Short Sharp Shocks

Bam! Budapest!

markoffdamap — Tue, 7 Oct 2014 19:33:00 GMT

My last entry ended qite abruptly, for which I apologise. Got distracted by things to do. No shortage of things to do in Prague, that's for sure!

I left off talking about the trip to Kutna Hora - a strange little town with some cool things to see. The ossuary is the real highlight - sculptures and such made from human bones! I haven't been psting photos, and I know I should. But what can I say? I'm more of a wordy person. Anyway, the ossuary was awesome and the other churches and cathedrals were nice too. The trip there was confusing - involving changing trains and suchlike.

The ride home was much easier, with no changing of trains! The Czech railway system takes a while to get used to! But with practice, it starts to make sense. At least it feels safe, which is a good thing.

Anyway, Friday was my host's day off, so we spent some time out and about. I'm sorry to say that I've managed to lose track of the exact sequence of events, but on Friday (I think!), we went out to a place on the northern edge of the city to do some dog-walking. There's a dog shelter out there and my host is nuts about dogs. Really nuts. Obsessed is probably not a strong enough word... So we went there and met some dogs, all of whom were very nice and very much in need of attention. We took 3 dogs out for a long walk and generally had a great time in the fine but slightly overcast weather. From there, we began an epic adventure to find a climbing gym that's located somewhere out near the airport. Getting there was a mission! On the way, we passed a trio of junkies on the steps of an overpass bridge, one of whom had a needle sticking out of his arm as we walked by. That's a first for me. Never seen that before! Not scary, but somewhat shocking. This then is the real Prague. I'm guessing most tourists don't see that. We eventually found the climbing place, after some disorientation. One of those moments when you think you're lost, but then it turns out you're not. Love those moments - it's a vindication of my own internal naviagation system!

The climbing was great, but they are really only set up for lead climbing - that's all they do here in Europe, so I had to teach my host to belay for lead climbs, then secure the rope at the top so she could top-rope climb the same wall. We had a great time, though she's not such a strong climber and we didn't spend as long there as I would have liked. We returned to her flat quite late. We had a most excellent dinner at an Italian restaurant, where I had probably the best gnocchi I've ever eaten. Truly spectacular! "Quattro formaggio" is about all the cheese I can handle... except for cheesecake as dessert!

The next day we didn't do much. We planned our trip to Cesky Krumlov and walked up the hill from her place to get some spectacular views of the city. It's a hard walk if you try to do it quickly! Worth it once you get to the top though.

On Sunday, we caught the bus to Cesky to see what all the fuss is about. And the honest answer is... we never found out. It's pretty and it's small. But if there were no tourists, it would be dead. It's really a one-day stop, unless the weather is fine, in which case you could go out into the hills for some hiking, or raft the river through town. However, for us, the weather was cold and overcast. We arrived around midday and were met by the owner of the Penzion with whom we had booked our stay. He was a nice guy, and his little place was really nice. We quickly dumped our bags and went into the town centre. Four-and-a-bit hours of walking later, we really felt we'd seen everything. There were some tours we didn't do, and some museums we skipped. Perhaps we could have investigated those. But the town as a whole just felt like a movie set. There was something two dimensional and artificial about the place. It was sad. Perhaps our expectations were too high. The food, however, was great! I feel like I've spent so much time eating... It would be worrying if I didn't enjoy it so much.

The next day in Cesky, we decided we were done and caught a much earlier bus than we'd intended. The upside of this was that I had a whole afternoon to do souvenir shopping for those back home who require such things. As well, I got some domestic tasks done and had a chance to relax and chill out. Much needed! This has been a pretty intense journey so far. And finally, I rolled out about 10.30pm to get the night train to Budapest.

That particular trip was horrendous. Obviously I cheaped out and bought a second-class ticket, so there was no lying down to be done. Over the course of an eight-hour journey, my ticket was checked 4 times. I really couldn't get any proper sleep, so I arrived here in Budapest feeling like hell. My neck hurts, my throat hurts, I have a mild headache and I'm my back feels stretched like a drum skin! A shower and a few coffees has superficially fixed that, but my original plan for a 10.30am city tour was pure fantasy. Instead, I'm melting into the couch of a super-excellent hostel near the city centre. I'm not certain, but I think I may be the only guest here. Certainly a lot of people have checked out this morning. This could be the peace and quiet I need! So I'm going to nap for a while - 1 hour max! - then get organised for the 2.30pm city tour. I'll need to grab lunch first, of course.

