Second Last Stop: PRAHA

This part of the journey almost got cancelled. Cuz dad developed a rash from sun exposure etc... and seemed rather uncomfortable... Fortunately, the cream we bought from a pharmacy in Bratislava helped.

Just remembered this clip I saw from Eurotrip... when they got sent to Bratislava... my photos of Bratislava is nothing like the movie setting.. ahaha dont know which suburb they visited. It's not that cheap either. =P

Okay back to the point. PRAGUE, Czech Republic. I think in Eastern European parts, they call it Praha. (There's a Praga in Poland... so not to be confused with that) With 2 days to spare, we decided to spend our time in Prague and abandon plans to visit Cesky Krumlov. (Zhimin said it's really nice... so maybe... ONE day... I might return =))

The history of Prague is really interesting - with connections to Luxembourg dynasty and eventually to House of Habsburg as well. hehe Seems like not many places in Europe are left untouched by Habsburg.

Street scenes.

Picture 1 reminded me of "Buy a brick, block a cow" fund-raising we did for Tumkur. The bricks in that picture are also for fund-raising.

You'll also see pictures of puppets being sold in stalls and shops. hehe THey are really well made! There are even witches on broom sticks that go "hyak hyak hyak" when you press a button or something. grin I wanted to get that for Aldwin, but I guess it's bulky and don't know what he'll think of it. hahaa Got him a top instead.

Hmm... what else.. the market also sold fruits and sweets. AND very thoughtfully included a tap that you can also see in the pictures. =))

hee I like things that are suspended mid-air. I think there were so many other pictures I've taken elsewhere with things suspended mid-air. =) OH! And whoever thinks Eastern Europe is backward... they have Crumpler too k!

This is my favourite part of Prague. Hehehe I want such a clock!!! =)

This is the Astronomical clock in Stare Mesto (Old town square). Every hour, there will be a mini procession in the clock. You see 2 little windows above the main clock? hehe Those will open and then you can see little figures parading within the windows.

The last picture is actually a postcard of the clock. I really really love the clock! =)

ZM, when you do your exchange in Netherlands, you HAVE to visit Prague!

Well.. Eastern Europe is characterized by music rather than drama. We attended a concert at the little concert hall. There was a mini organ and a harp. Among the many pieces they played for us, there is one particular piece I liked =) That's Bedrich Smetana's Die Moldau. It's really appropriate cuz this was his birthplace. And he was writing about the river Vltava that we saw flowing through Prague. Sigh... if you get a chance, you absolutely have to go and listen!

See? The river Vltava and Charles Bridge (Karlův most). The amount of activity going on on Charles Bridge is amazing. Cuz on one street, the traffic flow is huge... you see street musicians with all kinds of musical instruments, people actually standing around to listen to them, there are stalls selling handicraft items and handmade earrings and artists doing portraits etc... Bustling with life literally. =P

A bit of background on Charles Bridge. It links Old town with New town and is protected by 3 bridge towers, 2 on the Lesser Quarter side and 1 on Old town side. Hehe I took a picture of dad on level 2 of the Old town tower from the bridge. But it's kinda dark so I didnt post it up.

This bridge is decorated by a continuous alley of 30 statues and statuaries, most of them baroque-style (1700). It's considered to be one of the most astonishing civil gothic-style buildings in the world. Really really amazing!

This is one of the more 'famous' statuary.
Background: It's the statue of John of Nepomuk. In March 1393, he was thrown into the river Vltava from the Charles Bridge at the behest of Wenceslaus, King of Romans and King of Bohemia. I seriously have no idea about the specifics. But dad and I parked ourselves opposite the statue and watched tourists come one after another to touch the golden parts of the statue. haha NOBODY really knows why they're touching it.. but it's a chain reaction - you see others touching, so you inch forward to try to touch it too... even if you don't know why and so on. hehe 20 touches / minute. hahaha Very very fascinating study.

