May 18 2024
What's cooking at the carnival
I had a picture of Berlin as being a fairly trendy city, attracting all sorts of interesting people and cultures. But never to this degree. I begin my day by crossing a canal onto Museum Island, a small isolated section of land in the city home to 5 museums, each with fantastic-looking exteriors. The middle of the island is a large open park, with a quaint stone fountain right in the center.
May 16 2024
Prowling around Prague
Today starts with the longest journey so far, a 6-hour train ride from Budapest to Prague. Fortunately, a dining car makes the trip much more bearable. I arrive in Prague late, so the next day, I get out and explore the city. My apartment is a bit outside the city center, and as I’ve been biking everywhere, I decide to keep it rolling. I was told that Prague is one of the worst cities for biking in Europe, which for the most part holds up.
May 12 2024
Szentendre on the Danube
Budapest has roads that run along both sides of the Danube river. Usually it’s noisy and unpleasant to walk by, but they actually close it off on Sundays for cyclists. Ottawa has some competition! Anyways, I’m not here to bike, I’m here to take a boat. A lot of the boats will take you up and down the river within Budapest, but having walked around the city for a few days, I wasn’t convinced it’d be worthwhile.
May 11 2024
Well-trained children
Today starts with a ride on Budapest’s metro, which is the oldest in continental Europe. Despite that title, it feels very modern and clean. What surprised me is how far underground the stations are. These stations have escalators that take a solid minute to ride down, causing you to lose sense of which way is up. I’m headed to János hill, which is the highest point in Budapest at 528 meters.
May 7 2024
The two sides of Budapest
Hot off the heels of Vienna and Bratislava, I didn’t know what to expect from Budapest. My train was delayed over an hour, so I’m a bit tired when I arrive, but still excited to see what was in store. I get out of the train station and am greeted by a bustling city with a mix of old and new architecture. Wide streets lined with old-fashioned buildings, and a mix of cars, buses, and trams.
May 3 2024
Checking in on Slovakia
I start my day off in Vienna by visiting St. Stephen’s Cathedral. There’s a short lineup to get in, and it’s a little crowded inside, but it was worth the wait. I love the level of intricate detail carved into each of the pillars That being said, I still think it looks better from the outside. I spend the time that I have left wandering around the center of the city.
May 1 2024
Biking away on May Day
In Austria, May 1st is Labour Day, also known as May Day. The entire city is off work, and everyone gathers around at Prater, an amusement park that hosts the May Day festival. I’ve packed my dinner, and pick up a bike to visit Danube Island. Historically, the Danube river that flows through the city was over capacity, so a second channel was built to divert the water, creating the island.
April 28 2024
The mountain on the edge of Vienna
I decide to go hiking today, and I’m headed to Kahlenberg, a mountain on the edge of Vienna. I take one of the city bikes up to the nearest docking point, and walk for 40 minutes through the city to reach Cobenzl, a lookout point on the way up. It’s a beautiful day to be walking, if not a little hot. The mountain I’m on actually straddles the border between Vienna and Lower Austria, so I manage to snap some pictures of the latter.
April 27 2024
A wild Naschmarkt appears
When I got out of bed in the morning, I did not expect to see this. It turns out the hostel I stayed in is right on the street that holds Naschmarkt, a large outdoor market that’s been around since the 16th century. I’m not too into markets, but in the spirit of my father who loves them, I walk around to check it out. There’s all the usual suspects, like produce, clothing, antiques, and of course, food.
April 26 2024
Velcome to Vienna
I start my day at 5:30, to get up and catch my 6:30 train. I hop on, and ride for the 4-hour journey from Innsbruck to Vienna. The view out the window is nice, but not as nice as the way in When I make it out of the station, I grab a city bike and head to the Belvedere gardens. Belvedere is a historic building complex built as a summer residence for a prince.
April 25 2024
Navigating Nordkette
I’m headed up the Nordkette mountain today, which is one of the mountains that looms over Innsbruck. I head to the Markthalle, a small food and produce market in the city center, and pick up some German apples and a poke bowl for dinner. Many accommodations in Innsbruck offer a free bus pass for the duration of your stay, so I take a bus that heads up to Hungerburg, where the cable car leaves from.
April 24 2024
Guten Morgen Innsbruck
I didn’t write about my journey into Innsbruck yesterday because I thought it would be unremarkable, but boy was I wrong. I’m headed all the way from Venice to Innsbruck by train, through the Italian countryside and then into the Austrian mountains. Was it ever something else. When the train arrives in Brenner, a small town right on the border of Italy and Austria, it stops for about 15 minutes, and police walk up and down the train, I guess as a customs check.
April 23 2024
Hello rainy Venice
I get up early this morning, check out of my hotel, and head to the Venice islands. It’s still drizzling outside, but it’s not nearly as bad as last night. I get on the tram, which leaves a block away from my hotel and takes me across the bridge. The picture I attached above was taken less than a minute after stepping off the tram. I pick up a mediocre Italian croissant for breakfast, and start to wander around the city, crossing east along the northern edge.
April 22 2024
Leaving Rome
I’m leaving Rome and I am sad :( Today marks the end of my 2.5-week journey with my father, who I will not see for a long time. I see him off at the train station. My train leaves at noon, so I have a few hours to walk around the city one last time. I walk to the colosseum to get one last look at it, and wander around the surrounding area.
