Poland .. Contd !

25th mar
Still in Poland, we went to this town about 170 km away from Krakow by bus, and reached Oswiecim. This is made up of two torture ghettos: Auschwit & Birkenau. It was horrendous living conditions. Like 6-8 pple sharing a wooden bed. Little water. Poor santiation. Ill-treated. Overworked. We also saw the baby shoes, and a hauntingly errie display of fake legs and crutches of those who were sent to the gas chamber. At least 1.1 million Jews from over all the world walked through those gates, and never came back.

And, of course, Angie, with her fetish for supermarket shopping, made us go to Tesco. It is huge. We figured our way, and spent 1.5 hrs there! But it was nice.

26th mar
went to zacopane - tatra mountains. It is actaully a area for ski and snowboarding. But we were too broke to we juz spent time walking a lot. and watching pple play in the snow. wat is interesting is tt after dinner at ard 830pm, we were hanging around the square, and debating in our singlish whether we should stay and for the open-air classical music concert or go back to rest. (coz we were dead tired from making wrong turns, and having to walk a ton of roads extra.) then in classic novel style, this polish guy from behind us said, "hey, are you guyz from singapore?" we turned ard to a really funny sight - this tall guy, whose name is adam wuz wearing a beret and wuz leanin and sittin on the side of his bike. we three decided we wanted to watch the concert, and having some time to kill - he took us to the beatutifully bohemic, and dingy looking pubs and bars tt i wld love to go chill out. amazing ambience thse chillout places in the jewish settlement have. he is btw, in the media industry, abt late 30s, more like a consultant, and also an academician. turned out tt he wuz asked to lecture in lasalle, and wuz stayin in bishan for some time. nice guy. wld love to visit him again when he hit krakow.

27th mar
we got up at 7pm, all ready to board the 10am train. turns out tt they adjusted the time one hour ahead, apparently to account for some greenwich thingy. So we were happily trudging along at 930, but came to the train station it wuz 1030. so we juz missed our train by 30 mins. bummer. so we had to go on the 4pm train.

at the locker room, we bumped into 3 german dudes. we went to the old square wif em and chatted to kill time. and yeah i had a pretty good time. i cld get along quite well wif hannes, who is doin exchange in budapest. strange - he is the same age as me and born juz 7 dayz before me. and we get along. hmmm virgos.

at the train station in warsaw, finally, this 40 plus looking beardy man approached us. askin if we wanted to stay in a polish home. we had talked bout stayin wif families for quite a bit, so this wuz the perfect opportunity.....

Hit the roads - Czech , Poland WIP

Woo! i feel really good! like im on some kinda long haul holiday man. I really wish i cld live like this forever!

Well right now I am in Poland. In a Internet cafe just outside the cinema. Me and Angeline had just watched Million Dollar Baby, and man it is so depressing!

I ve gotta get off soon, so ive been to Czech Republic - in Brno. Went for two very very **ahem interesting places. One wuz a student pub, which had skinny and not-too-good-looking topless waitresses selling beer for almost 2 sgd. Another wuz a student disco - half of us were wonderin y we were there - but becoz another exchange fren, wuz from there and she wuz bring us ard.. so it wuz nice for us to look like we were enjoyin ourselves. btw more than half of them were younger than me. and very very curios abt chinese/asians. the dance floor my gosh - in short, its like 1970 s america. think high skol party kids on the dance floor, wood, fences. yeah. u erhh... got it.

We had to skip prague coz we cldnt get accomodation - so we zipped straight to poland - krakow by two rickety trains. made frens wif a polish gal, and two polish women and an elderly american man. and we went to the market square in krakow, and saw art pieces from leonardo da vinci and rembrandt. tmr we are gona go to austwitch. whether many jews were killed in wwII. its the huge compound of torture chambers.

update u guyz soon. ciao ciao.

paupau

TRAVEL PLANS!

15th March, 2005 (Tuesday)

I had better firm up stuff before I get whacked and slapped upside down by I-know-whos.

21 Mar – 3 Apr:
Budget – 350 to 400 €
Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia & Hungary. Had changed plans as I have to get a visa to go Bulgaria!

6 Apr – 11 Apr:
Budget – 200 €
Antz! I’m coming to Germany! Jazz concerts, traveling around! I don’t want to skip classes on the 4th & 5th Apr, so I think you have time to finish your paper, and I’m free to travel from 6th to 11th Apr. Let me know. Also tell me the itinery, I need to plan the route back to Graz. There is a direct train to Heidelberg!

16 Apr – 18 Apr:
I’m expecting Antz in Graz. Ruoling Jess n Shaun u r welcome over at this time too!

25 Apr – 8 May:
Budget – 190 €
Trip to Vienna, Slovenia, Croatia and/or other parts of Austria and maybe Berlin Hopefully a drive down. I think maybe having the first week in Vienna with my friends here. Jess & Shaun, wana travel to anywhere together in the second week?

20 May (230pm) – 22 May (afternoon):
Sam & Ruby coming over! I would plan something nice for you guys! Ruoling Jess n Shaun, if u want, u cld also come over at this time!

