Lovely Evening in Budapest

Thanks to our new friend Maria, we got the opportunity to spend a lovely evening in beautiful Budapest with Petra and Gábor. They are both Budapest natives and gave us an educational tour of some of Budapest's points of interest.
Starting in Heroes' Square where Gábor gave us a very interesting history lesson on the Hungarian heroes memorialized in the square. After touring a few other spots we had a delightful dinner outside and chatted about life (and football) in Hungary and America.
They are a truly darling couple and very generous to spend their evening with us. We are looking forward to repaying their generosity when they visit the U.S. one day!

The Baths

So we are in Budapest and we decided to go to the baths, since that is a Budapest tradition. The Szechenyi bath was near our hotel, reviewed favorably by our travel guide, and most of all recommended as the best bath in Budapest by Gábor (more on Gabor later by the female corespondent). Well, we read in our book that the baths are nude and segregated. But we decide to bring our swimsuits just in case. Well, I forgot mine and it turned out to be a tragic mistake. You had to have a bathing suit to enter the bath, but luckily they rented some. A vintage 1989 bathing suite laden with lots of bright colors was what I ended up wearing. You should have seen the look on Ashley's face when she saw me, she could not stop laughing at me.....she has a mean streak almost as wide as mine.

Anyway, the baths were awesome. The water was slightly cooler than the baths that we have visited in the states (but warmer than Karlov Vary!). They had several different baths to choose from with different types of water and temperatures, it was very relaxing. They also had this awesome steam room that was extra hot. So hot Ashley had to leave right after entering, but I loved it.

After the baths we visited the Nemzeti Museum and got an excellent overview of Hungarian history. Its always great to learn about the region you are visiting, and this was especially nice as the museum was free (as in beer) and with loads of English.

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The Pantry

So after experiences a couple unpleasant travel days due to hunger and no access to places to eat, we decided to start carting food around to make sure that we eat. We have a gallon ziploc bag that we use for this, and we call it the pantry. We also recently obtained a plastic Tupperware like container we call the cupboard. Right now the contents of the pantry and cupboard include......some terrible tasting crackers, two tomatoes, one loaf of bread, a few peanuts, raisans, and some chocolate crème cookies.

BTW - we are in Budapest now. We had a nice time in Eger, except that everything was closed on Monday. Ashley will write a post about Eger shortly.

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The Valley of Beautiful Women

The Valley of Beautiful Women
Originally uploaded by ourflightplan.

Calling all girlfriends! I have found the spot for the perfect girlfriend weekend! Szepasszony-volgy or in English- The Valley of Beautiful Women. And here is why: You can get really good wine for around 50 cents a glass! And such a cute area, vineyard country just west of Eger, there are tons of wine cellars (our book said 200) all along the streets in this valley and you just go wine cellar to wine cellar drinking wine...loved it! I also happen to really like the name for a girlfriend weekend location, since you all know- I only have beautiful friends! Cheers and love to you all...

My thoughts on Slovakia

My thoughts on Slovakia
Originally uploaded by Flightplan.

I really liked Slovakia. It had what Ashley and I enjoy most - outdoor activities. We had two really nice hikes in wildly different locations. We could have easily had 10 or 15 more enjoyable hikes based on the input we got from various people we met. That brings me to the other plus, we really liked all the people we met. Marcella indicated to us that Slovakia is keen to develop tourism and as such people go out of their way to be friendly to tourists.

Slovakia does have a long way to go catch up with its neighbors in terms of economic development. Its readily apparent that its a much poorer country than Poland or Czech Republic. It also appears as there is not much industry. Slovakia is going to have to invest in their infrastructure to catch up to its neighbors.

Now, I am sure how both Ashley and I have raved about Slovakia has made our readers think maybe they should visit. I would definitely say its worthy of a visit if you like outdoor activities. If you want to hike, then I can't really think of a better spot outside of Southern Utah for it. However, if you want museums, art, cultural artifacts, then maybe its not the best spot.

Things that will only interest me

- Music I listened to. I have listened to almost nothing. I am digging on Apples in Stereo as I write this as we leave Slovakia, but that is about it We were too busy hiking to listen to music.

- Books I read. I am about halfway through a biography.

We are heading to Eger, Hungary for a couple of nights, then Budapest for 4 nights, then Lake Balaton Hungary for 2-3 nights, then we meet my mother and Ervin in Croatia.

