Linkopi @ Linköping

Part 2 of 2 weeks in East Europe

We left Malbork for Warsaw after visiting the big big castle. This isn't the train we took..just a cute little train at the station. The train we took was pretty good too but very very warm 'coz it was a super sunny day.

We stayed at JUMP INN Hostel which was essentially a house converted into a hostel. It's a pretty nice hostel and the room was nice and the bed quite comfortable. It's quite near the tram stop and the central too. If you're going to Warsaw, it's not a bad choice! We met up with Darren and Ricky there and continued our tour!

This is a church in the corner of the old town. It's pretty grand inside but the outside looks like some government building. The poster on the front is of the late pope, who was polish and the pride of the poles.

After wandering about town awhile more and checking out some Jewish areas which were closed for the day, we went in searh of FOOD! haha. there's this place with famous doughnuts and they deserve to be famous. even bb who doens't really like sweet stuff loved the coffee eclair and demanded to take away some for our overnight trip to prague. the doughnuts had rose jam inside and icing coated with orange bits! i had a small cheese cake and it was super. We had 2 eclairs, 3 doughnuts and a cheesecake for 10sgd! not cheap but worth it. We then decided to try the dumplings which are local specialities. It's quite okay..not as yummy as chinese dumplings but quite special with many different fillings.

One more group shot in the hostel where we had our takeaway dumplings dinner before we left for Prague. And that wraps up Warsaw. It was surprisingly good, maybe because of the weather and the festive mood. But the city area is really messy and the train station is full of old beggars who are so pitiful but you can't give them any money 'coz they will just keep wanting more. But generally, g'dansk is more enjoyable than warsaw but warsaw has more stuff to eat and shop since it's the capital. To read more about Warsaw, here!

1st April to 3rd April: Prague!

We finally reached prague after a 10 hour train ride. The prague train station was abit shady with alot of scary looking people looking like they're ready to pounce on you! We got to our hostel by tram eventually. The hostel we stayed at looked really good on the internet, with alot of facilities like swimming pool, pool table, blah blah, but when we got there, there was nothing! The building did look impressive, the size of a hotel but it was only their 2nd day of operation and most of the stuff were not ready. We were so disappointed. But at least the beds were new. But that's also why we forgot to take photos of the place 'coz it wasn't worth it.

After settling in, we set off for town. It was impressively beautiful! We fell in love with the place at once. The photo above is of the town hall, on which there were people walking around near the top of the tower. There is an astronomical clock at its side which is famous for the 12 apostles which appear every hour and there are always people waiting there for it to come out. We did too. hehe.

This beautiful and imposing building is the Church of Our Lady before Týn. You can never see the entire buildling 'coz the buildings infront of it are built right onto it. They represent different architectural styles and have been built one upon each other over the years. The church is the main feature of the old town square and it's really impressive looking! The church was closed so we couldn't go in. =( but it's supposed to be very grand inside.

Here's another view of the church. It's in gothic style and no other building we saw in the other places looked quite like it.

There was a huge easter carnival in the old town square and many many food stalls and souvenior stalls selling all sorts of stuff. They had huge pig trotters grilling, pigs stuffed with unknown stuff, sausages, sweets, apples, pastries, waffles, etc. So much food, so little time! haha. we wasted no time in getting a huge wurst and it was delicious. and all for about 3sgd! I got a yummy stroopwaffle, 2 thing and crispy waffles with a layer of caramel in between. It was delicious! I still miss the carnival now!

We walked the little allies of town looking for a good restaurant. There were so many around we didn't know how to decide. We eventually settled for a czech style restaurant with reasonable prices. They had free pretzels hanging on a stand on the tables and they were alot of fun to play with. Bb was elated when he saw the word PORK KNEE on the menu and didn't waste any time ordering it. He certainly did the pig justice by polishing off every bit of edible pig on the knee! He still drools about it now and then. haha.

After lunch, we walked back to the old town square to check out the church at the corner of it. This is the church of St. Nicholas. It's very ornately painted on the inside and the huge chandelier hanging in the middle is just magnificent.

With no place in mind to go to, we just walked around and saw this random statue on the streets. He reminds me of my dad's silly face and i just had to take a photo with it. haha.

Walking on, we stumbled upon the famous wenceslas square unknowingly. The square is actually a huge street with alot of shophouses lining the side and all the various shops like marks and spencer, H n M, LV, Guess, etc etc. At the end of the street is the national museum which is a very magnificent looking building which we didn't manage to go into either. No money, no time! We took the metro from there to visit the New town hall which wasn't anything much.

We went back to the square for sausage for dinner. Here's the star of the square by night. Even more beautiful than in the day.

The next morning, we crossed the very very famous Charles Bridge to get to the Prague Castle. Charles bridge really is very pretty and no amount of photos can do justice to it. It's a pity it's so overcrowded with tourists but nonetheless, the bridge and the view from the bridge makes up for its lack of atmosphere.

Here is the St.Vitus Cathedral in the prague castle complex. It is an amazingly complicated gothic building. The exterior is so intricately carved with strange gothic and pagan stuff. It looks abit scary in fact. But the inside is in contrast very gloomy and simple which was the aim of the architect. The stained glass in the cathedral are very beautiful. It is by far the most impressive cathedral we have seen. the rest of the castle was nice too but this is the one thing most worth mentioning. After spending half a day at the castle, we head for lunch at a restaurant near the castle. We lunch on the balcony of the restaurant. The view was superb! We could see the entire hillside and it was so calm and peaceful. An experience impossible in Singapore. The food was also very good, albeit a little bit expensive and we were shocked that we had to pay for the ketchup and salt and pepper that was on the table.

After lunch, we decided to stroll along the hill and look at some of the churches and monastries there. The view from the hill was great. You could see the entire old town and the various steeples. This photo is really funny. Ricky somehow has low tolerance for beer and always knocks out after their lunch beer. haha.

After strolling the hill, we took the funicular down the hill and crossed charles bridge again. It was a really beautiful night and i love this photo, minus the people. The moon was prefectly round and orange hanging just above the roofs of the buildings. No wonder people say that Prague and Charles Bridge are romantic places. We headed back to our favourite square for dinner. Bb had the huge wurst again and i had a czech speciality called Trdlo. It's a really cute bread dough thingy that are cooked on metal cylinders over flames. The bread dough are rolled around the cylinders then rolled in cinnamon sugar and almonds. After they're cooked, they're pressed in the mixture again. It's uber delicious! I want more!!

To find out more about Prague, here you go! The next day, we went souveniors hunting and off to vienna we went in the afternoon! Prague was the best leg of our tour and the most beautiful. I would love to go back there next time! just for Trdlo! haha.

So sorry for the very slow blogging rate..i still have a backlog of Vienna, Budapest, Bratislava and Krakow. It's tough sorting through thousands of photos. And there's still the Tallinn cruise. AND! we're off to Amsterdam, Belgium and Luxemborg for a week! hehe. till then! =)

luv, jL

posted by jL-yZ @ 3:15 PM