Vienna & Prague

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On the morning of my birthday we boarded a bus before 6am on a bitterly cold Krakow morning to make our way to Vienna. To make the occasion special, we had brought along some of my favourite foods for an early morning breakfast of cheese, salami and bread accompanied by some orange juice. I doubt the other passengers, many of whom had boarded the previous day in Lithuania, appreciated the rustling and the smell of salami at such an early hour, but I loved it!

For my birthday, we had booked accommodation at the Hilton! This was quite a change from our normal hostel/camping accommodation and we were lucky enough to have a room that overlooked a park and the central part of the old town. As if this luxurious introduction to our stay in Vienna wasn't enough of a treat, tickets were also purchased to listen to an orchestra play compositions by Mozart and Strauss in the hall of an old palace! As we walked to the palace we saw an illuminated statue of Strauss in the park, which set the scene very well for the night ahead. The conductor on the night was also the charismatic first violinist, which I thought was rather impressive. I thoroughly enjoyed the evening, which also consisted of ballet and opera being performed to some of the pieces.

The highlights of the following day were just wandering through the city and visiting an exhibition of the paintings of Gustav Klimt, which included his most famous piece, 'The Kiss'. I found his paintings to be original in their mosaic nature, coupled with the use of gold and normal paint. The paintings were part of an exhibition that was a recreation of an exhibition that was held in the same building exactly one hundred years earlier, so it would have been quite an effort to get all of the original works back for the exhibition.

It would be remiss of me not to mention the incredible buffet breakfast that was available at the Hilton. It made me wish that I could never feel full, such was the quality and diversity of the food. Those who know me well would understand how my eyes lit up when I first saw the spread and will also readily believe that I didn't leave the restaurant until the breakfast officially closed and they were packing up the tables around me!

From Vienna we headed to Prague for a couple of nights, the second of which was New Year's Eve. I had wanted to visit Prague after hearing countless glowing reports of the city and whilst it is beautiful, it didn't stand out as being any more visually stunning than other European cities such as Edinburgh, Bruges, Dubrovnik, Paris, Brussels, Krakow, etc. Maybe I'm just getting blasé though as my travels near their end. It was VERY cold though and I was regretting the decision to post my gloves home a month or so ago with some of the other things I had accumulated during our time spent working in England. During the day of New Year's Eve we wandered around the city, which included crossing the famous Charles Bridge and visiting the Church of St Nicholas, marvelling at the size of its organ and the stunning stained-glass windows. From here we headed up to the grounds of Prague Castle which afforded some wonderful sweeping views of the city below. With the icy air getting the better of us, we headed back across the river in search of a warm café. Along the way, we paused to see the astronomical clock swing into action as it struck two o'clock and then decided to warm up our fingers by wrapping them around some freshly cooked crepes.

We met a couple in Prague who we were sharing our dorm with, which was a real boon for us as they were great folk who live in Bendigo, which is not too far from our neck of the woods back in Australia (well, you have to remember we were in Prague at the time, so Bendigo did seem quite close to home). So, the four of us set out to find a bar that also served cheap meals to begin our night of revelry for New Year's Eve. We didn't have to wander very far before we discovered a great place that not only served cheap and delicious meals but also big delicious jugs of beer. As midnight approached, we thought it would be a good idea to have a couple of shots of absinthe! Was this a good idea? Well, it couldn't have been too bad, as we all woke up the next morning with our ears in one piece, so Van Gough must have been consuming quite a bit more than us. What I will forever remember this night for though is the crazy fireworks being set off by every person who had been able to get their hands on some, which seemed to be every resident of Prague. Over the next couple of hours I noticed quite a large number of people who had little or no regard for their self preservation, as the fireworks being set off in the streets were simply a free-for-all and they took off in every direction. Whilst the sounds were how I would imagine a war zone to be (complete with having to duck for cover or make a hurried dash for the pavement a couple of metres away in order to avoid a hurtling projectile) and triggered an almighty adrenaline rush that refused to dissipate, I don't think I'll be rushing back to the same place next year. Whilst I loved it, many were left regretting the occasion after a stray firework blasted into their face, with many people being tended to by paramedics. The wail of ambulance sirens added to the drama created by the explosion of colour and the fizzing of the fireworks and it was fitting that the last sound I heard before sleep enveloped me was of another ambulance speeding through the thinning crowd to reach another wounded person amid the throng of party people.

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