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Post by Owen on Sept 11, 2014 8:17:30 GMT
1 ~ Highlights of Eastern Europe ~ 2002 ~ Pauline (Canberra, Australia) ~ IV Tour ~
I responded to a post the other day about the Highlights of Eastern Europe tour and said that a search should be done of my member number and they would find my journal/report......I woke up during that night, realising that I hadn't posted my journal of the fabulous tour that I did last September. So, I'm posting it now.
This travel tale was written by Pauline and relates to a Insight Vacations Tour.
It was originally posted on the Insight Vacations forum.
Highlights of Eastern Europe. 23rd September 2002 to 6th October 2002
Monday 23rd September 2002. Amsterdam to Vienna.
I arrived in Vienna, (having just spent 4 days in Amsterdam,) just after 10am and had collected my luggage and was on a shuttle bus to the hotel by 10.50am....I didn't wait for the Insight transfer at 12 noon. I was checked into the hotel by 11.30, had dropped the bags in my room, checked my Vienna map and headed out to start to explore. First, I walked through The Stadtpark, opposite the Vienna Hilton. (the tour hotel). It is a wonderful green oasis, close to the city centre....There is plenty of seating throughout the park and some wonderful statues and monuments. I exited the park onto Johannegasse. There was a kiosk nearby, so I bought a bottle of water & a hot dog for lunch (� 4.00). I continued along until I came to Schubertring / Kartner Ring. Took a left turn and continued walking until I came to Karntner StaBe, which is the start of the pedestrian shopping street. The Vienna Opera house is on the corner. I was too early for an escorted tour of the Opera house, so I wandered up Karntner towards St Stephens Cathedral. I wandered in and out of a number of shops, just enjoying being in another 'old' city....Suddenly I was in Stephens Plaza and there was the famous cathedral....(I do wish that post cards and guide books would reflected the current look of these 'special' places). The cathedral is almost black. Whether from pollution or iron in the stone, I don't know. Also, the tiles on the roof are looking very faded (compared to pictures that I had seen). I didn't go into the cathedral, as I also wanted to see the Natural History Museum building and the Museum of Fine Arts building. I headed out of the Plaza, up the Graben. (Lots of little expensive shops in this street).......I turned left into Kohlmarkt and was suddenly at the Michaelerplatz, where the facade of the Michaelertrakt, dominates....This is a wing of the Hofburg. I took a left turn, thinking I was heading towards Maria-Theresie Platz but I managed to get myself mislaid.....Found myself at the back of the Opera House and this time I was too late for an escorted tour..... I could have headed to the Maria-Theresie Platz but my feet were starting to scream at me, (I had spent my 4 days in Amsterdam, walking) so I turned left instead and started heading back towards the hotel. I was passing an internet bar and decided to drop in....After sending a few e-mails and drinking a beer (� 6.55 all up) I continued on my way back to the hotel.. It was just after 4pm at this time and the rain was starting to fall, so my timing was fortunate... I checked the noticeboard in the lobby and the 'meet & greet' for our tour was scheduled for 6pm. I went across the road to the railway station and bought myself something to eat for dinner, from the little supermarket there. (Thank you Kiwi9 for that tip) I then went to my room to freshen up, before the 6pm meeting. Liliana Krcelic is the TD and Josef ?? is the driver. Liliana is from Slovenia & Josef from Austria.......There are only 33 of us on the tour. (YES, some space, at last).. Australians numbered 11, Canadians 8, Americans 10 and Indonesians 4. A nice number. After the meeting, I headed for my room. I ate my take-away dinner, decided what clothes I was wearing tomorrow and packed everything else....Don't know what time the light went out but as we had a 6am wake up for the next day. I would have set my alarm for 5.30am. So most likely would have turned the light out by 12 midnight, at the latest......
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Post by Owen on Sept 11, 2014 8:17:52 GMT
2 ~ Highlights of Eastern Europe ~ 2002 ~ Pauline ~ IV Tour ~
Tuesday 24th September 2002. Vienna to Budapest.
