Reflections

GENERAL...

It's been quite a trip. We've covered thousands of miles across seven countries who between them use three alphabets, four currencies and six languages. All in seventeen days!

A journey like this is very intense; with a short time in each location you're under pressure to do and see everything. You have to forgive yourself for not doing even the essentials, or you'd run yourself ragged.

Up-to-date information about the place and its attractions is helpful. Our guidebooks were anything from four to fourteen years old, and once or twice we fell foul of changes to opening times and the like. We probably missed out on cool stuff too.

One area where we felt ill-prepared was with the public transport arrangements. Each country has a different system and each has its own way of selling tickets. Bus and metro maps were of variable quality and some seemed to assume some knowledge of the area; these are local systems for local people! Because we were always centrally based, we were mostly able to walk where we wanted to go, but it was something of a constraint. Taxis are pretty much the same all over, and we used them just twice. 

Speaking of transport, the inter-city services we used were very good, but it is prudent (sometimes essential) to reserve a seat. Unless you have a more developed sense of adventure, you should also book your hotels in advance!

...PARTICULAR

We like Athens, though having been there several times we feel we've "done" most of it. The city boasts a fantastic collection of ancient sites which are must-sees, though some are in a poor state.

The traffic is a nightmare, the pavements are an obstacle course and it's not as cheap as it used to be. It looks like the feral cats and dogs are making a comeback, as well. But the people are friendly and most speak English which makes the experience bearable. After a few days the alphabet starts to make sense and you don't feel so disorientated. October seems to be a good time to visit; warm but not too hot.

We didn't get to experience Thessaloniki as fully as we might have done. It's a busy, crowded city with traffic problems which are probably even worse than Athens'. The nightlife might be fun and there are plenty of archaeological sites if that floats your boat. But I doubt if we'll be returning.

We stayed at the Hotel Verginie, which is comfortable and reasonably well-positioned, though if ever we do return we might look for something a little closer to the centre. The wi-fi was not very reliable. Rather than raise the issue with the management, we did without.

We enjoyed Sofia and could have spent more time there. A long weekend would allow us to fit in some visits to the churches, galleries and museums which we only saw from the outside. Sofia is cheap, too. Beer and food are surprisingly reasonable. Foreign products such as clothes and grocery brands are no cheaper than at home, but the local equivalents seem perfectly adequate and much more reasonably priced. This will probably change when/if they join the Euro!

Many Bulgarians speak some English and a lot of the signs are bilingual, but the alphabet takes some getting used to. As with Greece, the pavements are in a shocking state. wheelchair users and those with pushchairs need not apply!

We stayed at the Hotel Maxim which is comfortable and sited about halfway between the stations and the downtown area. It has no lift; rooms are on the 1st and 2nd floor, no bother if you're fit and travelling light. The wi-fi worked well.  The immediate area around the hotel is a bit rough and ready - think Hackney - but we never felt threatened.

Something else that Bulgaria has in common with Greece is the lack of a smoking ban. Katerina (our landlady in Athens) tells us that a ban was in place in Greece, but it is largely ignored. If there ever was a ban in Bulgaria, nobody seems to know about it - these people love their fags. It serves to remind us what life was like in British pubs before they gave up smoking. How did we put up with it? 

The same goes for Romania, although some restaurants have non-smoking areas. Bucharest was a very interesting place and it deserves more attention than we could give it on this tour. It's a city in transition, worth visiting in its current rough-and-ready state.

Budapest is a more modern city with better pavements etc. than the cities we had visited up to that point. We found the geography and transport system a little confusing! We stayed in the Park Royal hotel, very close to the main station, perhaps a little too far from the essential tourist sights.

Vienna is a great place to visit. There is a large industry based on selling Mozart and Strauss-related tat, but there are also plenty of things to see and do. We intend to return, and do justice to all the museums we missed on this visit, and to sample a few more of the city's specialities. We stayed at the Pension Funfhaus, which is a basic hotel but perfectly adequate and in a good location.

Munich is more like London or Paris than the other cities on our trip. Again there are plenty of things to see and do in the city, and it's a base to visit the rest of Bavaria. We would love to see some of King Ludwig's castles - day trips are available and well priced. But we didn't have the time, this time. We stayed at the 1st Creative Hotel Elephant which was the most expensive we had stayed at, but very convenient for the station and the centre of town.

Overall, people have been very friendly and helpful, and wherever we've been it's usually been possible to find someone who speaks at least a little English. We feel guilty that we have failed to master any of the languages on our tour, even at basic tourist level. In our defence, we have spent as little as 30 hours in some countries. Next time, though, we will do our best to order our beers in the local lingo.

Here are some links which might be useful

The Fishermans' Bastion in Budapest
http://www.fishermansbastion.com/

All hotels were booked through
http://www.booking.com/

Free Sofia walking tour
http://www.freesofiatour.com/

The fount of all knowledge about international railways
http://www.seat61.com/

Where to buy the rail pass
http://www.raileurope.co.uk/Default.aspx?tabid=39

 

Four places, three countries, 48 hours

We are travelling from Vienna to Munich on Dec's birthday. Hoorah! The Journey is fast and smooth. No sign of any border crossing guards and the hour or so delay we have experienced elsewhere. Munich station is buzzing with travellers, shops and cafes. We quickly check in to our hotel which is five minutes from the station but on a quiet street.

Time to head for the old centre of town. We take our, by now, customary wrong turn and end up backtracking on ourselves but we are soon in the pedestrianised centre and on the look out for one of the city's famous beer kellers. We find ourselves sitting on a wooden bench examining a menu in German with the aid of a dictionary. It becomes clear after a few minutes that we really do need to see an English menu. Some of the dishes on offer appear to contain parts of animals such as lungs, not our cup of tea. The English version of the menu is much shorter with some of the more doubtful dishes being notable by their absence. So we choose sausage and mash with sauerkraut which Philippa decides is much nicer than she remembered, and currywurst with chips. Lovely!

Several of these is PLENTY.

