What day is it??

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Farewell my beloved Cambodia.........hello Europe....(first up, I ran out of time to label the attached 76 photos - sorry)

Disappointingly, my re-introduction to Europe wasn’t favourable........I had to transit in Charles de Gaulle airport and it was a nightmare. My plane was due to arrive at 6.05am, and my departing plane to Prague was due to take off at 7.15am. I was assured that an hour and 10mins was adequate time to transfer........it’s not. Thankfully my plane arrived early, because had it arrived on time there is no way I would have made my connecting flight. CdG is not a user-friendly airport, and the airport staff pretty much portray all the rude qualities that the French are rumoured to possess. It took 40 mins of fast walking from the arrival terminal, until I reached the one I was to depart from.....and there are no trolleys to use for hand luggage etc (thankfully my main luggage was checked through to Prague). I was really pleased when I arrived at terminal 2 ...........until I saw the massive queue to get through the security check !!! I explained to one of the guards that my connecting flight was due to depart in 25 mins and he assured me the line would clear in 10 mins. Fifteen minutes later, still in the queue with a long way to go, I asked another guard if I could be moved ahead........a stern “no” was the answer. It took just under 25 mins to get through the “10 minute queue”, and then I had to run to the departure gate...along with another couple. We were greeted with doors being closed and a staff member telling us that they had pretty much cancelled us off the flight because we hadn’t shown up etc etc. We were polite but very angry about the fact that the airport staff refused to let us get through security etc and that was why we were so late....so they opened the doors and let us through.....grrrrr. Charles de Gaulle is to date, the worst airport I’ve encountered in my many years of travelling, and I’m dreading having to go there again at the end of January.... I’ll certainly avoid transiting through there in the future.



Thankfully that was the only real hiccup during my trip ... well apart from dropping my passport in the toilet....but I’ve told the story of that situation in my last blog.



It was interesting to return to Prague – I always said I’d never return. The city is really picturesque and there’s loads to see and it has a great history etc, but I found the locals to be generally unfriendly last time, so didn’t feel inclined to come back. This time though, I stayed in a different part of town, in a much nicer hotel, and there seemed to be a better feel about the city. Maybe it was the Christmas spirit, maybe my head was in a better space also....who knows, but I found that this time around, I really liked it and enjoyed my time there.



I didn’t bring a lot of winter clothes up with me, as I didn’t want to drag them around for 3 months before I arrived, so on my first afternoon in Prague, I caught the subway to a local shopping mall and did some shopping. I have to say that their public transport system is amazing and leaves ours for dead. It’s relatively cheap, easy to use, runs regularly and is very user-friendly – I love it. Prices for clothes in Prague appear to be inconsistent......some things are really cheap or reasonably priced – like shoes/boots etc......yet a really basic long-sleeved V neck t-shirt is about twice the price of Australia. I did buy a micro fleece jacket for A$50, yet a similar one that I was looking at in Oz prior to leaving, was A$120 – on sale, so I think I jagged a bargain.



One thing that is totally insane about Europe in winter is the fact that it can be really cold outside (the day I arrived it was 2 degrees but due to the wind chill factor it was more like -2 degrees), yet the shops are heated to tropical island temps........so you walk in with multiple layers on and have to strip off and cart around scarves, hats, jackets etc, and it’s boiling.. I don’t get why they do it that way....can anyone provide a reasonable explanation on that topic??



The first night, I was absolutely shattered after my travels........I left the hotel in Phnom Penh at 9.30am Wednesday... my plane left around noon... I then had an 8 hour layover in Singapore...then a 13 hour flight to Paris... one hour transiting through CdG, then a final one & a half hour flight to Prague. By the time I got to the hotel, I’d been travelling for 31 hours and had slept for just 2 hours on the plane. I was pooped, and wrongly, fell asleep around 7pm or 8pm.....and woke up at 2am and wasn’t able to get back to sleep. It took me 3 days/nights before I could finally effectively reset my body clock....



I had a great day exploring on Friday.......I caught the subway into town (our hotel was a few kms away from the centre of town) and revisited the Charles Bridge and the area close to it. I hate to admit it, but last time I was in Prague, I didn’t take a map with me when I was out exploring and so I never found the Old Town Square or Wenceslas Square etc, but this time I took my map and found all the key tourist spots of the city. I normally prefer to just wander and explore streets rather than follow maps though....I tend to find more interesting places that way, often off the well beaten tourist trails also.



