Some vacation pictures.

[Boo_Radley]

A few pictures from my last trip.

In Poland, I visited

Krakow:



Warsaw:



and took day trips to

Auschwitz:


and an old salt mine at

Wieliczka:


That was fairly interesting.

In the Czech Republic, I went to

The middle ages town of Czesky Krumlov:



And of course to Prague:



I also went to Vienna:



And Budapest:



Where I also visited

Statue Park:



I think Krakow was my favorite city. If I'd had people to go party with, then Budapest probably would have been. Czesky Krumlov was really spiffy, but there wasn't a lot of action, like in Prague.

Vienna was pleasant, if that's what you're into. It's really a nice place, but not exactly exciting, and Warsaw seemed pretty cool, but I didn't spend enough time there to really know. It's supposed to be a pretty rough place, but it looked like fun to me. I think it gets a bum rap in the travel guides.

A lot of these places, especially in Poland and Hungary, are a curios mix of hope and sadness. The economies are rebuilding, but the poverty is still unbelievable. To put it in the words of a cabbie in Budapest, "They say the economy is wonderful. They say the economy is flying! But I don't see it."

There's a lot of construction, old dilapidated buildings being cleared and rebuilt, and a lot of tourism, mostly Germans, I think.

The USD/Euro are very strong there. You can enjoy very fine dining in very swank restaurants, have an unbelievable meal, and walk out with a ten or twenty dollar bill. And the people seem to love tourists from the EU and US, because we love to spend money :)

Definitely worth a trip. The airfare was high, it was over $700, which really hurt. After that, I got a Rail Europe East pass to cover all rail travel for about $200 total. I stayed in hostels, boarding houses, and cheap hotels, and the cost of food is negligible. All of the cities I went to had great public transportation, and I only needed to use a cab in Budapest (and that was only because I was in too big of a hurry to walk).

I was a little worried about going to that part of the world, not sure of what I would find, but I think I even enjoyed it more than a similar trip I took last year through Western Europe.

Plus, there were some great photo opportunities. That's become my hobby over the last two years.

[MsAnthropy]

1. Wow! Thanks for posting. Those are beautiful.

[I Have A Dream]

2. It sounds like a wonderful vacation! Great pictures!

Thanks for sharing them with us.

[djeseru]

3. Thank you for sharing these!

I'm so jealous...I would love to be able to travel Europe the way you did, especially into Eastern Europe.

[auntAgonist]

4. fantastic photographs and commentary!!

thank you .. now I want to go there too!!!


aA

[LSK]

5. wow those are great pics

Sounds like an awesome vacation. I would like to do something similar someday. Did you travel solo?

You might be interested in uploading your pictures to photo.net. There are also travel stories there.

[Boo_Radley]

6. Thanks everyone

The trip was a lot of fun. The likelihood that I'll go back to Krakow some day is pretty high, too. Maybe not for a while, though. Spain's next up on my list, and I'd like to try to visit St. Petersburg and Moscow some time, too. I also want to go to Mexico, and Greece some time. Plus, my little brother likes to take the winter off (he's a cab driver and bartender), sublet his apartment, and move to Thailand for the winters, and I'd like to try to visit him out there some time.

[MissMarple]

7. Thanks for sharing! And Spain is a great place to visit.

My favorite city was Barcelona. We were on a tour of Spain and Portugal last summer.

[Boo_Radley]

17. Barcelona or Madrid

I'm thinking Barcelona. I'm watching a Rick Steves travel video on Spain and Portugal right now. So far, I think Barcelona is going to be the winner. It does look like an awful lot of Spain has an awful lot to offer, though. I doubt you can really go wrong with any of it, I'm just trying to maximize how right I go.

[momophile]

8. very cool! I'm jealous.

I've heard such good things about Budapest and Prague but haven't gotten to either one yet. Hopefully soon.

Have fun if you go to Spain! And share those pics too!

[WCGreen]

9. Thank you ....

WOnderful Photos....

[livetohike]

10. Beautiful pics!

Thanks for posting them. I have never been to Europe. My Dad was born in Czechoslovakia (Slovakia these days) and my Mom's background is Slovak too.

Thanks for taking me there :-).

[Boo_Radley]

11. I almost stopped in Slovakia

I had intended to stop for a day in Bratislava but I was traveling part of the way with a friend, and we were meeting up in Vienna, so it was either have a friend for a day, or spend the day in yet another cool city, and I was looking forward to having someone I could talk to for a day (not a lot of English speakers in that part of Europe). I went through it on train, and it looked very nice.

[livetohike]

14. I know that my relatives back there do not speak English

My Dad never wanted to go back with me to visit. I understand the language, but speak it like a three year old :-(.

My Dad p;assed away last year and my Mom has no interest in going

I know there is a lot of poverty because as my Dad said, "There is a reason your grandparents wanted to leave their home land."

[Boo_Radley]

15. I'm sorry to hear about

I'm sorry to hear about your dad.

[Clintmax]

12. Sounds like a GREAT vacation, Boo!

I love all the pictures! Thanks for sharing them with us! The only place I've been out of the country is Rome, Italy. I loved it there! Have you ever been?

[Boo_Radley]

16. Yes.

I only spent a day there, though. Last year I did a similar trip through Holland, France and Italy. I only spent a day in Rome, though. I ended up loving Florence and Amsterdam so much I spent all the time I had for Rome except one day, and didn't even get to go to Venice at all. I'm going to have to go back, some time. I'm thinking about doing South of France and Italy as one trip some time, but probably not for over a year.

[freethought]

13. WOW! You were at the Rauthaus!

I was in Vienna last year for a few days. I was able to see a good portion of it. There is some pretty incredible architecture in that city. I enjoyed the food too!

For those who have never been to Vienna, "Rauthaus" is the name of the Vienna city hall, the steeple of the Rauthaus is in the photograph. It is a very impressive building. I would guess that in the courtyard there are a bunch of stands that sell food, hot beverages (including a spiked punch), and a number of other things. The area around the "Rauthaus" is served by a trolley system called "The Ring". Vienna is the kind of place if you are into culture, art, and architecture.

[Lefty48197]

18. Great pictures.

I love the eastern European architecture. I hope I get to go there someday.

[newyawker99]

19. Those are great pics, Boo!

:thumbsup:

[Crazy Guggenheim]

20. Beautiful.

[wildhorses]

21. thanks for sharing. very nice!!

[rbnyc]

22. Cool!

Thanks for sharing your trip with us.