As Dec is now an old man, after a few celebratory drinks, it's another early night.

Our aim on Wednesday was to get some fresh air and avoid the scrum of the shopping district. We headed for the Englischer Garden which is close to the city centre but covers an area larger than New York's Central Park. The weather improved as we walked around and the autumn colours were delightful in the weak sunshine. According to Wikipedia, there is a nudist area in the park but we didn't see it. What did come as a surprise though was the surfing, something not mentioned in Wikipedia.

Surfing in Munich?? Yes indeed. The Gardens contain a fast flowing, man made river called the Eisbach. Just below one of the bridges, the river has been formed into a wave which is now officially recognised as a surfing area for experienced surfers only. They queue up at the side of the river then take it in turns to jump in. Quite a surreal experience but very photogenic.

Sadly we were too early.

The Gardens, which were designed by an American born physicist, Sir Benjamin Thompson, also contain a Japanese tea house and a Chinese pagoda surrounded by a beer garden which can accommodate 7000 people.

We got to the halfway point where the Gardens are currently split by a busy ring road and decided that the northern half would have to wait for another day. It was time for some culture.

Close to the Garden is a group of museums known as the Pinakothek - in essence, one huge museum/gallery split over four buildings. We were heading for these when we spied another gallery in the same area, the Brandhorst. They were advertising a major Andy Warhol exhibition so we changed course to take it in.

The Brandhorst is home to a massive private collection of mostly 20th century American painters. One room contains an impressive sequence of paintings by Cy Twombly, depicting (in a very abstract way) the battle of Lepanto. They have a lot of Twombly's work; the rest of his stuff is less thrilling. Most pictures are "Untitled" and are of a style which gave rise to the phrase "my 4-year-old daughter could do that".

The Warhol stuff was interesting, though. Before his rise to fame as, well, a famous person, he designed and illustrated books, some of his own and some for other authors. To be honest they are not brilliant, though they are typical of their time. The exhibition also included a video comprising about forty 3-minute screen tests, silent black-and-white movies of the various habitues of Warhol's Factory, including Lou Reed and Dennis Hopper, both recently deceased. Three minutes is a long time to be staring at the camera, I'm sure it tells you something about the people in question. But what? As with most video installations, we gave it about five minutes and moved on.

To round off the day, we found another traditional Bavarian/Turkish restaurant for dinner and beers. After our grand tour of the Englischer Garten we were in no shape to stay out late!

 Our last morning in Munich was spent idly, with a big breakfast followed by a wander through the main shopping centre. This leads to Marienplatz where the church has a famous glockenspiel which chimes on the hour while some automatons enact a historic scene. We arrived just before noon and waited for the big moment, which took place about five minutes after every other clock in town had finished chiming. To our unsophisticated ears, the glockenspiel was either out of time or out of tune, or both. The animation was less impressive than we had been led to expect, so overall it was not quite the highlight of our visit.

We headed back to the hotel to pick up our bags then on to the station to catch the train to Paris via Mannheim.

Munich to Mannheim was uneventful; a comfortable trip, if a little crowded - 1st November is a holiday in religious parts of Europe including South Germany and France, so there were a lot of travellers.

Changing at Mannheim was interesting. The station was very busy, signs were inconspicuous and when we found the right platform, there was something of a scrum to board the Paris train. Thankfully we had reservations!

We arrive in Paris about 9pm, and we have a reservation for dinner at 10 with our good friend Frances who has an apartment in the 11th Arrondissement. It's a Kurdish restaurant and the food is not bad. Nor is the wine! It must be said we have become used to lower prices - Paris is way more expensive than, say, Bucharest.

After a restful night we packed our bags for the final time and headed for Gare du Nord and London. This is part of the journey we have done many times and we use the time to read and rest.

Arriving at St Pancras on a Friday evening, and crossing town to Victoria Coach station, serves to remind us how wise we were to move out of town and settle in Devizes! How we ever managed to live - and enjoy living - in such an absurdly busy and crowded environment is a mystery.

The coach to Devizes is also an old favourite. And the best part is arriving in New Park Street! It's 9pm, and with no food in the house we decide to round off our holiday with a traditional British dish from our favourite takeaway - Sweet and Sour Chicken with Egg Fried Rice. 

It's good to be back!

And so to Budapest

Oops! This entry should have been published before our Vianna posts. Don't get confused!

Budapest is a strange city. Originally two separate cities called Buda and Pest divided by the river Danube, they were combined as late as 1873 but each retains their individual character. Pest is relatively flat and contains our hotel. Across the river, Buda is hillier and arguably more historic.

Who's that good-looking guy in the foreground?

We only have about 30 hours to spend in the city. We start with a quick brunch, sitting outside a proper Hungarian cafe. We have a traditional dish called Langos, a deep-fried flatbread served with toppings such as goulash or cheese and bacon - just what the doctor ordered!

Our cafe was at one end of a self-guided walk in the guidebook covering the Jewish quarter. The area has several synagogues, some no longer in use, along with shops and houses. What are called "ruin bars" - we would call them "pop-ups" - have been temporarily established in the run-down buildings, bringing life back into the area. Our map lists several, and we felt obliged to check them out.

Our impression was that many of the bars on the list are actually pretty well-established, with professional signage and proper bar furniture so they don't really qualify as pop-ups. We found a good one which has been built into a courtyard and has the ramshackle air of something thrown together over a weekend but is actually a proper bar. Nice beer, too!

Later in the afternoon we set out to tour Buda. We crossed the Danube on the Chain Bridge, and took the funicular railway to the main tourist area. Housed here are the National Gallery as well as various other historic buildings.

We didn't visit the gallery - it had been a long day - but our guide book told as that it's home to Hungarian art from the earliest to the present day. It would probably have taken several hours to do it justice and we didn't have the time.

Pest by night from the Fisherman's Bastion

Instead, we toured the area around the gallery, which has been home to royal palaces and fortresses and is now blessed with a selection of stalls selling T-shirts and a superb collection of lovely fridge magnets. We followed the walking tour of the area which ended up at our next port of call, a restaurant at the Fishermans Bastion, built into the surviving fortifications and offering amazing views over the Danube and Pest.

