SLOVENIA
Ljubljana
Slovenia, formerly belonged to Yugoslavia, is now an independent country with Ljubljana being its capital. Cost of living was higher than expected there. The landscape en route to Ljubljana was quite scenic, but the facilities were poorer than those in Austria. Lake Bled has the most scenic landscape in Slovenia but we hadn't gone there because of time constraint and limited information. The train we took actually headed for Croatia, though we got off before that. A girl at the hostel in Hungary told me that she had just been to Croatia, and it's safe to go. Still, I didn't have much travel information about it. Due to misunderstanding of the instructions from the tourist officer, we walked in the opposite direction, thinking that we're heading to the hotel. Though we realised the mistake and turned back at once, I was exhausted pulling the broken luggage along under the heat. Going along the riverside near our hotel after checking-in, we reached a shopping area where I was curious enough to check a rather old-fashioned department store. As a matter of fact, most of the other shops in the area were selling merchandise of American brand names which were less expensive than in HK. Yet, I couldn't tell if they're genuine. The children whom we asked the way to a castle on the hill actually took us there. The walk took us about 20 minutes. There's a small architecture museum besides the castle itself. The next day, we travelled back to Vienna, spending the afternoon shopping separately. I was looking for a replacement of my trolley luggage at the shopping area just a few blocks away from the hostel where I stayed. When this was done, I went back to St Stephansdom shopping at leisure. Frankly speaking, the prices of Austrian crystals sold in their home country were almost the same as in HK.
CZECH
Prague/Praha
After getting off the bus, we walked uphill to Prazsky Hrad --- a castle on the hill overlooking the city. Inside, there're several cathedrals and a famous clock tower. Zlata ulicka was a lane within the castle walls. There used to be many goldsmith shops which are now replaced by souvenir shops having their bright-coloured facades. Over the Vltava River lied the Karluv most [bridge], it was full of hawkers selling souvenirs, e.g. hairpins, fridge-mags, paintings ... etc. On one side of the bridge, most of the shops sold crystals which looked more like plastic products than glass ones. On the other side of the bridge, there's also a shopping area where I lingered at a shop selling wooden toys with a wide variety of choices. It was Mid-Autumn festival, the moon was full and bright that night, still, we got lost and had to spend sometime in finding our way back. After a canned-food dinner, I chatted with the receptionist who was a nice old lady, and a Japanese guest [Hi, Yuji!] at its small lobby.
Marianske Lazke
Passengers crowded near the entrance of the railway station, waiting for the bus in the heavy rain. Spring water from taps were offered free of charge at the Lazenska Colonnade [arcade] next to a park. Tourists might either use their own cups or purchase from the counters. Waffles made of spring water were the most popular souvenirs at both Marianske Lazke and Karlovy Vary. Shops were few, and most of them sold crystal and glassware. I had a glass of mousse as dessert at a local restaurant for I enjoyed trying various local food while travelling.
Karlovy Vary
The rain had reduced to drizzles that day. There were more spring water taps at the arcades than at Marianske Lazke. By the way, if your bowels are sensitive, then don't drink too much spring water. On the other side of the river, were some colourful terraced houses. Opposite the post office, there's a fast food shop at the corner. Its roasted chickens were of bargain price. Of course, we had tried them before making this recommendation to you.
POLAND
Warsaw
On the night train to Warsaw, we met an Asian boy travelling with his father to study in Poland. They were nearly driven out by the Polish customs officers since they could not provide enough supporting documents initially. On the morning of the arrival, we'd spent several hours looking for the Slovakian consulate and obtaining the transit visa. Only an old lady was in charge who's often on the phone rather than issuing visas. Again, the hostel was on the 6th floor! We had to carry our luggage all the way upstairs. Outside the railway station, we had lunch at a local food stall to find that it was not that inexpensive at all. The Palac Kultury I Nauki [Cultural Palace] was in our view, it was an old tall building in Russian style. At the other end of the Krakowskie Przedmiescie [the King's road] was Stare Miasto [old town]. It was not that old for it'd been rebuilt after WWII. The mermaid statue which used to stand on the city wall was now at a skywell, being guarded against further damage by rascals. There at Stare Miasto, I was much delighted to discover that the American pizzas were not only inexpensive but crispy. A slice of pizza plus a soft drinks cost about HKD12! Wow! We enjoyed our food in the sun outside the restaurant. After watching the duty-shift procedure at P. Grob Nieznanego Zolnierza [Anonymous Heroes Monument] at Plaz Zwyciestwa Park, we went to Lazienkowski Park by bus. The rays of the setting sun fell on the Chopin statue at the entrance of the Park. We strolled leisurely inside this large park before heading back to the main streets blocks and blocks away from there. We found another outlet of the same pizza restaurant at a shopping area downtown. No need to say, we had a set meal again to save time looking for other choices.
Cracow/Kracow
The morning train to Krakow took about 2 hr. As we're told by the staff at Warsaw station that we didn't need to do any seat reservation, we just boarded the train with our rail pass. However, we're fined by the ticket conductor. A passenger told us that no matter what, seats on all inland trains needed reservations. At Krakow Glowny Station, we couldn't find any lockers that were large enough for our luggage, therefore, we had to trust them with the baggage counter. Outside the station, there's a bus terminus where we took the bus to Kopalnia Soli Wieliczka [Wieliczka salt mine] --- the largest salt mine in the world. It's only a 15-20 minutes' walk from the bus stop at Wieliczka. We'd joined the tour to go down a shaft leading to various chambers of the mine. Inside those chambers were statues and shrines, having stories for each of them. Throughout the years, most of the sculptures had been darkened. Anyhow, we had joined a Polish-speaking guide, so we could only guess what's happening all the time. The last chamber was a large hall with a large chandelier. On the walls were pictures of stories from the Bible. All these masterpieces were carved by three mine workers, using salt as material. Every hour at Rynek Glowny [old town square], a trumpeter would play a short piece of melody from the spire of Kosciol Mariacki Church. The tune stopped all of a sudden as it was years ago when a faithful trumpeter was shot dead by the Mongolian invader. The Sukiennice Cloth Hall was a 2-storey building at the same Square. Gems, wooden handicrafts and so on could be found inside. As I had spent much time being at the cathedral uphill, and had pizza for dinner at a local restaurant, shops were closing when I reached the Cloth Hall.
HUNGARY
Budapest
On the night train to Budapest, we were woken up 7 times! Five of which by customs officers from Poland, Slovakia and Hungary. The other times were by the ticket conductors. I was wise enough not to reserve the couchettes even for a long ride of more than 10 hours, for it would be awkward to get up again and again from the bunk beds having our passports inspected. Near the end of the voyage, the youth hostel staff boarded the train offering room reservation services to passengers. Once the passengers agreed to stay at their hostel, a car would pick them up outside the station. As the hostel had a metro exit nearby, I bought a one-day ticket for travelling around the city that very day. Halaszbastya [Fishermen's Fortress] was on a hill at Buda area, i.e., at the other side of the harbour. In order to have a panoramic view of the city, one had to pay a certain sum for going up to the roof of the arcade. Not far from the Fortress was Matyastemplom cathedral. Its roof and the mosaic inside were both made of colourful tiles from crafted hands. A museum and the National Library were close to the funicular station. Back at Pest, I spent my time doing some window-shopping before having pizzas for dinner again. As usual, I had also an ice-cream cone just as I did in most of the countries I'd been to in those days. An incident happened at the railway station that afternoon. A landlady came up to me trying to persuade me into staying at her pension for the following days. She presented to me a sheet with praises of the pension in different languages. She even said that the one I was staying at had lots of thefts. Actually, I didn't find the hostel I was staying at that dangerous as she said. After the day at Balatonfured, I went to Hosok Tere [Hero's Square] on foot. Behind one of the columns of arches was the Vajdahunyad castle. It's a small castle with a pond and a peaceful atmosphere. Before going back to the shopping area for a Hungarian lunch, I walked across the Chain Bridge towards Buda but was drawn back by the serious air pollution to move further on. Back at the shopping area, I ordered Gulyas, Hungarian beef soup at a nice restaurant. Usually I didn't eat beef for fear of allergy and so forth. I took the risk only because it's one of the most famous food in Hungary. By the way, the waiters there were not only nice but were also handsome! So, of course, the soup tasted much better.
Balatonfured
It's only a lakeside resort area with some chapels, sanatoriums and villas within walking distance. Each way took 3 hours by train, so if you're having a tight schedule, just skip this place.
Szentendre
It was a suburban historical town with River Danube running through it. Years ago, some Yugoslavians fled to this place and settled down afterwards. There's no signs at the railway station to show the way to the historical part of the town . While in fact, one had to go through a tunnel and then went on along a street lined with shops. I bought a fruit tart at one of the shops there, only to find that it was a bit too sweet. Most souvenir shops and cafes were located around the Foter Square. Further away uphill was a church overlooking the whole area. At 6pm, shops were closing. I was just in time to have a nice local set meal at a restaurant for just HKD20-30.
The return flight
The next day, I took the air bus from a stop at a hotel near Ersebet Street. Just as before, the plane arrived at Moscow earlier than scheduled. Yet, the flight to HK departed on schedule. Hence, we had to wait for more than 6 hours at the restricted area. I had no idea at all that passengers like us could get complimentary meal coupons from the airline. When I found it out in the end, the counter was temporarily closed. As soon as it was re-opened, there was a chaos. I reached the counter after some struggles, only to be rejected by the staff saying that the time for my flight was near. The long hours of flight became more of a stress to me with the seatbelt light was being on throughout the trip.
revised on 9 Aug 01
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