Brussels

A lot of travelers had warned me that they did not like Brussels, and I should skip it. This was very bizarre to me, as I ended up really loving the place. A man saw me walking with my pack, and helped me with directions to my hostel, also giving me some advice on local attractions. Upon entering my hostel, I was greeted by a large dog, who begrudgingly allowed me to pat him. The rooms were absolutely massive and the bed was the most comfortable I had been in for a long time. The breakfast was also quite good, with a dazzling array of sugary spreads such as Nutella, cinnamon spread and chocolate sprinkles. A short walk later and I was in the main square.

I started a walking tour, but since the English group was around 100 people with only one guide, and my Spanish is not so flash, I bailed very quickly and did my own tour. The smaller size of Brussels and the relatively few tourists was refreshing after Paris. To my delight, I wandered across many painted cartoon murals against tall two or three story buildings in the streets. Brussels was home to Herge, the creator of Tintin, and the city has adopted Tintin in many forms, as well as being a cultural center for all things comic. I visited an amazing comic book store with many popular French and Belgian titles I had never heard of. I also could not resist buying some Tintin souvenirs. The comic museum was also good, but not great. Sadly the official Tintin museum was a ways out of town and I did not have the time to visit.

The Galeries Royales Saint-Hubert, an indoor mall/hall, contained a lot of various chocolate shops, and I sampled from most of them. Flavours ranged from raspberry and truffle to wasabi and chilli. I also wandered into a macaroon shop and bought a single salted caramel macaroon. Five minutes later, I came back to buy more. The shop assistant laughed when she saw me again so soon, and I told her that it was one of the best things I had ever tasted. I also had a great hot chocolate from the Leonidas chocolate cafe. The rest of the day was spent wandering around town and window shopping for awesome (but ridiculously expensive) nautical antiques. Brussels contained many of my favourite things, from Belgian beer, chocolate and Tintin, to comics, murals, nautical knick knacks and interesting alleyways.

Paris

Wandering the streets of Paris is really a feast for the eyes, and something that is hard to convey with photographs and is best experienced. Two story buildings which lightly glow in the afternoon sun lead you down one way streets and alleys, where yellow autumn trees line the way. Random wandering would take you into small secluded courtyards of benches and trees. Cafes adorn the sidewalks, and like in many parts of Europe, all the seats face outwards for easier people watching. Stunning women sit drinking their coffee and smoking cigarettes in a uniquely sexy French way, and the majority of people look like they have stepped out of a fashion magazine. Naturally, I loved it.

A free walking tour led me around some of the main tourist attractions in Paris, such as the Louvre Pyramid, Avenue de Champs-Elysees and Notre Dame Cathedral. I had a chocolate galette for lunch, and enjoyed some people watching. After a long day of walking, I came back at sunset to see the area surrounding Notre Dame. Hanging out by the river Sienne just across from the cathedral and watching the sun in decline was a great way to end the day.

The next day I headed out to the Eiffel Tower, and it did not disappoint. Looming over me, it was really impressively tall, and I could not have asked for better weather. I constructed a small lunch out of some ham, cheese and a gluten free baguette and ate in the tower’s shadow. I also visited the Montmartre region, a hill known for having studios of many famous artists such as Picasso, Dali and van Gough. The Salvador Dali museum was pretty fantastic, showing a lot of Dali and Dali-inspired paintings and sculptures, including a sculpture of Saint George and the Dragon which I absolutely loved. Elsewhere in Montmartre, I found a church that almost looked painted in black to look like it had 3D detail, but on closer inspection, actually had 3D detail. Hard to explain, but it broke my brain in an awesome way.

