Whirlwind Wien

I've made it a point to try traditional / typical dish(es) of every European country I visit. I specify "European" countries only because there are some bizarre foods out there in Asia that I absolutely refuse to eat. Fried cricket, for instance. Or the heart of a snake.

The traditional dish for Vienna is the Wiener Schnitzel and the description reads like this: "a cutlet of veal that is pounded flat, coated in flour, egg and breadcrumbs, and fried in clarified butter." Sounds a bit sketchy if you ask me. Nor does it sound fancy or appetizing, like the Salzburger Nockerl. But we all know my experience with the Salzburger Nockerl.

I love the Wiener Schnitzel. In fact, I liked everything about Vienna - aside from the biting wind, that is. The looming winter season and the bitter cold will be something I have to acclimate to. And fast. I will also have to get used to those unbelievably petite cups of coffee served in European cafés.

Wiener kaffeehaus (Viennese cafés) have an incredibly long and distinguished history that dates back centuries. These establishments have been havens for artists, musicians, writers and thinkers. And unlike cafés in Prague where you risk your coffee cup being whisked away if it's 3/4 empty, customers can linger for hours. Toting my trusty Let's Go Europe guide, I scoured the streets of Vienna for a well-known kaffeehaus: Café Hawelka. The mélange (coffee with frothy milk - much like the latté) is out of the world. It was just too bad they only serve their speciality, Buchteln (cake with plum marmalade), in the evenings.

Certain buildings and specifically, the sculptures featured in the Great Parterre - the garden behind the Schönbrunn Palace - gave me a taste of what it would be like to travel to Athens and Rome: two places that I must visit before I fly back to Canada.

The Gloriette at Schönbrunn

Statues line the Great Parterre at equal distances and are allegories of different gods and virtues.

Vienna Sightseeing Tours did a great job of introducing the city and its history to us. I only wished I had more time in Vienna to mosey around on my own.

Kunsthistorisches Museum (Museum of Art History)

Reflection of the old on the new

The Hills are Aliiiive...

It was bitterly cold and windy in Vienna. My teeth was chattering so hard it was rattling my brain. I couldn't quite process what the representative from Vienna Sightseeing Tours was trying to say to us, but readily agreed to my parents' plan of heading to Salzburg for a day-trip.

The three hour drive to Salzburg was a winter wonderland since it had snowed three days before our arrival in Austria. We were kept entertained by the stories told to us by our wonderfully funny and knowledgeable tour guide. The rare and occasional silence was punctuated with the clicking of digital cameras taking pictures of the scenery as we whizzed by.

Salzburg is this gorgeous quaint little town, dominated by baroque towers and churches, as well as Festung Hohensalzburg (literally "High Salzburg Fortress" in German). For the rest of the day, I had "Do-Re-Mi" replaying over and over like a broken record in my head as settings and sites used for The Sound of Music were pointed out to us.
Indeed, I used to associate Salzburg with the film along with famous classical music composer, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. But now, when I think of Salzburg, I think of Salzburger Nockerl, a traditional soufflé-like Austrian meringue dessert. Sounds amazingly delicious. We thought so too. Mom even skipped lunch just to have enough space to stomach this massive (made for) 3 - 5 people dessert. Hey, if we have to pay €10.90 and wait 20 minutes for dessert, we were making damn sure that the dish is licked clean at the end of our dessert break.

My initial, untouched portion of the Salburger Nockerl

Our anticipation and excitement for this traditional dessert wavered when the chef carelessly spooned up and plop the dessert onto our plates. It went down with a splat and wobbled. We doubtfully poked and prodded this...thing.

I took a bite; it had a texture that was almost cotton-candy-like: fluffy and light. Yet, it was gooey and creamy at the same time. It also tasted very much like uncooked egg whites. Bleurgh! I don't care about the rave reviews this dessert has received. All lies. This, is officially the worst dessert I've ever eaten. Needless to say, there was tons of leftovers. Good thing I had already excused myself from the table by the time the server came out to collect the plates while shooting the 'rents disapproving looks.

Give me cheesecake or medovník anytime, thanks.

Baroque architectures line the Salzach river.

Festung Hohensalzburg stands majestically in the background

Busy shopping street Getreidegasse. 
All buildings on this street feature wrought-iron guild signs over their stores.

Blundering Around Bratislava

Bratislava is the only national capital that borders two countries - Austria and Hungary. It was also the perfect pit stop for us during the long drive back to Prague.

In all honesty though, I was disappointed. But it's rather unfair now that I tend to compare all European cities to Prague - and this is one steep scale to compete with. Looking through the pictures I took of Bratislava, it is a pretty city.

