| The Land Of Million Mullets "A truely happy person is one who can enjoy the scenery on the detour" (author unkown) This is the stories from our travels in Central Europe |
The temperature was in the mid-60's by mid-March in Fresno, pretty standard for this time of year. It was actually perfect outdoor working weather for Shawn, really nice since Summer's folks decided to pay him a few bucks to plant some trees and work on the yard. Summer was in his office making sure all the correct orders were going through for the fruit shipments to Japan. Stephen and Janet were actually out on a little bit of a holiday spending a few weeks seeing his family in Hawaii. They asked us to stay and help and we decided, "Sure, why the hell not." We actually spent two weeks playing house in Fresno, enjoying time together in luxury. On the other hand, we were itching to go. We had been home for a few months already and were ready to throw the packs back on and walk towards the unknown, embrace adventure. But, wild world politics (mind you its early 2002 and the world is on the fast track toward chaos) were on the front page of every Fresno Bee newspaper we picked up in the driveway each day. The headlines were powerful and the pictures in full color spared no graffic detail. War seemed virtually inevitable in Indian sub-continet, only a matter of time. Pakistani bombs were blowing up Indian Hindu trains and moltov coctails were launched into the Indian embassy. As a show of strength, India moved nearly a million people to the Pakistan border, esp near Kashmir. Pakistan wasn't backing down and immediately moved a million of its own troops to the border in response. To highten the choas, both had announced recently (and openly tested) that they both had created, and stockpiled, nuclear weapons. Anyway, we started questioning the sanity of heading to Bombay, India. We discussed our options, wondering if this was the right time to go there or do we reroute? Mind you, this country has been our dream, our ultimate travel destination for quite some time. It was going to be a test of our ability to travel deep into a culture that is the absolute antithesis to life in the USA. On the other hand, being wiped out with 10 million other people instantaneously as a 10 megaton warhead detinates over our head is not necessarily the party we want to attend. So, with Summer's father's help we found a cheap ticket to Zurich, Switzerland. Our thinking was,"Well, we want to hit Spain and Portugal anyway, not not fly to Switzerland and then train it from there to Spain...maybe head off to India afterward?" So what now....one day Bombay, the next Zurich...life of the unemployed backpacker can change in minutes. Well, things were still changing, although we didn't know it. We drove over to Barnes and Nobles to buy our Lonely Planet: Spain travel guide. We picked it up and gave it a quick glance. Things looked great and we were like, "Alright, let's do it." Well, a couple of book down was Lonely Planet: Central Europe. Summer casually picked it up and we started looking at some of the photos. Looking at photos turned into reading about places, reading about places turned into discussion, discussion turned into decision and before we knew it we put back Lonley Planet: Spain and were on our way to Central Europe... who would have ever thunk it??? We landed in Switzerland mid-morning, of course drunk as a skunk on free wine and totally confused. Hey, we had to kick off the second phase on our Around-The-World trip somehow, right? Anyway, we found a place for only $50 US dollars a night. $50 US dollars...HOLY COW...that is more than we spent in 2 weeks in SouthEast Asia!! We spent only one night, walking around and each having a $7 beer. It wasn't tough to figure out that Switzerland just wasn't in our budget. We booked a rather expensive train for Munich figuring that Germany must be more reasonable. The train ride was spectacular...rolling green hill, flocks of powder white sheep, and massive snow capped mountains. Time slipped by as we watched in silent awe at the natural beauty that was displayed before us, mesmorized my the worlds powerful tranquality and incredible beauty. A sight like this makes you appreciate Louie Armstrong's song "What a Wonderful World". We looked a little different on the train, already wearing every piece of clothing we had. Mind you, we thought we were going to India in summer where its a 115 degrees. Therefor, we were not properly prepared for the freezing temperatures of Germany. As the train plowed forward the snow got thicker and thicker. We looked at each other and, without speaking, communicated, "Oh Shit, its going to be cold." We pulled into Munich mid-afternoon under depressing overcast skies. Tourist info recommended a hostel, the cheapest place in town. Still, much to our dismay, it was totally out of our budget. But, what the hell, we are in Munich so why not take a look