Back in the city centre, I tracked down the Defender of Time clock, an old automata that has since stopped working, but is impressive nonetheless. It has a dragon, a man with a sword, a clock, a crab and a rooster…awesome! I also sought out a completely gluten free pastry shop – Helmut Newcake. Luckily it was a short walk from my hostel, and I had to resist buying everything I saw. The waitress did not understand my English, but luckily a lovely girl nearby overheard and helped me out. She was French-Canadian, now living in Paris, and also gluten free. It was amusing to discover she thought kiwis were very common in New Zealand and flew around everywhere. I ended my trip with a beautiful evening cruise down the Sienne and a wish to stay much much longer.

Berlin

My hostel in Berlin was deliberately in a much grungier area of the city, and as I walked the final few blocks, I had no less than four chaps offer to sell me drugs. The run down streets were covered in graffiti and lively bars and cafes littered the region. Due to an oversight, I first set out exploring Berlin without a map. From the Berlin Victory Column, I headed in the wrong direction and saw a different section of the city that I had intended. I managed to stumble across a photography exhibition of Helmut Newton, which juxtaposed erotic female portraits with landscapes. From there, I managed to find the Reichstag and had an amazing bacon and eggs brunch at a cafe somewhere. After sampling cafes and restaurants around Europe, I still think Wellington has one of the best scenes for all around variety and quality.

Since Berlin has 175 museums, I thought it appropriate to start off with a visit to the computer game museum. It had a good selection of playable games, both modern and old, but I didn’t really have the time to sit down for long. Hiring a bike was a smart way to get around due to the city’s size, and through my research I managed to discover that today was the opening of a new gluten free bakery! I biked out there, and finally found it after some wandering, but what a find! Waffles, bread rolls, cakes and muffins…I bought as much as I could carry. Then I had a fantastic lunch in a local park. On the way back, through some large main streets of Berlin, I encountered a rollerblading competition. Waiting for them all to go by, suddenly all the streets were completely devoid of traffic for a good long while. I felt like a king biking around at leisure with no cars in sight. I also of course visited parts of the Berlin wall, some preserved in their original state and some covered in artworks of all varieties.

When I returned to my hostel, a whole heap of police with riot gear were milling around. Soon afterwards, a street protest of a few hundred people came past, protesting the treatment of refugees by the government. On Tara’s recommendation, I went to a nearby Mexican restaurant called Santa Maria. As she said, it was incredible and relatively cheap too. I also went out drinking with some hostel friends, and while we had a good night out at several bars, I refused to stand in a massive line of hundreds of people for 2 hours so we could get into one club by 4am.

The final day was mostly museum visiting, as I had bought a card which allowed me free entry to most of the major ones. They all merged together in a bit of a blur, but some a highlight was a giant room full of bottled and preserved sea denizens in the Natural History Museum.

The Pergamon museum deserves a special mention, as it contains massive 2 story constructions such as the Ishtar Gate – a structure covered in mosiacs of lions and mythical beasts – and the Great Altar of Pergamon, depciting in 3D detail the battle between the Olympian gods and giants. These were incredibly impressive to walk beneath and see in their full detail.

Salzburg

On my first morning in Salzburg, I jumped on a train to Werfen to see the Eisriesenwelt – the Ice Caves. The ride was stunning due to the sun peering over the mountain tops and into the small valleys that the train wound its way through. Every small village we passed seemed like a great place to spend a day relaxing. Werfen itself was the best of them all, due to the light green river bordering it and the castle Hohenwerfen watching down over the village. A quick shuttle ride, gondola trip and a walk later, and I was up in front of the cave, high up on the mountain looking down over the valley. The large circular hole seemed machine made, but I was told it was completely natural. Only three other English speakers were in our (compulsory) tour group in front of a large line of German speakers, so we set off first. We were given little heavy gas lit lanterns, which blew out as soon as we opened the door to the cave system, as an intense icy blast swept past us.