25 May – 26 May (255pm):
Sam & Ruby back in Graz. Nat is comin over from Milan/Zurich!

**Am scrapping the Ldn trip.

30 May – 30 June:
Budget – 600 €
Extendable to 18 August, but am expected to be back for Commencement in mid July. My plans are still very tentative, but largely considering: Greece & Italy.
Maybe France or Norway if got time and $, exchange friends live there!
Lindy Bindy! Let me know what you think! How how?
Nat - Italy Italy? =)
Anybody for Greece Greece? Athens and the Aegean Sea!

Okay, I’ve been planning this for so many hours. Ich bin müde.

Gut night.

On Way to Salzburg 

Mozarts Balls 

Mozarts Insides 

Close to A Month – Salzburg High

14th March 15, 2005 (Tuesday)

I arrived in Vienna on 18th Feb. Today is 14th March. Reality check. 4 days to a month that I have been away. Finally, I had to do my budget. And I am very glad to say I have been on track with my initial rough budget, and am able to come up with a more detailed one.

So just to keep track, and give you an idea on my expenditure, here goes! Quite modest I must say. I
- Spent 750 € in expenses by 20 Mar (including rent on Feb & Mar 05)
- Spending 350 € Eastern Europe trip from 21 Mar – 3 Apr 05
- Spending 600 € on Final Trip in June – Jul 05

Mom and dad: Not to worry, I think due to the unexpected amount of research allowance, I will definitely have excess money. But I will be frugal. I have been. Only spent an average of 8 € a day from Day 1 till now on food and fun! Quite amazing right? I mean after all the parties and going out. Okay, also because beer, and liquor is really cheap here, and I’ve been cooking my pasta and pizza, and bread for breakfast. But I am not starving or under-nutritioned – coz my friends cook, and my landlady cooks, and I cook, and eat out enough to be healthy. And there’s milk and apples and chocolates - which I eat everyday. I think I grew a bit fatter.

Okay, I am feeling great and more recharged after the trip to Salzburg! It is a bustling city, and is second in terms of tourism next to Vienna. Graz pales in comparison. Salzburg screams Mozart. Everywhere you can find Mozart balls. Haha Yes. His Balls. See! See! (Above)

Things we did at Salzburg. 4 hr train complicated train ride from Graz. (20 € one way)
- Angeline & myself (both self-declared bad-direction-lasses) walked from Hauptbahnhof (Main train station) in Salzburg to Yoho International Youth Hostel (followed the trusty lonely planet guide). Amazing hostel, with very, very friendly English speaking reception staff. Stayed in the cheapest dorm, and shared the room with 6 other girls. 16 € for a night’s stay, a 6min shower and breakfast (Austria bread, butter, honey and tea). I really liked it. Great clean environment!
- Mozart’s Birthplace and Mozart’s amazingly huge residence. A music illiterate, I was greatly enriched by the life of Wolfgang Mozart (his musical talent and short 36 yrs of his life), his dad Leopald’s sheer business-mindedness, Salzburg architecture, musical instruments and also clothes and lifestyle of nobility in the 18th century.
- Schloss Mirabell. Built by worldly prime-archbishop Wolf Dietrich for his mistress in 1606, its not-so-attractive-gardens-in-winter were featured in The Sound of Music.
- Dom (Cathedral) – there are tons of ornate and beautifully painted churches around Europe. What is special is in this church that there are three huge bronze doors in front symbolizing hope faith hope and charity. And I am still awed by the gorgeous paintings on the ceiling and the tall skylight that seeming reaches to the heavens. I love the intricately carved arches, and the sheer magnificence of the churches!
- Had dinner at Maredo – had steak with wedges and garlic bread and orange juice. After which we went to the Irish Pub for drinks.
- St Peter’s Cemetery, shadowed by pines and weeping willows, is the very gorgeous resting place of Salzburg’s noblest families. This cemetery houses the “Catacombs” – which used to be called hermitages. Hermits used to live in this cave, and there is a very small trapdoor, which they climbed up the steep route to reach this secret place. It is said to be one of the earliest Christian prayer sites in Europe. But now, leading to the cave of the catacombs are 88 steps. There is a very Christian and spiritual feel of the living and the dead. One section is the tombs for the hermits, who were persecuted, and another section is a small church. There are 6 semi circles carved into the cave for priests to sit at during mass. It is facing the door which lets the sunlight in.
Salzburger Museum. A showcase of old musical instruments, and antique toys, and cameras!
- Visited The Fortress of Salzburg (Festung Hohensalzburg). Built in 1077 by Archbishop Gerhard, it is the largest fully preserved fortress in Central Europe. It is said to be richly decorated with treasures and designs from hundreds years of existence, including a tower, torture chambers and impressive state rooms. We didn’t have time to climb the tower, nor the cash to take the damn cable car up. So we made our way halfway. It was nice enough to say we have climbed (albeit halfway) the great fortress!
- We also got lost on the way back. So instead of hitting Graz at 9pm, we got back two hours late. Don’t ask – its something about taking the wrong train. Blame it on the unclear train directions. It’s not us. I swear.

Lovely right? I also think so. It was a great trip for Angeline and me. Learnt about how it is to travel in Europe. I am all smiles.

**And Ash, if you are reading this – I’ve got photos on vintage cameras for you – took it at the museum! Hey, have a great one in Korean alright? You take care.