We're in Vienna! Yeah I Donau either...

We decided to waltz down to Vienna after being shut out of our Budapest train. We aren't yet in Europe's peak season but this is closer than I have ever been (while backpacking) so I am still getting used to the idea of hostels/trains/restaurants etc being booked.

Just before leaving Krakow, I messaged a former colleague, Joachim, and told him that I would be in Vienna and that maybe we could meet up for a beer. He ended up treating us to lunch, showing us around the world's oldest zoo at Schoenbrunn and inviting us over to his house. We started off our Viennese tour with a stop at Minoritenkirche right off the Herrengasse metro stop for a look at the Last Supper. Yeah you heard right. Apparently Napoleon was fond of the Da Vinci original in Milan so he commissioned a mosaic copy that he intended to swap out with the original. As a nice surprise, Joachim had never seen this.

He then showed us the oldest cathedral in Vienna dating back to the 1100s. It is easy to miss if you don't know what you are looking for. From the Stephansdom entrance you may notice the outline of a cathedral a few meters away. On that site there was a 12th century cathedral that was torn down in the 1700s. It was largely forgotten about until the metro workers, while tunneling stumbled into an open space...the basement of the cathedral. The remnants are viewable through a window in the Stephansdomplatz metro station but it is tucked away a little and easily overlooked. That night we went to see the Indiana Jones movie in English at a local theater. It was a throwback to the times when megaplexes didn't exist (which has its advantages and disadvantages).

The following day Joachim and his son came with us to the world's oldest zoo at Schoenbrunn. It hosts an impressive array of animals: pandas, hippos, penguins, sea lions, and even bats. In a "Jungle House" exhibit, bats fly freely (though mostly they just hang on the ceiling. But in the Bat Cave exhibit, the lights are off and you can feel then whistling past your hair! We returned to the hostel, Ruthsteiner's Summer house and made a big bowl of fettuccine alfredo with chicken, broccoli and carrots. We had made so much that we had some left over for the two person staff who were awesome during our stay. Luke and Keesha you two rock :)

That night we went to the Opera which is always a great experience regardless of what is happening. As I mentioned on the blog the last time I was in Vienna, if you show up to the ticket counter 2 hours before show time you can usually get a standing room seat for 2-3 euros which is worth it just to see the inside. We were decidedly underdressed for the occasion. The Viennese crowd attends the Staatsopera in business or even formal wear. My travelpunk tshirt and jeans seemed a bit out of place. After the show, the audience gave a 3 minute long standing ovation during which there were no less than four curtain calls. As the applause died down they still came out which was hilariously awkward. So with that we decided to start applauding like ANIMALS in order to coax another trip out. The three of us and another 3-4 wise guys in the standing room only section got them out 2 more times. Each time with less of their costume on!

On the last day in Vienna I was arranging Em and Cheryl's trip to Venice while trying to get myself to Slovenia and still do some laundry that was badly overdue. The washing machine left my clothes soaked since I didn't fully read the instructions which made the drying take hours and they still didn't complete. The damp clothes then smelled even worse. My train to Ljubljana would have required a change in Salzburg and an arrival at 2a. None of that was particularly attractive to me so I was thinking of staying another day in Vienna when I got word from Dad that he had the Holiday Inn points to put the girls up in a Crown Plaza just outside of Venice proper. Hmm...

So the three of us headed to Venice that night :D

Venezia: The Venice of Italy

Last time I was in Venice was during the Torino Olympics and it happened to coincide with the first day of Carnivale which was an extra cool bonus. The weather was a little dreary and my impression of it was a cool little town that was absolutely artificial. Every shop was selling masks, batteries, maps and other touristy kitsch stuff. Restaurants menus resembled the Rosetta stone, Gelaterias were everywhere, and high end clothing shops rounded out the remaining businesses. This time, I felt like people lived in Venice, and while still very touristy, I had a much better appreciation for it. The first order of business was to get some gelato. The creamy Italian specialty that NEVER tastes as good in any other country. I have tried it all over Europe and in the states and there is always something missing.

Em using her mother's spider's sense when it comes to bargains found a garage/chruch sale on the outskirts of town where she picked up a small Carnivale mask at 1/4 price. We wandered back and found a nice Chinese restaurant where we ate some dinner by the canal for a surprisingly reasonable price.

Day two we spent heading toward San Marco square. There are signs in most alleys leading you there, but (un?)fortunately the twisting maze of Venice makes it so easy to lose your direction and yourself that you end up not caring as much about your destination. As a result we ended up arriving a little too late.

