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Eastern European Journal September 2005
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I returned to the hotel in time to shower before our group meeting at 6:00 PM. There are eight other Americans on the trip as well as two trip leaders, Kamila & Mikulas, both from the Czech Republic. The participants are Johanna, Nina, Rick & Karen from California, Janice from Connecticut, Hal & Joan from Virginia and Jean from Texas. We also have a permanent driver. We spent a half hour introducing ourselves and got a brief description of the trip from Kamila before going to dinner. We walked over to the Pest side of the city and had dinner at a popular Hungarian restaurant. The portions were huge and most of us could not eat more than half of what we ordered. Sunday morning, 9/11, we ate breakfast at the hotel and then met a local guide and took a walking tour of the city. We covered some of the same places I visited yesterday, but with the guide I got a much better idea of the history of Budapest. After lunch, we checked out of the hotel and boarded our van for the 3-hour drive to Eger, Hungry. It rained on the way but stopped by the time we reached our hotel. We spent a couple hours exploring the town on our own, then met at 6:30 PM and drove to the vineyards for wine tasting. We visited an area where scores of privately owned wine cellars are carved into the limestone hillside, each with a few tables outside where customers can sit and sample wine produced by the family. The place we chose had a small band which played Hungarian versions of popular songs. After tasting four varieties of local wine, including the famous ‘Bulls Blood’, we walked over to a restaurant and ate dinner. Monday was our first hike. We started off at our hotel in Eger, hiking out of town up through the vineyards and large fields of sunflowers. The vines were heavy with grapes and it seemed that although the grapes were ready for harvest, the growers were letting them sweeten in the sun for a few more days. We hiked for a couple hours through a beech forest and met up with our van in Felsotarkany where Kamila had prepared a picnic lunch. The original plan had been to drive back to Eger, but most of us wanted to walk back. Later in the afternoon, Mikalis & Kamila took us on a walking tour of Eger, and then we ate dinner. Tuesday we checked out of the hotel in Eger and drove to Tokaj, another famous wine region in Northeastern Hungry. We did a short hike up a 500-meter hill and then returned for an hour of wine tasting in a local cellar before going to lunch in the town of Tokaj. After lunch we left and drove to Slovakia. Along the way, we spotted a couple of huge stork nests on rooftops and were able to see sunflowers being harvested. We reached the boarder at 4:30 PM and immediately encountered a thunderstorm so intense; we had to pull off the road for awhile. We continued through the industrial towns of Kosice and Presov, before reaching Levoca. We checked into the Hotel Satel, a beautiful old hotel within the walls of the old city. We had dinner in the hotel restaurant and planned our activities for tomorrow. Wednesday we ate at the hotel and then headed out to the ‘Slovakian Paradise’ or Slovensky Raj National Park. On the way, Kamila told us that Ben Kingsley and Colin Firth were staying at our hotel and shooting a movie at a castle which we will visit tomorrow. We reached the trailhead and gathered our belongings for the day. We had been advised to stay together while still in populated areas as gypsies occasionally accost tourists. The Gypsy population in Slovakia is quite large and they have become more aggressive since the government has cut back on some social programs. We hiked up through a
cornfield and came across a large number of trucks and tents which were
obviously supporting a film crew. As it turns out, this is another movie
currently being shot entitled
Eragon starring Jeremy Irons. We continued up the path into the forest
which was bathed in a mysterious fog. Here we came across almost 100
production people I thought the
excitement was over when we got back on the trail and headed down a steep
and slippery embankment to a river. But from here we entered a canyon where
the vertical rock walls forced the trail to continue on what appeared to be
steel barbeque grills Our group split at the bridge with half of us taking an easier route up over the mountain while the others continued up the canyon on more grates and ladders. At 1:30 PM we all met up again at the summit near an old monastery where we had a picnic before going back down. On the way back to the hotel we saw scores of gypsies gleaning a freshly-harvested potato field for potatoes which were missed in the harvest. It seems that potatoes are harvested by hand here as we have seen hundreds of people in fields which were currently being dug. We arrived at the hotel by 5:00 PM and I was able to get a massage before we all met for dinner. Thursday was another
