Sweden and Eastern Europe 2014

A 15-day adventure by The Little Tune Runs Away Read more

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Trip start
March 18, 2014
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Monday, March 17, 2014 at 6:48 PM
☀️ 16 °C
Altitude: 15 m
United States San Francisco International Airport 37.616948, -122.38433537°37’1” N 122°23’4” W
Flight from SF to Copenhagen
March 17, 2014 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 16 °C
Fuzzy photos of the back-of-seat monitor as we take off from SFO, fly over the part of Canada where my father once lived, and over Greenland to get to Copenhagen.
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Day 1
Tuesday, March 18, 2014 at 6:01 AM
☁️ 7 °C
Altitude: 10 m
Denmark Amager 55.610497, 12.60570955°36’38” N 12°36’21” E
Cabinn, Orestad
March 18, 2014 in Denmark ⋅ ☁️ 7 °C
After arriving at the airport, I took the train to nearby Orestad, where I was staying in a tiny room in a modern hostel that served an excellent Scandinavian breakfast.

Note: I'm posting these on dates from the metadata on the camera on my non-network phone, which I kept on California time.Read more
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Day 2
Wednesday, March 19, 2014 at 12:07 AM
⛅ 6 °C
Altitude: 47 m
Sweden Lunds domkyrka 55.704239, 13.19279155°42’15” N 13°11’34” E
By train and bus to Horby via Lund
March 19, 2014 in Sweden ⋅ ⛅ 6 °C
I had booked an AirBnB stay in Horby before leaving, and the homeowner sent me detailed instructions of how to take the train from Copenhagen to Lund and catch the bus to near her house. If you've ever seen the TV series The Bridge, it is set on this road/rail bridge connecting Denmark and Southern Sweden.

I had some time to fill in Lund, so wandered around and visited a couple of very interesting museums. The university there is world-famous, but students everywhere have a wicked sense of humor, as evidenced by what had been done to the statue of Linnaeus next to the city library.Read more
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Day 2
Wednesday, March 19, 2014 at 9:33 AM
⛅ 6 °C
Altitude: 85 m
Sweden Hörby 55.85137, 13.6607455°51’5” N 13°39’39” E
At home in Horby
March 19, 2014 in Sweden ⋅ ⛅ 6 °C
The home was really cosy and had an interesting collection of images on the wall, as well as a library full of books about computer programming! The owners are software engineering consultants and spend the Swedish winters in the Silicon Valley, hence the map of the SF Bay Area next to the fireplace.Read more
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Day 3
Thursday, March 20, 2014 at 12:30 AM
⛅ 6 °C
Altitude: 85 m
Sweden Hörby 55.85137, 13.6607455°51’5” N 13°39’39” E
Hörby
March 20, 2014 in Sweden ⋅ ⛅ 6 °C
Horby is a pretty little town (pop. 7,600), with a mix of old and new architecture, a local history museum, and a sports center that visitors are welcome to use. A stream runs through it, and spring was springing when I was there.Read more
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Day 4
Friday, March 21, 2014 at 5:44 AM
⛅ 8 °C
Altitude: 102 m
Sweden Fulltofta 55.879112, 13.63739455°52’45” N 13°38’15” E
Fulltofta
March 21, 2014 in Sweden ⋅ ⛅ 8 °C
A short local bus ride away is the information centre/agricultural museum at Fulltofta Nature Reserve. It's a short walk from the road where the bus drops you off to the museum, which is not without a sense of humor--first time I've seen a cowpat in a museum! There's a nice cafe attached, and you can sit by the little lake to eat your food. (Not pictured: The delicious omelette I had before dessert and coffee.)Read more
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Day 4
Friday, March 21, 2014 at 6:03 AM
⛅ 8 °C
Altitude: 79 m
Sweden Hörby 55.851563, 13.66108355°51’6” N 13°39’40” E
Hastang grave field; the King's stables
March 21, 2014 in Sweden ⋅ ⛅ 8 °C
Not far from the Fulltofta Information Centre is the Hastang Grave Field, a typical Iron Age burial site.

The (now empty) stables and church are across the road and down a bit. The "full" in "Fulltofta" means "foal" and the stables were built in 1766 to house the King's horse breeding program.

There is a waterfowl refuge and breeding program on the shore of the lake close to this, but it began to rain heavily so I didn't walk there. I was soaked by the time the bus going back to Horby came by!Read more
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Day 5
Saturday, March 22, 2014 at 6:12 AM
☀️ 7 °C
Altitude: 10 m
Turkey railway station Istanbul Haydarpaşa 40.997712, 29.0199740°59’52” N 29°1’12” E
To Chisinau via Istanbul
March 22, 2014 in Turkey ⋅ ☀️ 7 °C
From Horby, I took the bus and train back to Copenhagen Airport and flew with Turkish Airlines (excellent airline) to Chisinau, in Moldova, via a stopover in Istanbul. That day, the Turkish President had placed a ban on Twitter and it was a front page story in the English-language Daily News. Istanbul really is the crossroads between East and West, as can be seen from the departure boards.