Let's see if I can get another update done before it's time for me to go home - there's a lot to do here!

Out and about

markoffdamap — Fri, 3 Oct 2014 19:31:00 GMT

This is going to be a short entry, even thought it's been a busy couple of days.

It's Friday today... Time is going past way too quickly!

On Wednesday, I caught the train out to Dresden (just bizarre - 2 hours on a train and you're in a different country with a different language and a different currency... I'll never get used to that!). Dresden was great, but exhausting. Everything worth seeing is packed into the centre of town, and whichever way you turn, there's something to see. I'll confess that I've really skimped on the museums and galleries on this trip. I probably should be getting more in-depth, but for the most part I'm content to save my pennies and just wander around looking at things. That said, I've still managed to overdose on churches and cathedrals. In all honesty, I'm not sure I can summon the enthusiasm to see any more of those!

Anyway, Dresden was great, but I overestimated the amount of time I needed to spend there, and caught an earlier train back to Prague than I'd planned. Strangely, one of the nicest parts of the whole experience was looking out the train window. The scenery along the way was beautiful! For the most part, the train follows a river, and there's a never-ending procession of barges, riverside towns and half-hidden villas in the woods to delight you as you whizz by. The best photo of the day was taken on the ride home. My overall comment about Dresden would be that it's a great one day destination, with enough to do to make you utterly exhausted , but unless you want to see every single exhibition and walk very slowly, there's no reason to stick around.

Yesterday I went out to a place called Kutna Hora. Their main selling point is a couple of Unesco sights - a cathedral and an ossuary. I went for the ossuary. It's an hour-long train ride, and quite confusing at that. ..

My new home?

markoffdamap — Tue, 30 Sep 2014 18:48:00 GMT

Prague is the most beautiful city I've ever been to. Simple as that. It's unbelievably picturesque. Every way you turn, there's a photo opportunity. It's hard to put away the camera and soak up the city. The temptation to try to capture everything is overwhelming. Even more so when there's a shiny new camera to play with! Time and again the new zoom lens is paying for itself.

But that's not what you want to hear, right? You're here for my humorous shenanigans. Let's begin then, with my first day here. The airport's a bit out of town, as it to be expected. An easy bus ride, followed by an easy tram ride dropped me on the edge of the city, near my host's place...

Wait. I skipped a bit. The flight from Helsinki to Prague was delightfully short and happily empty. Once again, three seats to myself. But the flight was too short to really take advantage of that, plus I needed to read up on how to survive in Prague. Everything went smoothly, including arriving in Prague and finding my baggage. This made me very happy. As usual, I was having "lost baggage" nightmares! (The down side of working in travel insurance, I suppose!)

So, back to where I was. Commuting into Prague. My host gave me the name of a tram stop to get off at, so I did. Well, actually, I missed the stop and went about 3 stops past it. But that seemed okay. No big deal - just hump it back up the road and wait around. I did, but there was no sign of my host (I think I've changed her name to Alice, right?). I waited a little longer, then found myself a cafe with wifi so I could message her. No response for quite some time. Then I got a reply saying she'd been waiting for an hour and gone home to get wifi access! We agreed to meet again. I went back to the tram stop and stood around for an hour... Still no sign of Alice. Not good! Then it occurred to me that there are two tram stops in a row with very very similar names. So I rolled on down to the next one (I'd walked past it after my initial mistake!) There I found a Starbucks for more wifi. Alice was back home again, confused. Argh!

So then she gave me directions to her place... and I walked right back to the tram stop I'd originally gotten off at, which is about 50m from her door! *facepalm*

But hooray! Because I'd finally found my couchsurfing buddy! Of course, by that stage we'd wasted most of the day... I caught a fair bit of sun, too. Not in a bad way, but still... a little pink in the face. So we hung out for a while as I unpacked and got myself sorted out. Then we went out for an expedition into the heart of the city.

And I fell in love. Now, I'll always say that Istanbul is my favourite city. I can't see that changing any time soon. But Prague is a very close second. Really... breath-taking. I could live here. It wouldn't bother me at all. I would be very comfortable. While it doesn't have the gritty edge of Istanbul, it's got something else. I'm going to call it charm, because that's what I feel when I see the little planter-boxes of flowers on the windows. The ornate lamposts. The old stone. Everything really. This list would be far too long.

