Well this kind of thing doesn't happen when you take a flight between countries .... We had initially planned to connect to a bus to take us over the border from Chernivtsi in Ukraine to Suceava in Romania after a ridiculously long train journey (11 hrs) covering less than 300km !! Unfortunately we missed the only bus out of town and ended up having a surprisingly good time in Chernivsti
The next day we took the 7.30am local "smugglers" bus (which we think was this early because it gives them enough time to do a border crossing, sell the goods and get back in the same day). Cigarettes and Alcohol are phenomally cheap in the ukraine and we calculated that a smuggler can probably make about $500 a day in such trips. When crossing the border we wondered why we and other non locals were given the VIP treatment and herded quickly through customs, until we figured that they probably did not want us observing the "inspection" of other passengers!. The other passengers seem to manage to convince the border guards that all was legit and continued on, possibly minus a few packs of their souvenirs.
Thursday, July 31, 2008
Monday, July 28, 2008
Hungry in Ukraine
The decision to go to the Ukraine was a last-minute one. We were utterly unprepared for a country with uses the Cyrillic alphabet and where no-one speaks English. However, when we looked at a map, we realized that traveling through the Ukraine and visiting the (allegedly) upcoming Lviv was a no-brainer rather than back-track through Slovakia etc. to get to Romania.
We stayed at the Kosmonaut hostel in Lviv, which had much "character" and was superbly helpful. Since no-one speaks English, buying train tickets is almost impossible on your own, but the hostel staff wrote out a little slip of paper in Ukrainian to give to the ticket seller, which made life so much easier for us.
We usually like to try local restaurants and food, but to much disappointment in ourselves, we had a great deal of trouble interpreting menus and after trailing around a number of places on our first day with little success, we finally succumbed to a pizza place !
Despite all the challenges though, the city is really beautiful and very walkable, and it was great to visit somewhere so different from the other East European countries that we've seen. Top on the list of attractions is actually the cemetery - it has lots of different headstones and architecture and well worth a few sombre minutes navigating. We also found a couple of lovely art galleries (which were dirt cheap) and had time to see an Opera "Rigoletto" - sung in Italian with Ukrainian subtitles. At under $15 for a private box this was incredible value.
We stayed at the Kosmonaut hostel in Lviv, which had much "character" and was superbly helpful. Since no-one speaks English, buying train tickets is almost impossible on your own, but the hostel staff wrote out a little slip of paper in Ukrainian to give to the ticket seller, which made life so much easier for us.
We usually like to try local restaurants and food, but to much disappointment in ourselves, we had a great deal of trouble interpreting menus and after trailing around a number of places on our first day with little success, we finally succumbed to a pizza place !
Despite all the challenges though, the city is really beautiful and very walkable, and it was great to visit somewhere so different from the other East European countries that we've seen. Top on the list of attractions is actually the cemetery - it has lots of different headstones and architecture and well worth a few sombre minutes navigating. We also found a couple of lovely art galleries (which were dirt cheap) and had time to see an Opera "Rigoletto" - sung in Italian with Ukrainian subtitles. At under $15 for a private box this was incredible value.
Friday, July 25, 2008
Krakow rocks
We fell in love with Krakow the minute we arrived off the bus from Slovakia. It had been a beautiful bus journey through the Slovakian and then Polish countryside, and on wandering into the old town in beautiful sunshine, we decided on the spot to stay an extra day.
We spent one day exploring the wonderful art museums and history museums around the old town as well as visiting the National Gallery which although in a ghastly soviet-era concrete building (which allegedly took over 50 years to complete - God only knows why) has some lovely collections, and more excitingly had a new donation of contemporary art including Warhol and David LaChapelle which we loved. (Admittedly, the second best thing about that National Gallery is its fabulous coffee house downstairs - as many of you know our penchant for coffee 'n' cake).
We got up early one morning in order to get one of the limited number tickets to the castle - the complex is actually quite vast and we decided to visit just the state apartments and the royal cathedral including the royal tombs - both of which were beautifully restored.
One of the things we enjoyed most about Krakow was its lively bar scene and superb food. We had one of our best meals in Eastern Europe at a traditional low-key Polish restaurant - beet soup which is utterly sublime, and rich pork and beef dishes - yummy!
On a more somber note, we took a day trip out to Auschwitz and Birkenau - it's truly horrific the scale of these places and almost incomprehensible the things that took place here. But whilst not a pleasant day out, it is an important lesson in history demonstrating mans ability to do terrible things (and even in a democratically elected regime).
