So, our Eurail passes were expiring and we still had a long list of places to see. So, for a change, we found a great deal on a rental car for a month out of Prague. Our first stop was the adorable Czech Republic city of Olomouc. Touted as "little Prague" and listed as another UNESCO World Heritage site, Olomouc is home to several fountains, another really cool astrological clock and the famous Holy Trinity Column all of which were a short walk from our Airbnb. While we only stayed one night, we thoroughly enjoyed walking around the city taking in its historical sites and its even more eclectic and modern street art. It was definitely worth the stop.
From Olomouc, we crossed over into Poland and headed for the adorable city of Krakow. We again found a great house to rent for a few days that was an easy walk to the city center. Walking through the St. Florian Gate and the only remaining section of Krakow's medieval walls, one is immediately transported back in time courtesy of the amazing architecture. We loved wandering around the main market square, the silk market, the various alleys (some hidden) and, of course, Saint Mary's Basilica. Speaking of St, Mary's, the church has a wonderful bell tower from which trumpet music plays every hour on the hour. Legend holds that in the 13th century, a sentry was shot in the throat while playing his trumpet to warn of the enemy's approach. To this day, the trumpet music abruptly ends about three-quarters of the way through the tune. It's quite moving to hear and made for unique welcome to another fabulous city.
We parked our car and spent a few days wandering Krakow soaking up the sites and feel of the city. We hiked up to Wawel Hill to explore its castle, cathedral and search out the dragon's den. This is a cave that is touted as the home of a cruel fire breathing dragon who lived at the foot of the castle and ate the locals until it was finally slaughtered by a wise shoemaker. To commemorate this defeat of the dragon, a fire breathing statue was placed at the base of the hill near the exit of the cave. From the dragon's dent, we walked along the Vistula River and found the Father Bernatek's Footbridge. This picturesque bridge built in 2010 is fitted with various acrobatic circus sculptures and provides a great view of the river and surrounding city. While no one talked up the food in Poland, we found that we loved the amazing farmer's market where we bought food to cook at home, enjoyed snacks and beer at a local festival and found a couple of great restaurants with fabulous meals. We were pleasantly surprised.
From Krakow, we took a day trip to see the concentration camps at Auschwitz-Birkenau. This trip went beyond anything either of us were expecting. There is absolutely no way to explain this experience but, I can tell you that it goes beyond the sights and stories. When we were told just a few minutes into the tour that we had already spent more time on the grounds than the vast majority of prisoners who were transported in via trains and walked immediately to the gas chambers, we were both shaken. Admittedly, I took only a few pictures here as it just felt a bit sacrilegious (for lack of a better word) but I highly recommend that anyone who's near this area, to visit.
We drove back to Krakow and decided to enjoy the beautiful day with a hike so we headed for Park Zakrzowek. This park, which is only about 30-years old, was created when a local rock quarry was flooded. The guidebooks described it as the "Polish Croatia" based on the gorgeous color of the water. While the water was way too cold for us to swim, we really enjoyed hiking around it and watching the locals all swim.
As it was getting close to sunset, we next headed to Krakow Mound. While no one is really sure where these (there are 2 of them in town) prehistoric mounds originated, this one is rumored to be the resting place of the legendary King Krakus, Krakow's mythical founder. Excavations in the mid-1930's revealed that the mound actually consists of a solid wooden core covered with soil and turf. However, no one has ever been able to ascertain the age of them. All we knew (and so did apparently many locals) was that it provided a great view of the city and we got to watch a gorgeous sunset. We thoroughly enjoyed Krakow. While I'm sad we missed the Wieliczka Salt Mines (we were told to visit them by several people), I think this just gives us another excuse to come back.
Leaving Krakow we decided to head towards the adorable Polish city of Zakopane. Zakopane is clearly in its element during ski season but was nevertheless just as charming during its summertime off season. We wandered around the town and found a great restaurant for lunch (delicious pierogis!!). As this was a spur of the moment destination, we didn't make any arrangements for accommodations so we decided to continue on. I think if we ever get back in the area, we will plan to spend a few more days here especially exploring the nearby mountains.
We left Zakopane and drove through the surrounding mountains. Driving from Poland into Slovakia was some of the prettiest scenery we'd had this road trip. We took a small windy mountain road through gorgeous forests and had to stop a couple of times just to admire the scenery. As it was getting late, we found a place to stay for the night in the Slovakian countryside near the town of Brezno. Our host was so gracious and met us with a bottle of some kind of liquor (I think sort of a Schnapps) with which we all toasted our welcome and safe travels. We enjoyed this rural setting so much that we almost wished we'd booked a couple of nights. But we awoke well rested and ready to explore so we loaded back up and headed towards our next planned stop of Budapest.
At the risk of sounding like a broken record (again), we loved Budapest. Hungary's capital city was absolutely captivating. While we only had 2 days to explore, we managed to see most of the items on our itinerary and even booked an evening cruise on the Danube River (this was somewhat of a disappointment but it was still fun to be on water). However, nothing else about this beautiful city was disappointing. While the 2 cities were combined in 1873 to form one bigger city, both sides of the river still maintain very distinct personalities. As our apartment was in the flat "Pest" section of the city, we started there exploring the parliament building, opera house, hero's square, and the Hungarian Agricultural Museum (gorgeous buildings and gardens). We then crossed over the famous Chain bridge to the picturesque hilly "Buda" section where we skipped the funicular and walked up to Fisherman's Bastion. This was so beautiful that I kept assuming it was the castle but Pedro corrected me (several times). Next, we headed over to Castle Hill. While these are technically the real castles, they're not as pretty as Fisherman's Bastion. Next, we hiked up Gellert Hill to see the Citadella Fortress and Liberty Statue only to find out that the fortress was closed for renovation and we only got a glimpse of the statue. Again, with the broken record, but Budapest was definitely one my favorite cities and one I really hope we get to see again.
Continuing what was turning out to be a tour of the capital cities of European Countries, we decided to head back into Slovakia to see Bratislava. While smaller than most of the other capital cities, Bratislava's historic district was adorable. In addition to its quaint historic district, Bratislava is famous for its iconic UFO tower that adorns the top of the bridge crossing over the Danube into the city. The city is also famous for its many statues that seem to be everywhere, including our favorite of the "Man at Work" coming out of the sewer. Called Camil (the Slovak word for watcher), this quirky statue is touted as the most photographed spot in Bratislava so we had to get in on it too. We thoroughly enjoyed our couple of days wandering the city and even managed to find the local brewery for a great lunch and beer tasting.
Leaving Bratislava, we headed next into Austria for their capital city of Vienna. Again, we found a great apartment with parking so we left the car, grabbed public transport, and set about exploring. Vienna felt massive and crowded so we were a bit overwhelmed but, we still managed to be in awe of its architecture and history. We spent 2 days in Vienna exploring the city center. Of course, we saw St. Stephen's Cathedral (I know but the churches really are gorgeous), the opera house (no, we didn't see any concerts), the Volksgarten park (it's huge and beautiful plus not a crowded as the streets), the Spanish Riding School (we didn't get to see a show but did get a glimpse of the horses) and we even took a bus to see the Schonbrunn Palace (absolutely huge and amazing). We loved walking along a different section of the Danube and found a restaurant in a nearby park for great schnitzel and beer. While, Vienna is truly a must-see city and we so enjoyed the architecture, I recommend going a bit more off-season as it was the first time we really felt the crowds.
While I don't think it was intentional, once we left Vienna our destinations became much less cosmopolitan. Our next few stops were much smaller towns and a few somewhat isolated places. But I'll fill you in on that next time!
Until next post!