Paradise?

Paradise?
Originally uploaded by Flightplan.

Today we went to Slovensky Raj, or Slovakian Paradise. It was definitely worthy of such a lofty name. It was gorgeous. Its a national park, south of the high tatras with a special breed of hiking, where you have to use ladders, bridges and lots of balance (see flickr for pics). Its densely wooded with plenty of streams and waterfalls.

We did a nice hike, but not as long as we wanted as the train station is about 2 miles from the park.....oh well we loved and it was most of the unique hiking experiences we have ever had.

The Slovak People

The Slovak People
Originally uploaded by Flightplan.

All throughout our travels, we have met nice people but for some reason everyone we have talked to (and granted its not that many) in Slovakia are very nice. From our waiter today at a vegetarian restaurant in Levoca to the owner of the house we are staying in, everyone has been friendly. For instance, the owner gave us some yummy cake last night and tonight she gave us a plate of Slovakian food including sausage, sweet pickles, bread and boiled eggs (see flickr for pics). She wanted us to experience Slovakian food, this is coming from the translation of another nice resident (Polish though). It really warms your heart when something like this happens.

The nicest experience was earlier today. At a bus station in Levoca, we met Marcella ( a Slovakian woman) who used to live in Canada. We met and talked to her on the bus, and she offered to give us a brief tour of Poprad, specifically walking us over to Spissky Sobota to show us the historic town square. It was a nice square 10 minutes from our lodging but we had no clue it was there. Of course, we bombarded her with questions the whole time we were walking. She gave us insight into the region, the culture, and what its like to be Slovakian. A true treat. Marcella is pictured with Ashley above.

I Heart Slovakia

I Heart Slovakia
Originally uploaded by ourflightplan.

I am digging on Slovakia big time! We decided to get out of Poland while we were ahead (ok, not actually ahead as the score felt like: Poland 72- The Seymours 1)



Slovakia has been great so far. We are in a pretty nondescript town called Poprad, but we scored a great room in a private home where we have access to a kitchen- yippee! And it is in a nice neighborhood, and we have a Slovak heavy metal garage band practing next door! They stop practice before bed time, but Michael thinks they only have one song, but we don't mind as they are pretty good.



Today we went on an awesome hike in the Slovak side of the High Tatra Mountain range- really nice and not crowded at all and we saw some really pretty mushrooms (see Flickr for pics).



Now we are chilling in our room (has a big table and couch type thing) and I am drinking some Slovak wine and about to read the International Herald Tribune from yesterday. I have not liked being totally out of touch with what is going on in the world.



P.S. Bad news on the mullet front, it seems not popular at all in Slovakia (I even got to see our garage band neighbors and not a one was sporting one). But I have some good news. I saw a 30-something woman on the train today wearing a Banana Clip!

My thoughts on Poland

We left Poland today, earlier than scheduled and here are my thoughts on Poland. First off, let's start on the positive side. I really liked the Poles friendliness, we only encountered one or two grouchy people in our week there. Everyone was friendly and eager to please. They also really seemed to like Americans. I also truly enjoyed the cuisine we had in Poland. Periogis were awesome, and pretty much every where we ate was above average. The best spots were the vegetarian eateries in Krakow, one of which we ate at 3 times. The sites were also nice......from the salt mine, to the film about Warsaw to the scenery of Zakopane, everything we saw was memorable. And of course, we really enjoyed our visit with Maria!

Now to the negative side.......First off, there is a complete and utter lack of signage. Literally there are almost no signs, no street signs, no signs pointing to Centrum, and the signage at the transportation system was pathetic. This segueways into my other complaint nicely. The transportation system is sub-par, the roads are in horrible condition and deciphering schedules was daunting. Its never easy to do in foreign language but for some reason it was much more challenging. Also, outside of our visit with Maria, nothing seemed to go our way whether this was bad luck or just poor planning, I don't know. But it seemed everything we tried to do, something stopped us from accomplishing it as simply as it should have been. Due to all of this we left Poland early. We are now in Poprad Slovakia (which does not have the signage problem), where we will see the Slovak side of the High Tatras.

Things that will only interest me:
- I didn't read as much in Poland, partly due to the poor conditions of the roads, but I did finish Great Expectations.
- I didn't listen to near as much music either, mainly due to my ipod battery being dead on one train ride, and on one train ride our compartment mates seemed slightly sketchy at first. But I did manage to listen to Architecture in Helsinki, Cibo Matto, Minus the Bear, Madlib, Jackie Brown Soundtrack, Camera Obscura and My Morning Jacket.