The Europeans do so love their castles
- Bratislavský hrad (Bratislava Castle) -

..and their bridges
- Nový Most (New Bridge) and the Petržalka borough from the Bratislava Castle -

Yep, no question about it. I still like Prague more and am glad to be able to call it "home" for the next six months.

From the City of Spires to the City of Spas

Hungary, here we come!

- The mythical Turul statue by the entrance gates of Budai Vár -

Having spent three straight weekends here in Prague while friends raved about their travels to neighbouring countries, I decided I needed to get away once I get my passport back. The plan, when it was first proposed to me, was that we'd road-trip it to Budapest since Paul has a car. It would have been three Swiss, one German - all boys - and me. Years after I've graduated from high school, I have somehow managed to retain my status as "one of the guys" - an affectionate term bestowed to me by my (mostly) guy friends from home.

I recruited fellow UVic-er and partner-in-crime, Paula, into the gang when Marcel had to pull out at the last minute. And we were off!

The Search for the DunaRush-hour traffic greeted us by the time we hit downtown Buda. We also had no idea how to get to Pest, the location of our hostel. All we knew was that we had to find the Duna (Danube River), and go from there.

Paul stuck his hand out the window and said, "The wind is coming from that way. This indicates that the river is...there. We head there." Err...OK. There wasn't much room for argument since he was the driver. Ten minutes later, we were still looking for the river. It didn't help that the Hungarian language has nothing in common to German, English, or Czech. Nothing on the road signs made sense. We decided on the next best thing: yell for directions at this poor pedestrian waiting for the trams by the lights...

Ah! Spa

One of the outdoor (heated) pools at Széchenyi

Still wired from the car ride, we voted to head to the Széchenyi spa - one of Europe's largest bathing complex - for a relaxing dip before dinner. Oh. My. Gosh. For a mere USD$8.50, there are 12 thermal pools and 3 swimming pools within the complex - and you can stay for as long as you'd like. H-E-A-V-E-N. Is all I can say.

The TouristToting the snack pack provided to us by our hostel, we proceeded to explore the city, mostly by foot, the very next day.

The Országház (Hungarian Parliament Building)

The Shoes on the Danube Promenade

Széchenyi lánchíd (Széchenyi Chain Bridge) connecting Buda and Pest

Peeping through Halászbástya (Fisherman's Bastion)

Our feet were so sore by the end of the day. What better way to bid goodbye to Budapest than head to yet another spa? I could get used to the life of a Hungarian.

Promiňte, How Do I Get There?

• Autobusy : 153 day city bus lines, 22 suburban bus lines and 12 night bus lines
• Metro : 3 lines. 54 stations. 54.7 km of tracks. 400 million passengers a year
• Tramvaje : 26 day routes, 9 night routes. Total route length of 560 km. 300 million passengers a year

Prague's extensive tram-metro-bus network easily puts Calgary and Kuala Lumpur's to shame. I secretly think that people who drive around in downtown Prague are idiots for not utilizing this efficient source of public transportation.

It has been almost one month since I've move to the Czech Republic. And I have finally, finally figured out the streets here. That's right folks, I am embarrassed to inform you that for the past three weeks and three days, I was convinced that there are no street signs in Prague.

Aren't road signs supposed to be universal?
- Picture taken from Kenny Sia's blog -

My reliance on the public transportation system here day in and out meant that I didn't have to know the street names of my destination. I've always been rather useless with remembering streets anyway, much less those horribly long street names like the ones we have in certain parts of Malaysia. I'm more of the tell-me-the-landmark-and-I'll-find-it type driver - this probably won't, and can't, apply when I'm in a suburban area. It might also explain why I always end up calling my Papa for directions every time I'm out on the road. Not that I don't know how to read the map. I do. I just suck at map-reading when there's driving involved.

Nope. Not street names...

Indeed, I thought it was rather odd; downtown Prague has signs all over the place pointing tourists to the local attractions, but no street signs indicating street names. How do people get to their destinations?

Today was the big day: I was on a mission and my search for this particular place required me to get off the main roads and look for a little street not usually glutted by tourists.

Hrm...

Verbal directions in Czech, incorporated with sign language and pointing wouldn't get me far. Walking around in circles wasn't the best idea either. I have to find those street signs, dammit. There I was, wandering aimlessly on some random alley, eyes darting around looking for someone to ask for further directions. All of a sudden, I saw it.

Street signs!!!!!!

They've been there all along!!! I can distinctly hear Mom admonishing in her Teochew dialect, "眼生来掌鼻。" Since the literal translation of this is too vague, I won't even attempt to do so. In essence, it really means that I should start expanding my line-of-sight above eye-level.