old tiger's Blog

So..we stayed one more day in Vienna...I don't recall what we did??
but next day...my brother drove us towards Salzburg..
we got off the highway near Melk..to visit some abbey..
the usual stuff..churches..abbeys..in the end..
they all look the same a bit..it was impressiv though..
http://www.stiftmelk.at/englisch/
I'll try to find a link..after Melk came Linz..
and then this town Salzburg..rich history..
typical Austrian town..different then Wien(Vienna)
http://www.visit-salzburg.net/
we stayed at the Youth hostel..always good to meet travellers..
my wife really loved Austria...she likes mountains...
where she came from in India..the Himalaya range..is near..
we had a great honeymoon so far..next stop was gonna be..
Innsbr?ck..that's in Tirol..now..that's a nice part of Austria..
tiger

Bratislava to Vienna is not that far..
we crossed the Danube river...and entered Austria..
now..listen..I would classify Austria in my top 3..
of most beautiful European countries..
Norway..and Switserland listed before that for me..
Vienna..as the capital..got nice buildings,parks,
wide streets,shops etc..but..the real Austria for me..
were the mountains..nothing can beat that scenery..
I had been in Austria many times before..
we stayed 2 nights in a *jugendg?stehaus*
which was kind of a youth hostel..very cheap..
Vienna was expensive..we went for a visit to Schonnbrunn..
reminded me of the palace of Versailles(France)
what a pump and show...how could they build it??
after Schonnbrunn..which easily could take half a day..
we had some *gulash soup* in one of these typical *heurigen*
these are local small wine taverns..good filling simple dishes..
http://www.aboutvienna.org/best_adresses/heurige_inns.htm
Vienna is also known for caf?s..sachertorte chocolate tart..
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sachertorte
we all liked Vienna..visited a museum as well..
well..we damn got tired that day..next day..another day..
the accent in Vienna is very funny..not like German..
Tiger

Bratislavia was in these days part of Tjechoslovakia..
nowadays Slovakia is a nation even..times..they are a changing..
right..after a few days in Prague city..my brother drove us towards
Bratislava via Brno..I recall Bratislava was on the Danube river..
but my memory slips here..we passed some places with names like
a tongue twister..even with a hot potato in my mouth..I could not
pronounce them..the language is East European..quite difficult..
later on..we did a trip to Budapest(Hungary)Hungarian is a disaster..
I did like the Tsjechs and Slovaks..they could not communicate very
well in English..but they were nice and friendly people..some of them
spoke bit of German..I don't recall where we stayed in Bratislava..
in fact..we stayed 1 night..and even did not see much of the city..
what I remember is a castle..a cathedral..bridge over the Danube river..
my brother took a pic of a fountain..don't remember the bloody name..
my wife..coming from India..was very thrilled with all these places..
but that's all,folks..I'll try to find a link with pictures...
the next stop was Vienna=capital of Austria..we stayed 2 days there..
http://bratislava-photo.esem.sk/
http://www.bratislava.sk/en/
Tiger

This castle..was a worthwhile trip..it's close to Beroun..
about 30kms.from Prague..direction Pilzen..
roads in Tjechia were nothing to write home about..
this castle could only be visited under guided tours..
impressive castle..which needs a climb on a hill as well..
I believe the tour was in a German group..I did not grasp all..
mainly they show you some tower views..some halls,chapels..
anything a castle can hold really..this place was ancient...
if i recall it was build around the year 1350??
when we were there..lots of tourists..
the usual souvenir stalls..lots of gadgets..rubbish..
in fact..this place..is only a small village..
and in season..it gets high attention from tourists..
when we were there a whole bus of giggling schoolgirls visited..
we went back to Prague...and left next day to Bratislava..
I'll find a link..about the castle..
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karl%C5%A1tejn
Tiger

So..I got married in march 77 on my bloody birthday..
we decided to go on a late honeymoon towards Prague..
my brother drove us by car...month of august..first day..
we stopped near Hof(Germany)my uncle was a war prisoner..
he knew folks in a little village called Pommelsbrun..
we stayed overnight there..Hans and family gave us..
food and shelter..we crossed the German-Tsjech border
via Waidhaus..then to Pilzen(Tsjechia)I did not like this town..
it looked like stepping 25 years back in time..Pilzen is known
for beerbrewing..the Tjechs are boozers..i believe they call it pivo?
their beer tasted like dishwater if i could compare it to Belgian beer..
we did not stop in Pilzen..but drove through all the way to Prague..
now..we stayed 2 nights at some youth hostel..this city is worthwhile..
rich in history..Charles Bridge...the castle..Stare mesto=old city etc..
I found Prague very intersting concerning architectural value..
nice old buildings..art Nouvea facades..churches..old cobbled streets..
the castle is impressiv..but I didn't like it too much..
the view over the Vltava river from Charles bridge was stunning..
I believe we wandered into a Jewish cemetary as well...
Prague got some Jewish history long ago..nowadays their numbers
dwindle into a few hundred??a very touristical thing to see..
is the main square in the old town..called Staromak..
there was this famous astronomical clock..which at every hour..
gives a show for tourists..the death rings a bell..then the apostles
pass by...it's over in 1 minute..but every hour the tourists gather at
this large square to watch this..a brilliant piece of clock engineering..
Prague got many caf?s..many small cheap restaurants..it's a student
town..i don't recall what we ate..but it was O.K..next day..
after a good nights sleep..because of the long walks that day..
we would visit Karlstjen castle..very impressiv structure..
but..it's spoiled by the tourist industry..one can buy real rubbish
souvenirs around that place..reminds me of San Marino (Italy)
I'll try to get a good link on Prague city..
nowadays Prague is a very nice tourist city trip destination..
http://images.google.be/images?q=prague+pics&hl=nl&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=X&oi=images&ct=title
http://www.prague-tourist-information.com/
crazy Tiger..