Sofia

I'll keep this one short, I just noted the length of the previous post!

Arriving bright and early in Sofia I made my way to the Hostel Mostel, another fine establishment. I'm not sure if it is just the places I've been picking, but it seems that Eastern Europeans are excellent hosts.

I spent the day wandering the city, the highlight being the park filled with old soviet war monuments that no one has been bothered to remove, or keep in repair.

Sofia was a nice enough city, like in Belgrade I battled a little trying to figure out the Cyrillic signs, unnecessarily however because the young people had excellent English. the people were friendly, the beer was cheap, I had a good time -there's not to much more you can ask for really is there?!

A monument marking the passing of the soviet era

Sculpture in the park filled with Soviet statues

Amusing graffiti

Riots on the streets (of Belgrade)

Needless to say, a 6am bus ride after a few beers is a bit rough... it is however very cheap and they barely looked at me 3 times at the border crossing, I've been working on my nonchalant exterior since the Hungary/Croatia fiasco.

Anyway, upon arrival in Belgrade, Andrew (an Aussie on the same bus) and I found our way to Happy Hostel. Another great little hostel! this one was run by Alex, his girlfriend and her sister, the converted apartment was a very laid back place, lots of people had chosen to shelter from the rain outside on the bean bags in front of the TV.

A couple of days before I arrived in Belgrade, Radovan Karadzic was arrested. He is one of the Serbian generals wanted for war crimes against the people of Kosovo. Serbia is trying to join the EU and the arrest of these war criminals is a condition of that process.

As with all these things of a political nature, there are supporters who are unhappy that someone they view as a national hero is to be tried in a biased international court.

So there I was, completely unaware of all these going-ons, just a carefree traveller wandering a new city, trying not to think to think too much about the troubles of the world. The first thing I noted as I walked around was the high number of police around, there were a couple of officers on each corner, it gave the place a general feel of latent violence.

As I found out that evening, there was violence brewing just under the surface of this troubled city. It came to a head that afternoon in the central city, maybe an hour after I had returned home. Andrew & Margo (a German girl from the hostel) were having a coffee in the main square when it erupted with protesters, there were placards, flags, as Andrew & Margo made a hasty retreat into the coffee shop the chairs they were sitting on became weapons at the hands of the protesters!

The next day, Margo & I walked around the city & the imposing fortress that overlooks the confluence of the Danube & the Sava. Again I notice the large police prescence, there were bus loads of them, waiting.

Margo braving the weather at the fortress

There was a strong police presence at this mosque, apparently
it is a regular target during times of unrest.

We spent the afternoon helping a Dutch nutritionist/aid worker/hippie find a hostel and adjust to the city. He was on the way to the Rainbow festival, which from what I could gather is a month long event in rural Serbia where like minded people come together to share their skills and interests whilecoming up with ideas on how to solve the problems of the world.

After a great afternoon of chatting and wandering, I ventured back to the hostel to prepare for my departure that evening, Margo & Dutchie carried on towards the square, bad idea... There were more riots, more police, more arrests. Margo made a hasty retreat while Dutchie had a stern talking to for getting his camera out!

For plants at least, life goes on amonst the ruined buildings.

I left Belgrade for Sofia that night on an overnight train, glad that the troubled city was behind me, but disappointed I hadn't learnt more about it and it's occupants. One day really isn't enough.

Welcome to Sarajevo!

My bus/train trip from Split to Sarajevo can best be described as eventful, first the bus along the (very beautiful) Croatian coast broke down 45 minutes shy of Plocé, my intermediate destination. Luckily for me, I had given myself ample time to catch the train and it all worked out fine. Until I managed to leave my travel planner/notebook on the train upon my arrival in Sarajevo... With my rail pass inside... whoops!

As it turns out it is not as big an issue as it seemed at first, I have found that travel through these parts is dirt cheap and taking buses can be a pretty cool experience – more on that in other posts. In reflection I probably blew out buying the rail pass in the first place.

The Croatian Coastline

does this look like Central Otago or what?!

Anyway, Sarajevo, great place!

I stayed at the amazing Haris Hostel, the hostel's 20 year old namesake & owner has been running the place since he was 15, and running an exceptional city tour. Haris has the signs of a man going places in Sarajevo.

On my first morning I rose to find that 4 kiwi girls had just arrived on night bus, we all spent the day milling around the city and generally relaxing (it was a Sunday, slow day).

On the Monday a large group of us went with Haris on his city tour, this was definitely the highlight of the city and maybe the trip thus far. Haris is very passionate about the city and what the occupants went through over the 4 year siege from 1992 – 1995, he was only 3 when it started!

The tunnel under the airport, apologies for the shoddy focus on some of these photos, I didn't notice the camera was on manual focus

the tunnel entrance

One surprise for me on my last evening was Bob, a Dutch guy I met in Bratislava turning up at the hostel, Europe it turns out is a pretty small place!

For a last hurrah a large multinational contingent (1 kiwi, 1 Aussie, 1 Dutch, 1 American, 1 English & 3 Finns) went for dinner at the Brewery, which turns out is more of an upmarket restaurant than a bustling bar. A few drinks later it was 1am and I was not looking forward to the bus at 6am...