I woke up at 5.30am when my alarm went off. Had showered and was dressed by the time the wakeup call came in....Breakfast was at the Terminl restaurant, which is not part of the Vienna Hilton.....Very odd.....I just had coffee, cereal, juice and a yoghurt for breakfast...I'll slide into the heavier breakfasts along the way. I went back to my room at 7, to pick up the carry-on. It was still raining, but as this is a travel day, it shouldn't have a great impact on the sight seeing.. Just before we reached the Hungarian border, 2 Australian ladies who are sisters (not religious sisters) discovered that they did not have a visa for the Czech Rupublic. More on that later. We arrived at the border at about 8.15am (not all that far from Vienna)....There were 4 other tour buses ahead of us. Our passport were collected at 8.40 and returned to us at 9.05....We pulled up at a cafe just over the border, to take a loo break, have a coffee and change money...I changed � 20.00 and received 4,600 forints. Worth about AUD$32.00... We left the border at 9.30am......There were kilometres or miles of trucks lined up, waiting to cross the border. According to Liliana, it can take a couple of days to cross the border in summer time..... We passed the town of Tatabanya at about 10.45am, heading for Budapest....Steady light rain was still falling. Shortly after, we hit the outskirts of Budapest and came to an almighty traffic jam....We then crawled into the city....Those of us who were taking the optional lunch cruise, (� 50.00) were dropped off on Ujpest Rakport, just off the Margaret Bridge, opposite Margaret Island..... The cruise lasted about 1.5 hours. We circled Margaret Island, headed towards Freedom Bridge, before cruising back to our departure point....... The lunch was delicious and lots of it, as there were only about 12 or so of us there... (and I didn't make a note of what was on offer). I do remember, chicken, turkey, stuffed cabbage, eggs, torte, and scrumptious salads also. I really enjoy the boat trips. You get an entirely different view of a city and it is so relaxing. The boat trips in Italy last year were also good fun. The local guide was great. Her name is Barbara and she speaks very 'English' english.... We were picked up by the rest of the group and then did out city orientation. The bus wound its way up to the castle district and the views from Buda, over the Danube to Pest, are spectacular...(even in the rain)..... Barbara has a wicked sense of humour. I was just so amazed at her honesty about a lot of things. Her age would have been, maybe, late 20's. We visited Matyas Church, named after the 15th century King Matthias Cornivys, who was married there...Beautiful stained glass windows and frescoes... The mosaic tiles on the roof look in far better condition than the ones on St Stephens in Vienna. The view from Fishermans Bastion, just below Matyas, is also breathtaking.... We left the castle district in Buda and went back over to the Pest side of the Danube to visit Heroes Square which is very grandiose and very sparse......Somewhere on the outskirts of Budapest is 'Hereos park or Statues park or Monument park' or something like that.... What the Hungarian people did, after the communist left, was, rather than destroy all the statues and monuments that the Russians had erected over the years, they moved them to some park.....So, if you want to see the Russian monuments and/or statues, they are all grouped together.... Anyway, after visiting Hereos Square, we then headed back to the hotel. We arrived at about 5pm and we were departing for our highlight dinner at 7pm. (thank goodness I made notes, because I had forgotten about that evening). I don't recall the name of the restaurant that we ate at but I did note that I had goose with cabbage and potato, a meat filled pancake and sponge, for desert........ And after writing that, I do remember the restaurant.... We had a delightful room downstairs. In it was a horse carriage. I think, perhaps on other occasions, the horse carriage, served as a bar.....After the 1st course a trio of musicians set up just near the entrance to the room..... The music was good and entertaining but very loud. Even for me, who has a slight hearing problem......We were back at the hotel by about 10.00pm Hotel comments........Vienna. Vienna Hilton was okay and the location was PERFECT...They are starting to refurbish it next month... Budapest. Aquincum. On the Buda side of the Danube, opposite the Margaret Island...Not downtown or central BUT a very modern 4/5 star hotel with great facilities.... And so ends my first day in Hungary.
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Post by Owen on Sept 11, 2014 8:21:03 GMT
3 ~ Highlights of Eastern Europe ~ 2002
Wednesday 25th September 2002. Budapest.
The usual start to the day, with an 8am depature, for the 25 of us who were taking the optional excursion visiting the parliament house. (€ 34.00). The others got to have a sleep in and then do their own thing....
We were the first & only group there and had to wait about 5 minutes before being escorted to the entrance and passing through the security check.... I noticed another 2 tours arriving as we were heading for the entrance
The interior of this place is something else....... It is soooooo ornate....I think Barbara (our local guide) said that they used 40 tons of gold throughout.....We had a parliament house guide, who escorted our guide, who was escorting us. Very odd...Seems like they are not yet ready to trust people...
I am continually amazed/in awe, of the wonderful treasures, that all European countries (that I have visited) have in their cities and towns.
The architecture design is something that we will never see built again and the wealth, in the many art forms, within so many castles, churches, cathedrals, musuems, is mind blowing, if you stop and think about it....All I know is that it should all be preserved and/or restored, as once it is gone, IT IS GONE.......
After the parliament tour, which lasted about an hour, we then visited Vajdahunyard Castle, (which is a group of buildings) in the City Park, (behind Hereos Square) where we listened to a wonderful organ concert ,in the Catholic chapel.......Normally we would have then walked, through the park, to our next place of call (Gundel Restaurant), but because it was raining, we were taken there in the bus..... At Gundel (which had opened ahead of time, just for us), we were served either coffee, tea and the most delicious, sweet pancake, on this earth......Walnuts and something else, and lots of chocolate sauce.....
I'm not a great 'desert' eater but this was DELICIOUS........I can still recall the taste, just writing about it.......After the morning tea, we were then dropped of in the city for some free time. About 2 hours....
