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Published: September 11th 2007
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No Kangaroos!
The sign on a T-shirt in one of the many tourist stalls. Well i'm in Hungary at the moment. Had a very busy last couple of weeks:
From Prague i went to another Czech city called Césky Krumlov. The two days i spent there were great, it was the kind of small town you could laze around in and not think you're wasting anytime at all. Césky is home to the second biggest castle in Czech (after Prague castle - the largest in the world) and offers amazing views for those who can be bothered walking to the top (and yes i did - i am not that lazy yet). The town is virtually entirely surrounded by the Vltava River (it makes an Omega shape around the town, or an Ohm symbol for those electronically-minded people), which means in every direction you look there's something beautiful to look at - especially with Czech girls roaming around. I also met a great bunch of people, some of whom i spent the next week and a half with, and we all went for a leisurely cruise down the river in a raft. I say leisurely because every couple of km's we'd pull up on the bank and grab a beer from the pub - but
Cesky Through the Window
View over Cesky Krumlov as I made my way up to the castle. by the time we made it back into town, 2 people had fallen in and the rest of us were soaking wet. Not bad for a river without any rapids.
From Césky it was only a short bus ride to Vienna (or Wien in Austrian). Architecturally speaking, the palaces I saw in Vienna outdo any other building I've come across so far. The Austro-Hungarian empire was the world leading empire for a long period of time, and the palaces represent this. The Schloss-Schonbronn (Summer Palace) was magnificent - an enormous yellow building with kilometres of beautifully maintained gardens. Vienna is also home to the Weiner Scnhitzel, which i took full advantage of during my time there. I also went out to a restaurant where we ate food off of a sword (yes literally) and drank Austrian beer by the litre. That was a very medieval experience. I also came across some very interesting signs - "NO KANGAROOS IN AUSTRIA". Supposedly every now and again they'll come across a tourist (probably American) who thinks the land down under' is really only under Germany! I suppose when the German's refer to Austrians as 'Aussies' as well it might be a little confusing
Hostel 99
My hostel had great views from every side. The open window was my room. for our seemingly not-so-well-educated-friends from the States.
So from Vienna it was onto Salzburg - the birthplace to three very famous things: Mozart, Red Bull and The Sound of Music. Now, if there's one thing i've noticed in my travels, it's that when a place invents something of international fame the tourists shops move in and take over. So when a town that is not very big (such as Salzburg) gives birth to three things of international fame, you'd think it'd be destroyed all together! But not Salzburg. Sure there's tourists shops everywhere selling Mozart chocolate, Sound of music umbrellas and red bull flavoured... red bull, but at least you can gaze up into the mountains around you and pretend not a single person is around you. The only problem about Salzburg was the weather! For the 48 hours i was there it rained for at least 50 of them! and not just any kind of drizzle, it was pouring down for a lot of the time. It would be sufficient to say there was a little bit more uno playing going on then there was running around the hills singing 'the hills are alive'. It was just lucky i
Schloss-Schonbronn
The Habsburg's summer palace, Austria. I took this from inside the palace gardens, so this is the palace from behind. met such a lovely bunch of people to keep me entertained, or i just might have driven myself crazy!
I then spent a day and a half in the capital of Bavaria - Munich. Although i barely scratched the surface of this amazing town, i now have something to look forward to when Oktoberfest comes around in less than two weeks!
From Munich it was only a 9 hour (yep, i've decided anything below 10 is a small trip) bus ride to the capital of Hungary - Budapest. Budapest was a lot of fun. The town(s) is split down the middle by the Danube, with Buda on the west and Pest on the east. It wasn't until the Chain Bridge was built in the late 19th Century that Buda and Pest actually became one town. Most of the main part of the city is on the Pest side which is completely flat. This means that when you climb up the hills in Buda, to where the castle is situated, you can look out across the entire town and see a long way. This morning i got up early, bought a ticket for the last train to Zagreb (Croatia) and then
St. Stephen's Cathedral
It was impossible for me to get a picture of Austria's most famous cathedral that actually fitted the whole thing in! So i just took a series of photos. spent my last day in Budapest on a bicycle tour, learning all about Hungary's rich history as we rode along.
Anyway, it won't be long before I'll be cruising around the 1100 Dalmation islands off the coast of Croatia but firstly - i have a stopover in war-stricken, land-mine ridden Bosnia & Hercegovina. As if just being there isn't hard core enough I plan to hurtle myself down the river rapids on a pillow of air, scale and jump off the cliffs into the river Una... Okay, okay - as extreme as i try to make it sound really, i'm just looking to do a bit of rafting and canyoning. As far as rafting and canyoning goes, it doesn't get much cheaper than Bosnia. Still trying to figure out if this is a good thing or a bad one...
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tim
non-member comment
Hi Benj, you have written another wonderful blog which i have once again enjoyed reading. after reading the title of your latest entry i couldn't help but wonder how much Parkour you have been doing since you left our fair shores. Surely there was 1 Kangaroo in Austria while you were there. if by definition of a kangaroo we included a leaping Aussie. though i'm guessing that since you also described how lazy you have become, you have not been doing any training. sounds like you had a fun boat ride down the Vltava River. after reading your blog i read up a bit more about Budapest on Wikipedia, which i have done with several other places you have visited. by following your journey on-line i am also learning a lot about Europe. although nothing would beat being there and experiencing first hand. i hope you have a great time with your "hard core" activities you have planned on you travels to Croatia. Love Dad