Prague is pretty. Like the brothers Grimm/feel like Pinochio should just wander into view pretty. Granted, thus far I have only seen the city at night, lit up in all its glory so the harsh light of day may expose more cracks in its facade. It is also certainly a gritty city. Walking down a cobblestone alley at 3am presents itself with an element of danger given some of the shady, almost medieval, characters present. There is the man with the dog and pet rat on th...

Mauthausen. A concentration camp located in Austria. Prisioners of war, Jews, political prisioners were detained here. And died here. The camp remains and we had the opportunity to walk around it. The gas chamber is immediately identifiable. The dissection table still remains. The crematoriums-individual sized but would still be used to cremate 10 people at a time- are there. These, along with the rest of the camp, are preserved to remind the world of the atroci...

On our way down to our last breakfast in Budapest I spied a policeman at reception. Thinking nothing of it (perhaps someone was reporting stolen possessions). During breakfast one of our group came up to the tour leader and advised her that a member of our group was being arrested. This is a breakdown if the events. As these are all second and third hand bits if gossip there may be some inaccuracies. 1. He punched a taxi driver. This wouldnt surprise me as taxi...

Bathing in public bathhouses in Hungary is a national past time. The bathing complexes are massive. We went to the Szechenyi Baths which had three out door pools (two of which are heated to over 30 degrees) and about 15 indoor pools plus saunas etc. it was essentially a spa complex. Kristen and I spent hours wandering around and periodically plunging in and out of different pools. We then tried out a Hungarian massage (as its cheaper than in Western Europe). I ha...

I saw a Sphinx statue with boobs in Budapest. Say no more. Unfortunately I was on a bus at the time so didnt get a photo. Hello again Hungary and Budapest. After another loooong border crossing-issues leaving Serbia but we didnt have to bribe them this time, then Hungary border patrol wanted to peruse our luggage hold. Note to self-remember to pack dirty underwear on top. If customs/border patrol want to go through my bag they can firstly go through dirty underw...