Tblisi with the tour group

Today is a city tour of Tbilisi with my group. Fortunately most of the stops today are places I never visited previously.

Day starts with an iced latte which I haven’t had much of lately.

We meet our local tour guide Tamara who will be showing us parts of Georgia. We board a tour bus that stops at the church on the hill in the city. Metekhi Church is very crowded inside because there is a service today. I don’t spend too much time indoors but the hill does offer great views of the city.

We walk down the hill and past a piece of the Berlin Wall that has been gifted to the city due to the Georgia’s role at the end of the Cold War.

We wait in a long line for the cable car to take us up the hill to see the Mother of Georgia up close. My friend and I attempted to do this previously but ended up the wrong cable car. I am glad I finally get to make the trip.

We arrive on top and have great views of the city. An accordion player finds out many of us are from the USA and plays an american song for us. After viewing the very large Mother of Georgia we use the path to the stairs down into the old town. The path eventually leads us down to the waterfall in the middle of the city, something I also missed while sightseeing the other day.

We view a waterfall, sulphur baths and then take a break for lunch. We unfortunately pick a tourist trap spot that has a hard time dealing with a larger group. While the food that does arrive is good, some end up leaving hungry because many of our food items are never delivered. We watch large parties arriving after us get plates and plates of food delivered but not us.

We are also introduced to the toastmaster (Tamada). The toastmaster is a statue with a drinking horn that is a reproduction of famous Georgian colchi relic found. In Georgian culture the toastmaster leads a feast and makes toasts for the meal. It sounds like the toastmaster also gets pretty toasted.

We continue our tour to old town and the nearby Sioni cathedral which has a relic of the famous St Nino’s cross that I kept hearing about and also it holds the burial site of the high respected but recently deceased patriarch. The patriarch is of the highest regard in the Orthodox Church, like their version of the Roman Catholic pope.

After our tour ends the bus takes us back to the hotel but we all decide to branch out in smaller groups for other adventures for the day. Not ready to eat I go with a group to do a private wine tasting across town. It takes us longer than normal to get there by the Bolt car service because many streets are closed due to the upcoming independence day festivities. The driver takes us as close as we can; we walk the rest of the way.

The gentlemen giving us the wine tasting is from USA and now lives in Georgia. We, a mix of Americans and Canadians, entertain him with our silliness. He gives a dinner recommendation nearby.

We enjoy the streets empty of cars. Dinner is in a charming underground homestyle restaurant where bills are tallied with an abacus. I wish I had photos of this because it is rare seeing anyone using an abacus these days.

Next stop is at a speakeasy with no menu. At this bar the bartender makes the drinks for you off vibes. You mention flavors and liquors you like and the bartender makes something perfect for you. Even the skeptical are happy with what is made for them.

We make one last stop on the way back to the hotel at the wine window. Only one glass of wine before we notice drips of rain. We make it back to the hotel just before the sky erupts again. We were lucky today with the lack of rain after I’ve had so many days of it.

Time for bed as we are off tomorrow to the Kehketi wine region for more adventures.

Schloss Eggenberg

In the morning I tour Schloss Eggenberg. The state rooms are only accessed by guided tour so I sign up for the early tour. Eggenberg palace is another UNESCO protected building. It is a representation of baroque architecture. Schloss Eggenberg was created for the prominent Eggenberg family (yes the same one that had a presence in Bohemia – specifically Cesky Krumlov). The rooms are impressive but it is another in a long line of palaces that allow no photography so I have no photos to share. Many of the rooms were barely used over the years and it was a very large palace for the time when it was built. Regulations existed about having palaces with more rooms than what the current royals had so some rooms were not in use as a compromise. Also it was built with lots of math and astrology in mind: Hans Ulrich had items of the Gregorian calendar incorporated in the design (ie 365, 52, 31, 24, 7). Impressive because this was a time when the Gregorian calendar was not yet widely adopted.

We can take pictures in the gallery museum though. There is lots of religious themed art. I find Corpse of Saint Florian Guarded by an Eagle quite interesting.

