Posted 5:24 AM by MelanieandSteve
BRATASLAVA, SLOVAKIA: 27 to 28 August 2004 (Posting written 3 Sept)

SLOVAKIA, STEVE'S 60TH COUNTRY: Who's counting?

LITTLE COUNTRY, LITTLE CAPITAL: Bratislava, Population 430K, former center of Celtic empire and former capital of Hungarian Kingdom until 18th century. Slovakia has only been an independent republic since 1993 and just joined the EU. This capital was refereshingly small for a capital. We arrived at night, stayed one night, and left the next afternoon, but still felt like we had a complete experience.

AMALGAM CITY: More than anywhere else, we both found ourselves thinking Bratislava reminded us of other places we'd seen before. Ronda Spain, Seville Spain, and Nice France were three that stood out. The Active night life with packed restaurants and bars were like Seville, and the bright cafe lined curvy streets were just like Nice.

DANUBE'S NOT BLUE: So far both in Slovakia and Hungary, it's always been green (sometimes brown). Are we on the wrong river? Did we take a wrong turn?

THE ROAD LESS TAKEN TO THE LOCAL FOOD EXPERIENCE: Stepping outside touristy old town, we had a quiet Slovakian dinner in an off the beaten track restaurant frequented mainly by locals as far as we saw. The man at the table next to us, smiling and sipping on his beer, really wanted to talk with us but never overcame the language barrier. Instead he got some good laughs watching how we ate, such as putting too much pepper on our food. He was proud to wish us well when we left, using the few English words he knew.

DOESN'T TAKE A BIG CITY FOR A BIG NIGHT LIFE: After dinner, we enterred the scene. We and Sco-ish Linda, who looked exactly like Cher, cruised the streets of old town on foot til we found the very popular Dubliner, Irish Pub. Every cafe, bar, and restaurant in that town was packed and buzzing with the sounds of social - a microcosm of night time happiness. And from the looks of it, you couldn't go wrong in choosing where to go. There were dining, drinking, and dancing establishments for all walks of life - even riverboat restaurants on the Green Danube.

DAY TIME, DIFFERENT FEEL: In the bright of morning, we headed out. A lot to see in just a day. It turned out not to be difficut. We walked a self-guided tour and learned about all the main points of interest. The streets were peaceful. The restaurants were open but quiet. The town felt very bright. It was a very European old town with the curving labyrinth of streets, but it also has several wider streets and this seemed to allow in more light than other towns.

MILITARY MEMORIAL: On the way into town we heard a band playing. We followed our ears. The military band was playing a dirge by a monument near the Presidential Palace. Hundreds of people placed flowers in the hands of uniformed soldiers who layed them at the base of the monument. The procession continued for a very long time. We were reminded that in Eastern Block countries there has been a lot of war and death to remember and mourn.

OUT THE DOOR BY 4: Though our time in Brataslava was short, we weren't rushed. By 4pm when we headed for our train, we felt like we'd gotten a good feel for the town. We'd read about the history, felt the aura of the place, and even returned to favorite parts to admire them again. We even had time for a little book browsing.

NEXT TIME: If you're Hungary for more travel stories, read our next blog about Budapest.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO: Georgina D.

Posted 8:40 AM by MelanieandSteve
CZECH REPUBLIC, 21-27 August, being written 02 Sept

LAST TIME WE CZECH-ED, IT WAS A YEAR AGO AND CZECHS WERE STILL NOT IN THE EU- With a little perspective and some 20/20 hindsight, we made Czech Republic even better the second time.

CESKY KRUMLOV: 21 to 24 Aug. Mel heard 'hippy town'. Steve heard 'innertubing on the river'. We both knew we had to go there. But it was another quaint old town (maybe our 50th UNESCO World Heritage site) so Mel almost chose not to go thinking it would be like all the rest. Thank goodness we still did go. We had the best time.

-THE HILL: This old town might be the cutest yet. The castle on the hill towered high above the town. The castle was built on a vertical rock cliff over the river. At night, lights shined on the rock and sparkle in the river and a stroll across the bridge was so beautiful.

-THE MOAT: The Vitava river doesn't "run THROUGH it". It runs AROUND it. At the town, the snakey river takes a sharp turn and comes almost full circle meeting itself again. We walked along a bridge that didn't go OVER the river but went BETWEEN it. On one side of the bridge the river flowed one way. On the other side, it flowed the other way. Considering rivers flow down hill, it seemed impossible. The practical effect was it formed a natural moat around the town. The second effect was a virtual playground for modern day kids like us.

--AFLOAT ON THE MOAT: We planned to float around the town on innertubes in continuous loops starting and ending at the dog leg in the river. But it got cold, so we rented kayaks instead, hoping to stay warm, and we floated 13 kilometers to the next town. Unfortunately, the kayaks didn't keep us any drier. When we shot the rapids our boat filled to the rim and we got drenched. Brrr! But worth the thrill.

--LOCAL BOATERS: We pulled off the river for refreshments at a middle of nowhere cafe. We shared a table with a Czech foursome. One of them knew some German so we could converse a little bit. Before we knew it, they were buying us drinks, enjoying deserts, and exchanging email addresses, and laughing and having fun. Good to step out of the touristy town and meet some very fun locals. We all ran under the shelter when it started to rain and the rest of the boat ride was a race to warmth - a lot faster and a little less leisurely.