Navigating by the lantern lights alone, we ascended into the darkness. The cave stretches 42km and was first explored in 1879. Today solid wooden steps clamber up the side of rock and ice faces, and as I climbed, I looked back and saw a line of lantern lights feebly attempting to fight off the dark. Sadly, no photography was allowed. This restriction almost made me cry when our guide lit up some magnesium and placed it in the center of a large ice salagmite, bathing the whole cavern in blue/green light. When we got to a large cavern, we all blew out our lanterns and stood there in pitch black, unable to see our hands in front of our faces. Our guide then lit up a strip of magnesium and stood in the cavern center, illuminating the place with intense white firey light.

It was a highlight of my trip so far, and I decided to walk down the hill to get better views of the castle overlooking the village. A good long walk in the sun later and I arrived at the castle in time for a falconry show. A variety of birds, including vultures and bald eagles, swooped over our heads and flew up against the mountain backdrop. The star was a small falcon whom I photographed up close afterwards.

The next day I did a day trip out to Hallstat, a tiny postcard picture lakeside town. The train dropped me off at a nondescript stop which only had a small path down to the water. There, I stared across the water to Hallstat on the other side of the lake, wondering if I had miscalculated. Thankfully, a ferry soon arrived to carry me across to the wee town. Amongst the houses and churches, a small waterfall and stream flowed through the town, and small paths up the hill gave good views of the surroundings. I stopped for an ice coffee by the lake – a very peaceful place and time. I also visited the Charnel house, the resting place for over 1200 painted skulls, usually with the owner’s name and birth year.

Other Salzburg attractions included the natural history museum, the cemetary, and the gnome garden. Chest high gnomes stood along a circular path surrounding by trees shedding their autumnal leaves. That night I thought I’d try some Austrian “cuisine” and got more than I bargained for. After my waiter informed me my tiroler grostl would be a small size (she lied), I also ordered the local dessert specialty, the Salzburg Knockerl. Made from fluffy egg whites and raspberries in a sauce, the giant dessert got me some laughter from some Australians at a nearby table, and in the end it utterly defeated me.

Krakow

Due to some “problems“ with the trains, which saw us go in the wrong direction completely, we only had one full day in Krakow. Naturally I decided to spend the morning hiking out of the city to the abandoned Liban Quarry. (Note: When traveling, I find such places using http://www.atlasobscura.com, an amazing website with lesser known attractions). What was once used as a penal camp for Polish during Nazi occupation was also used by Spielberg in Schindler’s List. I talked to a local before entering the area and he told me how to enter through a gap in the fence. He said they only had three or four tourists a year come here as far as he knew, and so it was great to visit a place off the tourist trail. He also apologised for his English, although I was thinking, dude you speak better English than me.

From the hole, I stood on a ridge looking down into the sunken quarry area. A large basin lay below me, filled with trees, swamp and overgrown shrubbery. Rusted towers poked starkly out of the greenery, and I couldn’t wait to get down to them. Following a tiny path through trees and chest high grass, I finally saw the structures emerge through the foliage.

A large garage-like area on the left was covered in slightly terrifying graffiti, which added to the creepy mood. It was like being in a Stalker game, and I imagined gas-mask wearing creatures hunting me through the grass. Yet I was deliriously happy to be out here alone with my camera and these amazing rusted artifacts, so I continued exploring. The four towers ran up alongside a 6 or 7 meter high rockface, and walkways, rusted away in parts, stretched out over this drop between towers. It took me a few seconds to decide whether I should clamber over this tetanus jungle, but I thought the views from the top would be worth it. The metal “stairs“ were jagged and twisted, and it took me a few minutes to climb them. From the top I could see out over the basin

Climbing down to the base of the towers dropped me onto some swampy ground, where mosquitos buzzed around my ankles and the ground felt unstable underfoot. A lone tyre sat half submerged in the muck, its story of how it came to be there lost and discarded like the tyre itself. I spent a good hour just lurking around taking photos, and felt very lucky to have found it. At once a sad reminder of this country’s history and a beautiful place far from the touristy areas, it was one of the highlights of my trip so far.

