Krakow, Poland to Prague, Czech Republic...

My trip from Berlin to Krakow, Poland was not so pleasant. Poland was a former communist state and therefore was a very poor country. The country has made tremendous progress in the past 20 years, but progress and development is concentrated in the major cities. The country side is still very poor and undeveloped. This includes the rail system, which I heard was one of the worst in Europe.

The Polish train leaving Berlin was actually not bad at all. It was reasonably clean as far as trains goes. The restaurant car serves decent Polish food and the first class seats I was in were clean and comfortable. I should have taken this train all the way to Warsaw because the next trains were not so pleasant. I had 2 transfers, and the first transfer was at Poznan to Wroclaw. This was an awful train! It was old, dirty, smelly, and filthy as can be. As soon as I stepped in, there was the stench of human sewage. I heard things were much worse under the communists, but this was pretty darn bad. The train was also late and I nearly missed my connection. Gosh, it would have really sucked to be stuck at those train stations!

From Wroclaw to Krakow was a little better, but still, not a comfortable ride. I heard the Polish train company saves all their good trains for the international routes and the major routes like from Warsaw to Krakow. I spoke with some travelers in Krakow that came in from Warsaw and they said the train was excellent and fast.

As soon as I stepped off the train I did not feel well. At first I thought it was just from not being able to sleep, but I got progressively more ill over the next day. I must of had food poisoning or perhaps I caught the flu. I was not able to do much for the next 3 days. I had diarrhea, fever, headaches, muscle cramps, and an upset stomach. I decided to stay in Krakow until I felt better.

I stayed on the Garden House Hostel right off the main square. This was a decent hostel and Krakow was a decent place to hang out until I felt better. It is a beautiful, clean city, not expensive (although Poland is not the bargain it was several years ago I heard), and with many excellent restaurants, cafes, and shops. It is a bit touristy with people coming in from all over the world.

The main attraction here is the Auschwitz concentration camps, but I decided not to do this. It was 40 km away from the city and there was a lot of walking. I had very low energy levels due to being ill the past 3 days and not being able to eat very much.

My next stop was in Prague, the Czech Republic. Many people think of this as Czech a Slovakia, but it is now 2 separate countries, Czech Republic and Slovakia. They split in 1992, I believe. Prague is a beautiful city. Check out my pictures. The cobble stone roads are really annoying, since my Xootr doesn't work on them. But one thing I noticed in Poland and in Czech Republic is that people here aren't always so friendly. I guess after being from the southern United States I've gotten use to how open and friendly people are in America (and in Australia for that matter). Often, when asking a stranger at a bus stop for directions, a good place to eat, or a good nightclub, people would often just ignore you as if you were not there. I'm sure the language barrier is one issue, but I don't think that's all it is. It's seems to be part of the culture from speaking to some of the Europeans I've met.

What is very popular in Prague are the hot dog stands. There are a variety of sausages all for under 60 crowns ( a little less than 18 crowns to 1 USD). If you come to Prague, do try out the hot dogs. They are much tastier than the hot dogs we get in the States, I think.

I'm in Vienna, Austria now and I like the city a bit more. It's sort of like Paris, but not as big, hectic, or touristy. They have excellent bicycle and walking paths which makes getting around the city quite a bit easier.