I got to Chisinau at night, checked in to my hotel, and then went for a late-night stroll to a nearby supermarket to buy a beer to celebrate my arrival. When I was taking the photo of the casino, a security guard at the door signaled to me to stop taking pictures. Welcome to Eastern Europe, where paranoia at being surveilled is a way of life. And not without reason, given its history.Read more
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Day 6
Sunday, March 23, 2014 at 12:10 AM
⛅ 7 °C
Altitude: 42 m
Moldova Chisinau 47.016953, 28.85929547°1’1” N 28°51’33” E
Chisinau
March 23, 2014 in Moldova ⋅ ⛅ 7 °C
I stayed in a comfortable but homey hotel that was built when Chisinau was an important military center for the USSR's Western area. Called Cosmos, it's at the end of Yuri Gagarin Ave., a major thoroughfare and home to numerous street-sellers who lay their secondhand items down on the sidewalk, hoping to get a little cash. The country is very, very poor.

The friend I had come to visit here, who was posted by the Peace Corps to a town in the south of Moldova, traveled up to stay at the hotel with me by one of the ubiquitous minivan bus services that run through the town, the countryside, and even into neighboring countries. We visited a couple of her favorite museums and had a wonderful evening meal at a restaurant called Propaganda.Read more
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Day 7
Monday, March 24, 2014 at 4:00 AM
🌫 6 °C
Altitude: 86 m
Moldova Ciocana 47.027251, 28.88950747°1’38” N 28°53’22” E
Chisinau to Bucharest by train
March 24, 2014 in Moldova ⋅ 🌫 6 °C
The next day, we wandered around the city some more and had lunch at a cafe. In the evening, I boarded my train to Bucharest. Minivan bus is the more popular way to take that trip, but I especially wanted to take the train. That's because I'm a train freak, and at the border between the two countries, the carriages are lifted off the Moldovan bogies and placed on Romanian ones because the rail gauges of the two countries differ. If you plan to take this train, you have to make a reservation in person at the station. All my other train trips in Europe I booked online before leaving for the trip.

It was a very old train, with a wood-fired piped hot-water heating system that was unbearably hot in my particular carriage, but fine in some of the others I walked through. The sleeper was comfortable and I was the only person in it. We got to Bucharest at dawn the next morning.Read more
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Day 8
Tuesday, March 25, 2014 at 5:43 AM
⛅ 11 °C
Altitude: 88 m
Romania Lake Cișmigiu 44.433961, 26.08799344°26’2” N 26°5’17” E
Bucharest
March 25, 2014 in Romania ⋅ ⛅ 11 °C
In Bucharest, I stayed in a modern business-style hotel a block or so away from the train station. It was walking distance to the center of the city, where there is a huge public park designed by the creator of some of the most famous parks in Paris.

People were out enjoying the spring weather, strolling, and escaping from their offices to eat their lunch on a park bench. There was, of course, plenty of statuary everywhere--I especially liked the monument to a beloved teacher who was dedicated to raising literacy rates among Romania's children.

On my walk back to the hotel, I went into a little cafe that had a rather worrying sign in the bathroom! But the cake and coffee were delicious.Read more
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Day 9
Wednesday, March 26, 2014 at 12:55 AM
🌙 6 °C
Altitude: 88 m
Romania Lake Cișmigiu 44.433961, 26.08799344°26’2” N 26°5’17” E
Bucharest International Film Festival
March 26, 2014 in Romania ⋅ 🌙 6 °C
I was up early again to walk from the hotel to the city center. In some places, there are spots where houses have been bulldozed and nothing built to replace them. In fact, there's one such place right opposite the train station I arrived at, and a bunch of street kids (and their dogs) would go up and down steps that led to a cellar, where they lived. (Not the site pictured.) There are lots of stray dogs wandering the streets, but I didn't have any trouble with them.

In the evening, I went to the opening ceremony and film in the Bucharest International Film Festival.Read more
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Day 10
Thursday, March 27, 2014 at 3:48 AM
🌙 6 °C
Altitude: 88 m
Romania Lake Cișmigiu 44.433961, 26.08799344°26’2” N 26°5’17” E
The Academy of Sciences for lunch
March 27, 2014 in Romania ⋅ 🌙 6 °C
On my third day wandering around the city center, I discovered the Academy of Sciences building and it turned out it is open to the public for lunch, which was served out on the back terrace. It's a popular venue for fundraising galas and the like. The steak was delicious!

