Caitlin and I decided to do a whirlwind tour of Scandinavia. It’s quite expensive, so we didn’t want to stay for too long, but still wanted to get a taste of it. We decided to go to Gothenburg, Sweden, then to Copenhagen, Denmark, then pop into Amsterdam in the Netherlands (technically not part of Scandinavia). We, of course, had a spot of trouble with trains, though (is anyone else noticing a theme….?). We left Berlin at about 6:30 am to take the metro to the train station. We’ve of course taken the train everywhere around Berlin, so we’re old pros at this and know it should take about 20 minutes. We left ourselves a little better than an hour. But there was construction, and since neither of us speaks German, we didn’t understand the announcement for how they were rerouting metros. We eventually figured it out, but it cost us a good bit of time. We made it to the train station, ran to our train, and with Caitlin’s hand on the door it pulled away. So close.  There was another train later, but the connection time with the later train left us 18 minutes, so it would be close. We got some coffee, bought snacks for the train, and caught the next one. We were going to Gothenburg via Copenhagen, then doubling back to Copenhagen to actually see the city on our way to Amsterdam. But the train itself went on a ferry to get to Copenhagen. I had no idea whatsoever they could do that. But with weather conditions and all, our train was 45 minutes late, and we missed the connection to Gothenburg by a long shot. But that’s the thing about travelling – you have to go with the flow and enjoy wherever the adventure dumps you. So we found a hostel in Copenhagen and decided to just catch another train in the morning.

We finally arrived in Gothenburg, and the Swedes definitely have style. It would have been a great city for shopping, if only I were rich. We stayed at a bed and breakfast, since it was only a few euro more than a hostel, and it was a lovely respite – they even provided robes and slippers. We walked about a bit, went to a steakhouse for dinner Donal had recommended (Caitlin was kind enough to humor me, vegetarian that she is), and went to a suggested pub called The Rover. They have the largest whiskey collection of any bar in Gothenburg. I had a smoky Ardbeg Alligator whiskey which was incredible, and we just enjoyed the evening. And sleeping in giant, comfy beds. And proper showers in the morning. And a more quality breakfast. Sadly, we didn’t enjoy the rain the next day, but the B&B lent us umbrellas. It’s funny how such a small thing can make such a big difference in your day. We did do a bit of shopping and admiring, and Caitlin replaced her boots (the soles had peeled off with all our walking). There was a restaurant the Gothenburg lads had recommended while we were in Berlin called Heaven 23, which is on the 23rd floor of a tower and looks at all over the city. They also sell Swedish dishes. We had hoped to go there, but it was just too miserable being out, and we found delicious salads where we were. We took a taxi back to the rail station, and landed back down in Copenhagen. I really like Sweden, but I want to go there again when I actually have money to spend.

In Copenhagen we followed a trail on the map that took us all around the city. It was quite beautiful, especially by the water. We got to see the Little Mermaid statue, erected in honor of Hans Christian Anderson, as he was from Copenhagen. We concluded our walk with a late lunch/early dinner by the water, and I tried an open-faced sandwich with herring – very Scandinavian. It wasn’t bad, though it’s not something I would continue ordering off the menu given other choices. We took a night train to Amsterdam, one of the ones with couchettes. That actually worked out pretty well, and we got enough sleep that we weren’t completely exhausted the next day. Sadly, I left my phone on the train somehow, which isn’t the end of the world, but certainly an inconvenience. Amsterdam is actually a beautiful city, and there’s so much going on there. We decided to take a tour on the coffee shops, since it’s such a part of the culture there. We learned all about the history or marijuana, the laws in the country surrounding it, all the different kinds there are and forms it comes in, proper coffee shop etiquette should you choose to go in and purchase something, etc. It was quite interesting and informative. We went to dinner at a restaurant our tour guide recommended for local dishes, and called it a night. Again, a very short trip, and it would have been nice to spend longer in each Gothenburg, Copenhagen, and Amsterdam, but I’m glad we got to see a little bit of each. Tomorrow it’s off to London….

The train ride from Krakow to Berlin may have been early and may have been long, but it went without a hitch…..hard to ask for more after our last experience with trains in Poland. We got in around 7, so we went to dinner near our hostel and made it an early night. Sunday morning we had a bit of a lie in and waited for Niamh’s boyfriend Donal to arrive from Dublin. We sat around chatting catching up for a bit (Donal did the scuba diving course with me and Niamh this summer, so we’re well acquainted), and went for a late lunch. After a little more resting and digestion (it’s amazing how tired sitting on a train/plane just travelling can make you), we ventured into the middle of Berlin to find dinner. I was very excited Donal was there to drink beer and eat steaks with me – not that Niamh and Caitlin can’t appreciate these things, but Caitlin is a vegetarian and Niamh doesn’t like beer, so somehow it’s just not quite the same. We came back and went for drinks in the hostel bar, which was cheap and fun and there were lots of people about. Donal went to bed earlier than the rest of us – his flight had been at 4 am – and the girls decided to play some foosball. We made some fun friends, and went to bed quite late (especially after sleeping all day). Not our most exciting day, but a much needed break. 

