From male bonding to girl chat

From Prague and a week with Stephen we headed to Berlin to spend a week with Clare.  We spent the week answering long unanswered questions.   We met Guntram, Rebecca and got to hear Clare speak German.  We spent a brief period attempting to be traditional tourists in the old centre of town but took more enjoyment seeing the other side of Berlin.  We crashed parties, went to the beach (still in Berlin, yes) and explored an old train yard that has been converted into a beautiful park.  The other main activity was eating.  Jason and I monopolised the kitchen enjoying the opportunity to cook with more than three ingredients.    The biggest hit was definitely the spinach salad.  Of course everyone helped with the desserts - mmm, chocolate and marshmallow fondue! 

Leaving Poland early in the morning we arrived in Prague to find noone at our hostel.  But there was a note on the door saying the receptionist was out and would be back at 3pm  so we settled into wait for her.  Around 3:30 we finally got into the hostel but Stephen who was supposed to have landed around 2pm was still not around.  At 6pm he finally turned up and after a quick catch up on the last 3 years we headed out for a late dinner (It was now 9pm or so). 

We explored Prague on foot and then in the afternoon by Segway.  A segway is a two wheeled vehicle that it is reportedly impossible to fall off of as it balances your weight.  You lean forward, you move forward – you lean backward, you reverse.  You lean too far forward trying to go faster it pushes back at you.  Jason however discovered how to trick it into letting you fall off.. you go over a jump it turns off and you find yourself eating pavement.  Our guide was interesting and towards the end he took off the turtle restriction on the segway allowing us to really get up some speed!  Now, I wonder how much it would cost to buy one in Sydney?

Not wanting to spend all our time in Prague we hired a car and headed out into the countryside.  Our first stop was Kutna Hora to see the famous ‘bone church’.  Basically the church was built on top of an old cemetery and some monk decided to get artistic creating a fascinatingly beautiful church.  It is estimated that around 40000 skeletons were used to create the decorations. 

After further exploration of the town we headed towards Cesky Budejovice with a random detour via a black dot on the map.  As we got close to said black dot we started to see tourist signs.  Woohoo!  Good sign.  It turned out to be a pink castle built in the middle of a lake.  We had a pleasant walk around the grounds but declined to do a tour of the castle which was only offered in Czech.   We arrived in Cesky Budejovice and found a guesthouse owned by a son but his mother lived in the other half of the house and seemed quite distraught at all the guests.  We were a bit too much the party animals up talking at 9:30pm.  

From there we did a trip out to Cesky Krumlov which is a beautiful old town nestled in the curve of a river.  We watched the kayakers heading down the rapids in various states of sobriety (It’s towards the end of a popular 5-6day kayaking trip and there was a constant stream going past).  We meandered down country lanes and visited a couple more castles in the surrounding area before heading back to Prague.

 

Time to start moving again

Following the interview we set off for Plitvice National Park which is the only place we have regretted not booking accommodation in advance.  Our research had led us to believe there was a village or two you could wander around looking for rooms… but it was not obvious which way to walk when we got off the bus.  So, we went and asked information and rather than telling us where to walk they offered to call someone for us.  The problem was it was too far away to walk to the park and we would have to rely on them for lifts.  We looked at the pouring rain outside and agreed to take it. 

It was like staying with relatives who don’t really want you there.  We were obviously in a kids room.  Two small twin beds, bright coloured mobiles  and stuffed toys.  We were also not welcome in the family area so felt confined to our room. On the plus side the park was amazing!!

From there we headed to Bled in Slovenia for more walking, a fairytale castle and stunning scenery.  After that it was time for some cities so we explored Vienna learning what a good museum really is (we’ve seen a lot of museums in the past year and a bit, but nothing like the ones in Vienna).  Currently we’re in Poland crossing two more of the original 12 UNESCO world heritage sights off our list (half way there now).  Krakow old town is made more charming by the constant stream of horses and carriages (but the lack of poop thanks to the poop buckets) and the carvings in the salt mines were impressive to say the least. 

 

 

 

Reality intervenes

Unfortunately we had to cut short our island hopping adventure to get back to Hostel Adria for my job interview.  Not with Hostel Adria, but for a job back home.  It was a rather weird experience sitting on the balcony of the hostel owners flat (I had to use their home phone for the call) looking out at the Adriatic and trying to talk like an intelligent neuropsychologist.  The good news is I got the job and will be coming home!!  The bad news is I’ve agreed to start 3 weeks before our tenant will vacate our flat.  So if anyone has space for a couple of travelers in Sydney in October, let me know!

Islands in the sun

Leaving our life of laziness in hostel Adria we jumped on a bus to Dubrovnik.  Exploring the most fortified "old town" that we have yet encountered, its collection of red roofed buildings both in and out of the walls.  And of course the walls themselves that took a few hours to walk along gazing at the castle or fort situated on a nearby out cropping and the bright kayaks in the crystal clear waters around the city.  

Having a fill of a city we went for more of the traditional Mediterranean pastime - the ocean. 

Between our luxury apartment overlooking the harbour and the two gloriously beautiful lakes that make up the islands national park, Mljet was our favorite of the islands.  This was also helped by the fact that you can swim in the lakes as you walk around the lakes, so our day consisted of walking 200m and then diving in the waters, relaxing and talking, before diving back in to be cool for our next 200m walk! 

We also visited the islands of Korcula and Hvar, Korcula had a fabulous little old city which had a quirky assortment of souvenirs based around the fact that Marco Polo was born there and so ship borne sun dials, sextants and spy glasses competed with the spices and soaps.  Hvar however was much larger and more touristed.