooking up with one Aussie girl whilst at the same time keeping her friends head out of the toilet
bowl due to too much vodka...
Gotta love Berlin!
POZNAN
After having to help push the bus to get it started, I finally made it to Poznan. Poznan is a lovely large town filled with pedestrianised streets, restaurants, shopping malls, cafes, and bars/clubs. Discovered a funky cool little cafe called "Cacao Republika" where I spent much time drinking the best thick hot chilli chocolate with cream and chilling out in the predominantly red cosy upper floor of lush carpets, soft sofas and black and white abstract art paintings on the walls; where one can look out the window and watch people walking below looking cold and miserable on the dark wet cobbled streets while feeling mightily pleased with yourself.
If the Polish know how to do anything wonderfully, it's town squares. Poznan is no exception, in fact I consider it one of the most beautiful squares in Poland, if not Europe! In fact:
HOW TO BUILD A (POLISH) TOWN SQUARE
1. Make a large squarish shaped area of cobbled stones.
2. Line it on all sides with magnificent historic coloured baroque/renaissance/art nouveau burgher (eventually, burger) houses. Turn the ground floors into bars, outdoor cafes and restaurants.
3. Place an extravagant and beautiful large building(s) in the middle of the square.
4. Surround this building with baroque fountains and statues of saints and pagan gods for good measure, just in case the building alone isn't glorious enough, and also to please any deities they may offend with by not honouring them in the construction.
5. Light the place up splendidly at night!
6. Add tacky souvenir stands, pigeons, buskers and tourists.
Voila! Your very own Polish town square!
GDANSK
I was planning to go to Torun, an town that escaped the destruction of WWII. However, due to the difficulty I faced trying to find cheap accommodation in Poznan* I opted for the more touristed Hanseatic town of Gdansk, a former Teutonic Knights stronghold, autonomous rich port town, and now a tourist Mecca.
*In Poland there are usually hostels open only during summer, every other time there are only youth hostels that close between 10am to 5pm; and curfew is 10pm!
One things for sure, after over two years of travelling, visiting a Germanic influenced city never fails to amaze and impress me with it's sheer beauty and design. Gdansk is no exception, with narrow historic burgher houses compressed together lining the streets and riverside. I went camera crazy!
A group of us at the hostel went to see a Polish Scar Rock band play one night, since the band members stayed at the hostel the night before and invited us. They were actually pretty good.
Tried some Bison Vodka. It is basically vodka containing a blade of grass or herb that the polish bisons eat, trample and do unhygienic things on I’m sure. Quite an interesting flavour.
FUNKY SOPOT
A funky cool town near Gdansk, which is where the hip and the young go to party by the beach side clubs and bars. However, much drinking with some crazy Russians from Kalingrad I met at the hostel who insisted on shots after shots of tequila and rum, meant that we were always smashed before we even left the hostel, so my memory of Sopot is a little blurry...
WESTERPLATTE - WHERE WWII BEGAN
Went to Westerplatte, which is where WWII started when Germany invaded Poland. The ruins of buildings on the seaside is still everywhere as testament to what occurred there. Inappropriately, I had decided that day to wear my new jacket with the world "Berlin" emblazoned on front, which might not have gone down too well in a historical place like this (but then I only decided to go there on impulse that day).
WARSAW
Left Gdansk for Warsaw with desires never to see another boiled egg for a while (long story)...
I didn't really plan to go to Warsaw, but it was the only way I could get to Lithuania. But I don't particularly regret it. Despite what many people say, Warsaw is actually a pretty cool city, cosmopolitan, great nightlife, friendly people... the old town is nothing exceptional however, and it's not really old since it is all reconstructed after WWII.
Anyway, tomorrow night I head for Lithuania... which will be nice since I’m getting sick of eating cabbage. ( I really don't know why the Polish are obsessed with it, they put it in EVERYTHING! )
Dzien Dobry,
Aaahh! Less than two months left before I have to go home, after an amazing and educational two years travelling Europe and the Middle East! Plans for travelling the rest of the world for the next 5 years are in the making though, so will keep you posted!
GERMAN INNOCENCE
One thing I must say about the Germans is how adorably childlike and innocent they can be. For example, a traveller recounting an experience where he was in a movie cinema:
"The cinema showed an advertisement of happy people eating ice cream. When the advertisement was over, the lights went up and a guy emerged from the front with a tub and saying something along the lines of "so, anyone for ice cream?" Several happy eager German hands went up."
Bless them.
Another example was when I boarded a train to the bus station. Unsure if the train was going the right way I ask a dignified middle aged woman for assistance. Looking at my metro map she proceeded to trace the path of the train with her finger whilst making little choo choo train noises to the destination.
Bless them. Bless them all.
GASTRONOMY AND NIGHTLIFE IN BERLIN
Spent the last nights generally chilling out in cafes, eating currywurst from a stand punningly titled "Checkpoint Curry", and even went to eat in a Vietnamese restaurant (you don't see many of these) to see how it compares to Melbourne Vietnamese restaurants (it doesn't - not to be biased but there is nothing like the quality and diversity
that is Melbourne food. Melbourne cafes also makes the best coffees!). Also went out on the town with hostel folk, drinking at a squatter owned bar, avoiding the numerous black leather corseted prostitutes on the streets, and ending the night by hooking up with one Aussie girl whilst at the same time keeping her friends head out of the toilet
bowl due to too much vodka...
Gotta love Berlin!
POZNAN
After having to help push the bus to get it started, I finally made it to Poznan. Poznan is a lovely large town filled with pedestrianised streets, restaurants, shopping malls, cafes, and bars/clubs. Discovered a funky cool little cafe called "Cacao Republika" where I spent much time drinking the best thick hot chilli chocolate with cream and chilling out in the predominantly red cosy upper floor of lush carpets, soft sofas and black and white abstract art paintings on the walls; where one can look out the window and watch people walking below looking cold and miserable on the dark wet cobbled streets while feeling mightily pleased with yourself.
