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The Route So Far

So a bit of an update.

Paris went on a boat trip up the River Seine, very nice recommended by mother! Had a wonder around, found a nice hostel just up a small cobbled street, free breakfast! Paris was very nice, stayed one night then after a mad rush across the city metro got onto an overnight train to Munich.

We arrived in Munich very early, so early that nothing was open, no tourists. We found a small coffee shop and sat down to read the Lonely Planet – a book which was quickly becoming indispensable. After a quick wonder we found a bike hire place, and rented bikes for the day it turned out to be the best was of seeing the city and its parks.

Cycling through Munich

Leaving Munich we headed East to Praha, or Prague. On a train then a coach. Entering Czech via coach gave us a unique insight into the country and its economy seemingly built solely on logistics companies.

We found that there was a camping site located somewhere north of Praha, so we got off the coach around 2030 to find the camp site. This however proved to be harder than anticipated! at around 2330 we gave up, sitting on a curb in a part of town nobody seemed to go to wondering what to do. It was then we happened across the Belvedere Hotel! The Belvedere is everything we could of hoped for although not quite at the budget that we were looking for, but needs must and we checked in. I think this will stick in my mind as possibly the nicest place we shall stay over the whole trip. As i wondered from our spacious room to our marble clad bathroom i thought, now this is the way to travel! a good nights sleep and in the morning discovered that we had taken tram 14 from a choice of 14 and 17. Tram 14’s route had changed since the guide had been written and as such no longer went anywhere near the campsite. After a long walk across a park, and the river we arrived. We saw the sights of Praha, the castle and the old town and various bridges accross the river. Praha i would strongly recommend.

Praha Castle Guard

Another train and a coach to Krakow, Poland. People stopped smiling in Germany it seemed, and after several attempts at using this multilingual sign we gave up. People seemed focused and it certainly felt like we’d left England. Unfortuntly i don’t have any pictures from Krakow as my camera was lost with the pictures on it.

On arrival into Krakow again late into the evening is when we first met Gvosyna; With Dan fleeing the toilet attendants Gvosyna was offering us a room for an amazing price, we took her up on the offer. With nervous look between Dan and I, Gvosyna took us on a tram across the city talking the whole way about various bus numbers, tram numbers, road works, then repeating herself in this never ending account of the current state of the Polish transport network. By the time we got off the tram we were feeling more confident that this was not a scam as she had seemed genuinely helpful up to this point. A few minutes walk down this street and that took us to 13 Konarskope Road. Number 13 was what looked like something left over from the communist times of the past. We were led into a dark hallway – this if any would be Gvosyna’s best chance to strike! The strike never came we were led up to an apartment up a couple of flights of stairs, everything seemed to be in basic, but good order. The oldest thing in the place was the fridge which wasn’t on, and looked like you could shelter in it from a nuclear blast! on the whole very nice. Gvosyna had collected loads of tourist leaflets in various nationalities which she proudly went through with us. Fortunately picking only a could from the literal hundreds on the table.

From one of those leaflets we learned of the best thing about Krakow – the Wieliczka Salt Mines. A very enjoyable trip which takes you down a 700 year old salt mine. Salt being in times of old the only way of preserving food and therefor as valuable as gold! The feel of the place accompanied by a splendid guide made the trip a highlight of the adventure so far!

I shall continue as we move onto Budapest!