Return to Riga

 All roads lead to....Riga. Well they do when I want to go from Tartu to Vilnius in Lithuania, it's certainly the most straightforward way. As the bus gets towards Riga, sirens are heard, we stop and on the opposite side of the road a large convoy of low lift lorries carrying tanks and supplies are heading to the border.

 I head to the excellent Lido which has branches dotted throughout Latvia, it's a grab a plate and point sort of place, then the cashier just adds it all up and charges you. A lot of locals and tourists eat here, you won't go hungry and it's cheap, unless you keep heaping food on your plate!

Zuzeum aims to fill void due to lack of national mordern art museum. Bit hit and miss for me, think there is usually another exhibit also but changing over.

Also headed to the very large Riga central market, which houses all sort knick knacks and fresh food, the fish hall smelling of smoked fish. I had Solyanka soup in an edible bowl, it was more moulded dough than bread, bit plasticy!

For something different I headed back across the Daugava, and in the middle of an industrial area found the large old building that now houses Drifta Halle. I went for a spin on an electric drift trike, take a while to get used to it. Let's just say I don't think I'll be appearing in The Fast & The Furious anytime soon.

Tartu 2024

 Tartu is the European Capital of Culture in 2024. I'd like to say I carefully planned my route and had my finger on the pulse, but it was more a case of browsing though Google Maps and working out a way to loop back from Tallinn.

Tartu University was founded back in 1632, so it's been around a while. Heading up the hill (Toomemägi) from the town square leads to the University of Tartu Museum, now situated in the prominently located Cathedral building. Stretched out over 7 floors, plenty to see. A large pendulum dangles down the spiral staircase, gently oscillating over a map of the world. Favourite room was the Morgenstern Library, as soon as you enter the musty waft of old books hit you square in the face, smells like history!

Combined ticket also grants access to the Observatory Tower on the same hill, with plenty of old telescopes. Highlights how more design was used in the past, rather than just being purely functional, they were ornate with carved wood and brash polishings. Also included was the small Univeristy Art Museum, but that was mostly just plaster-cast replication of sculptures, although it did have a temporary exhibit with some weird VR experiences.

Next day visited the garguantan Estonian National Museum on the outskirts of town. This giant wedge building blends into an old military runway (Raadi), looks unreal. Inside a variety of permanent exhibitions, one focusing on language, another on national history, stretching back in time as you move through it. During life behind the iron counter it showed some ingenuity, such as a homemade lawnmower. Another section was about environment: "In 1982 a large quantity of aircraft fuel was leaked into Lake Raadi. To elminate the pollution, the lake was lit on fire." Hmm, well I guess that's one solution. 

Refueled and rested at the cafe with the daily special, pork with cheese sauce, roasted potatoes and salad, tasty!

Some temporary exhibits with Surrealist painting was weird as you would expect. Another focused on nightlife, then yet another on Bling, which kinda seem like an Estonian Burning Man festival. One clever bit of tech is that all the info boards besides the exhibits used e-ink screens and a tap of your ticket turned it from Estonian to English (or whatever lanaguage is encoded in your ticket), very neat!

Just outside the museum in an upside down house, which is popular with the selfie crew.

Back in town, chaos and pandemonium awaits at AHHAA Science Centre, where nearly everything is interactive. Full of hyperactive dafties, and that's just the adults. There are chairs with pulleys and ropes attached to a pillar, which you can try and pull yourself up. One without a pulley which is impossible! On one side a mini water park with plastic balls flying along tracks and waterspouts. Favourite was a sort of pendulum which the more you pull down, the more it pulls you up. So you hold onto a metal bar and get pulled a few feet back up into the air. 

Headed to a different area for dinner at Aparaat which was a small complex of restaurants/bars, wasn't that busy, but food was more than decent. Finally I found some live music in a big barn with the 'Rockin Lady & Her Rivertown Boys' playing a bit of rockabilly complete with a guy twanging a big double bass.

Runinn around Tallinn

 Sun is out and blue skies when I arrived in Tallinn. Get a Bolt taxi to the hotel which is well located near the Viru Gates. First day just try and orient myself in town. Head up to the top of the hill with the Parliament building which looks rather plain next to the beautiful Alexander Nevsky Cathedral. However the parliament incorporates thei historic Toompea castle, although can only be viewed for the outside, as a working building (you can tell be the amount of swish black BMW/Lexus parked around!)

The Bishop's Garden is one of many viewpoints overlooking the walled old town.

Later that night I went to a touristy restraurant where the servers are all decked out in medival costumes. I opted moose cutlets with honey beer. Moose tasted like strong beef with just a dash of gristle. Occasionally they have mock sword betweens each other, but not on the night I was there unfortunately!

 I opted to get a TallinnCard which is an App that for a flat fee gives you access to all the museums and sights in Tallinn. You just show a QR code at the entrance and they scan it instead of paying. Allows you to pop into places where you might be swithering about paying the entrance fee, and there are loads of sights, almost 100 places included. Too much for a few days, so just tried for the highlights

It's the 1st May, a national holiday, Spring Day rather than May Day. Headed to the leaft suburbs of Tallinn to visit the Kadriorg Park Quarter. The grand building here is the Kadriorg Art Museum formerly a summer residents for Russian rulers, nowadays it houses Western & Russian art. The temporary exhibit was around Spanish artists and had many paintings from a place I had visited before the Carmen Thyssen Museum in Malaga.

