Eger

11/09/2008
We had to move from our B&B - luckily only to next door!

We caught our train to Eger and Judit supplied us with lunch - which we ate on the way. (Judit definitely deserves a gold kangaroo!)

Eger is a pretty spa town with an old world ambiance with modern shops. It is a bit off the tourist track and is more frequented by Hungarians.

As well as the spas there are quite a number of vineyards in the area, however you need a couple of days to do Eger properly.

When we got off the train we went to the ticket office to ask about the bus into town. A girl said Rob, what are you doing here!? and it was Elizabeth Tilly a journalist Bob has worked with at the Courier Mail. So it was a great surprise all round and catch up. She was backpacking with a couple of girlfriends and had a few days in Eger which they all loved. They are heading for Croatia so you never know we might meet up again.

Afterwards Bob said to me See I told you I would meet someone I know! - and he had too!

We got a taxi into Eger as we had missed the bus - and the driver gave us a running commentary of the sites in broken english on the way. We enjoyed Eger even though it was rushed.

We walked the castle and spent some time strolling the town while munching some pastries we bought. Always a surprise to find out what's inside..... a sausage in one and we think... prunes in the other!! Hmmm... just as well we brought the "Imodium".

Returning to the station to wait for our train we had time to try our luck with a coffee. Bob was very pleased when he returned with what looked to be cappuccinos.... but turned out to be hot chocolate... at least it was drinkable.

We got back about 7p.m as we got a bit lost finding the underground... but not too much! Only had to tackle the stairs once as we had dinner before we went home to the B & B.

Budapest

10/09/2008
This morning we organised our tickets for Eger tomorrow and to Ljublijana on Friday. We used our ticket on the hop on hop off bus to the Buda side of the Danube to the castle and Fishermans Bastion. We wandered around using our guide book to the various sites, then descended the steps down the hill to our B&B where we had a cup of tea and a chat with Judit.

Back down the hill again and onto the Metro to the Legenda Danube river cruise. It was a pretty uninspiring commentory. We got off at Margaret Island which is mainly parkland with some ruins and an old church. The main event was when we watched some Americans haggling with a carraige driver over the price of a ride. Even the horse was interested in the proceedings as he kept turning his head to see what all the raucous was about. They eventually got their ride, but the driver was not happy.

It really is a hot and humid day so we were glad to get back to the B&B to freshen up before going out to dinner at a restaurant recommended by the NZ couple. The food was great!

Budapest

9/09/2008

Breakfast was a very friendly arrangement on the terrace with another couple who were from Auckland. They were going on a walking tour of Slovakia across the Tatra Mountains, so we were able to tell them of our train trip and our impression of the countryside. We lent the our guide book as they did not know so much about the history of the country.

We had lots of good advice from Judit on where to go and how to get there and the best option for bus and rail passes around Budapest. We are lucky where we are staying as it is just below the Fishermans Bastion on the ˝Buda˝side, and 10 mins walk to Bethyany ter, where there are plenty of reasonably priced restaurants and a few that are recommended by Judit. Also the metro stop so we bought a 3 day pass.

We did 3 the hopon-hopoff bus tour which seems to be in nearly every major city. Really good for getting orientated and to know what to see. We then did our own walking tour using our guide book on the ˝Pest˝side. We ducked int Maccas to use the loo thinking we would not have to pay. But there was the little old lady sitting there with her hand out, just waiting for us. At least it was clean....

We walked back to the metro along the Vaci U and got the metro back to Bathyany. I must say Budapest metro has the fastest escalators in the east - jump on and get the fastest ride - like a funfair - then thrown off the other end... had it mastered after a few goes.

We have a bit of a climb up stips to our street - so after a day on our feet it is pretty exhausting.

We had dinner at the a la carte restuarant in Bethyany ter.

Moving on to Budapest

8/09/2008

Today we are on the move again. We made our lunch from the breakfast rations and have plenty of fruit.