The actual city of Krakow is quite nice, the old town a large area filled with churches and shops. Many nuns go about their business down the smaller streets, avoiding the tourist filled main walkways, and once a girl drove past on her bike singing at the top of her lungs. The royal castle sits high on a wall surrounded hill overlooking the old town. The courtyard reveals a varied collection of buildings which photograph well in the sun. One of the corner towers looked utterly very climable, given some Assassin’s Creed skills. The main square in Krakow is one of the largest in Europe, stretching some 200 meters by 200 meters, and Tara and I enjoyed a drink at night in a bar a couple of stories up. We had a great meal afterwards, of ribs and chicken with a great prune and apricot chutney.

Prague

Prague – the city made famous by the 1996 film Mission Impossible. Before this film, Prague was not well known world-wide, and the tourism industry boomed post-release. I had images of a dark foggy place, where statues, gothic buildings and shadowy figures would loom out of the dark. As I still had daylight hours to fill, I headed towards the royal palace first. A long walk down by the river led me past many beautiful old buildings, dull pastel colours matching the grey skies. Walking alongside the waters, signs of autumn were apparent as orange leaves drifted down around me. Past the Dancing House, I headed across the river and beside some metallic artwork that stood silhouetted against the sky. At the base of the hill, I saw the memorial statues to victims of communism. Zombie like figures with missing body parts and scars made for a disturbing sight, even in bright sunlight, and I was incensed to see tourists take smiling photos in front of them.

At the base of the hill, I found a gelato shop and had a great fig and mascarpone. Up on the hill, a large garden terrace wrapped around the palace walls, overlooking the city roofs and spires and contained many fascinating ornaments and sights. I stalked a couple of monks (or at least dudes wearing white robes) for a while before investigating some interesting twisting stairs down alleyways. The St. Vitus Cathedral was an impressive Gothic structure which towered over the courtyard.

Ben and I also checked out the Karel Zeman Museum, an early pioneer of film special effects, much like Georges Melies before him. The museum showed us many interesting early film techniques and steampunk-esque props from Zeman’s work, including a ridable flying contraption. That evening, Ben convinced Tara and I to go the theatre and see a Czech play – Brezina’s 1914. We were seated at the very top of a six storied theatre, looking down on the stage far below. What followed was a bizzare series of stories and scenes set around and during WWI. The actors, all in black and white and facepaint, would often burst into dance, resembling broken marionettes. A woman with a death-like visage would stalk the stage and one memorable scene involved the whole cast marching out of smoke menacingly, all in gas masks. I would like to tell you more about the story, but I have no idea what happened. Nonetheless, it was a worthwhile unique experience.

Among checking out the usual touristy sights and wandering the streets, I checked out the lego museum. While the collection was solid, the building it was housed in left a lot to be desired. It often felt like you were in a cramped submarine. We had a pub dinner in the evening, which led to this great exchange between Ben and the waiter:

Ben: “Could I have a small beer?”
Waiter: “No. Small beer for girls.”
(Waiter leaves)
Ben: “I’m not sure I have the patience to explain how to use gender normative English to him.”

I had some pretty good food in Prague, including goulash with gluten free dumplings to mop up the sauce. We also found GF Italian and had chocolate fondant and tiramisu. However, I made a huge mistake in listening to Ben. He was recommended hot chocolate and absinthe, so we headed out to a cafe for some. Tara sensibly got an amazing hot pear juice with cinnamon. Ben and I got the absinthe chocolate and immediately regretted it after one sip.

Other adventures including retracing Tom Cruise’s Mission Impossible steps in Prague, as he watched his team get shot, stabbed and blown up. I was excited to find the bridge, stairs and doors where scenes were shot, but alas couldn’t find the large gate where Sarah was killed. I asked a local if he knew where the gate from Mission Impossible was and got a weird look in response. As I excitedly repeated “Tom Cruise? Tom Cruise?” at him, realised he probably had little English and thought I was a crazy person.