The last item on the tourist trap list was a gondola ride. They charge you 80 euros for up to 5 people. As we cringed and divvied it up into thirds we met a couple from Miami on their honeymoon who were thrilled by the idea of splitting it 5 ways. Good luck Steve. We'll post a video somewhat shortly.

We headed back to the hotel and enjoyed lying in bed. I ended up passing on a shower figuring I would do it in the morning. That turned out to be a hilariously bad idea. The next day in Venice we started by eating at a restaurant called Restorante di Bepi. I give it two thumbs down even though the food was ok. I thought we had strayed far enough off the tourist trail (this was in Venice Mestre instead of the Venice everyone thinks of)...

The owner is this obese slob who is rude as hell. Cheryl and I ordered our food and as Em tried to decipher the menu he leaned on his fists breathing heavily. She buckled under the pressure and said just bread. Haha poor Emy. The food came out a little late and as we finished up we had 20 minutes to get back to the train. We asked for the bill. 10 minutes later, in a near empty restaurant, nothing. So we nodded to one of our servers. Still nothing. So I got tired of their crap and went up to get a menu to add it up myself and we left the money on the table. I didn't see a price for the drinks but figured it couldn't be more than the service charge and for such crappy service I wasn't inclined to pay it anyway. So we left and 100m down the street the guy comes waddling out yelling for us to come back that we didn't pay enough.

Our bill was itemized and he said, "You didn'tah pay the cover noabody wants your money". Which wasn't true, he was very interested in my extra 10 euros. He also said he was waiting with the bill for me...if he had been you would think he would have come over when I was doing his job for him. The back and forth escalated to a screaming match where I called him and his restaurant a steaming pile of shit. I hope this fat douche dies of a carbonara induced heart attack at 45. Next time you go to a restaurant in the states and you get service and don't have problems with your meal, try to appreciate it, the rest of the world doesn't always operate that way...

By 2ish I was planning on heading to Trieste then Slovenia but the line for the tickets was too long so I followed Em and Cheryl to Rome. Now I plan to loop the Adriatic and fly out of Venice...for now anyway :D

--Joey

Polishing off Pierogies in Krakow

No trip to Poland should be complete without a plate of boiled or fried pierogies. Krakow, often called "the next Prague", is a bit more expensive than the rest of Eastern Europe but it still offers up some pretty good deals even in the central parts of the city. For example, U Babci Maliny, a small chain of traditional Polish restaurants, sells a massive plate of Pierogies (probably enough for two people) for between 3-7 bucks. Throw on a bowl of hot pea soup and half a liter of Zywiec and you can walk out stuffed for less than 10 bucks. It caters to tourists and locals alike.

Due to the poor weather the three days in Krakow were spent primarily at this restaurant. Day one was a tour of Nowa Huta, the Soviet response to the beautiful architecture of the main square. The goal was to create a centrally planned utopia for the industrial workers. Unfortunately, there wasn't much of this industry and most of the raw materials had to be shipped in from all over the country. Today it attracts tourists interested in the ugly style of communist architecture that cropped up one identical block at a time. We spent the afternoon at a local pizzeria and took advantage of being reasonably far from the center of town. Between the four of us we spent only about 25 bucks, including our transportation to and from.

Day two, as I already wrote, was spent at the Auschwitz memorial and Day 3 rained us out which kept us pretty local to the hostel (which was actually a welcome change). Day 4, Em and Cheryl ended up making an impromptu visit to the castle while the weather briefly cooperated and said it was great. The night train to Budapest was booked so we opted for Vienna instead.

--Joey

From Bed to Wurst

Em and I didn't sleep much our last night in Barcelona. The alarm went off around 4, and I rolled out of the top bunk. We had a 5a bus to Girona and then a flight to Bremen where our friend Wiebke, or VB as we call her, lives. We also had to worry about our weight. You see, Ryan Air, while cheaper than the average night in a hostel for those that book ahead, also charges you about 15 bucks a pound for luggage over 33lbs. So I wore my jacket, moved the heavier items to my day bag and wore two pairs of pants. 15kg exactly. The flight was pretty meh like my last one and I am pretty sure there is no reclining the seats, but I did fly for 20 euros all told.