The centrepiece of the restaurant

The restaurant is everything we expected it to be - beautifully designed and very comfortable. The menu features international cuisine with a Hungarian twist, and excellent local wines recommended by the sommelier. While we ate, musicians played light classical pieces arranged for violin, bass and cimbalom - a string instrument played with hammers, which you might have heard in Janacek's Harry Janos suite or the theme tune to The Persuaders. It takes skill to play it well and our man was an expert, playing Chopin and Mozart pieces as if it were a piano. We bought the CD and look forward to getting home to play it!

We didn't get the hang of public transport in Budapest at all, not helped by the complete lack of signs and none of the metro staff speaking English - perhaps it's unreasonable to expect this but we have been spoilt so far in this respect. We ended up taking a taxi back to the hotel, money well spent. After a restful night we checked out and made our way to the railway station - about five minutes walk - for our next port of call. Vienna!

Another day in Vienna

Our second day in Vienna starts well. A light breakfast in the hotel, a stroll down to the railway station and the underground to Stephensplatz. Today's plan involves visitng the Albertina, which our guidebook tells us is home to works by several of our favourite artists. In addition there's a special exhibition featuring Matisse, another of our faves.
 
We make our way to the gallery and join the queue for tickets. When we reach the head of the queue, we see three things. First, the price - 11 Euros, about £10. Second, a card saying that much of the main collection is out on loan. Third, the Matisse exhibition is closed for the 28th and 29th October - our only two days in Vienna! Given that they still want to charge 11 euros to see what's left, we decide to give it a miss. At the risk of sounding like smug globetrotters, we had the same problem with items out on loan at the Guggenheim in New York and the Musee D'Orsay in Paris. It might make financial sense for galleries to loan their pieces to other galleries but there should surely be some compensation to their customers.

Our plan B is to visit another gallery across town, the MUMOK which also contains some great modern masterpieces, according to our guidebook. After a short ride on the metro and a longish walk, we arrive at MUMOK around 11:30 to find that while the gallery opens every day at 10AM, on Mondays it doesn't open till 2PM! Time for Plan C.

Our fallback position involves a visit the Kunsthaus Wien, a gallery designed by and housing the work of Friedensreich Hundertwasser, a 20th-century artist and architect whose name was vaguely familiar to us, although we couldn't quite work out why.

He's very good at toilets

Hundertwasser is a little like Gaudi, the Barcelona architect whose buildings are curved and patterned with mosaics and stained glass. Hundertwasser's gallery is all of this - uneven floors, wonky windows, beautiful tiled patterns on every surface. We soon discover why his name sounded familiar; on our trip to New Zealand in 2006 we visited Kakoura, where they have a public lavatory which he designed. It was very similar to the loos here. He has also beautified an incinerator in Vienna and customised a church in Magdburg among many other projects.

His art is distinctive, almost childlike in its simplicity but skilful and evocative. He's our new favourite artist, not least because his gallery was open on a Monday!

After getting our cultural fix we headed for the world-famous Ferris Wheel, as seen in The Third Man. It's a venerable institution, about 100 years old. We shared our "pod" with a British family who live in Munich - our next destination - and chatted about what to see and do there, while enjoying the sunset over Vienna. 

Vienna waits...

It's a short hop, relatively speaking, from Budapest to Vienna. About four hours on a modern train with all mod cons including wifi. With a distrust of on-train catering born on the rails of Southern Region and GWR, we had picked up another Langosh at a local cafe with the last of our Forints, and passed the time on board playing Cribbage. The time just flew by -  especially for Philippa, who was on a winning streak - and before we knew it, it was time to leave the train and stride into Vienna.

Vienna's Westbanhof (main station) is very modern, all shiny glass and metal with classy shops on several levels. However the surrounding area is a lot like the area round most main line stations, scruffy and full of low-budget cafes and bars. And our hotel is just up the road! It's not a problem; the area is very safe, and the hotel is fine. We check in, freshen up and head out for our first look at this amazing city.

Vienna's public transport system includes a underground, trams and buses which you can use with a 48-hour pass (12 euro! bargain). We took the underground  to Stephensplatz, the de facto centre of the tourist area. The square is dominated by the cathedral of St Stephen and by mobs of guys in Mozart-period costumes whose job seems to be to sell tickets to Mozart concerts. We avoid them, as we already have tickets for a show, of which more later.

We've done very little research on Vienna. We haven't even watched The Third Man! Our plan is to wander around the central area, consulting our (seven-year-old) guide book, and heading for tonight's venue in time for the show. The first item on the agenda is to pop into Loos' American bar. This is a tiny bar designed by Adolf Loos in the twenties and popular for some reason with expats. Its low lighting and dark walls give it atmosphere, the drinks are quite reasonable too.

The cake, midway through demolition.

We follow our noses and find various interesting places such as the Albertina, a gallery we intend to visit. However it's Sunday afternoon and almost everywhere is closed. We stop at the Museum Cafe for a meal. Philippa yields to the impulse and orders a delicious-looking chocolate cake, a Mozart Torte. Hey, we're on holiday!

Before long it's time to head for our concert which is taking place in the Musikverein, a venue world-famous for the annual New Years Day concert. We enter the building and find ourselves in the famous auditrioum  - it's amazing, a lot smaller than you'd expect if you've seen it on TV and a riot of gold leaf and red plush. Philippa has managed to obtain tickets in the middle of the sixth row which is just about the best place to be. Well done P!

Musikverein. Cosy and Kitsch!

Tonight's concert consists of a symophony and two arias by Mozart, and Mahler's 4th symphony - both composers have a connection to the city. It's a great performance, an amazing experience and we leave the hall feeling very positive towards Vienna and its famous sons. We pop on the underground and are back at the hotel in 10 minutes. Time for an early night.