I managed to visit 'Nagycsarnok' (Great Market Hall) on Sohaz u. which is one of the places that I had on my list. A 2 story market hall, that had, mainly, small stalls upstairs, selling lots of tableclothes and downstairs lots of normal market stalls. Vegetables, fresh meat, chickens, wheel meats (ie salami's and such). I really enjoyed walking through there. I also took a walk along Vaci U, (expensive street) but nothing caught my eye.....It started rained just as I got back to the bus. The bus then headed back to the hotel, to pick up others, before heading out to Szentendre.
We departed the hotel at 2pm for the Szentendre excursion. We had almost 2 hours there and it rained the whole time. I went in & out of shops. Found a restaurant that had an outdoor eating area, under cover, and ordered myself a goulash of some sort... The only thing I bought was a set of traditional 'stacking' dolls.... We departed at about 4.15pm and were back at the hotel in plenty of time for our 7pm dinner .
Our buffet meal was okay. Not a great deal of choice but what was there, was 'okay'. I had made a note in my diary that I was disappointed. I know that I thought the cost of my one glass of wine was VERY expensive. € 5.00. About AUD $9.00.
Earlier, before going into dinner, at one of the shops at the hotel, I found the most gorgeous stuffed cat.....I couldn't resist him. He joined my animal collection along with the Squirrel and the Madascan monkey, that I had bought in Amsterdam. I don't recall what time I turned the light out. We are departing at 7.30am tomorrow, for Krakow.
An aside. I loved this room, not for the view, although that was okay, overlooking a local park, but like the Hilton in Vienna, the window could be opened......I found all rooms, on this tour, kept at a very warm temp and even turning down the a/c in the room, didn't always work, so being able to let some fresh air in was a bonus.... |
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Post by Owen on Sept 11, 2014 8:21:20 GMT
4 ~ Highlights of Eastern Europe ~ 2002
Thursday 26th September 2002. Budapest to Krakow.
We departed Budapest at 7.40am after eating a delicious breakfast. Usually I would have cereal, yoghurt, fruit, cheese and some bread AND if the cooked food looked good, would have some of that also, especially the mushrooms and scrambled eggs and bacon and sausages and etc etc etc........
It took us 10 minutes to travel 200 metres. I think the traffic in Budapest was the worst of all the cities. Lots of traffic jams. After that the traffic started to move. We were on the outskirts of Budapest by 8.10am and arrived at Sahy, Hungary/Slovak border at 9.10am...The Hungarian customs people passed the passports to the Slovaks at 9.55am. The Slovaks handed them back to Liliana at 10.07am. (we were not allowed off the bus during this time). We then had our loo break. Finally left the border at 10.25am.....
We passed through some lovely country side. Gentle hills but we were climbing. We arrived at Penzion Zornicka, a ski resort, at Donovaly at 12.15pm for our optional lunch (€ 13.00). I think Insight should change this to an included lunch and bump the tour price up. If you don't buy the optional, you don't get to eat lunch, unless you have remembered to bring something with you to eat. Just seemed an odd optional.......... We departed Donovaly at 1.30pm after a rather surprisingly delicious lunch.
Had a 5 minute photo stop at 2.25pm for the Oravsky Hrad Castle and then again, just before 3pm in Poebiel, for the world heritage listed, traditional wooden houses. We passed a man cutting his patch of farm land, using a scythe. He was not the only scythe cutter I saw along the way. I also noticed that some of the people in the villages still plant out their front gardens with vegetables.....
We arrived at Trstena (Slovak/Poland border) at 3.20pm. Passports were collected at 3.45pm and handed back at 4.10pm...Only one loo for the ladies to use and the bus had to wait for a couple of us.... Again, there were kilometres of trucks lined up, waiting to pass through the border.
We had some time at the hotel (I think we got in at around 5pm) before departing for our highlight dinner at the Arial restaurant, in the Jewish quarter. (And it is raining again).....The Berdytchov soup was different (but very yummy), the roasted turkey fillets with potato croquettes, was okay and the passover cheese cake was delicious. The musical entertainment was great, particularly the violinist........
We were back at the hotel by about 10pm........ |
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Post by Owen on Sept 11, 2014 8:21:39 GMT
5 ~ Highlights of Eastern Europe ~ 2002
Friday 27th September 2002. Krakow.
Wake up 6.15. Breakfast from 6.30. For those of us going on the Salt Mine excursion, departure was at 7.30am, after Liliana arranged to meet the others, either back at the hotel or at the castle, later that morning. It started to rain, just as we arrived for the first tour of the day, at 8.30am.. We had a young female guide, who was very 'brisk' at the beginning of the tour, but had mellowed a bit and was more 'relaxed' by the end....The lifts, down to the mines, held either 6 or 8 people (can't remember for sure) and that was a crush. We went down 1500ft and most of that was in total darkness....The tour lasted about 1hr 40 minutes and was fascinating. Some of the scenes that have been carved in salt are true works of art.......And the St. Kings Chapel, is something else. We were continually walking down during the tour and I don't recall how far down we ended up going. There were also a number of chambers that we didn't get to visit, so I guess as a 'private' tourist, you could spend a few hours underground.... It was still raining lightly when we got back to the surface....If you ever get to Krakow, you must see the salt mines. They really are worth it (€ 38.00) The one we went to is called Wieliczka.