That night, I finally got time to wander the city at random. I find the best way to experience a new city at night (or alternatively, get robbed) is to wander down alleyways until you are lost. Disappointingly, the weather was crisp and clear – no fog in sight. After getting lost, I ended up at a small intersection in front of a pub. A group of guys were milling around with brass instruments, and before long, they started playing. A large crowd gathered, and it was a great spontaneous street party. I found an interesting alleyway, and watching a eclectic collection of people walk down it, including a figure dressed as death. As I walked back, I mused that Prague is a city best experienced at night.

Cesky Krumlov

A tiny medieval Czech town, Cesky Krumlov is as charming as it appears from the photos. An archway across a bridge marks the entry into the old town and the road turns to chunky cobblestones. The streets twist and turn past quaint little shops and pubs, until you reach the river and see the State Castle towering over you. Tourists are around in droves and as usual, it was best to wander the city at the first and last hours of daylight (coincidentally, also the best hours for photography).

In the evening, I wandered up through the castle, where people’s shadows cast hard shadows on the stone walls. At the top, I had a good overview of the dark town below. I vowed to return in the daylight, but was foiled as they closed it for the shooting of a “Hollywood” film. We saw actors in medieval garb wandering the streets but weren’t allowed to know which film it was for.

We took a trip to the local museum too, but not much to report on there, apart from some totally unstaged photos from Tara and Ben. Since the sun was burning down, we thought we’d do a rafting/beer trip down the river. However, soon after we booked, a barrage of rain made us seek shelter in a local pub. I volunteered as tribute to brave the water and go back to cancel our rafting. When I returned, looking forlorn as a dog left outside in the rain, Tara and Ben were a few drinks in and in high spirits. I soon caught up, the bartender’s cocktails packing a deliciously strong punch. After a few hours of this, we rolled down the street and found a restaurant in a cave. There we had gigantic pork knees – massive haunches of meat on the bone cooked over an open fire with mustard and horseradish.

Matrei Part Two

On our day off, we went up a mountain close to Matrei itself, opting to take the funicular to the top. We got lucky with the weather once again, and had great views of the valley. We had an easy walk along the spine, ducking down into the sloped treeline. There we chilled out on the grass for an hour before ambling home.

On our final few days, we decided to do a three day hike on the Stubai High Trail and stay up in the mountain huts, first up being Innsbrucker hut. After some logistical hurdles involving 2 cars and 5 people, we set off through the trees. The slope up was gentle, but consistent. Soon afterwards, the fog descended eerily. Following that was a light rain which nonetheless soaked us through. The last hour of our four or five hour trek was a little grueling, as the track got steeper and our packs somehow became heavier. However, it was worth it for the elation of arriving at the top and seeing the hut. That day we had climbed some 1200 meters in the rain, and had a well deserved hot shower and some Austrian cuisine (meat and potatoes).

The next morning we set off early, observing the nearby bowl of land was pooled with mist. Luckily we had a good view of where we had come from, up the winding path in the valley. The path to the next hut was basically a large amount of climbing up to peaks, then dropping down to walk along the mountain cliff. At times the path was quite treacherous and wires had been setup to aid our clambering. We passed several markers of hikers that had died on the trek, and could see how this would be a very difficult hike in the middle of winter. We had heard great things about the amazing views, but alas the fog remained. It was still quite an incredible feeling to be on top of a mountain peak and see only white below you. Right before the second hut, the temperature dropped sharply, and we had to climb up a precarious metal rung ladder sticking out of the rock face with our packs on. We reached the hut at last, and celebrated with a large beer.

The next morning, we awoke to find it had snowed overnight. It made for a beautiful environment, but due to a path being closed, we had to do a different, quicker descent than planned. As we began walking, it was still lightly snowing and we really had to watch our steps over the rocks. However we made it down with no problems, and caught a taxi back to our car. It was really an incredible few days of hiking and I would definitely return to do it again in better weather.