The next day we decided to make a better attempt at actually seeing things in Berlin, though we didn’t get very far until about lunchtime since we went to bed so late. We found this great restaurant actually under the train station, with German food and domed ceilings and neat decorations. I did not order German food, however, but went for the good ol’ burger. It was literally about the size of my face, and delicious to boot. We went to the Brandenburg Gate, Checkpoint Charlie, and the Holocaust Memorial. I was curious to see how Germany would handle addressing the happenings of the Holocaust, and I was quite impressed:  they fully owned up to the horror and the tragedy of it all. They gave voices and faces and stories to many of the victims and stressed that this should never happen again.

Sadly, this was Caitlin’s and my last night with Niamh (and Donal), as we were heading for Sweden the next day. So when we got back to the hostel the unfortunate task of putting all the photos on USB keys and balancing out expenses for the trip awaited me. No one was particularly hungry (how could you be after that enormous burger?), so we thought we’d grab a few drinks and bar snacks downstairs. The cook had left early, so we went to our favorite Mexican restaurant next door and got food instead, then doubled back to the hostel bar. Conveniently, we ran into a group of lads from none other than Gothenburg, Sweden who gave us some good suggestions for our visit there the next day. We also ran into our friends from the night before, and got to say goodbye to them. We headed for bed then, but I stayed up too late chatting to Niamh, since it will be quite some time before we’re together again face-to-face, and she’s been a great friend this last year. Definitely not our most cultural of stops, but nice to spend more time with people before saying goodbye.

Krakow is to date my favorite stop on our trip. We stayed at the Mosquito hostel as close to downtown as you can get, which had some great staff and all sorts of activities going each day. We arrived on Sunday, which was pizza and baked good days….since, as we were informed, you should relax and enjoy Sunday. That was welcome news after our troubles getting to Krakow. We decided to not lose the whole day to our disaster though, and after a bit of rest headed to St. Mary’s to go on a free walking tour. We grabbed some food on the way – they had another market place in the main square and delicious food cooked in big black pots. Loads of vegetables and mushrooms and meats. It smelled unbelievable and tasted even better. I started to like Poland much more right then. The walking tour turned out to be one on Jewish history, and took us to different synagogues, the Jewish quarter, the former Jewish ghetto, and ended at a monument of chairs placed where the Jews were shipped off in trains to concentration camps. The guide had all sorts of knowledge, but the thing I found most interesting was when she talked about Oskar Schindler, of Schindler’s List. We were only a stone’s throw from his factory at the end of the tour, but he’s actually a bit of a controversial character in Poland, rather than the idealized cinematic version I knew of him. (I’ll tell anyone who wants to know more about it elsewhere, or you can Google it.) We decided to go in for some traditional Polish dinner, and ate pierogies (Polish dumplings for those not from Pittsburgh or familiar with Polish culture) at what translates to the “Raspberry Grandmother’s Kitchen”….suggested by our helpful hostel staff, because no one would ever find the place unless someone told you where to look. The roasted pierogies stuffed with cabbage and mushrooms were out of this world. Then to bed.

Monday we went Auschwitz. It’s not something you do on holiday for fun and entertainment, but it is something you have to do while you’re in Krakow. And it’s very difficult to describe the experience. There aren’t really testimonials from the survivors, or pictures of humans suffering, as you might expect after seeing these in a documentary. The place stands for itself, and the remnants of the belongings of those who died there. The sun was shining while we were there, and trees grow outside many of the buildings now, in such stark contrast to the horrors that occurred there. You’re given a bit of background about the war, the concentration camps, and then you begin to see things that impact you in a way words just can’t:  the suitcases carefully packed with all the things a family would need to live in a new place while starting their new“job”, the tens of thousands of shoes the dead removed before entering the gas chambers for a “shower”, the 400 kilos of human hair harvested from the dead to be made into textiles – some still in plaits. You see the rooms of the German officers compared to those of the Jews. You see rooms where it is impossible to sit, rooms where you cannot stand, rooms in complete darkness, all used to gain“confessions” or for punishments. You see the wall where the “unfit” were immediately shot. You see the gas chambers and crematoria. Then you’re taken to Auschwitz-Birkenau. This is where the scale, the magnitude of it all, sinks in. The plot-shapes and chimneys are all that remain of most of the buildings that housed hundreds of thousands of Jews, expanding out and out and out. The bunks and bathrooms of a few buildings still remain, evidencing the atrocious living conditions. The barbed fences and the watchtowers still stand, dividing the camp into“controllable” areas. The train tracks leading straight to the gas chambers still run through the camp.

