Europe Easter Circuit Walking Tour

26 September 2018

Our journey to Edinburgh, Scotland and flight to Munich, Germany went without any problems although there was a few tense moments on the drive to Edinburgh airport. At 5am, on new roads and in the dark, our TomTom decided not to talk to us for some unknown reason. So Julie put on her best TomTom voice and guided us through the ever increasingly busy roads as we travelled closer to the airport.

Trying to find the Avis car drop off point was another nightmare. For some reason there is no signage provided at all to show the 100's of people returning cars to the airport every day where to go. We ended up driving through the Departure Drop Off zone and having to quickly rummage around for a pound coin to get out through the boom gates. Eventually we dropped off the car with no damage as I was able to successfully miss everything for the last 4.5 weeks.

After a 2.5 hour flight, we checked in to our Munich hotel and waited for our friends, Ray and Gael, to arrive from France. After a very nice Italian dinner and a lot of catching up we hit the sack in readiness for our 13 day Walkabout Gourmet Adventures (GWA) Eastern Circuit guided walking tour through the Czech Republic, Poland and Slovakia.

Our group totals 11 walkers including a couple, Michael and Alison, we met in 2012 on the Croatia and Slovenia Croatia tour. We have two 8 passenger seat vans so with five spare seats we have a bit of elbow room.

Our vehicles for the two weeks and one of our guides Pascal

Regensburg on the Danube

Picked up by Graeme, the owner of GWA, from our hotel we met up with the second vehicle and other guide, Pascal with his wife, Carole, together with the rest of the tour group. North our little convoy travelled to the ancient city of Regensburg on the Danube River where we stopped for lunch. We had been here in 2012 when we did the river cruise from Amsterdam to Budapest so we saw some of the old sites including St Peter's Cathedral and Germany's oldest bratwurst shop.

Traditional getting engaged locks on the bridges of Regensburg

Next we headed into the Czech Republic and immediately noticed a country slowly trying to recover from Russian communist rule. Basic, bland designed buildings are now painted in various bright colours instead of the concrete gray they once were. Thanks to EU money the roads are as good as any we've driven on. Fields of hops and silver birch trees line the sides of the roads that eventually lead us to the Czech Republic's oldest and largest spa town, Karlovy Vary.

The Hotel Embassy is our home for the next two nights located in the main street of this exquisite small town full of 19th century ornate buildings.

Hot spring fed fountain

The Hotel is one of the few Czech owned boutique hotels in the heavily Russian influenced town. The main street is dotted with several tapped hot springs spluttering health invigorating mineralised water. Even the main fountain is a tapped hot mineral spring emitting steam and hot water night and day.

Hot spa water flowing in the streets of Karlovy Vary

Our walk the next day took us up and around the forest covered ridge above Karlovy Vary. The walk was just beautiful providing regular vistas over the town and valley below as we walked along autumn leaf covered paths. At one point we came across three tiny red squirrels gathering food for the upcoming winter.

Carpark where Daniel Craig as James Bond jabbed himself

Pre-dinner drinks were held in Hotel Pupp (pronounced 'poop' for those of us with primary school humour) which was featured in Daniel Craig's first James Bond movie. The carpark was the scene where Craig jabbed himself in the leg with a special serum to save his life. Inside the Hotel was like walking into a movie set. Sitting under a massive chandelier we sipped on drinks in the bar that has hosted so so many famous people over the years.

The walking group

Russian church in Karlovy Vary

The gourmet part of Gourmet Walking Adventures excelled back in our Hotel Embassy. Next day we set off to Prague for two days.

Two nights in Prague were two nights too long. The city, although beautiful and steeped in history, is swamped by hundreds of thousands of tourists every day. The famous Charles Bridge, closed to traffic, is just a sea of people. Graeme attempted to show us around the old city but the crowds were too much for Ray and Gael and us so we sought out a quiet bar overlooking the river and the packed streets of the city and enjoyed a quiet beer and wine instead.

Views over Prague from Prague Castle

WWII monument in Prague

Our only full day here was a free day where we could wander and enjoy Prague in whatever form we wanted. Because of the crowds we, like everyone in the tour group, set off early for the castle with its spectacular cathedral. At 8:45am the tour buses started to arrive disgorging 1000's of tourists that headed straight to the queues to go into the castle. We decided it was time to leave.

