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Euro Winter

December 2023 - February 2024
A 71-day adventure by Jarrod Read more
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  • TravelerEuro Winter
    Day 12

    Buda Castle

    December 26, 2023 in Hungary ⋅ ☀️ 12 °C

    Because we had lost a couple of days to the Christmas markets and a couple to Christmas itself, we had to try and pack in as much sightseeing as possible before we left. Unfortunately, it is still the Christmas period, and some of the attractions were still closed. We started by completing an online Jewish quarter tour. This included a walk along the river in front of the parliament building. This showed us the monument of shoes along the river. This represents the massacre of people by the arrow cross, a fascist, nationalist political group that took control of the Hungarian government during WW2 after the Nazis took power in Hungary. The arrow cross police would bring Jewish and Romani people to the river, remove their shoes to sell to fund the parties cause, before shooting them in the head and letting their bodies fall into the Danube. In some particularly grim instances, toward the end of the war, when executions were at their peak, they would tie 3 people together and shoot the person in the middle, leaving the other 2 to drown. This was to conserve bullets. As a result, in 2002, a monument was displayed in honour of those who died in this horrific way. The display shows the shoes that were left along the river bank after the killings, symbolising the people who once filled them but are no longer with us. We are lucky to have seen them as the river now breached the bank and had begun to flood. The road was filled with people wandering along it, watching the huge river slowly engulf the streets. This took us all the way to the Széchenyi Chain Bridge and the pebble beach next to it. We then followed the tour to a couple of the synagogues within the city that explained their significance. Unfortunately, to enter is very expensive, nearly 40 AUD each, so we decided against this but enjoyed the outside and the walk around the Jewish quarter nonetheless.

    We then decided to head across the river and knock off two major attractions to see while in Budapest. Unfortunately, because it was the day after Christmas, the national library inside the Buda castle was closed. This was a real shame as I was excited to see it, but these things happen around Christmas time. It was still great to walk around the courtyards and public spaces and see the views of the city. Due to deciding against the history museum and the galley, we eventually began our short walk to the Fisherman's Bastion. This is another great lookout / fortification that encompasses a massive Gothic style church. Although, once again, an entrance fee deterred us from going inside, it was still cool to see the areas outside the church and wander through the small Christmas market. We got a great photo of the sunseting over the river timed perfectly to witness the clouds purple with the water also capturing this colour. We began the relatively short journey home, following the river and arriving back at our hotel in time for an early night.    Read more

  • TravelerEuro Winter
    Day 13

    Terror Museum

    December 27, 2023 in Hungary ⋅ ☀️ 9 °C

    This was our last day in Budapest, and as a result, we had to fit in as much as we could before saying goodbye. This meant a quite early wake-up and walk toward the Margerat bridge and on to Margaret Island. This is a beautiful walking, running, and cycling track, recreational area, and a social hub through the many bars, spas, and gardens on the island. Not to mention the small zoo, ancient ruins, and plethora of sporting fields. Something for everyone. Unfortunately, it would be far less busy due to the winter season containing far fewer tourists. As such, it didn't have the atmosphere I expect it normally would. This, plus being the morning, meant it was quite quiet other than for those exercising. I would love to come back during spring and see the park come to live with colour as well as people. Nonetheless, I enjoyed the stroll through the garden and peacefulness that it came with. Eventually, though, we turned around to head back to the city, this time following the river. This was particularly interesting as the river is very full and has flooded the roads right along the river. This meant that, although the track was safe from flooding, we could see the first-hand effects of the large amount of water in the river. After the hour or so walk, we arrived at a museum I was incredibly keen to see, in a very macabre way. It was the museum of terror that showed the communist / fascist influence on Hungary and the impact it had on its population. It was a very eye-opening and scary museum that did a good job at painting a picture of life under the soviet union. Although it did talk about the impact that the Nazis had on Hungary during WW2 and the influence it had on the political stability of the nation, I mentioned this during one of my earlier logs and so I will move onto the soviet period. The Soviet Union ruled and occupied Hungary all the way until their dissolution in 1991 through the Hungarian people republic politcal party. Making Hungary a one party socialist state. The soviets rule was brutal and massively exploitative. The soviets treated the Hungarians horribly, censoring their free speech, beating and harassing the people with the secret police (AVH), forced work in labour camps (600,000 hungarians), indiscriminate killings, torture, and much else. The museum walked us through the heart-wrenching stories of some survivors who did everything in their power to try and fight for their country and what they believed was right. The lucky ones would end up in jail, which was little less than torture, while the rest enduring weeks, if not months of actual torture, or worse yet, were killed. Those who went into jail experienced the array or torment that the Soviets were capable of. All cells were the size of an office cubicle, some specifically designed to ensure that the individual can never stand (the roof bring about 4 foot tall), they could never sit or lie down (being barely enough space for a human to stand), or could never remain dry (maintained a few inches of water in the floor of the cell). Meanwhile, every inmate would have zero idea about the date, time of day, season, or any detail about the outside world. It was a horrific experience to have been through. Only after a revolution in 1991, and with incredible international pressure from the UN and other countries, did the Soviet Union agree to leave Hungary. Bringing an end to a 45-year occupation that saw a million Hungarians killed and millions more incarcerated, tortured, beaten, and harassed. The soviet union completely disbanded just a few months later. The scars of their occupation are rife through the country and many, many families today have relatives that suffered under their rule. Sadly, the museum didn't allow photos, likely due to the graphic and confronting nature, so I didn't get many photos from the days. It was just the T54 Russian tank that was first used during the first revolution by the Hungarians. In the background is a photo of all the victims of the terror inflicted by the Nazis during WW1 and the soviets post-WW2. It was quite difficult to eat after this experience, but we wandered briefly before finding a good Hungarian restaurant for some proper Goulash. It was my first time having the dish. After this, we headed to the shopping centre to try and catch some sales. Although we bought a few things, the crowds were a bit crazy so we decided to just head home and relax before a travel day tomorrow.Read more

