Bratislava

Wow, wonderful down town walking area. A bushel of out door cafes. This Bratislava looks nothing like the one from the movie Eurotrip. We met up with a few guys going to Vienna and Slazburg also. One of them lived in Salzburg for six months. So we now have a guide when we get there. Both of them are from Spokane Washington so after I bashed the town and area we hit it off well.

I am nothing but impressed with Bratislava, small for a capital but worth the trip.

Pigs

We are lost on back roads on our way to Bratislava. A cop ahead is waving at me to what i think is turn right in front of him. Wrong. 60kph in a 50 kph is a ticket. As he walks to the window I'm still not sure what the deal is, Mike and I are studying our map trying to figure out what bloody road we were even on. Cop starts to speak in Hungarian to me. I give him the universal no-idea-what-you-are-saying-I-am-a-stupid-monolingual-American look. He takes a deep breath. "Speed" I am stunned, I was going 60kph which is like slow (math computations to mph later) He writes down on paper 60/50 points at 60 "you" points at 50 "ok".

Alright, i am screwed, Budapest jail and cavity search coming up. I say sorry, throw a few lost tourist attempts at him. He takes a deep breath, "Fine" ah he is picking up English quick. "5000 Fine" After we negotiated our ticket in Poland from 1000k to 100 I figured my skills for debate we about to flourish. Just as i begin my retorte, he whips out a ticket book and starts writing. I explain to him the absurdity of the metric system and how minuscule 10kph really was in the greater scheme of life, but apparently his English stopped at "Fine", and "Speed". Then the sweet heart gave us directions back to the highway.

Hungary was a beautiful country but after two parking tickets and a "speeding" ticket I am glad to be out of it.

Budapest

Budapest has been amazing. I took this picture on the Buda side from the main castle. Beautiful city, with the feel that it is only the tip of the ice burg in what it will become tourist wise in the future. Much like Prague felt in 99. The Pest side is busy, with a few wonderful walk streets, and many cafes. The Buda side is where it really gets great to look at. Huge homes, tree lined streets, and older architecture.

The bad news today, was I somehow managed to get TWO parking tickets in one day. The 1st one was in the morning out side our hostel. The 2nd was due to our not having enough change, and the machine only took change. In a country where its 200 to 1 exchange rate, the machines should take bills or credit cards. SO we tried to make the 2 hour bus trip around the city in the 2 hours we had paid for. No suprise to see the cop writing the ticket when we got back, about 20 mins after our slip expired. Ah well. 6000k in parking tickets in one day! Otherwise Budapest has been outstanding.

Auschwitz

Auschwitz.

We made the trip to Auschwitz from Krakow. It was a little over a 1 hour bus ride. There are a few sights there Auschwitz 1, 2, and 3.

The Birkenau site Auschwitz 2 is an emotional experience. These chimneys are all that is left of about 80% of the barracks from the site. The barracks that are left are stunning. About 1.5 Million people died at Auschwitz. They have done an amazing job explaining what happend and getting the point across that this needs to be shown to all people in the hope that it will never happen again.

Prague and Krakow

Prague while an amazing city, has changed quite a bit from 99, when i was there last. Talk about overrun with tourists. It was a zoo. Every three shops where the same,
1. Czech me out Tshirts
2. "Authentic Czech crafts" yeah made in china scratched off the bottom
3. Dodgy food shop
Otherwise, still a very beautiful town.






This was our Hostel in Prague, we called it the prison. More like a pod than a room.

Krakow on the other had was a blast.
I am pointing to it on a map of Poland at a gas stop on the way.

Krakow was stocked full of bars, shops, and eats.
We hit multiple places every day. It was our break from sight seeing and more of a focus on relaxing and a drink or 20. My new favorite drink is Strongbow cider. Damn tasty. We were in a Irish pub till 4am on Friday night, the place closed at 2am, that's how popular we were. The LA million dollar agent, and the Pro Poker player were a hit. The bartender was Polish but spent a few years at Kansas U, then we met the manager Dave, who was Irish and didn't speak any polish. His dad owned the bar with a friend. The other owner rolled in about 10pm and proceeded to get smashed upstairs with the Karaoke singers. We moved up there at 230 am when the bar supposedly closed. Hour and a half later and a phone number from a kid who deals "underground" poker in Dublin and we were out into the 4am night. Was a night to remember.

WrocŁaw Poland

We are in Poland. 1st bad news of the trip, my laptop was stolen out of the car in Berlin.
We didn't discover it was gone till Prague. Very disappointing, i got online and changed all my info that day. Prague was beautiful but an avalanche of tourist. I have never seen so many tourists in one place. Also our hostel must have doubled as a prison when it had no hostalers.

Now in WrocŁaw Poland, which i did't know existed until yesterday. The drive to Krakow was a bit much from Prague, so we cut it in half and stayed here. Beautiful hostel, called the Stranger, easily the best hostel yet. Krakow tomorrow.

Pics soon.

Berlin

We just rolled into Berlin, tired as hell. Our Hostel is... how should i say, budget.
Tours and shopping tomorrow.