Night train to Budapest

There's a romance to train travel. The bustling station, the exotic destinations on the departures board, the endless bloody burger chains...

Bucharest's main station is modelled on the Gare du Nord in Paris but it has the same atmosphere as Waterloo or Paddington - they even have a McDonalds, a KFC and a Subway. But they also have some local fast food joints. Yes they sell junk food, but it's ROMANIAN junk, hurrah! As reported in the our previous post, we have taken the precaution of stocking up on food and drink en route to the station.

The station is really busy when we arrive at about 4:30. Ninety-five percent of the passengers are on their way to the suburbs after a day's work in the city.  We're in the other five per cent, on our way across Europe by the Night Train To Budapest!

It being a night train, there are sleeping cars. Strangely, they are divided according to gender so we have decided to book seats. We did this on the Ghan (going north from Adelaide to Darwin via Alice Springs) and it worked out ok. That was two and a half days; this is just fifteen hours.

The train is nearly full, and we're lucky to get a double seat to ourselves with a table between. This means we can pass at least some of the time playing Cribbage, the best card game in the world. Philippa usually has a pack of cards and a crib board in her bag, and today is no exception. Dec asks that we draw a veil over the result.

There's no scenery to describe because it's dark out there. Time passes slowly; a small child nearby plays with a gameboy which plays its stupid plinky plonk music, interrupted and restarted at random, for an hour, although it felt longer than that. But otherwise the carriage is fairly quiet. We doze and read, doze and read until we reach the border about 6AM. Our passports and tickets are inspected THREE TIMES. Then it's back to dozing and reading. The train is due to arrive at 8:20, so it won't be long.

HOWEVER. An unscheduled stop at Beckescsaba station lasts for over an hour without a word of explanation. It's just like being at home, this. The train finally gets going at 9:30. Sadly that's 9:30 ROMANIAN time, which is an hour ahead of HUNGARIAN time. We still have a long way to go.

We finally arrive at Budapest about 11:15, which is a disaster for two of our fellow passengers. They're members of the Romanian National Ski team who are on their way to a training camp in Austria, carrying several pairs of skis and who knows what else in some of the biggest bags we've ever seen. They seem bound to miss their connection, and they will be changing trains again in Vienna. Best of luck guys!

Our hotel is a short walk from the station, and we check in and shower before heading out to explore the town. The hotel provides a map which we use to head for the centre. However none of the street names match those on the map. It turns out that this free map doesn't cover the area around "our" station. A long walk and a bus ride later, we finally make it to an area with restaurants because we need breakfast AND lunch - it's 1pm by now.  In search of refreshment,  we close our account of the night train in time to do some tourism.

A day in Bucharest

We made it to our hotel in Bucharest the hard way, having taken a wrong turn on leaving the metro station. But we reached it in the end. After checking in, we realised that a day on the train was pretty tiring so rather than trek down town, we settled for a meal in the  hotel restaurant and an early night.

The room and meal were both excellent, and very reasonable to boot. Two mains, two desserts and a bottle of very nice Romanian wine came to about £36. We reckon the same meal would have cost over £60 in Devizes.

As we were spending only one night in Bucharest and catching the 17:40 overnight train to Budapest, we planned to make the most of our time by joining the free guided walking tour. However, despite being in apparently the right place at the right time, we couldn't find the meeting point so we had to organise our own tour, with the help of a map provided by the hotel. Once again our luck was in; the weather was dry and sunny, warm but not too hot.

Bucharest is a big town and very busy. Everyone seems to have celebrated the downfall of communism by buying a car, and they drive and park as thoughtlessly as in Athens or Thessaloniki. Despite the size of the city, there are plenty of sights to see within a mile or so of our hotel.

Wanted: window cleaner

 Top of our list was the Peoples' Palace, a folly in the grand style started by Nicolai Ceausescu in 1985 and just about complete when he died (executed by an ungrateful poroletariat) in 1989. The project involved the demolition of several thousand homes, a couple of dozen churches, several monasteries and two hospitals. In their place, old Nic created the second largest building in the world - only the Pentagon is larger.

It's ENORMOUS, people. Absolutely HUMUNGOUS. Over 100 metres high and about two miles in circumference. You can't deny that it's impressive. Since the fall of communism. the building has been used as the nation's parliament, and also contains two museums and a contemporary art gallery.

We decided to visit the gallery, even though this meant walking halfway round the building. The gallery is tucked away near the back, which turns out on closer inspection to be a lot less impressive than the front. The gardens have become a weedy wasteland, and the condition of the building itself is surprisingly poor given that it's only 25 years old.

We spent an interesting hour or so looking at the art. It's modern stuff, much of it by local artists. It includes striking images and video installations, many of which were disturbing. But maybe that's what happens in a country with a history as troublesome and varied as Romania's.

Parcu Cismigiu. Pretty!

After a walk through the beautiful Parcu Cismigiu, our next stop was for lunch as we anticipated a lack of refreshment on the train. Our choice turned out to be a good one. Romanian cuisine includes a range of dishes common with countries such as Greece, Bulgaria and Hungary, all of which have been adopted and adapted to produce tasty and hearty dishes. Just what we needed.

We returned to the hotel to collect our bags,  picking up a few snacks on the way. Tonight's journey is due to take over 15 hours and we want to survive it. This means buying plenty of water, a bottle of wine and a corkscrew, plus two jam jars - we couldn't find anywhere that sold plastic wine glasses and we're not proud. Jam jars are tough, cheap and they have lids. We also picked up fruit and snacks and Dec bought a book at the English Language bookshop - there really is such a thing. "The String Of Pearls. A Romance"   It may not sound too inspiring, but it's the original story of Sweeney Todd. No sleep till Budapest!

