Prague & Cesky Krumlov (Czech Republic), Bratislava (Slovakia), Budapeste (Hungary) and Ljubjana (Slovenia) - breakfast in the Czech Republic, lunch in Slovakia and dinner in Hungary!
We wake up at 4 am and walk to the train station. There’s some work being done on the tracks so the first stage of our trip is a bus operated by Polish Rail. It’s pretty confusing to have a train ticket for a bus which operates just outside the train station next to the regular bus station, say what??? An old guy sees us waiting for the bus with a train ticket and rightly thinks we are lost and it turns out we really are. He’s asking around and finds out we are in the wrong place, we almost miss the bus but for this lovely Polish man may the travelling Gods bless him! After a short bus ride, we catch our train and after a 4 hour train ride arrive in Prague. Our arrival in Prague is kind of unreal. Our B&B is far, very, very far, from the centre, yes we knew that, but the metro line running through downtown is closed for repairs (just the part of the red line which we need of course), so we need to take a shuttle bus to take the metro and then another bus to the hotel. We decide to walk to the hotel from the metro stop as it looks quite close on google maps - about 1.6 ks. We are hot, irritated and kind of lost and cranky. It takes ages to get there and Hotel Orbis costs about 35 euros with great breakfast, is very basic and very far from everything and we start wondering if we’ve made a mistake. Well, after a while, we realise it’s very easy to navigate both Prague and the public transport system. And so starts our love affair with, what we come to think, is the most beautiful city in world.
Prague is a feast for the eyes, so beautiful with so much history, so many architectural styles, so magnificent, so enchanting, I’ll be running out of adjectives soon! We wake up and walk around some more and then at 10am the next day we go on the Free Walking Tour. Our guide is a Czech guy married to an Aussie girl and the tour is very interesting and informative, if a bit too long (3 hours). We visit the Old City and the Jewish Quarter then we cross the river and visit the Castle complex, the Dancing House, and much more! We just walk around and then some more, wandering the majestic streets of this marvellous capital city until our feet hurt, literally. Just so you get the idea, we walked one day from 8.30AM to 5PM, non-stop, even grabbing a sandwich for lunch, so we don’t have to stop the sightseeing. We fell in love with Prague and highly recommend at least 2-3 days here, it’s just incredible!
The next day we then take a very early bus to the train station and catch the 10am train to Cesky Krumlov and discover yet another gem. CK as the locals call it, is incredibly gorgeous and very chilled compared to the overwhelmingly hectic and teeming with tourists Prague. It’s much smaller and has an amazing old town. A lovely river runs through the city and, again, the architecture is incredible. We check in at the Garibaldi House, 35 euros. and the rooms are nice but the bathroom could be a lot cleaner. I ask the owner about a place to eat nearby and he recommends a nice place by a small lake about 400 metres away. We have a real authentic experience, out of the tourist zone, eating a set menu for lunch by the lake and watching the local people swimming and drinking beer, really nice. In the afternoon we go for a long walk in the old town and then back for dinner at the place by the lake. The following morning, we go for an early breakfast and then sightseeing before the avid day trippers from Prague arrive, and it’s absolutely lovely having the place just to ourselves. A bit more sightseeing, goulash with steamed bread and beer for lunch then some more walking around and its time to pack and chill, as tomorrow it’s going to be breakfast in the Czech Republic, lunch in Slovakia and dinner in Hungary, cheers for now!
From CK we take a bus back to the train station, a 2 hour train back to Prague and then a 4 hour train to Bratislava, Slovakia. We take a local tram to the old town, grab a quick kebab and go sightseeing. The city is nice enough but not a lot to see, there’s a castle, a cathedral and a few historic buildings. We ask a young local guy for directions and he asks us what we are doing there. Well, it’s not that bad! We then take the tram back to the train station and then an onward train to Budapest, Hungary.
The owner of the apartment we’re staying in picks us up from the train station, a very nice and friendly guy. The Castle Ponty apartment, 31 euros, is on the Buda side of Budapest, is very nice and bright, very well located and we can walk everywhere. After breakfast, we meet a friend who is also travelling in the region and we go for a nice walk around some very magnificent sights on the Pest side. Budapest is really beautiful and pleasant and the attractions are not so concentrated as Prague so it doesn’t feel so packed with tourists. We say goodbye to our friend and have a lovely liquid lunch at the awesome Hummus Bar (great homemade pitta, hummus, kebabs and falafel etc). Then more walking around, so much to see, so little time! On the second day, we do the Free Walking Tour and learn a lot more about the culture and the history of this incredibly gorgeous city. In the evening we have dinner at the Dunaparti Matroz Kocsma pub and on top of some amazing food (moules frites for me and roast pork knuckle for Paul - both fabulous!!), we get to try the best beer in the world, the Belgian Delirium Tremens, a nice way to say goodbye to this beer heaven city!
Next morning we have another long day, an 8 hour train ride to Ljubljana, Slovenia. We arrive late in the afternoon and are really pleasantly surprised with Ljub, it’s beautiful, it’s friendly, easy to navigate, lots of great squares for people-watching and fabulous beer and food. We stay in “backpacker central” at the hostel Sleeping Beauty, 38 euros. The hostel is extremely well located, the rooms are small but nice enough for a couple of days. The staff are very friendly and it’s very quiet in the evening. Our street has a great backpacker feel, with bars and restaurants and it’s very nice to just walk around or pop in somewhere for a beer. We go out and eat a kielbasa sausage and a soup at a very traditional place in the main touristy street. Then we go back to our room for a well deserved rest. Next morning we go up to the Castle and then take another free walking tour. The guide is nice and again, we learn a lot about the place. After the tour, we walk around a bit more to see a few more sights and then have lunch at the Falafel, very nice! In the evening we walk around a bit more and have a couple more of their amazing beers. This city is really special, we recommend it if you are in this region.