If the Polish know how to do anything wonderfully, it's town squares. Poznan is no exception, in fact I consider it one of the most beautiful squares in Poland, if not Europe! In fact:
HOW TO BUILD A (POLISH) TOWN SQUARE
1. Make a large squarish shaped area of cobbled stones.
2. Line it on all sides with magnificent historic coloured baroque/renaissance/art nouveau burgher (eventually, burger) houses. Turn the ground floors into bars, outdoor cafes and restaurants.
3. Place an extravagant and beautiful large building(s) in the middle of the square.
4. Surround this building with baroque fountains and statues of saints and pagan gods for good measure, just in case the building alone isn't glorious enough, and also to please any deities they may offend with by not honouring them in the construction.
5. Light the place up splendidly at night!
6. Add tacky souvenir stands, pigeons, buskers and tourists.
Voila! Your very own Polish town square!
GDANSK
I was planning to go to Torun, an town that escaped the destruction of WWII. However, due to the difficulty I faced trying to find cheap accommodation in Poznan* I opted for the more touristed Hanseatic town of Gdansk, a former Teutonic Knights stronghold, autonomous rich port town, and now a tourist Mecca.
*In Poland there are usually hostels open only during summer, every other time there are only youth hostels that close between 10am to 5pm; and curfew is 10pm!
One things for sure, after over two years of travelling, visiting a Germanic influenced city never fails to amaze and impress me with it's sheer beauty and design. Gdansk is no exception, with narrow historic burgher houses compressed together lining the streets and riverside. I went camera crazy!
A group of us at the hostel went to see a Polish Scar Rock band play one night, since the band members stayed at the hostel the night before and invited us. They were actually pretty good.
Tried some Bison Vodka. It is basically vodka containing a blade of grass or herb that the polish bisons eat, trample and do unhygienic things on I’m sure. Quite an interesting flavour.
FUNKY SOPOT
A funky cool town near Gdansk, which is where the hip and the young go to party by the beach side clubs and bars. However, much drinking with some crazy Russians from Kalingrad I met at the hostel who insisted on shots after shots of tequila and rum, meant that we were always smashed before we even left the hostel, so my memory of Sopot is a little blurry...
WESTERPLATTE - WHERE WWII BEGAN
Went to Westerplatte, which is where WWII started when Germany invaded Poland. The ruins of buildings on the seaside is still everywhere as testament to what occurred there. Inappropriately, I had decided that day to wear my new jacket with the world "Berlin" emblazoned on front, which might not have gone down too well in a historical place like this (but then I only decided to go there on impulse that day).
WARSAW
Left Gdansk for Warsaw with desires never to see another boiled egg for a while (long story)...
I didn't really plan to go to Warsaw, but it was the only way I could get to Lithuania. But I don't particularly regret it. Despite what many people say, Warsaw is actually a pretty cool city, cosmopolitan, great nightlife, friendly people... the old town is nothing exceptional however, and it's not really old since it is all reconstructed after WWII.
Anyway, tomorrow night I head for Lithuania... which will be nice since I’m getting sick of eating cabbage. ( I really don't know why the Polish are obsessed with it, they put it in EVERYTHING! )
Saturday, October 1, 2005
Lovely (Rainy) Slovenia
Ljubljana - Postojan Caves - Lake Bled - Piran - Berlin
Pozdravljeni!
Ah, Slovenia, such a beautiful diverse little country closed in on all sides by its bigger neighbours. A microcosm of Europe, featuring lakes, mountains, caves, beaches, picturesque towns, and food with Italian, Hungarian, Croatian and Austrian influences. For example, a pizza burek, which is a Croatian/Turkish pastry with an Italian style filling.
Slovenians are such lovely docile people. Only in Slovenia can, during a time where terrorism is the focus of the world, can a strange man approach a bus driver and say "hey, can you deliver this suspicious looking package in the bus luggage compartment for me? Oh, and please put it right in the center of the bus thanks!" and the driver would happily do so with no questions asked.
Anyway..
LJUBLJANA
Is a lovely little town. Note that I said town, not city. Slovenians are deceiving themselves. The size and the laid back quiet atmosphere in this student populated town denotes this status in my mind. Ljubljana is a sheer delight to
wander though, pulling oneself up the steep winding ivy covered pathways to the pretty lame castle on top of the hill dominating over the sleepy town. Never had I seen a castle with a billboard advertising womens lingerie in the centre of its courtyard. Speaking of which, much billboard advertising in this country is rather sexual in its nature. You would see billboards of women in various states of undress being licked or fondled in a rather intimate manner. I’ve seen a girl in a walking billboard, which just displayed a naked woman’s body. Not quite sure what it was advertising there...
More stunning is the river cutting across the town, joined by several picturesque romantic bridges and promenades, with trees turning into autumn colours, and Italian and Austrian baroque and renaissance style architecture, some clad with auburn and green ivy.
The hostel I stayed at used to be a prison, recently converted into a funky hostel complete with oriental waterpipe chill out room, meditation room, bar, and all sorts of amenities to make a backpacker feel at home. The prison cells themselves have been decorated each in their own individual artistic way. In a nutshell, this is a rather hippy hostel, owned by the university and situated in the "free" hippy druggy area of Ljubljana.
This hostel is the first hostel I've ever been to where the bed I was sleeping in is on top of the fire exit, which is a trapdoor leading apparently to poles to slide down. I was tempted to set off the fire alarm so I could pretend to be Batman and utilise it but I don’t think that would go down too well with the hostel. Then again, I’m not impressed with the hostel after they didn’t believe/refund me when the first night I was attacked by bugs crawling from the wooden walls, resulting in me sleeping in the kitchen. Eventually they did believe me when others started complaining about being bitten, but I could not convince them to do the moral right thing. So, 23 euros wasted on a room I didn’t sleep in.