A small building elsewhere in the park was the Mikkel collection, a private collector who had assembled a mix of paintings from all over, including ceramics from Asia. This was the kind of museum where the TallinnCard is useful, as can pop in and have a quick nosy round as entrance ticket in included.

Back to the big museums, KUMU houses a history of Estonain art in a flash new building. Over about 5 floors, this spacious structure charts arts from the past up to present day, although they were changing the temporary exhibit when I was there. Need a rest, I poped in to the museum cafe for a spot of Duck Borsch, with side of rye bread, minced garlic and sour cream. Unsurpsingly a heavy Russian influence in the cuisine here, that night I tried Plemeni pork & beef (dumplings) with horseradish sauce and mushroom broth.

Next day I jumped on the bus (can use TallinnCard for public transport also) to get out to the Estonian Open Air museum. This seemed to have lifted and shifted farmhouses of various styles into a rural museum. Not quite sure I got the full value out of this, as the people in the houses didn't speak much English, think they told stories to the locals about 'the old days'. Still, it was nice to get out ofr a country walk.

After that it was onto the Zoo, this also had a good sizable preservation area embedded inside it, consiting of natural forest and spring wildflowers. Lots of horned beasts to look at in the exhibits, also a sticky, humid rainforest section to walk through. One of these places where you look in a glass tank and can't see see anything, then suddenly notice a six foot python in the corner.

Time was running out on the TallinnCard, so bussed back into town. A quick look round the Guild hall, a few exhibits rather than grand hall. Onto the Natural history musuem, animals less active here than the zoo! Next up Health Museum, with some good interactive pieces, can you find the spleen? Finally I wanted to see Fotografiska, a high end photography studio (you can tell it's fancy when the pictures are in black and white).

Finally after all that it was time for some food, stuck my head in to a beer house to peruse the menu, seem overpriced so I headed for Viru Lokall, handily near my hotel. On the menu they had very reasonable priced traditional Estonian food: Herring, boiled potatoes & eggs, which was a lot tastier than it sounds!

 

Pottering around in Parnu

Parnu is an old seaside resort town with a quiter pace of life than Riga. Soon walked through a residential district to my room. There is a hanfdul of main streets with restaurants and shops in the centre, I popped in to a a stylish cafe for a relaxed lunch, a tasty smoke chicken panini. Although at first trying the door it was locked and was walking away when somebody rushed out: "Sorry, wasn't meant to be locked!"

At the end of the main street lies a MiniZoo which houses mostly snakes. It was quiet and the owner gave my a tour, had a dry sense of humour talking about this snake won't kill you quickly, might take a month for the poision to work! Do you want to hold it?

They had an old iguana Frida, think she was 17 years old, and was out on the table enjoying some green leaves for lunch.

 Parnu river flows into Parnu Bay, which in the the Gulf of Riga and in turn the Baltic Sea. But I just wanted to go along the riverside, there a lengthy 10km walk, but I noticed a bike rental place of sorts. Really just seems to be somebody's house in which they have a bunch of bikes in the garage. Think they are more used to renting by the day and the owner wasn't sure want to change for just a loop round the riverside over two bridges. Settled on 5 euros which seemed like a good deal for me. So whizzed off Eastwards, got a bit lost trying to cross the first bridge, seemed to go inland quite a bit. Eventually found the correct path (everything is on the wrong side of the road!). Looped back around past a third bridge which is being newly built.

Just time to check out the green Parnu elephants sculptures before heading for hefty pork dinner at Edelweiss.

Running around Riga

A set of stairs from a computer shop leads up to a room adorned with videogames consoles everywhere, here you can play all sorts of old retro games. A couple of old arcarde games such as Operation Wolf, as a well as old consoles like SNES / PlayStation etc. A few old games I had forgotten about such as Zool & Speedball 2: Brutal Deluxe. Some other games I didn't recognise such as "Alex Kidd in Miracle World". Still didn't understand Sentinel. Also played some little racing game called Grand Theft Auto!

 

While big shopping malls have the usual automatic sliding doors, most museum and shops, in contrast to Edinburgh, have closed doors, if you want in, just try the handle and push you're way in!

Visiting the Powder Room which is now a War Museum, the permanent exhibition on WWI was good as it had English captions! 140,000 Latvians got drafted into the Army. Fought on the Eastern front as part of the Russian Army, then later on the Western front as part of British / French armies. After the armistice they were then engulfed in the Russian civil war. Some battalions ended up returning from Vladivostok (near North Korea) a 4 month boat journey. Overall Latvia lost 35% of its prewar population.