Matrei Part One

Matrei was literally a breath of fresh air after the previous crowded cities. I was surprised by how similar this part of Austria seemed to New Zealand. Green fields and trees dominated the valley floors, and white fluffy clouds brushed the mountain tops above. Here I was reunited with some old friends: Ben, Andrea, Nelleke, Jill and Neil. We stayed in a lovely old homestay and had some good home cooking of stuffed peppers and nachoes.

On my first full day there, we set off on a day hike up a mountain. We started off at the bottom of a valley, gazing high up to the snow tipped mountains above – our destination. Following a river, we passed through a wee village and chased some goats down the path. The trail quickly steepened, though the heat never got unbearable. Soon the valley floor was far below us, and the glacier much closer.

Setting off, we passed a small lake, which made for a decent foreground in some photos. Soon the ground turned to pure rock, and we had to clamber over some stoney slopes to get towards the glacier. We finally got there, and peered underneath it to see a cool light green cave.

After a hard last half hour slog up the hill, we finally got to the hut, our destination. We lounged around, looking down the valley where we had come from in a few hours, and watched some sheep mill about. The walk down was a lot faster, unsurprisingly, but left our legs aching due to some steep steps. As the sun went down, we stopped at the village on the way back, enjoying a beer in the sun and looking back up at where we had been.

Dubrovnik

Completely surrounded by tall defensive stone walls, Dubrovnik is a jaw dropping sight from afar, and we snapped many terrible photos from the bus in our excitement as we got closer. Many of the King’s Landing scenes from Game of Thrones were filmed here, and you definitely get an old medieval vibe walking through the streets. My hostel was right in the center of old town, and to get there, we walked over a drawbridge and through giant archways to get us past the city walls. A flock of birds flew out at me, and I managed to grab a timely snapshot. No cars are to be found inside old town, rather the lower part of the city is made of cobblestone alleyways crowded with shops and bustling tourists. The upper part is more residential, and much more relaxing to be able to look over the city without the hordes walking by. Dubrovnik was where I sadly left my Balkan tour group and began to venture out solo. Our first day, I headed to the beach with Denise, from my tour group, and an Australian-Greek girl Alex. Naturally, the water was incredibly warm, but the sun was brutal enough to only allow for a couple of hours out in the sun.

A walk along the top of the city walls is an essential activity, and I held off until late afternoon when the crowds had thinned out. The walk gave incredible views of the city and the surrounding waters, and took me a good two hours to get around. Every now and then you could see some clusters of ruined walls in the midst of the houses, often covered in cats lazing around, sole rulers of the ruins.

Before the sun went down, the three of us grabbed some ciders and went to Buza Bar, which was a little bar perched on the rocks between the wall and the sea. On the way there, we had a great conversation with an old lady on a balcony overlooking a street corner. She said she loved living in the city, but got upset when drunk people peed in her corner. We told her to get some buckets of ice water on hand just in case, which she thought was a grand idea. At Buza Bar, we watched the sun go down while drinking our ciders and reflected on how lucky we were at that moment.

The next morning, I rose early to photo the city in the morning light with as few people as possible around. It paid off, as the morning sun painted the the stone walls in a beautiful golden light. Outside the walls, I discovered a great swimming area and had an early morning dip. Then I wandered around the upper part of the city, looking down alleyways that gave small vertical windows across the lower city. For some reason, alleyways are one of my favourite things to photograph.

Not far from the entrance to the city is the Franciscan Monastery. While small, it did make for some great pictures. Later that day, Denise and I decided to do a kayaking trip around the city. The kayaks were in a gorgeous bay alongside the battlements, and we were excited to get underway. The waters were quite rough and we quickly made our way past the city and into a small cave. There, we pulled our kayaks out of the water and had some food. We then did some snorkelling, revealing some of the largest schools of (albeit small) fish I have ever seen, in crystal clear water. After another hours worth of kayaking, we headed back in, watching the sun descend slowly and showing us a pink/orange sunset.