POSTOJAN CAVES
Did a day trip to the heavily touristed Postojan caves, touted as the largest limestone karst caves in Europe if not the world. We entered the cave to be led to an electric train, where we were whisked through like a funfair ride to the first couple of kilometres, oohing and aahhing at the stalagmites and stalactites and taking illegal photos of
everything. It felt like such a funfair ride that I was expecting to see puppets or characters popping up from behind the karst formations with laser lights and smoke screens. It was actually quite fun.
Anyway, we emerged into the main chamber, a massive area filled with stalagmites and stalactites and everything in between, in assorted colours of white, yellow, red, black and brown. In the centre sat a mountain covered with said karst formations. We reached a pool where we were told we would see the famous human fish. It wasn’t that impressive. For one thing, it was a salamander. Secondly it didn’t look human at all; just the colour is the colour of (Caucasian) human skin.
Finally, we entered what was referred to as the concert chamber, as concerts would be performed there due to the acoustics. Everyone thus proceeded to test the acoustics by screeching and screaming rather irritatingly. I must say the irritating screeching did reach my ears quite loudly and clearly even in the other side of the hall...
LAKE BLED
Did a day trip to the famous Lake Bled, on what was probably the worst day to choose to go. For some reason we looked at the dark clouds coming in and thought "hey what a great day to go visit the lake". Thus we found ourselves halfway around the 7km walking trail around the picturesque clear blue lake lined with trees turning into that lovely autumn colours when it started to pour down with rain. Adding to our misery, we decided to climb up the steep muddy trail up to the lovely castle perched up on the hill overlooking the lake, only to find that close up it really wasn't so nice after all, and you had to pay to get in, even if you just wanted to get out of the rain into the
restaurant within. Still, it was a lovely place to visit, surrounded by snow capped mountains, the middle of the lake featuring a little monastery on an island, where resides the bell of wishes - one can ring the bell and make a wish and apparently the wish will come true. I wondered who wished for the pouring rain...
A "ROMANTIC" TIME ON THE SLOVENIAN COAST
I had two options, either catch a train to Bratislava to meet up with my ex-Slovakian girlfriend Jana, or go with Stephanie, a sweet bright Aussie girl studying medicine who I hooked up with, to Piran, a small coastal town on the Slovenian coast. Because Jana had not been able to confirm being able to meet me due to work and family commitments, I decided in the last minute to go to Piran.
We got to Piran just before it started pouring down with rain. Piran is a beautiful city on a peninsula, very Venetian except there are no water canals. We constantly came to the conclusion that 1. Piran is a pretty lovely town, and 2. The pouring rain is driving us #%& insane! To add to the romantic atmosphere, we both had colds that we were
trying to shake off. If going to the coast to find sun and relaxation was the remedy we were looking for we were clearly deluding ourselves. We still managed to have fun though, at one stage playing the most ferocious game of snap I’ve ever played with anyone with my Saddam Hussein pack of playing cards I bought in Jordan.
BEING IN A REALITY TV SHOW IN LJUBLJANA
Parted company with Stephanie back in Ljubljana while she continued on to Zagreb. I had booked myself a flight to Berlin leaving the next day (it was the most convenient quickest cheapest way of getting to my next destination Poznan on the north of Poland. Besides, I need any excuse to visit Berlin my favourite city).
So, the last night in Slovenia was spent going out on the town. Me and some hostel folk ended up in a bar that turned out to be the location for a Slovenian reality TV show, where the bar staff are contestants who are voted off every week by TV and Internet viewers. The winner gets a million Tolars and a car. The bar had cameras all over the place and naturally everyone wanted to talk to the bar staff and perhaps get on TV. I'm sure my crazy dancing and ethnicity got me on if anything else.
Anyway, next morning, slightly hungover, I took off for Berlin, which is where I am now.
NOW WHAT?
Every time I come back to Berlin it always reinforces my belief that it is my favourite city. I just love chilling out here in the atmospheric cafes and going out to the cool funky bars and clubs..
Tomorrow I'm catching a bus to Poznan to explore Northern Poland and
the Baltics.
Dasvidenia!
Pozdravljeni!
Ah, Slovenia, such a beautiful diverse little country closed in on all sides by its bigger neighbours. A microcosm of Europe, featuring lakes, mountains, caves, beaches, picturesque towns, and food with Italian, Hungarian, Croatian and Austrian influences. For example, a pizza burek, which is a Croatian/Turkish pastry with an Italian style filling.
Slovenians are such lovely docile people. Only in Slovenia can, during a time where terrorism is the focus of the world, can a strange man approach a bus driver and say "hey, can you deliver this suspicious looking package in the bus luggage compartment for me? Oh, and please put it right in the center of the bus thanks!" and the driver would happily do so with no questions asked.
Anyway..
LJUBLJANA
Is a lovely little town. Note that I said town, not city. Slovenians are deceiving themselves. The size and the laid back quiet atmosphere in this student populated town denotes this status in my mind. Ljubljana is a sheer delight to
wander though, pulling oneself up the steep winding ivy covered pathways to the pretty lame castle on top of the hill dominating over the sleepy town. Never had I seen a castle with a billboard advertising womens lingerie in the centre of its courtyard. Speaking of which, much billboard advertising in this country is rather sexual in its nature. You would see billboards of women in various states of undress being licked or fondled in a rather intimate manner. I’ve seen a girl in a walking billboard, which just displayed a naked woman’s body. Not quite sure what it was advertising there...
More stunning is the river cutting across the town, joined by several picturesque romantic bridges and promenades, with trees turning into autumn colours, and Italian and Austrian baroque and renaissance style architecture, some clad with auburn and green ivy.