We were back at the hotel by 10.35am for a loo break & to pick up some of the others, before starting our walking tour of Krakow. The local guide was another Barbara.... First up we went to the Royal Castle on Wawel hill, where we met up with the rest of the tour group. We visited the cathedral first, with its many chapels, some were very ornate, others very plain and a number of them were under restoration. Some lovely frescoes and even more gold plated statues. Walked through parts of the castle. The inner courtyard is in the process of being restored. There were quite a number of school groups going through. I noticed the same at the salt mines. Maybe Fridays are excursion days for the schools.... From the castle, we proceeded to walk down towards the old town market square. We did a tour of St Marys Church. It is still in the process of being restored and I just thought the whole thing looked cheap and tacky. Colours too loud or vivid and gold everywhere. The main alterpiece is very spectacular though......I didn't visit the university's 15th century Gothic arcaded courtyard. It was about 2pm and I had a couple of hours to just wander. The day was very cool, so when I found a little shop that sold gloves, among other things, I bought myself a pair. My hands were freezing. I wandered up a couple of the streets that led from the market square, just window shopping and getting a little bit away from the main tourist area.....Back at the market square I walked through the Cloth Hall, checking out all the craft & souvenir stalls. Along one side of the Cloth Hall there were paintings for sale and also a flower market. I decided to take the bus back to the hotel instead of walking. Dinner was from 6.30pm. I had a potato & mushroom soup and vegetable lasagna. After dinner I checked my e-mails and was back in my room by 9pm. Packed up ready for tomorrows departure and was in bed & light out before 10pm. A very early night for me........ |
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Post by Owen on Sept 11, 2014 8:22:00 GMT
6 ~ Highlights of Eastern Europe ~ 2002
Saturday 28th September 2002. Krakow to Warsaw.
We departed Warsaw at 7.45am this morning and arrived at Osweucum (Auswitcz) at 8.45am. First up we watched a short film on the camp ,that was taken at the end of WWII, and then we toured some of the buildings. One of the men on our tour broke down at one stage. It is a very sobering place, particularly if you take on board the numbers involved, with what you see.....Mind blowing.. We left there at 11.05am and did the short trip to Birkenau. This former concentration camp was about 5 times the size of Auswitcz. We were only there for about 1/2 an hour. Next stop was Czestochowa, where we stopped at McDonald's for lunch. Departed Macca's at 2pm, heading for the Pauline Monks Monastery at Jasna Gora and the Black Madonna. (10 minuted drive from Macca's). This place was packed..... Lets just say that I thought the whole thing as a big money making excercise. People in the group thought that the priest taking us around was very funny. Perhaps he was. He was telling the truth, that’s a fact. I don't think some of the others realised that. At the end of the tour, one of the group gave him a tip of coins. He looked at it and said, "I like things printed on paper, but this will have to do I suppose"... Oh, he said it in a jovial fashion, and people laughed but I thought 'How tacky'. I mean, even when we toured the chapel to see the 'black madonna', we had to tiptoe through, because there was a wedding in progress.... I certainly would not have liked people trampsing through the church, when I married. Maybe the Auswitcz camp visit was still affecting me.......
We arrived at the Marriott in Warsaw just after 6pm. Dinner was in the hotel, at 7.30pm. I had a delicious, filling caesar salad, salmon and ice cream desert. Went for a quick walk outside, into the underground railway station area and then headed back to my room. Had a great view of the Palace of Culture & Science (or the wedding cake, as the local people have nicknamed it) from my bedroom window. Light out at about midnight. |
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Post by Owen on Sept 11, 2014 8:22:22 GMT
7 ~ Highlights of Eastern Europe ~ 2002
Sunday 29th September 2002. Warsaw.
The breakfast spread at this hotel is the best and its a good thing that the tours don't start here, otherwise all breakfasts after this one, would just be downhill. The eggs are scrambled for you, while you wait. I had eggs benedictine (I can still taste them) and mushrooms and crispy bacon and corn flakes and fruit and orange juice and coffee and pastries and bread (not necessarily all in that order). A great start to the day.
We departed for our city tour at 8.30am. First up we went to the Chopin monument, where we had our group photo taken. From there we visited the Jewish Ghetto monument and then continued on to the Old Town. After a walking tour of Old Town, Robert, James, Juan, Madeline & myself decided to do our own thing. We left the group at about 12.30pm, found a cafe and had something to eat. Then we wandered the town square, where Juan found a water colour that he liked. I found a shop that had a sale on amber, but didn't find anything that I really liked.
We then wandered down to the Royal Palace and decided to do a tour of that. After we finished the tour, we had a coffee and cake in the restaurant on the 1st floor of the palace. There wasn't anything else than any of us really wanted to see, so we started heading back towards the hotel, ducking into churches or shops etc, as the mood took us. We eventually arrived back at the hotel at about 5.30pm.