 Then after WWII, there was this caption:

Strange Victory

Re-occupation of Latvia and the end of the Second World War. 1945

On the morning of 8 May 1945, crowds of people overwhelmed by euphoria and joy are gathering in London's Trafalgar Square and Piccadilly Circus, where thousands of cheery strangers celebrate and dance together. A colorful blizzard of confetti is falling on people's heads in New York's Time Square. The warmth of the spring sun flows into the open Parisian windows – Allied flags are hanging all over the city. Nazi Germany is defeated, and the world is celebrating victory. Meanwhile, the battles in Kurzeme, where Latvian soldiers were tragically forced to fight against each other on both sides of the front, were calming down. On the afternoon of May 8, Major General Otto Rauser of the German Army Group Kurland (Kurzeme) signs the capitulation, and after a four-year break, Soviet occupation rule returns to all Latvian territory.

Some are happy about the end of the war and are trying to adapt to the new circumstances of occupation. Others are hiding in the forests, hoping for the arrival of the British and the liberation of Latvia. However, freedom will not come for another 45 years, and very soon on 25 March 1949 - a new wave of deportations will wash away another 42,125 Latvian souls to Siberia. It is a cold and muddy May of 1945 – the war is over, captivity continues

On Saturday I decided to head out of the centre to the Kalciema Quarter Market, walking over the main bridge, the left hand side is coned off, and realised it is because the concrete is flaking away, not what you want to see half way across. Lots of wooden styled houses out the centre, difference style of architecture.

Didn't take long to walk around the small market, got a pumpkin & cheese pie. Didn't see anywhere selling drinks except for coffee shop. Nipped across the road to the big Lidl to grab a bottle of juice. Seems like Lidl on a Saturday afternoon is busy no matter where you are in the world! Finish off with a couple of biscuits one a gingerbread, the other some sort of cookie with cream.

Wandering around from the market back towards the centre, passing through an old neighbourhood called Agenskalns, complete with a MAGA poster (Make Agenskalns Great Again)  

I happened past the modern building of the National Library. To get into the main library, looked like you would have to register, however they did have a couple of exhibits open to the general public. I decided to take a different bridge on the way back, this one was more solid. When crossing the road everybody waits on the green man, very little just going across as there is no traffic.

Back into town and had a go at some archery that was set up next to St Peters church. I did hit the centre yellow bit, but the photographic proof didn't come out very well😒

 On Sunday, a quick fuel up on French pastry at Cadets, then next stop Parnu

Riiiiga

With a 10:00 flight I had a decent amount of time to get to the airport, security was backed up so much the gates were closed due to it being rammed. Even with that the amount of people, it actually only took 15 minutes. After a rather bumpy landing I arrived in Riga or more accurately Rīga, the bar across the I signifies it is a long vowel.

Tried to use Bolt (equivalent of Uber) and instantly got rejected 3 times by the drivers. Maybe the drivers have to pay an airport fee, managed to get one by going up the stairs to a different area. Airport is quite close to the city so only 20 minutes or so to a hotel near the old town.  
Decided to have a wander around the newer area, lots of park area nearby. Soon spotted the huge golden domes of the Riga Nativity of Christ Orthodox Cathedral. The church was open and when I went in some monks were chanting which certainly added to the atmosphere.

Later I headed up to the Skyline bar for a great view over the city and a pint* of Tervete 

The next day it was forecasted to rain all day...and it did.

Truth be told though, the weather as just heated up in time for my holiday as a week before there was heavy snow throughout the region.

As I was being a cheapskate breakfast wasn't included in the hotel, but worry not, I got some tasty avacado toast at the easy to pronounce Zvaigzne Cafe.

Then it was onto the ominous Corner House. A very busy tour with around 30 people in cramped conditions. Turns out not that cramped comparing to when it was a KGB run prison. The guide was excellent telling the stories about how it was run after WWII up to the collapse of the Soviet Union (and a bit beyond). For years later people would still give it a wide berth.

Then onto the Natural History Museum from rocks to whales and a whole lot in between over 5 floors. an exhibition of ants had, for some reason, a picture of Harrison Ford in the middle. Somethings just get lost in translation I feel.

A drier day, and the temperature is creeping upwards. This time a walk tour round the old town, not overloaded with history, got round some main sights in the old town without actually going into them, that can be done on your own time. So that's what I did! First onto St Peters Church, the elevator to the top starts from the 3rd floor (guess it's hard to retrofit old buildings). Good views over the Daugava river that separates the old town on the Eastern side from the newer Western side.

Another significant sight in Riga is the iconic House of the Blackheads. Although turns out that a significant portion of old town was bombed, so this was finally properly rebuilt around the millenium.

Later I headed over to Alberta Iela, which I'm sure you will already know as being an Art Nouveau gem!

Enroute I popped into the Anatomy Museum which was full of bits of people in formaldehyde, not somewhere to visit just before lunch.

During a population and prosperity boom at the beginnig of the 20th century, Riga was throwing up Art Noveau building like nobody's business. Now it was over 800 buildings in the style.

I headed into the Art Noveau museum with a spectacular spiral staircase. Got up the five flights of stairs to enter the museum only to be told it was on the ground floor...