The day didn’t leave us wanting to explore Krakow’s nightlife, but we did still have enough of an appetite later in the day to eat dinner. The hostel staff recommended a place called Koko, which had a basement pub with old stonework. I enjoyed my duck stewed with apples, though nobody else seemed to get what they thought that ordered (I don’t think the menu translated particularly well to English), and Niamh, who hates sauce on her food was slightly horrified when her“vegetables” turned out to be 3 different types of coleslaw. My “salad” was the same thing, though I quite enjoyed it. So Niamh and Caitlin got dessert elsewhere to assuage their stomachs, and I ordered mulled mead – yum. 

Our last morning in Krakow we toured a bit of the cathedral at the castle, explored the Dragon’s Den (cool old caves leading to a dragon statue that breathed fire every now and again), and returned to Schindler’s Factory to actually go through. There are only about 2 rooms of the original place – Schindler’s office rooms – but there are a lot of artifacts from the war. I think to get the full value of the place you need to speak Polish or have an interpreter, though, but still quite interesting without. We also ate some traditional zapiekankas while walking around town, which are bread with cheese, mushroom, ketchup, and meat if you prefer. Then we took an afternoon tour of the salt mines. I don’t know that I ever realized salt is mined before. You can obviously obtain it by boiling salt water down, but it’s strange to be licking cave walls and having them taste salty, or to see stalactites and stalagmites of salt. We only went down some 120-metres, but apparently the mines go down past 300-metres. And the part you tour is full of old mining equipment, chapels where the miners would pray before and after their shifts, the occasional dragon or dwarf, and underground lakes. One cavern has such great acoustics it’s used for concerts. And one chapel is absolutely magnificent (check out the pictures below…..whenever I get them attached…..).They even have chandeliers and statues made of salt crystals. You walk down nearly 400 steps to start the tour, but at the end you get to go up an elevator, a dodgy elevator indeed, though even Caitlin (who hates elevators and heights) survived being crammed in like sardines and shooting up at 4-metres a second. Quite a unique place. 

We went back to the place where we’d gotten dessert the night before, but this time for dinner. There was more mulled wine, and I had the best dinner so far of the trip – roast venison that was so tender it just fell apart on the fork, potato dumplings, and cabbage with raisins and honey. Now it’s off to Berlin!

This is the part of the tale where the dragons enter. Not literal dragons, mind you, but every story has the part where things start to stray from how they’d go in an ideal world. Saturday morning we made it up despite a late night, got breakfast and we’re out of our room by 9:35. We were aiming for 9:30, so not too far off. Our train was at 10:17. We’ve travelled between our hostel and the train station twice, and it’s never taken more than 25 minutes, so this seemed fine. We were waiting for the tram, but it was taking a while and we decided we knew the metro better, even though it’s technically a bit longer. But the waits for metros this morning we’re just much longer – like 6 minutes for the first one and another 6 minutes at our connecting metro. So in the end we arrived at the train station as our train was leaving. It was a bit frustrating, but there was another train at 1:12. Niamh and I left Caitlin with the luggage and went up to the ticket counter to sort out new tickets/reservations for the later train. Unfortunately, then man at the counter wasn’t having the greatest day and English wasn’t his first language. We explained we needed 3 reservations because we were travelling with a friend, he may have yelled a bit. We got all 3 tickets in the end. So we did a bit of shopping and got some lunch, and actually made it onto the 1:12 train.

We made it through our first connection in Ostrava just fine, and were on our way to Katowice. This is where it gets more interesting. Katowice is a small hub station in Poland, but our tickets didn’t connect in Katowice, but in Zebrzydowice, which we deemed “Zebraville” since we hadn’t a clue how to pronounce it. Zebraville was a stop on the way to Katowice, and since we also lack any extensive knowledge of trains and train stations, we accepted this for what it was. About an hour into our train ride Caitlin spotted the sign for our stop so we got off. Trains often only stop briefly, so we hurried off and then the train pulled away as we got our first real glimpse of the area. It looked like a depressed Polish village during one of the world wars. There was a building, but nobody was inside save for a few homeless. And boy was it cold outside. There was a schedule posted on the door of the station, and there was a train to Krakow, but only one train per day:  at 3:33 am. It was only 5:15 in the afternoon.