Yesterday was a whirlwind of walking in perfect weather. Up to the palace. Too cheap to buy a ticket to get into everything, but that's okay. Between a good zoom lens and jaw-dropping vistas of the city, who needs to traipse around museums? I get museum fatigue very quickly. The first 30 minutes are good, but after that I often glaze over. Not always, but often. And then I feel like I've wasted my money. Slouched back home after the palace, footsore and excited. Picked up some sunglasses, dropped off an unneeded jumper and went back out. This time I wandered the back streets and ended up at a museum. Again, didn't bother going in. Soaking up the sun and the sights and the charm was more than enough!

In the evening, I met Alice after work and we went out for dinner and a wander. Found a shisha place later on and settled in for conversation.

This morning, I was up before sunrise (gasp! I didn't even know that was possible!) to take pictures of the Charles Bridge at sunrise. There were very few people there, mostly photographers. but the morning was overcast and not ideal. Now I'm back here writing away.

I've said it before and I'll say it again... I really could live here. *sigh*

In Transit

markoffdamap — Mon, 29 Sep 2014 17:20:00 GMT

This story is slightkly out of date, since I've been in Prague for just over 20 hours, but since the stories of getting from one place to another are always entertaining, it's worth including this. Oh, and it was written in situ, so not a retrospective piece!

Now is the perfect time for a blog entry. I’m sitting in Helsinki, lost in what feels like transit limbo. I’m freaking out about my checked luggage going missing. Can’t say exactly why that’s bothering me, but it is. I smell like the back end of a decomposing yak. Or if I don’t, I feel like I do! After a pleasant flight from Sydney to Singapore, despite an endless circus of screaming children, I transitted through Changi Airport. Utterly unremarkable. Airports just don’t feel real. Except home. Real is leaving and real is coming home. Everything else is weird. You’re always at an airport at strange hours. The simple explanation is that whatever hour your body clock thinks it is, doesn’t match local time. So even when you’re in an airport during normal business hours, your brain is convinced it’s 4am or whatever.

Anyway, after passing through Singapore, I boarded my flight for Helsinki. I think Finnair shrunk the plane by accident. Obviously, ordinary-sized people aren’t supposed to fit in those seats. Actually, I don’t know who they think fit into those lumpy buckets. And of course I end up with some Finnish beefcake sitting next to me. His shoulders were wider than the aisle. I did some napping on the flight, but mostly I suffered extreme discomfort, in varying forms. If I’d had more holidays, I would have taken a break in the middle – split the journey up. Who am I kidding? I wouldn’t have. I would have done exactly what I did. Only 3 more hours, then I’m in Prague, making shit up as I go along. That promises to be exciting. Catch a train to the central and figure it out from there… Wait, I have wifi. I could look this shit up right now and save myself one hell of a headache!

So much for blogging… Okay folks, this is all you get… for now! Stay tuned for more silliness!

Anticipation!

markoffdamap — Fri, 26 Sep 2014 20:37:00 GMT

I fly out in just under 20 hours. Not that I'm counting... Actually, I am. Of course I am. What kind of numpty would I be if I wasn't?

The guts are trembling with excitement. This is my third attempt at a holiday this year - the first two attempts have both ended with me in hospital and no actual holidaying done at all. So, third time lucky! That's why this holiday is so acutely anticipated. I'm biting my knuckles. Figuratively, anyway. Hard to bite your knuckles and type. I'd get blood on the keyboard. Maybe drool too, if I was really chewing... I digress.

I've packed my bags. I've unpacked my bags. I've repacked my bags. I think I can get in one more unpack/repack cycle before I leave. Don't know why (maybe I'm crazy...) but I really enjoy that. Because you really have to think about your trip. Prior to actually leaving for the airport, it's the time when you have to focus absolutely on the things you're going to be doing. I have a goal. I need to be able to do a chin up carrying my full complement of luggage. I have achieved this goal. Hopefully the final repack won't stuff this up.

What else is there to say about anticipation? Is there anything I can tell you that you haven't experienced yourself? I guess not. Unless you're the world's most boring person. Which you're not. You wouldn't be on this website if you were. You'd be playing CandyCrush or some brain-waster like that... Life is too short to stuff around with those things. Get out there and be a World Nomad. Or at least pretend to be one - fake it 'til you make it!