A day on a train

Our last evening in Sofia was spent in a restaurant called Einstein's. An effigy of the great man sits at the entrance to the cellar bar, and the menu has numerous pizzas named after distinguished scientists - Fahrenheit, Pascal and so on. We were unable to make the connections between the name and the fillings, perhaps they were obscure Bulgarian puns. After 24 hours in the city, Dec felt linguistically competent to order a beer whose name was written entirely in Cyrillic (a mutant version of the Greek alphabet - see yesterday's post) but we ended up with two glasses of Raki, an ouzo-like spirit. Very drinkable, and at 1.5 lev (about 65p) per glass, not a financial disaster. The pizza was ok too.

Our last night in Sofia was relatively quiet. The people in the next room seemed to like clomping around in hobnail boots but a power cut put paid to their fun. We woke refreshed and ready for the next phase of our adventure - a nine-hour train ride to Bucharest. Nine hours On a train which turned out to have no refreshments on board.

Getting to the central station was our first achievement. It's hidden behind the bus station, with no signs. Guesswork prevailed, and we made it to the main hall where the shortage of signs has led to a minor industry of freelance guides who accost you in English (how do they know that WE SPEAK ENGLISH? have they been following our blog?), and insisted on leading us around the station to our platform, sticking to us like glue. FOr this service, which was hardly essential, our 'guide' expected to get a fat tip. So he was most put out when Dec gave him the last of our Bulgarian money - 1.20 lev, about 50p. I hope that we all learned something from the experience. He will probably spend the next 5 years telling his pals how tight the British are.

The central station in Sofia is nothing to brag about - about a dozen drab concrete platforms, many seemingly no longer used. The rolling stock is also a great deal more, erm, mature than we Brits are used to. Picture the train in Hitchcock's 39 Steps, all corridors and compartments. Now imagine nine hours of clickety-clack, with the heating on full blast even though it's a lovely sunny autumn day.

The weather has been glorious and makes it easy to enjoy the scenery. As we left Sofia, the train passes through some fairly shabby industrial areas, with sidings and derelict buildings on either side. As we left the suburbs, the scenery changed to farmland dotted with tiny stations serving small villages, a bit like Devizes but without the railway or the stations. This alternated with hilly areas and other sites with heavy industrial architecture, some in use, some seemingly abandoned.

One thing we noticed as we travelled through Bulgaria was a dearth of birdlife. Apart from a few pigeons and sparrows in the city itself, we hardly saw any birds at all from the train. Not another communist legacy, surely! We suppose that many birds fly south for the winter, as temperatures regularly hit minus 15. But you would expect to see a few flocks, fattening up for their migration in the recently ploughed and presumably just-seeded fields?

The train travels across northern Bulgaria at a fairly sedate pace, stopping at half a dozen of the larger stations. Before long, we have our compartment to ourselves. The train is comfortable enough and the occasional doze is in order.

At last we pull into Ruse station, on the border. The indicator on our platform still shows the previous departure - 15:05 to Istanbul. We wonder how long that journey is, and whether it's worth taking...

The border control staff made their way through the train asking the usual inane questions and seemed to be satisfied that we weren't terrorists. The train set off for Romania. The border is marked here by a river and, after crossing the bridge, we looked for dramatic changes which might signify our new location. But it's much the same. Later on we spy a few herds of sheep being minded by men with sticks; a less common sight in the UK these days. They also use horses to pull carts in the timeless fashion. But that's rare; much of the agricultural work is done with tractors and monster cultivators, and we spied a bumper crop of solar panels - thousands and thousands of them. Romania is not as backward as you might think. We also saw many more birds...

Another day, another country....

...another language, another currency and another alphabet!

Your guess is as good as ours.

A five-hour coach trip can be fun. Well, if not fun exactly, perhaps entertaining, diverting, or at least interesting. Our five-hour trip started in the diverting mode, with scenery changing as the coach left the industrial/residential outskirts of Thessaloniki and took us into the mountains at the edge of Greece.

Once we were clear of the smog which surrounds the city, the mountains were easier to see and the landscape was easier to appreciate. Although frankly it's not a patch on the greenery you can enjoy in Blighty. The exciting part of the trip was trying to work out how far we were from The Border.

After about two and a half hours, we finally reached The Border. This was good news, not least because the coach had NO TOILET. Once we were through the border controls (which took about an hour) we stopped by a duty free shop cum cafe, just long enough to answer the call of nature and observe that duty free shops are nowhere near as cheap as they should be.

By now it was almost dusk but in the fading light we saw a complete change - the architecture and countryside had a different "feel". We saw several donkeys being used on small farms, and people who were obviously very poor living in ramshackle houses. Later on, the scenery included the more usual mix of good and bad housing. Once the light faded, we were unable to enjoy the scenery and our attention turned to the "in-flight movie" - Fast & Furious, with the sound off. And Bulgarian subtitles.

Around 8pm we approached the outskirts of Sofia. High-rise apartment blocks - could they be part of the communist legacy? - gave way to more conventional houses and shops. Finally the bus pulled into the station and we found ourselves at large in Bulgaria. Fortunately the hotel was a short walk from the bus station - good planning by Philippa - and we were checked in by about 9pm, in good time to explore the local nightlife.

We walked towards the city centre, and the first place we saw was a Happy Grill & Bar. It's something like a Hard Rock Cafe crossed with a sports bar, mixed up with TGI Fridays. Football on three telly screens, guitars on the walls, lots of waitresses in red miniskirts. It's a big place, and it was pretty busy.

We had already eaten (sandwiches on the bus) so we decided to try the local beer. We had three rounds and returned to the hotel 22 levs lighter. There are about 2 lev to a Euro or 2.3 to a pound. So we had spent less than a tenner and had a really fine evening.

Wednesday dawned and we had breakfast in the hotel. Not the best ever, but an adequate start to the day - our only full day in Sofia. The plan was to visit the Women's Market and then take a free walking tour of the city.

The Women's Market is a traditional market selling fruit & veg plus miscellaneous bits and pieces. Prices were absurdly low; it's hard to believe that anyone can make a living selling things so cheaply. The staff and customers are mostly from the older generation and the market is definitely a relic of the country's communist past.

