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Friday, June 06, 2003
MY 2000 ADVENTURE (continued)
June 1 – 1:40 pm
Welcome to June! We’re just leaving a town called Acatari. It’s a typical small, rural Romanian town with at least one church and many red shingled houses. The road is very bumpy so I’ll have to stop writing…
June 1 – 6:50 pm
We’re setting up camp just outside of the city called Cluj Napoca. It seems to be an industrial city with not many landmarks worth visiting. Thus we drove straight through it. I feel more relaxed now compared to this morning with me forgetting half my toiletries in Bucharest. I took a Tylenol 3 and it helped immensely. The rain earlier today gradually gave way to overcast clouds and finally to blue sky. The town of Sighisoara (birthplace of Vlad Dracul) was quaint. I bought more small gifts and some bathroom supplies to use up most of my Romanian money (I had 170,000 lei left). I just bought a phone card for 50,000 lei ($2.50 U.S) that has around ten minutes of use. So I’ll call Dad at 6:00 am tomorrow. Romania is beautiful. I’ve calculated that since I’m only about 150 miles Siret (birthplace of the Schreyers) that it must look very similar to the other towns I’ve seen. One day I would like to return to Romania and see Siret! Our campground here is in a shallow valley with lush green hills. It’s cool and windy so I believe that tonight will be a bit cold. After having bought many ice cream bars (Magnums) in Turkey at 750,000 lira (about $1.75 Canadian), I’ve bought none since. I’m trying to eat more healthy things by buying fruit and fruit juices. But I have caved into temptation and bought some junk food. I recently bought a coke, graham crackers, candy bars, a few beers, and a chocolate cherry liquor for only 27,000 lei for $1.50 Canadian! I can’t believe how inexpensive things are here. Dinner will be soon so I think I will put on my Detroit Red Wings sweater as a chilly wind has picked up.
June 2 – 9:30 am
We’re now in western Romania and passing though another small, quaint town. Last night was very chilly but I was comfortable with my tent and air mattress. Soon after writing my entry yesterday, I ran around the field with the soccer ball to burn off some steam and calories and warm up. I couldn’t contact Dad but I was able to talk with Mom for ten minutes before the phone card expired. We have one more stop before reaching the Romanian/Hungarian border. It’s a beautiful sunny day but my nose and sinuses are stuffed up. I don’t know if it’s just allergies or if I have a cold. Gummy our driver just turned on the a/c – good! We’ll be in Budapest for two days. I’d estimate that at least one third of all cars I see are Dacias. They are cheap and funny looking Romanian built cars.
The road signs have looked the same since we entered Syria. Best examples are that they always have an arrow pointing down to the right or left of a concrete traffic lane meridian. Plus every town we departed had a sign with the town name and a line crossed through it. Other Romanian images are seeing people toiling in the fields with their hoes and ploughs. Yesterday I saw two old women in what seemed to be traditional attire (including kerchiefs) trudging along the road with their hoes on their backs. The road yesterday between Brasov and Cluj had much construction. There were some machines but much of the work seemed to be done manually. Many men here wear hats (some are very tall) that appear to be made of straw. I could easily picture the stereotypical East/Central European man wearing one with a feather in it, smoking a pipe and holding a large beer. We just passed over a small river that had an earth dam.
June 3 – 4:30 pm
I just got back from a pleasant day of sight seeing in scenic Budapest. Woke up at 7:30 am, ate breakfast at 8:30 am and we left around 9:30 am. We took a train/tram to the Castle District that is on the Buda side of the city and then began our sightseeing at a place called the funicular. It was a gondola like ride up a steep cliff. I walked past a building or concert hall that Beethoven performed in 1800. Then we proceeded to the Buda Castle labyrinth. It’s a fascinating set of underground tunnels with music and sound effects emanating from hidden speakers. Many places were dark with water dripping from the ceiling; it would be a great place to have a Halloween Party! The tour ended at a place where there were controversial imprints from either an ostensibly old civilization or aliens. All designs looked like they had been carved from stone. One looked like a computer while another resembled a coke bottle! It was very unusual but I suspect that it is simply a prank. But apparently experts can’t get a date for these imprints.