* A round 500ml instead of 568ml from a pint

 

 

 

Kotor and cats

I had already planned a trip down to Kotor, as Dubrovnik is expensive to stay in! So I got the bus, spend a lot of time at the border, then I was out the EU into Montenegro! However, confusingly, they use the Euro as currency (before that they used the German Deutsch Mark). Still easier for me, than another currency. The bus continued, went on a short ferry across the bay and eventually arrived at the small bus station. From here I could walk to my accommodation. I just had to find it. After wandering back and forth looking at GPS, some guy took pity on me and led me to the room.
Heading out I found that there is another main gate to Kotor which opens out to more of a square, with cafes & restaurants. The bay itself is a spectacular setting with steep mountains enclosing around the water from all side. I ended up at the Cats of Kotor museum, it there is a picture of cat then it will be added to the museum. Not a patch on the cat museum in Kuching though. Plenty of cats hanging around town.

Around 17:30 I decided to head up to Kotor Fortress perched high upon the hill, it is a rather arduous 1300 odd steps up. Should have waited another hour as the sun was still blazing!
As you go up, vendors sell water bottles at ever increasing prices. Finally made it to the top, a ruined fortress. However today it had a crazy guy dancing around the fortress wall slagging off his mate below for taking so long to come up.

Back down at the bay, I had some dinner which was like 4 spicy barbecue burgers with salad, quite tasty but way too much! The next day it was back to Dubrovnik. A longer wait at the border as I re-entered the EU. About 3 o'clock I got back to Dubrovnik. Grabbed a quick bite, visited the Konzum (Croatian 7-11!), organised my airport shuttle, and a final look around the old town. All that was left was to have a Croatian Rib-Eye steak for dinner and early the next morning it was off to the airport.
The guy was scanning tickets. Bleep bleep as people went through, until me. BLEURP BLEURP BLEURP. Oh oh. But it turned out I was a few minutes too early to go to the gate (that's a first!)
Other than that a smooth trip back to Edinburgh where it is 12C and drizzling...

Dubrovnik

After the ferry from Mljet, I arrived at Dubrovnik ferry port, a short bus ride to the old town.
Encased in city walls, the old town is well preserved despite various rulers over the years.
I had arrived shortly before the Dubrovnik Summer Festival, the equivalent of the Edinburgh Festival. Wandering around town, I saw a sign for a Dali exhibition and went in their for a nosy. Not the biggest exhibition, but a few paintings of interests. I liked the painting of Sancho Panza, a whirling scribble of a man.

Walking along underneath some construction, it wasn't until I turned around that I realised that directly above was full of cats. Sitting, eating on the planks above the pavement, unknown to passerbys below. As the day drew on, I headed for the city walls. Great place to be near sunset, with the light bathing the red tiled rooftops of the old town. Towards the end of the walk, I stopped off at a cafe for a fresh orange/lemon drink and to watch the bay. A few speedboats zooming around, annoying the kayakers!

Walking around there are loads of restaurants for lunch and dinner, I stopped off for lunch. Decided on a chicken teryaki for a change of flavour and it was excellent. After lunch I popped into a couple of small museums. One was a Dominican Monastery, which housed some old reliquaries. A quiet spot away from the tourist crowds for a few moments. Another museum turned out to be another religious place, staffed by a nun. It did have a secret church at the top though!

 Strolling around the outside of town, there isn't too many roads to follow. I headed out East past Banje beach and popped into the swanky Excelsior for a drink. Back in town there was some sort of setup for music. I went to a nearby restaurant so I could listen to the music while I ate a rather bland tasting flattened out meat. Oh well, can win them all!

Island Hopping the Dalmation Coast.

So with a fistful of ferry tickets I headed out of Split to the island of Hvar. I arrived early in the morning, too early to check-in, but I dumped my bag and headed back to the harbour for a quick spot of breakfast. This was a bit busier than I expected. I headed up to the fortress on top of the hill, what was once defence is now busy with tourists.

I went up in the morning and got great views over the bay and a seat in the cafe for a cool drink. Looks like I beat the crowds as there were a lot more people coming up when I headed down.
Cruise ships stop nearby and shuttle people in. Hvar town turned out to be more stretched out than I first thought with restaurants continuing along the island. Later sunset walk along the coastal path turned out to be quite lively, plenty of people milling around, a few with cans in hand. As I was on the islands some some nice grilled whole fish was the order of the day for dinner, and hit the spot as a nice change.

Next stop Korchula.

The home of Marco Polo! I visited their museum which takes you on an audio journey with a biography of Marco Polo, quite interesting. But laid on thick, 'Marco dreamed of the crystaline seas of his home town, Korchula! This was quieter and smaller than Hvar with a main old town which you could walk from side to side in 5-10 minutes. However I'd booked somewhere that turned out to be further out of town than I expected, so a fair bit of walking in the baking sun there. The old town is situated on a hill and bounded by the sea or the city walls. While it has lots of tourists, it isn't yet fully developed into tourist tat town. A few unused crumbling buildings haven't yet been turned into refurbished apartments! Glancing in an estate agent window might have found the answer, anybody got a spare £500,000 for a beach-side villa?

