Advertisement
I took a 12-hour train ride today from Belgrade, Serbia, to Vienna, Austria. It was yet another 3-country day, which I've gotten accustomed to since I decided to stay on land for the rest of the trip. It really was pretty uneventful, since it was a direct train (no connections, just a bunch of stops). I got a good bit of my book,
Watership Down, read. I've only got about 6 more chapters now (out of 50). But there was no restaurant car after we left Serbia (around 11:30, or the time when people be expected to need a restaurant car), so I was glad I had enough snack food to last the whole trip. In Budapest, a German guy doing something similar to me got on board and sat across from me. His name was Henrik, and we struck up a conversation all the way to Vienna. I got off at the main train station, one stop before him.
My hotel here looks pretty basic (in the literal sense), and the wifi is only in the lobby, so that's where I'm writing this. I checked in to the hotel, which was a 2 minute walk from the train station
- literally right in front of it - and then I decided to walk down the main pedestrian street (
Favoritenstraβe) until I found something that impressed me. I was also on the lookout for food, and I found a little hole in the wall that offered a Schnitzel Box - it's basically the same thing as the Döner Box that I enjoyed in Dresden, just with fried strips of meat instead of shaved bits. Erica, it was amazing.
I've included some of the photos I took today - nothing heavy duty in the tourist department, though. Just a couple of pictures of Belgrade from the train, and then some of the more interesting things I saw as I strolled down
Favoritenstraβe this evening.
Now, I'm about 18 hours ahead of the game here, but I don't know if I'll get a chance to do this tomorrow, the actual 2-month date of this trip. I did a little recap of the best and worst at the 1-month mark, so I thought it would only be fitting to do so at the 2-month mark. I'll make a best-of for the whole trip when I'm back in America, too.
10 Best Experiences: (somewhat in order from best to least)
Laughing with friends over old times (Jena, Germany)
Kurt Vonnegut Tour (Dresden, Germany)
Sleeping in a Trabi bed (Dresden, Germany)
Marionette
Don Giovanni (Prague, Czech Republic)
Dinopark (Bratislava, Slovakia)
Jewish Museum (Prague, Czech Republic)
Having a conversation in Romanian (Timisoara, Romania)
Being pushed down the stairs by Dracula (Sighisoara, Romania)
Flea Market/Street Vendors with old stuff (Dresden and Belgrade)
Finding good movies to watch when I needed them (Romania: Cluj-Napoca, Oradea, Timisoara)
Top 5 Hotels: (in order)
Hotel Moskva (Belgrade, Serbia)
Villa Escala (Cluj-Napoca, Romania)
Hotel Mercure am Johanisplatz (Leipzig, Germany)
Bristol Hotel (Budapest, Hungary)
Hotel Sighisoara (Sighisoara, Romania)
Top 6 Food Experiences: (no particular order)
Döner Box (Dresden, Germany)
Bryndza (Bratislava, Slovakia)
Rosemary Fillet (Belgrade, Serbia)
Dessert in Café New York (Budapest, Hungary)
Grill Teufel (Jena, Germany)
Gräfe Kaffeehaus (Jena, Germany)
Top 3 Churches/Synagogues: Russian Orthodox Church of Saint Simeon of the Wonderful Mountain (Dresden, Germany)
Matyas Templom (Budapest, Hungary)
Spanish Synagogue (Prague, Czech Republic)
Favorite 4 Buildings: Grand Hotel Europa
(Prague, Czech Republic)
Hotel Moskva (Belgrade, Serbia)
Slaugherhouse-5 (Dresden, Germany)
Astoria Hotel (Oradea, Romania)
5 Highest Moments/Best Panoramic Views: Zhizhkov Tower (Prague, Czech Republic)
JenTurm (Jena, Germany)
Old Town Hall Tower (Prague, Czech Republic)
Clock Tower (Sighisoara, Romania)
Bratislava Castle (Bratislava, Slovakia)
3 Most Communist Places: The Slavin Monument (Bratislava, Slovakia)
Vitkov Monument (Prague, Czech Republic)
Memorial outside the American Embassy (Budapest, Hungary)
Best 4 "Museums": The Jewish Museum (Prague, Czech Republic)
Communist Museum (Prague, Czech Republic)
Turda Salt Mine (Turda, Romania)
VW Plant (Dresden, Germany)
Worst Hotel: Hotel Atrium (Oradea, Romania)
Biggest Disappointment (Place): Cluj-Napoca, Romania
5 Worst Moments: (in order from worst to least bad)
The last hour of the train ride from Romania to Serbia
Missing all the graduations back in America
Overnight Train to Romania
Needing to order a new suitcase (but the story and the new one are great)
Finding out that my Bratislava restaurant was all out of bryndza
Advertisement
Tot: 0.258s; Tpl: 0.012s; cc: 7; qc: 45; dbt: 0.127s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb