Contents

  1. Preface
  2. San Francisco
  3. Amsterdam
  4. Amsterdam, Helmond
  5. Amsterdam, Zandvoort, Haarlem
  6. Amsterdam, Bruges
  7. Bruges, Brussels, Cologne, Berlin
  8. Berlin
  9. Berlin, Potsdam
  10. Berlin, Wansee
  11. Berlin, Prague
  12. Prague
  13. Prague, Karlstejn, Vienna
  14. Vienna
  15. Vienna, Salzburg, Füssen
  16. Füssen, Neuschwanstein, Munich
  17. Munich, Innsbruck
  18. Innsbruck
  19. Innsbruck, Zürich, Lauterbrunnen
  20. Lauterbrunnen, Jungfraujoch
  21. Lauterbrunnen, Schilthorn
  22. Lauterbrunnen, Spiez, Zermatt
  23. Zermatt
  24. Zermatt, Martigny, Chamonix
  25. Chamonix, Mont Blanc
  26. Chamonix, Mont Blanc, Courmayeur, Aosta, Turin
  27. Barcelona
  28. Barcelona, Sitges
  29. Barcelona
  30. Milan, Venice
  31. Venice
  32. Venice
  33. Venice, Milan, Cinque Terre
  34. Cinque Terre, La Spezia
  35. Cinque Terre, Pisa, Lucca, Florence
  36. Florence
  37. Florence
  38. Florence, Siena
  39. Siena, San Gimignano, Rome
  40. Rome
  41. Rome
  42. Rome, Sorrento
  43. Sorrento, Vesuvius, Pompeii
  44. Sorrento, Positano, Amalfi, Ravello
  45. Sorrento, Capri, Naples
  46. Naples, Bari
  47. Patras, Athens, Mykonos
  48. Mykonos
  49. Mykonos
  50. Mykonos, Paros, Santorini
  51. Santorini
  52. Santorini, Athens
  53. Athens
  54. Athens, Amsterdam, San Francisco


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12. Prague, Karlstejn, Vienna

Photo Gallery

I had figured I needed at least another half day in Prague, and so had decided not to visit the castle of Karlstejn (which anyway doesn't even merit a mention in the Rough Guide, for some reason). But since Prague is so touristy, I actually found myself ready to go in the morning, so I hopped on a morning train for the 45-minute trip south to Karlstejn (which is along the route to Vienna). After Germany, the Czech trains take some getting used to; they are considerably less modern, clean, and fast than their German counterparts.

The station (with left luggage, thank goodness) is down by a river, about a 15-minute walk from the touristy village, and it's another 20 minutes up the hill to the castle. This is an imposing and lovely sight, so I'm not sure why it didn't make it into the Rough Guide. Time was a little too short to take the tour of the interior (with an hour-long wait to get in), but they say the outside is by far the best part, anyway. Lots of tourists here, but almost everyone seems to come by tour bus; almost no one was on the train with me. As I came down, I stopped for lunch with an excellent view up to the castle as the sky finally started to clear, and the Czech dumplings here were actually pretty tasty and only moderately over-priced. The best part was next — I wandered up a deserted hiking trail through the lush forest on a hill opposite the castle. About ten minutes up, there was a beautiful long grassy meadow with an absolutely spectacular view over to the castle — and I had it all to myself! The tour group hordes were only minutes away, but none would ever even think to leave the beaten path for a place like this. Fantastic. It was the sort of romantic place where you just want to lie out in the tall grass with a picnic all afternoon. Unfortunately, I had a train to catch, so I stayed only ten minutes.

I arrived in Vienna around 19:00. Actually, as I was paring down the enormous list of places I wanted to go to fit within the allotted seven weeks(!), Vienna was going to be the next place to be cut. However, it turned out to be one of my most favorite cities. I had always associated it with opera, of which I am no great fan (and I didn't even make time for one while here). But still, I love the city. I stayed two nights but only one full day, and I wish I had stayed for another day. Until this point, I had done remarkably well with my schedule — having little idea how long it would take to hit the major sights in each place, I figured I would get it badly wrong quite a lot. But it wasn't until Vienna that I really wished I had stayed somewhere longer. In fact, things were going so well that I was starting to think I should be making a lot of money as a brilliant tour guide!

The Vienna subway is an annoying little ten-minute walk from the train station; I wasn't even at all sure I was going in the right direction, but I did find it. The subway system is one of the better ones in Europe (apart from not quite going to the train station). The first thing I noticed is the weird accent. It's extremely nasal and flat. I vaguely remember hearing some recordings of Freud and thinking how odd he sounded; it's not just him — they all sound like that. I'd say the difference between German in Berlin and Vienna is comparable to the difference between English in London and Texas (although it's probably more mutually intelligible than that). I stayed at the Pension Wild — not luxurious by any standard but good, cheap (€37) and central. I walked north to the very pleasant Café Berg near Freud's house for dinner, and then back to the Mango, which was fun and friendly, with very handsome staff — I think the Viennese are at least as good-looking as anywhere I'd yet been. They're Austrian, but with a strong dark streak presumably from the considerable influence of people to the east of here during the time of empire (and my expectations were perhaps lowered by the hideous Governator Schwarzenegger, but thankfully they look nothing like this!).

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