Finally onto Mljet

Docking into the port I decided just to walk into town, didn't look to far. However not much shade!
Sobra a small village on Mljet, has a population of 131. Decided where to go for lunch was easy, there only is two restaurants. And one was shut.
Happy just to relax here, which is probably just as well as there isn't much else to do!
I guess you can arrange trips to elsewhere if you are in the mood, but I picked up a cough in the last few days so happy to take it easy. Another grilled fish dinner, finished off with a Grappa for medical purposes (tastes like medicine!)

Zadar

I arrived late in Zadar and went for food at a local restaurant, turned out to be more massive portions, double pork chops! Next day I headed into the old town, a 30 minute walk along the coast and then down the pier where a boatman rows you across for 5 kuna. I had a browse around and headed into the archaeological museum, which is order chronological from the top floor. On the top floor is iron age/prehistory, not so much to look at. The floor below is Antiquity, the Roman era which has much more. It covers various aspects of life, e.g. economy.

Another place with lots of cafes, but like most central locations not the cheapest prices. I just grabbed a sandwich from a bakery, too much heavy food! At night in the old town there is the 'Sun Salutation' an odd installation which is powered by solar cells during the day to light up the led panels at dusk. Alongside the sea organ, a serious of wave powered pipes powered by the sea to make 'music' in the loosest sense of the word. I had dinner in the old town, but the local restaurant the night before was much better!

Plitvice Lakes

I continued south stopping off for a day at Plitvice Lake. If you see pictures of Croatia, this place is almost certainly included, and with good reason! Thankfully my bus stopped at Entrance 1 (It looked like I was getting dumped at the other entrance) which was near-ish my guesthouse, so I dumped off the bags, returning for lunch at the on-site restaurant. I picked up a two-ticket as my bus wasn't till 15:15 the next day. Heading into the Lakes fairly late, I seemed to miss the worst of the crowds (I saw a huge queue the next day!) Many people will do it as a day trip so have to be back to catch their bus, I had the luxury of not having any time constraint. Once you have your ticket, you glance at the map and come to the entrance and wow! Situated form a height, overlooking the park, a huge waterfall on the right, lakes with a multitude of waterfalls on the left. Walkways snake below link the lakes and the big waterfall. A series of staggered freshwater lakes forms a unique ecosystem with logs and reeds filtering the crystal clear water. Going in the water is strictly forbidden.

I followed Path C seeing innumerable waterfalls with the aquamarine lakes. Eventually I got the bus all way back from Station 3 to Entrance 1. Here I headed back to the restaurant as everywhere else had shut. The next day I was up fairly early to beat the crowds and headed back into the park. I walked a few hours in the morning, returned for lunch then I still had a few hours till the bus, so I may as well head back in rather than looking at the carpark! Unfortunately that's when it decided to absolutely pour down for an hour or so. I waited it out for a while, but decided to call it a day and head back to the bus. At least I had great weather for the most part, and unlike some poor people my visit wasn't a washout! I got into my guesthouse in Zadar around 18:00, still damp and a long day but definitely worth it!

Zagreb

A 5 hour bus journey brought me from Budapest to Zagreb. A quick walk around find the funicular railway, This 'connects' the old town to the new. An entirely pointless contraption which takes 55seconds to go the 66metres distance. You are quicker just walking up the stairs than waiting for it, but worth it for the ride once.

Loads of small museums are dotted around Zagreb. One building catches the eye with a neatly tiled roof depicting the Croation flag. I popped into the Naive Art museum which houses art from artists with no formal training. So perhaps farmers who painted in their spare time, most of was actually very good. Back near the main square, a market is just closing with all the traders packing up, escaping the afternoon heat.

I headed to have a look at the impressive Zagreb Cathedral, apparently still the tallest building in Croatia. An unusual way of getting around is to go through the Gric Tunnel which go mainly East to West underneath the shops and houses for 350m.

Another day I decided to head out to the Zoo. Jumped on a tram and 30 minutes later was in a large, leafy park opposite the Dinamo Zagreb stadium. A ticket is 30 kuna and a decent way to spend a few hours, maybe not the best zoo in the world, but probably decent for the region. 3 big lions lay sleeping in a cave, with just a glass panel in between (thankfully!). Elsewhere a shaven llama looked ridiculous.

Some other museum and galleries were in the city centre so I went in for nosy. One had an exhibition on furniture which wasn't too riveting. Another grand gallery was almost empty. Lots of really old paintings, some from the 12th century, very much focused on religious iconography but over time subject digressed. As there was nobody else there I had to wave around to get the lights to go on in each room!

Breezing through Budapest

Following the main transport routes it was time to revisit Hungary.
Ahoy is actually Hungarian for hello.
Maybe I was in different areas, or Budapest has been revamped, but unlike Prague it brought back little memories. Had a look through of the shopping district, high-street like areas, don't remember it being like this all but perhaps it's been reinvigorated since my previous visit. But further out of the city centre there is more people on the streets than other cities I've been to.

I popped into a local eatery and strangely enough they had a menu for Thai food (with Thai writing which always makes it look legit!) So I had some Chicken Fried Rice, and it was pretty good, portion was about 3 times what you would get in Thailand!

