TravelStream™ news feed for member divachappie on TravelPod's free travel blogs service http://www.travelpod.com/syndication/rss/divachappie en-us Copyright ©2009 TravelPod.com Wed, 30 Jul 2008 12:07:28 -0400 http://www.travelpod.com http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/divachappie/1/1216711920/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/divachappie/1/1216711920/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/divachappie/1/1216711920/tpod.html Wed, 30 Jul 2008 12:07:28 -0400 A 21st Century Grand Tour of Europe - A women, her mother, 2 rucksacks, 2 train passes, one month and a huge potential for disaster.

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Livingston, Scotland, United Kingdom

Hi folks, no photos this time just a round up of a few things my mum and I would like you to know.

Krakow was our favourite city. Rome was our least favourite. Lake garda was our most relaxing destination and the eastern Europeans, particularly the Poles were the nicest people. Our opinion only but it's what we both felt.

The trip was fantastic, its hard work but I can recommend it to anyone of any age. Stay in hostels, they are great and you meet lots of people. They don't have to be dorms, they can be double en-suite rooms. All were as good if not better than some of the hotels I've stayed in. We used hostebookers.com to find the hostels and all descriptions and reviews were spot on. Can i suggest that you may be cheaper buying ticket for trains when you need them particularly in eastern europe. Even when you get the pass, you still need to pay for reservations. In Italy this can add up. If you need to reserve seats, you could be waiting in queues anyway. The Deutsche Bahn UK office in England is good for buying your tickets and checking prices from the Uk. It can take a while to get through so call first thing in the morning.

I hope you enjoyed reading our blog and we both wish you happy travels

Nettie and Nellyxxx

Now I'm off to get out on the motorbike I treated myself to on my return!
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Montreux, Vaud, Switzerland

We had a fab day yesterday. We got up and took a train to Monreaux to the Jazz Festival. Didn't see any famous folk but saw lots of interesting people. Montreaux is beautiful and the festival is based around the lake. There were all sorts of stalls selling food and nick nacks, anything from clothes to crafts.On top of that there was free music. We listened to a fantastic canadian jazz band. They were more like a big band. We spent a good few hours there and when we came back, we met Rowana on the shores of lake geneva. It is quite an amazing lifestyle. There was an open air bar and the shore was teeming with people socialising. Rowana took Ragdoll and people had their children with them. We watched the world go by and drank wine while the moon came out over the lake.

Around 10.30pm, we took a walk up to Paquis where there is a well known ice cream shop. It was amazing, the queue was out the door and down the street. Apparently it can be like that up until and after midnight! They make their own ice cream and always have wonderful and amazing flavour combinations. I had 2 scoops -Green tea and hazelnut. Mum went for the straight forward, caramel and vanilla. Rowana had Pinneaple with Basil. It was fab. Ragdoll's, I wasn't so impressed with- Goats cheese and pesto! She loved it though.

After that we took mum on a tour of the red light district. A bit of an eye opener.

We got back home and after a few wines I went to bed.

So, the big news is, we must say goodbye. We are signing off as we are flying home today.

I know it's about 4 days early but, truthfully, we both really miss home and our partners. A month is a long time to be away from someone you love and so we arrive at Edinburgh airport at 13.20 today. The next entry will be the last from home as we complete the circle and we give you our top tips. Strangely the first song we heard as we left was coldplays new one and it is playing on the radio now. Full circle with those self indulgent prats!!And it's raining. hee hee

p.s. don't phone tonight, it'll be off the hook!
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Geneva, Switzerland

Hello again. Here we are in beautiful Geneva. We didn't know what to expect. We arrived at 7pm off the train from Milan to be met by my lovely friend Rowana. The train ride was made much more fun by a lovely Italian girl called Lucia who chatted away to us throughout the journey. We saw immediately how wonderful the public transport system is when we arrived here as we jumped on a trolley bus to Rowana's house.

She stays in a leafy suburb of the city and has made us very welcome, so lots of thanks to her and her husband Phil. Not forgetting their new arrival, an eight year old black lab called Ragdoll.

The first night we all went for a fab chinese meal (first in a month!). Phil and Ro showed us around the historical centre and it is lovely. We sat on the longest bench in the world (official!)The next morning we went out exploring Geneva, after taking ragdoll (who only speaks French) for a walk. Check out the photos, the place is gorgeous. Yes, it's a city but with water taxis hopping back and forth across the lake, beautiful parks and out door eating areas, its hard to think of it as the financial centre it undoubtedly is. The place is full of designer shops and jewellery shops. We overheard a conversation as we walked down the street. It went like this.