The hostel I stayed at used to be a prison, recently converted into a funky hostel complete with oriental waterpipe chill out room, meditation room, bar, and all sorts of amenities to make a backpacker feel at home. The prison cells themselves have been decorated each in their own individual artistic way. In a nutshell, this is a rather hippy hostel, owned by the university and situated in the "free" hippy druggy area of Ljubljana.
This hostel is the first hostel I've ever been to where the bed I was sleeping in is on top of the fire exit, which is a trapdoor leading apparently to poles to slide down. I was tempted to set off the fire alarm so I could pretend to be Batman and utilise it but I don’t think that would go down too well with the hostel. Then again, I’m not impressed with the hostel after they didn’t believe/refund me when the first night I was attacked by bugs crawling from the wooden walls, resulting in me sleeping in the kitchen. Eventually they did believe me when others started complaining about being bitten, but I could not convince them to do the moral right thing. So, 23 euros wasted on a room I didn’t sleep in.
POSTOJAN CAVES
Did a day trip to the heavily touristed Postojan caves, touted as the largest limestone karst caves in Europe if not the world. We entered the cave to be led to an electric train, where we were whisked through like a funfair ride to the first couple of kilometres, oohing and aahhing at the stalagmites and stalactites and taking illegal photos of
everything. It felt like such a funfair ride that I was expecting to see puppets or characters popping up from behind the karst formations with laser lights and smoke screens. It was actually quite fun.
Anyway, we emerged into the main chamber, a massive area filled with stalagmites and stalactites and everything in between, in assorted colours of white, yellow, red, black and brown. In the centre sat a mountain covered with said karst formations. We reached a pool where we were told we would see the famous human fish. It wasn’t that impressive. For one thing, it was a salamander. Secondly it didn’t look human at all; just the colour is the colour of (Caucasian) human skin.
Finally, we entered what was referred to as the concert chamber, as concerts would be performed there due to the acoustics. Everyone thus proceeded to test the acoustics by screeching and screaming rather irritatingly. I must say the irritating screeching did reach my ears quite loudly and clearly even in the other side of the hall...
LAKE BLED
Did a day trip to the famous Lake Bled, on what was probably the worst day to choose to go. For some reason we looked at the dark clouds coming in and thought "hey what a great day to go visit the lake". Thus we found ourselves halfway around the 7km walking trail around the picturesque clear blue lake lined with trees turning into that lovely autumn colours when it started to pour down with rain. Adding to our misery, we decided to climb up the steep muddy trail up to the lovely castle perched up on the hill overlooking the lake, only to find that close up it really wasn't so nice after all, and you had to pay to get in, even if you just wanted to get out of the rain into the
restaurant within. Still, it was a lovely place to visit, surrounded by snow capped mountains, the middle of the lake featuring a little monastery on an island, where resides the bell of wishes - one can ring the bell and make a wish and apparently the wish will come true. I wondered who wished for the pouring rain...
A "ROMANTIC" TIME ON THE SLOVENIAN COAST
I had two options, either catch a train to Bratislava to meet up with my ex-Slovakian girlfriend Jana, or go with Stephanie, a sweet bright Aussie girl studying medicine who I hooked up with, to Piran, a small coastal town on the Slovenian coast. Because Jana had not been able to confirm being able to meet me due to work and family commitments, I decided in the last minute to go to Piran.
We got to Piran just before it started pouring down with rain. Piran is a beautiful city on a peninsula, very Venetian except there are no water canals. We constantly came to the conclusion that 1. Piran is a pretty lovely town, and 2. The pouring rain is driving us #%& insane! To add to the romantic atmosphere, we both had colds that we were
trying to shake off. If going to the coast to find sun and relaxation was the remedy we were looking for we were clearly deluding ourselves. We still managed to have fun though, at one stage playing the most ferocious game of snap I’ve ever played with anyone with my Saddam Hussein pack of playing cards I bought in Jordan.
BEING IN A REALITY TV SHOW IN LJUBLJANA
Parted company with Stephanie back in Ljubljana while she continued on to Zagreb. I had booked myself a flight to Berlin leaving the next day (it was the most convenient quickest cheapest way of getting to my next destination Poznan on the north of Poland. Besides, I need any excuse to visit Berlin my favourite city).
So, the last night in Slovenia was spent going out on the town. Me and some hostel folk ended up in a bar that turned out to be the location for a Slovenian reality TV show, where the bar staff are contestants who are voted off every week by TV and Internet viewers. The winner gets a million Tolars and a car. The bar had cameras all over the place and naturally everyone wanted to talk to the bar staff and perhaps get on TV. I'm sure my crazy dancing and ethnicity got me on if anything else.
Anyway, next morning, slightly hungover, I took off for Berlin, which is where I am now.
NOW WHAT?
Every time I come back to Berlin it always reinforces my belief that it is my favourite city. I just love chilling out here in the atmospheric cafes and going out to the cool funky bars and clubs..
Tomorrow I'm catching a bus to Poznan to explore Northern Poland and
the Baltics.
Dasvidenia!
Monday, September 26, 2005
Sampling Nightlife from Budapest to Ljubljana
Budapest - Pecs - Barcs - Zagreb - Ljubljana
Dobro Den!
FAILED MISSION IN BUDAPEST
So, Budapest. Second time I’ve visited this gloriously beautiful city, and the second time I have attempted to locate the real nightlife but failed miserably! It seems there are two types of nightlife places, the decoy tourist clubs with shocking music and no atmosphere, or the "hidden in backstreets with no signage" local joints, another world
that us tourists can never be part of.
Oh well, at least I got to take some great night shots of Budapest from top of the citadella, one of the best panoramic nightshots I’ve ever seen.
Anyway, deciding that Budapest was not showing me its Hungarian cultural side*, I decided to catch the next train to a town south of Hungary called Pecs.
