Central Europe evaluation

Was it eastern or central and is it even important^[1]?

In September and October 2013, I went to Hungary, Austria, Slovakia and the Czech Republic for a holiday of sorts, and you can see them all here:

• Budapest (day 1)
• Budapest (day 2)
• Budapest (day 3)
• Vienna (day 1
• Bratislava
• Vienna (day 2)
• Brno
• Prague day 1
• Prague day 2

I'll place them in order of enjoyment, which may not be the same as how good they are. I found interesting, when looking back on it, how often I missed things or did not get the timing right and just did not plan it properly. I enjoy that aspect of it sometimes and I can get away with it to some degree but there are plenty more things I could have done with a bit more thought. I was also very fortunate with the weather and that has to have an effect. I was glad to go to all of the cities and am also happy to have changed my plans from my initial thoughts.

1. Budapest

I was really taken by Budapest and genuinely very surprised by how much I liked it as I'd only heard a little about it. The scale of the city is ideal for me as it is walkable within areas but it is not a good idea to walk across the whole thing. Architecturally, it is beautiful with well designed buildings that are expertly lit at night. I especially liked the little details in the chain bridge across the Danube. Arguably, the city is made by the Danube as it is a very pleasant width at this point and wide enough to genuinely separate the two sides and give the city an open feel that permeates through. The Pest side is nice and dense with plenty to do and bits of heritage. The castle complex on the Buda side along with Gellert Hill give a great tourist feel with great views and even some fresh feeling air. The icing on the cake was the smattering of social housing and parkland in Obuda.

Transport is excellent throughout with the evocative Millennium line to start with and trams making it easy to get around and have a view. The food was also tasty and fairly cheap with good drinks too.

Budapest is one of the few cities that I have visited that I felt there was more to see as I left and that I would like to go back to in short order. It is possibly, now, my favourite European city to visit which was previously Berlin.

2. Vienna

Vienna is a fairly modern city in many respects with modern buildings interspersed with the older ones. I enjoyed it but I was a little surprised at how small (or intimate) it felt and the more blatant aspects of the tourism industry. The coffee and cake culture has to be appealing to some so I would strongly recommend it for those people. The Danube is not quite as focal as I had hoped it would be so the city feels quite singular as a result, compared to Budapest or Prague. It did not feel quite as organic as a result and the Ringstrasse, whilst making it very simple to comprehend, did feel a little too designed. I really appreciated the cultural parts of the city and it did feel current and progressive rather than just left in stasis, overall. The Museum Quarter is a stunning realisation of what it is trying to achieve and I was glad to see that it was open to modern, accessible designers and artists along with the larger, more famous pieces. The palace is also an amazing place to have but I did not feel an emotional connection with it and so enjoyed the grounds more.

3. Prague

Busy cities can go two ways for me and Prague was just on the wrong side of it. I do not mean busy in the way London or Tokyo are - people getting around with their days and moving quickly, but a lot of tourists and tourists being baited. It felt like a lot of it was for show (even if it was not) and so I was not sure about it. The thing is though, a lot of it is genuinely stunning so even though I was flagging at this point^[2], I am still able to appreciate a lot of it in hindsight and did like it then too. The castle and old town are some of the most sumptuous places I have ever seen with the connection between the two, Charles Bridge, one of the most wonderful bridges I have ever seen. I especially like that it was pedestrianised and felt so alive but it was so busy on the first day that it was inconvenient to use. The connection with the city was helped immensely by the tour I went on and I will search out similar things in the future.

4. Brno

As a city to visit on the way somewhere it was ideal. It is definitely small enough to get around on foot and the people were pleasant and helpful. There is the cliche of it feeling more authentic (as if large cities are not real...) but it did feel different to Prague and in a way, less catered. It was not at all difficult to get around, I did not even use the extensive tram network, but it would have been better for me if I could actually have done a few things that I wanted to do! It is, again, a strollable city centre and the sights are different enough to be worth it. The food was cheap, the views were great and the coffee was lovely. I would definitely recommend it as a break although there is not a great amount to do, you can do that in a pleasant and relaxed environment. I probably had fewer frustrations here than in either Vienna or Prague but I have to consider that this was a day trip and it was not as if I missed a great deal.

5. Bratislava

It is a fairly industrial city and less than ideal as a place to see. It does have, however, an old town that seems perfect for evenings and nights out with low costs and plenty of choice. As it is quite a small city, it would be great for this and I am sure it would be a lot of fun with a group of people or if you were to use it as a base for some other trips. I am pleased that I ended up seeing Petrzalka inadvertently as it really changed my feeling about the city with the housing looking amazing in its scope. The city definitely seemed in two parts and I would imagine that the old town and castle area would be nicer but the south side ended up being a bit more memorable. I guess I would not have gone here if it were not another country, so maybe it is good if you have a completionist streak.

<sup>1. Granularity and detail are important but the point is to communicate, if nobody understands what I mean, was there any point in saying it?↩
2. I have found that in Asia, you can use the phrase "all templed out" and it will make sense to people, but I cannot think of an equivalent in Europe as they are not all quite the same, but it starts to feel like that.↩</sup>

Prague (day 2)

Prague Castle
It was the last day, and there was a feeling of finality in the air, although there was also a sense of laziness. I made my way toward the old town again on foot knowing there was a time factor with my flight in the evening and that I probably should have left a little earlier.
Crossing Charles Bridge was a little easier in the morning as there were fewer tourists but still quite a few more than would be ideal. Taking a similar path to the previous day, it got busier and busier as I got closer and in the castle itself it was tremendously busy. I think my motivation at this point was flagging quite a lot and the number of people really put me off. I've no idea what I thought was going to happen, but I then went and had a sit down to return in a few minutes when it was quieter.
And^[1], for some reason, it did actually get a bit quieter after I went to another place within the castle area to buy the ticket. The ticket gave access to 4 different places (St. Vitus Cathedral, Old Royal Palace, St. George's Basilica, Golden Lane with Daliborka Tower) which were all pleasant in their own way. The cathedral was stunning, that was obvious, but it just didn't really grab me for some reason and I went through the motions. There are some fairly obvious reasons that it could have been but I could not be sure. My energy levels were poor and the number of tourists was getting me down a bit. I'm not sure it was helped by being the tail end of the trip over all and I was thinking of how to fit things together to get to airport. It also may not have helped that at the end of a week seeing similar (but, in all honesty, not as impressive) buildings had made me a little jaded but I was still a bit disappointed. Was I disappointed in myself or the city?

The last part was in a little section called Golden Lane where there were small shops and a few exhibits about weaponry. At this point, it really felt like a tourist attraction without the sheen and was a bit like a museum shop. Again, I know that it is all touristy but sometimes it feel like they've not quite done enough to hide the curtain (a little like the horses in Vienna).

Lokal to International
I made my way back into town via a view of the Charles Bridge, for a little late lunch at one of the places that had been too busy last night. Klara had directly recommended a place called Lokal so I headed there and was able to get a seat.
At that point, I decided I could probably go to one more place before the metro and bus combination to Prague airport. That place was the Powder Tower which was actually one of the first things I'd seen the day before. It was not too big but it was central and had good views on a clear day. Prague was a pretty city but even now I felt I'd not done it justice and had a bit of buyer's remorse.

I made my way to the airport where I was flying from the non-Schengen^[2] terminal back to London on British Airways. I'd flown on BA before, long-haul^[3], and not been impressed but I was happy to be on a full service airline again. They treated me with respect and put service front and centre. I had some more things in my bag since I flew into Budapest and so I wanted to put my bag in to the hold and take my camera with me onto the flight. I explained this at check-In as I also had a tripod attached to the bag and was unsure about it. Rather handily, I was told I could take it all on as hand luggage, if I'd prefer, as that would save me time. I did so and was not charged for it, let alone a disproportionate amount as some airlines would do.
The flight was simple enough but I can't deny I was pleased to see London in the night. Sometimes you have to say obvious things, sometimes you forget and sometimes you just have to restate your assumptions. London is massive. It really is. To see the carpet of lights having left a major city really does bring it home how the scale differs.
I do always kind of love coming back and quite ridiculously enjoy the painful journey from Heathrow^[4] - I think when that changes for me, something will have changed within me. Until that happens, I'll keep it going.

Prague 2013 day 2 - click for photo album

<sup>1. This should not happen should it? Starting a paragraph with a conjunction has to be even worse than starting a sentence in such a way. Well, it has a purpose and I am aware that it is rule breaking – so what could that mean?↩
2. This is where there is an almost borderless policy between countries in the EU.↩
3. In 2003, I flew to Toronto and Tokyo and both times the entertainment was a little messed up - annoying for longer flights and even more so in those days.↩
4. Incidentally, I also used the e-passport gates when returning and it was nice and easy. I was somewhat more beardy than in my photo so was a bit wary of it working, but work it did. Lovely.↩</sup>

Prague (day 1)

Getting in, to the Museum of Communism
Brno had been pleasant but it was really a pleasant diversion, on the way to the Czech capital. Prague is a city that I had heard so much about as a tourist place and I was looking forward to it greatly.
First of all, I had to get there which I did by coach as it was a little quicker than the train and seemed to be easier. The ride was alright actually with seat back entertainment although not quite the legroom of course. There are benefits to coach travel compared to rail sometimes and the views were interesting once I got nearer to the city. One thing I found interesting (other than little snippets of pixel “street” art) was that the architecture on the outskirts was a little shinier and glassier than I had seen in the rest of the week^[1].

The bus station is in Florenc which is not too far from the city centre so I walked down there to go to the Museum of Communism. This is an interesting museum that has been set up for showing the life under communism which it does with a fairly small set of exhibits but it does tell a decent story. There is also a very good video there about the Velvet Revolution which saw the overthrow of the communist government in 1989 as the winds of change swept through Eastern Europe. It had quite a strange view of the history which could be explained by the fact that the founder is an American businessman [link] and so I can't help but feel it is a little exploitative and possibly disingenuous. The museums is rather strangely based in the same building as a casino and, comically, opposite a McDonald's which, according to TripAdvisor reviews, is hilarious and “ironic”. Another apparently “ironic” thing is that the museum has a gift shop.

Extravaganza Tour
In the museum, I had seen a few leaflets and so I wanted to join a free walking tour  that was setting off from the Old Town Square at 3 (Staroměstské náměstí - corner with Pařížská Street in front of Cartier shop) so I made my way there after a spot of lunch. I had never been on a walking tour at all, let alone a “free” one so I was not exactly sure what to expect. When I got to the Old Town Square, I noticed it was rammed full of people but I did eventually find a tour guide with a blue umbrella – and she was not exactly surrounded by people. After my experience of being unpopular in Brno (link), I was wary but when we spoke, she was very pleasant and said that she would start, and do, the tour even if I was the only one on it. Her name was Klara and she was very interesting and informative so I can thoroughly recommend her tours [link]. She asked me where I was from before the tour and I said “London” as I am now wont to do^[2] but without the mulling over of that question as I had previously done. She said that she liked London and had lived and worked there for a few years (near Wimbledon if I recall correctly) which was good for me as she was able to relate things to London (and GBP) as we walked around. We were joined, before the tour, by another tourist (henceforth rz1) who was from France but was living in Bratislava, which I had visited a few days earlier. As there were just the two of us on this tour, we spoke a fair amount too so it was pretty interesting to get the perspectives of different people. Klara had a spiel to go through as well as her normal conversation which was quite nice actually as you could see that she knew her stuff and she was also able to bring her own personality, and experience, into it. She explained the route would go through the Old Town^[3], Jewish Quarter, Charles Bridge, Lesser Town and Prague Castle. The Charles Bridge was a halfway point so we could split off then or continue but it was also a point where more people could join the tour if they so wished.

Touring
Klara was able to explain a little of the history of Prague and the religious backdrop to much of it. The Old Town Square has many features but the one that caught my eye was the Astronomical Clock (Prague orloj). It is absurdly complicated and detailed and can (accurately, it seems) tell the time, the date, sun position and times of sunrise and sunset.

The Old Town is also closely connected with the Jewish Quarter which is by the river. The reason for this is that this used to be one of the worst places to be in Prague in the past due to floods and poor ground and so the Jewish community were essentially banished here. As defences increased and the area was built upon (especially after it was supposedly remodelled in the style of Paris up to 1913), it has now become one of the more sought after areas of Prague. The Jewish community had been pretty poorly treated and were forced, as later in Nazi Germany, to wear the star of David on their clothing. When the Nazis did occupy, they didn't destroy the area but bizarrely preserved the area. The reason? It was to be retained as a historical artefact – it was to be museum of an extinct race. This meant that many Jewish items from around Europe were collected here to be exhibited later. The idea is quite ghoulish but the number of Jews in Prague, and many of the other cities in Central Europe with Jewish histories is pretty low actually.
In order to get to the Lesser Town and castle, we would have to cross the river and we did so across the Charles Bridge – a pedestrianised tourist attraction like no other I have seen. We also picked up some more tourists – a couple from Denmark.
Lesser Town is really just the outer part of the Castle area and there was not a huge amount to see there but the Castle was excellent. There was not time to look around it with much depth but Klara did explain some of the history and relevance of certain things there so it was interesting. The Cathedrals within the castle walls were stunning and I would return later, I vowed.

Tour's End
The tour finished and as the Danish couple went away (they lived in Prague but had done part of the tour before and so just joined for the second half – I was very impressed that Klara remembered them from a few weeks back.) I chatted with rz1. He was a nice guy and it was interesting to hear his perspectives on Bratislava and Prague, amongst other things. We were heading the same way – back to the Old Town so we did so together. I forget what we talked about, but as we got to the Old Town, it was close to “the hour” and so we waited by the astronomical clock, with about hundred other people, to see the clock putting on a show. Klara had been quite opinionated about the quality, or lack of, of some of the things we had seen so she was not the kind of guide that just said everything was amazing. Which is why we were both pretty shocked at what a non-event the chimes were. There were plenty of camera flashes and lots of filming but there was not much to see – just a little bit of statue movement. It was a massive anti-climax.

The two of us then went on to find something to eat which was made easier by the TripAdvisor website/mobile phone application and the fact that rz1 spoke a little Slovak. We ended up in a pub of sorts after finding that some of the places we thought looked good were a little too busy. I felt it was an interesting dinner but one conversation that I remember was a lament of sorts. We spoke about different countries we had been to and I mentioned that I had taught in Japan [link] many years ago when I was looking for work and something to do. He mentioned that it was easier for us native English speakers in that situation as whereas someone like Klara, our guide, in that situation had travelled to London and worked in bars and cafes for the experience, I was able to go to a totally different continent and secure a relatively well-paid job doing something that gave me skills. I had not really thought of it before but it really wrung true and I felt very fortunate. It is not that often I feel fortunate, although I know I should, so it was kind of eye-opening. He did not say it with any bitterness, at all, rz1 was working in Bratislava and was using English on a daily basis himself. It was just an interesting point.
I was then invited, bizarrely, to a Salsa club which I said I'd go to for a drink but I was obviously not going to dance. And I still had my bags so I had a decent enough excuse – I had been walking all day basically. The directions to the Salsa “bar” were not exactly clear but we eventually worked out where it was and made our way there with a few lost detours. It was actually a salsa class so when we walked in, a lesson was going on but it eventually became a normal bar with dancing. I spoke to a few other people – one of whom became very quickly a trip favourite. She said, without any real prompting, that she loved London and felt very comfortable there. That she would choose to go there compared to anywhere else and that she always felt very welcome there with the cultures and that the British people were friendly, warm and welcoming. It was pretty funny and I explained that people outside London in the UK think of us as rude^[4], cold and unwelcoming but she was adamant. I wasn't going to complain too hard...
After a while, I left as I did want to sleep a little before my last day. I was pretty tired, but I only had one more day so I just needed to push myself a bit more. A little bit more – it wasn't even going to be a full day as I had to be at the airport by about 7pm.

Prague 2013 day 1 - click for photo album

<sup>1. In hindsight, as much as I loved Budapest, as I left it did strike me that there was not much that could be considered new – or at least designed new rather than heritage. I think that is fine for a smaller city but the lack of variety would detract from the overall experience in a longer trip I think.↩
2. As explained in Budapest [link], I now feel a lot more comfortable saying London rather then the UK.↩
3. The Old Town is obviously genuinely old but I did like the way that the “New Town” (or Nové Město) was founded in 1348 and so was not what we would necessarily consider new. I guess it is all relative.↩
4. One of my genuine annoyances is people telling me, knowing I am from London, that people from London are really unfriendly and rude. As if telling other people that they are not nice is showing the social skills of a friendly person. This is either from people living elsewhere trying to justify that where they live is better than where I live or from people living in London explaining why they won't live here forever. I find this intensely annoying.↩</sup>

Brno

It was another early start again from Vienna by train to Brno. The ride was fairly short at just shy of 3 hours and as pleasant as these rides always are, and this time it was also in an old style cabin seat rather than open plan.

Introduction
Brno is the second largest city in the Czech republic after Prague and has not got a huge tourist reputation – definitely nowhere near Prague's level. I actually did not hear from a single person that they had been to Brno and so I was going in a little blind^[1] based purely on a link from a little Tripadvisor thread I read when researching how to get from Vienna to Prague. It is a fairly ridiculous reason, but it was only a day and I think I would have considered something like this as a day trip.
Once I got into Brno, I found my way to what looked like the main square (Namesti Svobody or Freedom Square) after finding a cash machine. Changing money for the third time did make me wish for some kind of single currency across the continent for convenience's sake. I'm not sure if it would cause some other problems though. It was empty in the square and there seemed to be some kind of not quite started festival of sorts being done there. I made my way to a cafe with my bags (called Galerie Cafe) and ordered some coffee and breakfast to find out that it was also “Brno coffee week” which meant that there was a special map and some competition that I could not take part in. The map was pretty handy though. Again, not a huge amount to see in Brno but the map would help me find the cafes from which to get some form of refreshment.

When I got my change, I did notice something and that was that the coins were very ordered. By this I mean that each coin which was worth less was smaller than the previous one. I had not seen/noticed this before^[2] and did this time only as my change seemed to have all types of coins. Putting all the coins together, there seemed a “jump” in size so I hypothesised that I was missing a coin so I did something a little out of the ordinary (extraordinary seems such an inappropriate word) and asked the waitress if there was a missing coin. I have no idea how she understood what I meant or what she must have thought of me but she did humour me and gave me a 2 Kurona piece. It fits!

Hrad Spliberk
Brno Castle (Hrad Spliberk) is home to Kasematy – a prison complex which was also used by the Nazis during their occupation. It was actually considered one of the hardest prisons of the Austro-Hungarian empire and has been part of the castle fortress for most of its life. It is recreated, sort of, here although I guess it is a little hammed up. Now it also contains the Brno City Museum.
It was a bit out of the way but I did enjoy it, and it always helps when you are a little elevated. As it was not a popular (in that there were not many there when I was) place, the feeling of emptiness made it feel a little more eerie which kind of helped.

From there, I followed the path set out on the tourist map to go via St Thomas's Abbey which was where some major intellectual breakthroughs in genetics were made by Gregor Johann Mendel which are commemorated with a small museum. A little garden outside, which I liked, showed Begonias in differently coloured quadrants to show the heredity of that colouration and dominant traits. The “tourist path” marked on the map did take me through an area that you would not think was for tourists as it was unmarked but I was asked, without prompting, if I needed some help whilst walking. I didn't, but I really appreciate that kind of thing and I would imagine most people do – so it left me with a very positive impression of the city^[3] and people.
From there, I made my way to the hotel by walking through the city which is always a good way of getting a handle on a place. As the city is not so big, relatively, I was able to walk across fairly comfortably and did not even need to use the tram network that seemed so good. I went through the Cabbage Market area which is supposedly a sight of sorts. The name was pretty accurate and so I wonder how much of a tourist place it is. Or in fact whether it operates well as a market of veg. I don't really know what the prices are like everywhere though.

The importance of being unpopular
My hotel was on the outskirts of the centre of the city so I decided to route myself towards there and then onto Villa Tugendhat - some futurist housing that is the only example of modern architecture in the Czech Republic on the UNESCO World Heritage list. I'd heard it was very popular but it ended up being a waste of time as it wasn't, and it was not open for a tour. Looking online afterwards, I am not sure I missed a huge amount there.

The main thing I wanted to see in Brno, before I came, was the Brno Underground. It took me a bit of time to find it as was not where it was supposed to be on the map but I did find it, just before one of the tours – which was inadvertently great timing. Or so I thought until the woman at the ticket office said that they need a minimum number of people to do the tour and I was the only one there. Apparently, one is not the minimum – it was four. I was advised to return later (although two more people did arrive in the interim - still insufficient).
Petrov Cathedral (Cathedral of Peter and Paul) dominates the skyline and so that was next on my route and it was very impressive. Well, it was impressive for a city like Brno but with the other places I had seen, it was a smaller version of some larger cathedrals really! I did like the colouring and the view though. I then returned to Brno Underground after a quick coffee. I returned, but nobody else did and this time I really was the only one. This is the thing about being an unpopular person that likes unpopular things – sometimes you just do not get the benefits of other people. If I was travelling in a group, we probably would have got in, but then they probably would not have wanted to go anyway...
The only thing left to do was to retire for the night after dinner so that I would be able to go to Prague with some form of energy. I went to a very nice restaurant called Tulip which also happened to be near my hotel where I had a tasty fish meal and some very polite service.
I was still unsure how to get to Prague the next day but it was not too far and the coaches and trains were near each other, I was sure I could work it out the next day...

Brno 2013 - click for photo album

<sup>1. And deaf, it was pronounced as Brunn, as in the German name, and so misunderstood when buying tickets phonetically...↩
2. I wonder if this is common in many countries actually, has anyone noticed? In the UK, the coin sizes, overall, seem unrelated to the value but I cannot say I have given this much thought. I would appreciate it if anyone could tell me where this happens.↩
3. Whenever I have been asked if I am lost in other cities, it makes me have quite positive feelings which can really colour that trip for me. I try to repay the favour in London and regularly offer guidance if people seem lost. To be honest, people rarely accept my help but I hope that they take away a positive memory about those that live in London. There are times when I should not speak to strangers though – I am learning this slowly – especially at the Barbican when they are ranting about the problems of British culture.↩</sup>

Vienna (day 2)

From wandering about in Vienna, one thing I noticed on postcards was the Schonbrunn Palace which was in the south west of the city.
Vienna was the old capital of the Hapsburg empire and they had a particularly ostentatious style that was laid down onto the capital. The ringstrasse, that the night run was around I saw on day 1, was created to that end as it became home to wonderful building after wonderful building. As a shot in the architectural arms race, it was successful but it was not somewhere that the Imperial family necessarily wanted to live. For that, they built a palace with grounds.

Schonbrunn Palace interior
I went fairly early on the metro and there is a dedicated stop for the palace, with the appropriately named Schonbrunn^[1] station on the U4 line, which is a little walk away from the entrance. Although it was a weekday morning, there were enough people to make the walk annoying and slow mainly because most people there seemed to be part of huge groups touring. The grounds were large enough to hold the numbers but the inside was a bit too busy to enjoy fully.

As you walk in the ticket office, there are an array of different choices for ticket combinations (which you can buy online here) that allow access to different rooms and attractions - the main reason seems to be to make the more expensive combinations seem reasonable. This is a classic tactic as you always think that is only a small incremental cost for what appears to be a big gain. I think this is basically how Sky persuade people to spend eye-watering sums to watch TV - upselling. Anyway, it kind of worked and I paid for the "middle" experience which covered some things outside the palace as well as the palace itself.
As sumptuously decorated as the rooms undoubtedly are^[2], I found it a little tricky to feel really engaged with the place. This may be a personal point but the rooms felt a little bereft of intellectual grandeur due to what they were. And what they were, in my opinion, were recreations of reality - recreations made, paradoxically, by the real items in most cases. But it all felt so removed as a reminder of the past behind glass, or more likely clear perspex, and with hundreds of people doing the same route. There is an element of theme-parkism in tourist attractions like this but it was not disguised well enough here for me. There are quite a lot of rooms showing what the conditions were that the family lived in and an audioguide is provided as part of the ticket so there is plenty of information but I felt a bit removed. The segments on the audio about the relatively sparse (relative to the rooms and how hard the Hapsburg family worked for the people seemed at odds with the ostentatiousness of the rooms and general décor throughout. I'm not sure I can appreciate royal/imperial palaces so much, and I guess this is brought home to me by the visit to Austrian parliament where it felt genuinely evocative of something I cared about and vaguely positive. This just reminds of the unequal nature of history. As I say though, a personal view as it is a clearly a stunning set of rooms and palace in general. The multiple, massive tour groups probably didn't help and I find that these larger groups, usually older too, are totally oblivious to the annoyance they can cause.

Schonbrunn Palace exterior
The grounds were much more interesting for me for a few reasons although the weather definitely helped. I appreciated the extra space and the fact that it did not seem such a draw to the larger groups. The gardens are fairly open to the public although I had paid for access to three separate areas within the gardens - Gloriette, a pergola and the mazes. The palace grounds are also home to the Tiergarten which is the oldest zoo in the world which I did not get a ticket for^[3].
Before I went toward the Gloriette and panorama, I headed to the Pergola. I had only recently learnt what a pergola was due to my stumbling across one in Hampstead Heath which I really enjoyed. This one, although it required a ticket, was not quite as good, or large, as the one in Hampstead Heath but it was still pleasant. I particularly enjoyed the little "tunnels"  around the border that were made of plants which were slightly cooler and shaded and allowed some komorebi^[4] which I always enjoy.
From the small Pergola, I then started to walk around the gardens (which are free to enter) which were very enjoyable. The gardens are really lovely but I was struck as to how highly ordered it was as a space - almost as if part of the remit was to conquer nature and make it do the designer's bidding. I really loved the trees especially as they had been cut and shaped to make them flat within the path. It is a strange effect and one that I had not seen before but I found it really compelling so I kind of soaked it in a bit - and also enjoyed some more komorebi. There were some other fountains and attractions but I made my way to the panorama point which is up a massive slope to the Gloriette (which is a building built on an elevated point). The view is sensational as the palace is, on its own, a great building but it is also great to see it from above and with the city in the background. The ticket to the Gloriette itself does afford a slightly better view but it is not much better and so I would not necessarily say the ticket is worth it.

Once you get back to the palace level, near the zoo, there is a little ticketed section devoted to the maze and labyrinth which are also quite fun. I have recently discovered that I quite like getting, or feeling a little lost^[5] when I am watching films or playing games so it was a good test to see if I did. I did quite enjoy being lost and there were some interesting features at the dead-ends so I got actively lost a few times. The labyrinth was a little too long though, as the walls were a bit lower, you could always see the exit which was frustrating - which I guess is kind of the point! It reminded me, very much, of Unfinished Swan.

Kunst
Within Vienna, I only now really wanted to see some of the interesting cultural sights after seeing the Museums Quartier. There was clearly a lot more to see in Vienna than I was allowing myself to, but I thought I would make my way to the Kunsthaus Wien (via the train station to buy a ticket for my trip to Brno).
Kunsthaus Wien is an art gallery/museum  that is almost entirely dedicated to Austrian artist Friedensreich Hundertwasser. There is a permanent collection of his and he helped to create the museum in his own image. It was an interesting building with a distinct Gaudi feeling with the use of cracked  tiling and bright colours which also included some of the approach to the museum as well as the building itself. I enjoyed the collection as it is much closer to the type of art that I like, aesthetically and there was little apparent, classical influence with the bright colours. As it was quite subjective, I liked trying to pull shapes and feature out of a lot of the work but much of it was fairly forgettable too. Reading some of the spiel and ideas, he did sound like a bit of an idiot actually and he espoused quite a lot of nonsense about denouncing "rationalism" and the straight line. The floors of the museum are not flat as he suggests that this is more natural if they are undulating. It was quite silly, and inconvenient to be honest but it was quite striking. The similarities with Gaudi were too. I have to say though, due to some of the nonsense that I read, it felt more ridiculous and effected than other artists' work that I have liked, but I did still enjoy it and it was an experience.

Museums Quartier
I was running out of time a little to really enjoy the Museums Quartier that I had been through the other day. Even so, i felt that I could get to the Leopold museum and mumok which I was drawn to because of the building more than anything else.
The Leopold museum contains a lot of interesting pieces by many artists but the main works seem to be by Egon Schiele and Gustav Klimt, both of whom created vaguely modern pieces which I enjoyed. The Leopold museum is quite large and there are plenty of pieces by other artists to of the 20th century and I had to rush through as it was closing early due to a private event. The basement, which was devoid of other people, had some nice abstract swashes of colour which I liked actually, but I am never really sure why.

I spent a bit more time in mumok (museum moderner kunst) as it was a bit larger and I felt I had a bit more time. It is quite a mixed space with sculpture, paintings, video and photos falling within its remit. It also has a number of temporary exhibitions so I would imagine that it would be interesting to come back every so often. Internally, it is a nice, big, white space so the artwork is very clearly defined and there were not so many people visiting ^[6] so it is quite relaxed. The art is not always so relaxed. In particular, there was one sculpture of a naked, dead woman which I found quite disconcerting, similar to this (but no perspex). Well, I think she was dead. I think the website gives a better idea of what kinds of things were there but it was an enjoyable couple of hours.
After the galleries, I wandered around the quarter to no real purpose and returned, ready for an early train to Brno - The Czech Republic's second city.

Vienna 2013 Day 2 - click for photo album

<sup>1. Apparently, the closer station is actually Hietzing - it must at least be less busy.↩
2. As in quite a few places in Central Europe, photographs are not allowed inside the palace.↩
3. I don't really see the point of going abroad to zoos, or generally things that I feel I could do fairly simply at home in London - though of course I know the quality could be higher.↩
4. This is a word that I have learnt recently which I saw in a list of words that apparently have no English translation. It means the interplay between the sun's light and trees/leaves and, since reading the word, I am much more conscious of it which has actually allowed me to enjoy it more. This ties in with one of my early beliefs about the power of NewSpeak from Nineteen-Eighty-Four, the strongest idea in the book for me, whereby language is restricted to enable thoughts to also be restricted.↩
5. I think it is a recent occurrence of being conscious of enjoying that confused lost feeling. And also seeing the destruction of a person mentally. See any reviews for examples.↩
6. for example, I do not think I can handle more than one floor at a time at the Tate Modern due to the numbers of people always there.↩</sup>

Bratislava

Train to Bratislava 
Vienna and Bratislava are not far apart (The closest together capital cities in EU) at all and have fairly good connections between each other by train, coach and boat. Although I was tempted by the boat, I'd heard it was not particularly scenic so just went by train - there were two each hour from Vienna Hauptbahnhof so I did that. I went fairly early but not exceptionally so I was hoping to spend the day there in a fairly relaxed manner. Due to the fact that the Schengen agreement exists and that neither Austrian or Slovak government is run by the type of idiots that regularly politick about how terrible other Europeans are and then have to break their own rules to get rich people in, the journey was simple and without border control, which helps the relaxation.