Then we met Tomasz. He came strolling across the sole platform and looked at surprised to see us as we were to see him, since none of us looked like we belonged in Zebraville. He asked where we were from and how the heck we ended up in Zebraville. We told him our tale (thus far), and he replied in turn. Turns out that’s Tomasz is from Poland, though he’d never heard of Zebraville before and didn’t actually know where we were (he was waiting on a friend to collect him), but he had a smart phone and looked to see if there were any other trains in the area heading toward Katowice we might catch. No such luck. We’d resigned ourselves to our cold fate, regretted not buying a deck of cards yet, and settled in. Tomasz asked if we would like some tea from a shop someone had told him was few blocks away. I started to say yes, then realized we had no Polish currency as of yet, and there wasn’t an ATM in sight. No tea for me. However, this lovely man returned 10 minutes later and said he would love to buy us a cup of tea, and then we could sit inside the bar (where it was warm) until our train came. You always worry about accepting kindness from strangers these days, with the sad state of our world and all, but we cautiously accepted Tomasz’s offer. It was indeed warm, but we sure were a spectacle in this town. I should also mention that NO ONE, save Tomasz, spoke any English whatsoever. (Again, not judging, as I speak no Polish.) This was definitely the local old-timers bar. So while Tomasz ordered us tea and a“welcome-to-Poland” shot of vodka, the locals crowded around our table to have a look at the misfortunate travelers. Then bilingual Tomasz asked the women working the bar if there were any busses to Katowice. It may have actually taken a village to figure out, but there were connecting busses that would get us to Katowice. 

Tomasz traded some currency with us, and just flat out gave us some money on top (in addition to buying us drinks and our first bus tickets), and explained to the bus driver that we needed told when to get off the bus. We bid him a fond farewell, and moved another step closer to Krakow. When we got to our stop, the bus driver indicated that we should get off, and we awaited the next bus. After about 15 minutes of waiting, and with 5 minutes until our next bus arrived, the bus driver came back over on foot, and said a few sentences in Polish. I didn’t understand any of it, but he’d indicated to a parking lot around back, a car across the road, and the bus sign. When he went over to the car to get a cigarette it all made sense: he was done for the night and had parked the bus, but was waiting to go home until our bus came to make sure we got on our way. Another kindness from a stranger. He chatted in Polish to thenext bus driver, we paid for our tickets (with our money from Tomasz), and finally made it to Katowice. But not to the train station – oh no, that would be too simple. And of course no one speaks English to just ask them where it is. So I called my dear sister Kelly, back in Virginia, and had her Google our location and directions to the rail station. This was no small feat, as every street name must be spelled since they’re in Polish and neither of us can pronounce them. While we were walking we found a taxi that would take us for a very reasonable price (thanks again to Tomasz and his money). We arrived at the rail station, went to the ticket counter, and asked about tickets to Krakow. The man looked at us as though we were mad, because believe it or not, the next train wasn’t until 3:30 in the morning…..the same train we would have caught from Zebraville. It wasn’t quite 10 pm yet. But at least we were inside. And there was food that could be purchased (yet another thanks to Tomasz).

You better believe we made that train. We didn’t really know when our stop was, so I stayed watch for it while Caitlin and Niamh attempted to get some shut-eye. Around 4:45 I asked a ticket inspector what time we would arrive in Krakow, and he wrote down 6:05 on a piece of paper, since he understood the question but didn’t know how to answer in English. I set an alarm and tried to get some sleep, too. It was the slowest train and stopped in all kinds of places similar to Zebraville, and we didn’t actually make it to Krakow until almost 7. But it doesn’t end there. Couldn’t be that easy. According to our ticket we were to go to Glowny station in Krakow city centre, within walking distance of our hostel. But the train stopped one station short, on the outskirts of Krakow. We waited on the train until the ticket inspector came along, and I again enquired about getting to Glowny and he said, “No, finito, OFF!” So we got off. But still no one around here spoke English (including the women at the ticketing counter), there were no ATMs, and no one even sold maps. I rang the hostel we were supposed to be at and explained where we were and asked the best way to get to there, and the man sort of laughed. He said it was complicated to explain, and that I should ask someone to direct me towards the city centre and ring back. Great. Except no one speaks English! So we asked a taxi driver how much it would cost to go to the address of the hostel, and he said 30. We only had 20 left of Tomasz’s generosity. The taxi driver said no. Another taxi driver appeared, and Niamh asked him how much to the address. He said 20, we said yes, and we finally, finally made it to the hostel. We were only supposed to be at that particular hostel one night, then we were moving to a much cooler one around the corner. But since we hadn’t cancelled 24-hours in advance, we were still charged even though we hadn’t made it the night before. It was 8 in the morning now, but we decided to sleep until checkout at 10. Hey, we’d already paid for it, right?