  • TravelerEuro Winter
    Day 14

    Slovakia 🇸🇰

    December 28, 2023 in Slovakia ⋅ ☀️ 7 °C

    The day started out great, when, what we expected to be a 45-minute walk to the train station turned out to be just 7 minutes, as dad accidently booked the right train station on our way to Bratislava. As such, I got a little extra sleep in and left the hotel at about 9am to get our 9:30am train. The 2 and a half train ride allowed me to catch up on my journals and listen to some music. After our early arrival in Bratislava, we hopped off the train, found some coffee, and dropped our bag off at the hotel. We were then free to explore the old town briefly. We stumbled upon a couple more Christmas markets and so got to have a look around and see how the Slovakian markets are different to the Hungarian. There was plenty more food than I expected, and this caused the hunger to kick in. So it wasn't much more walking until we were eating. After this, we walked through the old town some more, being careful not to overdo it and spoil our walking tour we had booked for tomorrow. This meant it wasn't too long before we began the short walk to the hotel to complete our check-in and park up for the night.Read more

  • TravelerEuro Winter
    Day 15

    Walking Tours

    December 29, 2023 in Slovakia

    We started our day and our time n Bratislava with a free walking tour. We figured this could be the best way to explore the city while learning some of the history while simultaneously getting tips and recommendations on how to spend our time in Bratislava. After a quick coffee, we arrived at our tour and began. It was great to hear some of the interesting stories of the city of the ancient city. We followed in the footsteps of the coronation of the queen (despite being crowned as a king?), walked through the jewish quarter (seeing the 2 final buildings from the original section), walked up to the Bratislava castle (occupied since the 10th century and, temporarily, by Napoleon), and even followed the story of Nazi and Soviet occupation. The story of the city starts as far back as the 10th century, but it has been an incredibly tumultuous past for the city due to ts very central proximity to Western Europe and the East. Its first significant occupation came when Napoleon took siege to the town in 1809 on his way to the doomed offensive in Russia. An interesting anecdote explained by our tour guide, is that after Napoleons forces were expelled, to recover from the destructon caused by the french canons, any building that had been destroyed by the French forces, would void taxes for 2 whole years. Of course, tax evasion was as lucrative an industry as it is today because civilians would find cannon balls from around town and jam them into their building, thus making them exempt from taxes. We then made our way to the cathedral in which the coronations of the Hapsburg dynasty took place for a number of years. This includes the famous Maria Theresa, who was (coincidently, im sure), the only woman ruler, and one of the few good kings of the empire. And yes, she was, in fact, a king, despite being a woman. Many refused to have a queen, but as the only appropriate heir to the throne, they simply crowned her as a king. Her reign lasted 40 years. We then made our way to the former jewish quarter that was almost completely destroyed during the second world war, the city lost as many as 95% of its jewish population. This is because, despite never being invaded by the Nazis, they did cede power through a puppet government and forcedly removed a very large portion. Almost all of the 95% were sent to concentrations and had, what must be, one of the lowest survival rates in any of the countries at about 20%. This means that 80% of the 95% were killed. the Later soviet occupation meant that any