Wandering in Central Europe – a brief exploration

 2022 Sep 9-30

Marce’s Dad David had been interested in the Central European capitals for a long time – those which had been behind the “Iron Curtain” for decades. We thought about how to put together a trip for his birthday which would give him and Luz an opportunity to see something of the region and to gain insight into some of the cities. The trip was “ambitious” in the sense of seeking to cover a lot of ground in a relatively short time, however it went well. Having identified the cities highest in interest, and discounting those which are currently out of the question, we “joined the dots” with intermediate destinations which would be of interest, and ended up with a loop from Prague back to Prague, visiting the capital cities of Poland, Romania, Bulgaria, Hungary, and Slovakia, as well as a variety of other cities, towns, villages, and the countryside between them. The trip was earlier than David’s birthday, to be able to make it during Autumn rather than in winter.

 

The final route:

 

 

Overall insights:

 

This was a different trip from our own style of travel, and also different for David and Luz. We did a lot of “A to B” travel rather than more leisurely wandering from village to village. It proved quite demanding, with lengthy sections of travel just to get from one point to another; this was not too much of a challenge in some cases, where highways permitted rapid transit, although it was tough to pass so many places which would no doubt be worth a day or more to explore. In some cases, for example in much of what we saw of Bulgaria, travel was a lot slower and more demanding, and we still had to pass by places of interest. We will no doubt return to spend more time in the region, however in terms of achieving the goals of the trip it worked well, with time spent in key destinations, interspersed with simple “A to B” travel with stops to provide breaks and explore as opportunity arose.

 

The heritage of the long period during which these countries were under the influence (control) of the Soviet Union is apparent, to various degrees. The Czech Republic and Hungary have developed commercial and social opportunities to the point that the Soviet period is more or less invisible, Poland has made progress in this sense, Romania still shows evidence of movement away from its Soviet past, and Bulgaria has made least progress. This is a gross generalisation of course, and there’s a big difference between the appearance of Sofia and the reality of the rural areas in Bulgaria, however it’s not hard to find decaying buildings as well as major restoration everywhere we went, particularly in Romania and Bulgaria. It’s evident that membership of the European Union has been helpful in this process.

 

Getting there and back

 

We flew via Frankfurt, introducing David and Luz to the joys of Frankfurt airport; on our outbound route we were diverted to Amsterdam for bad weather, however made it to FRA only a couple of hours later than planned. We had an overnight stop in Frankfurt, and stayed close to the airport. We had planned to head into town for the evening,  however the late arrival reduced the time available and to our amazement when we were leaving for the ‘bus we met Lucho and Janeth, just arriving at the same hotel, and so simply stayed there for dinner and enjoyed their company and conversation. The following day’s flight to Prague was uneventful.

 

The return trip was also uneventful, although the flight reminded us of how exhausting it now is to travel long haul, wearing facemasks throughout.

 

Getting around

 

We hired an estate car for the trip; we were fortunate to be upgraded to a Mercedes C-class Combi, which was a diesel hybrid. This proved comfortable, capable, quiet, and astonishingly frugal – fuel consumption was 5.0 L/100 km, giving a range of 1500 km, or up to four countries between filling up. 

 

We used trams in a few cities, which it’s good to see continue to be the main means of transport. Finding out how to obtain tickets was amusing…

 

Prague

 

Our time in the Czech Republic was mainly in Prague – on our way to Warsaw and on our way back from Budapest via Bratislava we saw nothing of the country other than what can be seen from the highway. Prague itself is beautiful, and the weather was a mix however we had one  sunny day which gave the opportunity to enjoy the views from Buda and to walk the streets in comfort. We were joined by Luz’s nephew Andrés from Berlin on our return and it was good to explore the town with him. The iconic Castle, Charles Bridge, and Main Plaza with its clock were all visited, along with the old Jewish Cemetery and synagogues, as well as simply wandering the town and riverside. We visited the National Gallery, the Mucha exhibition at Obnecní Dum, Prague Market, and also the excellent Contemporary Art Gallery – DOX.

 

 

Wrocław

 

We stopped here on the way to Warsaw, enjoying the old town and sampling pirogies at Pub Beatka.

