Arrival - Vienna and Cesky Krumlov

Hi gang!

It's taken me a while to get my blog started! The first few days of the trip have the most hectic transportation connections.

I'm in Eastern Europe! Flight went very well. A post 9/11 note. On the flight from London to Vienna, an older couple believed they fell too ill to travel so they took them selves off the plane. Well, now your luggage must go with you. We all watched as the whole plane's luggage was unloaded outside, took awhile, then they found old George's bags. Then repacked it all. Then the couple decides to get back on the plane! to the moans and groans of all the passengers. Their luggage reloaded, and 45 minutes later the plane is off.

Vienna, is my hub city. I will be coming back here to fly back home. I haven't alloted much time to see it, but I'll catch Vienna on another trip. I arrived on Tuesday and have had rain for the first few days. Despite the difficulties touring in the rain, I managed to see a little of Vienna.
I had a little trouble navigating in Vienna. I kept seeing the same street. EinBahn. Man there are alot of Einbahn streets. Then noticed the arrow background on the sign. Einbahn in Austrian is "One way"...haaaaaaaaaaa. So much for language barrier. I better get used to it, I'll be in 5 countries :)

The over all plan in the first part of the trip is to travel from Vienna up thru the Czech Republic, stopping by the city of Cesky Krumlov on the way to Prague, the capital city of the Czech Republic. After a hectic, crazy day travelling from Vienna by train, shuttle train, then bus, I arrived in Cesky Krumlov on Wednesday. Wow. This is an amazing city. Google it and check it out! It's a Medieval village, built around a beautiful picturesque castle on the hairpin bend of the Vtlava river which also goes thru Prague. It is a world cultural heritage site for a good reason. The architecture and wall finishings of all the homes and buildings in town are incredible. Red tile roofs with various detail designs, wrapping around a lazy slow river with trees and parkside walks. I stayed here Wed and part of Thurs. Woke up to a beautiful sunny day Thurs. Finally some beautiful tour weather. Many many pictures. Wish I could share them. First off, Inet cafes have been hard to find at the right time in touring agenda, and no facilities for uploading pics yet. I'll work on that. Cesky Krumlov is a beautiful Czech City not to be missed.

The impact of the newly found freedom of the Czech Republic was evident on the way up. Trains in Austria were modern, nice wide seats and newly decorated. As you cross the border, the trains become old, small, and the villages around just beyond the border show a lack of maintenance, and appear old compare to their Austrian counterparts. I'm sure this will change as I get near the tourist driven cities. But the countries behind the old 'Iron Curtain' have found a new freedom since 1989, and I'm sure are quickly getting accostomed to this new economic existence. More on this later in the trip. And the difference in the two economies are amazing. I spend about $30 on a nice dinner in Vienna. The comparable meal, with some of Europes best beer 9 (Budvar..hey, this is the place where Budweiser was born) was about $10. Difference of about 1/3

Friday I left this lovely Idyllic town and headed for Prague. The bus system here, although many older buses, is punctual and efficient. It was a nice ride over the Czech countryside. Many fields of yellow mustard plant, (grown commercially I guess)...small villages surrounding a cathedral tower, with a real Slavic looking cupola at the top. These closely resemble the churches I saw all over Russia. Interesting Slavic architectural trend. Nice highways, many small cars. No SUV's here...well just a few. And gas prices are around $4.50 per gallon.

Well I'm in Prague now, got around for a couple of hours at the end of the day to quickly see the city. The hostel I'm in is terrific, fairly new modern interior and free Internet...whoo hoo!

A walk thru town, the old main market square and stroll along the Vtlava river reveals an amazing city that survived the bombing of World War II. The architecture of ALL the buildings, cathedrals, bridges is spectacular. I'll be on visual overload here for 3 days!

I'm off to tour Prague , just wanted to say hi. I'll be back after visiting this amazing city for a couple of days.

Take care,
Yours in travel,
Bill