Sunday 16 August 2015

My interrailing Adventure: Part 4

So far I've you told you about mine and Izzie's time in three out of the six countries that we visited. In this instalment it's all about our happenings in Austria and Poland. Two countries and twice as much adventure.

Day 18

Zagreb to Vienna. A seven hour train journey awaits us. The interrail website said that we didn't need to reserve seats, but when we get on it seems that every single seat is reserved. It takes us a good ten minutes to find the free seating carriage, which is accompanied by a rant about all the people struggling to find seats yet first class is empty. Down with the establishment!

About an hour into the journey the ticket guard comes through. On long haul trains like the ones we've been on the past two weeks this happens several times during the journey, especially if you're crossing country borders and involves an award fumbling around for your massive interrail ticket and passport. It seems that two Irish girls, who we spoke to earlier, haven't got tickets. The ticket guard makes them get off the train at a tiny station to buy tickets, but they have no cash. One of them runs into the little hut of the station to try an sort it out, but the train leaves before they can, leaving them in the arse end of nowhere, in a country with a rail network with a poorer performance than the English football team in the 2014 World Cup.

The train journey drags like hell and I've never been happier to get off a train in my life. After an hour of so of doing necessary travel errands in the station ( reserving tickets, exchanging money, buying food etc.) we treat ourselves to a McDonalds, before beginning the  walk to the hostel. It's a gorgeous sunny day in Vienna, though whilst my huge, heavy rucksack is on my back the heat is not welcome. I arrive at the Wombats City Hostel  a hot mess. We were praying for air-conditioning, but there's no such thing, expect for a tiny fan that does nothing to fight against the intense humidity of the dorm room. Where's the shower?

We head out into the city in the late afternoon, which means that we've missed the most of the heat. The centre of the city is truly stunning, filled with imperial and regal looking buildings and lush green parks. Everywhere I look there is some architectural miracle that grabs my attention. I didn't think it was possible for me to love this country any more than I did already. I was wrong.


We get back in the early evening to cook dinner. Vienna is expensive, and after several cash splashes in Croatia we need to pull tighter on the purse strings, so tonight's meal is a tin of spar budget bean soup. It tastes like an oily, salty spaghetti sauce. It's pretty grim, but I eat it anyway, and Izzie's leftovers. #hungrytraveller.

I'm in need of a rum and coke to wash the soup out of my mouth, so we hit the hostel bar. I'd like it more in here if it wasn't so ridiculously hot. We meet a girl from Oregon called Sky, a medicine student, who is currently living in Berlin. After meeting so many people who are working or studying abroad, loving it and using it to see even more of Europe, I am ridiculously excited for my year abroad next year. 

Day 19

Our first full day in Vienna. Despite it being early, it's already hot when we make it out, so we take refuge in the Albertina art gallery, which, thank the lord, is air-conditioned. After lying about our age we managed to get in for free and avoid the hefty 8.50 adult admission fee. 

The gallery has a broad range of collections, from works by impressionists such as Monet and Degas, to war photography from World War two. I immerse myself in the works, letting my eyes take in all the incredible colours and strokes. We are in there for almost three hours and it is one of my favourite activities of the trip so far. I forgot how much I loved art galleries, and I come out feeling culturally rejuvenated. I have finally learnt the power of art. 


The afternoon heat is too much to go trekking around the city, and it's a Sunday so most of the places are closed anyway, so we go sit in a park and chill with our books. Around us many locals are doing the same; reading the paper or catching up with friends. This may be the country's capitol, but it lacks the constantly moving lifestyle that Londoners possess. Here they take time to smell the roses, and truly cherish the lazy Sunday mentality. As I sit there I can't help thinking that they've got it right. I admire this little country and would love more than anything to live here or become a citizen. I can't blow enough smoke up its arse. 