* Due to the fact that it has become a tragic tourist trap that Prague, Krakow, Tallinn and the Croatian coast has become, and also being an international city where I found more Chinese restaurants than actual authentic Hungarian cuisine, the Hungarian cuisine naturally being "touristified" for tourist's benefit. Ha, funny how I detest tourists even though I am one myself. And of course it’s a hierarchy system of who you can look down with a "I am better and wiser than thou" attitude.
Here it is;
JAMES' TOURIST "BETTER THAN THOU" HIERACHY SYSTEM
First, at the bottom of the hierarchy, its the tour groups, usually led by a pink umbrella or something stupid with a very short guideperson attached. Worst thing about them is when you want to look at a museum piece or enter a room, and they block the whole place up! Middle aged American tourgroups are the worst, with "aw my gawd" exchanges and the stupid things they say. Stop me before I become too vitriolic!
Then the eurorail/interrail pass users who only hop from one big city to the next, sometimes staying for a night before hopping on the next train to the next town (the Japanese are notorious for this insanity! In Sarajevo I met two Japanese who arrived that afternoon, who quickly saw the town, then next morning caught a train to Belgrade, to catch another train to Sofia later that day! I think for them it's about collecting passport stamps to show off back at home).
Then tourists like me, relying on public transport and hoping from town to town at random. We usually hate being called tourists, preferring the more mysterious "traveller" term. Of course, the longer we travel, the more sagious and higher up the hierarchy we are (as well as more arrogant). Seniority in a group of travellers is also dictated not on age, height or race, but by how long you've travelled. "So, How long have you been travelling for James?" "Oh, only about over two years" I say matter of factly. "Wow that's a long time!" they exclaim as I sniff pretentiously. The guy in the corner says "Really, I’ve been going for five!" The attention switches to him and I’ve suddenly become insignificant.
Then, those crazy people (usually the Germans) who just walk or hitch hike or bike ride from village to village from one end of the continent to the end of another (Europe to Asia or Africa for example). These people also usually smell.
Finally, the arrogant expats who tell you that "a week in a city is just passing through, you have to live in the city for a couple of years to really know it."(which is untrue, I’ve lived in Melbourne all my life and don't know that much about it!).
Anyway, I digress...
PECS
On arrival, I took out my increasingly unreliable Lonely Planet guide and sought out a hotel that seems to offer dorm beds which would save me money. Of course, I discover from the cute receptionist (me and hostel receptionists, its a terrible addiction I know) that they stopped having them 3 years ago! Stupid LP. Anyway, while trying to discuss possible discount rates for a single room and a date (just kidding! Really!), two English blokes walked in, with the same intention (finding a dorm bed AND chatting up the receptionist). Anyway, a quick exchange of standard traveller "where you from, how long you're staying etc" banter, pooled forces, and voila, we ended up sharing a 3 bed room for a price of a standard dorm bed. Phew!
Pecs is quite a pleasant town, but unfortunately there really is not much to see apart from the stunning 4 towered Romanesque cathedral and historical Synagogue. The atmosphere felt alot distinctly more Hungarian as there were hardly a tourist to be seen, less English spoken, and actual Hungarian meals (Though the bloody Brits insisted
on a Mexican meal the first night there.)
Oh, and did finally go to a local discotheque outside the city centre, but it wasn’t really any different to other discotheques I’ve been to around Europe. Oh well. Naturally did my standard get drunk and dance on the podium or pole dance thing I really should stop doing for sake of dignity.
After a few days I decided it was time to leave Hungary and re-enter Croatia. So, farewelled my Brit friends and, going against receptionist advice, decided to take the more macho unreliable and difficult route via bus instead of the more direct train (because I couldn’t be bothered waking up 15 minutes earlier!)
WHY BEING BOTHERED GETTING UP 15 MINUTES EARLIER TO CATCH A TRAIN
INSTEAD OF A BUS IS WORTH THE EFFORT
So, I caught a bus from Pecs to Barcs, a town in the border, believing naively that naturally there has to be many buses that go across the border into Croatia, where from there I could catch more frequent buses to the capital Zagreb. Boy was I wrong about that.
I was dropped off somewhere resembling the center of this village border town and was told some instructions in unintelligible Hungarian where to catch what later turned out to be an ghost bus. So, deciding that the bus was definitely not coming after an hour waiting, I ask an old lady for assistance. This started a chain reaction in the village, where I was passed from person to person like a bad penny while they discussed and debated how to get to Croatia. Soon, I had a crowd of locals around me, solving this perplexing problem. Finally, the gist I got was that I had to go to the bus station 2km down the road, cause frankly, they didn't have a clue! Oh well, at least I got them out of their morning routine.
So, walked to the bus station, while many people rode past in bikes staring at me as they passed (they love their bikes there, no one seems to walk in the town, they should change the name Barcs to Bikes! Bad joke). I got to the bus station to find out that my ghost bus actually does exist, but the 9am one I was planning to catch does not run anymore, the next and only bus across the border leaves at 4pm. But the good news is that it goes all the way to Zagreb. Great. Now, the only thing was what on earth was I going to do in this tiny town till 4pm? (it was currently 10am).
ZAGREB - CITY OF PARTY ANIMALS
Ah, the sound of the Slavic tongue, one of my favourite languages. For some reason I find it not too difficult to learn once you get the hang of it. And the people from the former Yugoslavia are lovely, it’s a shame they are all nationalistic and hate one another (Croats hate Slovenians and Serbians).
Zagreb is a capital city that hasn’t lost its cultural charm, mainly because most people have no interest in visiting the place (the locals think the same). But it is a lovely chilled out city, with many events, such as the Red Bull BMX Marketplace Race, and the World Corporate Games, which took place while I was there.
One great thing about Zagreb was the size of their pizzas! Order a medium and you can feed an entire army! Never seen or ordered a large (jumbo) but I’m sure one could solve the problem with world hunger today!