Dinner was again in the hotel, at 7pm. Caesar salad again (delicious) and chicken. I could only manage about 1/2 of the chicken. There was just too much for me to eat. All the walking earlier today had me feeling weary. I went back to my room, packed the bag up for tomorrows departure, watched a bit of the news on BBC World and was in bed by 10pm. |
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Post by Owen on Sept 11, 2014 8:28:48 GMT
8 ~ ~ Highlights of Eastern Europe ~ 2002
Monday 30th September 2002. Warsaw to Berlin.
Departed at 7.30am. I have to mention Josefs driving at this point of time. Excellent. It amazes me how these guys manage to manoeuvre those buses, as if they are mini minors......And he is a sweet guy, to boot. I dozed off & on for a lot of the morning travel. At 9.45am, we stopped at (another) McDonalds in Kutno, for our coffee and loo break.. I walked over to the nearby service station and bought myself some water and a couple of sesame bars. We continued on our way at about 10am. Germany closes her borders to trucks at 12noon on Saturdays and doesn't open them up again until Monday morning........ We were at Poznan by 12.45pm... I had lunch in the old town square, at the Nescafe Cafe, with Dorothy & Kiyoshi, another American couple. Some interesting street sculptor, in the square. I went for a wander down a couple of the streets running off the square, before rejoining the bus for our 2pm departure. We arrived at the border at about 5pm, after passing 100's of trucks (I'm not exaggerating. I gave up counting after 300) lined up. We arrived at the hotel just before 7pm. After checking in and taking delivery of the luggage, I then met up with Madeline, James, Robert & Juan. We checked out the menu at the FranzosischerHof, just a block away from the hotel, decided that it looked okay and had dinner there.....my share was � 33.00 (including wine and tip) and worth it. The desert was yummmmmmmmy..... We were back at the hotel by 10.30ish and my light went out at about midnight.
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Post by Owen on Sept 11, 2014 8:29:49 GMT
9 ~ ~ Highlights of Eastern Europe ~ 2002
Tuesday 1st October 2002. Berlin.
Aaaaah, Berlin. I liked this city. I have no idea why. Maybe the sun was shining that day or maybe because there were no cobblestones...... I had booked the optional 'Former East Berlin Highlights', so had an early wake up call with an 8am departure. First up we visited the Reichstag. It was totally destroyed in 1945 and was rebuilt between 1957 and 1971 but without its dome. It now has a spectacular glass dome designed by London architect Sir Norman Foster, that was built after 1995. The view from up there was great. Having a sunny clear day was also a great help. You could almost reach out and touch the Brandenburg Gate, which was still under wraps. That didn't get unveiled until 3rd October, during the Reunification day celebrations. From there we drove through Tiergarten, past the opera house, past the new Sony building, past the new Benz building.....There is so much building going on in this city, it's amazing. We ended up at the Checkpoint Charlie museum. Now that is an extremely interesting museum. I rushed through there. We only had about half an hour. Could have done with about 2 to 3 hours at least, but that is the nature of escorted tours.... We returned to the hotel for a short break so we could pick up the others, before continuing on to Potsdam for lunch and visiting Sans Souci. A bit about our Berlin Hilton hotel. It is located on Mohrenstr, in the Mitte district of the former East Berlin, opposite Gendarmenmarkt. This square houses the Deutsche Dom (German cathedral) on the south side, the Franzosische Dom ( French cathedral) on the north side and Schauspielhaus, (which is used as a concert hall), is between them. It was also within easy walking distance of most 'tourist' must sees. I had already decided that I wanted to spend time in Berlin, not out in the country, so I asked our Liliana if it was okay to be droppped of, just before the bus headed to Potsdam. She spoke with the local tour guide and told me where they would drop me off. Madeline & Juan decided to join me and we 3 left the bus, opposite the Kaiser-Wilhelm-Gedachtniskirche Memorial, which is just near the Zoological Gardens. First up we had to find a chemist shop, to buy some medicine, as Juan was starting to get a bad cold. Madeline had been in Berlin back in May and remembered getting some stuff at a chemist near where we were, so off we went in search of this chemist shop. Chemist shop was found, medicine was found and bought and imbibed. Next we visited a HUGE department store, where we went our seperate ways for 1/2 an hour or so. After re-grouping, decided to head to the Alexander Platz back in the Eastern side of Berlin. Caught a local bus, # 100, just opposite the Zoo entrance, and debunked about 20 minutes later. Thought about having lunch in the restaurant up the telstra tower, but there were not any tables free, so lunched on the ground instead. It was a potato lunch. Chilli's, spinach & cheeses..Then we all ordered a Berlin beer speciality which has raspberry sauce in it. I couldn't detect any beer taste but it was certainly alcoholic.... After lunch we headed back along Unter den Linden, just taking in the sights and sounds. Walked back to the Brandenburg gate and then visited a park on the next block, opposite the future Jewish Memorial Park (part of the no go zone when the wall was up) that was filled with fibreglass bear statues, painted by artists from almost every country of the world. It was an extremely colourful sight to see. Continued ambling back towards