In the end it took us 22 and ½ hours to get from Prague to Krakow. It’s never how you’d prefer your travels to go, but there are some experiences money can’t buy. It’s all part of the adventure, right? It makes you really appreciate when things run smoothly, and it’s nice to know that white knights still exist…..you only get to meet the Tomasz’s of the world when you’re facing the dragons.

After grabbing a few last photos and a Game of Thrones book (in English, since we could find it in Budapest), we headed for Prague. Our hostel wasn’t entirely a hostel – more like a hotel in disguise; it was incredibly nice….and cheap. They even had a more-or-less sports bar downstairs which was great for meeting people, and had good food. Our first night we arrived pretty late, so we just grabbed a few brews and appetizers downstairs and called it a night. The next morning we headed into the city centre, and it’s just neat to see all the old buildings – literally ALL the buildings are old and have some quality architecture. The first thing we stumbled upon was an outdoor market. There was a man with a forge, anvil, and hammer shaping metal into all kinds of interesting things, people selling food and locally-made beer, unique jewelry, other hand-made goods, and even a man blowing glass. Very cool. We headed farther into town where there was a large clock tower, and a man who trumpeted out of the top of the tower every hour. Turns out you can go up into the tower and get quite the view of Prague, and a lesson on the workings of clocks. After that we meandered over to the Jewish Cemetery. Downstairs they had several rooms where the walls were filled with the name of every Jewish person from Czech Republic who died during WWII. And outside was the most overcrowded graveyard I have ever seen, literally placed one on top of another. It really impressed the magnitude of the Holocaust on you, and this was only one relatively small nation. Upstairs they mixed sadness with a bit of hope:  there was a man in the Jewish ghetto who had the children express their feelings, hopes, and dreams through pictures to help them deal with what they were experiencing. Some of those pictures lasted through the war and were displayed upstairs, along with the names and ages of the children who drew them. It was really rather moving. We had a late lunch in the main square and headed back to the hostel. Our amazing hostel also hosted a pub crawl every night, so we decided to make and evening of it. We met quite a few interesting people, though none actually from Prague. It’s still fun to meet other travelers, though, and in the end we spent most of the night with some American radiology students from Chicago, which was quite entertaining to Niamh who’s actually from Ireland.

We had a bit of a lie in the following morning, then had to switch rooms, and had to run to the train station to reserve tickets for our train to Krakow the next day, so we didn’t actually get very much done. But travelling as much as we have, it’s nice every now and again to have a day off. We were getting ready to head to dinner when we met our new roommate Gavin from Australia, so we invited him to come along as well (downstairs…..to the bar….again). We got to chat with him a bit and compare travels, and then a great band started playing. They’re not what I would necessarily choose to listen to at home, but man could they play – and they had a trombonist who was deadly. Prague actually reminded me a bit of Bratislava, just a bit bigger and with a lot more going on. I would definitely recommend the city – and especially the hostel – to anyone travelling this way.

We said farewell to Bratislava and moved on to Budapest, Hungary. Niamh has a few friends living out there – Niall and Bébhinn (Irish, can ye tell?) – so she stayed with them and they took us around the city. I had met them before a few times back in Ireland, and another of their friends Phil, who also joined us in Budapest. The metro here sounds sort of like a bad carnival ride and makes cheesy music at every stop, then has a loud buzzer when you leave. It was a bit rainy when we arrived, but we checked into our hostel and Niall and Bébhinn took us for a sandwich and elderberry lemonade, then up to Heroes Square with statues of the leaders of the seven tribes that founded Hungary in the 9th centuryand a castle that looked like it was out of a fairy tale. We went back to their place and had some wine and put on a movie and just chatted for the evening. 

Bébhinn had to work the next morning, and Niall had a lab for vet school he had to go into college for, so Caitlin, Niamh, and I went wondering on our own. As a bunch of biologists, we started with the Budapest zoo. It’s interesting to compare zoos, and after a year of talking about conservation and the trip to Africa I don’t know that I’ll ever view zoos the same way again. Not that I don’t appreciate them, but it’s a different perspective. Anyway, this was not the dodgiest of zoos, but it doesn’t compare with say the quality of the Pittsburgh zoo, and not all the animals received the proper care. My favorite part was watching one of the tigers stalking the young school children outside his cage. Niamh and Caitlin really liked the part where you got to go into an enclosure with the sloths, and we got a nice video of one of them. We had a lovely lunch by the water, and headed to the baths. They were similar to the ones in Verona, just with a lot more character and less modern – definitely liked these ones in Budapest more. They also smelled a bit of sulfur, which meant we smelled of sulfur by the time we left, too. And they had saunas of all different temperatures, which we didn’t realize and went into the hottest one and only lasted about 4 minutes. It made for a very relaxing afternoon. We showered, met back up with Niall and Bébhinn and went to a delicious burger restaurant. We headed back to their place again and watched Hocus Pocus, since it is the season. 
 