Later I took a roadside seat for a beer in a Hungarian Karoke bar where somebody was cranking out some ridiculous 80s metal falsettos. On Sunday most things were closed and I was happy to have a relaxing day, next stop Zagreb.

Breezing through Bratislava

From Prague I reversed direction travelling back through Brno and on to Bratislava, Slovakia.
I visited the City museum, not many people in here so staff are keeping an eye on me. Cafe culture in heaps. Dotted about every which way, was pretty busy on the Friday. I wanted to visit the Danubiana Meulensteen Art Museum, a modern art museum which, as you might have guessed, is on the Danube. You can get a boat to go here as it is 20km out of town, but the boat only runs weekends, so I was on the bus. After finding the bus 'area' I couldn't quite find the specific stop, until I saw the bus pull away round the corner.

Oh well, I'll get the next one, time for a wander through the nearby, shiny and new Europeum mall. Anyway at the museum, it is a mix of outdoor sculpture and indoor exhibitions. Some wacky stuff, like 'Yellow Embrace' where you duck into a space and are surround by large portraits of a yellow being! Back in town the main thing to do seem to be to drink coffee or beer and watch the world go by. I can do that!

Peregrinating Prague

So after Brno it was off to Prague for a few days. 1st stop the castle which along with Charles Bridge stirred some dusty memories from my visit over 15 years ago. Perched upon the hill, this sprawling complex began in 870 and now host a series of building from different eras like an architectural pix and mix. It is a collection of churches, palaces, halls and gardens. And of course a cafe for hungry tourists such as myself. I happened to catch the changing of the guards, with only a few tourists trampled out the way. Great views across the Vltava from up here, but of course busy. Strolling back down past the busker playing a sax (or was he strangling a cat?)

Back down at the old town square, and like most places in Prague, there is more fantastic architecture everywhere you look. Great city to just stroll around and see where it takes you. Walking past Cafe Neustadt, I came across a large Franz Kafka statue and nearby was a small film museum.
This has some cool handpainted background art from animations to achieve parallax scrolling. Interesting to have a look around, even had some VR stuff to try out.

Near Wenceslas Square I made the mistake of jumping into a cafe for a beer, not cheap, almost UK prices :) For some reason there was pole vaulting going on at the end of the square. Looks a lot higher in person. The malls here seemed to be used like passage for indoor shopping. A curious sight inside one is a dangling statue of King Wenceslas riding his dead upside horse.

In the Alchemy Museum I made some gold, okay not really, but here was where people did try. Hidden in basements below, with the smoke being funelled out the house chimney. Scientists and dreamers toiled away tried to perfect the art of alchemy. We had a tour of the small dungeon below but my favourite bit was the entrance. The classic 'pull the right book from the bookshelf and it opens a secret door to lead you down a dungeon' trick.

Back out in the sun I headed for the Technical Museum which was like a transport museum. A large 3 storey exhibit halls takes you through the history of bikes, motorbikes and cars. But it turns out that was just one section of the Technical Museum with another 5 storey building highlighting the sciences. By the end of that I needed a drink, luckily it happens to be next door to one of the best located beer gardens in Prague. Letna Beer Garden is perched on a hill across the river from the old town. Grab a Pilsner Urquell and soak in the views!

Brno

I was planning on going to Prague from Olomouc, but apparently leaving it to the last minute for Prague weekend accommodation is a really bad idea. So a swift change of plans saw me head to Czechia second city, Brno. I had accomodation a few tram stops outside the city centre.
I had to wait a while to get checked in, in which time it absolutely lashed it down. If I had got checked in straight away I would have been soaked, so worked out okay!
I headed back into town but the rain came down again, so I ducked into the nearest place which turned out to be a trendy cafe Skog

The next day, back in the city centre, I headed up to the viewpoint from the main Cathedral. Beat the crowds, as the narrow viewpoint really only holds one person!
Good views over the city and a decent way to try and get oriented in a new city.
Back on solid ground I visited the Capuchin Crypt. Over the door lies the latin phrase 'Tu fui ego eris'(I was you; you will be me) or more liberally translated means 'you'll end up dead as well'.
Within lies the bodies of over twenty Capuchin monks, who after death were laid in the vaults with a brick pillow. Over the years the bodies have remained there, and in the cold dry air eventually mummified.

Above ground the Cabbage Market Square has more than just cabbages, it's been a market square since the 13th century. However you can also visit the labyrinth underneath, where the traders used to store their goods. Another day and back underground! Over time these cellars became connected by tunnels. Unusually everybody else on the tour was Czech, so I had an audio guide in English.

For food I went to Lokal and had some roast beef & gravy with bread dumplings and of course beer. Straight from the beer tank!

Into Czechia

Czechia being the new name for the Czech Republic.
First stop Olomouc. This small city lays in the east of the country.
After navigating from the bus station to the guesthouse in a very indirect manner. I headed into town for a look about. Much quieter than other places I had been.
The main old town easily navigable on foot. A couple of town squares are to be found with a plethora of statues. The grandest is the Holy Trinity column which UNESCO describe as"one of the most exceptional examples of the apogee of central European Baroque artistic expression". So there you have it!

