czech republic (5 out of 5)

Bouncing around Europe

The plan was to visit every country in the EU (before March 2019 for reasons). The plan was to spend at least a month in each one, ideally in one place, and just kind of absorb the surroundings. I alternate remote laptop work with city wandering, rural hiking, chilling out with the kindle in parks, coffeeshops, and vegan cafes.

Things haven't gone quite to plan so far though. I've been pulled around by people and events, in no logical order. Not complaining, but I really need to slow down for a while.

My stay in Budapest was cut short on both ends, as at the beginning of March I had the opportunity to stay with Elizabeth and her family in Ljubljana for a long weekend. On the 21st of March, began a Vipassana meditation course in Mariazelle, Austria. I'd applied to sit, then agreed to serve when they emailed to say they were short-handed.

Dreading the complicated and lengthy public transport options to the Austrian mountains, at the last minute I managed to catch a ride with another meditation student from Budapest. I made no onward travel plans, guessing I could wing it at the end of the course; I wanted to be in Bratislava, but was confident I'd get a lift at least to Vienna.

I did. I slept almost the whole way and was surprised to find myself deposited in a random suburb around 11am. I metro'd to Erdberg bus station, which is not particularly well located. Oh also it was Easter Sunday. Nothing was functioning. No coffee, no food. The bus station was open, but their internet was down. Which meant... they couldn't sell any tickets. I was told to hang about half an hour, then buy a ticket from the driver on the next bus to Bratislava. The bus was full. Next bus in an hour. I went back into the station and it seemed that the internet was back on, and they were frantically selling tickets to frantic people. I joined a line. By the time I got to the front of the line, the internet was broken again. I asked after the nearest wifi hotspot, and was told to go to MacDonald's two subway stops away. That seemed like a hassle, so I wandered into the main bus pickup area, and hopped onto a FlixBus network for just long enough to buy a ticket for the next Bratislava bus with the Flix app, which I'd had the great foresight to download and hook up to my paypal right before I left the meditation center. Onwards.

Bratislava was a stop-gap. My next 'pull' was to meet my sister in Vienna. We hadn't seen each other for about three years, and she was over from the US for a conference. Her AirBnB was covered, so she agreed to let me sleep on the couch. Vienna is expensive, and spending a full two weeks there wasn't hugely appealing; hence Bratislava.

Good choice! I loved that city.

Vienna airport is about half way between Vienna and Bratislava in fact, so my sister caught a late bus after her flight landed and stayed in my AirBnBs for two nights in Bratislava. I packed a majority of my touristing in during the last two days of her visit.

We took a dead cheap and great quality Regiojet bus back to Vienna. We left our luggage in the FREE!!! lockers in the main Bratislava bus station for the first half of the day. I spent the week in Vienna working, indispersed with a little wandering and my first ~ ever ~ visit to a hair salon. There are plenty of vegan food options, including a bakery right in Stefansplatz metro station, though I mostly cooked in the flat. On my sister's free day, we hiked through vinyards to the eastern most foothill of the Alps (or something).

I caught an exceptionally good value Regiojet train to Brno, next. On the Vipassana retreat in Mariazelle I shared a room with P, who subsequently invited me to visit her in South Moravia any time. Since my next 'pull', a week after Vienna, was to Lyon for TheWebConf, and there are good Prague-Lyon bus connections, this is where I went next.

I spent a delightful week staying with P, her sister and parents in Hustopece. We synchronised our work hours, and when we were both free she took me to visit attractions in local villages, and for long walks in nature. We meditated together mornings and evenings almost every day. P is a yoga teacher; I joined her classes when there was space.

It so happened that P also needed to be in Prague on the 21st of April. We took the bus from Brno the night before, and stayed with her friend. In the evening we took a touristy river cruise, and went to Loving Hut. The next morning we walked from the suburbs to Prague Castle, and ate a good breakfast together.

I bussed to Lyon via Munich. The latter half of the journey was full of frustrated people, constant interruptions by the Swiss police, and general chaos. I didn't sleep much.

I have been to Lyon twice before, with my high school French exchange program. I've done the tourist things, though I don't remember them. I stayed with a friend, and mostly my time was filled with TheWebConf and trying to work. It was a hot and sunny week. I got to see a few people I haven't seen for a while and whom I was very happy indeed to spend time with. I almost didn't come to WebConf. France is the wrong direction. But I'm glad I did.

The week wound down quietly. With a late bus on Saturday night I spent the day between the library (wifi sucks, ports blocked), the river bank, YAAFA (no wifi, good falafel) and Perrache bus station (excellent wifi, seats, power).

I arrived to Munich bright and early, left my bag in a bus station locker, and explored.

Next stop Krakow, via another night bus. This time I was headed for a hostel, so I got to sleep in a bed. I explored the town center, and ate some good stuff. After brunch the next day I took a train to Gdynia. This was five hours, and much more expensive than Rome2Rio had led me to believe it would be, but such is life. I could've for half the price taken a 10 hour bus or a night train, but I kind of just wanted to be on my way.

In Gdynia my new landlady picked me up from the train station, I signed a one month lease for a room in a shared flat, and thus begins, at long last, the slowing down.