Tuesday, after breakfast, we went to Budapest’s Terror Museum. Such a perspective. It’s made to commemorate the acts of the brave Hungarians and those who gave their lives during the German Nazi occupation and subsequent Soviet invasion. The Hungarians loathed the Nazis, but had far more hatred for the Soviets, and rightly so when you read about all the Soviets did while trying to install socialism in Hungary. As the U.S. has never been overtaken, it was interesting to hear about the wars from a country living in terror under Nazi and Soviet rule, and to hear and see videos of survivors giving accounts of their harrowing experiences. It’s strange to think that they’ve only been under actual Hungarian rule since the 1990s. So different from other places in Europe. It was still pouring rain when we left, so rather than sight-seeing we enjoyed the afternoon off and watched the Kurt Russel version of The Thing (what a beard!). It stopped raining somewhere during the movie, and we went to dinner at Sir Lancelot – a medieval themed restaurant. I had goulash and a salty scone, grilled meat including a goose leg (the Hungarians are all about goose, especially goose liver), a strudel of some sort, and “appetite drops” which turned out to be whiskey. The entertainment included minstrels and a sword fight, and I was asked to stand atop a table and serenaded by a knight. There was also a belly dancer. We got to see a bit more of the city by night after dinner, and I got to try honey pálinka. Not bad at all. Tomorrow we head for Prague….

Vienna was pretty neat. After our late night train seat mishap, Caitlin and I were pretty tired, but we couldn’t check into our room at the hostel until about noon. The hostel was great in terms of atmosphere – it had little courtyards with benches and knee-height chess sets on the ground, bike rentals, guitars and a piano for anyone who played, a bar and café inside, etc. But we ditched our bags in a storage locker and headed to a coffee shop to relax a bit until Niamh got in two hours later. Niamh arrived without any trouble, and we headed off for lunch. Afterwards we had a bit of a walk around town and a nap in the hostel. For the evening we decided to go check out the massive ferris wheel on the edge of town. The thing is massive, and the Austrians are very proud that it withstood WWII when other similar ferris wheels in Europe collapsed under duress. It offered quite a view of the whole city. We had a traditional dinner in the restaurant down the street from our hostel with great décor – wooden walls and benches, antlers on the walls, big silver chandeliers with candles, and a dog sleeping by the wood-burning stove. The food was delicious. I ended up with the mixed grill over vegetables with fried potatoes and different sauces. We headed back to the hostel and a beer at the bar downstairs, hoping to chat with some of the others staying there and see what people recommended to do in Vienna and Bratislava. Sadly, as a poor yet fairly accurate testament to our generation, there were about 25 people there and about 20 of them were sitting using their fancy phones and computers rather than talking to actual human beings. We chatted with the few actually at the bar, but went to bed fairly early as there was no craic.

The following morning we frequented our favorite coffee shop again, then headed to the Spanish Riding School to watch their morning practice. I believe it’s the last traditional dressage school in Europe, and their riding is most impressive, particularly if you’ve ever attempted English riding before. We ended up a little turned around because our map was terrible, but we did get to go through a lovely park that way. Our next stop was the Museum of Torture….a bit of a strange choice, but Niamh and I were deathly curious (so to speak). It was actually quite interesting. The entrance was a just a door to a 4 by 6 foot shack that covered a staircase with black walls leading underground. Good and creepy, eh? They gave us booklets in English since we don’t speak German, and sent us off to meander through the exhibits. There were little galleries throughout that showed reenactments and the tools of torture used in Europe, and the booklets described not just what things were, but the history of it in Vienna. It also strongly emphasized that the museum was opposed to actual torture. Since everybody still had an appetite afterwards we stopped off at a Greek restaurant for lunch, then headed for the palace. This was by far the best palace so far. Some of the Hapsburgs had resided there, and it had the grandeur you really expected from a palace. The gardens had a labyrinth that we explored (it wasn’t a very difficult maze). It was a great day with a strange array of activities, and we decided to hit up another Austrian restaurant for dinner. I got a traditional dish that I would describe as Austrian mac and cheese, but could only eat about half of it. We headed to bed, though sadly my night did not end there. At about 3 in the morning, I woke up with a stomach ache, so I went for a stroll around the hostel…..that ended in the bathroom with an unfortunate visit from the mac and cheese. It was a long night. 