Saturday, and Christmas Eve....I don’t think I’ve ever felt less Christmassy. Being in Cambodia for the lead-up to Christmas meant that there were no Christmas parties or gatherings to go to...there were no Christmas cards to send (or receive), I didn’t buy Christmas presents for anyone prior to leaving as it was too far in advance etc....so when I got to Europe Christmas preparations were obvious but I felt like a bit of an alien amongst it.....it was really weird, it also felt somewhat lonely and part of me wished I was at home or back in Cambodia with friends. I filled in the day by doing lots more exploring, and then finally went back to the hotel late in the afternoon to meet the tour group.



What can I say?...........(but) it’s not my usual, comfy Intrepid Travel tour group. There’s 48 people from various countries, of various ages, various personalities and thankfully some are really lovely. For me, the group is too large, and I know that I’ll never book onto something this large again....I prefer the much small Intrepid groups as they feel friendlier....the only reason I’m not travelling with Intrepid this time, is that they don’t travel to these countries in winter.........darn shame. I chose not to pay the single supplement (it was way too expensive) and am sharing with a South African woman...the only thing I will stay is that she’s a moody little tyke !!!



Apart from that, there are two families travelling together (2 sisters, their husbands, and a couple of their grown kids)....they’re great. Of course they have to be, because they’re from Rockhampton and are really down to earth people, with a collective great sense of humour..... There are also a couple of other South African girls (I think they’re a couple), and they’re really lovely. I’m getting to know some of the others - there’s a great family from the States (Jewish, with ties to Prague & Vienna, and they have a very interesting family history to tell); also a very friendly couple from Malaysia, and some other interesting characters from the State.....one older US couple have been “dating” for 27 years (he’s not interested in rushing into marriage!!)....she dawdles and “acts” totally ditzy all the time, and he spends the whole time calling her “come on Doreen” “hurry up Doreen” “where are you Doreen?” “what are you up to Doreen?”......I’m sure she does it just to get under his skin. She also saves any food that she doesn’t eat and feeds it to the birds, as she worries over them going hungry in the winter cold....she’s really adorable..but eccentric.



Our tour leader........the best way I can describe our “Wolfy” is to say that if you could picture a German version of Frank Spencer from “Some Mothers Do Have Em”.......you’d have a fairly good idea of who Wolfgang is. He’s quite goofy, dresses badly, is also eccentric, and often disorganised...but has moments when he shines when he’s talking about the history of the area that we’re travelling in. I’m not sure that I’d recommend him as a tour leader, but as a “nutty history professor” he’d be ideal. (Additional comment) – I had a big chat to Wolfy yesterday and it turns out he’s actually a really interesting person........still eccentric mind you. He was telling me about his time in Cambodia – he was staying down there with a friend at a time that he was really sick with kidney failure (due to diabetes)...and last year ended up having a kidney and pancreas transplant and is now able to work again. He’s also in the process of restoring an 18^th century house in Vienna; and studied medicine when he was younger (his brother is also a surgeon).....interesting who becomes a tour leader, eh?



Christmas Day – well, my wish for a White Christmas didn’t eventuate....I’m disappointed (and really tired of hearing “oh, you should have seen the snow last year”!!). I really wanted to see Prague covered in snow....but apparently this winter is really quite mild – ie 3 and 4 degrees which is too warm for snow. There was a small amount of snow that fell overnight on Wednesday, so I did see it at the airport and on the way into town, but nothing in the centre or where we were staying..... Mind you, it was SO cold on Christmas day that it felt like it should have snowed (I think it was 2 degrees for most of the day, but the wind took it into the minus territory).



Europeans celebrate Christmas on the evening of the 24^th December, so things weren’t closed on Christmas day like they are at home, so we played tourists. We went to the Prague Castle in the morning, though it was a surprisingly quick race around the complex and we didn’t see half the things that I saw last time, which is disappointing in my mind, for the people that have never been here before. Mind you, it was the coldest day we’ve had, and it was really, really cold up on the hill, so we didn’t mind going down into the city where it was slightly “warmer”. We went to the Christmas market and drank hot wine, and ate spicy sausages in baguettes........great Christmas fare...and then continued wandering around town, soaking up the atmosphere, taking dozens of photos, until it started to rain. We then bunked down in a cafe and drank more hot wine (it’s really delicious, especially if they add orange slices and cinnamon) until it was time to go back to the bus. That night we had a very low key, non-Christmassy Christmas dinner.... I must say, that even though I’m enjoying the tour, I don’t think highly of the organisational skills of the tour company ....I would have thought that they would have made a bit more effort for us on Christmas day........but no, it was not to be...oh well, I’ll just double the effort next year.