jewish people who could leave the city left as soon as they could, and even to this day, the jewish population is incredibly low. The tour ended with a tour of the castle of Bratislava that had many occupants over the years but most noteably Maria Teresa and Napoleon. Although the castle has had many occupants in the 11 centuries since its creation, it has never been taken by seige. Yet, at one point, it was destroyed by Napoleons forces. This is because drunk French forces that occupied the castle managed to start a small fire, and with large amounts of gunpowder present, the castle was completely destroyed by the fire. It was rebuilt in the 20th century. This was basically the end of the tour, and our tour guide was nice enough to give us food recommendations and restaurants to try the authentic Slovakian food. Mum, dad, and I followed his suggestion and went to a pub that served a great potato soup in bread. Though we were blissfully unaware of how large it would be. We were incredibly full by the time we finished it, but we were quickly hurried back onto our feet as we wanted to join the communism tour of the city. This was also about 2 and a half hours, but admittedly wasnt quite as interesting as the first tour. I still enjoyed it, but the major points were covered in the previous tour anyway. This one did eventually begin to discuss the brutal and tragic occupation of the soviets in which freedom of speech, religion, and travel was essentially banned. Even when communism tried to be altered to more effectively capture the needs and wants of the people, with the socalled communism with a human face, it didnt take long until the soviets invaded the country and qwelled these even slighly progressive ways of thinking. Strict soviet communism then ruled for a number of decades until an outright protest from the whole country turned the soviets away from the country in 1989. This coincided with the end eventual end of the soviet union. By the time this tour ended, we were all knackered and very tired, so we headed home for the night. Luckily, we were still full from lunch, so we only needed a small snack to survive through the night.Read more

  • TravelerEuro Winter
    Day 16

    Bratislava Museum

    December 30, 2023 in Slovakia

    Before we left Bratilava, we decided it would be good to see the final bits and pieces of the city, not the major monuments but interesting things to see nonetheless. This started with the blue cathedral. This was actually very cool, and although not massive or particularly popular, it was really nice and interesting to look at. The inside kept the same blue theme going while having some interesting pieces of art and some nice architecture. This was a brief stop on our way to another ste in the city recommended by our tour guide. This was the museum of Bratislava that is located within the old town centre. It has a very interesting layout and is far larger than any of us expected. It started with a walk-up the bell tour before seeing some of the really cool artefacts from the cities history in the museum. Some of which we had learnt about during our tour yesterday. This was also quite interesting and very cheap for what we got. by the time we had finished this, we were just about done to for the day. We were still very tired from a busy day yesterday. So, instead, we just grabbed something to eat. Or at least tried. We went to a british pub for a feed and to watch the football, but after not being served for a solid 20 minutes we figured we would go to the Irish pub where you can expect some safe service. As such, as soon as we arrived, we got a table, watched the football and enjoyed a guiness. this was the first time I had a proper guiness and was very impressed. Even have evidence of me splittin Gs on the first attempt ever.Read more

