Where's Katie Now?

Photos: Croatia

dohnster — Wed, 22 Jul 2015 09:03:00 GMT

Zagreb, Plitvice National Park, Split, Hvar, Dubrovnik

Photos: Kraków & Auschwitz

dohnster — Tue, 21 Jul 2015 19:21:00 GMT

City of Kraków, and Auschwitz concentration camp

Kraków & Auschwitz

dohnster — Tue, 21 Jul 2015 19:13:00 GMT

Want to know a scary statistic? Before the Holocaust, over 68,000 Jews lived in Kraków. Know how many live here now? 120...

Sorry I'm behind on posting. I've been making my way down Croatia and Montenegro, and I'm waiting for my flight to Belgrade, Serbia. I'm surrounded by lots of Ukrainians and Russians here, because apparently Montenegro and Russia have strong ties.

Can't believe there's only 2 weeks left in this crazy adventure? I have a lot to catch you up on! I arrive into Athens this afternoon, then in a couple days will be headed out to the islands.

Anyways, Poland! I took my first overnight train from Vienna to Kraków, which wasn't as unpleasant as I thought, as I shared a compartment with 3 crazy American college guys who were studying abroad. We immediately went to bed, as we left around 10, and were due to get in around 8 AM for a full day.

I slept on and off, as the train and wind rattled outside, but it was surprisingly a lot of fun. If you haven't taken a sleeper train, they're a great way to save on accommodation for a night.

We arrived bright and early into Kraków, where I ended up doing a free 2 hour walking tour of the city and castle grounds by one of the best tour guides I've ever had, who had us laughing the entire time, especially when he admitted "I'm sorry that my language sounds like a broken radio". The town square, castle, and St. George's "dragon" who actually spouts fire every couple minutes, were fun to explore.

During the tour, I met a new travel buddy, and while I was planning on going to the infamous Auschwitz concentration camp the following day, I learnt that the camp has free entry after 3 PM when the manic crowds have died down. So, for a whopping 4 Euros, I went to Auschwitz, and hardly anyone was there, which actually added to the haunted atmosphere it gave off.

Auschwitz wasn't fun. It wasn't pleasant. It gave me the creeps, and made me cry at one point when I saw the giant wall of human hair that had been resurrected. Before someone was sent to a gas chamber, they were stripped of all their clothes and hair, and looking at the leftover suitcases, children's toys and glasses prisoners had left behind before their death was too much to handle. But it was worth every minute. I learnt that over 1.1 million Jews, Poles, and various minorities were slaughtered here by Nazi forces. The crazy part is, when you walk through one of the camps, you would never know it was a concentration camp. It looked like a charming little neighborhood filled with brick houses, and beautiful trees, with paved paths. That is, until you walk under the infamous sign in German "Arbeit macht frei", "Work makes free", the bullshit line the Nazi's fed to prisoners, proclaiming that if they worked hard enough, they'd be freed. Which, of course, was never their intention.

Despite it being a heavy day, I would encourage everyone to visit this historic place as a way to honor the victims of the Holocaust.

I eagerly hopped on a bus back to Kraków, and spent the following day exploring a salt mine. It was ok; it had a gorgeous underground cathedral and lake, which was the highlight for me. The van dropped me off in the Jewish Quarter/ghetto, where I hopped onto another free walking tour where I learnt about the dark history of the city during Nazi occupation, and saw scenes from where Schindler's List was shot. The guide admitted that Stephen Spielberg helped bring tourism to the city upon the groundbreaking film.

However, the highlight of Kraków for me was visiting Schindler's factory museum, which basically takes you through Kraków before, during, and after the Holocaust, and how the Nazis changed everything. I learnt more there than anywhere else in Poland. If you ever go to Kraków, don't miss this place. It was my favorite thing I did while there.

Beyond the history of the city, Kraków was an incredible place to explore, however, I'd had my fill of Eastern Europe and was anxious to get down to sunshine and beaches. I hopped on a flight down to Zagreb, the capital of Croatia, where you can read more in my blog post above.

Happy travels and pierogis! (Amazing Polish dish you gotta try, it's like stuffed pasta).