--NON-LOCAL YOKALS: The river wasn't there for thrill. Other than the two wet and wild damns that got us all wet, the rest of the river was beautiful, but pretty docile. Any time we needed a little extra entertainment though, we had it. Friends we'd met the night before, long haired, beatle looking, bongo playing English blokes, Al and Bill kept us laughing. They loved to paddle 'full speed ahead' and ram into the banks of the river. They'd get stuck and we'd peacefully glide by. But it was never long before they caught up again for a little more mosh-pit style kayaking comedy.

-HISTORIC HOSTEL: We stayed in a 600 year old building on the river with wood beams and beds upstairs (more like up-ladders) in a room more like a loft. Down comfortors made it the coziest ever. The crowd was great also. Every night we hung out with fellow hostellers and headed into town for night life as well.

--RUDY, WE MEAN JOE: Remember Rudy from Survivor 1? We met him, or his doppelganger. Joe shared our dorm room. He was Retired Military, opinionated, conservative, adventurous and anything but Politically Correct. He carried a high quality bottle of cognac around for three weeks looking for the right guys to share it with. Then he met Steve. Out on the wooden terrace with the panoramic view of the whole town, they bonded over politics and polished off the bottle before they headed into town for an some fine dining. Melanie preferred to do her own bonding with the girls inside. It turned out she'd meet up with these very same girls later on in Prague. It has been common in our travels to see the same travellers even in different cities and countries.

--WHO CARES ABOUT OLYMPIC GYMNASTICS?: Doesn't everybody? We thought so until we saw them ignored in Olympic proportions. Not by us. We spent days searching for Sports Bars or hotels with TV coverage. At one sports bar, we arrived an hour early to make sure we got a good seat for the games. Funny, we ended up being the only ones there - - - until our friends Richard and Mike straggled in a hour late. Still, we kept up the team support and when our Cesky hostel had a TV, we were just glad not to miss them. Next goal, is not to miss the presidential debates - (does anyone know when they air?)

PRAGUE: BEEN THERE, DONE THAT, DOING IT AGAIN: Why go back? We liked it the first time. But we didn't LOVE it. Before we ever went there, people raved about it so intensely that our expectations were over inflated. It didn't disappoint, but it couldn't fully live up either. We wanted to Czech it out again with more realistic expectations. Now, we love it enough to rave about it and inflate other peoples' expectations.

-NAP IN THE LAND OF PARTY: First night, our choice hostel was sold out so we stayed in Hostel Clown and Bard. When Melanie asked if there was a local book store, the hostel manager laughed and said "They don't sell Books in this area. They only sell Alcohol." OK, so we'd happened upon the district of party and only party. Guess we were the only ones sleeping through it when we layed down for an afternoon nap, exhausted from good times in Cesky Krumlov and a long day of travel, and didn't wake until morning. Steve had a record 16-hour slumber.

-NOT JUST AN OLD TOWN, A WHOLE CITY TO LOVE: Darling as they are, even old towns can get old when they are all there is to see. It was refreshing that Prague was old and beautiful everywhere, even beyond old town limits. Melanie enjoyed hiking up to the Horse Statue high on the hill and looking out over the handsome endless expanse. The streets of Prague were very European and full of style regardless of the area of town.

-WALKING TOUR WITH STEVE, THE OPINIONATED, ANTI-AMERICAN, SCOTTISH BORN, GERMAN RAISED, WANNABE CZECH WITH A HISTORY DEGREE AND AN ANGER MANAGEMENT PROBLEM. We should have seen the signs when: 1) the hostel that Steve (the guide) says he worked for denied affiliation with him, 2) when we heard he almost got in a fight with the Canadian on the tour the day before, or 3) when we saw that he had a black eye and he would not deny that it came from a fight... But we still joined him on his 8 hour day of info, opinions, and a new way to look at Prague. Steve was just a good guy who took the "Socratic Method" a little too seriously. He showed us things that other tours passed by (and visa versa, we're sure).

-KUTNA HORA / KOSTNICE, THE BONE CHURCH, AND THE BONE CHILLING WEATHER: On a cold day, we took a train to Kutna Hora and the church of Kostnice, "The Bone Church". Inside the Church, white washed bones from 40,000 victims of various plagues and wars comprised the entirety of the decor. Bones were stacked in pyramids in the corners. In the middle were10 foot tall candelabras of bone. There was a bone coat of arms. And most impressive was the chandalier in the center of the chapel made of every kind of bone in the body. A little bit beautiful, a little bit wierd, a little bit sick, and a lot of something we wouldn't want to miss.

-PEOPLE OF THE EASTERN BLOCK, SOME OBSERVATIONS: Many people we met in non-business capacities were fun loving and friendly. But consistently, people in their capacity of work were cold and often rude. Later, we heard an interesting explanation. We learned that during communist rule, all people worked and all were paid the same regardless of ability, performance, or senority. Because a hard worker got paid the same as a sloth, a culture of taking no pride in work developed. People grew to operate at the bare minimum. Still today, they waste no time on unnecessary courtesies. Since so many Eastern countries recently joined the EU, it will be interesting to see if attitudes change over the next few years.

COME BACK FOR MORE: next time, BRATISLAVA SLOVAKIA

HAPPY BIRTHDAYS TO: Jennie F. (Cuz), Sue J., Tess P. (world-class niece), Laura C. (sister-to-be), Linda P. (sister is).

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY to Andy and Toni (bro and sis - big week for sisters).