Afterwards a small group of us walked across the famous Chain Bridge and entered the Pest (downtown) section of the city. We relaxed in a park and bought fruit juice in a grocery store. The prices were slightly higher than in Romania. I also noticed that there were many more tourist buses and visitors than in Romania. The transportation systems seemed more developed also and will likely improve as we approach The West. Hungary’s Parliament Building is impressive with its many spires and Eastern architecture. I saw a few monuments that were dedications to the failed 1956 uprising. The Fisherman’s Bastion was our first stop yesterday upon entering Budapest. The area was used by Hungarian freedom fighters battling the Nazis in 1944-45. They were aided by fisherman by using the building as a lookout tower. The Liberation Memorial and its view of the city were impressive. The St. Mathias Cathedral was beside the Fisherman’s Bastion. I would have liked to visit the Museum of War History but, like most places on my trip, there was just too much to see and not enough time. Anyway, after relaxing in the inner city park and observing people we crossed another bridge and walked the length of Margaret Island. The downtown area seemed deserted but the island bustled with activity (cyclists and sun bathers). It was refreshing to walk and get some sunshine. I noticed that buildings had different colors to complement the windy cobblestone streets. Old apartment buildings had locked front glass doors. I bought a small ceramic replica beer stein mug that has Hungary’s national crest.
June 4 – 8:00 am
I’m back on the tour bus bright and early. Our campsite was okay, centrally located, and situated near the river. FYI 270 Hungarian Forint equals $1.00 U.S. It’s a 3.5 hour drive to Vienna. It’s another hot, sunny day today with another full itinerary of activities. Budapest had an interesting concept of having advertising signs hanging from street lights. We’ve just left the city’s city limits – good bye Hungary. Next stop is Austria. I don’t want to cash more than $15.00 U.S. I stocked up on supplies last night but it means that I have more crap to lug around in my already full backpack. I’m tired after yesterday’s long trek but I need to now compose something in writing for my special friend (Taj). Each person drew a name as a way to promote friendship on the tour. We just passed a large IKEA store!
June 4 – 7:20 pm
We’re getting ready to go to the amusement park. I enjoyed our, unfortunately, very brief tour of Vienna. It has numerous impressive looking buildings (Palace, Parliament, Mayor’s Office, Fine Arts and Natural History Museums to name a few). Vienna is considered the classical music capital of the world with Mozart, Beethoven, List and many others having studied and performed there at some point in their lives. After walking around the downtown area we stopped at the Schnaps (sp?) Museum. Very interesting tour of how liquor is manufactured. There were many schnaps samplers to taste and some were very strong! I loved the strawberry ones. I convinced myself to purchase a bottle of gold flaked schnaps for 250 Austrian schillings. $1.00 U.S equals about 14.5 schillings and $1.00 Canadian equals 9.5 schillings.
June 5 – 8:05 am
We’re just pulling out of our campsite outside of Vienna. There were two other Contikki buses parked here as well. Obviously a popular stop for these tour companies. We had an excellent dinner last night but there was not enough for second helpings. I’ve become accustomed to not eating much. After dinner we went to the amusement park. I was impressed with the layout of the place. It did not seem as large as Edmonton’s Klondike Days but it had some great looking rides like the Superman and Imperator. Unfortunately due to my queasy stomach I did not go on any rides. The fair grounds played techno music. I hung out with the usual group of people from the tour. We went to McDonald’s but it was pricey since it resulted in being as expensive as back home. It cost 35 schillings for a burger or just under $4.00 and 25 schillings for a McFlurry or about $2.50. I got to bed about midnight and got up at 6:30 am. It was a warm night so it looks to be another hot /semi humid day today. Last night I noticed a large bump under my thigh and realized that it’s probably an insect bite. I’m not sure when I got bit because I never felt it. The swelling is has gone down a bit and it isn’t nearly as bad as Kathy’s horrible bit she got in Syria.