We spent one day exploring the wonderful art museums and history museums around the old town as well as visiting the National Gallery which although in a ghastly soviet-era concrete building (which allegedly took over 50 years to complete - God only knows why) has some lovely collections, and more excitingly had a new donation of contemporary art including Warhol and David LaChapelle which we loved. (Admittedly, the second best thing about that National Gallery is its fabulous coffee house downstairs - as many of you know our penchant for coffee 'n' cake).
We got up early one morning in order to get one of the limited number tickets to the castle - the complex is actually quite vast and we decided to visit just the state apartments and the royal cathedral including the royal tombs - both of which were beautifully restored.
One of the things we enjoyed most about Krakow was its lively bar scene and superb food. We had one of our best meals in Eastern Europe at a traditional low-key Polish restaurant - beet soup which is utterly sublime, and rich pork and beef dishes - yummy!
On a more somber note, we took a day trip out to Auschwitz and Birkenau - it's truly horrific the scale of these places and almost incomprehensible the things that took place here. But whilst not a pleasant day out, it is an important lesson in history demonstrating mans ability to do terrible things (and even in a democratically elected regime).
Monday, July 14, 2008
Slovakia - the Tatra Mountains
Ahhh... strudel, goulash and good, cheap red wine! We only had 4 nights in Slovakia in the Tatra Mountains, but almost as soon as our train crossed the border from Hungary into Slovakia, we had a feeling we were going to love it.
We stayed in a lovely log cabin/mountain refuge which was more like a hotel, and were fed with wonderful homely Slovakian food each night after our day of hiking (dumplings, stew, goulash, and some strange national dish of dumplings and sheeps cheese that was rather reminiscent of school-dinner macaroni cheese).
The mountains are spectacular, somewhat similar to the Swiss alps. On one hike we foolishly made up our own route only to discover late in the hike that we would be going the wrong way along a one way path ?? We'd never come across a one way walking path before but we're glad we turned back anyway, as we were later informed by some other english hikers that we would have ended up trying to climb down a steep 1km roped section with many other hikers coming up. Gary will now be paying more attention to arrows on maps from now on !!
On another day we went out to Spis Castle which is one of the most intact, large medieval castles in Europe. It was filled with a rather weird collection of iron sculptures of sheep and mythical animals that did not quite fit with the period, but the castle was impressive nontheless.
p.s. One of the marvels about European travel is crossing borders whilst never having to show your passport... fantastic - makes a nice change from the usual border interrogations we are subjected to in certain countries.
We stayed in a lovely log cabin/mountain refuge which was more like a hotel, and were fed with wonderful homely Slovakian food each night after our day of hiking (dumplings, stew, goulash, and some strange national dish of dumplings and sheeps cheese that was rather reminiscent of school-dinner macaroni cheese).
The mountains are spectacular, somewhat similar to the Swiss alps. On one hike we foolishly made up our own route only to discover late in the hike that we would be going the wrong way along a one way path ?? We'd never come across a one way walking path before but we're glad we turned back anyway, as we were later informed by some other english hikers that we would have ended up trying to climb down a steep 1km roped section with many other hikers coming up. Gary will now be paying more attention to arrows on maps from now on !!
On another day we went out to Spis Castle which is one of the most intact, large medieval castles in Europe. It was filled with a rather weird collection of iron sculptures of sheep and mythical animals that did not quite fit with the period, but the castle was impressive nontheless.
p.s. One of the marvels about European travel is crossing borders whilst never having to show your passport... fantastic - makes a nice change from the usual border interrogations we are subjected to in certain countries.
Friday, July 11, 2008
On the Road again.... Budapest
After a few weeks of good home-cooking back in the UK we were ready to get back on the road again.
Our first week in Eastern Europe was spent in Hungary with Gill and Chris on their mini-honeymoon (the real one is to follow later). So whilst Gary and I roughed it in backpacker dorms, Gill and Chris enjoyed the elegance and luxury of the Grand Corinithian Hotel.
Budapest is a superb city - a bit quieter than we had expected, but the lovely architecture and excellent museums, and most importantly the numerous cafes (with excellent coffee and cakes) kept us busy for a couple of days. Hungarian food is also surprisingly good: we had expected to be underwhelmed with cabbage, dumplings and ropey meat, but quite the opposite was the case, and we ate extremely well (and not a grain of rice in sight - a big relief after 3.5 months in Asia).