The train ride was fairly pleasant and I enjoyed the scenery including quite a lot of wind turbines. Having not seen many, I found them quite interesting and was struck by the way that they rotated at different speeds. I guess it makes sense, but I'd never thought of it before. They have a bad reputation amongst the usual suspects in the UK but I think they are quite pleasing, aesthetically, and clearly have a positive effect on energy production. Anyway, I kind of wished that I'd spent as much time looking carefully before the journey as I did during the ride as I soon ended up in Bratislava, but not the main station. I was not just at the wrong side of the city, some might say I was on the wrong side of the tracks.

Petrzalka

Bratislava, like many major cities, has a river running through it and, common to many cities, the two sides of the city develop quite differently. In the case of Bratislava, the Danube split the city into north and south with the north being where the city itself really is and the south being an area "for redevelopment".

I was at Petrzalka Station but by a relatively happy coincidence, I was quite interested in this side. The south side had been extensively redeveloped under the communist regime of Czechoslovakia and so had a lot of housing blocks^[1]. As I have said before, I do have an irrational soft spot for socialist era housing and so I quite enjoyed being a little lost in Bratislava. And I was that, lost I mean. I got the bus which I thought (more hoped) would take me over the bridge to the more touristy north. It didn't - I just ended up in a slightly different part of lost. I did eventually get over the bridge and I did also enjoy looking around but I cannot, in hindsight, say it was the wisest, or safest, thing to do.

Old Town and Castle
Once I came to a more central part of town and got off the bus, I noticed that a little crowd had formed around a building so I had a look. As I went to have a look, some familiar music started up - the French national anthem. It is safe to say I did not expect this. I stayed for a bit and watched the salutes, anthems, presentations and stuff which was a little odd. Nobody seemed to know what it was for^[2].
Bratislava is not well known for its sights, or much at all from my point of view, but I have heard of people going for weekends away and stag dos^[3] and the like. As far as I could tell, the castle was the only real sight and the old town was pleasant. Not bothering to consult a map, I went towards the area that seemed right and came to a cobbled road with tram lines. I think it was part of the old town but at this point, I felt I should make my way to the castle as that would be busy later so I could avoid the crowds.
It was a steep climb and a little out of the way from the town but I needn't have bothered hurrying though I was glad I'd bothered coming. There were very few people there and fewer still once I got inside. The castle is situated on a Hill (hence the steep walk) close to the banks of the Danube so there is a great view over the city and, as it is not the biggest of cities, beyond. The castle grounds and entrance are quite nice but nothing particularly special though I believe that a beautification process is underway both internally and externally. Inside was not particularly busy and I would guess a lot of the reason for that was how closed it looked. As I walked into the courtyard, the doors were closed and when I opened one to go in, I was told, or more accurately motioned, in Slovak to go to the ticket office. I did that, but I couldn't find it - it was not the biggest entrance but there was no clear ticket seller. Unless, could it be that?
Yep, it was behind a closed wooden door that looked like it was a caretaker's cupboard.
The inside of the castle has been transformed into a selection of museums and gallery spaces that were within some very nicely restored rooms. The exhibits were not, however that interesting and I spent some time in a room dedicated to Slovak war medals. This was not time well spent. The other exhibits about the country and area were a little more interesting but nothing amazing. The little bit on clocks seemed a bit out of place but I liked it. The website is not particularly up to date either – I think they need some advice to be honest.

After visiting the castle grounds, there was not a lot for me to do so I walked around the old town a little after getting a not particularly great lunch. The old town has a lot more to it than just the area that I had walked earlier so it was not a wasted time and is almost totally pedestrianised so I would imagine it lends itself well to a vibrant, and rowdy, nightlife. Some of the best known parts of the old town are a number of playful statues such as a strange French sailor looking out to sea and a man under a manhole cover. It was interesting to see how popular they were, especially with the older crowd.

Bridge and back
I decided to take the train back to Vienna from the main station and so continued a wander through the town as it became dark and then got back to Vienna. I walked back over the main bridge (called Novy Most) which was really quite striking at night as it seems to have a UFO on the top - for no apparent reason. The walkways are placed on the sides away from traffic so as you walk, you have a wall to one side and the river (and view) to the other so it feels simultaneously open to the elements and claustrophobic. I quite liked the concrete feel but it could definitely be a little intimidating^[4] as a way to cross the river even though it was to a very pleasant park.

The train back was nice and simple, as it had been on the way to Bratislava but the scenery was a little less enticing in the dark.

Bratislava was not particularly special and I doubt I would have visited had it not been in another country and a capital city (I doubt I would have seen it had it been part of Czechoslovakia, for instance) but it was still a pleasant day trip. I am not sure I would want to go there for much longer although the nightlife may be more enticing. Or, it may not. Bearing in mind what I have heard^[3].

Bratislava 2013 - click for photo album

<sup>1.These are called Panelák and were used all over the country but are most prevalent in this area.↩
2. I later looked up what was happening and it seemed to be merely an ambassadorial visit - quite a lot of fanfare for that I think.↩
3. I spoke to someone later on that told me that there were plenty of British stag weekends in Bratislava, and they were not popular with the locals. This is not surprising. I did explain that a lot of British towns can be carnage on weekends with drunkenness and a lot of fighting. He nodded in complete understanding.↩
4. It was intimidating when I crossed and saw a few people around a car under a poorly lit spot. My imagination made me believe a drug deal was taking place - this is pretty unlikely to be honest.↩</sup>

Vienna (day 1)

On to Vienna
Budapest had been lovely but it was time to move on and so I did, to Vienna.

It was an early start as I thought it would be quite a simple, 4 hour, journey to Vienna and then I would arrive with plenty of time to spend. I did rush a little onto the train but the tiredness meant the train was very relaxing - as I usually find longer train rides - with rolling scenery and clear skies.

When there was another twenty minutes or so remaining, the train slowed down and there was a massive building site that seemed to stretch on for miles where the train stopped briefly, and then from that point travelled quite slowly to the destination of Vienna West (West Bahnhof) - I guess this was essentially a suburban route at this point. I am not sure what route it took but it did so slowly for a train that was on its way to Munich. That building site, I later found out, was the area where the newly refurbished (and much bigger) Hauptbahnhof (central) was being made from the Sudbahnhof (south). And actually very near to where I would be staying.