beautiful day. We checked-out of the hotel at 9:00 AM and did some sight-seeing in Levoca before heading out to
Spissky Hrad. Spissky
Castle is a medieval castle built in the 14th century and now a
UNESCO World Heritage Site. The castle After a picnic lunch, we hiked down to the village of Zehra where we visited another UNESCO World Heritage Site; the early-gothic Church of the Holy Spirit which contains frescos from as far back as the 13th century. The frescos were accidentally discovered by the local priest as he attempted to scrape mold from the walls. We left Zehra in the late afternoon and drove to Poland. Along the way we got our first look at the High Tatras, the mountain range separating Slovakia from Poland where we will be hiking for the next week. We arrived at Zakopane, a popular resort community, by 6:00 PM and checked into the Hotel Litwor for two nights. We ate dinner at a lively restaurant where I ate blueberry ravioli. Friday we enjoyed a wonderful buffet breakfast and then left for our hike up to Kasprowy Wierch. We started hiking at 8:30 AM climbing up through the Javorinska Valley to a large refuge where we ate an early lunch. After the break, we continued up for another hour reaching the 6500 ft summit where we took a cable car back to the base. In the afternoon, I had a great massage at the hotel and then we met for dinner at 6:30 PM. Saturday when I awoke it was raining. At breakfast we decided not to go on the scheduled hike and planned to visit a couple museums instead. We checked-out of our hotel in Zakopane and drove back across the border into Slovakia. Along the way we stopped in a small village and visited a 2-room museum which depicted life in the village during the last 700 years. We continued on to Tatranska Lomnica where we visited a much larger museum containing fauna and flora exhibits from the Tatra Mountains. We checked into the Grand Hotel Praha early and then went out to lunch. This is certainly a large hotel and was probably considered to be very fancy a few decades ago. They did have a large spa so I scheduled a massage in the afternoon. There was an attempt to hike in the late afternoon, but the visibility was so poor, they returned without leaving the van. A large and very loud wedding was taking place at the hotel tonight so we went to another hotel for dinner. Sunday was
cool and cloudy but the rain had stopped. We ate breakfast and then left at
9:00 AM driving 30 minutes to today's trailhead. We had heard that there had
been a terrible wind storm in this area in November, 2004, but had not seen
any evidence of the storm until this morning. But from the time we left the
hotel until we reached the trailhead, probably 90% of the trees on both
sides of the road, as far as we could see, had been leveled.
We started hiking at 10:00 AM and slowly walked up to a lake. Hidden away in the forest is a memorial to people who have lost their lives climbing in the Tatra Mountains. There are several hundred plaques fastened to the boulders remembering those who died in the last 60 years. Half of us continued up 1500 feet of switchbacks to a col above the clouds where we could see other peaks across the valley. The others ate lunch at the lodge and headed back down the trail. As soon as I reached the col, I turned around and rushed to join the other group who was taking an earlier train back to the hotel. The narrow-gauge train has been largely rebuilt in the last year due to damage it suffered during the storm. I got back to the hotel by 5:00 PM and was able to get another massage before dinner. Monday we
checked-out of the Grand Hotel Praha and drove west out of the High Tatras
for 90 minutes to the Velka Fatra Mountains. In the town of Ruzomberok, home
to a huge paper mill, we started a hike up a steep hill to the small village
of
Vlkolinec, founded in the 14th
century. Another UNESCO World Heritage Site, the village was home to a
couple hundred shepherds, farmers and woodcutters. We continued hiking up
over a col and came to an open pasture We returned to the bus and drove an hour to Dolny Kubin where The Orava Castle dominates the surrounding land from its perch high on a rock spire. Considered to be the most popular cultural monument in Slovakia, the 13th century castle has been restored and is partially furnished in medieval style. The castle has been the backdrop for over 120 movies including the original Dracula film starring Bella Ligosi. We toured the castle with an extremely boring local guide but added to our exercise for the day by climbing up and down several hundred steps. Back on the bus, we drove another 40 minutes up a valley to Terchovia where we checked into the Hotel Gavurky. After showering and washing some clothes, I played pool for awhile before meeting the rest of the group for cocktails and