At seven we meet my friend Helen outside the  Rathaus (German for town hall) for the Vienna Film Festival.  Helen is a friend of mine from secondary, whose mum lives in Vienna, so she spends her summers in city and therefore she knows about all the cool stuff going on. She told us all about the film festival, which screens a different film, concert, opera or ballet every night in the summer on a huge screen outside the RatHaus. Tonight, to celebrate Frank Sinatra's 100th Birthday they're playing one of his concerts. The atmosphere is fantastic, as people mill around the vast array of food and drink stalls. We get some bratwurst and beers and take a seat, as we wait for the sun to set and the show to start. An older man a few rows in front keeps turning around and making signals at us to be quiet, despite the fact that the show isn't starting for another hour. If there's one thing I've learnt since being in Vienna is that Austrians are extremely intolerant of bad social behaviour. They will always call you up on it.
Nothing beats an ice cold Radler.


The show begins and I am taken away by the sultry tones of Sinatra. I never thought I was a fan of him before, but his commanding voice and stage presence have me converted. I've found a new artist for my Sunday evening listening. 

After a drink or two in the hostel bar, Izzie heads to bed, whilst I spot some people from my dorm outside, so I bite the bullet and go out and say hey. They're two Mancunian brothers and not only are they lovely, but the oldest, Nick, is insanely attractive. I do love northern men. I tag along with them and two Canadians to a bar, where we stay until the owner gives us each a shot and says "we're giving you this on the house, but you need to drink it and then go home, as we're closing." That's the best way to kick someone out that I've ever experienced. 

At around three in the morning, I find myself in the Canadian's room, eating pasta and hummus and crackers, whilst discussing the differences in the UK's, Canada's and Mexico's ( there was a Mexican guy there too) policies on drugs and drinking in public. Canada seems to be so lax on just about everything. As the clock on my phone tells me it's half four I call it a night and say goodbye to my new found friends. Unfortunately they're going to Prague in the morning and I'm sad that we won't be able to hang out again. But that's the magic of travelling. You make new friends every night. 

Day 20

Despite mixing about four types of alcohol last night, I'm surprisingly perky when I wake up at half 7. It's already so hot that I can't get back to sleep, and I feel as if I have a fever. I have no choice to shower and get dressed, ready for another day. 

This morning we head to Belvedere Gardens, a huge palace and grounds in the middle of the city. The place is gorgeous and we are treated to even more of imperial Austrian opulence. It begins to cloud over and we take some refuge from walking on a double deckchair in the botanical gardens, whilst we wait for Helen. The weather is a lot cooler today and I'm grateful for it. It's been hot and sticky for a good ten days or so and I can't deal with it. The constant routine of putting on sun block, pinning up your hair and trying to find an outfit that won't make you sweat too much becomes totally and utterly mind numbing. I love the sun when I'm relaxing on the beach or have nowhere to go, but when you're trying to explore a city and have limited time to do so then the sun becomes enemy no.1.

Vienna has the most coffee shops in Europe, so as an avid coffee and cake enthusiast, I am keen to get a slice of the action. Literally. Helen takes us to Oberlaa where we indulge in huge slices of cake and I try a Viennese coffee shop speciality- Eiskaffee or iced coffee in English, which consists of a tall sundae glass filled with strong freshly brewed coffee, vanilla ice cream, lavishly topped with whipped cream.  It's oh so bad, but oh so good. The sun has peeked its head out of the clouds and we sit under the café's huge parasols chatting about anything and everything, like a scene out of Sex and The City. When can I move here?

We say goodbye to Helen in the early afternoon and rush back to the hostel. We are going to a classical concert at six and before then we need to pack,shower, eat and do a food shop for the train tomorrow. Like normal my crap is all over my bed and and the floor and I have to shove it all back in and pray that it will all fit. At the beginning of my trip my packing was pretty neat and organised, now it's like a free for all.

We make it out of the hostel bang on time and make our way over to the city centre for the classical concert. We're all dressed up in our interrailing finest and are both excited to go see a performance in the classical music capitol of Europe, if not the world. The concert is in a tiny room in a rather grand theatre. I feel like I am going to an awards ceremony, the décor is so opulent with golden wall paper and chandeliers everywhere, it's definitely the way to end our time in Vienna in style.
Bit plusher than the Brixton Academy

The concert is just fantastic. For 90 minutes my ears are treated to the beautiful work of Mozart and Strauss, complete with both Operatic and Ballet performances. I can't stop smiling throughout the whole thing; I've never really appreciated how beautiful classical music is until now. The concert makes me want to see more live orchestras and explore the fine areas of culture - Opera, ballet etc.- more. Experiences like these, where you not only come away with new memories but a new perspective, are unforgettable and worth every penny.

