I can't remember what my last post said so I'll just assume I haven't said boo since Auschwitz.
Krakow STUNNING!! Our hotel was a fair way out,and by the time we arrived we really felt as though it had been a long week. Between the tour with all the early starts and late nights, and Auschwitz that afternoon, it had been a long week!! So after our dinner we went and sat at the bar til closing time. The young couple from our tour that keep to themselves were there - they were going out to inspect the Krakow bars, but realised it was just too far and too hard. So we joined them at the bar - they were great to talk to. Were joined a little later by another girl, so we all had a good night. It is really easy when booking drinks up to room - and easier to work it out the next day too! Early wake up Saturday, but we skipped breakfast to gain that extra 10 minutes in bed! (still ended up eating though, so not sure how that worked!!!) Sightseeing tour not much different to the others - saw the Jewish quarter, Wawel/Castle Hill, Cathedral. Mum and I both climbed the bell tower - skinny steep steps to see an 11 tonne bell then an even skinnier spiral case to get out! Proud of us both! Headed back to the market square - again, surrounded by restaurants, checked out the top of the town hall or another cathedral I think, where the little man sticks his head out and plays the trumpet to each the north, south, east and west every hour. Oh, on way there, the strangest, most contrasting sight! Old town square, old guys playing folk music, young teenagers skateboarding, and a little boy sitting there with the cutest fluffy dog in his arms. A sight to see!! We then had the afternoon to ourselves. I'd woken up coughing though, so we tried to stay in some warmth and out the wind as it was quite cold. Found a pharmacy to buy some cough medicine - really reduced to the simple stuff sometimes - "cough medicine" lady - "wet or dry" us - "wet" her "25 zlotys". Soooo, then we headed into clothes shops!! I came away with a few things, good prices and good fit and quality. Mum bought a top that says I LOVE SUN lol! Wishful thinking!!! Had lunch, that took hours! We'd been warned that service slow, and boy are they right. Good thing we are happy to sit and watch!! The waiter kept telling us, small problem, 30 minutes. We kept saying ok, but we did wonder if it was code for go away!! Bruschetta was slightly odd! Bread with tomato paste, cheese, salami... Seemed like pizza to us!! Headed back to hotel via taxi after that to get ready for our folk night, and so I could have a little nap. Polish night was good fun, except for me feeling really unwell by then. Polish tradition is to offer a shot ofvodka and a piece of bread to guests on arrival, dip, eat, shoot. Simple formula! Dinner was mushroom soup in bread bowls, which were just plain weird, then roast meat and salad, then a berry mousse thing that was more like a berry smoothie minus milk, with a dollop of cream and small scoop of icecream - would've been better had the berry stuff just been sauce on the icecream!! More vodka after dinner - the herbal stuff and the cherry stuff. Both nice, but I can see why the white stuff is nicer with the apple juice than the herbal stuff is.
Quite a sleepless night for both mum and I, which made for heaps of fun the next day! Next day was the drive through Slovakia to Hungary. I slept for a bit, but woke in time to see pretty scenery through the Tatra Mountains as we headed into Slovakia. At the border we all had a laugh as it became common knowledge across the bus that the hold up was the Indian couple on the tour who didn't have visas, and the Slovakian guard thought they needed one! They were the only ones though that didn't know they were the hold up!! The tour guide went to the guards to see what was going on and they told her to go away and leave them to work in privacy, so she hid at the bus with her back to them "I'll put my back to them" she goes!! So, after our delay we were finally allowed in... Stopped at the castle where the first Dracula movie was filmed to take photos. Stopped at mcdonalds for lunch. They took euros, but no one could work out how much they could spend so we all ended up with cheeseburger meals and 16 Slovakian crowns as change! Kept going past the areas where the gypsies live. Total squalor. Not long after the Czechoslovakian affair and the fall of communism the Slovakian government paid social security per child, but because the gypsies were popping out like 16 and not working, there was uproar, so it was set at a capped amount, regardless of the number of kids. Then there was uproar from the gypsies. I'm not sure where it is at now. Soon after we were at the Hungarian border. Slightly delayed there while they checked out what we possibly could have done in the 3 hours it took to cross the place!! The Hungarian guards and Slovak guards were rather friendly - one even smiled!! Stopped at the border servo for all of half an hour - loooooong time to spend at the border!!! But it was sunny so it was nice to sit in it!!! Quick drive to Budapest from there - to the classy Tulip Inn we were staying in! Had our included dinner - gah it was horrid - stroganoff on chips! Then we headed out for our Danube Cruise. That was really pretty and I took a heap of photos - but they've disappeared from my camera so hopefully they disappeared after I had the cd created... Fingers crossed. It was truly a lovely evening to spend on a boat cruising on the river.
Budapest sightseeing tour the next morning was the worst yet. The lady told us far too many unimportant facts and figures, walked off without us, spoke too softly and on and on and on! There was a bit of political drama on the bus and one guy took off.. But he's been a pain since he first caught up with the tour, so it was good that he did go! It was a 35 degree day and lovely and humid. So we wandered around the area of Buda near Fisherman's Bastion, took our pictures, bought some souvenirs. After our bus returned us to the Pest side, we were planning on heading to some baths - lidos - open air Turkish Baths and Pools. We didn't though cos of my coughing,so we just ate lunch in the city, did some shopping, wandered around and soaked up the atmosphere. It was nice to feel the heat and need to drink lots of water! Hopefully sweated some germs out! Our evening was spent at a restaurant at the top of Buda, high up in the forest, traditional gypsy night with traditional Hungarian food. Yummy goulash soup (purchased the recipe on a cool apron!) and not so yummy main meal and dessert - dessert was cheese strudel and apple strudel. Dancing, drinks, home just as a fantastic electrical storm started! Nice night.
Next day was a semi sleep in as we didn't need to leave until 8! Only a few hours drive to the Austrian-Hungarian border... Waved through by border control, and then an hour later we were in Vienna. 11.30 we arived. NICE!! It was raining though - but they said it rains 80percent of the year in hmmm, either Vienna or Austria. We found another chemist - 4 cities and 4 pharmacists! The pharmacist in Vienna did her Masters in Australia so spoke excellent English and very quickly told me what to take and when, and gave me cold and flu tablets without codeine, so that was excellent, and a big relief