VB greeted us at the airport and showed us around downtown Bremen and we had a traditional German lunch with a Franizkaner hefeweizen beer. She lives a bit outside the city so we took a train to her village and from there her mom drove us to her farm where we met her brother and father. They are incredibly nice people :)

The weather turned rainy so we bailed on going out. The next day was May 1st; the non American world's labor day. Which is celebrated pretty much the same way we do. Bbq, brats (the best Bratwursts), beer, and the like. We even built a grill for the occasion (VB's dad got it as a gift for his birthday days earlier) and drank the local brew, Becks. They were quite impressed that we had heard/had Beck's in the states. Little do they know that is probably the most famous German brewed beer on our side of the pond. Fat and full we rode out a quick rain storm and had a bonfire in the yard.

Day 3 on the farm was a rainout so we went down to Bremen Haven for a kebab and a look at the North sea. The following day was really cool. In the afternoon we drove out to the North Sea. At low tide you can walk for miles from the coast in ankle deep water. It is really bizarre! That evening we hit up a barn party that brought people from every neighboring village to hear live music in a quasi circus atmosphere.

We took a train to Hamburg and then split ways. Her back to Bremen for her flight and me to Berlin.

--Joey

Auschwitz Tour

This is the 3rd Concentration Camp I have visited (the others being Mauthausen and Dachau) but it was by far the worst, both in terms of its emotional impact and the nature of the camp. Like before, the feeling is undeniably haunting but contrary to the previous visits, the weather was appropriately raw; around 50F and raining. I think God was crying along with us.

There is a visitor's center that serves food (a noticeable difference between Mauthausen and Dachau), a gift shop (which at the onset gave me really mixed feelings. Fortunately it is tastefully done and they offer books, ponchos, batteries, disposable cameras and footage of the liberation), and a projection room that shows footage taken by the Russians on and after liberation day; January 27, 1945.

I have read a fair amount about the Holocaust (and Auschwitz in particular) so there may have been fewer surprises for me than there were for others. For starters, Auschwitz is often incorrectly used as the name for Birkenau and the entire camp complex. There were three camps. The original camp (Auschwitz), the extermination camp (Birkenau), and an industrial work plant that produced synthetic rubber (Monowice-Bunawerke). With the latter being destroyed, visitors can only tour Auschwitz and Birkenau.

A guide speaks into a microphone and we listen through headphones. As I walked through the infamous Arbeit Mach Frei (work brings freedom) sign in Auschwitz I felt a little confused. I believed that sign to have been seen by the millions of victims as they entered. The overwhelming majority never saw the cynical slogan. I felt oddly normal walking on the roads between the housing complexes.

It is easier to forget the atrocities when you are surrounded by 20 other people. But as time and the tour went on it drained everyone in the group. The camp was originally meant for Polish soldiers and then after the September 1st invasion it was used by the Nazis. The barrack tour starts with a little history and maps from Nazi occupied Europe. As it moves on it shows trains of mostly Jewish prisoners arriving. Disturbing photos of families aligned after selection; their death in the gas chambers a fait accompli, horrifically malnourished children, twin victims of Mengele's sadistic experiments along with glasses, suitcases, shoes and other personal artifacts. But it was the hair that was worst.

There is a room with filled with human hair. From ceiling to near floor, and 20 yards long. When you say a million people died, you can just as easily say 100,000, 10,000 or 10 million. Humans don't handle numbers that large very well and orders of magnitude are as easily lost as adding commas and zeros... but the hair both makes it intensely personal and gives you a sense of the scale. 14,000 lbs of hair were recovered from Auschwitz...and that was what was only what was left after it had been used for packing textile industries and the like for the entire course of the war.

Next was a prison within the prison for inmates who broke the rules (which ranged from working too slowly, to relieving yourself outside of the two designated times per day) and horrific punishments (hanging people by their arms, starvation chambers, suffocation rooms) that seem more fitting in a medieval museum than in a 20th century memorial.

The tour finishes the with a reconstruction of the Auschwitz gas chamber and crematory. Nazis sensing the Russians would be in Poland shortly thereafter destroyed as much of the evidence as possible. Some historians believe only 7% of the paperwork to have survived the this coverup. You can only wonder what they were thinking.

We finished the Auschwitz tour and boarded a bus for the roughly 2 mile journey to Birkenau. It was standing room only but there were no complaints. The group reconvened just beyond the infamous watchtower. From there we walked to the barracks to see models of how they lived. Prisoners who worked emptying the toilets had the most desirable jobs because they worked inside and because they smelled so badly, the kapos and other blockfuhrers didn't want to get close enough to beat them.