There is also a large coin collection.

I stop at the Frankowitsch – Brötchenbar – Delikatessen to try their open face sandwiches for lunch. They are good. I love the spread on the sandwich Pumpkin seed oil. I also order a lox one because I love salmon.

After lunch I take the train up to Schlossberg the tall mountain area that overhangs into the town. I enjoy some great views from up there. I slowly walk down from level to level and finally get to those intimidating stairs. I am sweating just going down so I am not sure I would really enjoy going up this time of year but lots of other people are doing it.

Walking back to my hotel I decide to stop at a cocktail bar and try a couple drinks. Afterwards I walk around and finally get a night view of the city before I go back to pack. I head to Vienna tomorrow. Good night.

Salzburg

In the morning I do a walking tour of the city. First I splurge for brunch on the roof of my hotel.

Walking tour

I run off after the tour to see a concert in the nearby church. At some point tears come to my eyes. It is magical listening to a performance in this cathedral.

After the concert I try to eat a street dog but I don’t love it and throw half of it out.

That’s ok because I want to try a very large egg white dessert called Salzburger Nockerl: a dessert with egg whites, flour and sugar. It is interesting to try but not sure I would order it again.

I shop and buy the Mozart chocolates I’ve been wanting to try as well as some cheese.

Finally the last day in Salzburg I head up to the fortress. I walk by that quiet beautiful cemetery on the way to the funicular. I am glad I take the funicular because the walk is long and hot, all uphill.

I tour the fortress and surrounding grounds. As far as fortresses go it is average but what is impressive is the views it has over the city.

Marionette museum

I almost missed the state rooms and the magical theater. They are both very impressive.

Even though my admission ticket includes a return ticket on the funicular I am going to walk to the bottom because the goal is to walk down to the Augustiner brewery and have lunch. However for some reason I cannot find the path that leads straight to the brewery as suggested by others the other day. Instead I walk down through the old city, following along the cliff side. I see people making the difficult trek up by foot. The pathway is long and steep and it is very hot. When I reach the bottom I see the funicular line is quite long. I see now how walking uphill could be seen as a good alternative to the funicular line but definitely not on a hot day like today. I hope no one dehydrates on the way up. I pat myself on the back for my early morning start.

I walk towards the brewery and though I finally see another side of town I realize the brewery does not open for at least another 2.5 hours. I am hot and the hanger is about to set in. I settle for a beer and pizza across the street. Once again the food is impossibly salty. I’ve been eating out quite a bit so I should be used to the highly salted food but I guess I am not. Do other people not notice it? I could come back later to the brewery but I know me, once I head back to the other side of town I am not coming back, especially on this hot day. I walk back along the water and take it easy the rest of the day. Tomorrow I move on to Graz.

Exploring Bergen

Today is our full day in Bergen. Even though I have stayed out late I still wake up early as always. I catch the included breakfast at the hotel as we wait for our companions to wake up. Today people want to sleep in; I wish I could sleep in. We finally all meet up and I get a second breakfast where I enjoy some Norwegian pastries in the historic Bryggen area of Bergen. The pastries are amazing.

We start our sightseeing with a visit to another Stave church, this one moved from Sogn. Fantoft Stave Church was dissembled and moved to its current place. A fire destroyed it in 1992 but it is now rebuilt as it would have been. We had a challenge finding it since all our maps seemed to be sending us in different directions but we eventually get there.

We head back into town and have a goodbye drink with our friend T who has to head back to Oslo this afternoon. She is a new friend to me but I am very grateful that I got to meet her this trip. Hopefully we have time to meet up when we return to Oslo.

Those of us left get an early dinner then head to the Fløibanen, the funicular that will take us up the hill overlooking Bergen. We enjoy the views at top and listen to the music from the concert going on in the fortress below.

Loving these old phone booths turned into free library

We also have fun looking at all the trolls in the park at the top.