Two impeccably dressed men being introduced to a third. -

" Hello, what do you do?"
"I'm in petrochemicals"
"Oh, is it your own company?"

We were poorless. Us shlepping about in our marks and sparks t shirts. You don't feel out of place, however, as there is a real mix of people.

After our expedition where we hopped on and off water taxis and buses, we had dinner at Rowana's house and went off for the evening to an outdoor opera. It was a Cherubini thing. Lots of mistaken identity and people larking about. Couldn't understand a word but the singing was glorious, the setting was lovely and the show was funny. It was great. A very civilised evening.

Tomorrow, we are hopping on a train to Montreaux so hopefully we will bump into Phil Collins or some such person and have lots of photos for you.

Annette
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Desenzano, Italy

Aaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!! Thats better. Be sure and check out all our photos.
That is exactly how we both feel after 3 days here. A fantastic hotel with friendly staff, good food, walking distance to the town centre and the lake. I sound like an advert but I can highly recommend this place for a family holiday. Forget Spain, this is miles better. We met a lovely Scottish family who come back every year and we spent a great time with them in their friends trattoria. Jack and his family who own the trattoria are fab. David, Phil, Lee and Emma from Falkirk really made our stay. They suggested we visit Sirmione which we did and it was breathtaking. Still touristy but in a much more laid back way.No hastle.We swam in the hotel pool and soaked in the jacuzzi and have been real tourists here. The scenery is picture postcard.

When we arrived at the station we made the mistake of thinking the hotel was within walking distance and were half way here when we stopped at a cafe to check. With no English, Marco, the owner, told us we couldnt walk it and promptly drove us here. When we got to our room, reception called. Mum had left the journals in the cafe and marco came back with them. What a star!! This is typical of the type of people here. Im not naive, we do realise that cities, particularly, capital cities are completely different than this type of resort but you cant change the fact that we loved this place and hated Rome. We are quite sad to leave here and would definitely come back.

Tomorrow we get the train to Geneva through Milan (weare not stopping) so the next entry will be from Geneva staying with our friend Rowana. Speak to you then.
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Rome, Italy

We arrived in Rome after a relatively easy train journey. When we got off the train we decided to walk to the hotel as it was on the same street as the station. Big mistake. The street was HUGE, we were number 413. Our first impressions were not very good as the area was very grotty, smelly and dirty. I dont want to offend anyone, but I have to be honest and this was really a taste of things to come.Maybe we were unlucky enough to only see the run down parts of the city. Maybe we were unlucky enough to only meet the unfriendly Romans. Maybe there is some other part of the city away from the wonderful historical monuments that is not the way we judged it to be. If so, then I apologise unreservedly. However, our impressions were such that having seen the three things we wanted to in 24 hours, i.e. the colosseum, the vatican city et al. and the Trevi Fountain, we just could not wait to get out of the place.

Our hotel room was okay, it was in a block of unfinished rooms and lobby, it was being serviced by the reception of the next door hotel. Not a problem in itself. The room was clean and well looked after. It was, however very noisy due to the screeching of constant trams. The girl on reception and the lady who did breakfast were very nice. However, there was the Italian equivalent of Basil Fawlty at reception on the first day we went to breakfast. You had to be buzzed in to the breakfast room and he obviously wanted the door left open but he did not say good morning, rather shouted NO NO NO NO, OPEN OPEN to us. Not quite the welcome we had expected. When we handed our keys in 2 days early, he never batted an eyelid. Probably still waiting for us to come down to breakfast! Do not get me wrong we were blown away by the things we saw and we have great photos.

On the first night we arrived we walked to the colosseum but (murphys law) it was shut! We walked around the outside and fought off the gladiators. You know its hellish when you are in a foreign country and you get an attack of the gladiators. The next day after a really bad sleep, because of the tram stop in our room, we decided to go for it. Maybe subconsciously we knew we would not be here long. Anyway we went to the Vatican on the metro which was nice and quick and found ourselves queuing to get into St Peters Square.

It was not bad queueing at this point and we were blown away with what we saw inside.