dinner. Tuesday is our last day of hiking on this trip. We split into two groups with Nina, Jean, Karen, Rich and I going with Mik and the others going with Kamila. Our group headed up a canyon with metal ladders, bridges and chains to aid us over the rushing water below. Personally, I found it required such concentration to hold onto the slippery steel that it detracted from the enjoyment of the climb. We reached the top after a couple hours and ate lunch while we enjoyed a beautiful view of two peaks. After lunch there was another 45 minute ascent to the smaller of the two peaks, but there was several hundred feet of chains involved and I decided not to go to the summit and took an easier trail back to the bus. After an hour of descent, I caught up with Kamila's group and we returned to the hotel together. After showering, I played pool with Hal for an hour before we all met for dinner. Wednesday,
September 21st, we packed-up and left for a three-hour drive
north to Krakow, Poland. The city is much larger than I had envisioned, but
our hotel, the
Francuski, is located within the old
walled section of the town. After taking care of some errands, we met at
2:15 PM for a walking tour of the city. Our guide is the author of a book on
Krakow legends so she was able to mix in some local fables as we walked. We
visited half a dozen places including the largest medieval square in Europe,
St. Mary's Church We had our
farewell dinner next door to our hotel and were entertained by two
musicians. Some of us ordered beef which was served flaming on a 4 foot
sword. Thursday I
ate breakfast and then met Nina, Joan & Hal for a trip out to Auschwitz. We
boarded a bus and rode for an hour past the town where Pope John Paul II was
born to Auschwitz I, site of the Polish Army Barracks which
were taken over by the Nazi SS in 1940 to house political prisioners. In the
afternoon we boarded our bus again and rode over to Birkenau, also known as
Auschwitz II. This camp was 25 times the size of Auschwitz I and was
constructed specifically constructed to exterminate the Jewish population of
Europe. It contained Crematoriums 2 through 5 which were destroyed as the
Russian Army closed in on the camp. This is also the place where the
railroad tracks run straight into the camp, There were
brick and wooded barracks
We returned to the hotel by 5:00 PM. Several people were going to a Chopin Concert tonight but I decided to stay in the hotel. Friday I ate breakfast in the hotel, checked-out, but asked the porter to hold my bag so I could spend the whole day sightseeing before catching the night train to Prague. I walked over to Matejki Square and got a tour bus to the Wieliczka Salt Mine. Located just 12 km from Kracow, salt has been mined here for over 700 years. We walked down 65 flights of stairs to the mid-point of the mine and spent 2 hours walking through 2 kilometers of tunnels. There are hundreds of chambers decorated with statues which the miners carved in their spare time over several centuries. Some of the chambers are large enough to play soccer or fly a hot air balloon. The bus returned to town in the early afternoon and I walked over to Kazimierz, the old Jewish Quarter, to see some of the old synagogues and cemeteries. I continued across the Powstancow Saskich Bridge to the Podgorze suburb to see the Bohaterow Ghetto and the area where the Plaszow Concentration Camp once stood. The area has been rebuilt after the war but a small section of the Plaszow Camp wall as well as the commandant’s villa still remain. From my guidebook, I was able to determine that I was not too far from Oscar Schindler’s enamelware factory so I walked under some railroad tracks into an industrial section where I found the original building. The factory is scheduled to become a museum in another year or two, but now it looks just like I remember from the movie, less the equipment. The guidebook also said that for a few zlotneys you can usually get the security guard to let you peek inside, but for ten, he gave me a guided tour! Aside from Schindler’s
office, I walked back and had a final meal in the Old Town Square at a place named Pod Krzyzykiem. I was able to spend an hour online before walking over to the train station for my night train to Prague in the Czech Republic. The train left at 11:00 PM and I shared a stuffy cabin with two other riders. I quickly settled in for the eight hour trip but did not sleep until after the 2:00 AM border crossing. We arrived in Prague at 7:30 AM and I walked about a kilometer to the Old Town Square where I found a wonderful little hotel right on the Square. I could not get into my room until the afternoon, so I left my backpack at the Hotel U Prince and took a tour of the city. Prague is a really
beautiful city. Unscathed from WWII bombing, the 9 square km Old Town and it’s 2,000 Romanesque,
Gothic and Baroque buildings form one gigantic UNESCO World Heritage Site.