I popped along to the art gallery for a gander, as interesting addition is the ability to get up to the loft and a single protruding boxroom with views over the city.

Nice gardens line one edge of the old town. Although there is plenty of roadworks being done nearby as the dig up the streets for tramworks. Hmm, sounds familiar.
Back in the park I found a science museum which had some cool exhibits, seemed they were in the middle of setting up a beer garden out front. Czechs really like their beer and starting at 30cz/£1 for a pint it's really cheap. Although later in the day I did have to step over a few people rolling around drunk in the streets!

Another main sight is St. Wenceslas Cathedral, an imposing building built high up and fortified by city walls. I took a wrong turn and had to walk round those walls.

I was getting some laundry done when I looked out and spotted a guy walking a tightrope across the river, he wasn't very good he fell off, luckily he had a safety rope!

Cat-o-veet-sa

From Krakow it was a bus to Katowice.
I had a hotel booked and the bus whizzed past it, so had to hike back, turned out to be about 20 mins from the bus station. Still it was cheap! Beside the university and not too far from town, although first impression of some of the side streets looked like they might be condemned. The city centre was much better with a large pedestrianised area with pubs and restaurants, busy for a Monday. A couple of new shopping malls, one encasing the rail station. I had a quiet first day just nosing about and relaxing, museums were closed. I purchased a train ticket that night when I eventually worked out where I could buy the ticket.

Early the next day I boarded a train, an hour later I was at Oswiecim, 20 minutes walk later I was at the gates of Auschwitz.

1.1 million people died here.

Now converted into a memorial museum, each block houses exhibits on the camp.
Detailed records, photographs of the victims, their internment & death dates.

Other rooms simply show the scale of the camp, with a large room just filled with shoes.
40,000 pairs of shoes fill the room. Collected in just 4 days.

After a few hours, it was time to visit the other section of the camp, Birkenau, This has been left as is, and you can walk around it. Occasional information, such as this is the woods where people were queued up when the chambers were full.

A taxi got my back to the train station and the next day it was off to a new country.

Kracking Krakow

Arriving in Krakow I eventually found my place, don't always trust GPS. Had to use an address, old school.
Turned out to be a rather large apartment on the top corner of a busy road & tram intersection, just round from the local metal bar.
Nice quiet spot then.
As it was nearby I headed to the National Museum, this monstrous museum had three man sections: armoury, decorative art and paintings.
Also on temporary exhibit of Leonardo Da Vinci's Lady with an Ermine - a pure stoater.
The top floor art exhibits was the most interesting going from traditional painting to modern art with some weird stuff in between.

Krakow picturesque old town is surrounded by a thin stretch of green, the local gardens.
I entered past the university and headed for the main square. This huge square serves as a focal point for pubs & restaurants.
Plenty of people milling around, drinking beer. A strange mixture of tourists, Cracovians and even the occasional Franciscan Monk (not just in Dan Brown novels).
A bride was taking photos in the square, then noticed by a group of Argentinian tourists started singing and chanting, which only drew out the drunken Brits into a singsong. I had a wander around town, going out to Kazimierz and back along the banks of the Vistula.

At night I decided to be cultural and attend a Royal Chamber Orchestra concert in St. Adalbert's Church in the main square. The acoustics were excellent, just a small space, all seats taken. Played a mix of classical and film scores.

The next day it was on the train to see the Wieliczka Salt Mine. A lengthy queue proceeded a lengthy tour.  A lot of descending of stairs, but was well lit and I didn't feel claustrophobic.
We headed down one level, and saw some equipment, apparently they only stopped using horses 15 years ago. However the real star, was the vast chambers and the intricate carvings down throughout the lifetime of just 3 miners. So a man-made wonder, rather than a natural one. Salt chandeliers, salt tiles, even had the Last Supper carved out in amazing detail.
Busy tour though, just me and 10,000 other people, which meant that the tour groups would shuffle from room to room. The guide said goodbye and we had to get back to the surface ourselves. Through the underground gift shop & restaurant of course. After a bit of a hike, joined the queue for the lift back to the top, you don't want to be at the back of this queue. "Well be out by tomorrow", somebody quipped. I got squeezed into a lift with about 8 other people, this was definitely claustrophobic but short as the lift whizzed back to the surface. Glad to be back in fresh air after 3 hours underground, however rain was threatening, so legged it down the train station and back to Krakow.

At night I had a stupendously giant 'Polish Plate' It contains potato pancakes with goulash, dumplings, pork chop, cabbage roll, krupniok, polish bigos, white sausage and roasted potato.
Didn't get close to finishing it.