This is a random collage. Some taken on the bridge. Others taken at Prague Castle on the other side of the bridge. Can't remember how many flight of stairs we had to climb to reach it.

Motifs on the gate. =))

Another random collage of a photo collection. Mostly of the Prague Castle side.

Food! =) We ate one of our lunches in a fancy restaurant on the square - where even mineral water costs a lot.


Transport. =) I think this was quite an experience for dad.

Next post on Mikolajki, Poland!

Bratislava - Capital of Slovakia!

Finally we arrive at the Bratislava post. Isn't one of my favorite places. hehe cuz it's a city... so a little more dusty... & dad was having a rash from the sun. So I don't think he was very comfortable. However, he's a better sport than I am... so it didn't stop him from enjoying himself. On hindsight... I wish I was nicer. Less grumpy and all. Mostly, I wish he was with me at the beginning of my exchange when I haven't yet tired of traveling. And we could explore the places and procedures together... hm..


Well This is our hostel. My only gripe is that it's next to a major road - so it was rather noisy even at night. But I sleep well anywhere la. haha Dad had a sudden tummyache. So i put the sheets on for both of us. There. Nice and cosy.

We got lost on our way to the city. Cuz of a road name that was similar to the one that we were supposed to turn left yet. Ironically, I was the grumpy one after having taken the wrong turn :( Oh well. we got it right eventually and never got lost there again. I have no idea why I didn't have proper pictures of the streets + tram tracks in the city center... maybe cuz we went to get cream for dad's rash straight away... But that street reminded me a little of a more bustling and city-like Cambridge. Not as quaint though.


Bratislava, like most major cities in Europe, has a river flowing through it... The Danube in this case =) haha but the river ride to Devin castle is too long. and boring. Grin dad was probably a little bored with insufficient activities... so he suggested the river ride. Oh well.. more about it later..


Sights of the city. The concert hall, a globe fountain, evil mentos advert and yellow pages in slovak? =) The power of icons. hehe I knew Yellow Pages instantly.


Art in the city. =) Bottom Left: Mozart w his clavi-chord. Bottom Right: a graffiti depicting a little boy with a cap leaping from point to point - path traced. hehe I loved it!


Gothic parts of the city and its main church + a few misc.


Had to cross a busy road and walk uphill to this castle. I'm sorry I'm not terribly informative at this point but it's difficult to be after so many months. hehS makes a great case for blogging upon returning. In any case, we had to stop by the foot of the uphill path because there were two roads ahead. The lady at the bar was nice enough to point us in the right direction =) So here we are and there happened to be some VIPs around hence the guards.

1st. I liked the gate motif very much. 2nd. The view reminded me of Singapore. It was unfortunate dad was traveling with the me who was missing home tremendously...


Another motif I liked a great deal. This was a building that looked somewhat abandoned. There were paintings of people at each window however - as if depicting personalities living in each quarter. Thought it was a pretty cool thing to do.


Streets of Bratislava. The cobblestone path that I was just beginning to take forgranted.. the greyish stone buildings of history. The graffiti on the walls. Dad looking up at I'm not sure what.. =P


And we took the boat ride to Devin Castle. Truly, the ride wasnt much. But the castle on Devin Island more than make up for it. =) It was again another not-so-easy-to-locate-place. We followed other groups of people who seem a little less clueless, glanced at maps that we don't exactly comprehend - grin ya and dad said it's easy to read maps. hahaha NOT ALL MAPS ARE USER-FRIENDLY! In any case... we got to the vicinity of the castle. LOoK!

Er. Yeah. Dad was still fascinated by plants, trees and fruits in particular at this point. =) He wilingly trudged across wet grass patches to reach these trees for close up shots. hehe If we lived in a suitable climate and a suitable place, we would have fruit trees in our garden.

There. The castle and its surroundings. I thought it was all very pretty... We didn't have much time before we had to leave by the next boat. But I guess it's enough to explore the charming little place.