We arrived at the Krakow Glowny (railway station) early and waited for our train platform to be displayed on the board. We shared the waiting room with other transient travellers and a flock of pigeons who hung around us like they knew we had lunch.

We had a few zelotis left and managed to use these up on a few postcards, by pointing to the postcards and showing our coins to the kiosk lady who helpfully came out of her booth and with a big grin took the coins while we chose our postcards.

We boarded the train and have a carriage all to ourselves which is comfortable. The toilet is the worst we have seen - it doesn't look like it has been cleaned in weeks.

Slovakia has some interesting contrasts - beautiful countryside then pockets of heavy industry and high rise buildings. A lot in very poor shape. During the communist rule the was changed from agriculture to industry and was the nation that produced Russian tanks. Now it is one of the biggest producers of cars and car parts.

On arrival in Budapest our B&B hosts Judit, had arranged for a taxi driver to meet us at the train. We had a few worrying minutes when we thought the taxi was no show. We had lots of other taxi drivers trying to hassle us take us for a ride and we had been pre warned about this. Taxi drivers are renowned for rip offs when hiring from the station and will give you a price for a fare, and then charge the same for each person and for each piece of luggage as well - so 4 times the going rate in our case.

So I just ignored this guy who kept saying ˝excuse please˝ - he finally wrote on a piece of cardboard ˝Watt˝. So we were so relieved to see our name. He was a jovial chap and gave us asight seeing tour in his broken english on the way to the B&B.

We got the grand greeting from Judit s husband ˝Sit down and I will make you a cup of tea˝. (Definitely deserves a gold kangaroo) The room was just ˝Wow!˝and we both had the best nights sleep.

Krakow - The Jewish Quarter and Podgorze Ghetto

7/09/2008

This morning we walked over to the Jewish Quarter to Kazimierz Square. On the way we passed a lot of people queued outside a shop and could not work out what they were waiting for. On the way back the queue was 3 times as long and we were passing families eating icecream. So that what all the fuss was about... icecream! Later we found out it is called Lody and the most popular flavour is "birds milk" - a semi-sour marshmallow, covered with chocolate. It must have been extra special and worth the long wait in the queue.
In the Jewish Quarter we visited the Remuh synagogue and the old cemetery. We made our way to the Plac Nowy (market place), this is where the locals shop..... definitely the place to go if you are in the market for a fur coat. There were a lot of women trying them on if not buying. Must be getting prepared for winter! Lots of second had clothing stalls and the young women and girls were into these. Quite a different vibe to the touristy Cloth Hall in the town market square.
We crossed the Vistula River to Podgorze where the Krakow Jews were forced into the ghetto. We went to the ghetto heroes square which is decorated with empty metal chairs where the Jews waited to go to the concentration camp.
We then walked to Schindlers factory where Oskar Schindler did his best to save his Jewish workers - this is also where some of the movie "Schindlers List" was filmed. Unfortunately the factory and buildings were under restoration and not open to the public, so missed out on that one.
We walked back to the old town and bought some more fruit from our now friendly fruit vendor lady - and with a panini this made a good lunch.
It is noticeable the number of nuns in full black habit and there are very many young ones as well.
I talked Bob into having a Polish meal experience for dinner. He wanted Greek but hey! where in Poland....
We found a little restaurant tucked away down an alley way and the waitress was most helpful in making suggestions to try. We started with ˝dips˝ - one was a yogurt with herbs and garlic- quite nice. The other took a few tastes to work out what that was - then we realised it was pork fat with crackle bits in it. No thank you!
For mains Bob had Pierogi - ravioli dumplings with various fillings and sprinkled with pork fat and crackle again. Very filling... and after a few you are avoiding the crackle and as much fat as possible. I had Bigos ..... which is sauerkraut stew cooked with sausage, meat and mushrooms - and anything else that is loose in the kitchen, I think.