Another day, and it was off to the Castle. This must be one of the most confusing tourist attraction in Europe. You had to buy separate tickets for each attraction. There are at least eight, so you can do any combination of them. This results in an extremely slow moving queue, with lots of confused tourists. Luckily the entrance ticket office is running at full capacity today with a staff of one.
Later I found out that it would have been much easier and quicker to walk beyond that ticket office and purchase it inside.
Anyway I opted for the State Rooms, Lost Wawel & Dragon's Den. The state rooms were a series of formal rooms with artworks and decorations, but nothing to rival Warsaw Royal Palace.
The Lost Wawel turned out to be more like an archaeological exhibit of the old chapel on the which the castle has been built upon. Lots of rocks.
The main gardens were the best bit alongside the Cathedral (and ticket free!). Finally the Dragon's Den was the exit path down through the caves and out to the Vistula River, it was pretty cool, probably due to the dampness.

I opted for another Polish meal, this time in a cafe, one of the strange things about the menu was that all food is listed by weight. So I had the Zurek soup (250g) followed by the Pork Chop with tatties & cabbage (350g). The pork chop was really a schnitzel, flattened out, breaded and fried.
Another giant meal which I was unable to finish! Shouldn't have order the soup, that had a boiled egg and sausage in it, so not exactly a light starter.

Winging it in Warsaw

A last minute flight booking saw me scrabbling around trying to get organise on Monday and setting my alarm for 04:45...
After getting underway I was promptly soaked as soon as I stepped out the front door by some early morning storms. I'd decided to book a bus ticket into town, as this being RyanAir dumps you in the middle of nowhere, Poland. Somewhat optimistically I opted for the 12:00 bus after a 11:35 arrival. Still we actually landed 20 minutes early and got through passport control smoothly enough. In fact I even caught the bus before, as there was a seat or two still empty they let me on.

I had rented an apartment in Warsaw for 3 days. But first I has to pick up the keys. After arriving it wasn't too far away, just has to find the right spot. GPS to the rescue, not sure how I found anything before travelling with a phone. Got the keys and jumped in a taxi, turns out the driver is a huge Newcastle fan and has visited there to see them play a few times.
Got into the apartment, inside a gated community of 4 tower blocks. I was on the ground floor,
the pipes from floor to ceiling in the middle of the room were an unexpected addition.

I headed out for a look around, the nearest sight being the Chopin Museum. Spotting a sign for lunch I jumped into the attached restaurant and very swish Tamka 43 as they were offering a 3 course lunch for around £7. Seem to be classified as modern Polish cuisine, nice soup with egg for starter, turkey main and big dunch of brownie. Then onto the Chopin museum. All very nicely presented, the museum showcases the life and times of Poland most famous pianist & composer Frederic Chopin. It has a a listening room where you can put on headphones and hear some of the various pieces, split up by genre. Etudes, ballades, nocturnes etc.

After my big late lunch I opted for a light dinner, Belgian fries caught my eyes and then a zapiekanka. That is an open toasted sandwich a bit like a pizza with various topping and sauces.

The next day I tried to go the the Copernicus museum but it was 'full' as it had a sign up saying no more visit as it had reached it's daily limit. Hmmm, okay, anyway onto the old town and the market square. The old town isn't really so old as has been rebuilt after world war II. A highlight was the spectacular Royal Palace. The rebuilding completed in 1984, was funded by a worldwide donation drive. Inside rooms are gilded, marbled or intricately decorated, adorned with paintings. An impressive sight!

Later that night I returned to the old town to take in a Chopin piano recital. In a small room the pianist started with Ballade no 1 in G minor, ending with Polonaise in E flat minor, opus 26.

Next day it was to the Warsaw Uprising Museum, with an audio guide I went round there, along with giant tour groups of hyperactive schoolchildren. Still at least I had headphones in. Inside was a B24 bomber, many rooms about the uprising and some original film footage. Up on the roof there was a viewing platform, limited to 10 people, so maybe that was why nobody else was there.

Later it was time for a spot of lunch, so I popped into a local lunch spot, seemed to be a mix of cuisine, not just Polish. I opted for the duck and a big coke, but actually I got a big duck and a coke. Which would explain why it cost more than I thought. A bit of a duck up.

Then I had a look at the tallest building in the country, the Palace of Culture and Science, which was a Russian gift to the people of Poland. There is a viewing platform if you wish to go up it, but I just headed inside and found a small museum with an exhibition about evolution, mostly dinosaurs.

Back having a look around the old town I found 'Horror House' and decided to venture inside.
Knock & wait, get told to wait outside for 15 minutes. A couple of guys come out looking a mixture of terrifed and relieved. Soon I go in then a nice woman gets you to sign one of those unsueable forms, abdicating them of your heart attack. "Do you wanna play a game?"
You enter a dark room, no not dark, pitch black, can't see anything. There are rubber strands draped down for doorways you go through them. Eventually ended up crawling in the complete darkness on all fours as the space gets tighter. Then you get a torch! But it's crap.

Next you have to solve some puzzles and unlock the doors, i.e. find the combination or the key for the lock. Meanwhile an occasional ghost will scream in your face, or grab you. After a few more rooms and scares, I got chased out by a chap with a chainsaw. Now I was like those earlier guys terrifed and relieved.

For dinner some traditional Polish food, dumplings with cheese, potatoes & onions (pierogi ruskie) with a cup of beetroot soup and some steamed veg. Ending up being loads of food and had to give up near the end.