  • TravelerEuro Winter
    Day 17

    2023 Rollercoaster

    December 31, 2023 in Czech Republic ⋅ ☁️ 6 °C

    Although it was New Year Eve, there wasn`t a lot planned for today. This is mostly because we had to travel from Bratislava to Prague. Despite this, it didn`t take too long, and we arrived around 3pm. As such, we went around town and saw some of the main square as well as the christmas markets that are quite famous in the city. Although it is no longer christmas, we are lucky to be able to experience them in a couple more cities as most stop around January 6th. I knew very quickly that Prague was going to be one of the most beautiful cities i had ever seen. The christmas lights, ancient towers, unique streets, and lively atmosphere were so cool and fun to experience. The time of year likely helped considerably to make the atmosphere. Everyone was in the spirits of the holidays. We started by going through the main town square with the astronomical clock that is the most well-known attraction in Prague. This was cool to see but did not justify the crowds. We then wandered the christmas markets and cathedrals, explored the charles bridge, and saw the castle from across the river before heading home. We arrived home around 10:30pm for some drinks but were sure to head out just before midnight to witness the fireworks. We were not sure what to expect given that the city of Prague has not done their own fireworks since 2019 and have technically banned them. I say technically because they allow fireworks to be set off between 6 pm on the 31st of December and 6 am on 1st January. Im not sure how this works for purchasing them, but this didn't dampen the extravegent event. Although there was no mass display of fireworks in a central location, it was somehow more breathtaking to stand along the river and watch the city reach into their own pocket and set off thousands and thousands of dollars into the air, all across the sky. Everywhere you looked, there was fireworks going off, and it only made it more spectacular. The city may have been too cheap to spend the money, but clearly, the people saw the importance and excitement in the display. We arrived late to the river (apparently) at about 11:55pm, and the fireworks had already been in full effect for a while. This was only more impressive given that they did not stop until about 1am, though, amittedly, did dwindle out at about 12:20am. Mum and I stood in complete amazement for nearly 30 minutes, watching the whole city erupt in every direction. like I said, the fact that the community reached into their own pocket to organise such an incredible display only made the spectacle more impressive and fulfilling. At this point, though, it was time to go home and go to bed. It was a great place and way to finish off the year 2023.

    In hindsight, 2023 has been quite crazy. Not only have I been able to see a lot of Europe, Africa, bits and pieces of the middle East and Asia, but I have also been able to see more of Australia than i had previously. I saw Magnetic Island and Townsville, Arilie Beach, and the whitsundays, Mackay, as well as Cairns and Port Douglas. To top it off, I saw my amazing sister and my new brother, Andrew, get married in a beautiful ceremony that i enjoyed endlessly. The unfortunates of the year put a dampener in what was one of the best years of my life. Namely, the main person missing from the wedding ceremony, Nanny. Although incredibly happy to have been able to spend her 100th birthday with her, her passing and empty seat at Melissas wedding was an incredibly sad experience. She would have been very proud and happy to have seen that day, but I know she was proud to know it happened. Additionally, attending the funeral of my best friends mother, Trish, taken far too young, only added to the extreme pain felt during the first few months of year. Unfortunately, this wasn`t the end of the pain felt during the year, as at the very end, just as things had been looking up for 2023, we had another family member pass. The reason i extended my leave to May, Eileen, and her 100th birthday, sadly, didn`t make it and passed away on the 29th November 2023. I was excited to see her for the second, and the last time, yet, it was not to be. A grim end to the year, that somewhat summarises 2023. A year of adventure and making friends and family members only matched with the simultaneous loss of loved ones.    Read more

  • TravelerEuro Winter
    Day 18

    Prague River Walk

    January 1 in Czech Republic ⋅ ☁️ 7 °C

    Due to the big day yesterday, there wasn't a whole lot planned, and as such, we just wandered around the city and saw whatever was close to our accommodation. This started with the National Museum, which we did not enter but enjoyed the view of from the outside, saw a cathedral, some interesting art installations, the dancing building, famous bridges, amazing architecture, the lennon wall, and finally, a small christmas market. The architecture in the city is amazing, and every building has some unique design, interesting colour, decoration, or even painting of a hisorical event. I can understand how may consider this to be the most beautiful city in Europe. This wasn`t particularly taxing day as we were eager to take it easy and just wander around. As such, the day essentially ended here, and after a quick drink at the lennon pub, we headed home for the day.Read more

