Rae Away

I was up relatively early and walked to the Old Town Square to meet my tour group. Today I went to Kutna Hora; which is a smaller town to the east of Prague and is mainly known for its history of silver production. It also has this amazing chapel that is full of bones and skeletons that have been used to create crazy designs like goblets, pictures, massive pyramids, a coat of arms, a chandelier, and all manner of decorations. It was definitely a site to behold, slightly morbid – this made the more so due to all the people clambering to take their photos with the skulls and bones – but also just awe inspiring to see the ingenuity that people have used to create these designs. Many of the bones belonged to people who ... read more

An early start today as I had to make it to catch the ferry to Bratislava. What a great way to begin the day. The boat ride took around an hour speeding down the Danube. It was amazing seeing all of the residences along the river. What it must be like to live by the river away from everyone. The weather, as it has been for the majority of this trip, is swelteringly hot. When I arrived I didn’t really have much of a plan. I had booked my bus back to Vienna at 8:30pm but the rest of the day was mine to enjoy. Outside the port there was a lady advertising for a castle and town tour for 10euros. The castle was at the top of a hill so I decided that in this ... read more

I decided to head out on my own and complete a walking tour of Vienna taking in some of the sights around the Old Town. http://www.bigboytravel.com/europe/austria/vienna/freewalkingtour/ Again the weather was overwhelmingly hot (why do we have so much time off at the hottest time of the year – I would love nothing better than to be cooped up in an air-conditioned classroom). It was amazing walking around and seeing the city though. I went to the Schmettering Haus (Butterfly House). It was incredibly hot inside, turns out going inside a greenhouse is not the best idea during a heat wave. But it was amazing to see the butterflies in their chrysalis breaking free and flying around the enclosure. Not as good as the one in Cairns though. Walking around seeing things like the Roman Ruins and ... read more

My first day in Vienna. After having a walk around town I headed to Stephanplatz to check out St Stephan Cathedral (Stephandom). This is the main gothic church in Vienna. It was amazing to see inside. Visiting these old fashioned churches kinda makes me understand how the church could have had such a big influence in the past. Just the scale and design of the buildings, particularly considering the age in which it was built, must have been extraordinary. I bought the All Inclusive Ticket which included the Audio-guide tour for the main cathedral, the Catacombs, the North Tower, the South Tower and the special treasures section. The Catacombs tour was very busy, I guess it being summer everything will be busy, but it was still really interesting to see. Particularly this one area, which looked ... read more

After a nights rest I was refreshed and ready to explore the city. I planned on attending another free walking tour of the Jewish District but first I headed to the City Markets. This was in a massive beautiful building near the river. It had all manner of fruit and veg, meats and of course souvenirs. It was hilarious to see some of the things being sold at the markets – Brazilian flags and patches, Egyptian papyrus, Eiffel Tower statues (seriously, who buys this stuff when they are in Budapest?). I can just imagine admiring someone’s Eiffel Tower necklace and having then turn and say ‘thanks, I got it in Budapest’. One thing that I have been incredibly impressed by in Budapest is there collection of t-shirts. I love a good pun or play on words ... read more