Český Krumlov. diversions Spring 2018

Transcription

1 A hop-on, hop off history tour through Europe:Div 2018/08/13 1:30 PM Page 1 T he sheer abundance is also one of the problems how on earth do you decide which to visit when there are so many great choices? In the past, one popular way has been to buy a pricy Euro-rail ticket and take the train around the continent, but now there s an easier way Busabout. The concept is simple but ingenious. A fleet of hop-on, hop-off coaches runs on various interconnecting arcs through 47 stops in 15 countries, covering pretty much everywhere worth seeing. A bus swings through each point on the network every other day, so you can hop off and stay as long as you like, or change plans midstream if you want to stay longer or move on sooner than expected. I spent a month travelling around Eastern Europe on the Busabout circuit, taking advice from its route map. It goes to Krakow, which I hadn t fancied, but avoids Warsaw, which I had. The reason being that Krakow is far more picturesque and interesting. Who knew! It swings through Salzburg too, so I added that to my agenda. A fabulous choice my hostel played The Sound Of Music Český Krumlov every evening and it was quite magical watching the film in the city where it was set. I started out in Prague, flying via Rome because Alitalia offered the cheapest airfare from Johannesburg. First I mastered enough of the mouth-warping Czech language to arrive at my hostel and say hello, good afternoon, and give my name, which I did, impressing myself mightily. The receptionist gave me a bored look and asked: have you got a reservation? in a Budapest 10 Vienna

2 A hop-on, hop off history tour through Europe:Div 2018/08/13 1:30 PM Page 2 One of the great delights of visiting Europe is the sheer number of gorgeous cities to explore. Cities of style and elegance, of romance and history, of fine food and amazing art. By Lesley Stones A hop-on, hop-off history tour through scummy English accent. Prague is lovely, but you ll battle against a tide of other tourists to stroll over historic Charles Bridge, tour the mighty castle and wander through its ancient cobbled streets. A week was perhaps too long, but it gave me time for a day trip to Terezin, an elegant town that the Nazis turned into a horrific concentration camp, and to Kutná Hora, where monks artistically decorated a church with the skeletons of 40,000 people. It was good to shake off the gloom of death and Grunau Prague 11

3 A hop-on, hop off history tour through Europe:Div 2018/08/13 1:30 PM Page 3 12

4 A hop-on, hop off history tour through Europe:Div 2018/08/13 1:30 PM Page 4 step onto the brightly-painted Busabout vehicle, welcomed by a young and enthusiastic guide. What makes this so easy is that it drops off and picks up at a recommended hostel right in the centre of each city. You can book a bed in the hostel through its website, but since I m too old and crotchety to sleep with strangers I often used Booking.com to find somewhere more private within walking distance. In the little Czech town of Český Krumlov my rooms were above a restaurant by a river. I rattled my suitcase and lugged my rucksack down the cobbled main street in hot sunshine until I found the place, arriving sweaty and aching. Have a welcome drink on the terrace, the manager said as soon as she saw me, and I liked the place immediately. Český Krumlov is another place I only visited because the bus goes there, and it s beautiful - a pocketsized Prague without so many tourists. Every time you approach a different destination, the young guide on board the bus tells you about the place, offers discounted sightseeing tours and organises a communal supper if you don t fancy dining alone that night. I fully expected to be at least twice the age of my fellow travellers, and usually I was. But that didn t matter. A doorto-door service and interesting chats with the guides are welcome no matter how old you are. Many European cities offer free walking tours, and they re always a How to Busabout through Europe Look at the route map on and decide where you want to go. Buses run from May 1 to October 17. Tickets cover a set number of stops, starting at R5,950 for three to R18,900 for an unlimited amount, so you could spend five months exploring the entire circuit. If you don t fancy the suggested hostel, search for somewhere within walking distance on a website like Booking.com. You can book online or through travel agents. The website lets you book your bus seat and hostels, and you can amend your plans mid-journey via your phone or laptop. must, because the guides know they ll only get a tip if they re entertaining. They also have excellent public transport, and it s huge fun hopping on a tram near your hotel and getting off right outside a museum, the castle or some botanical gardens. Each city seemed to outdo the last in terms of splendid architecture. Splendid is an old-fashioned and elegant word, but the most fitting way to describe their majestic buildings 13

5 A hop-on, hop off history tour through Europe:Div 2018/08/13 1:30 PM Page 5 adorned with gargoyles, pillars, mosaics and frescoes. And those are just the shops in the central avenues wait until you see the palaces! Vienna literally left my jaw hanging open in astonishment at its ostentatious architecture and its equally decadent pastries. Budapest stunned me with another array of gorgeous buildings, including various sets of Turkish baths. Five hours spent wallowing in hot thermal pools, cold plunge pools, steam rooms and wave pools felt wonderfully hedonistic after almost a month of walking and exploring. Eastern Europe has a deep vein of sorrow coursing through it too, however, firstly with the Nazi occupation, then the dark, repressive communist regime that succeeded it. In Salzburg and Prague the pavements are studded with stumble stones, or metal plaques engraved with the name and dates of Jewish victims of the holocaust who were dragged from their homes and sent to concentration camps. In Krakow I visited Auschwitz, the Nazi death camp that astonished me with its size and stunned me with its premeditated murdering abilities. I visited Schindler s factory, where Jewish workers were bravely protected by Oskar Schindler. In Salzburg I took a mountain trip to the Eagle s Nest, where Hitler planned some of his most vile strategies. You can also just enjoy these cities for their fabulous architecture, excellent museums and galleries and affordable food and drink, and bask in the pleasure of boat trips on the Danube and delicious cheeses and salamis from stalls that pop up overnight in picturesque market squares. Perhaps the best tactic for appreciating Eastern European countries is to combine the two. Learn about the dark history and understand something of the past that has shaped the present. Then enjoy the vibrant and exciting places that they have become. 14