Day 7 Parlo Eastern Europe Tour - Donovaly, Slovakia

Good morning Krakow. Today seemed to be a rest day for us as most of our time would be used to travel south from Krakow, Poland to Budapest, Hungary covering 398km. It is actually not entirely a bad thing as I can catch up with some sleep and for the first time for our trip, the day itinerary was not the same ie there was no old town, church or palace to visit. 

Our view from Galaxy Hotel Krakow

Surprisingly after breakfast there was a heavy snowfall. I got excited again like a kid and can't resist to put hands outside the window to have a feel of the snowflakes :). Wifey on the other hand did not seem to be bothered much though.....

In fact, I spent so much time admiring our view outside the hotel window that we were almost late to get to the tour bus at stipulated time. 

After two hours travelling on the highway we got down at a rest stop.

Everywhere seems to be covered by snow...yup this is exactly the environment that I was looking for in a trip to Europe during winter. Soon the bus journey took us through Tatra Mountain in Slovakia. Though Slovakia is not really explicitly mentioned in our tour itinerary, it has the most breathtaking scenery. For better or for worse, our bus was caught in a traffic jam due to an accident and was crawling very slowly for about 90 mins...

The slow traffic allowed us to take very nice shots of the beautiful scenery worthy to be a postcard.

We stopped by at a restaurant located nearby a ski resort in Donovaly for lunch. 

It is called Koliba Goral which apparently is one of the best restaurant in town. For better or worse again...we were late for lunch hence there were less patrons in the restaurant. I learned from the comments in TripAdvisor that the restaurant could be pretty packed at times. 

With a fire place and a view outside of the window covered by snow, I felt like it is Christmas but it was actually Chinese New Year...:)

Lunch was on our own hence we are free to order whatever we felt like eating. Though we have to pay for ourselves for this meal, I think it was a good arrangement to have freedom to choose at times. 

Intending lunch to be light, we ordered mushroom soup, chicken snitzel, salad and coffee. The food turned out to be pretty good...in fact I think it was one of the best throughout the trip.

Although this day was meant to be a travelling day, it turned out to be our most memorable one.

After lunch, we had some time to play with snow and grab some nice shots before continuing our journey to Budapest.

The view just outside our restauant which id just mesmerizing....

There is also a ski resort located right opposite of the restaurant...

Four hours later we reached Budapest, Hungary. Since Budapest is really comprised of two cities namely Buda and Pest, we actually arrive at Pest first to be exact. By the time we were there it was already dark and we are just in time for dinner. 

We were brought to a restaurant located at a quiet neighbourhood of Marvany Street. It is quite surprising to me to find such a busy restaurant there which caters for both tour groups and local patrons. There were also performance by a lively gypsy band who will sing and dance...in return for tips of course. I don't really mind because they really lighthen up the mood of the day.

Marvanymenyasszony Etterem serving local Hungarian food.

Wine is provided together with out meal

Beef Goulash is a type of stew with spices and herbs and is common in eastern Europe. It was delicious of course.

Mixed Grill

Dessert

After dinner, we headed to our hotel, Novotel Budapest Centrum located at the Buda side where we will spent 2 nights there.

Our first glimpse of the Hungarian Parliament Building. The night view in Budapest is simply amazing.

Our stay for the night which was clean, comfortable and modern.

More to come...

Day 6 Eastern Europe Tour - Krakow, Poland

Good morning Krakow, Poland. This morning I woke up to a rather gloomy sky. As usual, we headed to the hotel's cafeteria to find out what is in store for us for breakfast.....

The buffet spread turned out to be pretty good with much healthier options such as greens and fruits. If you are looking for hot dishes you may be disappointed though as it is generally cold dishes, bread, cheese and fruits. I kind of like it for a change as I had been having quite a lot of bacon and sausages over the last few days.

my big healthy breakfast....

Gloomy sky soon turned into rain as it started drizzling the whole day!!. I came all the way to Europe to see snow not rain...aargh..

Nevertheless, the environment of the day did set the right mood for the place we are visiting that morning... Auschwitz Concentration Camp.

It is a historical place that one must visit to understand more about the brutality of the Nazis under the leadership of Adolf Hitler. About 1.3b people were deported here and the Nazis tortured and killed about 1.1 million people comprised mostly of Jews. The scary thing here is how they became so efficient in killing people. Right from the selection of people to be executed to sorting out belongings of the dead. Once I enter into the camp area, the sad sombre feeling immediately set in.