Finally we ended with the remains of the crematoria which haven't been moved much since WWII. Since we tend to think of trash as needing removal, seeing it as it was in 1945 closed the 63 year gap and made it feel uncomfortably recent.

By this time we were numb both emotionally from the day and physically from the cold, so we headed back. If you climb the watchtower you can see from one end of the camp to the other, something you can't do on the ground. I completely underestimated how large the camp was.

When I hear holocaust deniers coming up with Zionist conspiracies to explain the founding of Israel or at least minimizing numbers suggesting the scope of the crimes was vastly exaggerated, I am strongly sympathetic to the idea this atrocity could not possibly have happened.

How I wish they were right.

--Joey

Bewitching Andorra

If you have heard of this city-state, pat yourself on the back. Outside of countries sharing a border with the Pyrenees, those seeking ski heaven and a tax haven it is relatively unknown...even among our European friends.

The scenery here is really nothing short of spectacular. Due to it's location, and Andorra la Vella's setting in the valley; you can literally see mountains in every direction from every point in town. Anyone spending time in Barcelona owes it to themselves to check out this beautiful place.

Our first night, Joeda had a craving for KFC. The woman at the front desk insisted to me that restaurant didn't exist. 15 minutes later I was walking back through the fancy glass doors with a bucket of chicken. Day two in Andorra la V(B?)ella started with a hearty breakfast of Napolitanas de Chocolate, meats, cheeses, eggs, yogurt, and OJ. From there we headed to Arinsal to take a hike. As amazing as the scenery is in the capital, as you go forward 3 miles or so, it gets mind blowing! After that long tough day, I went to the town's spa called the Caldea which was AMAZING!

Because I got there after 8:30pm, it was only 24 Euros. The building was so futuristic looking. Inside, the stairs were spiraled and illuminated by blue LED's. The dressingrooms were cool: set up like this. From the dressingroom you go through the shower area then into the bathing area. The main lagoon was huge! and the water was perfect - just the way I like it (87-90 degrees). It wasn't too crowded which was awesome so I had a lot of room to swim around - kind of like fountains - overflowed water into the lagoon. There were mini waterfalls that you could go under and the whole lagoon had vanishing edges - REALLY cool idea! The lagoon went outside via a canal that had plastic flaps covering the exit. I swam under it like at the Jacksonville pool (just a Mom and Dad reference). It was probably 60 degrees outside so the hot water felt even better. It reminded me a lot of the night we went to the onsen in Japan. The Caldea has a "fitness" area that was a maze of saunas, blacklight rooms, the desert hot air bath/tunnel, polar room that had snow and ice. This area was really fun to explore. The other really neat area of the Caldea was the Roman baths. At night it is dark with very low lighting (from candles) and I was alone so it was extra meditative. There was a light show in the main lagoon - Actually, it was a little trippy...a big sun face that at the end of the night eventually turned into a moon face and the moonface would nod off and blink its eyes until it fell asleep...and from the ceiling dropped colorfully lit planets with faces in them that spun around. Then an illuminated pirate ship sailed through the air from one side of the lagoon to the other. All to the tune of plunky music from a xylaphone. Some images were projected on the water like the Fantasmic show at MGM. The spa also had a bunch of facial and body treatments. It's a funny thing about pampering and perceptions of luxury. Having Belgian chocolate painted on your body = sophisticated. Having chocolate crummies around the corners of your mouth...not so much. For anyone planning their honeymoon/ anniversary, I highly recommend the Caldea!!

Breaks from hostels can be welcome and this 3 star hotel was the same price as our hostel in Barcelona (if you count the included breakfast) for the low season. Unfortunately, we don't really deserve to stay in nice places. During our stay here I set a croissant on fire, left hair in the bathtub, Joey broke a glass, we checked out late and left finger nail clippings in the lobby. That's how we roll...

--Emily

Bayerning for some Bavaria

These posts are chronologically out of order. I'll go back and cover Berlin and Bremen a little later.

The bus ride from Berlin started at 8:15 and concluded around 4:30p. We had a stop around noonish for "5 minutes" which meant that the rest stop that sold food and the like was 2 minutes too far to go. Then about 25 minutes later there was another 10 minute stop. I don't get it. Since the first one was at a rest stop and the second one was in a town, how about letting us have a 15 minute stop at the next place so we can all get something, you know, to eat? It was the first time I have said to myself "This makes NO sense at all" in Germany. While on board I met a guy who looked uncannily like our roommate for a day in Salamanca, Sebastien. He was from Munich (two stops from Aying) and I think I remember him saying he had a brother. So just out of curiosity I asked this guy if he was originally from Munich. Yup. "By any chance do you have a brother named Sebastien?" No...but my name is Sebastien. That was pretty weird. I showed him a photo that was left on my camera and he agreed so much he wants me to send him a bigger photo of the Sebastien I know.