The National Theatre

The walking tour started at the Palace Of Justice, a monumental building near the city centre. There were over thirty of us, so we were split into two parties each with their own guide. Ours was Niki, a student who spoke excellent English and took us on a two-and-a-half hour tour covering all the major points of interest, with a full and fascinating description of each. The tour is free and well worth the time it takes, especially if you won't be in town long. 

The homies throw some cool moves

One interesting part of the tour took place outside the Presidential Palace, where sentries in ceremonial dress stand guard. While we were there, a demonstration was in progress - the latest in a daily series which has run all summer, protesting against the government - an unpopular coalition. We felt like joining in!

After the tour ended, it was time for lunch and we tracked down a cafe called Made At Home, which Philippa had found on the web. It's a quirky place with lots of arty touches, and an interesting menu. We chose dishes from the daily specials; two soups and two main courses. The soups were very good, the mains less so. But with two beers the bill came to 25 lev, or not much over £10.

We ended the afternoon by wandering up the main shopping street, Vitosha. Not much different from the fashionable part of any city, with the usual suspects (Bennetton etc) and a few local equivalents. Prices here are more like the rest of Europe, unlike the smaller shops we'd seen elsewhere in the City.

Here are a few more pictures from our tour, showing the beautiful and impressive buildings of this surprising city.

Government buildings of the communist era.

The Russian Church of St Nikolay

The Cathedral of Aleksander Nevsky, largest in the Balkans

Twins and Trains

It's a sad day as we are leaving our lovely temporary home and starting the next leg of our journey. But we're getting ahead of ourselves......

Sunday was a special day. We met Philippa's old friend Katerina and became acquainted with Thomas, her husband, and her three month old twin girls, currently known as Baby A and Baby B. This is a strange concept for us to get our heads around but apparently it's the Greek custom to name the children at their baptism, until which time they are assigned a number. Katerina and Thomas are still pondering what the names might be. Surprisingly, Rhiannon and Adele aren't on their list. 

We had arranged to meet at their flat in a suburb of Athens close to the coast. Having consulted Google Maps, we were about to enter unknown  territory: the bus network. According to Google, we needed to catch the A2 bus from Syntagma Square, alight after 16 stops, then walk about 400 metres to the flat. Of course Google Maps doesn't tell you where to get the bus and there are x number of bus stops at y number of locations in the Square.

'Let's get a bus map' said Philippa. 'They're sure to have one at the Metro station'. But it was Sunday and all the information points at the station were closed. The guy selling tickets shrugged his shoulders and told us that there was no Athens bus map. So we were on our own.

One of the many bus stops at Syntagma was the departure point for the no. 2 bus, not quite the A2, but near enough, we thought. So we bought tickets and hopped aboard. The bus swung away roughly in the right direction but eagle-eye Dec then spotted a real A2 cruising past us. Time to get off the obviously wrong no 2 bus and on to the undoubtedly correct A2. Our error
was soon sorted out but the keen reader will spot that we now had another problem. We had no idea where we were in the sequence of 16 stops!

Our careful pre-journey research proved invaluable. Like very sad people, we had written down a list of the roads we would be passing which saved the day and enabled us to get off at the correct stop. Well, *we* were impressed. Once again, precise planning and perfect preparation prevented poor performance.

Baby A (L or R) and Baby B (R or L) Who knows?

Katerina and Thomas have a lovely flat and two lovely babies. They're just getting to the stage where they start to become interested and therefore interesting. Baby A likes to sleep a lot whilst Baby B spends most of the time looking around and taking in her surroundings. Who would have thought that twins could be so different at such a young age?

After some time catching up - it's been several years since we last met - the plan was to go for a coffee at a marina and then have lunch at a nearby traditional Greek restaurant. 

It lacks modern security features. Like doors.

When we arrived at the marina, we found ourselves attending a classic car concourse. with a display of lovingly restored British, European and American cars, mainly from the 60s and 70s with a few beauties from the thirties. Philippa's favourite was the Austin Mini Beach Protoytpe. Dec is still in love with the E-type Jaguar. Is it true that the Greeks have never made cars? Thomas and Katerina thought so, but weren't sure.

After a coffee and a stroll in the blazing sunshine, we headed for the restaurant where we were treated to a fine meal of Greek dishes including gyros, souvlaki, tsatsiki and kebab. If you don't know what they are by now, you haven't been paying attention. Lunch went on until after 6, when
we said our tearful goodbyes and caught the tram back to Syntagma. After such a blowout we couldn't face another night on the tiles, so we spent the evening in the apartment, relaxing and packing our bags for the next phase of our odyssey.

Monday dawned and we headed for the Metor station at Syntagma. Before long we were at Athens' main railway station, confusingly called Larissa. After a Greggs-style breakfast - cofe and a greasy pie - we boarded the train for Thessaloniki.

Thesaloniki is in the far north-east of the country, a journey of more than five hours. We will draw a veil over the details except to say that the scenery is not that fascinating, and we are now considerably better read than hitherto.

Thessaloniki lacks the glamour of Athens, but has pretty much the same issues with respect to traffic - think Oxford St on a very hot Xmas eve, crossed with the Great Western Rd. Luckily, we're only here for the night, more of a stopover than a proper visit. After checking into our hotel we went in search of the bus ticket office, so we can leave tomorrow for Sofia. The bus company's web site is absolute crap. The ticket office listed as the place to buy our tickets is a kiosk about a mile from the hotel and is open until 4pm - we found it at around 5. After a thorough exploration we found plenty of nice bars, but no alternative sources of bus tickets, so we headed for a restaurant and then back to the hotel for an early night.

An interesting little side street

Tuesday stared with a decent hotel breakfast, followed by a stroll through the city and a tour of the markets. We found lots of interesting little side streets. Thessaloniki is blessed with several markets which sell everything from fresh fish - lots of it - to hoodies, tools and olive oil. We bought fruit and sandwiches for our trip to Sofia - it's a 5-hour trip. Then we went back to the infamous kiosk to buy our coach tickets. It was open, but the lady said we don't sell those tickets here. Go to the next kiosk - she pointed - you can get them there. At the next kiosk - about 400 metres away - the lady said, we don't sell them here. You can get them at the RAILWAY STATION. Frankly, by this time we had walked halfway across the city on a HOT SUNNY day and were willing to risk turning up at the bus station without tickets, which turned out to be the correct approach.