It’s Monday morning so we are stuck in morning rush hour traffic. There are many European cars (Volvos, BMWs, Mercedes, Audis, VWs), a few Japanese but virtually no American models. I’m still upset about the Jordanian sand bottle incident. I had bought the colorful bottle at Jerash, Jordan. I had never seen so many sizes of these colorful bottles of sand designs. Mine had camels and desert scenes and looked incredibly realistic. The process consisted of dumping layers of colored sand and then using a needle-like instrument to create images in the sand. I bought a small bottle due to my limited space but at some point the bottle cap came unglued. So all the sand got mixed around and destroyed the patterns. I had no choice but to throw it out but luckily it only cost me $1.00 U.S. I’m now accustomed to camping but would prefer a hotel once in a while and use all the accompanying amenities! But at least I haven’t had to share my tent like the others on the tour do. It’s nice to have privacy and extra room. We’re en route to the Habsburg’s Summer Palace and then off to Prague.
June 5 – 9:10 pm
I just had a filling dinner that consisted of wieners, cream mashed potatoes, vegetables and yogurt. It doesn’t sound that appetizing but it was good. As soon as we arrived at our new campground my allergies flared up again. I immediately took an allergy pill and it has helped. The Habsburg’s Schonbrum Palace was absolutely stunning. I could have spent half a day just leisurely walking around the immense yard and gardens. One hundred years ago the destiny of the Austro-Hungarian Empire was probably decided here. The royal family truly lived a life of luxury and opulence mixed with militarism. But it must have been a waste of resources, a drain on the country’s economy and a hindrance on promoting free thinking liberal values. No wonder my Schreyer ancestors left the country in the early 20th century! We arrived in Prague around 4:00 pm. The area is more mountainous than that around Vienna. The Czech Republic is more like Hungary by the prevalence of Skodas, Travants and Fiats. I really liked Vienna and will see how Prague compares to it. Our first stop here was aptly named Prague Castle. It is perched atop of the city with a nice view. There are many guards marching around so I and assume it is a symbolic gesture to the past. They don’t look like military soldiers. The exchange rate is 22 Czech Kroner to $1.00 Canadian. I just exchanged $15.00 for 462 Kroner but am not sure if that’s enough. I still haven’t acquired the knack for budgeting how much money is needed when staying in a new country for a short period of time. A popular comment is that beer is supposed to be cheaper than water here. Our group is almost ready to take the tram into town to go pubing…
June 6 – 5:45 pm
I’m sitting on the curb in Prague’s Old Town Square. It was an important trading area for merchants in the 18th century. Today is overcast but cool and refreshing. It poured last night and many of us, including me, got soaked. I’m battling flu like symptoms…
June 6 – 6:50 pm
I’m back at McDonald’s again. The Chinese restaurant that Toni took us was too damned expensive for me. The super sized McChicken deal cost 9 Kruger – comparable to what I’d pay back home. Anyway there’s much to write about since the night of June 5th. After dinner last night I went with a group to a tiny bar back in the old city district. It started pouring rain as we were frantically trying to find the pub. It was a neat place and had another Top Deck tour group there. But the beer seemed weak to me but it was cheap (16 Kroner or .75 cents) and was served in plastic cups. I chose not to go to a nightclub since the cover charge was 100 Kroner. It was tempted to go in as the place had an Internet Café. Despite wanting to email people I was just too tired! The cab ride cost 150 Kroner (I can’t remember if that was the total amount or per person).
I got back to camp to discover that my tent was half flooded with rain water. Everything was damp but luckily many things were in ziplock bags. It turned out that I had put the protective outer tent cover inside out! I didn’t sleep well (four hours) due to the damp sleeping bag and not feeling well. I woke up early to try drying things out a bit. The group left camp at 9:00 am and headed back into town. Our campsite is in a large field far from downtown. I wouldn’t be surprised if the old trams were the same ones used during World War Two! I found an Internet Café and spent 1.5 hours emailing friends and family. I hadn’t spent that much time on a computer since being in Kas, Turkey. I did much walking today and I hiked across the St. Charles Bridge a few times. I saw the inside of St. Vitus Cathedral that is located inside the city’s citadel – magnificent! Later I bought a ceramic artwork of the citadel (church/palace and bridge) for 340 Kroner. The Czech Republic is famous for its crystal so I scoured many shops to locate a nicely designed hunk. I finally found one (cost 350 Kroner) geometrically cut palm sized. It’s interesting to look at and see the mirror like illusions inside the crystal. (It’s made a nice coffee table piece!) Feeling a bit achy now – probably from the miles that I trekked today. I have just over 70 Kroner left – not bad for budgeting this country!