We are ambitious and decide to walk back down. Someone tells us it takes 45 minutes but I am pretty sure it is more like 1.5 hours for us. It is a beautiful walk down. Between the lush greens we also periodically hear the music below as we get closer to town. My friends don’t quite trust my navigation skills when I direct them back toward Bryggen, the historic area, but we make it there alive.

Two of us marvel the quiet wooden alleys of Bryggen. Some of it is destroyed, some of it is being restored but most of it exists in a form to give you a feel of how things were in this historic part of town. I love it.

We meet our other friend in a bar in Bryggen that has a singer playing cover songs, We hear many USA hits along with Norwegian and even Swedish songs. I desperately want to go to bed but I try to muster enough energy to stay out with my friend who has endless energy for a bit longer. Eventually it is time for me to leave too.

Tomorrow we head back to Oslo to finish up our travels together.

Budapest

I wake up, check out of my hotel in Ljubljana and head down to the bus station. I have an all day bus ride today and we are heading to Budapest, Hungary. We leave on time but while still in Slovenia we are stopped to check ids. It gives me a chance to run to the bathroom.

There are no border checks Slovenia to Hungary. I can’t believe I don’t have to go to the bathroom again. Either I am getting real good at monitoring my liquid intake or I’m dehydrated. At least I am not having to pee every 45 minutes!

I arrive in Budapest at what I believe is the most convienent bus station of the two stops. Google tells me to take the 3 line on the metro. I haven’t had a chance to find a bank yet; I have a new currency to deal with here. Luckily I can buy metro tickets with credit cards. I buy a 72 hour transportation ticket because I will at least be here that many days – It’s a good thing I do. I get stopped almost immediately by someone who works in fare enforcement. There are signs warning you everywhere of this but it is hard to believe until you get stopped. I meet a couple later who actually had to pay the fine because they couldn’t figure out the ticketing system.

From my stop it is about a twelve minute walk according to google but with my bags and me being me it takes about twice that, plus I stop to admire things around me. It becomes clear that my apartment is in the “happening” part of town, the Jewish Quarter in Pest. Hopefully I’ll have some stamina to stay out late a night or two.

After settling in my cute and convenient apartment I head out to get a proper meal. I’ve only had snacks all day. I go back and forth about what I want but end up at this nearby restaurant where I order something local, Chicken Paprikash. It is satisfying but I can’t say its the best dish I have ever had. I’ll have to try my luck again later with Hungarian dishes.

Budapest wasn’t originally on my itinerary this year because I didn’t have it high on my priority list. I noticed I had a extra slither of time to dedicate somewhere between Slovenia and meeting my friends in Norway. I feel like I already had good amount of time in Slovenia and Norway is too expensive to add extra days this year so Budapest seemed like the only logical choice.

Budapest is the capitol of Hungary and formed by the two former cities Buda and Pest (and also Óbuda). Buda and Pest are still distinct parts of town today separated by the Danube river. They used to be part of the Ottoman then Habsburg empire, a nazi occupied territory, a communist dictatorship and now a member of the European Union.

The next morning I am up way earlier than I should be. Today is my Buda day. I plan to spend the entire day exploring Buda on the hill. Buda is the name of the part of the city of Budapest on the west side of the Danube. It contains government buildings, the Buda castle, wealthy residents and some good museums. I start my day at a breakfast where I order some avocado toast, a staple from back home.

I start walking toward the funicular to get to the upper part of Buda. The famous chain bridge to cross the Danube is closed for repairs for pedestrians so I cross another bridge. I am enjoying the architecture on the way.

I take the funicular up and enjoy the views from top.

Not doing much research besides figuring out what time things open, I have no idea where to start today. I end up at the Buda Castle History Museum. I have booked a tour at 12:15 to see the newly restored St Stephens room so I wander the museum as I wait. One thing I notice is the ruins of the old town underneath the buildings. This and the fact that there are so many buildings destroyed from wars outlies an long history, one that the government wants to preserve. In fact today I discover all the nearby construction is because the government has a project to recreate each destroyed building as they were originally in place using the detailed records that fortunately still exist. It is a long and expensive project that I am not sure I have seen replicated anywhere in my travels.

