Boo.
Since we started (we referring to 5th years) on Monday the 1st of Sept, Friday was one the only totally free day that I had. So I slept. Nothing surprising or new there but, it got to the point of worryingly more than usual. I woke up for sahur (early morning breakfast in Ramadhan) and then got back to sleep. Woke up again around the usual time 9-ish. Had my shower and got dressed. Decided that reading about liver was wee bit too boring and had a nap. Woke up at 1pm-ish and looked out of the window. Drizzling. Went back to sleep. Woke up at 5pm. Thought that "man- this is sickening!" Out of my bed for good (for this sleeping marathon session).
Altogether it was 8hours of sleep on top of my regular 8hours of nightly sleep. Shocking.
I am not depressed am I? I need to really watch my sleep (like how those on diet really have to watch what they are eating).
Anyway... after I (finally) woke up, I went out for an iftar (when you break fast) dinner with a group of friends. Food was gorgeous. The restaurant that we went to is definitely one of the best Indian restaurant around. Worth a visit any day. 15quids for copiuos amount of food- I could hardly walk afterwards. Then back to my friend's place and played SceneIt on XBOX. Good stuff although I have to say I prefer PS3's SINGSTAR.
Ok.
Back to my Eurotrip story.
Recap: We've been to Budapest and Bratislava so far. Weather had been brilliant. Hot and sunny- probably I could get back to UK with a bit of tan.
We arrived in Vienna later that day (after spending a day in Bratislava). As with all cities that we have been to, upon arrival we had to figure out how does the public transport work. Let me add at this point that:-
i) Me and Miss A are both quite good in navigating our way in new places.
ii) We always take the cheapest option (sometime we are so lucky you just wouldnt believe it)
iii) Sometime it pains me just to leave a city when I'm already an expert of its transportation system, only to have to learn a new, completely different system in the next city. For this I always say: new city new adventure.
So from the train station we got to our hostel by bus. The hostel was a proper backpackers' place. We were placed in a room of 6. Went out to survey the area (almost sunset time then) and checked out the museum quarter and the Hofburgs (official palaces for the kings and queens of Austria). I remember having McDonalds (filet o fish- in case you're wondering) while looking at the shadow of the Hofburgs fall upon the Kunhistorisches Museum. When night beckoned, we made our way back to the hostel and I had (cold!) shower- with people playing poker right in front of my shower room. Not that it matters but it was certainly weird.
There were people playing loud Indian music from the room next to ours. The use of the word 'room' is probably incorrect as the hostel was more like a long corridor with make-shift cubicle consisting of thin cardboard and curtain. And then there were people who took ages to get ready to go out partying. I slept straight away only to wake to some snoring noise around midnight time. As I opened my eyes, I was not prepared to see what lay there in front of me. A BIG guy sleeping in just his boxers. What a frightening sight. Not that it matters but it was like a nightmare that I had to look at a relatively hairy guy sleeping less then 10feet away from me. Put on my earplugs and turned over to the other side, and voila.
The next day we went to Schonbrunn Palace (summer resident) and I personally found that it is very impressive. Learnt a bit about the Austrian history- which I have already forgotten about by the time of writing. The gardens are definitely something that I'll be proud about if I live there. Not like it ever gonna happen. Ha.
Austria in comparison to Budapest and Bratislava, is a modern city despite of perfect preservation of anything historic. Hence things cost slight more here. The city is cleaner and the poeple look well-off. The museum quarter is a hip area where a lot of teenagers hang out amidst bustling atmosphere.
I regretted the fact that we were only there for 1 day 1 night, so now I would like to advise to others who are planning to visit Vienna, please stay longer (3 days at the least) as there are so much to see. I missed out on the one of the world's best museum as it was closed on the day we were there. At this point let me give some tips:
i) Beware of opening days of major attraction (most museum close on Monday in that part of world)
ii) Note that on sunday, all shopping complex/ shops are closed (with the exception of eateries and Starsbuck and its alike)
iii) Plan that journey in a way that you couple sunday with the saturday before or monday with the tuesday after for each cities. Just so you wont miss out. Not that it matters if you just want to chill out in the park and eat and drink beers (for non-muslims only).
We took our first night train from Vienna to Krakow. Uneventful journey. I slept straight away but Miss A did complaint of slight sleeping difficulties in the first few hours. Poor girl, but she was fine for the subsequent legs of journey.
Warning: Do not attempt backpacking on train ever if you're a light sleeper/ can't sleep anywhere else apart from your own bed/ like the comfort of a proper bed. You will just hate the whole trip and make thing miserable for your traveling partner(s).
Krakow is awesome, man! Seriously truly a surprise coz I wasnt expecting it to be as good. It is a developing city (with loads of construction) that has well preserved historical sites. It has this multi-storey shopping complex that can rival Arndale of Manchester. Weather was bright and sunny for each day we were there (read: loads of ice cream!) Markets are simply the bomb (with such closed-knit atmosphere) with a lot of things organic and oh so fresh. The central square is so happening like you wouldnt believe that you are in Krakow, better than Trafalgar sq. Amber comes cheap (thats why I got some, hehe, mere excuse I know) and food are reasonably priced. The castle on the hill become a photoshoot location for me and Miss A. Trust me it is THAT beautiful. Then there is this river 5 mins walk from the castle. We played many round of Uno on the river bank while watching the sun set. Miss A kept on saying "this is the life man". Indeed. That was the life.
I dont think I can praise Krakow enough. If you're thinking of going to Poland, go to Krakow instead of Warsaw (some parts of warsaw were destroyed in WWII).
Speaking of which, we went to one of the concentration camp use by Hitler and his army to mass-murder Jewish and Polish during the WWII. Auschwitz. The name in itself send shivers down my spine. Those who are interested can read more about Auschwitz in Wikipedia. I have my own stand about this issue, which I'm not prepared to talk in length about. Ask me personally if you're interested to know.
Later that day we took a night train to Prague. Prague, where everything went wrong. Oh no.
To be continued.
p53 xoxo
No comments:
Post a Comment