Arriving at WestBahnhof, I was hungry and very poor as I had not taken any Euros so I needed to find an cash machine and some food. Vienna is kind of famous for its coffee and cakes so I did not think this would be hard. It was. Well, it took me a while to find the bank anyway. A quick coffee and cronut.^[1] later, I was on my way to the U-Bahn. I always like to see what stations are like in different cities and I was impressed with the bold, almost modernist feel of the platforms and corridors. They looked quite new but I wonder about the maintenance.

To the sights
As is usual, I did not really know where to go but I did have a look at the Lonely Planet guide I had picked up the week before from the library and ended up going to Michaelerplatz to go to the Hofburg Palace which is fairly central and a very impressive area. It was quite busy with what appeared to be school trips and I was a little disheartened to see that much of it was set up as a car park. The nearby Volksgarten was also nice but was a lot quieter and this was then connected up to the Ring road and opposite the Parliament building. After my failed attempt to visit the parliament building in Budapest, I thought I should give it a go here. The building was fantastic with some great statues outside to represent justice and democracy. As the Hofburg Palace had been the seat of power for many years until 1918, the placement of the Parliament so close was mainly so the real rulers could keep an eye on the pretenders that had been elected. The Hofburg Palace area was also home to the Spanish Riding School which might explain the horrific smell of horse manure around Michaelplatz especially. Obviously, this does not come across in photos where horses look quite sweet and benign - the smell is neither sweet or benign. There were actually quite a lot of horses and carriages riding about giving tourists a ride and in this area, also quite a few people dressed up selling concert tickets as if they were dressed for the age. I am rarely a fan of such obvious tourist baiting.

Vienna is not such a big city and most of the interesting sights are on the ring road, Ringstrasse, which were once city walls. My guidebook said one of the best things to do to orientate yourself is take the ring tram - both 1 and 2 around once to see the grandeur of Vienna. Unfortunately, my guidebook, at two years old, was a little out of date and it didn't do this any more.^[2]. There is a "Ring Tram", which is basically a tourist attraction running on the same tracks, that runs on the route but it is not part of the normal network and in a way that is irrelevant as I didn't know about it anyway. So my tram turned off at Karlsplatz (unbeknownst to me) and I finally decided I was going the wrong way at Kliebergasse - which was actually now underground. This was not as bad as it could have been as the station did have a lovely set of pixel art-esque tiling pattern murals along the walls which I always like. I had no idea where I was, or how to get anywhere so I just got the next tram to somewhere - and that somewhere happened to be called Hauptbahnhof - and that happened to be where my accomodation was (a hostel/hotel). It was a little hidden away due to the amount of building work being undertaken but the opportunity to leave my bag was one not to be missed. So I didn't.



Parliament

After a little wander around the city on foot and by tram, I made my way back to the Parliament building for a tour of about 60 minutes, which was conducted in both German and English. It is, surprisingly, the first parliamentary tour I have been on and I found it very interesting. There was a lot of information about the history of the place, how and why it was built and how it was used now. I found the interior to be tastefully done and was based, heavily, on famous democracies within history - mainly Greek but also some elements of British. The tour also showed the chambers and the working rooms which I found really interesting (and much more evocative than the palaces and museums of imperial grandeur that I have been to). The guide also explained the modernisation that took place over the years to make the building suitable for modern democracy and the refits of the chambers. It was brilliant and I will try to go to more of these Parliamentary tours in the future.

After that tour, and another very tasty coffee at a local cafe, it was still a little light so I made my way south slightly to a large area I later found out to be Maria-Theresien-Platz. I went there as it was open and the early evening light was quite addictive with the wispy cloud formations.

Museums Quartier

On the opposite side of the Ringstrasse was the frankly astonishing Museums Quartier. This is a cultural area that has been relatively recently developed as a cultural zone which is both historic and progressive. Home to "about 70 cultural facilities, the MuseumsQuartier Wien is one of the largest art and culture complexes in the world" and well worth visiting. The three main, blockbuster venues are The  Leopold Museum, The museum moderner kunst stiftung ludwig wien (mumok) and The Kunsthalle Wien but I did not have time for these this time - but I would be back. I walked around a bit as it got darker, and colder and ventured into an area with some closed shops and found a great shop. A great shop selling videogames and some videogame arty stuff called subotron. I could not go inside but I found it all very exciting and they even had an arcade cabinet for "Puck-Man" - the name PacMan before people realised that it could be a bit rude.

It was dark now and I was a little tired so I made my way back to the hostel (I wanted to go to Bratislava the next day - quite early) via a short break when I heard some good buskers playing some atmospheric music that reminded me a little of UNIKO. The effect of this little detour was that I missed the trams - and it was only about 7:30pm. Vienna is not a sleepy, small town but there were no trams on the Ringstrasse at all and the streets were eerily quiet.



Running
I waited for a bit for the tram but nothing came at all. The reason? "Nightrun". There were a few people now in high-vis jackets and I went over to ask what was happening. I was told there was a running event being held which was a run around the Ring - which at about 5km long, was an  ideal length for a mass participation run. It was based around Rathaus Park (where the town hall was - and explained the strange banners there earlier) so I made my way there for a mini festival of sorts with food and music. And lots of people.

And with that, I was ready to go back and decide whether to take the train or bus to Bratislava the next day. It was only a day trip but it could not fail to be a good trip, could it?

Vienna 2013 Day 1 - click here for album

<sup>1. This is a new combination of a croissant and doughnut that is supposedly taking New York by storm. I thought it was too sweet and exactly what you would imagine US desserts to be - like Krispy Kreme. I will not be joining in the craze.↩
2. Interestingly, and ironically, on the train to Vienna that morning, I had read an article about the circle line in London [link] and how London Transport's consultants always told new metro developers to never implement a circular system. It was an interesting article actually, read it if you get the chance.↩</sup>

Budapest (day 3)

Rejection, disappointment and regret. I could have stayed in England for that.
This was, essentially, an extra day in Budapest as a result of enjoying days one [link] and two [link] but I did still need to sort out where I was going next and when. I decided on Vienna - and the next morning, which was a train ride away of about 4 hours. I had seen on the Austrian rail website [link] that this could be very cheap but I think I missed the availability so I would have to get a return ticket^[1]. I had wanted to go visit the Parliament building for a tour (in English) which had been recommended to me and so I needed to get the fairly early to book myself in so I thought that I could walk there, via a railway station, Budapest-Nyugati, which was along the 4/6 tramline - and I thought that this would also be a good way of seeing the city at work. It was. It was kind of busy and moving but not too busy. I got the train tickets at the station, and it was a very reasonable price for a flexible return ticket (about €25). The station itself was pretty impressive, even if the international ticket hall was less so.