Here’s my email that I sent to everyone:
It’s been days since I’ve had the chance to email people – my apologies. Most of the cities that I’ve seen have been whirlwind trips with little time set aside for e-mailing. This is our second day in Prague so I have the whole day to do whatever I want! It’s a beautiful city with many old buildings and a long history. It’s cooled off since we entered the Czech Republic and it poured last night. I got rain in my tent and things got wet. Luckily I kept many things in Ziploc bags (thanks Mom!) I really enjoyed Vienna but we were only there for one full day. That was not nearly enough time to see the major sites. I was impressed by the Habsburgs summer palace (Schonbrunner Palace). Vienna is considered the classical music capital of the world with a long list of musicians having composed there. Austria is very Westernized and thus rather expensive compared to the poorer former Eastern Bloc countries like Romania, Hungary, Bulgaria, and the Czech Republic. Much of the scenery in Eastern and Central Europe looks like different areas in North America. It is only when one sees people toiling in the fields, seeing old Skodas, Yugos, Travants, Peugots, and horse driven carts on the roads does one realize that it’s not North America. Once we return to Austria we’ll no longer need to buy bottled water. That will be nice!
The food is pretty good on this Top Deck tour as we have our own cook. Beer in Prague is cheaper than water and pop! I went out last night and bought a beer for 16 Kroner or about 75 cents. However, the cheapest prices were in Romania. A bottle of beer in Bucharest cost 50 cents. Things were incredibly cheap in that county. I only saw a few other tour buses in Romania besides ours. The landscape there was beautiful and I would like to return there some day and visit Seret, Bucovina where the Schreyer clan was born. The Romanian border guards were the strictest of all the county borders that I had crossed. One guard got on our bus and carefully inspected each passport and then meticulously studied each person’s face. There was dead silence as this was going on. Our group is camping a lot more which is alright but I’m beginning to tire of living out of a backpack. But many people on this tour have been traveling for longer than I have. I better go have lunch then explore the rest of Old Prague. Love to everyone and I’ll e-mail again soon from somewhere!
June 7 – 12:00 pm
We’re currently stopped at the Czech Republic/Austria border. This should be the last big border delay on my trip. Although my passport didn’t need a stamp, the Aussies needed the stamp and visa. Hence the long wait. I’ve realized that, at least on my trip, that I’m more attuned to more serious conversations than constant joking around. I CAN joke around but it seems only with my close friends. I seem to have trouble with making frivolous conversations and dragging jokes on. Thus on the Top Deck tour I’m probably not too popular because I didn’t quickly bond with everyone. Case in point – I really haven’t had many conversations with the two Canadian girls. They appear to be very young, frivolous, and I wouldn’t know what to say to them. Yet they haven’t been too interested in talking to a fellow Canadian – oh well. Time for lunch!
