http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/charms/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from charms en-us Fri, 18 Dec 2009 19:31:27 +0000 Fri, 18 Dec 2009 19:31:27 +0000 My host in Timisoara did not give me a number or an address and so when I got there just after lunch I had no idea where I was or if I had a place to stay that night. The lady behind the info counter at the train station was nice enough to let me into her cubicle and search for the train timetable for my next destination but couldn't tell me anything else since she didn't speak English. I later f http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Romania/Banat/Timis/Timisoara/blog-390997.html Sorry it's been so long since I updated. Internet and traveling got in the way. And anyway we all knew this would happen.So picking up from where I left off I went from Pecs to Szeged and met my host there. He was really nice but had to leave the next day so we did a quick tour of town had a nice dinner and just hung out. Some of his stories were fascinating in a 733Your life is like a soap http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Hungary/Southern-Great-Plain/Szeged/blog-390991.html I got into Vienna just fine although the lady sitting next to me had the worst perfume ever. She looked like your typical 40 something very sex in the city type and she smelt like a whore house. urm. Maybe that isn't the right description. Anyway I spent a miserable 23 hours trying not to breath because it was giving me a headache and making me slightly nauseaous. It like those perfumes you sme http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Austria/Vienna-State/Vienna/blog-373845.html So getting a host was quite an effort and I almost didn't go but I sent out a SOS on the group list and managed to get a host My host in Budapest was really nice and said I could stay longer if I skipped Pecs but I'm glad that didn't happen. Getting a bus ticket was a chore and as usual my ISIC was rejected. Jeez.....ISIC has been pretty useless so far in terms of getting discounts for transp http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Hungary/Southern-Transdanubia/Pecs/blog-381436.html The Keleti train station was kind of a miserable place to be in after the warm train compartment. It's pretty much an open plan and has no place for people to wait out of the cold..at least I couldn't find one and boy was it cold My host met me and we went back to the apartment and I got a taste of home cooked Hungarian stew I went to the central market which was quite big and interesting. I http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Hungary/Central-Hungary/Budapest/blog-377483.html I was thinking of heading to Eger as a day trip from Budapest but I ended up making it a stop while going from Kosice to Budapest. I got the 9 something train and got off at Fusesabony where I got the train to Eger. However I had to sit tight at the station when I missed not one but two trains to Eger. Basically the first one left 3 minutes after I got off my train and the other was totally my fa http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Hungary/Northern-Hungary/Eger/blog-377482.html I got to Kosice by train which is the best and possibly only option to get there directly. It was about 1 euro extra for the fast IC train but it cut about and hour or more off the journey time. It's kind of annoying that all these countries take ISIC but only if you are a student in that country. So far ISIC has not worked for me in Poland Czech Republic Hungary and Slovakia. I keep trying to http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Slovakia/Kosice-Region/Kosice/blog-376523.html Oh Bratislava. It's small enough for a day trip from Vienna which is what most people do but I stayed a night and my host introduced me to a traditional Slovakian dish halusky. It's potatoes and goat cheese and is sometimes served with bacon. It smelled funky but it was pretty good It's been snowing since I got here which sucks for touristy stuff but crazy asian tourist that I am I braved th http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Slovakia/Bratislava-Region/Bratislava/blog-374529.html I got on the bus from Brno and when it stopped in Olomouc I didn't know where the heck I was. I went up to the infor counter where the lady didn't speak English and asked for Olomouc centrum which she understood yay so with some funky hand gestures hilarious really I got the gist of it go out turn left go under the underpass go up and take tram 4. A little more asking around and I was http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Czech-Republic/Olomouc-Region/Olomouc/blog-373836.html For a small town Brno has quite terrible traffic mainly due to the small one or two lane streets I guess. We arrived on time but it took about 1520 mins more to get to the bus station. Despite an initial mix up there are two bus stations my host found me and we dropped off my stuff before heading out to get some food. He also took me to a local pub to try a special beer unique to Brno Pegas http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Czech-Republic/South-Moravian-Region/Brno/blog-373835.html As you can see I've given up on trying to come up with different tags to go along with the city names. Anyway got there in the evening and my hosts picked me up. the don't live in Hradec Kralove but in a little village outside called Bukovina about 15 mins away maybe The were really nice and got me thinking about hitch hiking although I'd be more tmepted to do it in better weather conditions. http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Czech-Republic/Hradec-Kralove-Region/Hradec-Kralove/blog-373831.html I did another day trip after leaving my hosts in Prague. I'm glad I packed light but it still got to be quite tiring to carry everything with me. I'll need to offload some stuff if I can. Huh never though I'd be saying that. Anyway Kutna Hora is a cute town as are most day trips in Czech. The cathedral ws really beautiful and since there were not many tourist it was nice just wandering around http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Czech-Republic/Central-Bohemian-Region/Kutna-Hora/blog-373829.html I did a day trip to Cesky Krumlove and the bus ticket there was a horrible ripoff. Get the student agency buses or the other company that'll give an ISIC discount. I paid about 50 more to get there but managed to get a student discount price back. That said it's usually much cheaper to just buy a ticket on the bus they won't give a student discount and it's cash only but it's a lot cheaper and http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Czech-Republic/South-Bohemian-Region/Cesky-Krumlov/blog-373825.html The train ride to Prague was long and trying. Mostly because there were an endless stream of people coming into my compartment to check tickets and such. I swear that I had more conductors ask me for tickets in the span of an hour than I had on all the other Polish train rides combined On top of the 4 conductors in the first hour or so there were the army guys with their passport check. They wer http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Czech-Republic/Prague/blog-373823.html Again I arrived in the evening at the train station. I'm getting pretty sick of long train journeys especially since I can't do anything but sleep on them. I thought I could update my journal or something but all I get is a headache. Bleh. My host met me at the station but he didn't expect me to arrive so late it was like 8pm and had plans to see a movie with a friend. I'm not too into movies a http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Poland/Lower-Silesian/Wroclaw/blog-373808.html So Kasia left the train in Krakow and I continued on to Warsaw. I got in pretty late about 11pm and my host was there to pick me up. He's very nice and friendly....maybe a little too friendly. Anyway I finally understand why people weren't too impressed that I was spending 23 days in Warsaw. Just like many other big dirty capital it was well big and dirty. Not that I'm being judgemental or http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Poland/Masovia/Warsaw/blog-373803.html Yep got a bus to Krynica in the Polish countryside. Unfortunately for me I didn't have time to enjoy the spa or the skiing since I was only spending one night. My 3 hour bus got in pretty much on time give or take 15 minutes I met Kasia my host for the night and did a quick night tour of the town since as it turns out she didn't live in Krynica but in the next town over. Krynica reminded http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Poland/Subcarpathian/blog-371665.html So going off the last post the printing is free at the Malmo public library and the Flygbussen tickets can be bought on the bus with cash. Their website lied Anyway it about a 45 min ride to the airport and I had no trouble checking in. In fact I love that I was allowed to take my daypack on as a purse without an extra charge. Sucks for all the men who tote around a manpurse. Spent the rest http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Poland/Lesser-Poland/Krakow/blog-370182.html Well after lots of research and I do mean lots.. like 30 guide books countless internet hours combing various site and forums asking people about places etc I'm finally starting my Eastern Europeand Central Europe I suppose I've noticed some people in certain countries are slightly resentful of being called eastern Europe trip. Basically I've got 3 months about a little more than a t http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Sweden/Skane/Malmo/blog-368342.html