Vienna and Bratislava

Hello everyone

Well….we made it to Vienna, but not before spending time at Hainburg. This small town sits very near the border between Austria and Slovakia, and had a great free parking spot overlooking the Danube. It was a great base for cycling upstream along the river, and walking downstream, as well as good train and bus links. So, we left the van and headed for the cities.

Vienna is such a beautiful place with grand ornate buildings packed in to the centre of the city. Highlights of the trip are the huge St Stephen’s cathedral, the house where Mozart gave his first performance (aged 6 years), the Town Hall (where the 2014 film festival was in full swing) and the mighty Hofburg complex. This was the former Emperor’s residence and the array of buildings is set within parkland. We visited the Treasury and the Lipizzaner horses from the Spanish Riding School.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

From Hainburg, we also skipped across the border into Slovakia to visit Bratislava by bus. This took 20 minutes and cost 6 Euros return for us both! Bratislava is dominated by the huge castle high on a hill overlooking the Danube. A stronghold has been present on this site for centuries, but the current castle was reconstructed in the 1950s. It offers views of the old town, and also the tower block sprawl where most of Bratislava’s residents live. Highlights here were the crypt inside St Martin’s cathedral, the Museum of Clocks and the Blue Church, which looked like it was covered in fondant icing.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our plan now is to continue northwards through Slovakia towards the Tatra Mountains.

Will post again next week - love to all

 

Hallstatt and the Danube

 

Hello everyone

Our guide books said Hallstatt was a stunning place and they were right. We approached this tiny village from across the lake, parked up and walked the last couple of kilometres. The main road passes behind the village at roof-top level before disappearing through a tunnel, but the footpath takes you via the lakeside to the centre. The houses all seem to cling to the hillside overlooking the lake connected by steep steps to the different levels. We spent a couple of days here soaking up the sunshine and the atmosphere.

 

 

From here we headed back towards the Danube staying on a site at Schönbühel overlooking the river and castle (sadly not open to the public). The weather has been very sunny and blisteringly hot followed by mugginess and thunderstorms, so we didn’t venture far.

 

 

We did visit Melk and its abbey 5km away. This huge 18^th century Benedictine monastery and abbey church sits high above Melk overlooking the Danube. Our tour took us through the Marble Hall, Library (with approx. 10,000 leather bound books) and into the church with it’s beautifully painted ceilings.

Our journey along the Danube has taken us through the vineyards growing on the hillside which is reminiscent of our trips along the Mosel in Germany.  We’ve feasted on the renowned apricots which grow in clusters amongst the vines around Weissenkirchen and Krems, but have yet to try the wine!

 

 

We’re wending our way to Vienna in a leisurely fashion – perhaps we’ll have visited before we post the blog again next week………

Love to all

Cesky Krumlov, and Lower Austria

Hello everyone

Cesky Krumlov was beautiful – so good in fact, we stayed there 4 days, and it ranks very high in our favourite places list. The castle complex is huge – built on rock and towering over the River Vtlava which twists through the town. The narrow streets are mainly cobbled leading to small courtyards and restaurants. A month of music festivals was due to start, so entertaining buskers followed one another on the main bridge. The local Eggenberg brewery was founded in the 1600s and our guided tour would imply that not a lot has changed since then! But the beer was delicious!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The drive through South Bohemia towards Austria was beautiful – rolling hills with lush green pastureland and areas of dense fir trees. Once in Austria, we headed towards a free stellplatze at Arbesbach for the night – a pretty spot to sit and relax in the afternoon heat.

From here we headed to Ardagger Markt – a small village 5km from Grein which lies on the Danube. We cycled in to Grein – a small town where the old town house has a tiny theatre inside dating from 1791. The wooden seats had a flip-up bottom because you bought a key (rather than a ticket) which would lock your seat in an upright position preventing others from sitting in your spot. It was very well preserved, and still puts on shows every summer.

 

The following day we cycled a 34mile round trip to Ybbs along the Danube, which looks more green than blue – but is pretty with small villages perching on the steep sided river valley.

We’re heading west to Hallstatt near Salzburg, before returning to the Danube towards Melk and Vienna.

Will post again next week - love to all

Czech Republic

Hello everyone

Well we didn’t post  last Friday due to our short trip back home – it was fantastic to see so many of you and sorry we didn’t get chance to see everyone. It was a lovely holiday within a holiday and great to catch up, and thanks to all those who put us up at short notice. Our flight from Prague was delayed 8 hours (our refund claim has been submitted) but the flight back was uneventful and it was great to be back in the van.

 

From Prague we headed south to the town of Ceske Budejovice which was lovely – uncrowded but full of interesting buildings around the huge town square. We visited the Motorcycle Museum housed in the former salt house – a collection of old Eastern European bikes and a couple of old BMW, Harley Davidsons and Indian motorcycles at the bargain price of £1.47 to visit.

From there we drove through Cesky Krumlov – a UNESCO listed preserved medieval town - on our way to a campsite 2km away. After a day catching up on chores (!), chilling and sunbathing, we plan to explore the town and castle later today. After a couple of days here, we’re heading south into Austria and Vienna.