After a thrilling taxi ride - did we mention that all Greek drivers are crazy? - we arrived at the bus station, bought our tickets and as I write we await departure for Bulgaria! Stay tuned...

Everybody needs a Plan B

Friday evening ended on a high note, We visited the Cafe Abyssinia on the recommendation, again, of Katerina. The Abissinia is in a rather dingy square not far from Monastiraki, one of the largest and busiest squares in Athens. We were expecting good food but our meal was the best so far. Dec had a moussaka made with spinach which was delicious and Philippa had fresh sardines cooked in a tomato sauce, all very tasty. A nice bottle of Greek red was well matched with the food. Heartily recommended.

The key to successful tourism is flexibility. You never know what the day may bring. Our plans for Saturday involved a morning at the National Gallery - home, so our guide book says, to several El Grecos. In the afternoon we planned an assault on Licibettos hill. After another fine breakfast we set off for the National Gallery, full of the joys of spring.

Arriving at our destination we were shocked to find the whole building fenced off and inaccessible. A sign said the building was undergoing a major refit and would be closed from 2007 to 2013. The site was deserted, and it seemed plain that 2013 was an optimistic end date, the project on hold due to "the cuts". This is what you get for relying on a book that frequently mentions the upcoming Olympic Games (in Athens) (in 2004).

Nothing daunted, we strolled on through a pleasant park towards the War Museum. A drab building but worth a visit. It covers Greek military history from Marathon and Thermopylae in the 5th century BC through to the present day. It seems the Greeks have been picking fights with everyone from Alexander the Great to Mussolini, with mixed results.

Something like half the exhibits are labelled in English, but there's plenty to see and it gives you a different perspective on events such as the two world wars. We also learned that, more than a gun or even a uniform, a Greek soldier MUST have an enormous moustache.

The next item on our agenda was Licabettos hill, which towers over this part of the city. Frankly, it was just TOO HOT - very sunny and in the high 20s - so we sought refuge in a nice cafe for a spot of lunch and to work on our plan B, while thinking about our pals in the cold, wet UK.

Consulting the map, another museum caught our eye - the Historical Museum. The guide book doesn't mention it, but the guide book is out of favour today. So we headed off for an afternoon of cultural enrichment. Only to find that said museum closes at 2pm EVERY DAY. So much for plan B!

There was nothing for it but to drown our sorrows. We found an establishment called The Booze Co-operative, which does what it says on the tin. 

After a pause to freshen up at the apartment, we dined at one of the cafes near the Acropolis, and would you know it, finished the evening at the ouzo bar.

To beach, or not to beach? That is a question.

We wound up our second day in Athens in the traditional style, ie in a bar. We found a very nice place called Beer Time in Iroon Square. Unlike many Greek establishments, this bar specialises in beer. with food as an accompaniment. The selection of beers is broader than usual. In  addition to the ever present Mythos and Alpha, the stock includes beers from Greek microbreweries and Various fine German brews, all available on draught and in quantities up to 3 litres. Dec went for a stein of a local beer (its name now lost to history) and another of a strong German lager, which may explain the memory lapse. Philippa did her bit to help drain the cellar, and we washed it all down with some very acceptable traditional Greek dishes. And so, to coin a phrase, to bed!

Friday dawned bright and sunny. The plan was to take a tram to the coast south of the city, enjoy a day on the beach, have a swim etc. Katerina (our landlady) has been a great help, providing tips on what to do. Today she suggested which beaches to go to and which to avoid so we packed the cossies and set off. We found the tram terminus at Syntagma Square, and paid our 1.40 euros each, which is very cheap for 90 minutes travel. Are you paying attention, Boris?

Dec validates our tickets. Philippa takes the pic.

The tram is slow but sure, especially on the congested roads in the centre, but before long we were trundling along the coast with the Med just a few metres away, beautiful and blue.

However, the beaches were either in private ownership or not that attractive so we decided to give the beach idea a miss. Instead, we window shopped in one of the towns which has grown up along the coast. It's an affluent place with marinas full of shiny boats large and small. Even so, we were astonished to see pairs of ladies' shoes in a style which can only be described as bling, retailing at over 700 euros. The Greeks are clearly not completely penniless.

Meat. Miles of yummy meat

Plenty of veg

En route back to our lodgings, we visited the Central Market, Athens' answer to London's Smithfield, Billingsgate and the old Covent Garden, rolled into one. There are dozens of butchers' and fishmongers' stalls under one roof, while across the road there are a dozen or more fruit and veg stalls, all very busy. This whole section of town abounds with places that sell cheap tools and household goods, too. Something for everyone!

THE WILDLIFE OF ATHENS. SOME OBSERVATIONS

In olden times, Philippa visited Athens with her first husband and the city was full of stray dogs and feral cats, which were rounded up and removed in time for the 2004 Olympics. No doubt they were all sent to live happily on a farm somewhere.

During Dec's only previous visit, with Philippa to see the 2006 Eurovision Song Contest, Athens was still realatively free of stray dogs. Now, though, they are starting to repopulate the city. They're not exactly a nuisance, being mostly docile old things, but we try to give them a wide berth - rabies is fairly low on our list of things to bring home from Europe. The dogs are mostly old, large dogs, some with collars and tags. We wonder if this is one aspect of the hard times. Maybe the cost of feeding them and vet's bills have led to the dogs being abandoned by their owners.

One other species of wildlife is making its presence felt. One or more mosquitos seem to have taken up residence in our room. For reasons best known to the mossies, only Dec is worthy of their attention. Every morning there's a new souvenir of their activities, and another thing on today's to-do list was the purchase of anti-histamine cream to spread on the bites. Why Dec is so blessed, we have yet to figure out.  