🏷 austria germany poland vienna krakow munich budapest europe travel Bratislava, Slovakia lyon czech republic prague france slovakia

Tue 1st of May 2018 at 9:00pm (+02:00)

A week in South Moravia

Some chill time in the Czech countryside, with my new Vipassana friend P. Photosets linked throughout.

P met me in Brno, and we spent the evening wandering around in the sun. And whiled the evening away in an amazing tea shop, with different culturally themed rooms (Japanese, Chinese, Indian) and a super chill atmosphere.



We walked around the local countryside, around P's town Hustopece. It's largely flat, with gentle rolling hills and lots of vinyards. Spring was here and the flowers were blooming.



We took the bus to Mikulov, and explored this beautiful town. There's a castle with stunning grounds and gardens, and view over the town from above. We went into the crypt and learnt about the history of the building which had once been a church.



We had a great lunch with some amazing DIY hot chocolates, before wandering up nearby hills.



We hiked up Palava Hill, with stops along the way to look out over the lake, and see various ruins. The lake used to be a valley with villages; you can still see some trees standing tall out of the water, and a small island with the remains of a church. We ended in a town where we visited a chaotic art studio, and had drinks in a nationally famous coffee place, with a beautiful terrace and view from the hillside.



At the end of the week we took the bus to Prague. In the evening we took a boat ride on the river, and ate at Loving Hut. The next morning we walked into the city from the suburbs, and at at Moment, before parting ways.



🏷 travel czech republic

Sat 21st of April 2018 at 1:30pm (+02:00)

Monday the 16th of April 2018

3:52pm

Entry to Mikulov crypt for two and a postcard

146czk (€5.78 / $7.15 / £5.00)



🏷 tourism leisure czech republic

Week in review: 9 - 15 April

• Wandered around Vienna a bit; worked from a few cafes and the library, but it's pretty darn expensive.
• Continued loading and reloading datasets into the new and improved OCCRP Data Portal.
• Messed with Celery Flower for queue monitoring so I can actually see what I'm doing when I'm loading datasets.
• Ran and hiked.
• Took a train from Vienna to Brno, then a bus from Brno to Hustopece, to stay with my Vipassana friend in the countryside.
• Wandered around the area. Did yoga. Resumed meditating.

🏷 vienna celery hacking week in review travel czech republic

Sun 15th of April 2018 at 11:59pm (+02:00)

Five days in Prague

I wasn't charmed by Prague. It's nice enough, but I didn't fall in love with the city or anything.

I stayed in ArtHarmony hostel, a super nice plantlife themed place with lots of bamboo, and mezzenine sleeping platforms in the rooms instead of bunkbeds. It was quiet, the kitchen functions if a bit small, and the staff were friendly. I discovered too late they buy 1 EUR for 26 CZK (for guests only) which is by far the best rate you'll see in town. Internet was good, and common area plus a desk in the dorm were both good to work from. I'd stay there again.



I alternated laptop days with touristing, but it was so freaking cold I ended up more on the side of laptop. At least it was dry and sunny though. But oh god, so cold.

On the first afternoon I went for a wander, and found the TV Tower. It's 250czk (10eur) entry, and good views. I ended up at the top slightly after sunset, which was not optimal. There's wifi up there, sofas, and interesting chairs, so it's a good place to pass time without freezing to death.



I went to see Black Panther at a little independant cinema (chosen due to its proximity to a vegan restaurant).

I worked all through the weekend, with a little break to visit the old town. Of course the astronomical clock, the only thing that sounded particularly interesting to see, was shut down for repairs and covered in scaffolding. Otherwise there's gothic spires and fancy architecture and bright coloured buildings and stuff.



I had a full sightseeing day on Monday. It was so cold that when I wrapped a scarf around my face, the damp patch from my breath condensation froze into a solid block. The small block of scarf-ice was still preferable to the air directly though.

I walked along the river to the Castle. I didn't pay to go inside, but the grounds are extensive. The Cathedral is impressive from the outside.



I walked through Petrin Park and climbed the hill. There's a little funicular, which takes the same tickets as the regular tram, but I am committed to climbing hills unnecessarily, even when I can't feel my legs. Especially when I can't feel my legs.

There's an observatory at the top which was of course closed on Mondays. There's a big castle-y wall. I went up the Petrin Tower (150czk) hoping to catch the sunset, but I was early and it was crowded up there. There are two spiral staircases on top of each other, one up and one down. They're both exposed to the outside, and at that height the wind was bitter. Views over the city are always good though.



I took a different route back to see other parts of the park.

Then I got into bed for two hours to reheat and swore I was never going outside again.



That's pretty much it. I took the bus in to Florenc station, which is further north, about a 30 minute walk from the town center. I didn't stick around, but it looked like a fully-fledged properly-resourced bus station.

I caught the bus out from the Main Railway Station though, which is half way between town and Florenc but also just some signs at the side of a massive highway. The bus arrived on the opposite side to the one I was waiting, and I joined a bunch of other backback and suitcase wielding adventurers in charging across the road to catch it, at midnight. Not ideal. Will use Florenc in future (the ticket prices are always the same).

You may have noticed I didn't write about food! That's because everything I ate has its own blog post.

The rest of my photos.

🏷 czech republic travel prague tourism

Wed 28th of February 2018 at 11:59pm (+01:00)