Katie

Photos: Vienna & Bratislava

dohnster — Fri, 3 Jul 2015 08:46:00 GMT

Vienna, Austria & Bratislava, Slovakia

Vienna & Bratislava

dohnster — Fri, 3 Jul 2015 08:28:00 GMT

Greetings from a ferry off the Dalmatian coast! Me and my new travel gal pal Kirsty, who hails from Leicester, England, have been travelling together now for about 4 days after we met in Zagreb and realized we were taking the same route down to Greece. We’re headed back to Split, where we’ll catch an afternoon bus to Bosnia. I can't wait to tell you all about the islands over here! I'm burnt to a crisp, and don't even care, I'm having so much fun. But more on that later…

Anyways, backing up this train... upon leaving Prague, I took a surprisingly comfy overnight bus to Vienna, which got me there promptly at 8 AM. I can't recommend overnight travel enough; it's cheap, easy, usually comfortable, and you save on accommodation for a night!

I met new friends on the bus and hostel, and after checking in, we set off to explore the city, which meant an exhaustive day of walking everywhere. We visited St. Stephen's Cathedral, where we had a fantastic view of the city, the famous Opera house, more churches, a lovely park, the Spanish Riding School, and ended at the Royal Palace, where I later took a tour of the royal family’s home.

I wish I could say I remembered all of this, but everyone was so tired that we kind of walked aimlessly to tourist site to the next in a haze.

Believe it or not, one of my favorite parts of Vienna was my hostel. I stayed at Prime Rooms Vienna, which is essentially a giant house-converted-hostel where about 10 people stay at a time, and has a family-orientated atmosphere. That night, we had a BBQ, cracked open a few beers, and played Cards Against Humanity (Aussie rules, where I learnt what the words “bogan” and “boat people” meant), before tucking into a surprisingly comfy bed. The great part is, if you want dinner, you simply chip in what you think it's worth into a bucket, so grocery shopping is done during the day, and when you return, dinner is either on the table or close to being served.

I have to say, of all the places I've been, I wasn't the biggest fan of Vienna. Sure, it was lovely, had gorgeous architecture and parks, but it did not leave me spellbound the way Prague did.

The following day, we decided to take the 1 hour bus to Bratislava, Slovakia. As I learnt, this city has actually been around since the Stone Age, and has a long history under the Hungarian dynasty. Because we were limited on time, we walked around and decided to do a castle tour by car, which was nice, but the downside was trying to take pictures without cables and traffic getting in the way. I usually opt out of tours that include transport, because walking makes for great exercise, and I tend to pay better attention to a personal guide as opposed to a pre-recorded speech with headphones.

We reached the top of the castle, snapped a couple pictures, and got back into our cute town car to complete the tour. We had just enough time to walk around the Old Town and take pictures before feasting on a pork knuckle (which was AMAZING), and sampling local beers.

The highlight of the trip came when we opted out of a return bus and splurged on a riverboat back to Vienna. Deciding to make it more fun, we purchased 2 bottles of Slovakian wine, and admired the views of castle ruins, churches, and campsites while cruising up the Danube.

As much as I wanted to stay in my hostel another night (it was poker night, and I do love a good round of Texas Hold ‘Em), I hopped on my first overnight train to Kraków, Poland!

Until next time. Happy travels!

~ Katie

Photos: Prague

dohnster — Tue, 30 Jun 2015 00:05:00 GMT

Czeching out Prague

dohnster — Mon, 29 Jun 2015 16:00:00 GMT

Guys, maybe I shouldn't go to Greece now. Have you been reading the news? They're about to go bankrupt, and the banks will be closed all week, with deposits being limited to 60 Euros per day. Yikes! I could still make it work on a tight budget, but on the other hand, things may be about to get super cheap! Nah, who am I kidding? I'm totally going to go. That country has been on my list too long.

Anyways, Prague is on the blog today! What was supposed to be about 2, turned into 5 fun-filled days here, because I was mesmerized from start to finish at how much there was to see. Even after 3 unique tours, I still felt as if I had only scratched the surface, and because everything was so cheap, I decided to extend my stay.

There comes a point in every backpackers time abroad when you think to yourself, "I just want to leave my sh*t all over the place, and NOT listen to others snore in a dormitory"! Which is exactly why I booked myself a small and simple hotel room. I splurged, and by that, paid 70 Euros for 4 nights in a quiet part of town about 15 minutes by tram outside the city, away from the noise and tourist traps. And it was worth every cent. Sometimes, you just have to have you own space.