The nightlife is excellent, though you have to seek locals to tell you the good places. Croatians I have discovered seem to be quite mellow and chilled out, but get them completely intoxicated and they become party animals! Many times you'd see me being dragged by them (literally) to the dance floor, and to other clubs nearby. Heck, I was
even piggybacked to one club from the bar by some guy as a show of admiration (can't remember what for, I think it was for being Vietnamese or something, I was drunk also )
In one of the bars I went to, I met one of the most interesting characters on my travels. He was an old funny Croatian guy who had just came out of the insane asylum that afternoon (seriously, no joke), with the mannerisms of Robin Williams, Jim Carrey and Gerard Depardieu. Couldn't stop laughing at his antics all night!
WHERE AM I NOW?
I'm currently in a prison converted into a hostel (apparently) in Ljubljana, Slovenia, with lack of sleep due to yesterday partying in Zagreb. I've heard good things about Ljubljana. Having said that, it's starting to rain...
Dobro Den!
FAILED MISSION IN BUDAPEST
So, Budapest. Second time I’ve visited this gloriously beautiful city, and the second time I have attempted to locate the real nightlife but failed miserably! It seems there are two types of nightlife places, the decoy tourist clubs with shocking music and no atmosphere, or the "hidden in backstreets with no signage" local joints, another world
that us tourists can never be part of.
Oh well, at least I got to take some great night shots of Budapest from top of the citadella, one of the best panoramic nightshots I’ve ever seen.
Anyway, deciding that Budapest was not showing me its Hungarian cultural side*, I decided to catch the next train to a town south of Hungary called Pecs.
* Due to the fact that it has become a tragic tourist trap that Prague, Krakow, Tallinn and the Croatian coast has become, and also being an international city where I found more Chinese restaurants than actual authentic Hungarian cuisine, the Hungarian cuisine naturally being "touristified" for tourist's benefit. Ha, funny how I detest tourists even though I am one myself. And of course it’s a hierarchy system of who you can look down with a "I am better and wiser than thou" attitude.
Here it is;
JAMES' TOURIST "BETTER THAN THOU" HIERACHY SYSTEM
First, at the bottom of the hierarchy, its the tour groups, usually led by a pink umbrella or something stupid with a very short guideperson attached. Worst thing about them is when you want to look at a museum piece or enter a room, and they block the whole place up! Middle aged American tourgroups are the worst, with "aw my gawd" exchanges and the stupid things they say. Stop me before I become too vitriolic!
Then the eurorail/interrail pass users who only hop from one big city to the next, sometimes staying for a night before hopping on the next train to the next town (the Japanese are notorious for this insanity! In Sarajevo I met two Japanese who arrived that afternoon, who quickly saw the town, then next morning caught a train to Belgrade, to catch another train to Sofia later that day! I think for them it's about collecting passport stamps to show off back at home).
Then tourists like me, relying on public transport and hoping from town to town at random. We usually hate being called tourists, preferring the more mysterious "traveller" term. Of course, the longer we travel, the more sagious and higher up the hierarchy we are (as well as more arrogant). Seniority in a group of travellers is also dictated not on age, height or race, but by how long you've travelled. "So, How long have you been travelling for James?" "Oh, only about over two years" I say matter of factly. "Wow that's a long time!" they exclaim as I sniff pretentiously. The guy in the corner says "Really, I’ve been going for five!" The attention switches to him and I’ve suddenly become insignificant.
Then, those crazy people (usually the Germans) who just walk or hitch hike or bike ride from village to village from one end of the continent to the end of another (Europe to Asia or Africa for example). These people also usually smell.
Finally, the arrogant expats who tell you that "a week in a city is just passing through, you have to live in the city for a couple of years to really know it."(which is untrue, I’ve lived in Melbourne all my life and don't know that much about it!).
Anyway, I digress...
PECS
On arrival, I took out my increasingly unreliable Lonely Planet guide and sought out a hotel that seems to offer dorm beds which would save me money. Of course, I discover from the cute receptionist (me and hostel receptionists, its a terrible addiction I know) that they stopped having them 3 years ago! Stupid LP. Anyway, while trying to discuss possible discount rates for a single room and a date (just kidding! Really!), two English blokes walked in, with the same intention (finding a dorm bed AND chatting up the receptionist). Anyway, a quick exchange of standard traveller "where you from, how long you're staying etc" banter, pooled forces, and voila, we ended up sharing a 3 bed room for a price of a standard dorm bed. Phew!
Pecs is quite a pleasant town, but unfortunately there really is not much to see apart from the stunning 4 towered Romanesque cathedral and historical Synagogue. The atmosphere felt alot distinctly more Hungarian as there were hardly a tourist to be seen, less English spoken, and actual Hungarian meals (Though the bloody Brits insisted
on a Mexican meal the first night there.)
Oh, and did finally go to a local discotheque outside the city centre, but it wasn’t really any different to other discotheques I’ve been to around Europe. Oh well. Naturally did my standard get drunk and dance on the podium or pole dance thing I really should stop doing for sake of dignity.
After a few days I decided it was time to leave Hungary and re-enter Croatia. So, farewelled my Brit friends and, going against receptionist advice, decided to take the more macho unreliable and difficult route via bus instead of the more direct train (because I couldn’t be bothered waking up 15 minutes earlier!)
WHY BEING BOTHERED GETTING UP 15 MINUTES EARLIER TO CATCH A TRAIN
INSTEAD OF A BUS IS WORTH THE EFFORT
So, I caught a bus from Pecs to Barcs, a town in the border, believing naively that naturally there has to be many buses that go across the border into Croatia, where from there I could catch more frequent buses to the capital Zagreb. Boy was I wrong about that.
I was dropped off somewhere resembling the center of this village border town and was told some instructions in unintelligible Hungarian where to catch what later turned out to be an ghost bus. So, deciding that the bus was definitely not coming after an hour waiting, I ask an old lady for assistance. This started a chain reaction in the village, where I was passed from person to person like a bad penny while they discussed and debated how to get to Croatia. Soon, I had a crowd of locals around me, solving this perplexing problem. Finally, the gist I got was that I had to go to the bus station 2km down the road, cause frankly, they didn't have a clue! Oh well, at least I got them out of their morning routine.