Warsaw cont...

Due to technical difficulties, these two paragraphs didn't make the first post.....

But I have to stay my favorite part of Warsaw was the company we kept. If you google "The Hostess with the Mostess" a picture of our lovely host Marie will surely appear! As I said all weekend, Everyday is Christmas at Marie's! And we adored her neighbors Caroline and Damien---we had just a delightful time- good food, good wine and good people- we couldn't ask for more!

And Maire~ if you need Helper Monkeys for your next dinner party you know who to call! :)

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Warsaw

While in Warsaw, we saw an English-language film that depicted the wartime destruction of the city. The film started with pre-war footage of the city- a beautiful, bustling cosmopolitan city. Warsaw was then occupied by the Germans for 5-6 years...there was an uprising of the people that lasted for 60 some-odd days. The uprising was defeated, but Hitler was so angered by it that he ordered the destruction of the city. In fact, he had his generals rate the buildings from 1 to 100 with 1 being of most important to Polish history and culture and those were the buildings they destroyed first. The film then showed what the city looked like after the destruction- unbelievable! 85% of the city's buildings were destroyed. You saw street after street of nothing more than burned out buildings and ruble! But the Poles came right back and started building their city pretty much from scratch



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Zakopane

Zakopane
Originally uploaded by Flightplan.

The wilderness that surrounds Zakopane is absolutely breath taking. It has a myriad of outdoor activities to chose from.....hiking, skiing (winter), rafting, biking and much more. However, its absolutely packed with tourists and the main drag is reminiscent of Gatlinburg, TN. We will be leaving tomorrow, although we planned to stay four nights, its just too many people around for it to be enjoyable.



We did take a really nice hike today. We hiked up a mountain (check Flickr for more photos) and had some gorgeous views. It was a strenuous hike and we are tuckered out this evening. The trail was packed and I have to admire the Polish sturdiness. We saw everyone from children to grandparents hiking, most making it to the top of the mountain (about 1500 ft ascent). You would never see that in America.

A Relaxing Weekend at Maria's

A Relaxing Weekend at Maria's
Originally uploaded by Flightplan.

We had the nicest weekend. We arrived in Warsaw Friday afternoon from Krakow and headed to Maria's. She had arranged some lovely cocktails with her lovely ex-pat neighbors (Caroline and Damien).....truly nice to have a cocktail with ice.



On Saturday, we checked out a museum and a intriguing movie (more from our female correspondent later).....and had a enjoyable dinner party with those same charming neighbors, the Canadian Ambassador to Poland and his wife. What a scrumptious meal, it was nice to have a full home cooked meal along with delightful conversation (in English of course) and a large amount of wine. We also had a nice relaxing day on Sunday, ended with another set of cocktails.



I have to say that everyone was absolutely wonderful. It was nice change of pace to stay in a home with a solid shower and comfortable bed along with home cooked meals, and of course conversation in English. Our hostess was the most gracious one, catering to our every need and just generally being a wonderful person. It was so great spending time with Maria, she is delightful. Thanks again. We are recharged and off to Zakopane and the mountains of Poland.

Pet Update

The Seymour pets are doing great at their temporary homes away from home. Spaz and Sprout survived their first California earthquake unscathed at their wine country b&b (aka Amy & Jeff's house). Wagley on the other hand is picking up some bad habits from her cousin PJ at Camp Cataula (aka the Rube's house). It appears that she has taken up common barking instead of the more dignified hound dog howl.
But really, we are able enjoy our trip so much more knowing that our pets are in such good hands!

Auschwitz

Well, we visited Auschwitz yesterday and words cannot do the horror of that place justice. Take any big blockbuster Hollywood movie on the Holocaust and multiple that by 100 and that is how being there leaves you feeling. Over 1 million people were killed at the 3 camps on the Auschwitz compound. The atrocities carried out there are unspeakable. We aren't sure yet if we are glad we went or not. It really left us feeling shaken for the rest of the day and into the night.

Thanks for the comments

Thanks for the comments
Originally uploaded by Flightplan.

Thank you so much for the comments......its good to know that others are reading about our travels. To address some of the questions in the comments:

1. I brought the books from home and also did some trade ins at hostels. I just sold a bunch for next to nothing before heading to Warsaw.

