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Published: December 27th 2005
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Apologies for being off the radar for so long. Since my last blog Rebecca and I have been traveling at a dizzying rate through Europe. We began with 5 wondrous days in beautiful Prague. We sipped spiced Christmas wine every afternoon in the Old Square and absorbed the streets of Prague through the soles of our shoes. Thank goodness R is as practiced pedestrian as I am. The streets of Dundee have trained her well and we spent most of our time pounding the pavement and looking up at the wonderful buildings. The Czech Republic is home to one of our favorite artists, Alphonse Mucha!! So R and I spent most our time ogling over the Mucha inspired art nouveau architecture and designs around the city.
Our second stop was Salzburg. We zipped across the border to Austria on a rickety, empty overnight bus. It dumped us off at a dark, cold bus stop at 4 am. We had no maps or idea where in Salzburg we were. What a lovely feeling. Thankfully we found an open hotel and an accommodating night staff that pointed us into the right direction of the hostel. If I can offer any advice to other
"Doe a deer..."
Dancing around Mirabell Gardens. Notice the icey water. We love SOM so much that we braved the snow and ice all over Salzburg so we could perform re-inactments. travelers heading to Salzburg it is: AVOID YoHo Hostel if at all possible! Out of the 5 months I have been traveling, YoHo was the worst place I have stayed. The staff was aloof and they charged extra money for every little service.
The hostel, however, didn't prevent us from falling in love with the city. I think it would be pretty difficult to NOT enjoy Salzburg. Besides it's Sound of Music ties(ahem...our main reason for going there) Salzburg is warm old city set in the middle of the stunning Alps. For almost all of the duration of our stay there was heavy snowfall forcing us indoors and taking shelter in little alcoves as we explored little nooks and crannies around city.
To our dismay we quickly discovered that Salzburg is not really a city for young travelers...particularly young travelers on a backpacker's budget. However we saved an extra day and some extra euros for the famous Sound of Music tour. And I must say, for all of you SOM lovers out there, it was worth every penny! Our tour guide was so cheesy and fun. He had us all singing tunes from the movie on the bus and around
Hofbrauhaus Beerhall
Throwing back a tall one after a long day touring Dachau. town. No shame. The uber-tourists we were...somehow the Bavarian hills WERE alive as we walked through ankle deep snow to all of the sights. Frozen feet and warm hearts.
In a last minute decision, R and I hopped on a cheap train to Munich. And, we were so thankful we did! The hostel we found and the city were first rate! The Christmas markets were bustling and the food was delicious and affordable. We felt so comfortable there that we wished we had decided to make it a German Christmas. But alas...we had plans to hurry down to Italy for the holidays.
Our first impressions of Italy through the windows of the train were less than good. Going from Germany into Austria and then Italy, we watched the looming ice-covered Alps gradually melt and shrink into cold, wet, gray hills. As the scenery changed so did our compartment mates. Women in leopard print coats, leather pants and glittering diamond rings on every finger joined us. Animated conversation in flowing Italian ensued. And, not one person lent a nod our way. We were even more uncomfortable attempting to unload our bags off the top racks of the compartment before our stop.
Florence
I had to scale an old stone wall to take this picture. We were too poor get into the adjacent park. Haha Rebeca and I were balancing and sweating as we jostled and adjusted our stuff above their heads. Our neighbors just stared with blank and annoyed faces. Welcome to Italy!
Our fist stop was Verona. Ahhh..beautiful Verona. Home to Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. Home to one of Italy's best preserved coliseums. Home to a sea of thousands of beautiful red-tile roofed buildings. Home to the worlds COLDEST hostel. It was dark by the time R and I checked into the all-women's hostel on Via Pigna street. We found we were the only lodgers when we arrived and were led up to the old dorm room in the attic. We had the whole loft to ourselves and spread ourselves out with joy. Our initial joy turned to ice...quite literally...when we both woke up early in the night tired and shivering. The hostel only provided us with a few sheets and they had turned OFF the heat during the night. Locked in an uninsulated attic room and feeling the cold sear through our thin pajamas and sheets, the only solution was to pool sheets and sleep in the same bed. Even this did not help. We shivered our way through the night and
The day is not complete without gingerbread
Rebecca and our beloved cookie. In Prague's old town square. got up groggy and cold the next morning. The staff seemed completely uninterested in our plea for warmer blankets. (A trend I have noticed in most Italians who work in the tourist industry). And we ended up spending our next night covered in pillows we nicked from the empty beds down stairs.
We were sad to leave Verona after 3 days but Florence was calling. The train ride down South was even more uncomfortable than our previous journey. The train to Firenze vis Naples was full. While were some of the first passengers to get on at our stop, apparently we were seriously lacking in the aggressiveness it needed to win a seat. Actually....both of us found empty seats but were rudely budged out of them by natives flinging bags and abrupt words. Nice! So, we found ourselves standing in the isle with our packs, obnoxiously hanging over a nice young woman who let us use her tray table to rest our bags.
You can imagine how thrilled we were to arrive in Florence! The hostel we have been staying was only a few steps from the station and deserves a blue ribbon. If you find yourself in Florence on
a budget, get the to Archi Rossi! The breakfast alone is well worth putting up the other snoring travelers in the dorms....and makes waking up early a lot easier.
http://www.ostelloarchirossi.it/
It has been raining and chilly for most of our time here. But the holiday crowds have been at an all time low and we have had most of the museums practially to ourselves! Christmas day was disappointingly un-eventful. Although... I got a new set of flannel PJs and a package of NEW underwear from R!! I can finally start phasing out the original 5 pair I have been wearing since July. I couldn't have asked for a better Christmas present. Ha!
Florence is a lovely city if you can overlook the copious amounts of dog doo that seem to line every sidewalk in the city. Lots to do see and BUY! Our pocketbooks are thankful the shops had a 2 day holiday for Christmas.
Tomorrow marks the end of my overland adventure. Rebecca and I FLY to Scotland where we have tickets to the UKs largest New Years party...Hogmanay in Edinburgh!!
Finally I will be in the right place at the right time. More from the scene of the
party soon...
xo, Christy
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Uncle Jeff
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Europe Travels
Ejoyed your blog - Jill and I both loved Salzburg and Austria. Jill severly sprained her ankle in Salburg dancing in Mirabel gardens to the SOM. We stayed in a beautiful hostel in both Salzburg and Florence. In Munich we stayed in an old Castle a short train ride from town. They locked the doors every night until 7am. We had to jump out of a second story window to make our Early train out of town because they refused to open the doors.