Because Prague is so overwhelmingly large, and there was so much to see, I did 2 walking tours with the well-reviewed Sandeman's Walking Tours. They were wonderful, and considering one of them was free, it was worth the time and tip!

I did a 3 hour city walking tour, which covered a bit of the long history of Prague, and the guide gave us several suggestions of things to do in the city. The Czech's have a long history with their beers, so long, in fact, that at one point, it was safer to drink than the water supply in the city. Armed with that knowledge, I decided to indulge in a beer tour, which ended up being one of the highlights of my time there. We covered 3 historic pubs and tasted different beers while learning about the influence of Czech beer, and afterwards, were taken up to the city walls overlooking the skyline at sunset, where a rave was being thrown. Kegs were rolled out, a DJ was playing, and about 100 locals were swarming all over the place, drinking and dancing. We took some pictures, drank a beer, and soaked in the view.

We were introduced to this statue seen above, a pregnant woman completely exposing herself. The craziest part is, there is a hole you can climb into between her legs, which we all took turns being "reborn", and laughing hysterically all the while from our beer buzz.

One of the things I DID NOT like about Prague was the chaotic tourist traps. Tourists, stag do parties, and everything in between were crammed throughout Old Town, and it almost reminded me of New York's jam-packed summer days. That being said, I avoided the popular pub crawls and instead opted for a highly rated cocktail bar coined "Anonymous Bar", in which you have to take a shot upon entering called "Passcode" which unlocks their top secret menu of delightful cocktails! It was nice to be in a popular place surrounded by locals as opposed to tourists, for once.

The following day, I met up with 2 ladies from my previous tour and did the Castle Tour, which took us up to the viewing point overlooking the city. As I learnt, Czech has a wonderful and wacky history of its royals. One of them used to have a midget who would crawl out from under the dinner table every evening to give prophecies, and then return before the meal began, while another owned a pet moose he kept inside the castle, until it was given too much to drink, and broke its neck tripping down the grand staircase. Poor thing...

Were were lucky in the fact we witnessed a ceremony in the courtyard during our time there, though the guide wasn't sure what the occasion was for. I also met a man who had been protesting for his house back, who famously comes to the castle every day for the past 6 years. We learnt that the former Communist government stripped his family of their home, and destroyed the legal documents. Which meant, as of today, he is still unable to obtain it.

Upon the tour ending, the 3 of us wandered down from the castle to a beautiful city garden where we spotted albino peacocks and the parliament building. We wandered around, winding our way through beautiful neighborhoods along the river, until we found the John Lennon wall, which is constantly being painted over by locals and tourists alike. Wandering through the city on our own agenda felt so lovely, especially since this side of the city has fewer tourists and quiet pockets of gardens, beautiful buildings, and a very unusual fountain (shown below).

Walking across the Charles Bridge at dusk was one of my favorite things to do. The bridge itself is over 600 years old and still standing. I listened to violins, watched artists sell their work, all the while taking in both sides of the city, with Prague Castle on one, and Old Town on the other. Street festivals, food stalls, and outdoor concerts were a plenty, so I meandered across to catch an outdoor concert and drink Czech cider, which was pretty good!

When I felt I'd gotten my fill of the city, I hopped on an overnight bus to Vienna, where the adventure continues!

Happy travels,

Katie

Iceland: Let's party til it gets dark!

dohnster — Sun, 21 Jun 2015 23:30:00 GMT

Welcome back! I'm sipping a Pilsner in a famous establishment in Prague right now called Mlejnice about to indulge in a beer goulash with cranberries, followed up with a beef stew soaked in plum sauce. So exciting! It's also costing me about $11 USD, and the fact that 20 other tourists just walked in and were told they'd have to wait an hour makes me even more excited about this place! Suckers.