I went for a walk around the Marienplatz and despite the throngs of tourists (more than I have seen in my last two visits) I still love the area. I got word that Em missed her flight from London but Cheryl didn't so I would meet her at the hostel. Em spent the night in Stansted airport which I am sure she'll tell you about.



The next day we scrapped our plans for a Neuschwanstein visit because of Em getting in a little late. A perfect day for an Aying day trip which happens to be my 4th time to the biervonhimmeldorf. The open air beer garden is so nice. We had half a chicken, some kartoffelsalat, and 1L of a helles good beer. Chamber of commerce weather, great food/beer along with some typical Bavarian music from the accordionist rounded out the gemutlichkeit hat trick. One of best parts of ordering beer in German is that I am quite accustomed to saying "Una mas" to get my next 8oz in Spain, and now I just say "Eine Maß" to get my next liter in Germany ;)

Feeling full we decided to go for a walk to Peiß, the next town over. As rare as it is for visitors to hit up Aying, Peiß makes it look like Zone 1 London. Along the way, Em and I both peed in the same woods (at different times smart ass) that my father took an emergency schieße back 2 years ago.

Since Em was on fumes and Cheryl might be coming down with something we called it an early night back at my home away from home in Germany, the Wombat hostel.


I can't believe I know four people who have been to that rail stop :D

Tschus!

--Joey

Gaudacious!

I am now firmly in the camp with everyone who didn't get robbed (and maybe a few that did) in Barcelona: we love it. It's center oozes "cool". For a place that gave me such a bad first impression, I now consider it among my favorite "big cities" in Europe.

Em and I stayed, primarily, at Sant Jordi Arago right off of Arago and Passeig de Gracias (a main road in town). It is yards away from the Gaudi masterpiece Casa Batllo. It's skeletal frame and soft curves with bright colors give off a vibe that is as whimsical as it is macabre.

The hostel organizes regular events (pub crawls and dinners) so on our 2nd day we headed to Frico's for the FC Barcelona vs Manchester United. It was the game EVERYONE was talking about. The ramblas were overwhelmed by ManU fans supporting their team. Every newspaper, every nook of the city was ready to explode if Barcelona could manage the upset. Naturally, we were root root rooting for the home team. Not because I care about the sport (much less the team) but because I am always a fan of people making noise until 5a. After a hard fought match, the game ended the way it began: 0-0. Excuse me while I hock up a cheek busting 25cl mouthful of loogie and spit it right onto the steps of Sagrada Familia. How can a tie for a game so big possibly be acceptable? This is the champions league! I just don't get it. Games should have winners and losers. A tie should leave everyone feeling miserable and yet there were people still in the streets reenacting parts of the game; "Remember when the guy from Brazil went like this :moves feet around: yeah!" Oh who cares...

The next day we were off to Sagrada familia, Gaudi's most famous work in progress. The Cathedral is expected to be finished in 2026 for the 100th anniversary of his death. The nativity facade is amazing in it's intricacy. It is like Gaudi decided to melt an existing cathedral. When all is said and done it is expected to be 550ft tall. To put that in perspective, the Dom of Cologne is "only" 515ft. Given our extra days in Barcelona we decided not to go inside since we would have only been able to see the first floor (no climbing the towers) and even then we had 30 minutes before it closed. So we instead marveled at it from the outside (apparently the consensus from everyone is that the inside is a bit disappointing).

On Friday, we were rounding out our final day in Barcelona with a girl we met at the hostel. We did a tour of Mont Juic (trying to catch the Magic Fountain which, outside of the summer tourist season, only has shows on Friday and Saturday. The fountain was built in the 20s but suffered from years of neglect. When the olympics were awarded to Barcelona it was fully refurbished and has been wowing visitors ever since with its mix of lights, water and music. Unfortunately, we showed up a little late and only caught the tail end of it. One more thing on the next time list...along with the inside of Sagrada Familia.

The next day we got our bus to Andorra la Vella which Em will tell you about...





--Joey

Quick update

Em and I are in Hamburg. We will update with a post on Andorra, Barcelona, and Bremen shortly. Hang tight :)

--Joey