the hotel and arrived with just over an hour to spare, before I headed out on the optional dinner that I had signed up for. There were only 12 of us on the dinner run. 7 Australians, 3 Americans & 2 Canadians. It was Madeline's 63rd birthday. It was a great evening. I had a very spicy mushroom soup, pork knuckle for the main course and a delicious icecream pancake for desert.... I won't have knuckle again, but at least I have given it a go..... There was lots of singing and dancing and I think one of the other groups there thought we were mad...and not many of my pictures turned out as well as I thought they would.....We finished up there at about 9.45pm. Back at the hotel, I packed the bags ready for our departure tomorrow, for Prague. Light out by midnight. I'll now fill you in on the problems of Jan & Jill, the Australian sisters from Sydney & Wagga Wagga.. To cut a long story short the Czech Republic Embassy here in Sydney, stuffed up. They didn't put the visa's in the passports, before sending them out. The Travel agent stuffed up. He didn't check the passports, before returning them to the girls and they didn't check their passports, to make sure that all visa's were there. After phone calls and faxes, they were told that they would most likely be able to get visa's from the CZ embassy in Berlin. When Jan went there, they said they knew nothing about it. Jan & Jill stayed in Berlin an extra 2 nights, the 2nd & 3rd October and then flew to Vienna on the 4th and met up with us again just as we arrived at the hotel. The Berlin stay was a bonus for Jill. She is a history teacher, especially European history and countries annexed after the war...And being in Berlin on the 3rd, for the reunification celebrations was icing on an unexpected cake......To be continued...... |
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Post by Owen on Sept 11, 2014 8:30:05 GMT
10 ~ ~ Highlights of Eastern Europe ~ 2002
Wednesday 2nd October 2002. Berlin to Prague.
7.30am departure this morning with a bright sunny day coming up. I had a little snooze for about 1/2 an hour. Must be starting to get tired. Had our morning stop at a place called Lubben and in the shop attached to the service station, there were some really cute stuffed toys. I added a baby walrus and a mole to my collection. We left there at about 9.15 and arrived in Dresden at 10.30am....The walking tour we did was very interesting and there were no signs, that I could see, of the recent floods there. You would not think that this city has been totally rebuilt since the 2nd WW, as everything looks very old. We found a little street that had a few restaurants along it. One of them is the "Ayers Rock" cafe. I didn't eat there, as it was packed and this was only about 11.45am. I joined up with a few other people for lunch. We had to rush lunch a bit as we were due back at the bus at 12.45pm. The bus finally departed at 1pm. Arrive at Petrovice which is the border town, at 2.15pm. Customs were finished with us at 3.20. On The Czech side of the border, there are all these stalls, selling all the same products. I don't know how they make a living. There was even a restaurant there, inside an old plane. We continued on, arriving at our hotel (way out of the city centre) by 5.30pm I had booked the 'Prague by night' optional, so after dinner, a group of us set out. First up, we visited the grounds of the Strahov Monestery, then down the hill a short way to a look-out over Prague. The view was spectacular. From there, we walked back to the street, to hop on a little train, for the rest of the tour. We drove through the castle district, stopping every so often, so our guide could talk to us. Driving over cobblestones is very noisy.....This area is a city, within a city. We continued on, weaving our way down the hill, crossed over one of the bridges until we arrived at the Old Town Square. By night, this square is magical, because of the lighting and a very pretty square to boot. From there, we headed to the river for our night cruise. Another delightful hour spent, seeing a different aspect of the city. We were back on shore by 10pm. I was amazed at the amount of people (tourists) out and about at that time of night. I don't think I would like to visit Prague during summer. There were still 2 major international hotels that had not re-opened since the floods in August. After the cruise, we found our tour bus on the other side of the river and went back to the hotel. My light was out by midnight. |
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Post by Owen on Sept 11, 2014 8:38:14 GMT
11 ~
Thursday 3rd October 2002. Prague.
We departed at 8.30am for our city walk. The bus dropped us off in the castle district with our local guide. We walked through some of the street that we drove through last night. We visited St. Vitus Cathedral, which amongst other things, has some beautiful stained glass windows. Lots of lovely buildings in the castle district and another lookout with a fabulous view of the city. We kept on walking down, towards the river. There was one building that we passed that had all the street level windows wide open. The basement had been flooded and they were still drying the place out. We walked over one of the bridges and finally ended up again at the old town square, shortly before the astrological clock did it's hourly thing. This clock was given to the old town hall in 1410 but didn't work properly until 1490 when a Master Hanus, improved it. Legend says that he was then blinded so that he would not duplicate the work and in a fit of revenge he disabled it. It was finally repaired in about 1570 and has been working fine every since. It really is fascinating....