Quite off tangent here. But here's food eaten at Bratislava. No we didnt Eat Tesco. We got our supplies from there. hee Bratislava hostel - being a city hostel - didnt have perks like free breakfast (though there was free internet). So we got ourselves milk and cereal for breakfast instead. Economical and good. hehs comes from traveling around quite a bit. =)

At the point where we were supposed to turn left for the city centre... we turn right early morning.. to catch the train to our next destination. Prague, the city that I've heard so much about and yearned to see. Perhaps one day... I'll catch it with the Music fest in Spring...

Last note: I think what I wish for now... would not be a graduation trip with friends. I would very much like to take a short trip with my whole family... Even Malaysia would be good. =)

Spissky Hrad

Largest castle in Central Europe. Being in the vicinity, how can we miss it? =)

Took a bus to Spissky Podhradie... then we stood there gaping at the signboard. grin Walked through some old dusty streets and fields before we spied two people heading for the castle on a path some distance away. =P Thanks to them, we found our way up. hehee Else we'd be crossing fields and inching around the castle like some of e invaders of e past..


The Al-mighty Spissky Hrad! =)


The place was alive with squirrels!! The entire hill was full of little holes - home to these furry adorable creatures. =P hehee Dad waited patiently for me while I crouched by one of those holes and readied myself for shots whenever a furry snout peeked out.


Definitely a castle w a view. hehe Not my choice of abode though. Doesn't seem comfy with all. hee Was spring when we were there and the weather was hot... hott...


Different angles of the castle. =)

Spissky Kapitula. hehe Had time after getting down from the castle. =) So we took a walk to the town nearby. hehehe See the picture with e little girl? She got tired of walking at the foot of e hill. =P See why you shouldn't take kids on tours? hahaha

Took this on our way to Bratislava. =) So many sunflower fields!!! hehehe but it wasn't easy to get a good shot of those! But so pretty!!! =) That's all for Spissky - which btw is part of e gothic route. Next up: Bratislava!

Levoca (l-er-vo-cha)

I know it's been ages. But I'm not the worst. People typically abandon their travel blogs once they return. And it can't be helped because we're all so busy... If we choose to do our work that is. =P haha I happen to still have a reader for this blog... so okay I'll try to finish up the entries.


Thought it'll hurt my head less to continue this pic-blogging for Levoca, Spissky villages, Bratislava, Devin Castle, Prague... & Mikolajki - I ach forgot how to spell this one. Sheesh.



This is the map of the little place we've chosen as our first point of exploration in Slovakia.


Frankly, this leg of the trip was most difficult to plan. Transport was relatively simple cuz there are certain helpful travel blogs that left hints and tips.. =) Accomodations was a major headache. No hostels. All pensions. No email reservation. All phone based. I'm not well versed in the art of gesturing over the phone yet... But not securing accoms got me very stressed up. Hm... in the end, this was the most expensive of all my accoms. haha But I guess it wasn't all that bad...


Wanted to do a 'walk through customs at Polish-Slovakia borders' and then bus to Poprad thing. But realized that we were leaving Zakopane on a Saturday and there happened to only be buses to Poprad on Saturday... so we took a bus right through early in the morning.

Good thing for that cuz it started to rain. haha Oh well... so we stopped at Poprad and took a bus to Levoca from there. Another round of figuring out what the bus schedules are about... and which bus goes where. Grin but I've been doing that sort of thing for months after all... so it gets progressively easier. We were soon on our way. =)


The closest match I have to this place is Romania. Haha But it's unfair to compare anyway. Let pictures do the talking. Dad liked this place a great deal. =)



By the way... this is the pension we stayed at in Levoca.


hahaha Yeah I tried my best to sound nonchalent abt it but I was gushing all the way about how picturesque it was! Especially after a long wait. We arrived in Levoca at 11+am when we were expected at the pension only after 2pm. For most hostels, this timing thing isn't an issue at all. So I didn't think it would be at pensions. grin How wrong I was.