2. We have eaten very little true polish food here. In Krakow there is a ton of vegetarian restaurants, and we figure to eat there while we can. I did hit a milk bar for dinner last nigh. It was good and cheap, although slightly difficult to decipher the menu.

3. Polish beer is tasty and cheap, but neither as cheap or as tasty as Czech beer.



We are leaving Krakow and heading to Warsaw where we will be staying with Maria, a relative of a good friend in Denver (Carissa). We are excited about staying with her as it will be a nice change of pace. Yesterday we visited Auschwitz, which was (surprise) depressing. Ash has said she will write more about it.



PS - if you see this post with a picture I finally got this email posting working.

Krakow

We had a bit of a rough start to our time in Krakow, but after moving out of our hostle that felt to me like a Polish Summer Camp for Bad Kids we are now in a lovely little apartment complete with our own bathroom and a nice little kitchen for less than we paid for the cracked out polish summer camp! Somethings in this world I will just never understand. Our new apartment is in the Kazimierz district of Krakow which is very historic. It was the Jewish quarter of Krakow and was home to many European Jews fleeing persecution. Today we go to Auschwitz- not totally looking forward to it, but feel since we are this close we need to go.

The salt mine we saw yesterday was totally cool. One point I thought was interesting & a little sad was that back in the day when it was a working mine, the horses that worked the mine lived down there all the time b/c it was too dangerous to hoist them up and down hundreds of feet everyday.

My friend Heidi introduced me to the wonderful world of the pierogi (a polish stuffed ravioli/dumpling type thing) well I found the place where good pierogis go when they die- MoMo- this awesome vegetarian restaurant...we had vegetarian Tibetan pierogi! Along with other yummy vegetarian dishes & ginger lemonade- I was a happy camper!

Salt Mines

Yesterday after changing accommodations again (drunk south American boys having a belching contest outside our door is not conducive to sleep) and a long hot bus ride with sweaty German boy scouts, we checked out Poland's number one tourist destination....the Wielicka Mine. It was pricey but definitely worth it.

We took a two hour tour through the mine (in English). Basically the mine is 14 million year old salt deposit from some sea that used to be in this area. They started mining it in the the 13th century and its been active since. Apparently until the 19th century salt was a precious commodity in Europe and could be bartered for just about anything. While its still nominally active, the main thing they do there is tours. They have all these statues carved out of salt (see Flickr pictures) including a recent addition of Pope John Paul II. The mine was also loaded with statues of gnomes carved out of salt, which thrilled Ashley. They have 35 chapels and a very large cathedral down there, I guess being a miner you need to pray a lot.

We had a great time and would recommend that tour to anyone visiting Krakow...we would also recommend Moma for lunch, the best vegetarian restaurant in Poland. Yummmy!

My thoughts on the Czech Republic

I really loved the Czech Republic......it was probably my favorite country I have ever visited. The beer, the people, the food, everything about it was awesome. I particularly liked the beer, cheap and tasty.

My favorite city was Teplice, I loved our location, our pension and the hiking. On Sunday we took the most awesome hike there....through the woods and a swamp. It had lots of scrambling over tree stumps, bogs, puddle, rivers, broken bridges and the like. It was one of my favorite hikes ever.

Things I know will only interest me:
- Music listened to - Busdriver, Deltron 3030, Bauhaus, Islands, Unicorns, Tool, Wedding Present, Yo La Tengo
- Books I read - Angels and Demons by Dan Brown (decidedly ok), Franny and Zoeey by JD Salinger (great one been too long since I read it), Meditations on everyday insanity by Bukowski (I love me some Bukowski) and half of Great Expectations by Charles Dickens (surprisingly amusing).

First Thoughts on Poland

So far Poland has been more trying than the Czech Republic. For some reason, we have either had a string of bad luck or poor planning. This would not be too problematic if it wasn't way more expensive than CZ.

We have had much more trouble with transportation here. The buses and trains feel more run down, and the schedules are less detailed and not as easy to find. This made yesterday a particularly long day, it should have not been hard but it was. Oh well, different countries are different ways. On the positive side, the people are very friendly. We have not really been yelled at by anyone (a daily occurrence in CZ), and every Pole we have talked to has been helpful and very courteous....a nice treat.