We left the guide just after 12 noon, Juan, Robert, James, Madeline & I. Wandered down one of the side streets and found a little shop that had some cute astrological crystal blocks. Bought one for my daughter-in-law & one for myself. Checked out a couple of other shops and then headed back to Erpet, a crystal shop opposite the clock. I had heard that this place is very expensive but I hadn't seen any crystal photo frames at any of the other places that we had looked at. I found what I was looking for, bought 2 of them (engagement presents) paid cash and received an 8% discount. Juan had vanished by now, so the 4 of us stopped at a cafe on the square to have lunch. I wasn't feeling all that hungry, so just had an apple strudel and a coffee. We then had a leisurely wander up another street and I found a little shop that had table clothes, but not the sizes that I was looking for. Ah well..... We wandered back to the square and then spotted some lovely silk scarves in a window, that took us downstairs to a delightful dress shop, with some gorgeous designs. James loved this little excursion, as he used to have his own dress shop and he really appreciated the products. The people who were taking the Opera optional tonight, (not at the Opera House) had to be back at the hotel for an early dinner at 5pm. I had been on my feet almost all the time since about 9am this morning and I was starting to feel foot weary, so decided to hitch a ride back on the bus to the hotel with them.. I knew that there was a shopping mall down the road from the hotel and I wanted to buy some goodies at the supermarket. This was the first shopping mall I had seen on this trip. Just like any other shopping mall anywhere in the world, smaller than some, bigger than others. Why did I think it would be different?? It started to rain as I walked down the road, but it was lovely. The heating in this hotel is too warm for my liking and I can't open the bedroom window to let in any cool air. I turned the a/c right down this morning, but it hasn't cooled down as much as I would like. After wandering around the mall and buying my snacks, I arrived back at the hotel, just before the group took off on the optional. They all looked so smart, dressed up for the opera but I was glad that I wasn't going, as I was feeling very tired. I went down to dinner at 7pm and joined Edna & Ben. He's from Wales and she is from England and they have lived in Toronto, Canada since 1957. Celia & Roman and Bill & Pascal, were the others who didn't take this optional. A very early night for me. Light out at 9.30pm. zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
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Post by Owen on Sept 11, 2014 8:42:41 GMT
12 ~
Friday 4th October 2002. Prague to Vienna.
We departed our hotel by 8.10am. We weren't stopping for lunch today only a late morning tea as we were due back in Vienna by about 3pm. We arrived at the spa town of Trebon at about 10.15. I spotted a shop in the oblong main square, that sold tableclothes. Had a very animated conversation with a lady there, who showed me a number of tableclothes but nothing was the right size. From there I went to the supermarket and bought some munchies & water, to tide me over till dinner time. Just outside the castle gates there was a guy selling hot dogs, so I bought one. We were there for about an hour, so I checked out other little shops, walked around the peacock who was standing on the footpath (have the photo as proof) and wandered back to the bus. We were all back at the bus when Liliana arrived and she wanted to know why we were waiting. We showed her why. There was Josef, resting his eyes, in the front row of the bus. Liliana knocked on the door and he very smartly let us on board. Naturally we all teased him. Arrived at the border at 12noon and departed again at 12.30pm. It was showering off and on along the way. We arrived back in Vienna just before 3pm, just as Jan & Jill pulled up in a taxi, returning from a shopping trip. Good timing. This time my room was overlooking Stadtpark, with a view of the spire of St Stephens Cathedral in the near distance. First up I headed across the road to the railway station so I could get some money out of an ATM. Taking my brolly with me as it was starting to drizzle, I went walking along Weiskirchner Strabe, which further along, become Wollzeille, which ends at Rotenturmstaffe. I took a left at the T junction and a short way up the road was the back of St Stephens. Stacks of people in the square. I did a bit of window shopping before heading along Singer Stabe, starting to head back towards the hotel. Turned left into Grunangergasse, took a right into Schulerstrabe, passing a restaurant called Gulaschmuseum, that had a very interesting menu, deciding that I would go there for dinner, (4.15 was a little too early) if nothing better turned up. I took another left and was back on Weiskirchner Strabe, so continued on to the hotel. I ran into Madeline in the foyer. She was waiting for James, Robert & Juan to join her before heading out to dinner and asked me to join them if I didn't haven't anything else planned. As I wasn't going on the farewell dinner optional the next night, I thought I would go back to that restaurant then, so joined Madeline & the boys. Seems that the guys had found a really great restaurant when the were in Vienna first time round and that is where we were heading for. When we arrived at the restaurant, guess which one it was. Gulashmuseum. There was a table for 5 available, so we sat. Honestly, within about 15 minutes of us arriving, the place was packed. Mostly people having a meal on their way home from work. I had pork & potatoes, beer, coffee and then all 5 of us had this really huge ice cream & cake, chocolate coated, dessert....Delicioussssss........The price was very reasonable also. We were lucky with the weather. While we were eating it had been raining but it had stopped by the time we started walking back to the hotel. Arrived back at the hotel just after 9pm, unpacked, did the smalls washing, took a relaxing bath, read for a while, watched a bit of TV and put the light out at about 11.30pm. |
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Post by Owen on Sept 11, 2014 8:44:14 GMT
13 ~
Saturday 5th October 2002. Vienna.