I will try not to talk too much about this place with such dark history. Long story cut short... it is definitely a place not to be missed when you are in Poland. We ended the visit with a sombre feeling and adjourned to lunch at a restaurant nearby.

Some how the sombre feeling made us appreciate more of what we already have. Compared to the life of people who had to undergo the torture of Auschwitz Camp, we consider ourselves very blessed. This probably is the reason lunch tasted a bit better that day.

Simple lunch but good.... pork cutlet with potatoes and coleslaw.

Next destination....Krakow old town. First stop was at Wawel Hill, the old capital of Poland. At the bank of the Vistula River, there was a statue of the Wawel Dragon, which is a Polish myth believed to have lived in a cave at the foot of Wawel Hill. Apparently, tourist can sent a sms text to number which can activate the dragon to breath fire. We were unaware of this during the tour. Click here for more info on Wawel Dragon.

Spot the Wavel dragon at the bank of Vistula River?

From Wawel Hill we walked towards to nearby Wawel castle. The weather was not good as it was drizzling during winter. The local tour guide said that the weather was peculiar cause it was raining in the midst of winter when it should be actually snowing. Yes...why isn't it snowing? I came all the way to Europe during winter to see snow......:(

Wavel Castle

Wavel Castle Inner Courtyard

The Wavel castle was built in the 14th century which is now a museum of arts. Our tour did not include a visit in the castle / museum. Instead we visited the adjoining Wawel Cathedral which is some sort of a mausoleum where past Kings were buried. Sorry no pictures there because the use of camera was strictly prohibited inside the cathedral.

Next stop was St Mary's Basilica which is located in the old town about 600m away. Walking there is a chsllenge as it was still drizzling and the wet weather made the day even colder.

St Mary's Basilica is a catholic church well known for its wooden carved alterpiece and architectural beauty. The altarpiece is the largest in the world and is considered as national treasure. What is a alterpiece? It is a sculpture depicting several events mentioned in the bible which made it easier for the priest to preach to the illiterates in the olden days. We spent about 20 minutes inside for a short briefing on the church's history (a much needed respite from the coldness outside) and we headed outside again.

St. Mary's Basilica

As we stepped out of the church, a pleasant surprise greeted us as it started snowing outside. In fact, it was actually snowing and raining at the same time! This is kind of weird to us who have not seen snowfall before. Anyway...my wish has been granted hah hah...

Little trace of snow start to accumulate on top of our umbrellas (it was still raining)

After our visit to St. Mary Basilica, we had about 2 hours of free and easy time to explore Krakow old town. With the cold weather and lack of interest on shopping, wifey and I decided to enjoy a cup of coffee at a nearby Costa Coffee instead.

After coffee, we were to assemble at the Cloth Market located at the centre of the old town square. We will be heading to dinner next.

Snow fall got heavier in the evening.

While the rest of the tour members were busy window shopping in the cloth market, I was not too interested. Instead I was enjoying the scenery of a serene winter night which I will not see again back home. Anyway, the cloth market is an attraction on its own though I noted that things sold there is not specifically cloth as the name suggests. Nevertheless you can find good local souviners there. I bought my Krakow refrigerator magnet there as well.

Picture of the old town square and Cloth Market (Source: Google Maps)

Those who are travelling to Europe for the first time should know one thing. Not all European countries uses Euro as their currency. For example, the local currency in Poland is the sloty and do note that Euro may not be accepted by the traders although some may do. Without the local currency you may not be even to buy yourself mineral water or coffee.

Old Town Square

Our dinner place was just located nearby and was within walking distance.

Traditional polish dinner. Beetroot soup and poached pork served with mashed potatoes.

The poached pork tasted similar to the pork that is used as ingredient for Chinese soup. May bland to some people but I have to admit it is healthy.

After dinner, we headed back to our hotel. Looking out from my room window, I said to myself...finally I see snow fall.

That's not the end of my day yet though as I headed to the hotel gym to burn off some calories before going to bed. The gym at Galaxy is small but I guess it is better than nothing. One thing I note is that most of the hotels during my trip will gym, sauna and steam bath facilities. While most will feel comfortable enough to go to the gym, Asians may feel uncomfortable in the sauna or steam bath facilities as users are required to be naked. Sometimes the facilities may be shared by both sex as well. Do check properly before going in....

More to come.....

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