In the evening, it was time for me to head to the station to the busy station, where you can buy all manner of knick-knacks (and a Big Mac), to catch a train for Budapest.Read more
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Day 11
Friday, March 28, 2014 at 1:09 AM
🌙 7 °C
Altitude: 220 m
Hungary Budapest II. kerület 47.517372, 19.01279847°31’3” N 19°0’46” E
Budapest
March 28, 2014 in Hungary ⋅ 🌙 7 °C
Again, it was an overnight train, but I didn't take a sleeper this time. Nonetheless, it was quite comfortable sleeping on the seat, as the train steadily emptied out as the night went on. I stepped out of the station into the middle of some sort of political rally--the hotel I stayed at is in the tallest building directly across the street shown in this photo.

My first port of call was the little downtown square where I picked up the Hop On Hop Off bus pass I'd ordered online when planning the trip--some workmen were repairing the clock in the square. I actually just stayed on the bus, noting places I would want to go back to on my own later. The terminus for the tour was right by a Turkish restaurant--Hungary was once part of the Ottoman Empire--so I had lunch out on the terrace among the businessmen who were sharing hookahs provided by the cafe.Read more
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Day 12
Saturday, March 29, 2014 at 1:59 AM
🌙 8 °C
Altitude: 220 m
Hungary Budapest II. kerület 47.517372, 19.01279847°31’3” N 19°0’46” E
Buda and Pest
March 29, 2014 in Hungary ⋅ 🌙 8 °C
Budapest is actually two different cities of old, on each side of the Danube. I decided to take an underground train to the far side of the river and walk along it to the citadel on a hill that was a vital defense position in times of old. Up there, I discovered a wonderful little sculpture installation that was donated to the city in the wake of 9/11 to help promote peace in the world. Around a central pool are brass statues of the creators of all the major religions/philosophies in the world, including Mahatma Gandhi for his dedication to peaceful protest.Read more
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Day 13
Sunday, March 30, 2014 at 1:39 AM
🌙 6 °C
Altitude: 148 m
Slovakia Bratislava 48.151597, 17.11216348°9’6” N 17°6’44” E
Bratislava
March 30, 2014 in Slovakia ⋅ 🌙 6 °C
It's quite a short train trip from Budapest to Bratislava, so I caught it in the morning. Trains in Europe are frequent and accommodating to bikes and wheelchairs.My hostel--the fabulously named "Freddie by Mercury" (because it's near the Mercur Hotel)--was walking distance from the train station, which also serves as a bus terminus. After checking in, I took a bus down to the old part of town, but then followed the many people who seemed to be heading somewhere important. A modern shopping mall, of course! It's on the banks of the Danube--there is a hydrofoil commuter service between Bratislava and Vienna, but it was too early in the season for it to be running yet.Read more
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Day 14
Monday, March 31, 2014 at 2:39 AM
🌙 7 °C
Altitude: 148 m
Slovakia Bratislava 48.151597, 17.11216348°9’6” N 17°6’44” E
My favorite city of the trip
March 31, 2014 in Slovakia ⋅ 🌙 7 °C
Bratislava was, without doubt, my favorite city on the trip. It is the city where kings and queens of the Austro-Hungarian empire were crowned, so there's plenty of historic buildings to see from that era. Plus the apartment and other buildings dating from the Soviet period, along with very modern architecture like the shopping mall. And many, many eating places serving great food. And it's not as crowded as the other cities I visited.Read more
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Day 15
Tuesday, April 1, 2014 at 4:45 AM
⛅ 4 °C
Altitude: 196 m
Czech Republic Palackého náměstí 50.071406, 14.410950°4’17” N 14°24’39” E
Prague
April 1, 2014 in Czech Republic ⋅ ⛅ 4 °C
Another train ride during the day took me to Prague. The hotel I had booked turned out not to be easy to find and I arrived there hot and bothered, ready for a drink. The minibar obliged! After recovering my equilibrium, I walked back to the area around the station, where I discovered a cafe that had an ad for a NZ electronica band, and on the way home passed by Australia! (The building pictured isn't my hotel...it's just typical of the architecture around that area.)Read more
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Day 16
Wednesday, April 2, 2014 at 12:22 AM
⛅ 10 °C
Altitude: 196 m
Czech Republic Palackého náměstí 50.071406, 14.410950°4’17” N 14°24’39” E
Leaving Prague
April 2, 2014 in Czech Republic ⋅ ⛅ 10 °C
Next morning, I went on a Hop On Hop Off bus tour, which had to begin as a walking tour because the streets are so narrow. I didn't hop off anywhere, and also didn't see anything I wanted to go back to. I really did not like Prague at all.

I flew Norwegian Air back to Copenhagen for my SAS flight back to San Francisco. I recommend both those airlines. Back in 2014, Norwegian didn't have a direct service to the SF Bay Area, but I think maybe now it flies to Oakland.Read more
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Trip end
April 1, 2014