Down the hill and across the river we entered the Jewish Quarter (Ghetto) inside the old walled city of Prague. In just a few square kilometres once lived 18000 people. Since it began in the 11th century the Quarter has experienced unimaginable tragedy, persecution and at times wealth. In 1389 on Easter Sunday 1500 people were massacred on just that one day. For a period of time, for whatever reason, Jews were not permitted to bury their dead outside the Ghetto so in the mid 1400's until the late 1700's Jews buried their dead in a tiny cemetery. The cemetery is home to the graves of over 100000 people buried 12 layers deep. The top layer is covered in twisted haunting gravestones just inches apart.

Walking beside the Jewish cemetery

Monument to the Velvet Revolution

After wandering around the Ghetto we entered the main square where 1000's of tourists flock. It was so not us, so moving along we wandered around for a while before heading home.

Prague

Next day our tour group headed off to Krakow in Poland. Krakow is on the tourist map but only in the early stages. The old city has a lovely feel to it. There are more locals than tourists and they all seem happy and getting on with life.

Local entertainment in the markets

Our little boutique hotel was well placed just a couple 100 meters from the main square. In this square is located St Mary's Church which has a bell tower. 800 years ago a trumpeter warned the town population of a coming Tartar attack. He was shot in the neck by an arrow but had warned the population thus saving them. Since then for 800 years every day on the hour every hour a trumpeter plays after the bell tolls the time.

The tower the trumpeters play from

On a sunny Sunday afternoon we pulled up a chair below the tower, ordered a local beer and wine and waited for the trumpeter to play. In front of us, locals enjoyed their home market square with old and young people alike enjoying life in a city that has seen so much tragedy and suffering. The trumpeter played, waved to the crowd below and life went on.

Old recipe book

We had a free day in Krakow and Ray and I wanted to visit Auschwitz for a couple of hours but the tour companies buy all the tickets and force all visitors to go on one of their organised tours. So we gave it a miss. Dinner was held in a fantastic old restaurant in its 13 century cellar with walls adorned with medieval artifacts and with just our tour group in it. Beautiful traditional Polish food was served using some of the old recipes from a framed 18th century recipe book above my shoulder.

Looks like the last supper

With a change of plans due to Auschwitz not being available, Julie and I headed off for a days walking around the beautiful old town. First up was Wawel Royal Castle and its historic cathedral.

Views from the castle

Beneath the Castle is a large cave with its famous dragon in Polish folklore. The large metal dragon breathes fire every few minutes.

The dragon (left)

The dragon's cave

The dragon breathing fire

Krakow Jewish Quarter

Across the Vistula River is Schindler's Factory made famous by the movie Schindler's List. Like Auschwitz we wanted to have a look at Schindler's Factory but once again the large tourist companies had bought all the tickets available and we couldn't get in.

Schindler's Factory

Krakow Old Jewish Cemetery

Heading back home we passed the New Jewish Cemetery filled with 1000's of overgrown graves. The old cemeteries no longer exist as the gravestones and tomb slabs were used to pave the roads to the concentration camps during the holocaust. Obviously an awful and dark part of the history of Krakow.

After arriving back at our hotel we arranged to meet up with Ray and Gael for dinner starting with a pre-dinner drink in the square listening to the St Mary's Tower trumpeters again. Some street performers soon entertained us and the local crowd with some amazing rap dance routines well supported by a little toddler from the crowd who ended up stealing the show.

We got rid of all our shrapnel coins from the Czech Republic and Poland to the street performers before heading to a nice restaurant Julie had spied. Like everything else we wanted to do here, it was booked out so we headed to a local beer hall for what turned out to be quite a good meal with even better entertainment provided by Julie as she sang along to all the oompah band music being played.

Next day was moving day as we headed off to Zakopane in the Tatra Mountains in Poland near the border with Slovakia. With time to spare we called in to the Wieliczka Salt Mine near Krakow to do the three hour tour of this 700 year underground rock salt mine. Deep underground are many salt carvings of famous people from Polish history with the highlight being the ordained underground cathedral. The huge half tonne chandeliers in the cathedral are made of salt crystals with the walls adorned with salt carved religious events. The tour travelled for over three kilometres taking us down 130 metres.