around and drink some beer. Munic was pretty cool. As the capital of the Bavaric region, its known for its romantic castles, Oompha bands, and saugsages. The weather was doing its best to freeze us out (we had to buy hats and gloves) so we found refuge in the Hafbrauhaus (one of the many massive beer halls in the city). We drank giganitc beers while sitting at long wooden table and ate prezels while meeting other tourists from all over the world. That was the whole thing though, the place had tons and tons of tourists. That's not necessarly bad, we are tourists, but just different than what we expecting when we discussed our dream of traveling around for a secound time. There is no doubt that the scene was young. The basic rule of thumb is that the easier it is to travel (aka you can find a McDonalads near-by or find a pay phone that actually works) the younger the traveler. We are not trying to sound like we were "so much better" than the other kids there, we were just at a different point and this wasn't the right setting that we wanted. We had many a discussion that maybe we had made a wrong choice. We wanted to be out there pushing the limits, not following a path. So after a few days walking around town we jumped on an east bound train for the Czech Repulic. Rather than heading from one bid city to another we hopped off the train in the small villiage of Marianske Lazne. We ended up being the only two who got off into the near deserted depot. The place was tiny and cold, it could easily have been mistakin for an old Russian train station in Siberia. We walked in, totally confused, and found out that we were in a rather remote place where no one spoke English and there was no tourist information. Panic sets in a just a little as you begin to wonder if we were getting in a little bit over our head. Where were we going to stay and how do we get into the town? We smiled at one another and realized that this was perfect, just what we were looking for...adventure. Marianske Lazne is located just over the border and is famous, at least in central Europe, for its theraputic spas. For centuries Kings and commoners have flocked here to take advantage of the healing qualities of the natural hot springs. Massive old resorts fill up in the summer with elderly looking to cure what ailes them by relaxing in the mineral rich water. We spent a few days in a pension which was a delightful treat after the crowded hostels we had been required to stay at in both Switzerland and Germany. A pension is basically a converted house. We had a little apartment connected to the room of a single elderly women. It was kind of like staying at grandma's house complete with the lacy bed-spreads, lime-green carpet and that stale smell that somehow permeates the houses of the elderly. It was quaint and cute though and she was just as nice as could be making us a simple breakfast in the morning and even giving us some cookies in the evening. Our next stop was a short train ride to the city of Plzen (Pilsen), halway between the Czech boarder and Prague. This mid-sized city is the capital of West Bohemia and has been brewing beer for over 700 years. It is known as the the birthplace of Pilsner Beer, specifically Pilsner Urquell. The locals, mostly blue-collar factory workers, are extremely proud of their beer making heritage, obvious by the huge selection of local pubs. We took advantage of this and attended a tour of the brewery. The traditional process that they still follow was incredibly interesting. We took tours through the beer cellars and made certain we had enough time to sample the final product. We also had time to go to the main square and check out the local market. Even at 9:00 in the morning when the temperature was still hovering at the freezing mark the die-hards were already working on pints in the outdoor beer gardens around the edge of the square. We stopped to sample the Absinth, the famous Czech green liquor adored by artists and poets for centuries. It has a reputation of having "mind-altering" qualities much more powerful than that of a regualr spirit. Plzen was a nice little stop and was a great glimpse of simple life of central Europe. Still moving east we made our way to Prague. The train was way overpacked as people were making their way to the Czech capital for the long Easter weekend. We were met at the train platform by a variety of people husteling tourist to fill up their rooms. Fortunetly, we landed another great pension on the out-skirts of town with an elderly women. "Prague is a story book city in the center of Bohemia which has a magical feel about it and is like a history lesson come to life. As you walk among the long stone palaces or across the famous Charles Bridge, with the beautiful Smetana Vltana river flowing below and pointed towers all around, it feels as if history has stopped in the 18th century." (LP). Summer had visited once before and from what