The old town is surrounded by a large metro area bisected by the Vltava
River. On the opposite side of
the river from the old town is
Prague Castle, largest castle complex in the world,
The tour started with a bus ride by many of Prague’s important buildings & squares. Then we went to Prague Castle and toured the cathedral and some of the more important sections of the castle, which is still used as a seat of government. The castle is huge and you could easily spend a week here. The place was also mobbed with tourists and at one point we spent a half hour just to descend a staircase from one section to the next. We left the castle and walked across Charles Bridge, a beautiful stone pedestrian structure built in the 12th century, back to the Old Town Square where the tour ended in front of my hotel. I was able to get into my hotel now and spent a couple hours catching up on the sleep I had been deprived of last night. I ventured out in the evening discovering many shops selling Bohemian glassware, marionettes, toys and all kinds of souvineers. There are also scores of concerts and recietals to attend. After breakfast at the hotel on Sunday, I set out to explore more of the town. I walked up to the train station to make a reservation on the overnight train to Vienna for Monday night. I also took an organized walking tour of Prague which followed the political history of the Czech Republic in the 20th century. I window shopped in the afternoon, but did not buy anything. I had some very un-Praguelike food at KFC for dinner. Monday after breakfast I checked-out of the hotel and left my backpack with the concierge for the day. I took a tour of the Jewish Quarter and the Jewish Museum. The Museum consists of several former synagogues which contain artifacts of Jewish daily life. The Pinkas Synagogue has the names of 80,000 Bohemian and Moravian Jewish victims of Nazi concentration camps written on the walls. There is also a collection of over 4,000 original drawings by children made in the Terezin Camp from 1942-1944. The Jewish Cemetery dates from the 15th century and is a huge mass of ancient gravestones. When they ran out of space to bury people, they would bring in more dirt and make a new layer. Some graves are eleven coffins deep. In the afternoon I took a cruise on the Vltava River and was able to see many of the beautiful buildings from a different perspective. In the evening, I attended the Don Giovanni Marionette Opera featuring music by Mozart. The opera finished at 9:15 PM which gave me two hours to return to the hotel, collect my backpack, and walk to the train station for my 11:00 PM train to Vienna. I had arranged for a lower berth this time which turned out to be unnecessary as I had the whole cabin to myself. We crossed the border into Austria around 4:00 AM, which meant that everyone had to wake up to present their passports, but all in all the trip was more restful than my ride from Krakow to Prague. The train arrived in Vienna just after 6:00 AM and I decided to walk to town as I was sure nothing would be open yet. Unfortunately, I misunderstood the directions and walked in the wrong direction so after 30 minutes I decided to try the subway. I located a hotel in the central district which I could get into immediately so I checked into the Hotel Wandl just after 9:00 AM. I made the mistake of lying down for a short nap and woke up five hours later. Having wasted most of the day, I went out for a short walk in the evening and then returned to the hotel for the night. Wednesday I arranged to take two tours in Vienna. As I was waiting to be picked-up, I noticed a front page article in the International Herald Tribune about a clandestine Russian-American mission carried out in Prague the night I left to remove the Czech Republic’s supply of enriched uranium under heavy security back to Russia for dilution and storage. With the exception of the monuments to Strauss, Beethoven, Brahms, Haydn, Mozart and Schubert, Vienna is one gigantic memorial to the Habsburgs, the imperial dynasty which ruled most of Eastern Europe for some 700 years up until the end of WW I. The tours began with a visit to the Imperial Crypt where the sarcofages of 139 Habsburgs including Maria Theresia (mother of Maria Antoinette and 15 other children) and Franz Joseph (longest ruling monarch in modern times and married to Empress Elizabeth a/k/a Sisi) lie in public display. We went to the Spanish Riding School where the world famous Lipizzaner horses are trained, and then on to the Hofburg Palace, which served as the winter residence for the Habsburgs where we toured the imperial apartments. We also went to the recently opened Sisi Museum, devoted to the life of Empress Elizabeth who was killed in Switzerland. In the