But hold up... can we just talk about this? Look at these photos below? You see that? 3:30 AM! Basically, the sun never went down, and neither did my new friends and I, coining the phrase "let's just pass out when it gets dark". Which, of course, it never did. Which meant a bit of bar hopping and dancing down the main street of tiny Reykjavik, which felt so odd as my circadian rhythm was saying "what are you doing awake", and "why aren't we tired yet"?, and "why are Icelanders passed out on the street when it's still light"? Watching people stumble around in broad daylight at ungodly hours is one of the strangest things I've ever seen…

You guys, I spent 5 days in Iceland. ICELAND. Even just typing it brings back awesome memories and makes me want to go back. Maybe I left too soon? Though my bank statement would definitely disagree after what I dropped on tours, lodging, and some amazing souvenirs which included Icelandic wool and volcanic salt. I don't even know what I'd cook with that, but I had to have it! Iceland is REALLY expensive... a beer on average costs about $11 USD. And the truth is, even if you do the country properly by renting a car and driving/camping around for 2 weeks, the whopping price of gas will still set you back a pretty penny.

Traveling in Iceland was akin to being on a foreign planet. The landscapes are incredibly surreal, and change frequently, from volcanic rock leftover from thousands of years ago, to serene green fields filled with wandering sheep climbing local mountains with waterfalls cascading below. And the sunsets! OH. MY. GOSH!

One of the items on my bucket list has always been to ride an Icelandic horse. Growing up with horses, I claim to be an experienced rider, though that's always the last thing you want to tell the guide. But I did it anyways, and I have no regrets, because they gave me Bloodsmear, a little brown guy who loved to run. We spent the next 2 hours galloping through gorgeous green landscapes, until a lava rock that was kicked up sailed inches in front of my face, and I decided maybe slowing down would be a good idea. These horses move differently than your average horse, but surprisingly, are very smooth to ride.

After I got back into town, I did a free 2 hour walking tour of Reykjavik, which was actually one of the highlights of my trip! I always recommend doing a free walking tour in every city you visit, because the guides work hard for their tips, and most times, don't disappoint. I learnt about the weird history of Iceland, its notoriously corrupt government, and even witnessed a strike at parliament. The recently retired stand up comedian-turned-mayor of Reykjavik ran for office as a joke, and made outrageous campaign promises, such as making the government cocaine free by 2018. The Icelanders were so sick of poor politicians, that they actually elected him, and he made himself famous by participating in Pride Week every year. (Even the fierce viking statue in front of the prime minister's house still has lipstick on him).

While originally planning to taste whale steak and puffin, upon viewing both the whaling ships and whale watching boats in the harbor, and learning how Icelanders don’t eat either (apparently it’s just a tourist thing), not to mention the puffin population has rapidly declined since tourists were introduced to it as a meal, I quickly changed my mind, opting for fresh fish and chowder.

Another fun fact I learnt was that until World War 2, Iceland was virtually cut off from the rest of the world. With the influx of American and English soldiers, roads, houses, and the 2 airports to date were built, and Coca Cola and bubble gum were introduced. In fact, more Coca Cola is drank in Iceland than any other country per capita, claiming that it reminds people of "the good old days”. Also, beer wasn't legal in Iceland until 1989, so apparently there's a beer holiday every year!

That afternoon, I headed off to the famous Blue Lagoon, a geothermal spa, and one of the most famous natural wonders of the world. I soaked, swam, and sipped a cocktail. Life was good. I also put the natural mud masque on my face, which surprisingly left my skin soft and bright! If you go to Iceland, you should definitely do the Blue Lagoon, but go in the early morning or late afternoon/evening when no one else is there.

The following day, I did a "Fire and Ice" tour, where we started off with a hike down a valley to hot springs, where we soaked in 40 degree Celsius water, then headed off to a glacier, where we snapped on cramp ons, grabbed our axes, and avoided falling through crevices. It was incredible to see how fast the snow was melting, and the guide pointed out that the glacier recedes 500 meters per year. Following the glacier, we stopped by a couple waterfalls to explore and take pictures. The weather constantly changed from dry to light rain. If you plan on going to Iceland, bring a raincoat and maybe even a dry change of clothes for outdoor activities.

The next day, I slept in and did an afternoon Golden Circle Tour of Thingvellir National Park, Gullfoss Waterfall, and the famous Geysir (where geysers get their name from)! This is, by far, the most popular tour of Iceland, and as you can see below, the views are spectacular, and the weather was perfect that day.