After a few days in Budapest, we took the agonizing slow (although apparently it was the express) train to Lake Balaton which is the largest lake in Central Europe. For my 30th birthday present, Gill and Chris were kindly treating Gary and I to stay in the same 4* hotel as they were, so we were so excited to have our own room and bathroom (and hairdryer - oh, luxury!).
We stayed on Tihany peninsular which is a beautiful nature reserve, with a lovely medieval town perched on top of the hill which is where we were staying.
Our first full day there we spent hiking around the peninsula - we were supposed to see the ancient castle ruins and despite traipsing around the top of the hill, getting lost and having to backtrack at least once, but we never found them. No matter, since the hike was quite stunning, and we were glad to stop for a drink and break at the marina at the bottom of the hill for a drink before heading along the water edge to the other marina for a relaxed lunch watching the ferry boats docking every few minutes.
Our second day, we hired a car (and that was a drama in of itself - 45 minutes to complete paperwork to rent a Ford Focus for goodness sake!), to drive around the lake to see some of the towns and castles and the wonderful Festhetics palace.
Our first week in Eastern Europe was spent in Hungary with Gill and Chris on their mini-honeymoon (the real one is to follow later). So whilst Gary and I roughed it in backpacker dorms, Gill and Chris enjoyed the elegance and luxury of the Grand Corinithian Hotel.
Budapest is a superb city - a bit quieter than we had expected, but the lovely architecture and excellent museums, and most importantly the numerous cafes (with excellent coffee and cakes) kept us busy for a couple of days. Hungarian food is also surprisingly good: we had expected to be underwhelmed with cabbage, dumplings and ropey meat, but quite the opposite was the case, and we ate extremely well (and not a grain of rice in sight - a big relief after 3.5 months in Asia).
After a few days in Budapest, we took the agonizing slow (although apparently it was the express) train to Lake Balaton which is the largest lake in Central Europe. For my 30th birthday present, Gill and Chris were kindly treating Gary and I to stay in the same 4* hotel as they were, so we were so excited to have our own room and bathroom (and hairdryer - oh, luxury!).
We stayed on Tihany peninsular which is a beautiful nature reserve, with a lovely medieval town perched on top of the hill which is where we were staying.
Our first full day there we spent hiking around the peninsula - we were supposed to see the ancient castle ruins and despite traipsing around the top of the hill, getting lost and having to backtrack at least once, but we never found them. No matter, since the hike was quite stunning, and we were glad to stop for a drink and break at the marina at the bottom of the hill for a drink before heading along the water edge to the other marina for a relaxed lunch watching the ferry boats docking every few minutes.
Our second day, we hired a car (and that was a drama in of itself - 45 minutes to complete paperwork to rent a Ford Focus for goodness sake!), to drive around the lake to see some of the towns and castles and the wonderful Festhetics palace.
Back in the Motherland for a few weeks
Touching down after a mammoth 24 hour journey from KL via Qatar to London, it was an immense relief to be greeted by the welcoming party: Caroline's dad, sister and now-husband Chris. We arrived on June 4th for just under one month of catching up with friends and family, and most importantly Gill and Chris' wedding.
After 5 months of being on the road, we are not at all ashamed to admit that it was absolute bliss staying in one place for a few weeks, being able to do our washing (properly - i.e. clothes actually coming out clean!), and drinking water out of the tap. Above all, our kind friends and family who hosted us over the few weeks fed us up with proper home food and wine so that by the time it was due to leave again we felt ready to go.
The last couple of weeks of June brought the wedding preparations, including dress fittings, spa days etc. The big day itself on June 28 brought beautiful sunshine ( a wonderful contrast to the rain in previous days). The whole day was magical but our favourite part had to be the genuine Scottish piper that led the entire wedding party back to the reception after the ceremony at High Street Methodist Church. We will get some photos up here in due course.
After 5 months of being on the road, we are not at all ashamed to admit that it was absolute bliss staying in one place for a few weeks, being able to do our washing (properly - i.e. clothes actually coming out clean!), and drinking water out of the tap. Above all, our kind friends and family who hosted us over the few weeks fed us up with proper home food and wine so that by the time it was due to leave again we felt ready to go.
The last couple of weeks of June brought the wedding preparations, including dress fittings, spa days etc. The big day itself on June 28 brought beautiful sunshine ( a wonderful contrast to the rain in previous days). The whole day was magical but our favourite part had to be the genuine Scottish piper that led the entire wedding party back to the reception after the ceremony at High Street Methodist Church. We will get some photos up here in due course.
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