I'm trying not to plan anything. I have all these grand ideas, but nothing is booked aside from the flights. I just want to get there and make it up as I go along. I'm sure I'll miss a bunch of stuff just because I'm not sweating every last minute out of my itinerary. But then, that kind of travel is for tourists. I have nothing again tourists, per se. However, people who are *only* tourists frustrate me. If you want to take a picture of every famous monument, your only memories of your holiday will be what the back of your camera looks like. And that, frankly, would be disappointing. Lots of people have been to Istanbul. But if you haven't spent a day down by the waterside, lounging in a cafe, smoking sheesha, drinking tea, playing backgammon and watching the locals do exactly the same thing, did you really see Istanbul? Or did you just take a bunch of pictures that aren't as good as ones you could have Googled for free? And yes, I know this makes me sound like an insufferable wanker. And to some extent, I am. Still, each city, each town, each country, each place has a feel, a rhythm, a pace. Finding that rhythm makes any place a pleasure to be in. Sinking into that rhythm can make any place feel like home, even if only for a few hours.

So excited! Why can't I be on the plane right now?!

I'll try and keep this updated every day or two - stay tuned for shenanigans!

Preparation

markoffdamap — Sun, 21 Sep 2014 22:18:00 GMT

Is there anything more exciting than preparing to go away?

Even the shortest adventure is enough to blow away a stagnant fog of office life. I leave for Europe in 6 days and I'm extremely exciting (well, duh!). I'll only be gone for 17 days, which probably seems very weird. But that's all the time I can afford to take - between work and financial commitments, it's very much a rushed holiday.

There's a lot going on. But also not. It's that "deep breath before the plunge". I wish I could remember where I heard that phrase. I have everything I need - there's no last minute shopping. I've even written a list of things to pack. I take a bunch of medication (you don't need the details) and I've even counted them out to make sure I have enough to cover me between now and when I get home. Need to fill a script tomorrow though - just in case! I'm planning to overpack the meds so I have 5 days extra with me, to allow for disaster/delay.

This will be my first time travelling with a DSLR - I've always been a point-and-shoot guy previously. It's enormous and eats up around a third of my carry-on baggage allowance! Word to the wise... No way in hell is that camera going in my check-in luggage! FYI - the airline won't cover it if it's damaged, and neither will your travel insurance. Guard that stuff with your life!

This meant that part of my preparation was going into the park today to test out the new lens. I've ditched the old 18-105 and replaced it with a 16-300. Happily, it means I'm still using a single lens - no chopping and changing for me! - but have better zoom, same aperture and same weight. But like everything new, it needs to be tested and I need to learn what I'm doing. Maximum zoom needs a much faster shutter speed... so everything else needs to be adjusted. Lucky I learnt a bunch of stuff about using my camera recently!

But really, that's the less exciting part of preparing. It's the mental and emotional preparation that really makes this part of the journey so exciting. First stop is Prague, where I'll meet a friend who CouchSurfed with me almost a year ago. Let's call her Alice. It'll be so much fun to catch up. It's not the first time I've reunited with a CouchSurfer, but it will be the first time it's happening overseas. Alice is not a Prague native - she's a Londoner. She hasn't been in Prague long, so we'll be exploring the city together. She does have to work though, so it won't all be silliness. Then we've got 4 days of roaming the countryside of the Czech Republic, which promises to be lots of fun. I have heard many good things! After that, I'll catch a train to Budapest to meet another friend. This time not a CouchSurfer, but a friend of a friend. I'll be looking to CouchSurf in Budapest, but I haven't sent off any requests yet. Must do that soon!

Then there's the fact that I haven't been overseas since July 2012, which was a family holiday to Vanuatu... That really doesn't count as travelling, does it?

What I'm trying to say is that it's been quite a while since I've had any of the fast-thinking, hair-raising, jaw-dropping, awkward-misunderstanding, miming-because-you-don't-speak-the-language moments for over 3 years and it's very very very exciting to be throwing myself back into that. With gusto! With such a short time overseas, I need to be going non-stop for the 15 or so days that I'm not commuting. This means everything will be frantic. There may be split-second timing involved, which means things will go horribly wrong. Plans will fall apart. It's possible I'll end up in hospital, like I did after my last backpacking adventure. Maybe I'll be robbed or mugged or drugged... The important thing here is that, as long as I survive the experience, it'll appear on this blog as a rip-roaring tale of adventure; the kind of things you can read to your kids around a warm hearth at the cold end of a cold day. The kids will be gathered around, sitting on the rug, wide-eyed with amazement. The fire will hiss and crackle and crump at the most dramatic moments. And you can end the story with, "And that, my children, is why you always buy travel insurance." ('Scare 'em straight' is still a thing, right?)

I could just keep writing. There's a lot going through my brain, which probably isn't much of a surprise. You'll have to hang in there for the next exciting instalment!