So, walked to the bus station, while many people rode past in bikes staring at me as they passed (they love their bikes there, no one seems to walk in the town, they should change the name Barcs to Bikes! Bad joke). I got to the bus station to find out that my ghost bus actually does exist, but the 9am one I was planning to catch does not run anymore, the next and only bus across the border leaves at 4pm. But the good news is that it goes all the way to Zagreb. Great. Now, the only thing was what on earth was I going to do in this tiny town till 4pm? (it was currently 10am).
ZAGREB - CITY OF PARTY ANIMALS
Ah, the sound of the Slavic tongue, one of my favourite languages. For some reason I find it not too difficult to learn once you get the hang of it. And the people from the former Yugoslavia are lovely, it’s a shame they are all nationalistic and hate one another (Croats hate Slovenians and Serbians).
Zagreb is a capital city that hasn’t lost its cultural charm, mainly because most people have no interest in visiting the place (the locals think the same). But it is a lovely chilled out city, with many events, such as the Red Bull BMX Marketplace Race, and the World Corporate Games, which took place while I was there.
One great thing about Zagreb was the size of their pizzas! Order a medium and you can feed an entire army! Never seen or ordered a large (jumbo) but I’m sure one could solve the problem with world hunger today!
The nightlife is excellent, though you have to seek locals to tell you the good places. Croatians I have discovered seem to be quite mellow and chilled out, but get them completely intoxicated and they become party animals! Many times you'd see me being dragged by them (literally) to the dance floor, and to other clubs nearby. Heck, I was
even piggybacked to one club from the bar by some guy as a show of admiration (can't remember what for, I think it was for being Vietnamese or something, I was drunk also )
In one of the bars I went to, I met one of the most interesting characters on my travels. He was an old funny Croatian guy who had just came out of the insane asylum that afternoon (seriously, no joke), with the mannerisms of Robin Williams, Jim Carrey and Gerard Depardieu. Couldn't stop laughing at his antics all night!
WHERE AM I NOW?
I'm currently in a prison converted into a hostel (apparently) in Ljubljana, Slovenia, with lack of sleep due to yesterday partying in Zagreb. I've heard good things about Ljubljana. Having said that, it's starting to rain...
Friday, September 23, 2005
Rural Romania
Suceava - Humor - Voronets - Moldovita - Suceavita – Sighetu Maramureti - Sapanta - Budapest - Pecs - Zagreb
Jo napot kivanok! (Hungarian for hello, quite difficult a language)
FIRST, A JOKE:
European Heaven:
-English Police
-German Mechanic
-French Chef
-Italian Lover
-Swiss Government
European Hell:
-English Chef
-German Police
-French Mechanic
-Italian Government
-Swiss Lover
WILD BEAR WATCHING IN BRASOV
Left Brasov after going bear watching, which involved driving up and down the street littered with garbage bins, the boundary between civilisation and the forest. Eventually we saw what we were waiting for; dogs barking announced the arrival of a mother and four cubs who were looking to scavenge the bins for food. Unfortunately, the bears became frightened and ran off when dogs came running out barking, and everyone’s flash photography went off.
SUCEAVA - JAMES SORDID LOVE LIFE SOAP OPERA CONTINUES
Spent the night in a corn field in the middle of remote Romania with a New Zealand girl under the full harvest moon and the stars. Quite romantic really. We actually first met in the hostel in Sibiu, which Iulia pointed out I was flirting with (I really wasn't - It was annoying how Iulia would not leave her horrible boyfriend for me (Romanians are very apathetic, tending to put up with what they're used to), yet treated me in a way as if i were hers.) It was unexpected to bump into her in Suceava, which is a rural town in the Moldavian region north east of Romania.
Stayed in the "High Class Hostel" run by an energetic enterprising girl named Monika, famous in Lonely Planet. The hostel is just out of Suceava, in a little village surrounded by corn and maize fields, tractors, and hay stacks. Got addicted to her famous home cooking and stayed longer than planned. She gave me the last night and dinner there free because I stayed quite long. I'm going to do a revamp on her dreadful website in return, shouldn't take more than a day to fix up. She's also considering coming to Oz for the winter and I’ve invited her to stay with me in that case but I guess we'll wait and see...
Suceava isn't the most exciting city, there's an old fortress and a few churches. In fact the picturesque journey through the dramatic white cliffed forested Carpathians was more interesting. The main reason for being in Suceava was to see its famous painted monasteries of the Moldavian Bucovina region.
THE PAINTED MONASTERIES OF HUMOR, VORONETS, MOLDOVITA, AND SUCEAVITA
Monika drove us around the Moldavian region to visit the four main painted monasteries in the area. All of the monasteries were covered with painted Byzantine murals, the paint itself containing a substance scientists haven't
worked out how the paintings have remained so well preserved against the elements.
Humor is the smallest and predominantly red, and lacking a bell tower as it is a family monastery as opposed to the royal monasteries of the other 3.
Voronets is blue with a fascinating Judgement day mural containing a scroll of pagan Zodiac signs being rolled up by angels signalling the end of time.
Moldovita is yellow, and is the most picturesque and grand of the 4, with a well tended flower garden looked after by the nuns.
Finally, Suceavita, green, with a interesting mural of the ladder of virtues. All these monasteries inclosed within a fortress courtyard complete with towers, all located in some isolated part of the countryside (which isn't hard to find in Moldavia).