The next morning we were set to leave for Bratislava, Slovakia. We went back for a last breakfast at our coffee shop, but I just went with tonic water. Since I was feeling surprisingly less nauseated, we decided to attempt the train since it was a fairly short ride. The train turned out fine, but the metro to the train was touch and go from stop to stop. We made it to Bratislava, found the hostel, and everyone decided to take the afternoon off. I had some orange juice and a bit of a nap, the girls bought me some pretzels at the shop later in the afternoon, and I felt just fine – sort of a 12-hour bug. We went to a restaurant a few doors down for dinner, and watched Hostel in our room. For those of you who don’t know, Hostel is a horror movie about people being abducted from a hostel…..in Bratislava. 
 
Saturday we decided we should actually see some of the city, so we headed up to the castle. It was full of old artifacts and interesting paintings, though we weren’t allowed to take pictures. And being on a hill, as castles so often are, it had a perfect view of the whole city from its tallest tower. We came down off the hill and headed for the main square. We stopped to see the Blue Church, which as you might have guessed is blue, but there was a wedding going on so we only got to see the outside. We passed a massage place and decided to get impromptu massages, since things are relatively cheap in Bratislava. We also realized we had done two of the things they did in the movie Hostel – go to the spa and to an art show. Luckily no one was abducted. I had some traditional Slovakian food for lunch, including a cabbage stew and what turned out to be the Slovakian equivalent of pierogies. The beer was my favorite part, though:  a dark Zlatý bažant. The main square didn’t have much to offer beyond restaurants and shops, but it had a lot of character and was just a pleasant place to spend what was left of our afternoon. We never made it to the UFO bridge, but went back to our hostel to rest. Eventually we reemerged and headed back to the main square to the Irish pub for a few drinks and to get the feel of the town. I would definitely go back to Bratislava.

We left Munich bright and early Saturday to catch the train at half-seven, hoping it would be less crowded. This proved true, though our car was joined eventually by two other Americans from Seattle heading for Verona. It was good to chat with them and compare experiences. The Italians at the train station, and just in general, really, are nowhere near as friendly as the Germans. Nor is their English as good – though to be fair, my Italian is far worse than their English. We got a taxi out to the villa bed and breakfast where we stayed the weekend. The view was unbelievable – winding roads, old stone, grapevines. The building itself was built over 400 years ago and still has some of the original stonework. We were greeted a bowl of grapes grown on the back patio, big smiles, a lovely room, and some of the best wine I’ve ever tasted. It was literally golden, and slightly reminiscent of honeyed mead. It’s not exported anywhere, and only available in their section of Verona where the grapes are grown. We stretched our legs on a short walk, and sat on the patio just enjoying the sunshine and that it was warm enough to be in short sleeves. We went to dinner at a little Italian restaurant down the road, which was quite nice, but nothing too exciting, then called it a night.

 Sunday we tried to sort out horseback riding, which we heard was available in the area. Sadly, the people who run the place were on a weekend riding trip, so instead we spent the day at the mineral baths. There were about 15 different baths, some inside, some out. One you scrubbed with Dead Sea sea salt before getting in, another was in a dark room with colored lights and calming music, one had a current that pushed you around a loop….you get the idea. There was even a bar in one of the pools – and yes, I mean in the pool. A very relaxing day. Then we decided to walk into town to use the ATM and maybe find a restaurant for dinner. After we found the ATM we decided we’d rather just get back to our place first before dinner, and tried to call the taxi. But the taxi fellow was out, and since there’s apparently only one in this part of town, we got to walk up the hill instead. Sure gives you an appreciation for the view, and it really wasn’t too bad. We also forgot that it was Sunday and many restaurants by our villa were likely closed, but fortunately there was a small café still open with some small pizzas and wine…..one of those days where nothing is quite how you expected, but it all ends well.

 Monday we headed east to Venice for a night. What a city. As soon as you step out of the train station there’s a canal and all of these grand buildings. There are no streets at all, such that a car would drive on, but canals all throughout the city. I somehow managed to lose the directions to our hotel between the villa and the train station, so we had a bit of an adventure finding the hostel. They also weren’t entirely forthcoming about their location, which didn’t help either. After hauling our luggage over many bridges, we finally found the place. The staff were very friendly and it was nicely located for a getting most places, and the beds were comfy, so not too bad despite the effort of finding it. We grabbed lunch at a little café, apparently right next to the sewer Indiana Jones comes out of in the third movie. We went for a stroll up to the Basilica di San Marco and ate dinner by the water.