Boxing Day, 26^th, we headed to Dresden in Germany for a quick visit....you’ve got to the love the European Union and the lack of borders.....in the time it took for us to drive from Prague to Dresden in Germany, at home I would have been on the Gold Coast...but here, we’re in a new country. Dresden has loads of history and took many hits during World War 2....... We went to the palace/museum and then wandered around town, had more hot wine (there’s a theme happening here)....and took loads more photos of some amazing buildings. I come to these places and it makes our Aussie (white) history seem positively infantile...



27^th Dec – we left Prague and headed to Vienna, via a few hours in Bratislava in Slovakia. It seems I’m destined to pass through Bratislava and have lunch there, on the way to Vienna....ok, so I’ve done it twice. Last time, I had breakfast in Dublin, flew to Bratislava and had lunch, then took a hydrofoil to Vienna for dinner, then flew to Seoul.......awesome, huh?? This time, I had breakfast in Prague, lunch in Bratislava, and dinner in Vienna....ahhh, I love being a jetsetter. I love Bratislava......it has such a great energy and I’ll never forget how friendly the people were the last time I was there. There are so many interesting statues in Bratislava, ones with character like “Cumil” (The Watcher)...a little guy that is poking his head out of a man-hole cover and watching the world go buy (look him up on the internet, he’s very famous)... There are many interesting buildings also, and I have yet to get tired of looking at them. Oh, and they also have good hot wine....there’s that theme again (watch out next winter in Brisbane, it’s the only thing you’ll be served at my place).



28^th – sightseeing around Vienna.....we did a walking tour, and then had time to ourselves in the afternoon....I really enjoyed wandering around....and I actually did some shopping (not normally something I enjoy). In the evening, we went to a dinner at a wine bar....it should be renamed the “over feed with beans and meat” bar.......it was a 3-course dinner - we started with a Viennese version of antipasto (lots of sausage, salami, beans, beans, beans and beans, oh and cheese), followed by huge platters of pork, beef, chicken.......and potatoes and sauerkraut ...then apple strudel. There was a guy playing a piano accordion for the duration of the dinner, and while it’s not my preferred method of entertainment, he was actually good.......even when he played Waltzing Matilda (remember, there are other Aussies on the tour, and they spoke up when he asked where we were from)...



29^th – What day is today? I’ve lost touch with days....and have to check my laptop for the date !!!



Today we went to the Vienna Woods..............hmmm, they were interesting, but didn’t match up with my childhood created image of the Black Forest and Vienna Woods etc. I had a mental image of dark forests, where trees covered the paths etc, and it was mysterious.....but in reality, it’s a bit like driving to the north coast of Brissie, with pine trees either side of the road etc........just had a few mountains and curves in the road. Don’t get me wrong, I really enjoyed the trip, it’s just that perhaps I should have done some better research instead of holding fast to a 10yo’s idea of what they would be like.........I blame the books that I read about Red Riding Hood...



We went to the Holy Cross Monastery, and that was really interesting to see........it was cold though, so you have to feel empathy for the monks of days gone by that had to live in the frigid conditions....only a few areas of the monastery have any form of heating......so in a true winter, it would have been challenging to hold onto their faith I’m sure.....



We also went to the town of Baden.......famous for the hot springs and the fact that Beethoven lived there at some stage in his life (he’s was nomadic in reality). It was a cute little town and I’m glad I had the chance to wander around it.



So that brings me to tonight........everyone is out at a classical concert (I did it last time I was here, so I’m catching up on downloading photos, writing my blog, and answering emails). I was going to head out with some of the others that also didn’t go to the concert, but sad to say, I’ve walked so much in the last week that my foot is giving me grief – I’m no longer sure that the diagnosis after my x-rays, were correct......I’m sure there is more damage to the bones in my foot than they’ve told me. I’m also of the opinion that I did some decent damage to my shoulder (didn’t get that x-rayed as my foot was more of a concern at the time), as its still really sore, and aches when I carry around my day pack filled with my cameras etc.....Such is life though, I need to suck it up, toughen up and get on with things.........but when I get a few days in the same location, I think I will have to revisit a doctor for a second opinion.



So you’re pretty much up to date on the day to day life of Robyn the Traveller........I’m still really missing Cambodia and oddly, feel very homesick for the country. I’m loving being in Europe, but really miss my friends there, and the students...gosh, I miss them so much. I’ve even toyed with the idea of cancelling my time in Singapore on the way home, and going back to Cambodia for a week....hmmm, I wonder how much it will cost etc????



I hope you’ve all had a safe and happy Christmas with your friends and family............and I wish you all an awesome 2012. I know many of my friends have had some really tough and challenging times in 2011.......I wish you better days and happiness in 2012, and may you have many happy memories of your loved ones that left us in 2011......



Take care and hugs from Vienna.........xoxo

Rob

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