The beautifully restored St Stephens room is a great choice to tour today.

After the museum I walk over to the labyrinth and I watch someone lock the doors of the attraction. Apparently it is closing for lunch. I’ll go somewhere else and come back.

I try to visit the Hospital in the Rock Bunker but it is thirty minute wait for the next tour. It is expensive, no photos are allowed and reviews say you are rushed through the whole thing by the tour guide. I decide to skip it or come back later if I change my mind. It’s late afternoon and I haven’t eaten lunch so I decide to try one of Jamie Olivers chain restaurants for lunch. Foods ok and what I would expect from a chain. It gives me the energy to walk over and look at the Matthias church and nearby Fisherman’s Bastion.

I visit the Fisherman’s Bastion (fortress) and nearby cathedral (Matthias Church), although I did not pay to enter either.

My lunch was light so I visit a stand selling langos, a food I want to try. Langos is basically fried bread with your choice of sweet or savory toppings – like a pizza. I order a standard one with popular ingredients of sour cream and cheese. I don’t have high expectations for this food item but I am pleasantly surprised; It is very good. While I eat I watch all the extra tourists that are in town today because the Europa final is tonight. Throughout the city I’ve been hearing Italian and Spanish.

You think I am done with eating but I had my eye on this cake earlier – Chestnut Chocolate Cake. It is unique and surprising good.

Now that I have food and dessert out of the way I head back to the labyrinth. Again I didn’t know what to expect but I get a very bizarre and creepy experience. The visit starts with statues of mostly famous people then leads into a wax museum type experience with wax figures acting out an opera….with the opera music playing in the background. You then have the choice to continue on the well lit path or follow the pitch black path. I am up for adventure so I went the dark way. When I say it is dark, I mean it is dark. There is an occasional green light on the floor but I spend the majority of my time with my hands against a stone wall following it around listening to water dropping. Occasionally there will be music playing and a hidden creepy wax museum figure behind some bars. There is a little rope part of the way you can grab to take you along so I started using that eventually. I got creeped out and returned to the light. Only after looking at the tunnel map I realized it isn’t a true labrynth so I really wouldn’t have gotten lost. In fact a tour guide tells me later that these tunnels actually connect many of the residential buildings in the city through basement openings. They utilized an existing cave system to create a sort of alternative entrance and exit situation for the city. Kind of fascinating to think about it.

Eventually I get to the whole vampire lore part of the tunnel. There is a story that Dracula (the man or vampire) was captured and kept here at one time but no official record confirms that – it is just a fun story.

I have a Buda Castle vampire tour scheduled this evening and still have time to kill so I do more walking and photo taking. I forget to bring my phone charger aI head to a bar to have them charge my phone and get a drink (It’s a necessity!). For a short while I am living like I did before cells phones were everywhere. I just have to people watch and enjoy my own company.

I grab my slightly charged phone and head back down the hill to meet my tour guide. We know right away it is him because of his long black coat and top hat. He gathers us then slowly takes us back up the hill telling us story after story of mostly vampires or vampire adjacent creatures in Hungary’s history. He even includes his version of the “true story” of Vlad the Impaler (Dracula). He is a good story teller and I enjoy seeing Buda all lit up for the evening.

The tour ends and I just miss the bus that would have made my journey back much quicker so I make the silly decision to walk back the way I came this morning (40 or more minutes). It is 10:30 PM and I am exhausted but I do it anyway, enjoying the city in lights. I am tired but I am very surprised I still have this much stamina when most days I do not. I will definitely pay for this tomorrow in body aches.

I finally get to my district and as I suspect it is lively but not as lively as I thought it would be. Apparently that Europa match is still on and they have just started overtime and penalty kicks. I watch for a bit while walking down the really long party street that is two blocks from my place. I really need to go to bed so I head back.

What a long day. I have a feeling I am going to get a late start tomorrow !