SIGHETU MARAMURES - BACK IN THE 18th CENTURY
Maramures was pretty cool, a rural farming area, they still wear traditional dress, lots of horse drawn carriages, hay stacks scattered in the vast fields, and towns built completely out of wood. Hate to see what happens in case of fire. Here you can see farm animals who are able to walk themselves to the fields in the morning and return back to their homes at night, unassisted and unaccompanied. There's also a status thing about having over the top enormous intricately carved wooden gates in front of their houses.
Anyway, there were two reasons for visiting this remote northern area of Romania, to see the Merry Cemetery, and the see the old wooden churches famous in this region. The churches was as you expect; brown, made completely out of wood, several centuries old, with very steep wooden roofs to ensure snow does not collect and collapse the
roof in. All this usually surrounded by a beautiful peaceful cemetery.
The Merry Cemetery is a cemetery that is famous for it's colourful humorous tombstones depicting a scene of the persons life and death. There are ones showing the person in their trade, also several ones showing how the person died, such as in a car accident. This is part of the traditional Romanian way of laughing at their troubles, even death (though this is probably more older generation, the younger are just chronically depressed).
Anyway, I thought, do I go to Cluj, Oradea, or leave Romania for Budapest? Coin flips and convenient bus schedules and voila, finally made it out of 18th century Romania after a long bumpy overnight bus to Budapest, quite a change being in a big city after such a long stint in small villages and towns.
I've already been to Budapest and seen the sights, so I may just chill out and go to the clubs at night that I missed last time. I'll write about that next email.
Viszontlatasra!
Jo napot kivanok! (Hungarian for hello, quite difficult a language)
FIRST, A JOKE:
European Heaven:
-English Police
-German Mechanic
-French Chef
-Italian Lover
-Swiss Government
European Hell:
-English Chef
-German Police
-French Mechanic
-Italian Government
-Swiss Lover
WILD BEAR WATCHING IN BRASOV
Left Brasov after going bear watching, which involved driving up and down the street littered with garbage bins, the boundary between civilisation and the forest. Eventually we saw what we were waiting for; dogs barking announced the arrival of a mother and four cubs who were looking to scavenge the bins for food. Unfortunately, the bears became frightened and ran off when dogs came running out barking, and everyone’s flash photography went off.
SUCEAVA - JAMES SORDID LOVE LIFE SOAP OPERA CONTINUES
Spent the night in a corn field in the middle of remote Romania with a New Zealand girl under the full harvest moon and the stars. Quite romantic really. We actually first met in the hostel in Sibiu, which Iulia pointed out I was flirting with (I really wasn't - It was annoying how Iulia would not leave her horrible boyfriend for me (Romanians are very apathetic, tending to put up with what they're used to), yet treated me in a way as if i were hers.) It was unexpected to bump into her in Suceava, which is a rural town in the Moldavian region north east of Romania.
Stayed in the "High Class Hostel" run by an energetic enterprising girl named Monika, famous in Lonely Planet. The hostel is just out of Suceava, in a little village surrounded by corn and maize fields, tractors, and hay stacks. Got addicted to her famous home cooking and stayed longer than planned. She gave me the last night and dinner there free because I stayed quite long. I'm going to do a revamp on her dreadful website in return, shouldn't take more than a day to fix up. She's also considering coming to Oz for the winter and I’ve invited her to stay with me in that case but I guess we'll wait and see...
Suceava isn't the most exciting city, there's an old fortress and a few churches. In fact the picturesque journey through the dramatic white cliffed forested Carpathians was more interesting. The main reason for being in Suceava was to see its famous painted monasteries of the Moldavian Bucovina region.
THE PAINTED MONASTERIES OF HUMOR, VORONETS, MOLDOVITA, AND SUCEAVITA
Monika drove us around the Moldavian region to visit the four main painted monasteries in the area. All of the monasteries were covered with painted Byzantine murals, the paint itself containing a substance scientists haven't
worked out how the paintings have remained so well preserved against the elements.
Humor is the smallest and predominantly red, and lacking a bell tower as it is a family monastery as opposed to the royal monasteries of the other 3.
Voronets is blue with a fascinating Judgement day mural containing a scroll of pagan Zodiac signs being rolled up by angels signalling the end of time.
Moldovita is yellow, and is the most picturesque and grand of the 4, with a well tended flower garden looked after by the nuns.
Finally, Suceavita, green, with a interesting mural of the ladder of virtues. All these monasteries inclosed within a fortress courtyard complete with towers, all located in some isolated part of the countryside (which isn't hard to find in Moldavia).
SIGHETU MARAMURES - BACK IN THE 18th CENTURY
Maramures was pretty cool, a rural farming area, they still wear traditional dress, lots of horse drawn carriages, hay stacks scattered in the vast fields, and towns built completely out of wood. Hate to see what happens in case of fire. Here you can see farm animals who are able to walk themselves to the fields in the morning and return back to their homes at night, unassisted and unaccompanied. There's also a status thing about having over the top enormous intricately carved wooden gates in front of their houses.
Anyway, there were two reasons for visiting this remote northern area of Romania, to see the Merry Cemetery, and the see the old wooden churches famous in this region. The churches was as you expect; brown, made completely out of wood, several centuries old, with very steep wooden roofs to ensure snow does not collect and collapse the
roof in. All this usually surrounded by a beautiful peaceful cemetery.
The Merry Cemetery is a cemetery that is famous for it's colourful humorous tombstones depicting a scene of the persons life and death. There are ones showing the person in their trade, also several ones showing how the person died, such as in a car accident. This is part of the traditional Romanian way of laughing at their troubles, even death (though this is probably more older generation, the younger are just chronically depressed).
Anyway, I thought, do I go to Cluj, Oradea, or leave Romania for Budapest? Coin flips and convenient bus schedules and voila, finally made it out of 18th century Romania after a long bumpy overnight bus to Budapest, quite a change being in a big city after such a long stint in small villages and towns.
I've already been to Budapest and seen the sights, so I may just chill out and go to the clubs at night that I missed last time. I'll write about that next email.
Viszontlatasra!
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