We soon realised that to see the Sistine Chapel we would need to queue again to get into the museums. Again, not as bad as we thought, about 30 minutes to get in. Wow!! it was amazing. The only place we couldnt take photos was the Sistine Chapel so we have some great shots. This is only a tiny sample.

On the way back from the Vatican, we stopped off at the Trevi Fountain. We had been warned that it was not that impressive but I have to disagree.Again, the only problem was the street hawkers thrusting various bits of tat at you. You get a bit tired of saying no all the time. Likewise when you are eating.

That evening, we ate al fresco just around from the hotel and we were bothered four times with people selling rubbish.

It was when we went for a walk and I called my husband that I had the brainwave. Why should we stick to a plan that is not living up to expectations. We should change it! We deserve a wee break after all of this walking and sight seeing so, I googled a hotel on Lake Garda (Posh eh?). I paid for it and we hopped on a train and are spending 3 days here. Not much else to tell about Rome. Will fill you in on Lake Garda next time.
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Florence, Italy

Arrived in Florence after a good journey. Had to pay €30 on top of our passes to book a seat on the eurostar express train from Bologna. We could have gone the long way but decided against it. Waited in a bit of a queue to book the train from here to Roma for when we leave on Wednesday.

Walked the 20 minutes to the hotel through very hot and busy streets but it was okay because we stopped a few times. The first sight of the Duomo in Florence just took our breathe away. Even more spectacular than St Marks in Venice. It could be because it is so close to you and the square is small.

When we got to the hotel we realised we had 3 flights of windy stairs to climb. Oh well, good for us I suppose! When we got there we were pleasantly surprised, the lovely hotel manager gave us a free cup of tea!. We have learned on this trip not to judge a book by its cover with regards to hotels and hostels. The hotel is lovely and ...wait for it...WE'VE GOT AIR CONDITIONING!!!

The room has a view of the Duomo and we are close enough to everything but far enough away to be quieter. The guide book suggested that the best time to visit museums if you haven't booked is in the evening so we thought we'd give it a go to see Michaelangelo's David. We fully expected some queues but at 5.45pm with an hour to go we sailed through. €10 entry but worth every penny. There were other interesting paintings and a musical instrument exhibition but when you enter the gallery containing David, you forget all the other stuff.

No pictures can do justice to seeing him in the flesh, because that is what it is like, flesh. The most impressive thing for us was the detail at the back of the shoulders and the tendons on the leg as his weight is shifted to one side. Completely amazing. You could swear he is breathing. From the sublime to the ridiculous, on the way to see David, we were right royally ripped off. Two fresh orange juices...how much? Try €14, £11. So that's the last time that'll happen.

We hunted around for a reasonably priced restaurant but they cannot be found in the main tourist Piazzas but we did stumble on a great restaurant called Ristorante Vecchia Firenze. on the Borgo Degli Albizi. We can recommend it. Great home cooking and a reasonable price. The other restaurants were charging €20 for a hamburger and chips. This one does a set menu of three courses for €14. Great stuff! I had a risotto which was cooked to order and sublime.Mum had tagliatelle with salmon. She says it was braw!

We had a good sleep in our air conditioned room. In fact I had to sleep under a cover last night! When I awoke,I followed the guidebook advice and phoned the Florence booking service and booked our tickets for the Uffizi Gallery tomorrow to jump the queues. An extra €3 well spent. This morning after a light breakfast we wandered to the Ponte Vecchio (we did not throw ourselves below - singers in-joke!).
It is so cute with the buildings and the shops. I bought a pair of earrings and mum and I both bought little purses.
We wandered around aimlessly really just soaking up the atmosphere away from the main tourist drag. We popped into a lovely little church just for a look. It was built in 1066 and extended in the sixteenth century. It is off the Piazza Pitti.

We had a nice lunch and walked for miles, it seems. We ended up in a residential area up a hill and dead end so had to walk back.We really have had a lot of exercise on this trip. We have walked everytime we can, trying to really soak up the atmosphere of the places. I can highly recommend it.

That evening, after our obligatory seista, we tried to go back to our restaurant but it was full so we actually found a better one. Il Teatro. We had these lovely little canapes which we thought were chicken liver pate and I commented that they were very similar to haggis without the spices, turns out they were spleen on toast!!!!And, by the way, forgot to mention, we actually ate some horse meat in Verona at the end of our stay there. It was smoked and shredded and a bit like dried up corned beef. Not a huge hit but we survived it, so if you're wondering what happened to Shergar...........