Lagniappe

1. Amendment to earlier Hostel post. I only like the small, independent hostels. We are staying in a big, chain hostel now and either I am a prima donna or I am 32 and over big hostels- if you answered Yes to both of those you are right!
2. Mullet Update- More prevalent in the Czech Rep than Poland, but acid washed jeans and Metallic T-shirts are still holding strong in Poland.
3. What I miss most (friends, fam & pets are a given)- Napkins, paper towels and burritos
4. When stressed out in Eastern Europe- have a Pivo (beer) makes everything better!
5. First experience with renting a room in a private home (last night) ended with the dog throwing up in our room- so actually made us feel very at home.
6. Dog update- In Czech Republic- most popular breed by far are Yorkies- they are everywhere! Followed by Dauchands (mainly the long haired variety- for my MAF readers, maybe Dugan can branch out to Czech wiener dog racing!
7. To dos when I get home- 1) start taking German again. Everyone but us seems to be bilingual over here and it is annoying and makes me feel less than adequate. 2) eat more burritos

See Rock City

This morning (Saturday), I am mentioning the days as we are in the boonies and its doubtful you will see a post until Tuesday, we took the train to Teplice. Teplice is a little town near Poland in the Czech mountains. Its very tranquil up here. Anyway, the reason we came is to hike in the woods and to see these rock formations. Well, they call the rock formations - Rock City, and while its similar to Rock City,TN, its more natury and no costumed characters. We hiked around and saw the formations about 4 miles round trip. It was truly beautiful, it reminded us of Bryce Canyon hoodoos, but not quite as alien looking.

Then we walked into town to buy groceries....we forgot that in CZ groceries stores close at 11am on Saturdays, and are closed on Sundays. Well, Ashley started to think that she would be eating peanut butter and raisins for dinner, as that is all we have food wise and the restaurant nearby will only serve meat. Luckily we found a little mini mart and picked up some basic staples. We will eat, but it will be flavorless. We are staying in a lovely pensions inside the Rock City area. We can hear a babbling brook from our room, very quaint.

Satellite TV

Yesterday (Friday) we traveled from Olomouc to Trutnov in the north of Czech Republic. We stayed in a lovely hotel in Trutnov that was mack daddy. We had close to 1000 sq ft of space, 5 bed, and most of all satellite TV. We just sat on the couch all night, drank pivo ($.75 per .5L at the reception), ate junk food, and watched the news. We were shocked to hear that mp3 players, cell phones and bottled water were not allowed on planes anymore...but mostly relieved that the plot was averted...Alas, Air travel looks like it will be a real pain......we also saw the India travel advisory.

Hostels

I have loved staying in hostels for two reasons. 1st- kitchens! I used to love to eat out in denver all the time- same cannot be said for the Czech. Rep. As they do not serve burritos and the vegetarian choices often consist of fried cheese! For example, tonight Michael made the most awesome dinner that I am calling Mediterranean Burritos- totally yummy. 2nd- common room, a place to sit in a cozy environ and read and chill.

Olomouc

After a rather long hot bus ride, we arrived in Olomouc yesterday. Its the former capital of Moravia, the other province in Czech Republic besides Bohemia. Well, its absolutely lovely. It has several large squares with loads of statues and fountains. The best part is that there are almost no tourists! Seriously, there are just no tourists around but yet the sites are seriously picturesque.

Last afternoon after arriving, we hot footed it to two museums. They are free on Wednesday and us being cheap bastards, we squeezed two in a couple of hours. First we checked out the arch diocese museum. It was paintings collected by the bishops and arch bishops of Olomouc. Very nice older paintings, with some history mixed in. Then we perused the art museum, which had a 1960s album art show which was intriguing. We also saw their regular exhibit of local modern art, which had some nice art nouveo pieces.

Today we are just wandering around the city. We checked out a Czech version of the dollar store, which was very cheap and diverse.

I write this in a city park....and we are about to check out the only socialist astronomical clock in the world.

Comments

You know you can leave coments? Just click on the below link labeled comments......we set it up so you don't have to register. We think other people beside our parents are reading it, but how can we be sure?

Biking

Today we realized that we are seriously out of shape! We rented bikes in Trebon and then biked around the fish ponds, it was the first sunny day we have had in Czech Republic. Well, after about 30 minutes we were totally winded. Of course, we were too cheap to bring a map, so we had to wander around for a while to find our way back. Besides being winded, we had a lovely time. We rode through some small villages (Domini, Spioli, and Libon) and saw tons of the country side. I figure we biked about 20 miles all told on some soviet era bikes. Right now, we are chilling in the park sipping on some Czech wine. Ashley prefers wine to pivo, and well we have been drinking a lot of pivo.

