Retrospective post #3: Venice

Getting a bit slack with putting these up - between moving stuff to Canberra and the Gold Coast and just general lazing about.  But here's the last retrospective post, from Venice.  After this, I will either write some more for Paris and the rest of Italy, or just brush on them in a final wrap-up post :) But for now, here's another:

Took the overnight train from Vienna to Venice, which was certainly an experience!  It was my second overnight train (the first being the Caledonian sleeper from Dundee to London) and I have to say the first one was much more comfortable!  Although to be fair, that type of sleeper wouldn’t have worked well for us because I was in a 2 bed berth and there were 3 of us on this train.  We were in a 6 bed berth, at the very top beds, which were surprisingly high up, especially considering they didn’t have any kind of railing or anything.  Getting on the train wasn’t very smooth - when we booked the ticket Jo had asked about if our 3 big suitcases and other bags would all fit and was assured there would be plenty of room.  However when we got on, we discovered there was actually nowhere to put them, and the conductor guy was (at least at first) fairly unhelpful to the point of seeming annoyed about the situation.  It was pretty stressful for a bit, but luckily the only other person in the same berth who got on at Vienna was a lovely Italian guy, who was happy to move into another berth that had a free bed so that we could store our suitcases on his bed.  After that initial confusion it was alright though.  One thing I love about trains in Europe/the UK is that they almost always have powerpoints on the longer distance trains, meaning I can use my computer for as long as I want and also not have to worry about having it all charged the night before.  So Jo and I watched the Hunger Games and then we all went to bed.  Two other people got on at later stops, but as we had already gone to bed we didn’t really see them until we were all woken up for breakfast.  It wasn’t the worst sleep I’ve ever had, and it was definitely a good way to do the long journey between Austria and Italy with minimal time wastage, but we were pretty tired when we finally made it to Venice!  

When we got to Venice, first we had to leave our bags somewhere, and since it was fairly expensive per bag, we combined all the bags as much as possible, leaving just my backpack - hence why I looked even more like a tourist than all the tourists there!  Anyway then we went and caught the water bus to Piazza San Marco.  That was cool, we hung around and got our first Italian gelato, however we were also pretty glad to leave by the time we did due to all the pigeons.  They were everywhere, and disgusting!! Although even worse than the pigeons were the big seagulls, one of which we saw eating a dead pigeon in the middle of the square!  We were also pretty disgusted by all the tourists feeding the pigeons and encouraging them to land on them so they could take pictures.  

We got left the piazza after not too long, and decided to just slowly make our way back to the train station and then get the next train to Rome.  That was nicer.  It is such a maze!  I don’t think we would have gotten far without a map, but all the little back streets off the main tourist tracks were much quieter and just as beautiful.  It is definitely worth a wander, if you don’t mind feeling a little lost most of the time!  

Eventually made it back to the train station, and so got lunch at a little restaurant nearby while we waited for the next train.  I had a delicious carbonara - the authentic stuff is way better than any I’ve had at home (except of course for my Italian flatmate Rughy’s carbonara!).  We also gave in and bought a piece of nougat to share - every second shop had big pieces of it sitting temptingly on display.  This we ate in the train as we made our way to Rome.

Retrospective post #2: Vienna

A beautiful city, with lots of different but equally as nice styles of architecture all together in one place.  Definitely up on the list of nice looking cities, although Edinburgh still holds number one!  Had a really nice time there, although we didn’t achieve a whole lot in terms of sightseeing.  We got there a day early due to our spontaneous early abandonment of Budapest which gave us 3 full days there.  The first night we got there late, and so went to an Irish pub we found around the corner for dinner.  Gotta love Irish pubs - they’re everywhere and generally pretty reliable for a decent meal.  The downside to the pub, and also just to Austria in general, is that its not illegal to smoke inside pubs and even restaurants.  Which means when you come home from dinner you generally smell quite strongly of smoke :S  

Anyway, we stayed at the Wombats im Naschmarkt in Vienna, which I would definitely recommend!  Probably the best hostel I’ve stayed in to date.  Also in a really good location, right near an S-bahn station and also not too far from the historical centre of Vienna.  The next day we took it pretty slow - sleeping in after our bad night in Budapest, then going shopping for some jeans for Jo, among other things.  We also had Wiener schnitzel for dinner at a place that is apparently famous for their Wiener schnitzel.  They were huge! But also quite delicious :)  See picture below:

The next day we went on a walking tour, which was free - provided by the hostel.  That was quite interesting, particularly in terms of the history of all the beautiful buildings we had walked past.  Things I particularly remember from the tour include the Memorial Against War and Fascism, the Habsburg Palace (most of which is now converted into libraries or the like) and the memorial that was erected during times of the plague (if it has a name I can’t remember it!).  The last one is apparently the only one in Europe on which you will find a monarch in a kneeling position/not in a position of power.  It was erected as a place where people could gather and pray not to get the plague.  There was also a chapel in the Habsburg Palace where the Vienna Boys Choir sings and the Vienna Philharmonic play at mass on Sundays.  Would have loved to have gone to that, but unfortunately we weren’t there on a Sunday, and also you have to get there and line up for at least 2 hours before the mass actually starts, which makes it quite early in the morning!  I would have also loved to have seen a Mozart or Beethoven concert while we were there, but I guess because it was winter which is low season, there only seemed to be concerts on the weekend which weren’t much help to us.  