The night is still young when we come out and we're in the mood for more culture so head over to the film festival, where they are showing a performance from the Amsterdam Orchestra. I'm so glad we came to Vienna. It has been a rich few days of culture and I have found another city that I would move to in a heartbeat. A little part of my heart will always be in Vienna and it's only further fed my obsession with the little country shaped like a pipe.

Day 20

Austria to Poland and another early start. Our train to Katowice arrives just after 8 and is a big lump of a thing. Polish trains are illogical in the way that they arrange their seat numbers. There's no numerical order or any obvious pattern and it's rather confusing. We have reservations for seats whose numbers are next to each other, but our seats aren't. It's all very strange. 

Polish trains aren't the most efficient either. We stop for a good 45 minutes, with the power off and therefore no air-con, in the middle of the Czech Republic. When the conductor finally tells us what's going on he fails to explain in English, despite the fact that he was announcing the stops in perfect English earlier. 
 We arrive at Katowice an hour after our scheduled arrival time. Apparently this is very common in Poland. Luckily our transfer time was 2 hours, so we haven't missed our train to Krakow. We've done the majority of the journey now, it's only two hours from here on a nice inter city train that is pretty much empty. Though that doesn't stop a Polish family try and claim our seats as theirs. They then take the seats of some young Dutch travellers, who have a job of trying to get them to move as they don't speak a word of English. After lots of pointing to tickets they finally move.

We arrive in Krakow in the early evening. Our hostel here is Greg and Tom's beer hostel, which was recommended to us by an American guy that we met in Lake Bled. Our dorm mates are mainly Americans, Brits and Irish. After the long journey, we are desperate to wash, so we jump into the showers only to find that they're freezing cold. After a few minutes, and much swearing and whinging from both of us, I call it a day. My sopping wet hair is now as cold as icicles on my back. 

We head out into the city to explore and get some food. Krakow is beautiful, possibly the most impressive city we've been to so far, which is rather credible considering that's it's one of the smallest by far. The centre revolves around a huge square where various buskers and street artists perform to huge crowds. For dinner I indulge in an eastern European delicacy : the Langosz . It's like a huge, flat savoury doughnut smothered in sour cream and cheese and it's incredible. It sticks to my ribs, but I don't care. Every mouthful is a calorie filled delight. 

In the evening we hang out at the hostel and chat to some of our dorm mates, including a solo traveller called Josh, who's our age and studying at the University of Liverpool. Izzie is happy to finally find someone from her Uni town, as we keep meeting UoM students and Mancunians. Though in the kitchen I outdo her, as we meet two lovely girls , Mim and Avi, who are both studying at my University. It's a small world. 

Day 22

Our first full day in Krakow. We spend the morning following at walking tour of Krakow from a lonely planet guidebook, taking in the sites of the university, and the castle and the cloth hall; a huge building full of stalls selling traditional polish goods, such as amber jewellery, brightly coloured wooden boxes and scarves covered in traditional polish patterns. There are some beautiful things here and I'm annoyed that I don't have the luggage allowance or budget to indulge. I'm so impressed by Poland that I'm glad that I suggested coming here. Krakow is not only a beautifully old city, but the Polish culture is one that I'm quickly becoming a huge fan of. I have been wanting to come here for years and I'm not disappointed. 

Back at the hostel, we meet some new dorm mates; two Australians called David and Julian and  a girl called Sally who is from Syria. Of all the countries in the world I never expected to meet someone from Syria, let alone Damascus and I am both captivated and heart broken to hear about the chaos happening in her country. It's definitely not what the British press have been depicting. 

One of the best things about this hostel is that they do free dinner. We go down with our new dorm mates and meet even more people over traditional polish food, before joining in the hostel bar crawl. We have an hour's open bar in the hostel restaurant, where we are given several different flavours of polish vodka (which is lush) and huge jugs of cocktails, as well as plates of pizza, chicken and salad. I think I've died and gone to heaven. And despite eating loads of food I still manage to be pretty drunk when we head out to the clubs. 