Euro Trippin' w/ Gareth - Leg 6. Split, Croatia

On my journey south I decided to spend a night in Split, this is normally place people stay a while before jumping on (or off) a Sail Croatia tour. Because of my tight schedule this was a breeze in and out visit, a reconnaissance mission if you will.

It turns out that getting from Vienna to Split is no simple task. I took a train from Vienna to Gyor in Hungary & then a connecting train from Gyor to Split overnight. I managed to find my train in Gyor despite there being no clear indication of where it was going from. It turns out that the train was full of Czechs who travel to Croatia for the summer holidays.
It also turns out that Gareth, a friend from work was on the same train, only in a different part, from a different city, in a cabin of his own, not with 4 other people. lucky bugger!

Arriving in Split at 8am in the morning meant a quick brekkie was on the cards before having a wander through the city & hitting the beach for the day.
I can't really say too much more about the place, it was quite beautiful and as usual overflowing with tourists, many Australian of course...

I think I would definitely head back to the area for a longer trip in the future, but we shall see I guess!

Euro Trippin' w/ Mel - Leg 5. Vienna & Bratislava

From Cesky Krumlov, the best ways to Vienna is to either catch a shuttle all the way or to Linz & jump on the train, we did the latter.

Arriving in Vienna we quickly found our hostel near the railway station, very handy and a nice relaxed place.

By the time we reached Vienna we were at the point where the fact that you are surrounded by beautiful buildings is starting to lose it's novelty value & we enjoyed more laid back approach to sightseeing (hence the lack of photos)

Mel was finally getting over the cold that had been dogging her since Denmark, so we managed to have a few beers with other hostellers.
Side note. in a dorm of 8 people, 5 were Aussies & they all (as well as Mel) lived in Melbourne - coincidence? maybe, either way, poor me!

We did an overnight trip to Bratislava, I'm not exactly sure why Bratislava is known to so many people & why people think they should go there, but it is a bit of a nothing city, quite small, it had a sort of provincial town feel to it. Let's not bag it too much though, it is worthwhile for a stopover if you are passing through.
The best part about Bratislava was the ferry ride back to Vienna, it took a little longer than the train but it took us past a nice old ruined castle that we were too cheap to pay to go see, it dropped us off in the city centre too which was handy.







Back in Vienna we did a bit more sightseeing (read aimless wandering) and ventured back to the hostel for an afternoon lazing in the sun which had finally reappeared.

mel left to go back to Aussie this morning so I'm on my own for a day. Right now I'm sitting in the hostel lounge chilling out before I jump on a train to take me to Split in Croatia where I will meet Gareth for a day.

good times ahead.

Euro Trippin' w/ Mel - Leg 4. Cesky Krumlov

The bus to Cesky Krumlov was driven by a wonderful driver with a long flowing mane that anyone from Hamilton or west Auckland would be proud of.

We stayed at "Skippy Hostel" which turned out to be a wonderful little alternative place run by Skippy - a laid back Czech lady. There were even a couple of mix CD's of NZ music which some previous kiwi backpackers had left Skippy, she loved them which was cool (especially Che Ku!)

Oh yeah... one of the other hostel guests was a vet from california, while we were there he gave one of Skippy's 17y.o dogs a check up, you will be pleased to know she had a clean bill of health.

Anyway... it turns out Cesky Krumlov is a beautiful little town, nestled in the bohemian countryside, it has a nice river winding through it and a picturesque castle on the hill. I took advantage of the scenery and went out in the evening to put the new camera through it's paces at night, I would give it a pass mark!

Euro Trippin'w/ Mel - Leg 3. Prague

Mel & I caught a train from Berlin to Prague, after an initial kerfuffle over who was in what cabin and there being a log jam of people in the corridor we settled into a cabin with 2 Aussies & 2 swedes, basically a cabin of your stereotypical back packers!

After a quick dinner in Prague we ventured into suburban Prague in search of Jirka (or George if you will), our host's house. We saw in couchsurfing that George was planning on travelling to NZ soon (September even) so we thought sharing our knowledge would be a good swap for a roof over our heads. Luckily enough he agreed!

We did a day trip to a really beautiful little town of Kuthna Hora, it's main attraction is the Sedlec Ossuary which is decorated with human bones from when the Plague swept through, it was a little macabre, and a little eh...

spot the bird

The rest of the town was lovely though! And, in what is becoming a theme on this trip the food was excellent (backpacking with a decent budget has it's pluses)

Back in Prague, George took us out to dinner with some friends one night, and a guided tour the next day.
He also nearly got us tickets to a concert performance of various choirs from through out the world, that would have rounded out the visit nicely, but alas it was a non-flyer.

Mel & George discussing a few details while on our tour

The writing on the left of the 2 panels at the bottom reads something along the lines of "Czech Insurance Company" (in Czech of course), even back in the day nothing much comes for free!

This house was one of my favourite things about Prague, the owner obviously took the whole my house is my castle thing a little seriously!

From Prague we departed by bus to Cesky Krumlov...