We knocked for ages to no avail. Then some passerby decided to help by knocking on a window with an umbrella on our behalf. A guest in the pension responded but (in all the English he could muster) explained patiently that he didn't have the key to the place. So dad and I had to wait patiently for 2pm to arrive...


I guess seeing the little garden made the long wait pay off. haha =)



I think dad liked the garden a lot. Cuz he snapped many pictures of everything and anything.




I happily lounged in the little garden swing in a corner with my book. =)




The rest of the pension. (Didn't have good photos of the room. But you have my word that it's huge and spacious. 1 double bed, 1 single bed. Oh yes. That reminds me... you've got to see our breakfast...)




Grin. 2 days. Same breakfast. We were stuffed. This actually lasted us the entire day...


The little monument atop the hill was what we suspected to be a St Mary's Church or sth. We actually tried to walk there. ahaha But we couldn't figure out if we were going the right way at all and the sun was setting... so we didn't make it there in the end. Looks good from afar though.



The series of photos we took while on our quest to St Mary's. haha Dad was very amused by many many things and plants. and wells. I was more taken by the old boot in the window. =P



Main town square.

Bottom left: Cage of shame. Guess it's not the most famous of monuments in Levoca. It was used to punish minor delinquencies... I guess by locking them up for the viewing pleasures of the public. Hm... Yeah but dad wasn't very impressed by the huge bird cage.


Top left & right: Took couple of pictures of St Jacob's church - rather gothic in terms of architecture. Unfortunately, we visited on a day where it wasn't open to the public. So we could only circle the place. But I love that shot with the sunrays... =)


There's really nothing much in Levoca. It's really a little residential sort of town. =) Glad to be somewhere less touristy for a change though. =) Dinner was good. I don't think it was expensive. Was a restaurant recommended by Shoestring. Brocoli cream pasta is better than it looks. =P


Shall end abruptly with a view from our bedroom in the pension. =) Now, that's the sort of view I should like to have in my future home. ahhahahaa

Carpathian Mountains - Lower Tatry (Poland)

a Having long heard of the beauty of the Tatra Mountains, I decided to include it in my itinerary with dad. =)


We didn't take the horse carriage ride up... cuz it's more expensive.. 40zloty/person up and 20zloty/person down. All the same... I felt bad through-out the ride... Swore never to exploit another horse in my lifetime.. Hehs doesn't mean I won't ride horses.. just not the sort that really look like they're overworked.

Last picture bottom right is an ideal scene. hehe Dad and mum taking a kid out. Nice sweet family. =)


We are on a mission to see Morskie Oko - Eye of the Sea - though I really don't see how the name fits... Perhaps Eye of the Mountains would fit better. =P The pretty streams and rapids along the way really brings to mind those pictures on glossy sheets in the Physical Geog Textbook from Secondary school days. The school should organize field trips here. hee


The arduous journey up.


Having these beauties line our path really makes climbing up less tedious. It's like a whiff of fresh air. hehe Then again... the whole place is fresh.


Mid point!


And then we arrive... Morskie Oko!


At the edge of the lake.


Dad after scaring away all the ducks with his mere presence. grin


We decided to go around the lake and see if we can reach the snowy areas.


See how clear the waters are. There are fish in there!


Mini waterfall!

Found another path where we could take to move onto higher grounds.

Onwards!

Grin cool water greets us at the top - (foot of Rysy - the highest Polish peak; but that would take us 3hr50min to conquer... Not today... haha)

Dad reveling in nature.

We decided to soak our feet. Er Bad idea. hahaha the blood rushes to the feet and leaves them numb for ages after we remove them from the water.

Think it'd be some years before I can go hunt for such a sight again...

Don't wanna go home...

Dad claims the white bits are ice. I don't know... It was pretty hot save for the chilly water.

I leave you with shots of the prettiest place on my trip...

Goodbye Tatra Mountains!