June 8 – 1:05 am
I just showered and cleaned a few clothes. I only needed to bring two shirts on my trip instead of three. At this stage I need all the space I can get! I noticed at dinner last night that my ring wasn’t on my finger. Am very upset but realize that perhaps I was not meant to wear a ring. Other bad luck was that my camera suffered water damage in Budapest from my tent being flooded. It was almost ten years old and is likely unusable. Not optimistic that I can salvage the sixteen shots that was on the roll of film. Most of the photos were of the Habsburg Palace in Vienna. So I bought a disposable camera for 89 Austrian Schillings. It was cool, windy, and overcast yesterday. There were two important towns in northwestern Austria that we passed through yesterday. One was Ces Budejovice that is the home of Budweiser beer! The second town was Linz – Hitler’s birthplace. Our final stop was the Hotel Habitat in picturesque Kirchberg. We had a great dinner and I even bought a beer and danced a bit during the tour party. It was a costume party so we had to rummage through bags of old costumes. Our chalet/hostel is a stopover for several tours so this has been done by hundreds of others. I didn’t feel like participating but reluctantly joined in and found a black wig and sword. So I wore only my Turkish vest over my upper body and masqueraded as a barbarian. The picture of me dressed up turned out okay. I’m tired now and will write more later…
June 8 – 12:55 pm
I just finished the rest of my lunch. What a beautiful day – a gentle breeze and a sunny sky. Apparently it was raining here yesterday. I’m overlooking where three valleys connect at the town of Kitzbuhel. Shane and I are the last of the group to tandem paraglide from the ski resort called Hahnenkamm. I walked all around the area and got to a height of 1900 metres or about 5700 feet. I’m not too nervous about the paragliding after observing the others take off. The departure point is a gradual decline. Beautiful scenery that is similar to the Rockies. I’m tired now after the 45 minute hike/run I did earlier. I’ll sleep well tonight! I withdrew 2,000 Austrian Schillings and will get two more disposable cameras. I’m looking forward to coming home and visiting with everybody. Spending time with Darcy will be special too.
There’s only six days to go on this tour before we reach London. Hard to believe since we’re in central Europe at the moment! There’s a lot of ground to cover. We’ll get back into Kirchberg around 2:30 pm and then I’ll walk around some more and grab a late lunch and drink some Austrian beer. I only had one beer last night (cost 33 Schillings or about $3.50 Canadian) and it wasn’t that cheap. The Internet cafes are a rip off by charging $1.00 for 6 minutes. The insect bug under my leg is OK but I just noticed a red lump on the left side of my left leg. I’ve added up the countries that I will have seen by the time I depart for home: Egypt, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, Turkey, Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary, Czech Republic, Austria, German, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Holland, Belgium, England, Wales, Scotland. That’s 18 in total and the approximate mileage driven will be 11,000 kilometres. A footnote is that it was interesting to have seen Hitler’s Berchtesgaden alpine retreat perched up in the mountains yesterday. Seeing the gypsy camp in Romania was neat too. Well I better head back to the take off point.
June 9 – 12:30 pm
Things have got better beginning this morning. First was that I found my ring! The bartender had it and Toni somehow got hold of it and knew that it belonged to me. I don’t know how it fell off my finer. (In early 2001 I lost the same ring for good as it somehow fell off my finger). Thus my stay in Kirchberg ended on a pleasant note. The resort town of 5,000 was situated in the picturesque Tirol valley. I spent yesterday walking around the town. I bought a neat souvenir of a small replica cow bell. Many cows in the area wore bells for tracking purposes. I also bought a double chocolate Magnum ice cream bar for 22 Schillings (over $2.00 but was worth it at the time). Then I went to a Backerie (Austrian spelling?) that was German or Austrian for a bakery store. I bought a feingeback for 18 Schillings. It was a large pastry with chocolate inside. I guess I was craving chocolate that day! Also purchased two cans of beer for less than $1.00 each. (It turned out later that one can was a non alcoholic beer!) Our group had another excellent dinner last night prepared by our chalet/hostel staff.
After dinner I had a relaxing walk down by the stream, came back and had a shower, read and went to bed at 11:30 pm. The whitewater rafting this morning was fun and the river was rated a force factor 3. I guess that’s considered intermediate. We traveled sixteen kilometers on the Inn river. During the excursion we passed by Mount Achekogel that is the Paramount Pictures mountain logo! In hindsight I should have worn my sunglasses but luckily I didn’t lose or break my regular glasses. The river trip cost 480 Schillings or $50.00 but didn’t include photos that were taken of us by the white water company. Since I wasn’t recognizable in them I didn’t purchase any photos. It’s another sunny day (so far I’ve only experienced heavy rains in Romania and the Czech Republic on my trip). We’re now on our way to Switzerland but at the moment seem to be tied up in traffic.