 

 

We’re about a third of the way through our year out and having such a great time – we’ve travelled 9,744 miles and visited 11 countries and our map on the van door is filling nicely!

Will post again next week - love to all

Poland

Hello everyone

Gdansk was lovely. We chanced upon a car park with security at the music centre, so parked up for 7 hours which cost less than £3. It was right in the centre a few hundred metres from the waterfront. The oldest largest medieval harbour crane in Europe is here –a huge structure amongst the picturesque harbour buildings and city gate.  

 

From here we headed south to Malbork Castle which was excellent. It was home to the Teutonic Knights and was the largest fortress of its time. We took an audio-tour and spent 4 hours in there – many parts have been restored and it is beautiful. Other parts are awaiting restoration, and show how the place had fallen into disrepair. We stayed overnight on the adjoining campsite with views of the castle – an unbelievable £11 with electric and all amenities. We dined in the local restaurant trying out a couple of Polish dishes (and beer, of course!).

Warsaw was our next stop – a sprawling city whose roads were being dug up with confusing diversions in place. We stayed on the city camp about 6km from the old town – unfortunately, it was the least welcoming and most expensive site we’ve encountered so far. However, the old town is lovely. Almost completely destroyed in World War II, it has been completely rebuilt and gained a unique UNESCO listing for a restoration success. We checked out the old town via a street train, and then ambled around on our own.

From there we continued south to Krakow. The nearby Wielizcka Salt Mines are excellent, and well worth a visit. We descended 64 metres via staircase to the first level where tunnels lead to huge underground chambers where the salt has been mined. We saw a chapel (apparently there is one on each level), wall carvings (pictured) and a beautiful grand hall with salt crystal chandeliers hanging from the ceiling. Less than 1% of the total mines are open to the public.

 

Krakow was heaving with people – something we realised we hadn’t encountered for a while! The castle and cathedral stand on Wawel Hill a short walk from the old town with the magnificent St Mary’s Basilica church and its gilded interior (pictured). We mooched around taking in the sights, and then retired for a couple of beers in the sun before the 6km trek back to the van. Today, we are off to visit Auschwitz before crossing into the Czech Republic.






Will post again soon - love to all





 

Riga, Lithuania and Vilnius

Hello everyone

Riga’s old town had an amazing series of markets selling anything and everything within old hangars originally built to house Zeppelins (left). A festival was taking place in the cathedral square with a live band that was pretty good and although busy, the place wasn’t crowded. The House of the Blackheads is one of the most beautiful buildings in Riga (right).

About 45 miles south of Riga is Rundale Palace – an old Baroque place whose ceiling paintings and plasterwork, and parquet flooring have been restored. The gardens were extensive with a huge rose garden, and we stayed overnight on their car park. Here, we met a young Scottish couple who had travelled a pretty similar route to us with their small van, sleeping bags and canoes – it made our van look palatial!!

  Over the border in Lithuania we visited the Hill   of Crosses – this small mound has over 200,000 crucifixes according to the guide book, but I suspect this has been underestimated. It was a bizarre place with some crucifixes up to 3metres high.

We stayed on the city camp in the capital Vilnius. This small city has a huge number of churches (1 has 11 altars!) and it has a relaxed feel. We have been surprised at the amount of English everyone can speak and there has been information in English within the many castles and palaces we’ve visited. We have practised and used ‘thank you’ in each language which has been met with an appreciative smile! Before leaving Lithuania, we visited the picturesque Trakai Castle which is set on an island peninsula. Again, parts have been restored and re-built, but there are very few Lithuanian artefacts inside.

We arrived in Poland 2 days ago, and are currently on a small campsite at Krynica Morska on a spit of land east of Gdansk. The sun is shining and its lovely and warm and we have been entertained by up to a dozen adult and baby wild boar roaming the site! Gdansk next.

Will post again next week - love to all

Estonia, Tallinn and Latvia

Hello everyone

We’ve had a busy last week! The lovely Suomenlinna fortress is spread over 5 interconnected islands 20 minutes by boat from Helsinki, and although it was windy the sun shone. Some of the old fortress walls are still standing, and the islands are now home to 900 residents. The marina was hosting a classic boat event.

Our sailing that night to Tallinn was uneventful, arriving at midnight local time. We stayed for a couple of days at the city camp – a tarmacked serviced area about 3 miles out of town and an easy cycle ride in. The walled old town is beautiful with a relaxed atmosphere, a castle, many churches and great food - we ate out for 2 days and sampled the local beers and cider (tasted and smelt like pear drops - delicious!). We then headed south moving from sun and a cool wind through snow (?!) to persistent rain arriving at the university town of Tartu (Estonia’s 2^nd city).

South from there we entered Latvia and met drivers who take no notice of road markings and love to overtake regardless of whether they can see what’s ahead. We visited Sigulda – a small town in the Gauja National Park with 2 castles and the ruins of a third. Visits to the new castle where the civic offices are housed cost £1.84 each (parking free), so we’ve started to offset the expense of Norway. We are now in the city of Riga on their city camp for the next couple of days, but haven’t ventured far today due to the persistent rain. However, the forecast is better for our trip round the old town tomorrow. From there, we travel south into Lithuania.

 

Will post again next week - love to all