We went to the Uffizzi gallery and saw Botticellis and Da Vincis and Goyas and Van Goghs and Rubens. All housed in the most amazing building. We have actually seen some spectacular things here in Florence. Even just wandering around the streets. You turn a corner and something beautiful is there. The city is very touristy and can be a bit dirty apart from the special buildings and areas but not to be missed.

After a wee rest, I went for my singing lesson. It was brilliant. She is an amazing singing teacher and singer and pointed me in the right direction with regards repertoire and areas for improvement. I am having another lesson tomorrow, she has invited me to her house for this so I think that is a good sign, I mustn't be crap! And I am officially a Lyrico Puro Soprano.

I will let you know in the next entry from Rome how that lesson goes.

Oh big changes afoot, we are now not going to Nice or Carcassonne. Instead we are going to stay for a while with a good friend of mine that I haven't spent much time with in ages. She stays in geneva. (Rowana for those in the know!). Any messages for her, let me know.

Roma next stop!!
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Verona, Italy

We arrived in Verona around 1pm and found our way to the bus stop quite easily.After getting on the bus going in the wrong direction, we realised it, jumped off and headed back the right way.

We arrived at our hotel and it is really nice. As with many small hotels like this, there is no air conditioning. Oh dear, it is extremely hot here.However, we do have a state of the art fan and unlike the Gellert are able to leave the window open.

We are really close to the main Piazza Bra where the arena is. It is really impressive and we went to collect our tickets for the opera on Friday night. The lady gave them to us no problem, no queue for a change and smiling said "dress code". We have paid through the nose for these tickets and have come suitably prepared for the dress code. It is quite expensive here. We bought 2 fruit drinks and 2 glasses of water and it was 19 euros! However, like us they have ways of coping. Check out the Italian pound shop! . The rest of the first night, we took it easy and had a hot but lengthy sleep.

We had bought a Verona card which covered us for travel around the city and entry to museums. It was quite good because being frugal Scots, we made the most of it the next day. After a really nice breakfast here at the hotel, we visited the Museo lapidario. Basically a lot of really old stones and carvings. Interesting but difficult to find your way around if you don't speak Italian. On our wanderings we were able to partake of the WC facilities in the Piazza Bra.

They looked fabby but were policed by the grumpiest man in Italy. We were trying to get water from the wrong sink(I think) so he was grumping at us in Italian and then when we left, he gave mum a really dirty look. I pointed out to her that that may have been because she said in a really cheery voice Grazias (which for the uninitiated amongst you is Spanish). He must have thought she was taking the ****.

We also went to the piazza Erbe which was lovely.

After that we went to Juliet's house and saw a re-enactment of the famous balcony scene. On the walls of the entrance to the house, visitors have written messages of love for their sweethearts.

We went through the market in the Piazza Erbe, bought some fruit and went to have lunch. We found a really nice, authentic restaurant and had a good lunch. We were offered horse meat (a speciality here) but we couldn't do it.After our afternoon siesta which is a complete must in this heat, we got ready for the opera.

I think we looked the part and felt really good, we had taken time to look at the people going into the same expensive seats we have tickets for the night before and we were quite happy we were doing Scotland proud!

It was more than we had hoped for. We both agree that it was worth the traveling just for that. Tosca was fab as was Cavaradossi. Scarpia, a bit comic book evil but still great. The sets were stunning. Explosions. 40 feet high statues. Amazing! Tosca had to sing Vissi D'arte twice because the audience were shouting for more. Cavaradossi was being urged to do the same in his signature aria but I think the maestro was aware of the time. Also, I was complimented on my outfit from the woman sitting behind me. Not bad, I think!

We left and had dinner at 1am in the morning in the open air and it was just getting comfortably cool.

Today we have done nothing except sleep and laze about. That's what has been great being here. We are off to Florence tomorrow and we are so laid back that we don't even know what train we'll get. We need to go to bologna to change and so that's what we'll do. Mum has developed a wee head cold which is a shame but she assures me that she doesn't feel too bad. Will keep you posted. I'm looking forward to my singing lessons in Florence so speak to you later.
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Venice, Veneto, Italy

Hello again,

We didn't expect to have a stop over in Venice but that's the way it worked out. We boarded our train at 17.00 and it left bang on time for a change! We found our cabin and, panic over, we were in the same cabin. We were sharing a 3 berth between us and had a cute wee sink and complimentary bottle of water and funny wee cake each. I was very impressed but then I am from Livi .