After the walking tour we went and had a quick peek inside Stephansdom, which is a big church in the centre of Vienna.  Like all the big churches in Europe, it was very ornate and beautiful inside.  Had dinner at a little restaurant recommended by the tour guide as having traditional Austrian dishes, which was quite nice.  I had my third goulash (first Prague then Salzburg) which was pretty good, although I think the tastiest was still the one in Prague.  We also went and had our free drink from the Wombar (the bar in the hostel) before going to bed.  Opted for the wine, which was a very bad choice!  I’ve had goon that tasted better :S Can’t really complain though since it was free!  And it was still definitely the best hostel!  

Our last day was lovely as well.  It was snowing, which luckily I still find magical rather than inconvenient so I was loving it.  We were able to leave our bags at the hostel, and we headed to Schönbrunn Palace.  Took lots of photos there, as well as a few videos of Grace’s snow antics.  

We decided to just walk around outside rather than going in, because being winter as usual stuff was closed.  But I have definitely resolved to go back in summer.  And it was a nice, if not very slippery, walk around outside.  After that and some morning tea we were pretty chilly, so decided to do something inside and warmer.  So we found the English cinema in Vienna and went and saw The Hobbit in 3D.  Then we stopped at a supermarket for supplies, grabbed our bags from the hostel and headed for the station to catch the sleeper train to Venice.

Retrospective post #1: Budapest

Well I suppose every trip has to have its not so great parts, and Budapest was definitely the worst place we’ve been so far.  In saying that, it was quite dependent on circumstances and we ended up only being there for around 24 hours so we may not be the best judges of actual quality.  But based on our brief experience, it definitely would not make it on our top 10 list of places to go back to!  

It started with the hostel.  We got there and checked in, and went up to our rooms.  They were actually quite well set up, with each bunk bed having a big division wall of wood between them and a curtain on to the entrance area.  Not ideal for 3 people, as then one person has to be alone, but if you were 2 or 4 it would have been great.  They also had huge lockers, that I was actually able to fit ALL my stuff into - suitcase, big backpack and Sportsgirl bag!  That was about all that was good about the hostel though.  The beds were fairly uncomfortable and the linen was an off yellow colour that made them seem like they were a little bit dirty.  And to top that off, the guy in the next compartment over spent most of the night snoring the place down.  The bathroom was also pretty gross, the worst part being the showers which were supposed to be button operated but lasted like 2 seconds for every press.  That and the fact that the dorm was mixed with a shared bathroom but there was no private area around the showers to get undressed/dressed.  

The next day didn’t really get much better either.  There was nothing that was overly unpleasant, but of course everything is worse when you’ve had hardly any sleep (and also when comparing it to the loveliness of Austria...).  We went to a supermarket for breakfast, but of course had trouble finding things because we didn’t speak the language.  Did also have a laugh because everywhere on the street there were people shovelling the snow from the footpaths, and then outside the supermarket there was a van full of bread that they appeared to be distributing to a line of people, some of whom were holding snow shovels.  Hence I jokingly concluded that they were paying the people in bread to shovel the footpaths.  Anyway, then we decided to go to one of the baths which Budapest is apparently famous for, experience a bit of culture.  That definitely was an experience!  Firstly just getting there - we were quite unconfident about the public transport so decided to walk, but it had been snowing previously and since none of the roads or paths were salted there was sludgy melting snow everywhere.  Which meant if you happened to be too close to the wrong part of the road when a car drove past, as Grace and Jo found out you get Bridget Jones style splashed from head to toe in dirty melting snow.  They were definitely not happy about that, as you can see below, and we were all paranoid from there on.  

Then we got to the baths.  That was better - they were quite old and beautiful, if not a little run down for the price.  We decided to splurge and get a massage too, which was an experience in itself.  Very glad that they changed one of our original appointments so that we all had women, because when we went in we were told to take everything off - while they stood there and watched.  Pretty sure it was the first time I’ve been completely naked in front of anyone since I was a child!  I didn’t find it so bad because I had expected it and was also pre-warned by Jo as she came out before I went in.  But the fact that she didn’t really turn away or anything was a little disconcerting!  Grace I think had a worse time of it, as she had expected it to be more like home where they tend to leave the room or something and also give you a towel to cover yourself a bit.  She said when the woman turned away to get something she pretty much dove onto the table with her thongs still on, so then was lying there awkwardly trying to kick them off without getting up again. Anyway that was definitely an interesting experience for all of us, and was quite nice.  Well, except for the fact that she worked so hard on my shoulders that they were then sore for the next 3 days.  Still on the topic of awkward nakedness too, there was fairly horrifying sights out in the baths as well - lots of old women in either very revealing or very ill fitting swimmers, who would also then get out and casually strip.  

Anyway when we left we decided that in order to avoid any more snow baths we would get a taxi back.  But this meant we then had to haggle with the taxi driver outside, who wanted the equivalent of about 18 euro for what was a maximum 10 minute drive. Didn’t exactly help maintain any good mood we might have had after the baths!  As a result, when we got back to the hostel we went down to the common area for the internet, then decided to look up trains to Vienna just cos we could.... Which resulted in us realising there was one in 50 mins, so we packed up in about 5 mins and rushed off to Vienna a day early.

Post-travel wrapping up...

So, once again I'm a bit behind!  Funnily enough, I have actually already written a bit more, but I never had internet to put it up at the time of writing.  And now I am once again back in Australia, enjoying the fact that a cool change has gone through making the heat much more easy to adjust to!  So I am going to finish off posting what I've written, then finish with a final post :) Just to explain why I keep posting when I'm not actually away anymore :P  Have to put up the rest of the stuff I wrote, since this blog is my unofficial travel diary!