Thursday 3rd July: Today it rained for the best part of the day so just boring housekeeping duties. Sent a box home from the postoffice which cost me 1,500 Kn ($100 AUD)! Did a load of washing and then sat in a cafe watching people getting drenched in the sudden downpours in the main shopping precinct. Tomorrow should be a fine day for sightseeing in many forms! [View Full Entry]

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Wednesday 2nd July: Well its official - what they say about the girls in Prague is true! I could spend a whole afternoon sitting at a street cafe on the Vaclavske nam shopping strip 'pretending' to read cocktail menus but time is of the essence here in this beautiful city. Prague appears to have everything - It has amazing historical architecture, it's clean, it has a great vibrant buzz about it and the sensational eye candy is a bonus. I have checked into another bargain 4 star hotel through wotif.com right in the centre of Prague between the Old City and [View Full Entry]

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Tuesday 1st July: Spent the morning meandering through the back streets of this ancient little town before taking a tour of the Cesky Krumlov Castle. The theme in each room of the castle has been maintained with the same decor and furniture that was in place during its actual occupancy however I doubt some of it was original given the castle has been restored in many areas during the 1800's. The views from the bell tower were very impressive which gave 360 degree views across the town as I walked around the outside perimeter at the top. I then booked a [View Full Entry]

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Monday 30th June: Franz dropped me off at the central Vienna station where I caught a train to Cesky Budejovice and then on to Cesky Krumlov in the south of Czech Republic. The town has a river that circles through it and it reminds me a lot of Bright in Victoria as the water is the clearest I have seen so far on this trip. I wondered around the old town past all the small craft shops before settling for happy hour on the river bank at The Tornado Bar taking in the scenery on the opposite bank south of the [View Full Entry]

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Sunday 29th June: Franz lived up to the excellent tour reputation we have come to know him for by hiring a Cessna plane from his flying club for the afternoon. My family and I have known Franz now for 18 years so I was very confident in his flying ability which took me back to the days in Bright, Victoria where he used to jump off the Gorge at Mt Buffalo with a bloody Hang Glider! We drove to the airport not far from his home town of Baden on the outskirts of Vienna and wheeled the Cessna out of the [View Full Entry]

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Saturday 28th June: Franz banged on my door at 9am to get me up for a day of sightseeing in Vienna. My head was not in a good state after those cocktails from the previous night but I could not waste the day and soldiered on to the shower. We drove in to Vienna and then caught the Metro around inner Vienna and had lunch at the 'Schweizerhaus' which is famous for pork and crackle (We had the dish on the front of the green menu in the photo below). Within the vacinity was the large wheel - another famous icon [View Full Entry]

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Friday 27th June: Caught the bus from Budapest at 7am and arrived in Vienna at 10am where Franz (A good family friend from Vienna) met me and we drove back to his house in Baden. We walked around Baden and saw where Beethoven once lived and composed music before heading into Vienna for dinner and a drink. With the Euro 2008 Soccer Final being hosted by Vienna the night life and streets were an amazing buzz with nationalities from all over the world here. Later Franz took me to a cocktail bar he used to frequent some years ago and when [View Full Entry]

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Thursday 26th June: A casual day exploring Pest today - I had lunch down utca Raday which is the main part of Budapest renowned for cafes and bars before heading along the most famous boulevard - Andrassy ut. I stopped at the "House of Horrors" which is now a musuem that tells the story of some of the atrocities that ocurred here during Nazi rule in WWII and the propaganda that followed post WWII - very informative. Finished the day at the other end of Pest at the thermal baths which were at the other end of town to the ones [View Full Entry]

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Wednesday 25th June: (Video footage still to be uploaded) - Spent the day sightseeing along the Danube River heading north along the Pest side of the riverbank before crossing Margaret Bridge to Buda and coming back through the Old Town, Royal Palace and then up Gellert Hill. Cooled off in the famous Gellert Spas followed by a massage! [View Full Entry]

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Tuesday 24th June: (Video footage still to be uploaded) - Caught the 4.56am train from the Croation capital - Zagreb to Budapest. Checked into the Astoria Hotel as I found a bargain on Wotif.com so 4 star luxuary for 3 nights will be nice. Went to a highly recommended Hungarian restuarant for dinner before heading to a couple of bars in downtown Budapest - Hmmmmmmm. [View Full Entry]

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