Vienna and Cruise

Ok, so I got pretty far behind in my blog. Sorry about that.

I had a good time in cesky Krumlov. It was a cute little town and was quite relaxing actually. I ended up hanging out that night with a guy from Dallas, Texas (Scott) which was one of the highlights of my trips so far. We had this silly bartender with flair, who kept cracking jokes and clapping mint in my face for the mojitos he was making. I feasted on crepes with Scott the next morning before hopping a shuttle to Linz and a train to Vienna.

Vienna was quite a bit of fun. I was alone hardly 3 hours when I met up with 3 girls from the US who were travelling together after studying abroad in Bristol/Genoble. They really were a great time even though being on a student budget meant walking all over the city rather than taking a tram. It was a great way to see the city though, and with company I was able to see the city one day with an opera in the evening and then visit the palace the next. It was hard to set off on my own way as I was enjoyign their company.

From Vienna I took a night train to Venice. My cabin/couchette mate was ok, but I didn't sleep well at all and really missed having a shower in the morning. Venice looked as nice as it had on my last visit and was easy to navigate to the bus station and from there it was a scant 30 minute walk to the cruise terminal. I was rocking out to Ian McFeron Band on the whole walk, the first time on my trip.

I spent the morning in the cruise terminal before the rest of the group finally got there. I did talk to a great bartender for a huge chunk of the time thoough, which kept it interesting.

Once on the cruise I was a bit overwhelmed but it is going well. The first night it was more about getting aclimated and not making any dinner eating taboos. I did hang out in the club that night and it was great to get to meet some new people.

Yesterday we spent the day in Duibrovnik which was just as amazingly beautiful as I had hoped. We did some billy goat moved as we walked along the rock clifs by the water. Old Town was nice but I loved being able to look out at the teal water. It was a very nice day.

Today is a relaxing cruising day. So I have spent time in the pool and now on the internet. I have missed writing to all of you, and will try to do better to keep in touch, even though the internet is insanely expensive.

Travelling-Cesky Krumlov & Vienna

Ok, so I have a bit to catch you up on, as there was no internet at my last hostel. Actually that isn't quite true it was there but it was expensive and there was only 1 computer. So, now to catch you up on my goings on.

Yesterday I was in Prague in the morning and Cesky Krumlov the rest of the day. I woke up exceedingly early (6:30am) and caught a metro to the stop where the bus depot was supposed to be. I of course could make absolutely no sense of where I was or what direction I was supposed to be going. It took me ages of walking the wrong direction before I got it right. Finally I found it on accident basically because I had almost given up. Inside I asked about tickets for the bus to Cesky Krumlov and the guy informed me that they could not sell me a ticket for the 8:15 bus. It had to be purchased from the driver. I then had to guess what direction to go to find "Bus 25" which was not in isle 25 it was at 23. The driver was cranky and didn't want to let me put my backpack with the other 2 people. He also turned out to be a crappy driver, which I found is normal for Czech drivers, luckily it only cost me the equivalent of $10.

Once there it was very worth it. The city was beautiful, magical even. I stopped at the Tourism office, and they helped me figure out a way to get to Vienna today. A shuttle to Linz and then a train to Vienna. That out of the way, I checked into my hostel and realized that the showers were just scary. I then set to walkign around., Cesky Krumlov was easy to navigate and reminded me of Sienna, Italy somehow. it was great and although there were loads of tourists by the main castle it was nice and peacful throughout. I went on a tour of the inside of the castle and ended up with a couple from Lynnwood on my tour. The tour guide was funny and the rooms were mostly decorated from the 1600s. It was interesting. I then wound my way down to the old town area and sat on a bench to read. A girl (Christina) I met on the tour in prague the day before showed but so, we talked for quite awhile before she was off to catch a train. I went out to dinner at a great vegitarian restaurant then back to my hostel. I grabbed a cup of tea and then a drink in the bar downstairs while writing in my journal. I was about the give up on the evening and go to bed, when I ran into a guy in the hall. He was missing speaking to another American so we ended up going out to a bar, with a slightly loony bartender. It was great fun talking and drinking with Scott from texas. We stayed out until the bar closed and we headed back to the hostel still talking away. I quite enjoyed his company.

This morning after a trial with the showers, I went to breakfast with Scott. Coffee and crepes were perfect. Then I caught a shuttle to Linz at about 11am. It was really crowded. They dropped me off at the train station in Linz and I caught a train to Vienna about 10 minutes later.

Once in Vienna my first stop was the ticket office where I got my night train to Venice all worked out. Hooray. Then it was getting lost on my way to my hostel once again, and always. I got my space set up and then went out walking. So, a good day all in all.

I really enjoyed Cesky Krumlov and Vienna looks promising for tomorrow.