Eastern Europe. Done

It's been a while but I've been so busy I haven't been able to sit down on a computer for more than a few minutes. I'm in Berlin now after an exhausting ride on the over night train and instead of looking around the city today I've slept instead!

Last time I wrote I was nearly finished my time in Zagreb where I would be leaving for Budapest. I am probably the only person to say this but I really didn't like Budapest, the city was vast and full of trashy building and dirty roads. My hostel was pleasant but in the morning, without fail, the builders / protesters / commuters would wake me up with their screaming and drills. The sight seeing didn't go to well either,  after walking for an age I stumbled across Buda (old town) and found the castle, the cathedral and some lovely little cobbled streets lined with candy box coloured houses. OK so far you may think, until I got horrifically lost trying to find the river again to cross back into Pest (new town). Bear in mind the Danube is massive but i still managed to spend 2 hours tracking it down. Eventually made it across, found some more churches and the biggest Synagogue. A couple were getting married at one place which was extremely romantic, except for the horrid tacky car that waited for them outside. I tired to find my way back to the hostel but didn't know where to go so just hopped on the metro instead. I spent the evening hanging out with the hostel folk which was extremely enjoyable.

I would go back to Budapest in the future with some friends in hope for a better experience but i think the big city style put me off as I've been used to smaller locations.

Next stop was Bratislava. I already had some doubts before i even got there and the grey concrete box of a train station and graffiti didn't do much for my opinions: Went out the first evening with my rooms mates (a bunch of friendly English boys and 2 extremely obnoxious welsh girls) to a local club which was pretty awful except for the cheap drink. It was a Sunday night so the place was dead but i was taught to appreciate minimal music so it wasn't all that bad. A friend of the boys (the most obnoxious, ignorant arse of a man I've ever met) was extremely drunk and started to sing racist songs, take his clothes of and be an all around idiot and then wanted to know why he didn't have a girlfriend... shocking!!! Went sight seeing the next day and my impressions of the city quickly changed. The city centre was tiny but extremely pretty with its little colourful streets and eye catching buildings: I walked around the castle, saw the changing of the guard at the government building and wandered about the markets.

The following day I was back on a train but this time to Vienna. The journey was only an hour long and the two cities are the closest capitals to each other in Europe and possibly the world. Vienna was AMAZING!! Big but so much to see, it really is a city of art and music. I went to the butterfly house which was beautiful if not a little scary when these massive insects were flying directly at your head. I walked around the old palace, the opera house and into the museum quarter which is where i spent all afternoon. I went to the Leopold Museum which had a nice collection of art including the biggest collection by Egon Schiele which was really interesting. Then there was KUNSTHALLE which was full of modern art, some of it I liked (the photography portraits) but some of it was really strange (videos or utter randomness). The last gallery was MUMOK which was full of contemporary art, again some was interesting whilst other pieces were completely bewildering! My favourite place was the Haus de Musik which was a museum dedicated to the art and science of music. There were loads of interactive sections where you could create music and then there were the sections about the great composers and the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, I could have listened to the music all night!

The hostel I stayed at was super, it had it's own bar and was so much fun. The first night there i had two cocktails and due to a recent lack of alcohol consumption i felt slightly inebriated. The second evening was time for an early night due to catching an early train in the morning to Krakow.

After a long bookless journey (I'd finished Breaking Dawn several days ago) I arrived into Krakow which is beautiful. The people in my cabin on the train started drinking beer at 9am and began shots at midday, I politely declined when they offered me a vodka!! Except for the extremely unfriendly Polish locals this city was a joy to stay in. The hostel was great, we had a BBQ in the beer garden and the basement has been converted into a brilliant bar and pool room.

The following morning I went to Auschwitz which as you can imagine was rather horrific! The place wasn't as bleak as I had imagined as a lot of the building are red brick but despite that it was still ghastly. The day I went also happened to be cold, damp and grey so the atmosphere was even worse. There were literally rooms full of human hair and personal belongings. The tour was great, in terms of depth of information but I can't say I wasn't glad to leave. I don't think it ever properly sunk in that over 1 millions people died there (90% Jewish) and a lot of the really terrible parts i.e. the 'shower' rooms and incinerators had been destroyed when the Nazis tried to burn the evidence of what was going on there but despite that it was still utterly disgusting!

Back in Krakow I walked around the castle (another one I hear you say) which was really pretty and other parts of the old town and down to the river. That evening I caught the night train to Berlin. The night train was a first for me and I was terrified of being robbed as I've heard so many stories. It was fine except I didn't sleep well due to the freezing, noisy carriage and the obvious discomfort of the bed! I shared the cabin with a group of friendly people which is more than I can say about the neighbours who sounded like they were having a riot because so many noises were coming through the walls.

We arrived in Berlin this morning (3 hours late) where I will be based for 2 more says before heading to North Europe. I'm planning on doing one the the famous Berlin free tours tomorrow and going to the Jewish museum. I've only got 10 days left before I return home and I'm glad to be in a more civilized part of Europe