On my last full day in Iceland, I crossed another big item off my bucket list: to snorkel Silfra, which is the fissure between the North American and Euroasian continental drift. Basically, I snorkeled between the crack dividing North America and Europe. And. It. Was. Amazing! The tagline of the tour read "It's cold but it's worth it". Damn if they weren't right! You see, the temperature of the ancient glacier water never changes between 2-4 degrees Celsius all year round, which meant I was snuggly dressed in my clothes, a dry suit, thick woolen socks, then another thick rubbery suit, gloves, flippers, and of course, my snorkel. Which meant for 35 mind blowing minutes my hands and face froze! But that was ok, because it was far too incredible of an experience to complain, plus they gave us hot chocolate and cookies afterwards to celebrate. The other cool part about Silfra is, because the water has been filtered through the lava rocks, it's as pure as it gets. We dove and gulped up as much as we could!

That evening, a friend and I walked around town, where I took some incredible last snaps. If you end up in Iceland at some point, I highly recommend staying at KEX Hostel in Reykjavik, a family friendly, and renowned hub where both tourists and locals flock for a cool atmosphere and killer drinks. All of my tourist activities were booked through the hostel, where you can find here: http://kexland.is

Happy travels!

~ Katie

Photos: Iceland

dohnster — Sun, 21 Jun 2015 03:46:00 GMT

Party til it gets dark!

That fuzzy weekend in Galway...

dohnster — Sun, 14 Jun 2015 04:57:00 GMT

Hello everyone! This is my first official travel blog post, and I am so excited to share my adventures across Europe (and who knows where else) with you.

Last weekend, I met up with some old Boston pals as a type of "reunion" in Galway, Ireland. But let's go back to that first epic day...

I took a long bus drive down to Belfast, where I met my friend Paul, who had been zipping around the country the week before in a tiny car, and we took off and headed to Giant's Causeway, where we were promised spectacular views along the coast. We thoroughly enjoyed cruising around the countryside, admiring the green views, sheep, and occasional rainfall all while listening to the Euro pop radio stations. (Which were, much to my disappointment, much like American pop radio stations).

We eventually found Giant's Causeway and hiked down to get a great view of the spectacular cliffs and take pictures. Did I mention how GREEN this country is? After hiking up the cliffside and trying not to imagine what it would be like back in the old times with shepherds having to carry sheep up there, we jumped back in the car and headed to Londonderry, where we checked into a hostel and cruised into a local pub, where we promptly met a bunch of young locals on a break from university, At that point, we were behind on our drinking, and proceeded sink a couple beers. Live Irish music was being played, which meant that everybody got up at random parts of the night to start kicking up their heels and dance and drink. It was great, and as stereotypically Irish as you could get.

The following morning, we set out on a 4 hour drive to Galway, while I navigated and covered my eyes, saying Hail Mary's every time Paul whipped the car around a roundabout. Driving (or even being in a car) in Ireland genuinely terrified me. We stopped every now and again to take pictures and speak in incredibly bad Irish accents which made us sound more like pirates, but we didn't care. Fun was being had. We had a bathroom break after passing through Sligo at a pub, which turned into a "well let's have a pint" break, and upon learning from the bar maid that it IS indeed legal for the car passenger to drink, I ordered a road soda and headed out the door. We eventually came across a sign for a sheep shearing competition, which was incredibly tempting at that point, but were low on time and needed to get to Galway!

A couple hours later, we were reunited with all our friends, and much merriment was had. At this point it gets a little fuzzy. All in all, it was a weekend filled with beer, midnight Hillbilly's runs (Ireland's version of Kentucky Fried Chicken), where we probably consumed enough chicken to sustain several local farms, beer, dancing, beer, singing, beer, and then managing to pull it together to walk around Dublin's touristic areas. You know you've had a good weekend when you're in Temple Bar and all you can manage is a diet coke while everyone around you is on another planet all together. And yes, we definitely skipped the Guinness brewery.

In many ways, parts of Ireland reminded me of my time in Boston; it's quaint charm, and especially the young, rowdy atmosphere brought me back to my college days bar hopping on Boylston Street in Back Bay.

Next destination: Rekyjavik, Iceland

Happy travels & until next week,

~ Katie

Photos: Ireland shenanigans

dohnster — Mon, 8 Jun 2015 04:29:00 GMT

Galway, Dublin, and some in between