PS- if you see this post today, I have worked out the kinks on posting pictures. bl. Ok, it doesn't work, but I am getting closer.

Odds and end

Wireless. Its been progressively easier to find wireless. I think its a combination of me looking more efficiently and also getting away from major tourist destinations and into pure suburban areas or business districts. Almost every time I turn on the ipaq I have a wireless signal, but only about 20% of the time can I connect to something.
- Lightening the load. Ok, we both brought way too much stuff. We have ditched some clothing each, but we still need to lose some. I have selected the pieces to get rid of but I am going to wear them (i.e. Get them dirty) before dumping them. This seems sensible to me. I am way worse in this department than Ashley. She packed lighter and is dumping less.
- Pivo. We are drinking tons of Pivo (beer). Its very tasty, mostly lager types but quite crisp, and inexpensive running about $.8 to $1.2 for a half a liter. Its cheaper than water or coke.
- Pivo II. I have sampled many Czech beers...... Pilsner Urquell, Koval, Budvar, Gambrinos, Egglesberg (Cesky Krumlov brew), and Regent. So far Pilsner Urquell is the best, Ashley likes Kovel the best.
- Pictures. I have not 100% fixed the uploading problem but its mostly solved. If I actually took pictures I would upload them.
- (this is Ashley) The Mullet is alive and thriving in the Czech Rep. Men, women, kids, they've all got it!

Trebon

We left Cesky Krumlov, our favorite stop thus far, this morning in the rain. The rain is really starting to get annoying, its pretty much rained non stop since we arrived. We have rain jackets but they are not that useful for non-stop raining or protecting our packs in the rain.

We caught the early bus to Ceske Budjovice, then a local one to Trebon. Traveling on buses isn't that bad although the bus drivers are very cranky. To tell you the truth most service workers are cranky. The locals you meet not in the service profession are very helpful but the rest just seem to be angry at the world. At first we thought it was "anti-americanism" but after conversing with others its just how they are.

So far Trebon is very lovely, its a lot less touristy than Cesky Krumlov, although we continue to hear the ring of German in the air. Oh, well, we are more off the beaten path. This afternoon we checked out a very tiny museum called Man and Landscape where we learned about local history. The region is a Unesco protected area, as they created a series of fish ponds in the 1500s which are both historical and act as wet lands. The musuem provided some good background on the region. It had some English languge options which was a treat as most everything is in Czech outside of major tourist attractions and select hotel restuarants.

Cesky Krumlov

In the deep south of Bohemia, this town looks like a made up Disney World version of an old Europen town- but it is for real!! So stinkin' cute! There are loads to tourists, but if you can look beyond that it is absolutely wonderful! And the tourists mean lots of bars and restaurants- last night we went to a yummy all vegetarian one. The town has a castle, winding cooblestone streets, a lovely river flowing through it, bears that live below the castle to guard it (now just for the tourists enjoyment). When we went to see the bears one was playing in his pool with his barrel that he was dunking under the water and batting it back down when it popped up- so cute! And their habitat is pretty big with lots of real trees to climb. Today we went on a 4 hour hike to a little Czech village and were about 5 ft from a deer on the hike. Tonight Michael is making a veggie torte for us in our hostel's kitchen and we bought a bottle of Czech wine to enjoy.
P.s. We may be missing monsoon season in India, but not in Czech Rep.

Czech Cuisine

I am absolutely loving Czech cuisine. Its lots of hearty meats in thick sauces with a starch (dumplings or potato pancakes). The food fills you up, but there are very few vegetables. I fear that our dietary habits have taken a turn for the worse. Ashley is managing to find vegetarian selections almost everywhere although the taste seems to be lacking. Tonight we plan to eat at a vegetarian restaurant.

Absinthe

Last night we arrived in Cesky Krumlov, which is quite lovely, and we went out on the town with some people we met in our hostel. We had a blast as we got wasted on Absinthe. We are now paying the price. I think I have partially fixed the picture problem....so you may see more pics if we remember to take them.

