Torn Central Europe

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I am writing to you a much older and wiser person....well actually lets just say older as I had my birthday in Prague 3 days ago 😊
There is so much to wrie about and unfortunately not enough internet time available at this cafe- but I will do my best to fill in the journey gaps as possible:

June 27th-30th, Prague, Czech Republic
I said a while ago that I look forward to exploring eastern europe, and mistakenly included the Czech
Republic in that comment. What I should have said is 'Central Europe'. Sadly since the broken alliances of WW2, this central homogenic state has been fragmented into smaller countries (Poland, Austria, Hungary, Slovakia and Romania), and now anything that was originally east of the Iron Curtain has been tarnished with the 'eastern brush', much to the disdain of certain countries. So although there has been some terminological incongruities in the past- apparently we still should refer to the Czech as central-europeans if we are to be respectful of their historical background. Lesson learnt me.
I got a fantastic book from Gerard on my birthday called 'Is here life on Marx?', discussing a post-communist central europe. It has really enhanced my understanding of the Czech culture, and subsequently made me appreciate their endeavours to create a strong, independent economy for themselves.
They really should be proud. Concerns over westernising, dominating EU legislation and globalisation aside, Prague is a beautiful tourist attraction. As one of the Habsburg empire's greatest hubs for centuries, the city holds some magnificent architecture. We saw the old Capuchin Monestery, St Vicin Dom (Cathedral), Charles Bridge, and the breathtaking Praha castle, which towers over the city on a hillside, above the Vltava River.
On my Birthday we took the 'Ekoexpress tour'; an amusing street-train which took us around all the key sights including the former Jewish Ghetto during Nazi occupation (facinating).
Later on we sampled some local cusine, then were ripped-off for the pleasure (charged for things that wouldn't ordinarily be extras). But that didn't seen to spoil our fun, as we then went on to the 'Rock Cafe'. This was a live music venue in the centre, and for only 10 Euros we got to see 1 pretty decent band (and another we were abit scared of-think heavy death-metal). Was a really fun experience. We saw the most polite mosh-pit there has ever been (people not wanting to get in each others ways-something unheard of at English concerts). All in all was a fabulous day.

The journey to Salzburg was nothing less than epic. And yes, I do love the melodrama, but seriously: we got up at 4am, got locked in a foyer at 4.30am between 2 security doors (as I had accidently dropped our keys in the hostel's mailbox). At 4.35am when the lights had automatically turned off, I ran to the switch and fell down some steps; rolling on my ankle (which I have recently found out thankfully is just a torn ligament). We eventually forced our way out of the main door. Had to carry our bags up what was a massive hillside (formally a fortress embankment) to a station. We JUST made it to our train and then the day seemed to get better (however it was still a 7 hour train jouney with no sleep and an ankle that could be mistaken with a kankle. hehe. You just have to laugh.

30th June-1st July, Salzburg, Austria (where the Sound of Music is based).
Amazing views of Austria on train journey over- was very glad to see hills again. Salzburg itself is very self-contained and very expensive. Our hostel, Yoho Internatonal, was friendly and clean, with (slightly annoyingly) regular screenings of the SoM in the bar. Gerard and I met a lovely american couple, one of which was an academic at a Munich university, so we had lots to talk about! The sights are very dramatic, as you would imagine- rolling hills, steep cliffs, a fast flowing river, intricate bridges and a Boroque Old town that harps back to the time when young Mozart was the cheif local entertainment.

All in all a very pleasureable few days. We have an overnight train to Venice, Italy tomorrow.
I will report back soon.

😉 KTxx

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Photos

Birthday
Enjoying my new book I got at our hotel in Prague