We go to three clubs in total. Within 5 minutes of being in the first one I manage to get stuck in the toilet. I guess it's never a good sign when the door handle comes off in your hand. Luckily one of our friends on the bar crawl manages to find a member of staff,who is able to rescue me. I give toilet cubicles a miss for the rest of the night. 

I have a fantastic time dancing with my new found friends and sampling the polish night-life. The poles know how to party. Krakow is so peaceful and traditional I didn't think it had it in itself to be such a great place for partying, but this is the best night out of the trip so far. I dance like nobody's watching until my forehead is a river of sweat, and we're all too hot and tired to carry on. Outside the club an old lady sits in her underwear showing everything off to anyone that'll look. Welcome to Poland. 


Day 23

Today we're off to somewhere that I've always wanted to visit, but in reality I wish it didn't exist. Auschwitz. 

The weather is suitably gloomy when our coach pulls up into the parking lot of the site. There's a very eerie atmosphere around here, everyone is calm, composed, afraid that a show of too much energy or enthusiasm will be regarded as a sign of disrespect. As we walk under the famous "Arbeit macht frei" sign I get the goosebumps. It's very surreal to visit such a place like this, as what took place here is so horrific that it's hard to even comprehend it. But as I stand and gaze at the uniform rows of brick buildings I can't escape what happened here . No one can.

The former dormitories have been made into exhibition rooms, depicting the daily life and conditions of the millions of prisoners that endured hell here. I knew that the holocaust was horrific, but I had no idea of how calculated the whole operation was. We walk into a room that has a glass cabinet stretching the length of a wall which is filled with human hair. Several hundred sackloads worth. Apparently the Nazis would have the corpse's heads shaved and would then send the hair back to Germany where it would be made into fabric to line coats. I am in complete shock at the level of inhumanity. I can't comprehend how or why you could do that to another human being. 

The hardest part of the tour though is going into the gas chamber. Out of respect for the countless mass murders that happened in here the tour guide isn't allowed to talk, but the building itself speaks volumes. She points to the hole in the ceiling where the gas was thrown in and I almost well up. The experience is very humbling. I feel extremely lucky to be able to walk in and then out again. I know that millions of Jews didn't have such a privilege. 

The thing that astounds me the most about the place is the size of it all. Auschwitz I is big enough, but Auschwitz II Birkenau is absolutely huge. It takes us a good twenty minutes just to walk the width of it, but it would take a good hour to walk the length.Seeing the scale of the Nazi's extermination operation really makes it hit home to me about just how many people they managed to kill. 

Some people though don't seem to show the same level of respect as others. I see at least three people get out their phones and pose to take a selfie or a happy smiling family photo. One visitors even walks onto the train tracks sits down and gets out her selfie stick so she can get a picture of her with the concentration camp entrance in the background. I'm furious. How can people be so fucking inconsiderate? Millions of people died here. This is not a photo opportunity. 

We arrived back too late for free dinner, so head out into the city. Just off the main square there is a stage set up with live music and several food and drink tents. We decide to try some more traditional Polish food, so I try Golonka or pork knuckle with fried potatoes. This part of Europe really knows how to cook meat. I just wish they liked vegetables as much as I did. 

Day 24

Tonight we're taking the night train to Leipzig, so we spend the day mooching around the city, trying to kill as much time as possible. We head to the city's Jewish quarter and explore the various craft and charity shops, where I find several items from Primark. 

We head to the station an hour before our train, and it's just as well we do. It turns out that our train reservation was for the 8 o clock train to Warsaw this morning. We manage to work it out in plenty of time, which is lucky as Polish ticket offices are not the most efficient. And when Izzie finally gets to the desk the woman doesn't speak a word of English, and a random bloke in the queue has to be roped in to translate. It all works out in the end though and we make the train to Warsaw, ready to get on the night train that will take to the Polish-German border.


Find out about the last week of our trip, in Germany, in part 5













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