 

 

Warsaw

 

We stayed at a place on Nowy Świat which proved very convenient to the old town, top which we could walk in 15 minutes or so. The reconstruction of this area, completely destroyed in World War II recreates a beautiful city centre, with restaurants and cafés, along with a lot of souvenir shops. The Royal Palace and Warsaw Museum were interesting and well worth the visit. We wandered the old town, finding something of note on every corner.

 

We breakfasted at the iconic Bristol Café both mornings, which was a great start to the day, and dined one evening, for convenience, at Tokyo Sushi where we were looked after by Maria from Medellín (something about globalisation in this), and also at Enoteca Warszawska which proved excellent. 

 

 

Auschwitz

 

On our way to Krakow we went to Auschwitz, arriving in grey rain, and spent three hours there. It’s difficult to talk about the experience of this crime against humanity, draining the soul with the enormity of what happened, and reflecting on how it was possible and how to prevent repetition, although sadly subsequent history in Cambodia and Rwanda, to name only two, show that this hope remains fragile. We noted, as Alan had when visiting Belsen years ago, that no birds can be heard there… 

 

Krakow

 

We arrived in Krakow in ouring rain, which continued into the following morning, however adequately clad and “umbrellad” we headed out to explore this beautiful city, the old capital of Poland. We walked the streets, spent time in Wawel Cathedral and the Castle, visited the Old Town Square and the market, and found an excellent hat shop - Szapo Hats – where we acquired suitable headgear.

 

 

Orawka, Vlkolínec, and Tarcal

 

On our way to the Tokaj region of Hungary we stopped at St John’s church in Orawka, which we had had no awareness of prior to seeing it at the roadside. The lady looking after it, despite limited common language, showed us around and on our departure kindly gave us guidebooks to the region in Spanish. 

 

Vlkolínec is a UNESCO world heritage site in Northern Slovakia and which remains a traditional rural village, in which the museums display implements, instruments (the curator showed us how to play the fujara), and a variety of items from the region. We wandered around the village enjoying the quiet setting, and also had a pleasant and unhurried lunch.  

 

 

We stayed that night in Tarcal, enjoying an outstanding wine-tasting (including a sample of the high-octane brandy made at the winery where we stayed the night.

 

Sighișoara

 

Our next day’s travel took us across the Romanian border, where despite Romania’s being in the EU it’s not in the Schengen Area so we had to go through Immigration and Customs formalities; the officials were friendly and it was a trouble-free process. We then continued to Carei, and visited Karolyi Castle before continuing to Sighișoara.

 

Sighișoara proved to be an interesting city; we stayed inside the old city walls, and walked the cobbled streets, enjoying the exhibitions in the Blacksmith Tower and in the Clock Tower, and coffee, lunch, and dinner in a variety of places offering local food in warm surroundings. 

 

 

Brașov

 

This was an intermediate stop on our way to Bucharest (București); we found an excellent café - Tâmplārie - with friendly people who helped us sort out how to pay for parking, and then explored the old Town Square and the Black Church, with further stops at a bakery and again at Tâmplārie before continuing our journey. Brașov was a great stop – interesting history, friendly people, and a positive ambiance. 

 

 

Bran Castle

 

This is the place which has been identified as inspiring Bram Stoker in writing “Dracula”. Stoker never visited Romania, and the connection is tenuous, however the castle is widely described as “Dracula’s Castle”. It’s worth noting that although this connection is noted, at the castle itself there is no claim of its being any more than what it is, the historical home of the Saxons who built it, then a variety of others, and finally Marie of Romania, her daughter Ileana, and after the period of the communist regime, Dominic von Habsburg, son of Ileana. The castle is largely devoted to Marie and Ileana and both are fascinating ladies whose history is for from ordinary. 

 

 

Bucharest

 

Parking proved a challenge however we finally found a spot, settled into  our accommodation, and then explored the city. The tree-lined avenue leading to the Parliament Palace is attractive, and it’s apparently a requirement for there to be a wedding dress shop every 20 metres. We found some good places for coffee, lunch, and dinner, and walked extensively in the centre of the old town. Specifics included Biserica Parohiei Rāzvan, Mānāstirea Stavropoleos, Goldsmiths’ Church, the Interior Ministry, and the Atheneum. The layout of the city is reminiscent of Vienna, with circles around the centre and radial roads in all directions. 