afternoon, we drove around the Ring Road admiring many opulant buildings
built by the Habsburgs and then drove out to the baroque style
Schonbrunn Palace where the Habsburgs spent their summers. Similar in
scale to Versailles, Schonbrunn boasts huge gardens It rained hard on my last full day in Vienna so I was happy that I had taken two sightseeing tours yesterday. On Friday, 9/30, I checked out of the hotel, took a subway to the bus depot where I got a bus to Bratislava, Slovakia. Here I took flight back to Nice where I will stay with Cindy for a few days before returning to the USA on 10/4. |
on the Buda side of The Danube and checked in at 2:00 PM. The Gellert is a
famous old hotel facing the river with a popular mineral water spa, circa
1900, behind the building. I still had a few hours before I was scheduled
to meet the other participants in this Wilderness Travel trip so I took a
two hour sightseeing tour of Budapest. The bus drove by Hero’s Square,
Andrassy Avenue, Castle Hill and the spectacular Parliament 
involved in shooting a scene. We had hoped
to continue on this trail during a break in the filming, but this turned out
to be impossible and the head of the National Forest and a Forest Ranger
escorted us around the set to a different trail. I did see a drone
helicopter which carried a small camera hovering above which was taking
aerial shots of whatever scene they were filming.
fastened to the rock. There was a chain
to hold onto while we slowly negotiated the see-through metal grates. The
drop to the river was never more than 20-feet, but it was very unnerving to
creep along the slippery steel while clinging to the chain with both hands.
Much to my surprise, we all made it through and took a break at a
picturesque stone bridge.
and surrounding lands
is the site of the Ben Kingsley film entitled Last Legion. Set designers
are busy at the castle ‘updating’ it to look as it might have 500
years ago.
I
have not seen such destruction since I hiked in the Mt. St. Helens area two
years ago. It is hard to imagine that wind, even a tornado, could cause such
wide-spread damage. Crews are busy clearing away the timber, but they have a
long way to go and the area is more suited for golf courses now as opposed
to a national forest.
where stopped for lunch
on a huge log which had just been dragged from the forest. Kamila pointed
out a building across the valley where she used to attend summer school when
she was a young girl during the communist regime.
with it's carved wooden interior and it's
bugler who blows a truncated tune every hour of the day & night, UNESCO
listed
We said our goodbyes tonight eve though some of us are
staying on in Krakow for a couple more days.
We
spent 2 hours with an excellent guide walking through the camp viewing the
exhibits which are displayed in the original concentration camp buildings.
We visited the 'Wall of Death', a 4 meter wide stone slab where Nazi firing
squads shot thousands of people. We walked through crematorium #1 where
tens of thousands were gassed and saw the reconstructed furnaces
enabling a train
with perhaps 50 boxcars of people to be unloaded at once.
here but most of the wooded barracks were destroyed, leaving 
which still has his name on the door, there are just a
few large rooms where 1100 people worked. The guard pointed out some wooden
cobblestones, props left behind from the filming of
which
encompasses the Gothic style St. Vitus Cathedral.
on the
outside and magnificant rooms inside. We returned to town by 6:00 PM and I
grabbed a sandwich on my way back to the hotel.