Just wanted to give a quick update on the travels of late. We've been making our way north through Central Europe and are currently in Krakow, Poland. We left Italy a little over two weeks ago, spending a fun filled evening on a bus from Trieste in the extreme northeastern corner of the country down to Dubrovnik, on the southernmost tip of Croatia (crossing borders into Slovenia and Bosnia and Herzegovinia just for kicks). From there we took a ferry to the spectacular island of Korcula and after a few sun soaked days we travelled to Split, again by ferry. Another bus ride, this one in the daytime, brought us to the capital of Crotia, Zagreb. I can't imagine too many Americans mark it down as a "must see" destination in Europe, but we found it nice. It's not too big, has a very easy to manage public transportation system (easy to manage could also be read as "easy to use without paying"), and loads of outdoor cafes in the central part of the city. It's definitely not in a class with Venice, Paris, or London but it was definitely worth a quick stopover for us. I mean, it's not like we have much a of a schedule to stick to.
After Croatia we took the train north and made our way to Budapest, the capital and heart of Hungary. This was a cool city people. It has all the advantages of a Western metropolis with plenty of medieval history and sights to keep you busy. We spent two and a half days sightseeing and still couldn't check all the biggies off our list. The one we really wish we had time to see is Statue Park. It is a park a little outside of the city where the Hungarians took all the Communist propaganda statues from around the city and depostited them. The places we did make it to included the Royal Palace, the Old Town, St. Mathias Church, St. Stephen's Basilica, the Opera House, one of the thermal baths, the Terror House (more on this one in a minute) and a few more I'm sure I'm forgetting. We took a walking tour of Pest (the city is actually divided into two pretty much separate parts - Buda and Pest - by the Danube) one night and got to hear some historical stories, legends, and anecdotes. The most interesting, and at the same time disturbing, place we saw was the Terror House. It is a museum based at the site of the Secret Police (Hungarian version of the KGB) from the Communist Era. It had exhibits detailing the torture, fear mongering, and brainwashing the Communists doled out in the years they were in power. It was truly frightening to see what supposedly intelligent people are capable of. To be honest though, it wasn't exactly shocking after what we saw in Cambodia. Basically, Communist leaders use torture and fear to stay in power. At least that's my take.
So, two days ago we hopped on an overnight train from Budapest to Krakow and we've been taking in the sights of Poland's royal city and historic capital since then. Yesterday we wandered around on foot and today we took a bike tour of the city. Our tour guide was a Canadian/Pole and we were joined on the tour by five Australian guys who are traveling Europe after watching their beloved Socceroos get bounced from the World Cup. Krakow is another city we both would say is definitely worth a visit. There is plenty of history to learn about, from the ancient Polish kingdoms to Oskar Schindler's factory, right here in Krakow.
Well, we still have another day or two in Poland (we don't really have any idea about the trains from here to Prague, our next destination) so we'll be taking that ever so happy trip to Auschwitz next, either tomorrow or the next day and maybe do some hiking in the Tatra mountains on the Slovakian border.
We hope everyone has a great Fourth of July. We'll raise a glass of Polish or Czech beer in honor of Uncle Sam. And I promise to finish up the Vietnam train story soon!