 

Sofia

 

Our next stop was to be Sofia, we headed south and crossed into Bulgaria at the main border crossing, with hundreds of trucks lined up for what is presumably a laborious process. Cars are permitted to pass via a separate line and the crossing was not time-consuming. SHortley after entering Bulgaria we headed off the highway to visit the Rock-hewn churches of Ivanovo, set in a canyon among beautiful wooded hills. This, along with Vlkolínec, was one of the few places on the trip in which we were away from urban areas or highways and it was, literally, a breath of fresh air. The church which is open for visits is high in the canyon wall, originally accessible only via ladders, however now accessible via a good path, with rock steps leading down after the church itself.  

 

 

We then returned to the highway, experiencing Bulgarian roads, which are slow going – one passes hundreds of towns and villages with speed limits of 40 or 50 km//h, which is reasonable enough to protect the inhabitants, obviously, however it does take a while to cover any distance.

 

Sofia itself proved attractive – we were fortunate to be there for Independence Day, seeing celebratory speeches and music in the street. We stayed in the Hotel Balkan, shared with the President’s Palace, and found it easy to get to the Nevsky Cathedral, the St Sophia church, with an excellent exhibition of the history of the church, and the Russian Church; there were several stalls selling flea market items and artisan weaving, and we acquired some items. The National Gallery and the Palace National Art Gallery were unfortunately closed, however the Sofia City Art Gallery was open and we found the exhibition well worth visiting. In the morning, after watching the changing of the palace guard, we left to head back into Romania, this time into the west of the country. 

 

 

Timișoara

 

We crossed the Balkan Mountains, stopping at the village of Barzia where a small shop was open selling traditional clothing and bought a textile belt and a sheepskin hat. The border formalities were efficient and we continued into Romania, heading for an overnight stop at Baile Herculane, chosen to break the long journey to Timișoara. This town, a ribbon of homes and hotels in a narrow valley exists owing to the hot springs, enjoyed since Roman times, and allegedly by Hercules, of whom there are several statues. Much of the town is under renovation, and is a mix of 19th century architecture and communist era concrete hotels. It was really enjoyable to relax in the hot pool at our BnB on this overnight stop. 

 

 

 

On our arrival at Timișoara we initially visited the Revolution Memorial Museum, since access to our BnB would not be until later. This proved interesting, and recalls the revolution which overthrew the Ceaușescu Regime, and which started in this city. We then found a place to park and walked into the centre, enjoying a coffee in Union Square while waiting for the keys to our BnB. The centre of the city has several large plazas, linked with wide pedestrian streets, and lined with cafés and restaurants. We enjoyed the Art Museum, with an Oskar Szuhanek exhibition and explored the cathedrals, of several denominations. There was a night market with live music in one plaza (looking onto which was our BnB) and a much more significant concert and market in another, with wine-tasting booths in both. The city proved to be attractive, lively, and a positive surprise. 

 

Budapest

 

Our next destination meant crossing into Hungary, successfully finding a detour via minor roads to avoid a traffic jam on the highway, and arriving in Budapest mid-afternoon. We went first to the National Gallery, since it was raining heavily, and enjoyed dinner overlooking the river and parliament building. The famous chain bridge was closed for maintenance so we took trams more than we had expected, however this itself proved enjoyable, and we were able to take the funicular to reach Buda Hill one day. We had intended to visit the main synagogue, however it was closed for Rosh Hashana. We visited the amazing Central Market, walked the old town in both Pest and Buda, exploring the Fisherman’s Bastion and the castle walls.

 

 

Bratislava

 

Our next destination was Prague, however we arranged the travel day to have time in Bratislava on the way. We walked the old town and visited the cathedral, walking the walls and ascending to the castle. We then continued to Prague, where we spent the last 3 days before heading home (see above for details).

 

 

Statistics

 

We visited 6 countries in 20 days, and spent 2 more days flying to and from Prague.

 

We covered 4169 km in 16 days, so 260 km/day which is far more than our usual 170 km/day, although similar to our average in Canada this year. We had planned 253 km/day so were more or less as expected, however. 

 

Hugs

Alan and Marce

Photos may be used for non-commercial purposes with creedit to alanymarce@gmail.com

 

 

 

A Colombian rain forest break – nine days in the Amazon.