Entering the mine

A block of salt ready to go to the surface

Salt carvings

The salt cathedral

Salt crystal chandelier

One of several large chambers underground in salt mine

The return journey to the surface is via three separate stacked tiny lifts containing 9 people each. Highly claustrophobic and jam packed in, the ride to the top takes about 45 seconds. For those in the group who are claustrophobic the journey took a lifetime.

After this great detour we headed to the winter ski village of Zakopane, Poland. I had caught a cold off Ray and Gael and it was in full swing. The best thing about travelling with a group of seasoned travellers is that they all carry an array of medications for all sorts of things. So on my personal doctors advice I took a couple of things and when to bed early. Tomorrow's walk is up and down a valley with rain and cold weather (maximum of 6 degrees) forecast. I decided not to do this, as did Julie who is recovering from a twisted knee courtesy of a tree root at one of our lunch stops in a forest.

As you can see, so far we haven't done very much hiking with only one walk in Karlovy Vary with the rest being (very long) strolls in cities and towns, the latter of which is really not us. The rest of the trip is filled with walks of which the first one is today which we are missing due to head colds and twisted knees.

By all accounts, from those who did the walk today, it was fairly tame being a stroll up and down a valley along a very quiet road with views to the snow covered Tatra Mountains. The highlight seemed to be the coffee and food at the cafe we stopped at yesterday on the way to Zakopane, Poland. We in the meantime went into Zakopane to top up our cold medications and to buy some things for hiking in the snow.

Today's walk along a valley in the Tatras

Tonight's dinner was a traditional feast of local Polish peasant foods held in a taxidermist's restaurant with all kinds of local stuffed wildlife adorning the walls and ceilings that, in the past, would have found its way into the Polish peasant food we were enjoying. Good hearty stuff that is enjoyable for one night only and thank goodness we are only having it one night.

Next morning we were both feeling well enough to tackle a long hike into the Tatrzanski National Park.

Walking past the ski jump in at the start of our walk

Colourful autumn leaves adorned the trees along our path that wound its way beside a clear mountain stream while freshly snow covered mountains loomed above us. The walk was very steep in places, made more difficult by a very slippery very muddy path.

The climb above the treeline was worth it as mother nature cleared the skies and allowed us clear views to the Tatra Mountains that surrounded us.

The walk down was again quite technical due to slippery mud covered rocks. A mountain stream near the bottom allowed us to wash most of the mud off our boots and provided us a pretty place for lunch as we sat on small boulders to its side.

Walking through a Barcode forest

Our lunch view

Boot cleaning

Morning tea

Our regular hiking lunch is bought fresh each morning at local supermarkets and consists of long dry bread rolls filled with a banana. Others in the group are more inventive with their picnic lunch however what we have suits us.

The walk back to our hotel after lunch followed the same stream and was one of the most picturesque walks we have done. Again the colourful autumn leaves enhanced the beauty of the little waterfalls, the narrow wooden footbridges and the rugged rock outcrops. Julie and I took the opportunity to walk by ourselves, leaving the group behind or in front, so we could enjoy the sounds of the forest and stream. Afternoon tea was held in a local alpine hut with a fireplace and wooden tables - a lovely way to end a very good walk.

Tonight's dinner was another hearty feast held in a different restaurant. Large lamb shanks, potatoes and vegetables were followed by dessert. Julie and Gael (the vegetarians in the group) are well catered for as well. We were all so full we struggled to sleep until late in the night.

A hearty feast

The sardines

High in the mountains behind Zakopane are mountain tops and that is where we are headed today. A single cable car takes around 30 people at a time to the highest point, Kasprowy Wierch. Jammed in like sardines again we all headed up to the popular Polish ski field on an idyllic clear day with no breeze to speak of.

Views from the cable car

Julie's traffic jam

Recent snowfalls thwarted our ridge walk as the track was too dangerous. Instead of the planned ridge walk, we had to be content with walking on slippery ice and snow and taking in the beautiful views of the snow capped Tatra Mountains all around us.

The abandoned walk along the ridge

The walking party

The hopeful ones queuing for the lift up

After a few hours we headed back down to walk past an incredibly long line of people trying to get on the cable car before the perfect day ended.

Next day we tackled the Morskie Oko hike, somewhat of a pilgrimage for Polish people, up to a lake 1400 metres above sea level. The walk was 18 kilometres there and back along a paved road that climbed steadily the whole way up. After parking in an enormous and fastly filling carpark we all joined the 1000's of people heading up the road.