We departed the hotel at 7.45am this morning, for our city tour. First stop was Schonbrunn Palace. On the way out to the palace, as we drove along Linke Weinzeile, we passed the Saturday markets at Naschmarkt, that run between the 2 roads, Linke Weinzeile & Rechte Weinzeile. 2 blocks of markets. I was hoping to visit them during my stay but it didn't happen. At least I have seen them. Maybe next time!!.....
We were at the palace by 8.15am, way ahead of usual opening time, and started our tour of the Royal apartments. It really is nice on these visits, not having the tour guide competing with others to be heard. A few people commented/complained very early on in the tour, about the early starts on our city tours. After seeing the crowds waiting to get in, when we departed a couple of places, they then appreciated the luxury of the early visits. The tour lasted for about an hour or so and then we had about 1/2 an hour to check out the gardens. After Schonbrunn, we headed back towards the city centre, doing a full circuit of the Park Ring, having the many buildings theatres, etc, pointed out to us. There was a circus set up in front of the Rathus (city hall). We ended the city tour at Albertina Platz. Free time for those not doing the optional tour, which covered the royal palace (including the royal crowns) and (at long last) the Opera house. The opera season here lasts from 1st September, through to 30th June every year. 10 months. There is a different opera every night, that are repeated either 2 or 3 times during the season. Can you imagine that. Even if they were all performed 3 times, 10 months = 303 days / 3 = 101 different operas. That is allowing for 7 performances per week. The tour finished around 2pm and Jan I wandered around, mainly window shopping. We headed back towards the hotel, stopping in at the Gulashmuseum for a coffee. Back at the hotel by about 3.30pm. Made plans to have dinner, in the hotel, with Jan & Jill, the Australian sister, later in the evening. Went to my room, wrote up the journal, had a beer from the mini bar, watched a bit of TV, showered, dressed, sorted the packing (sort of) and went down stairs in time to farewell those taking the optional dinner. Met up with Jan & Jill. We had a very pleasant dinner and I finally had a Vienna Schnitzel. They were departing tomorrow afternoon to commence a tour of Spain. We parted company after dinner. I watched a bit of TV and then put the light out. |
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Post by Owen on Sept 11, 2014 8:45:07 GMT
14 ~
Sunday 6th to Tue 8th October 2002. Home to Australia.
I had not set the alarm for this morning, as I didn't have to leave until just before 12noon. (And I didn't make any journal entries about this day, so what I write now is purely from memory (and not to be used against me))..... I was up and dressed in time to have breakfast at the Termini Restaurant....I have no idea why breakfasts were at this restaurant, instead of in one of the hotel restaurants. Caught up with a couple of the people that I missed last night...... Went for a walk around the block and over to the railway station. Back to my room, packed the bags and went downstairs to check out. I was planning on taking the 12.10pm bus out to the airport (they run every 20 minutes at this time of day). After checking out, wandered to the bus area and was in time to take the 11.50am departure......The journey to the airport only took about 20 minutes. I had planned on getting to this airport early, anyway, as there is a Harrod's shop here. First up, I checked where the KLM check in desk was. Check in for my flight wasn't starting for another 2 hours........Found the Harrod's shop........Wandered in there....Sheeese........prices have gone up a heck of a lot since 2000.........Instead of buying the bag that Jan wanted me to buy (I don't think she would appreciate the $80.00 cost for plastic, Harrods name or not) I took a seat at the bar and ordered some food....As I had a couple of hours here before flying out, I was not in any rush...Can't remember what I had to eat but did have 2 coffees.......... Back to the KLM check in....Luggage departure weight is the same as when I departed Sydney. 21.5kg.......(I'm patting myself on the back here people). Flight to Amsterdam and then onto Kuala Lumpur very relaxing. Business Class has that effect. Had a 7 hour stopover in Kuala Lumpur airport.....I had already decided not to try to get into KL proper. I'm just not that adventurious by myself.. Stopover time passed quicker than I thought it would. This is a new airport, only opened about 3 years ago. Would you believe that I ran into a couple of my tour companions at KL.......Lee & Ian were departing for Brisbane, I was departing for Sydney.....Malaysian Airlines economy class food is good. Liked it better than the meals I have had on Singapore Airlines last year. Arrived in Sydney just after 6.35am.......NOTHING TO DECLARE......passed through customs........took the luggage through to the Qantas domestic transfer lounge........Arrived at domestic terminal and grabbed some beakfast. The flight back to Canberra was okay but because of the strong winds, the landing was a bit hairy. Arrived back at about 11am. Hubby picked me up from the airport. Had some lunch when I got home, unpacked the suitcase, did a load of washing and hung that out. Had great difficulty keeping my eyes open from about 4pm onwards. Finally went to bed at 9.30pm and woke up the next morning at 6.30am and have been back in normal sleep mode ever since. No jet lag at all.......
This travel tale was written by Pauline and relates to a Insight Vacations Tour. It was originally posted on the Insight Vacations forum.
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