 

A Colombian rain forest break – nine days in the Amazon.

 

2020 Dec 29-2021 Jan 6

 

The pandemic continues to hamper travel internationally, and so at the end of 2020 we decided to make another trip within Colombia. Marce’s Mum joined us for a visit to Mitú, Vaupés, in the Colombian Amazon. 

 

 

Vaupés is the size of Ireland with less than 1% of the population; in Canadian terms it’s bigger than Nova Scotia, with 4% of the population. In global terms it’s one of the least population densities in the world, 1/3 of that of Mongolia. To describe it as “remote” is probably appropriate. Getting around Vaupés is tough. There’s no surface connection other than foot trails which are often inundated. The primary means of terrestrial transport is by river, although the rivers have many rapids requiring portage; one of our guides is from a community near(ish) Canoa (?) which is about 170 km away from Mitú as the macaw flies - we asked how long it takes to travel there by river and he said “18 days”! 

 

 

There’s one road, referred to as “the road” which is Via Monfort, or the road to Monfort from Mitu, although this is more in hope than reality since it turns to dirt after about 6 km and apparently runs out another 50 km or so further on. The dirt section is slow going, taking about an hour for the first 10 km in a tuk-tuk. The official guide to Vaupés shows a paved road from Mitú to Pirapipa (?) however this is either a figment of the planners’ imagination or a low key practical joke played on visitors. 

 

 

 

Mitú is an airstrip with a surrounding village, or town, or perhaps city, depending on your definitions, with a population of about 30,000, so about the same as Dundalk or Cape Breton-Sydney. It’s about 630 km from the next largest population centre in Colombia. Getting to Mitu is essentially practical only by air, with commercial flights 3 times a week. The primary means of transport in Mitú are mototaxis (tuk tuks) and motorbikes. The former are surprisingly capable of travel on rough tracks, albeit slowly, and one wonders whether there’s a market for tuk tuks with longer suspension travel and good damping. The fact that the village is built around the airstrip means that although the distance from one side of the village to the other is not great, you have to go all the way around the airfield so using a tuk tuk is more frequent than one might expect.

 

We were welcomed to Mitú by Rosmilda, who was our guide for most of the trip, and who provide to have good project management skills and focus on our interests. We were ferried to the Quenari Wii posada by Mauricio, the owner – this was the only time in 9 days on which we used a car. The posada was comfortable, the bedrooms air-conditioned, and the verandah was equipped with hammocks which were well used in the following days.

 

Our routine, most days, was to rise early (as early as 0430h!), consume coffee, and then head off to explore one of the options in the area. Most days this was by tuk tuk, which either took us to a trailhead whence we walked, or on a couple of occasions dropped us at one of the river docks, or “ports”, to head off on the river. A couple of days were more relaxed, giving us a change from the early start needed either to take advantage of the cooler (less hot) morning or to optimise birdwatching. We were fortunate on one of the excursions to meet Florenzio, who we discovered was a very capable bird guide, and we were able to go out with him twice in the remaining time we had to seek birds, very successfully.

It was surprising to find that the topography is more undulating than expected - in addition to gentle hills there are numerous monolithic “cerros”, where the Guyana Shield basement rises steeply in quartzite domes or inselbergs, like the Påo do Azucar in Rio de Janeiro however with fewer tourists. On several of our day long walks we saw no other people outside the villages, and on others we encountered one or two people, and once a family of six heading to the river to fish. The only walk on which we met other visitors was at Urania, adjacent to Mitú. 

 

So, the “expeditions”:

 

1)    Cerro Guacamaya – this turned out to be a 14 km 9 hour walk; about half way to the cerro one crosses Caño Sangre, so named for the red colour of the stream; after another hour’s walk the climb begins to the cerro, which is a Guayana Shield inselberg, like the Cerros de Mavecure (see our trip there at https://alanymarcemoreexploration.blogspot.com/2016/04/el-tuparro-and-los-cerros-de-mavecure.html  ) and many others found in the Amazon basin. The latter part of the “walk” is a climb, and a permanent climbing line has been set up to assist in ascent and descent. The view from the top is stunning! On our way back we stopped at Caño Sangre for a very refreshing dip in the stream. This walk was a good start for our time in the area; the others were less demanding and so we were suitably “acclimatised” to the challenge, albeit somewhat tired that evening. 