Pilsner Urquell

Today (thurs) we toured the Pilsner Urquell brewery. It was a good tour besides some Dutch miscreants acting like jerks. We learned how Pivo (beer) is made. Not all that different from other beer tours but slightly more complete in how its made. We are now enjoying a pivo. As we do this Ash spilt my beer.......then her beer. As our new Dutch friends (not the miscreants) said, very American. Finally, a worker at Pilsner Urquell said my Czech was very good. :-)

Plzen

Today(2-8) we traveled from Karlov Vary to Plzen. We took the bus which stops about every 2 miles. It was quite interesting to watch people get on and off the bus. I personally love the outfits the females wear. Its like I am at a Cinderella concert in 1988- Tons of bleach blonde hair, plus very strange denim. Anyway, after we got off the bus we got our room. This is our favorite place so far, of course we have yet to sleep in it. But its a 2 room apartment a mile or two from the center. Its spacious, plus has a fridge so we can picnic eaiser.

This evening we went into town and got a traditional czech dinner, well I did at least. Ash got a greek salad, I got this beef in cream sauce with dumplings. It was decent. We also had several pivos (beer). Its cheap (about $1.10 for .5L) but not as cheap as the guidebook indicates. Anyway, we are watching "Hunter" on the TV in Czech before heading to bed. With all the shows to translate, why would they choose "Hunter?" Maw Maw Rube would have loved it but I would prefer CSI. But does it really matter, as we can't understand anything they say?

The wireless situation has improved. I found two hotspots today (notice the blog entries and the pictures). Still having trouble with the pictures, but I have a solution if I can find the time to implement it.

The not so hot springs

So today we spent in Karlov Vary, a spa town in western Czech Republic. Its a cool little town, touristy but its German tourists not American ones. Anyway its quaint, as you can walk around and drink out of various hot springs. They are all labeled and each supposedly cures a specific ailment(s). Well, it rained all day which worked out ok as most of the hot springs are covered.

We decided in the afternoon to visit the "thermal pool." We trudge our way up the hill to relax in the warm waters. After navigating the entry way, everything is a challenge when you don't speak the language, we dipped our toes into it. Well, it wasn't hot, it wasn't even warm. It was just a giant swimming pool with almost cold water. The guidebook had led us astray, it was not a thermal pool.

Oh well, it had nice views and after we trudged down the hill, we had the local liquor, Becherkova. Ashley had one mixed with Tonic water, which was quite tasty. Mine was straight which was barely drinkable. We are sitting in our pension on the outskirts of town which is merely basic, but exceptionally affordable.

Breaking the Language Barrier

Amsterdam was a snap. Everyone spoke English and all menus/signs were in English and Dutch. The Czech Republic is another story and I had a little freak out over it yesterday!

However, Michael Seymour was on it like Rick Steves on white rice! He had noted all the important sayings in Czech in our Eastern European phrase book. So after a day of feeling like a total freak for only knowing one language, I shared a moment with a waiter at a Czech restaurant in the town of Karlovy Vary.

After thinking he angrily took our menus away from us while saying something to us in Czech, because we didn't know a lick of Czech (actually we deduced later that they were only selling drinks no longer dinner and that is why he took our menus away). And even though I was scared of him because he seemed like a really grouchy Czech waiter, I said - "Dekuji" to him after he brought us our bill for our 2 beers (that means thank you) and he smiled, squeezed my arm and said "Prosim" (you are welcome) and then smiled and said "Na shledanou" (good bye). And I said "Na Sheldanou" back to him. And then proceeded to skip happily out of the restaurant!

I was so totally excited that I had actually communicated that day with another human being!! (other than Michael of course- poor thing, I communicate with him a lot all day long!).

I think more Americans should travel overseas like this. It is a total reminder that, believe it or not, America is not the center of the universe.

odds and ends

Just some tidbits to keep our eager readers (our parents!) informed.
- For the most part, I think we are eating very healthy. We are picnicking for breakfast and lunch, mainly fruit and breads. Then we are eating one meal out, usually dinner. While its been slightly problematic to find vegetarian meals for Ashley, I think its working out ok.
- Wireless internet was everywhere in A'dam. However, in the Czech Republic its a lot more scarce. I can find signals but they are often times not connectable. This makes uploading pictures quite difficult......but I am working on a solution. Hopefully by the end of the week I will have it worked out.
- Amsterdam put us way over budget, we spent about twice what we had budgeted per day. We knew it would be expensive but the Euro-$ exchange rate killed us. However, we are under budget our first two days in Czech Republic, which will help.