  • TravelerEuro Winter
    Day 19

    Prague Castle Exploring

    January 2 in Czech Republic ⋅ 🌧 5 °C

    Our day started off quite slowly after barely leaving the apartment before midday, then abruptly stopping for breakfast / lunch for some chinese. This meant that by the time we began our walk to the castle, it was 2pm. On our way there, we walked past Prague University, where a shooting killed 14 students just a few days before Christmas. This was a sombre thing to see knowing the story and seeing those mourning their lost loves. We didn`t stay for long as we didn`t want to interrupt the mourners and so continued our journey to the castle. We didn`t have a lot planned for while we were there, mostly just exploring the castle area and visiting cathedrals and museums. We started by seeing the main cathedral that is situated right in the middle of the castle walls. This was quite spectacular and endlessly large. As is typical for european cathedrals, it had massive statues, paintings that occupy whole walls, detailed stained glass windows, large ceilings, and much more cool stuff. Although I have seen many similar during my travels, not so much in the last few months so it was still pretty exciting for me. We then explored the former dining area for the castle and its inhabitants, which had a few interesting information pieces but was far from anything too thrilling. After this, though, it was only a couple more cathedrals to explore, the first of which was one of the first buildings built in the town during its construction in the 8th century. After this, we went to a smaller cathedral that also doubled as a crypt. Finally, we explored the golden lane that was a cute little street that has some old school markets constructed from the tiny houses that once occupied the lane. This was a unique experience because of how cool the little street was and how immersive the experience became. Not to mention, the second story of the houses functioned as a museum for some of the old sets of armour used to defed the city as well as some medieval dresses. This was a good way to end the day, and a part from the major cathedral, it was the highlights for the day. On our way back home, we once again passed through the university, where we stopped for a quick picture before carrying on again and heading to bed after some football games. Liverpool played out a quite tense 4-2 game against Newcastle. Despite the scoreline, it was a stressful and fustrating game to have to sit through.Read more

  • TravelerEuro Winter
    Day 20

    Walking Tours Prague

    January 3 in Czech Republic ⋅ 🌬 10 °C

    Today, we would be kind of be retracing our steps from yesterday and decided to take a walking tour of the cities castle. This was to get a bit more history of the site as well as see a bit more of the hidden areas around the city. This worked out very well as the tour started by taking us to the suburb behind the castle that used to house the rich citizens who wanted to be closer to the king. Before that, however, we wanted to see a few of the other smaller sites that we had missed during our walks. Because we were leaving tomorrow, this would be our last chance to see them. As such, we headed to the first site and saw the Spanish Synagogue. I haven`t been inside any during my travels despite being in many, many cathedrals and Mosques, and the main reason is just that they are significantly more expensive to go inside. Due to some time constraints and a potentially large expense, we figured we would skip going inside. We did, however, have time for some food, which, for me, was another soup in bread. Although not as good as the one we had in Bratislava, it was still very good. So good we would be going back to that restaurant for dinner later. Unfortunately, dad wasn`t feeling well, so we left him to go rest at home while mum and I continued for the tours. Even still, we wandered around and saw some other sites, the main one being the book tower, but this had a massive queue out the front for a photo and we were not that fussed to see it. We also didn't leave ourseleves ebougj time for the Klementinum. So, instead, we wandered across the river to start the tour. When we got to the old part of the town, we once again walked past some very interesting designs and architectural marvels. A lot of buildings have painting or interesting designs on their facades. This was done in the Renaissance style. We then began our tour, which started with a beautiful view of the city. This is when our tour guide showed us a detail that, in retrospect, seems impossible to miss. The tallest tour of the cathedral was rebuilt in the Renaissance style after the Gothic tower was destroyed by an earthquake. This adds a strange and funny looking tip to the high point of the cathedral, especially when you see the difference in colour, as well as style. We then explored some of the former squares that led to the palace before seeing the many different architectural styles that are reflected. This also shows the difference in age and history that is present throughout the small suburb. As we entered the castle again, we walked through the main gate this time, which was the main defence throughout most of its history. We then followed our footsteps from yesterday, where we learnt about the former kings and queens of the castle, the power dynamics, and eventually wars that led to the fall of the hapsburg dynasty that once ruled the lands. It was a good way to complete the tour as we followed the history of the city from its inception to its fight for independence. After this, we headed back to the cafe for dinner, where we met dad for a quick feed. After this, Mum and I were tired from walking and figured we would call it a day.Read more

  • TravelerEuro Winter
    Day 21

    Krakow Travel Days

    January 4 in Czech Republic ⋅ ☁️ 8 °C

    After packing my bags in the morning, there wasn't much that lay ahead a part from 8 hours of travel. This includes about 5 hours on a train, a 1 hour wait before eventually finishing the journey with 2 hours on a bus. Upon my arrival, the walk was quite short, and I arrived at the hostel about 20 minutes later. After dropping off, my stuff I went downstairs for a drink and to do some planning for CA. There is still a lot to plan, but we are making some progress. The next step is to begin booking as much as possibleRead more

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