 

 

2)    The following day was a river trip in Maria’s canoe. Maria proved an able navigator and helmsperson, and we enjoyed our day, leaving Puerto Calvo, heading upriver to Patio Bonito to look for birds, making our way down to a rocky promontory where we swam in the Rio Vaupés, then crossing the river to Terreno Libertad to go birdwatching, and finally disembarking in Mitú at La Serena. That night was New Year’s Eve and Rosmilda had kindly invited us to share the celebration with her and Leonel at the Mitú Real hotel, where we enjoyed conversation, fish, drinks, and fireworks; the lack of transport and nature of the some of the fireworks led to our being invited to stay the night at the hotel, which was very welcome.

 

 

3)    On the 2^nd we made another trip by boat, this time to Santa Marta on Rio Otuyaré whence we walked to Puerto Golondrina with Edwin, along a trail described as the “autopista”, on which the bird life was prolific. We had a traditional lunch with Edwin and his family, after which we were introduced to the pet otter, returned to Santa Marta, then headed upriver Rio Otuyaré to a community where walked the riverbank looking for birds and then enjoyed fresh fruit before heading further upriver to Puerto López beach for a swim, following which we returned to Mitú.

 

4)    Ceima Cachivera – for this trip we travelled in 2 tuk tuks, to provide as much comfort as possible for the participants in the trip – ourselves and Rosmilda being four, and the tuk tuks accommodating no more than three passengers for more than short distances, this being well over an hour’s trip in each direction.  After mingao with Community Capitan César we left with his father Sergio to walk past Cachivera Tucunare into the forest, to the Puerta del Yaro cave, Cerro Cafuche, and finally to another inselberg - Cerro Flecha, once again with amazing views across the forest, then back to the village to swim under bridge and then at Cachivera Tucunare before returning to Mitú. We were fortunate on our walk with Sergio to see a male Guianan Cock-of-the-rock. Sergio knows the area where these may be found, and it was good to see an example of this threatened species; we had seen one (the Andean) briefly in Perú, on our trip around South America (https://suramericacontraelreloj.blogspot.com/2010/07/gocta.html ) without successfully photographing it. This time a partial photo was achieved, however simply seeing this beautiful bird is enough. When returning to the village we were fortunate to meet Florenzio, as noted above, with whom we enjoyed two birdwatching expeditions. 

 

5)    We left Mitú at 0430h to make the most of the morning for birdwatching, picked up Florenzio at the crossroads to Ceima Cachivera, and continued past Caño Cucura to Pueblo Nuevo, arriving at 0600h. It had taken an hour and half to travel 19.4 km. Our birdwatching was outstanding, Florenzio not only knew where birds could be found, their Spanish, English, and Latin names, but also could imitate their calls, so well that they would reply. After lunch in the maloca we enjoyed a swim and then went out again in the afternoon for another enjoyable birdwalk. 

 

6)    Another early start (not quite so early) to go to Urania with Florenzio, which is relatively close to Mitú. We saw large numbers of guacamaya feasting on breakfast in the palms leaving town, and saw lots of birds along the road and at the river on the other bank of which is Urania. We walked through the community and up to the Cerro de Uranio (originally La Morada de Cubay), with a great view over the Rio Vaupés, then returned to Mitú to relax before heading to the airfield to return to Bogotá. 

 

 

Restaurants

 

We found some options which proved good:

 

-       Ba’Arībo, which provides traditional local dishes, with delicious copuaçu juice – we returned there on our last day in search of this, and although it was not planned to be available that day, the owner generously prepared some for us anyway.

 

-       All Grill, which is clearly very popular, and which provided tasty pizza and hamburgers, along with an odd range of drinks based on what was available – the Maracuyá Mojito provide quite palatable.

 

-       Los Dos Paisas – finca. This is somewhat out of town, i.e., about 3 minutes in tuk tuk. We arrived at around 1300h and this was apparently very late for lunch, however we were provided with food in large quantities.

 

-       La Roca – even further out of town, i.e., about 10 minutes in tuk tuk. A new bar & restaurant, with slow service but good food.

 

-       Donde Chabela – for breakfast (brunch) on New Year’s Day, friendly and with good tamales. 

 

Abrazos

Alan & Marce