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Published: August 16th 2007
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bed on a bath tub
gotta do what u gotta do I made it out of the Czech Republic, sadly though really. I must say that Cesky (Czesky) Krumlov was a magical town. Not only was Zazou, the hostel receptionist, an absolute joy and dear friend but the town itself really was breathtaking.
I think I mentioned that when I got there, a local hostel charged my credit card and fronted me the cash. This was enough for 2 nights of sleeping, 2 meals and the bus to Austria. I am glad I had decided to stay that second night because mid day Zazou frantically told me that people are desperately looking for me. Scared me really, then he said my credit card was still at the hostel. I must say I have been losing my mind with age beyond my head not being clear from the stress in Prague. So I got my card back. However I must back track a bit...
When I woke up in the morning I walked over to the other side of the river and rented an inner tube. It cost me about 3 dollars for an hour. I was given a briefing by the tube owner of where along the river I have
to walk so I do not go down the break, where I have to get out and walk along a tunnel so I do not end up in another town and where it is too shallow to float. He said I should have enough time to make it twice around. I went and plopped myself in the middle of tube, got quite wet and started my float in the brown muck which may just have been linked to the sewage system (however ducks and fish live in it). I got to the first place where I had to get out and I was a bit nervous, eventually getting out of the water as my tube tried to float away, rescuing it and then walking along a beam for about 15 feet that was about 5 or 6 inches wide (my feet have grown since my days of gymnastics and they were now wet with shoes on). I got across and salid down a little hit on my butt then walked along in the river until it was deep enough to get on again. I will spare the details of the rest of the ride, but I will say at the
very end of the loop there was the one slide thing I could go down even though the kayakers and rafters told me to walk it, I went for it, got soaked but wanted more. At that point my hour was up so I returned my tube. I showered for a long time and handwashed everything twice because I would not put aside the likeliness of catching an illness from the river. I took some cash and went to the Vegetarian Restaurant, Laibon, and had a fantastic meal on the side of the river. After lunch I stopped by the castle to have a look at the bears in the moat, poor things do not belong there. I talked to some hostel goers, a mom and daughter from the states and then Gillian the lovely woman I met the night before. Later in the evening Gillian asked me to join her to dinner and she treated me to a hot chocolate.
In the am, I packed my things, thankfully they had all dried, checked out and then met Gillian for a walk through the castle and to the garden. I took some photos and we headed back to board
our busses out of town. Zazou got me in the front seat and we road into Linz, Austria. The drive was beautiful, along the river and through the forrest. The taxi drivers in China scare the crap out of me, however the drive to Austria was possibly worse as the roads curved, in a van, over 100 km/hr (?). I held the Oh Crap bar the whole time. We stopped at the border for our exit stamps and at the Austria border for an entrance stamp. In Linz I jumped on the train with my Eurail, got in my first class seats in a vey lovely train and headed to Vienna, where I took a tram and underground to the Austrian Gallery for a pitstop. The work of Gustav Klimt was the reason for the stop as I decided not to stay in Vienna. "The Kiss" has been a favorite piece for awhile, I think I was introduced to it by Kelly originally. When she visited Vienna she sent me a post and brought me a shotglass, I was so excited to go and see it also. There is so much passion in that piece of art it is amazing.
Many of Kilmts work was on display and I feel as though I want to learn about his life. The work done prior to 1900 was very soft and rather common in ways, it was not distinctively his as his work after 1900 is. I was there about 1.5 hours and then I boarded a train to Budapest where I arrived after 9pm. There were loads of people outside the train station all piled up on each other and surrounding their bags. I went straight to the Locomotive Hostel where I had called in the morning and Tomas the owner said he would help me. At the hostel however, Alex sent me back to the station to go to the office because they were already over booked 2 people. The office was closed, all of the 10,000 beds they have in Budapest were taken. Apparently I decided to come on the day a huge festival was ending and all those people wanted beds. I called Tomas again, slightly concerned, he told me to go back and he would talk to Alex. When I arrived I helped Alex carry a mattress and into the bathroom we went. We propped it on
top of the bathtub and the faucet hung over it, with a slow drip, that is where I slept last night. However I slept and I was safe and this hostel in reality is like a house, so I feel like a guest in a home and not a hostel. I will eventually get out, it is nearly 2pm and the city is calling my name. Tomorrow may possibly be the day I visit the Hungarian baths. OH YA, I got my other ATM card to work and successfully got Hungarian money (20,000 FT) about 100 dollars. WOO HOO
So that is that. I am still doing well and going along for the ride, things always seem to work out and just add to the adventure. It is crazy how I hate to be alone at home but I really am loving traveling alone. If I were not alone I would have no need to talk to strangers and make new friends, it would be harder to get help in sticky situations and then I would have to compromise what I want to do for the other person. I am loving everything.
Peace and Love 😊
e
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