she remembered, and what we were told by others, we expected a lot....and Prague delivered. On a level to the likes of Rome and Athens, it is truely a gem and the first major highlight on the second year of our around the world journey. We spent nearly a week and a half wandering the streets. We were in no hurry and had plenty of time to stroll, stop for some tea at a cafe, and admire the street performers working hard for a few Czech Crowns from the huge crowds of tourist. It was with great pleasure that we took our time in one of Europes most laid back cities. We visited two major tourist attractions, the Prague castle and the Jewish Ghetto. We must admit the castle was a little bit of a let down. Although huge and very detailed, it was swarmed with countless tourists streaming out of big busses. High school aged kids were running a mock and the limited things to see were tainted by the people pushing and shoving. On the other hand, the Jewish Ghetto was impressive. This old section of town was home for 1000's of Jews for centuries. It was torn down in 1900 because the area had become so run down and a public health hazard. The Czech government tore everything down in an effort to improve the region. Things changed for the worst after the Nazi occupation of Bohemia and Morovia on March 15, 1939. In 1942 the Nazis began bringing artefacts from all the liquidated Jewish communities and synagogues. Their hope was to make a massive collection, a "museum of an extinct people" to be opened once their extermination program was complete (a totally crazy thought). There are several synagogues packed with info about the plights and hardships the Jews faced throughout history of the region. The Old Jewish Cemetary was really incredible as well. Established in the 15th century, the cemetary contains over 12,000 tombstones. Over time the area would fill to capacity so new layers of dirt were brought in and the tombstones raised. So there is layer after layer of bodies under the soil and thousands of huge stones piled on top of one another. It was definetly an impressive, yet slightly eerie, site. We did make it out to the clubs a few times during our stay in Prague. We actually just kept going to the same one. the entry was cheap, the beer was really cheap (about $0.30 a draft) and the music was excellent. The crowd was young, we actually felt like two of the oldest people there, but it was a good time none the less. You know we love to get out and shake our groove thang once in awhile so we had a great time getting down with top notch music, mind-blowing lights and people around who feel and appreciate the same feelings and sounds as we do. As is usually the case on the backpacker trail, we learned about a place a few hours south that was supposed to be the small medieval town that was one envisions when readying about days long gone by. Cesky Krumlov, virtually unchanged since the 18th century, is a picturesque city exemplifying the idea of quaint, romantic, and beautiful. There is a fast moving river lined with old 2 story stone row-houses that reamin in the shadow of a 13th century chateau. We took a tour of the magnificant residence, strolled the gardens, and admired both the winter and summer riding stables. One really gets lost in a place like this. To imagine having such great wealth and living with the world at your finger tips. Our time in the Czech Republic had come to an end and, after a brief return to Prague, we took a night train trhough Slovakia and into Budapest, Hungry. This capital city, located on a curve in the Danube River, was also a very pleasant surprise. The river divides the city in two. In fact, it used to be two seperate cities, "Buda" and "Pest" until 1873 when the two merged together. Like the Czech Republic, Hungary was also "liberated" by the Soviet army in 9145. It remained under communist until March 1990, when the winds of change blew through. With Gorbachev looking on, Hungary change political systems with scarcely a murmur and the last Soviet troops left in 1991. As was the case for many countries working to transition from communism to democracy, the people of Hungary suffered once subsidies were removed and the country frll into a severe recession. The communist ever were re-elected for a brief spell but removed again and are now part of Nato and waiting to becomeing part of the EU. Anyway, Budapest is a stunning city. In many ways it is like Prague but does have the huge numbers of tourists (yet). The streets are clean and enchanting, the roads are littered with cute streetside cafes, and thre is just a great feel in the air. Our luck with great accomidation continued and we found a small one bedroom apartment right in the city center. We cruised the streets here and couldn't stop commenting on how impressed we were To Be Continued.... Next Adventure: A Summer in Greece hopping around the beautiful islands in the sparkling Agean Sea. |