 Sadly, I started to get a cold on Monday, and my Argentinian roommates checked out at 4:30 in the morning, so I wasn’t feeling my best the next day. Caitlin had some loud snorers in her room, and mosquitoes as well, so she didn’t sleep particularly well either. We did a bit more sightseeing, but  were pretty tuckered out before long.The Guggenheim Museum was closed when we  tried to go, and the gondola rides were quite expensive, so we finally had one  of those off days for travelling. Our dinner was amazing though – we went to a  local pizza place and had a pie with roasted pumpkin, gorgonzola, and thyme…..yum! We dragged our luggage back to the train station, hung out until 1:30 am, and got onto the overnight train to Vienna. Except our seats were occupied when we got on the train. Turns out when the lady at the train station moved us from the 9:30 pm train to the 1:30 am train she forgot that would be on a different date. Luckily, we found free seats, though it still wasn’t very comfortable. But we’ve made it to Vienna, and Niamh has made it here as well….let the next part of the adventure begin!

(Still no pictures yet.....as soon as we get to a place with a fast enough internet connectiong I'll post them all!)

We've just left Munich, where we got to stay at Caitlin's relative's house (Caitlin is a fellow BioCon from San Francisco, in case I haven't mentioned that previously). He and his wife were out of town for the week, but were kind enough to let us stay in their absence, and what a house it was! It's conveniently right in Munich, and they have all sorts of paintings and art, including a chair made entirely of zip ties. Our first day we actually took the train from Berlin to Munich (it was much cheaper to fly into Berlin), and I needed to activate my train pass before turning 26. By the time we were settled into Munich, we were too tired to do much else, so we just went for dinner and then turned in early.

Our next day was my birthday. We got breakfast bagels with mozzarella, lettuce, tomato, and pesto - not the most German of breakfasts, but still good. We tried going to the geology museum to see the dinosaurs, but it was closed for construction, so we headed to the shopping district where Caitlin and I perused then split a pretzel filled with cheese, as the pretzels are massive. We thought we'd head over and check out Oktoberfest, but quickly learned you must come very early (1 or 2 in the afternoon) or have a reservation to get a seat at the beer gardens. Despite being too impatient to wait ages for a chance to have a beer, I enjoyed a bratwurst from a street vendor, and decided to try again a different day.

Our third day in Munich we were still fairly wrecked and decided to relax in our luxuruious residence and make some plans for the next few weeks. It ended being most of the day, but we salvaged it by going to a traiditional German restaurant for dinner. The Lowenrau Keller was also celebrating Oktoberfest; though it was not on the same scale, there was plenty of weissbier and roast duck to go around. A very good night, all in all.

Thursday we returned to the shops (after more bagels), and I decided to purchase a pewter mug. Well, it's really more of a goblet or a chalice, but you get the idea. This time there were also a number of musicians playing in the street (check out the video below), and we happened to be there at noon when the bells chime and the figures on the town square clock dance. We purchased some roasted chestnuts from a street vendor, and reattempted Oktoberfest - much earlier. We arrived by two o'clock and got seats right away in the Hofbrau garden. We shared a litre there amongst the decorations of hops, discouraged a few German lads, cheered for those who stood on the benches and downed whole litres, and sang along to songs even though we didn't know the words. Next we moved to the Hacker-Pschorr tent, and found seats with two lads from Finland. The were much more pleasant company than the aforementioned drunken Germans, so we all moved after another litre to the Paulaner garden. This time we sat ourside, and switched to weissbier. We even decided to walk home at the end of the day instead of taking the tram - not too shabby, possibly even respectable.

Our last day in Munich the weather was gorgeous, so we strolled over to the Museum of Man and Nature and around the grounds of the Nymphenburg Palace. The inside seemed to me like most palaces, but after seeing the grounds it's not hard to imagine why they decided to build the palace there, surrounded by streams and forests. We frequented the Lowenbrau on the way home again, but this time I sampled the ox loin steak, perfectly cooked.

It's taking too long to upload pictures, but as soon as we get to better internet connection I'll add them on, so check back later. Next we're headed to Verona in the Italian countryside for a bit of relaxing, and then for a trip to Venice.....auf wiedersehen for now!

Some street musicians in Munich.

After many months, my thesis is officially finished and turned in (though I won't know how I did until early December). It's good to be done. The department had a wine reception for us, and we had quite a few celebrations of our own. The week since has been full of packing and goodbyes, getting all my affairs in order to leave. I've moved out of my apartment, my belongings are on their way back to America, and I am off this afternoon on a new adventure. I've got an interrail pass for the next 2 months to go all around Europe, but I'll be home in time for Thanksgiving. And I'll not be going alone - Caitlin and Niamh (fellow BioCons) will coming with me, and other BioCons will be meeting up with us along the way. We're starting in Germany to catch the tail-end of Oktoberfest.

It's been a good year. The course wasn't exactly what I expected it to be, but it was a good experience, and now I have my masters (almost!). South Africa was amazing, and the people in my course made up for any of the course's shortcomings. I got to spend a year abroad in the Emerald Isle, now I'm off for a tour of Europe. But it will be so nice to get home and see everyone there.