We were on our way for about one and a half hours when something terrible happened. The train hit a woman at a level crossing. She was a pedestrian and must have thought she could get across before the train. Apparently she was alive but they had to amputate her leg. It was difficult to get the story but the fire brigade and ambulance were there within a couple of minutes and we were on our way within the hour. It was very upsetting.

Later on, after things had settled down and we had settled down we went to the dining cart. It was very different from Scotrail. It felt a bit like being in somebodies kitchen. We ordered goulash which was obviously home made and it was great. .

We headed back to the cabin to settle for the night and Mum went to bed. At this point, the border checks started! All the cabins were unlocked for checking and the empty cabin next door was open. I had noticed that the water bottles in the cupboard next door were banging against the wall every time the train braked so I nipped in and hid them under the duvet on the bed when the steward wasn't looking. So far so good. Anyway the passport, customs and police check number one went by okay.

At the next stop a bunch of Australian people came on board completely obsessed by the fact that they didn't have a private WC. The strains of "what no WC, Frank?" rang throughout the wagon as they seem to have forgotten that the word sleeper applied to more than them. Actually it was better than watching the telly. We saw them trying to open the handle of the connecting door between our cabins thinking it was a toilet. I will always wish that it had opened just to see their faces when they saw us! I would have given even more money when they discovered the water in their bed.

Anyway after another two border checks which consisted of around 6 people peering in the cabin at you when you're half asleep. (I reckon they just go up and down and then wait for everyone to go back to bed and do it again for a laugh) we got off to sleep for about 5 hours.

Our driver must have gone like the clappers cause we made up time and arrived in Venice at 07.15 as expected.

We donned our rucksacks and explored Venice.


We got on a water bus at the station Santa Lucia and went to the Rialto bridge where we got off for a coffee.
Then we boarded again and traveled around to st marks square. It was unbelievably hot!! When we turned the corner into St mark's it was breathtaking.
Pictures don't do it justice. We decided to walk back to the Rialto which enabled us to take in the sight sound and(lets face it) smells of Venice. Not really unpleasant just a bit like seaweed.


We got back to the train station via another water bus after helping a woman up the Rialto steps with her buggy and child.

After asking around we boarded the train to Verona and were off. 1 and 1/2 hours later we were in Verona.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/divachappie/1/1214921760/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/divachappie/1/1214921760/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/divachappie/1/1214921760/tpod.html Wed, 02 Jul 2008 08:20:29 -0400 A 21st Century Grand Tour of Europe - A women, her mother, 2 rucksacks, 2 train passes, one month and a huge potential for disaster.

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Budapest, Hungary

We awoke yesterday and headed off to get the train to Budapest. We had sussed out the tram we needed, all was well. Then came the rain!! I've never seen rain like it. At least it was vertical not like the horizontal stuff we get in Scotland and it was warm. Some of the showers I've had weren't as powerful as this, or as hot. The tram was a bit late (of course) but we made the train station in plenty of time cos, guess what!!!??? The train to Budapest was 40 minutes late. Now we are so used to this, it is just water off a duck's back (pardon the pun).We got on the train when it came and threw a wee man oot of our seat. That always feels good! It was a good journey for most of which we had the carriage to ourselves. We arrived at Budepest Keleti station to a nightmare really. We handled it well but it seems to be par for the course when back packing. Here's the story.

I had spent a bit of time researching the best way to get to Italy from Budapest and had, in a print out(thank God), details of an overnight sleeper that we wanted to get that went straight from Budapest to Venice. We wanted to upgrade to first class to get a bed and cabin as it is a 16 hour journey. So we went to international ticket sales and took a ticket where we waited 2 hours to be served. No seats. Now, you could look on this as a nightmare or you can do as we did and meet some really nice travellers. A young guy from Costa Rica, he gave us his metro ticket and map, and another group of young guys from the states. I was forewarned about a particular assistant who gave duff info to the Costa Rican lad and, sods law, we got her!