But it NEVER rains in Athens!

Our first full day in Athens concluded with a stroll around the Plaka. We ended up on an Ouzo bar which was too picturesque to pass by.

Any minute now, you'll be his best mate.

 Ouzo is the national drink of Greece, a spirit with a strong aniseed flavour. That's fine if you like that sort of thing, which Philipa does. Dec, on the other hand, had to try a couple of the other offerings which lack the aniseed but pack the same punch. Raki and Tsipouro by name, they slip down a little too easily. A great way to round off the day. But maybe not EVERY day.

Go on, say it. I dare you.

Wednesday dawned and after another fine breakfast we set off for a stroll around Athens, with a view to climbing Licabettus, the largest hill in town. The outlook was sunny, and we walked through the National Garden, which is surrounded by government buildings including the Presidential Palace. While we ambled through the garden we heard a band approaching, and found ourselves watching a parade of Evzones, the ceremonial guard in their distinctive uniform. It would be tempting to call it slightly ridiculous, if not ever so slightly camp. But this is an elite force with weapons and a fearsome rep, so we'll say no more.

Later we made our way to Kolonaki square and as we ordered coffee in the Da Capo, we scoffed at a few passers-by who were wearing or carrying raincoats. Those fortunate people! Minutes after leaving the cafe, the heavens opened in a truly British style. P&D were dressed for the hot sunny weather, with neither jacket nor brolly between us. Our mission to Licabettus was postponed and we found a very nice cafe to take a spot of lunch while the skies cleared.

We spent the afternoon in the Benaki museum, a fantastic collection of artefacts covering the history of Greece from the stone age to the present day, including lots of jewellery dating back to the 6th century BC. We followed our noses back to our lodgings via the flea market, an area filled with more T-shirt and tat shops than any city really needs.

Buses planes and trains

A journey of a thousand miles begins with:

(a) a bus journey to Heathrow
(b) waiting 30 minutes while the security guys go through your luggage
(c) 20 minutes of trying to get into the wrong house

Actually our journey started the night before our flight, when we watched a documentary about plane crashes. Not wise! However our own flight was problem-free, apart from some grief at security, where they victimise innocent passengers (have they ever caught a bad guy?) because there is more than 100ml of fluid here, or a laptop left in a bag there. We waited
20 mins or so while they dealt with a backlog, then they gave us the treatment - our offence was having a bottle of juice in the bag. 

Waiting for the Metro

If you ask me, the terrorists have won, although if it puts people off flying then it's arguably a Good Thing.

On landing at Athens, we made our way onto the Metro and headed for Syntagma Square. Our digs - with a friend of a friend, arranged by email - are close by. Unfortunately we had our wires crossed and spent some time trying to gain access to the house next door-but-one, which was confusing for everyone. At last we made contact with Katerina and we spent a pleasant evening getting the local's lowdown on what to do and where to go. After a lovely meal at her local taverna we settled down for our first night in Athens.

Katerina cooked us a fine breakfast consisting of a mushroom omelette served with sourdough toast. Philippa had taken the unusual step of packing some English breakfast tea bags. Please don't think too badly of her, but she has experienced Greek tea in tne past - it's made by a firm called Liptons which sounds British but isn't.

We set off into the city with a suggested itinerary complete with a map marked with a pink route to follow. We found our way to the Acropolis Museum, a recent addition which showcases the archaeological finds from the area around the Acropolis as well as the friezes from the Parthenon - at least, those which weren't looted in the 19th century by Lord Elgin. Elgin's not the only villain of the piece, though. In the 5th Century the Parthenon was turned into a Christian Church, which meant removing (and destroying) some of the stonework. Later it was used as a mosque. In the 17th century it was used as an ammunition dump by the Ottomans, which suffered a direct hit from the attacking Venetians. It's a miracle so much of it has survived.

We spent some time in the museum, waiting for it to stop raining - Katerina accused us of bringing our weather with us - and as the clouds cleared, we made our way to Philopappos hill, which overlooks the Acropolis and has great views over the city. We had the place almost to
ourselves, but climbing hills is thirsty work so we spent the rest of the afernoon drifting around the shops, stopping for the occasional beer.

The Acropolis, from Philopappos Hill

We are staying in the Plaka which is bang in the middle of Athens and a bit of a tourist trap. With endless restaurants to chose from, it really is pot luck but we have at least ruled out one place. We will not be eating at the Bollywood Kitchen. After all, when in Greece, blah blah blah...

To Athens and back!

As 2013 draws to a close, Philippa and Dec find themselves at something of a loose end.

We've transferred the Driftwood Cafe to the capable hands of Joss White and his partner Kayleigh, and picked up the threads of our life in Devizes. We're up to speed with all the local gossip, and back in touch will all our friends and neighbours. The garden and the allotment have enjoyed two years or so of laissez-faire cultivation, so both needed a spot of TLC. After a couple of weeks' effort, they're looking pretty good now. As winter approaches, there's less to do, and plenty of time to do it. So, what now?

As it happens, we have a good friend in Athens who has recently given birth to twins, and this is a great excuse for a visit - temperatures in Greece are high, but not too high at this time of year. Flights and accommodation are pretty cheap too.

But why fly both ways? The route between Athens and Devizes crosses much of mainland Europe, and there is a perfectly good train service - does anyone remember the Orient Express?

The Orient Express no longer runs, and its upstart cousin the Venice-Simplon OE runs luxury trips between London and Venice at eye-watering prices. But you can still get from Athens to Devizes by rail with two short hops on a bus, thanks partly to Dr Beeching and partly to the Greek economy.

Inspired by the gift of "The Man In Seat 61" by Mark Smith (surely not that bloke from The Fall?) and by a fondness for doing things in her own way, Philippa proceeded to tackle the logistics of a trip which will take in Athens, Thessaloniki, Sofia, Bucharest, Budapest, Vienna, Munich, Paris and London - It's all booked, and we'll be blogging our way around.

Stay tuned!

It's a long way.