June 9 – 9:25 pm
We have just set up camp outside the town of Lauterbrunnen, Switzerland. It has absolutely stunning scenery of 300 foot mountain waterfalls. The town is nestled at the foot of Mount Jungfrau that means young virgin. Later in the evening I began hearing loud booming noises like a gun or cannon. Our driver, Gummi, said that it’s glacial ice melting and cracking up in the mountains. My butt and legs are very sore from yesterday’s strenuous hike. En route to Switzerland we stopped briefly in the tiny county of Liechtenstein. It has a population of 30,000 and the capital, where we rested, is Furstentum. I’m very tired now so I need to go to bed early tonight. Tomorrow will be another full day of sightseeing beginning with waking up at 5:30 am and leaving camp an hour later. Good night!
June 10 – 9:18 pm
I just looked at my brand new Swiss Military watch and recorded the time in my diary. It cost 265 Francs or about the same in Canadian dollars. But it’s beautiful looking and would likely cost more back home. Besides it’s time that I had a watch considering I will soon be a working professional! Anyway at the same store I also bought a blue climber Swiss Army knife for myself and a red climber Swiss Army knife for Eric. I arose early this morning and took the electric train up to the peak of Jungfrau. This must have been an engineering marvel. It was breathtaking scenery with immense glaciers. The rail line actually ascended into the mountain and there were two stops inside before we reached the top! There were glass/Plexiglas windows to view the areas. The weather was cloudy and windy but I was able to peer through the windows and see some of the viewpoints. The Sphinx (ice sculptures) was interesting and close to the chalet. The tiny Panorama at the peak of the mountain was riveting but the damn wind reduced visibility to near zero. Walking on the metal grating floor and looking down thousands of feet through the holes was a bit unnerving. I wore my red Detroit RedWings polar fleece jacket and shorts. My upper body was warm while my legs were a bit chilled.
On our descent Shane and I got off the train at Kleine Scheidegg and walked the rest of the way back to Lauterbrunnen. We wanted the exercise and to experience the scenery on foot. It got very steep during the last third of the way down and I now have a cramp in my left calf. But it was good exercise and took us 2.5 hours to reach camp. So it was another fun-filled and expensive day of buying souvenirs. Just before dinner a free faller jumped from a mountain cliff and got caught in the trees half way down. A helicopter quickly came and plucked him to safety. Apparently it’s illegal to free fall but park safety officers anticipate people jumping! One footnote is that the Sphinx (not sure how it got the name as it doesn’t resemble the one in Egypt) at the top of Jungfrau was similar in appearance to where scenes from the James Bond film On Her Majesty’s Secret Service was shot. That mountain (close by) is Schilthorn and it has a revolving restaurant which portrayed Bloefeld’s lair. I need to get to bed and rest my sore body. One final note is that Kirchberg was only a ninety minute drive from Munich. So the resort town must have been a popular destination with the Germans. Good night…
June 11 – 10:59 am
We’ve stopped at the Swiss border and there’s another Contiki bus stopped ahead with everyone standing outside. It’s strange that there is a delay here. It rained for quite a while last night but it stopped this morning luckily. We stopped at a huge gas station/shopping center complex just before we reached the border. Being curious with conversion rates I naturally checked the prices and was flabbergasted. A one litre bottle of fruit juice cost almost $4.00 – welcome to Deutschland!
June 11 – 2:30 pm
Another footnote is that back on June 9th as we entered Switzerland we pulled off the side of the road for a picturesque view of the town of Lungren. Very nice! Anyway I’ve seen few big trucks on the autobahns here in Germany. There are many exits and cars are speeding by us. Very few old cars while many are late model VWs, BMWs, Mercedes, Opels, Renaults, Audis, and Volvos. The land is very green and flat – looks like Michigan. I’m running low on hard cash so I’ll likely not go for the wine tasting and drinking party tonight. Besides I’m not keen on blowing a lot of money on alcohol! Although I still have 18 days left on my trip my thoughts are already becoming preoccupied with returning home and seeing everyone. As well there is the trip to Spokane, train trip to Chicago and attending ALA, Craig’s wedding, and moving to god knows where in August! We’re now passing red roofed buildings. Really isn’t much to see because of the haze and flat landscape.
posted by Michael at 11:39 AM
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