I presented my print out and she tried to tell me that I didn't need a reservation in very bad English so I painted on my best smile and told her in words of one syllable what to do. Lots of smiling and laughing and eventually, she began to thaw and I think we've got the right tickets although I was just about sans mum as she only booked one ticket and if I hadn't spotted it, I'd be on my own. It looks, though, as if she may be sharing with someone else in a cabin. I have a cunning plan. She has an upper bunk so I'm going to ask someone to swap telling them she is incontinent. Do you think it'll work? I'll let you know if it is the right train when we get there (or somewhere else).

After a bit of aimless wandering, duff info and really helpful people we got off a bus at the Gellert Hotel. We checked in and went to our room. Sumptious or what, with a view overlooking the danube.
The first thing we did was get the cossies on and down to the spa.
We swam in the pool and soaked in the 38 degree thermal spa and went to the outside thermal bath. It was great. Nobody cares what they look like. There were oldies wandering about in flagranti in the spa. We kept our clothes on in true buttoned up British fashion. We must have been there for about 2 hours and when we came out we were really relaxed. I was here before with friends and I just want to let them know that it's the same wee wumin in the lift with her trendy white boots.

After this we decided to eat in the hotel. We had stopped off for a drink in the bar where the barman told us that the hotel was always quiet at this time of year as it is too hot in Budapest. We can back that one up.

We were the only people for dinner when we went in. There was no one in sight, or so we thought!

We had just ordered when the Hungarian Gypsy band (Vicki it's the same lot from the other restaurant!) led by some guy called Berti something or other on fiddle followed us in and proceeded to play at us while we ate our entire meal.

We eventually bought one of their albums because they were actually very good musicians and I like to support live music wherever I go, but predominantly to get rid of the buggers as I was struggling to keep a straight face. Mum was convinced the fiddle player had a wee thing for me as he kept winkng at me. I pointed out to her that I was the only female in the place under 60.

We went to bed pretty much after our meal which was very nice but had real problems sleeping. This was an issue over both nights as there is extensive regeneration of the area around the hotel which goes on all night and it is so hot that you can't sleep without the window open.


There is no air conditioning and in spite of the great spa facilities and the lovely surroundings, this is the first time we have left somewhere as tired as when we came. Pity really. I can feel a complaint letter coming on! I spoke to the manager and aparently the owner is english and they have been asking for air conditioning for 10 years. Now we know why the hotel is empty in the summer.

The next day, we went to the spa again, this time for about 3 hours. We were like prunes. It was great!

We wandered up town in Pest looking like American tourists and were able to take some great photos.

Budapest is very different from the other places we have visited. It is much bigger for a start and is a real mix of old and new.


We went to a big indoor market selling lots of lovely fresh veg and food. It also sold a lot of tat that no doubt we would have bought if we hadn't been backpacking.

We then had a very civilised, healthy lunch back at the hotel (thus the ladies who lunch, Callum!!). Mum pointed out that our waiter was very handsome, a bit like Howard Keel. (I shall have to keep an eye on her). . We also had the best cup of tea we've had so far!



A fter a little bit of relaxation we headed out on the town, this time to find a restaurant in Buda, this side of the river, that we saw in a guide.


We walked pretty far and realised we would have to go up the fenicular railway which mum didn't fancy and we saw a wee restautrant and went in.

Turns out the owner is Bakonyi Nandor, a Hungarian amateur boxing champion of past years. He had a picture of boxing champions on the wall that we think he must have fought.


One of these was Ken Buchanan, so we, again in hand gestures explained we were Scottish and out comes the trophy he won. He explained he won it in Glasgow in 1968 and 1975. He was fair chuffed that we were interested. When we went to go we bought an ice cream and bottle of water each and he wouldn't charge us and was shouting Viva Scotland!! How brilliant!! We aslo took some photos of the chain bridge which was designed and built by Clark Adam, another Scot.


After our crap night's sleep last night, we have checked out, duly complained and are sitting in the business centre of the hotel paying way too much for the internet. You better appreciate this. We are going to kill time until we get the train overnight to Venice at 17.00. It looks like another 38 degree day so wish us luck!
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/divachappie/1/1214752380/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/divachappie/1/1214752380/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/divachappie/1/1214752380/tpod.html Wed, 02 Jul 2008 07:52:11 -0400 A 21st Century Grand Tour of Europe - A women, her mother, 2 rucksacks, 2 train passes, one month and a huge potential for disaster.