Parliament
From there, I made my way to the Parliament building (by some measures, thought to be the largest in Europe - it seems the most imposing!) in order to join an English language tour which were scheduled throughout the day, and the first was at 10am. When I got to the Parliament area, I noticed that the whole of the front area, where gardens would be, was dug up and there was a lot of work being done - such that there seemed no clear path to the area. The tram was also not running. The ticket office for the Parliament tours was also sited in a different building which was not too inconvenient to find. What was inconvenient was being told that the tours were already booked out for the whole day. This was less than ideal and I wasn't really sure what to do so I did what I usually do when I am unsure, I walked.

As I mentioned, the city of Budapest is supposedly known as the city of spas, and the most famous of these (that I had never heard of, of course) are the Gellert Baths which are just on the banks. They have an interesting history but that does not really affect the fact that I was inappropriately dressed, so I walked over to the other thing to see in that area - St Gellert.

Gellert Hill
As the Liberty statue is on a rather tall hill, it does require a bit of a winding walk (or bus) but it is through a pleasant park with great views and  a small flower garden. That was  not quite as spectacular as the views from the top and the statues themselves which were amazing. Amazingly windy too, but that is what you get when you are exposed to the elements. There was also a little military display as the fort at the top, Citadella, had been the Nazi stronghold in the 40s and was the last point of Budapest held by them in the Siege of Budapest by the Soviet Army in 1945 as well as a focal point of the Hungarian Revolution in 1956. I found the top quite interesting actually with the views and the stories of defiance.

On the way down, I briefly met a couple who asked me to take their photo (or I may have offered, I can't remember clearly) near the actual St Gellert  statue which elicited some mixed feelings - somewhat related to the David Goodhart talk [link] I recently went to about immigration. After taking the photo I asked them where they were from^[2] to which they replied "Scotland".
They didn't do this with Scottish accents, however and so I was a little confused, visibly confused I think as they then said:

"are you having difficulty with our Scottish accents?"

I smiled and asked

"where's your accent from?"

The couple were from Poland and they then walked off to continue their holiday as I did mine. As I walked away, the first thing I thought was how awkward it was to have asked them that, when they said they were from Scotland. That is the type of question I really hate as it essentially is questioning my belonging to Britain (I have started, recently, saying I am from London recently, as opposed to Britain or England. This is accurate and I'm lucky enough that London is well known enough as a city and I feel much more comfortable with that.) but I wonder whether they took it in that way. They must have known I was British at the least, if not necessarily from London from the accent and intonation. I wonder if they also thought that question may make me part of the loud anti-immigrant part of the UK. I mulled this over for a while - at least over the Elizabeth Bridge and back into Vorosmarty Ter - and I see that mull as one of the hazards of solo travel for me. Was that a prejudiced face that I pulled? Ignoring my possible faux pas, I was actually also really gladdened that they felt connected enough to Scotland, and whichever bit they called home, to refer to themselves as "from Scotland". There may be problems with the union where we all felt it wrong to say Britain, but I was really happy that they said that In their Polish-Scottish accents.

Millennium Line to lunch
And with that mixed feeling of awkwardness and warmth, I boarded the millennium line again to go to get some food at a recommended restaurant near the city park (again). I wasn't really sure how to fill my time so I decided to go one stop further then I needed for a little difference. This had the wholly intended side effect of meaning I had the whole line covered.
I'm not sure it was the best idea I've had.

Although the stations are geographically close from the original terminus within the park to Mexikoi, it felt a world away. The station was on the wrong side of the tracks, and the wrong side of the motorway. I had to negotiate a set of train tracks - which most just walked across but I was loathe to^[3]. And then I had to work out how to get to the park. It was terrible urban design but quite instructive to the city's design failings. I still found it quite interesting but I was a bit stuck...
The restaurant, Bagolyvár, was excellent and quite reasonably priced so I was pleased I made the effort.
On Mondays, many museums in Budapest are shut so my visit to the transport museum was thwarted again, by my poor planning.

Obuda
Budapest is famously made up of the cities on either bank of the Danube - Buda and Pest. Less famously, the formation of the city also included Obuda in 1873 which is on the Buda bank but a little further north. As I had little to do, I thought I'd make my way over and I was glad I did. In terms of sights, the area was quite light, but there seemed to be a huge housing complex around a large park which was almost certainly socialist housing. I have a bit of a soft spot for municipal housing actually as I have a romanticized notion of the care and thought that went into them and the idea that community could flourish there. Anyway, I did really love the multicoloured blocks and the urban parks set around Roman ruins. It was quite a strange mix that brought to mind the way the Barbican (in London) incorporates the Roman "London wall" within it. The ruins at Obuda are of Roman baths but they have built a huge road over most of it which sort of ruins the effect.

Obuda also has a smaller old town which is fairly interesting but it has little more than that - it satisfied my completionist streak though.
Connected up to the northern end of Margaret Island, I walked through the island and mulled some more accompanied by music.
Other than a quick stopoff at the synagogue and a brief interlude at the wonderfully evocative (of spy tales and espionage) area around the Soviet War Memorial at Szabadsag Ter, I didn’t do much more until getting back ready for an early start to Vienna. I'd read some very positive things about Vienna, but surprisingly didn't know of anyone actually visiting(other than an old student, but her level was fairly low and she was just excited to be in Europe). Strange to think of Vienna as the unknown...

Budapest 2013 Day 3 - for album click here

<sup>1. For reasons unexplained, you can only buy one-way tickets to Vienna with a three day lead time, but the return ticket is still very reasonable although you do not need to use the return portion of course.↩
2. In all honesty, I do not remember if I asked "Where are you from?" or "Where have you come from?" - quite different questions in the minefield of identity politics.↩
3. Apparently, walking across train tracks is common across most of the world except in Britain. On this point, I am happy that we are exceptional.↩</sup>