The fast filling carpark

In what we have come to expect of the Polish the mood of the crowd was happy and respectful of others. People spoke softly, there was no rubbish anywhere and there were no yobbos to ruin the beautiful walk up the glacial valley to Morskie Oko lake. Once at the lake the place was packed with people along the water's edge. This is Poland's most popular walk.

Start of the walk (some catch horse and cart most of the way up and/or down)

The pilgrims heading up

The pilgrims at the lake

Once again the weather was perfect with clear skies affording us views to the high mountain peaks above us. We walked around the lake with only a few others doing so with us. The whole scene is very similar to Moraine Lake in Canada and is just as photogenic.

Following a bride and groom around the lake

Progressive Barn Dance with Pascal

The walking group

What goes up must come down and from the lake there are two options, walk or catch a horse drawn cart. We chose to walk but should have chosen the cart.

The cart was the better option

The start of the walk down from Morskie Oko

The constant downward walking got a bit tiring and by the time we reached the carpark we were tired and hungry. What better way to revive ourselves than to enjoy freshly cooked chips/French fries served from a small caravan. Although I was tempted I refrained from buying a half litre can of lovely Polish cold beer for just AUD$0.80c.

Next day was moving day and with weary legs we climbed into the little buses and headed into Slovakia and the ski village of Stary Smokovec. Our accommodation was in the beautiful Grand Hotel once rated in the top 10 alpine hotels in the world. At one time it was the seat of the new government of Slovakia. Located on the other side of the Tatras to where we'd been for the past few days, it formed a good base for our walks for the next couple of days.

Our first walk started at the hotel and wound its way up through forests to Lake Velicke, very similar to Morskie Oko lake without the people and at 1650 metres above sea level.

The forest was devastated by a hurricane a few years ago and large areas of the forest was literally ripped away. The walk up was quite hard but the lake was just beautiful. Walking half way around we stopped for lunch and drank in the views.

The hurricane destroyed forest

Taking in the views

Next day we walked the Tatranska Magistrala Trail high up to a ski lodge. The walk was undertaken in thick fog with the views to the valley below shrouded in thick cloud below us.

Luck however was on our side. As we had lunch in the ski lodge the fog cleared and revealed the beautiful rugged mountain peaks above us.

To get down from this high mountain walk we were spoiled with a cable car ride to the bottom. This was our last walk for the tour and it was a beauty. Unfortunately we missed the train home to our town and rather than wait another hour for the next one, most of us decided to walk the supposedly 6 klm back. Well that was a mistake as it took us over an hour of endlessly upwards footpaths and we arrived back at about the same time as Suzanne from our group who had very wisely decided to wait for the train.

Time to hang up the hats and backpack

Next day we packed up and drove into Austria to be dropped off in Vienna where we will stay for three nights. Our apartment was really nice and a pleasant change to the motel rooms we had stayed in for the last couple of weeks. Ray and Gael had an apartment just 10 minutes walk from us and were staying four nights.

Our first day in Vienna was one of rest and recuperation. We did very little other than meet Ray and Gael for dinner over the road from our apartment at a really good restaurant run by a bloke from Croatia. We had dined there the previous night when we arrived and the food was outstanding, mainly seafood, so we thought why not do it again.

Another Cathedral - this time in Vienna

The next two days were spent wandering the streets of Vienna with Ray and Gael. Each day we walked around 20klm. A walk along the tree lined main shopping street containing all the big name shops caused no damage to our credit cards. We turned around when we were on a bridge half way across the Danube with its shores lined with luxury river boats plying their passengers between Amsterdam and Budapest, just like we did six years ago.

Ray, Gael and Julie on the tributary of the Danube

Jeff and Ray on The Danube

In the backstreets many of the buildings have brass plaques on the footpath identifying those taken by the Nazis in WWII and sent to Concentration camps, many never to be seen again.

This, combined with the Holocaust Memorial in one of the towns squares remembering the more than 65000 Austrian Jews murdered in the Nazi concentration camps, was a very sobering reminder of the horrors the people of Vienna have lived through.

The memorial with 'books' turned with spines to the back.

Doors with no handles

The third night we had dinner with Ray and Gael in a traditional pub serving traditional food and local beers. It was a good way to end our time in Vienna as we flew out the next evening.