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Bratislava, Bratislava, Slovakia

Here we are again. We left Krakow with a piece on cheese from Anita and her best wishes, if you can get into that hostel then you should, it is the Mundo Hostel. Anyway we took a slow and much more comfortable stroll up to the station with our lighter back packs. We found our train no problem and took our seats. It was another one of those Agatha Christie trains but it had air conditioning and so was okay with us. We shared our carriage with two very nice ladies, one of whom spoke excellent English. She actually saved the day when we realised the train was 20 minutes late and we were going to miss our connection at Breclav. She asked why we were not changing at Vienna. We were not sure and so decided, with the help of the ticket collector to do that. We got off the train in Vienna and saw the Bratislava train at the next platform. We just jumped on - my, we are getting gallus.

One hour later we arrived in the wrong station in Bratislava and then the pantomime begins again. I know what you are thinking. How did this pair get out of the Waverly Station? Actually we did quite well because in a deserted station( think of Westerhailes) we got a ticket for the bus and discovered it was the 93. Now, if wee Nellie hadnt thought to check with someone we were on the right side of the road, we might have ended up in Siberia. We got loads of help on the bus and the subsequent Trolley car and Tram with out anyone speaking a word of English. We needed the exact money for the tickets and ended up with about 6 bottles of water as we tried to get the right money from various shops and stalls. I think the Scotland patches helped a lot, actually. Everytime anyone asks where we are from, they always smile when we tell them. You forget how fondly we are thought of in Europe.

Anyway, we finally make and are doing our usual moan about how it might all be too much especially when the place you arrive in reminds you of Broomhouse.


Actually though, the apartment is really lovely. Brand new and spotless.
We are sharing with 2 other girls but we have a completely private living and sleeping area. the only thing we share is the kitchen. They are very nice and are from Finland. They got completely lost so we are not doing too badly, they are actually heading to Budapest on the same train as us tomorrow. Igor, who is our landlord ( no its not as bad as you think -especially if your thinking about young frankenstein) gave us lots of info and we headed of for a quick rece. We were really tired and didnt go far but did find a Tesco. Its Tesco but not as we know it. What a carry on trying to find sugar. We did have some great cakes. This is our shopping list that cost seven pounds: 4 cakes( well what did you expect), sweeteners(we never did find the sugar), cheese, salami, garlic sausage, butter, 4 rolls( my mum insists I tell you they were special rolls), 4 pears, bunch of grapes and a punnett of baby plum tomatoes. We are spending nothing, for a change. A pint of beer seems to be, wait for it, callum, 60 pence.

That night we didnt go out at all as we were knackered. Our ankles looked like we had inflatable armbands on them they were so swollen. Went to sleep and were zonked. Even although there was really loud thunder and a mental cat which wouldnt shut up. Sounded like it was being murdered.

Woke up this morning to a glorious day. Bratislava is really easy to walk around as the historical centre is compact and everything can be reach in 15/20 mins walking.


It is much more picturesque than we first thought and has a very good atmosphere. We took a walk up to the castle on the hill( harder than it sounds) and the view was stunning.


We also looked around the palace and went in to see the paintings and the gallery of mirrors.


We had a fabby lunch and sat in an internet cafe drinking wonderful coffee and taking advantage of the air conditioning as it is 17.40 and at the last count, 38 degrees.My face looks like ( in the words of Billy Connolly) a city bakers halloween cake. A big red baw puss.Its not burnt, dont worry, just overheating.

Oh and a change is afoot.

We are now going to bypass Ljubljana. Its a shame but after having experienced what can go wrong with the trains, we dont want to chance missing the opera in Verona, so we want to get there a day earlier. We are being very gallus now because we are going to look into going back to Vienna ( should take 4 hours) and then investigate a train to verona. Should be easier than going via Ljubljana. Plus we dont want to leave the Gellert too soon as it is one of our special treats.

After a short break in the apartment, we headed off to get some food. Ended up in a great restaurant called Slovak Pub where we had traditional Slovak dishes. Little pasties filled with different things. Mum had chicken and spinach and I had pork and beef. it was a bit like a scotch egg without the egg that had been flattened. It was served with sour cream and peppers. After that we had pudding. Fritters with apricot jam (bit like donuts) and strudel with cream (mum is going mmmh, remembering it) more like rolled up pancakes. I had one of the aforementioned cheap beers. Very strong and very tasty.

We wandered around the town which is beautiful at night (apart from the odd whiff of drains) and reminded me of Croatia. See you in Budapest.
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