Tag: Western Slavic Countries

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Český Krumlov

This is the 6th destination on our Western Slavic Countries itinerary as described in that Travel Planning post.

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We departed Olomouc by car, selecting the longest route available on google maps because I wanted to experience the most scenic drive possible. It was a cloudless, sunny Thursday morning as we departed central Olomouc. We started the drive on a highway for the first hour or so. And then we went on two lane country roads.

The first half was through wide open, large farmland with no trees in sight. It looked like corporate farms because they were so expansive. But about halfway through the trip we were on lonely two lane country roads. Sometimes so tight that it didn’t seem like two cars could have passed by. The terrain got hillier, and eventually the roads were tree-lined with beautiful vistas. The scenery with no vehicles either in front or behind us made for a wonderful driving experience.

 

Arrival

Cesky Krumlov is a picture-postcard pretty little town, and it’s definitely a tourist destination. With only a two and half hour bus trip from Prague, Cesky Krumlov is heavily visited by day tripping tourists.

Driving the BMW into town presented a problem or two. The roads were very  narrow and finding parking – even to move the luggage into the apartment, was problematic. Once again I was convinced that having a larger vehicle in Europe, especially in villages like this, was not a good idea. The roads were tight and narrow, with parking at a premium, and people driving aggressively. So I had to be on my guard in this tiny little town.

 

Settling in

The apartment was very centrally located on Ulica Latran, the main street through the little town. I could tell just from arrival that there was going to be some street noise at night because we were on the main drag through town. But this was expected, and  the central location outweighed the inconvenience of a little noise. The apartment was in fabulous shape, as advertised. It was a cute little place suitable for two people, and possibly a third adult, or a couple of children.

 

Discovery Trek

Cesky Krumlov radiates out from its large castle, with some of the castle complex dating back to the 16th and 17th centuries. The castle is visible from most parts of town, guarding over it, and keeping it safe. The town is situated on 2 oxbows on the Vltava River, and is easily walkable end to end, criss-crossing the main streets on each oxbow in 1 hour – it’s that small.

However, just walking around Cesky Krumlov, at a very leisurely pace, taking it all in, I could see why so many tourists descend upon it for day trips. The little town was like a set from a Disney movie. It didn’t seem possible for one little place to have been so filled with charm.

 

The Vltava River flows through Cesky Krumlov, bringing a flotilla of holiday makers – most pass through, but some stop at the many restaurants along the water to grab lunch and get dry. The scene of water-borne merry-makers added to the carnival-like atmosphere brought on by the tour bus day trippers.

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And as I spent more time in Cesky Krumlov, I realized that the density of tourism made it feel like I was actually at a Disney park. All signage was in multiple languages, as were all menus at restaurants. Tourists arrived at points of interest in herds – about a bus-sized herd most of the time. I was reminded of the last time I visited Disney World in Florida. We continued exploration of the little town on our second day, meandering our way through Cesky Krumlov with the strategy of avoiding the tour group throngs.

 

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Food Scene

Restaurace Bolero

This was a lovely restaurant with outdoor seating overlooking the river, and we watched the recreational “floaters” drift by.

Grilled sausage and a salad. It doesn’t get any simpler or tastier. They do have an extensive menu, but we were interested in what passes for lighter fare. Service was fast and efficient. Very nice first stop in Cesky Krumlov!

 

Restaurace Konvice

This restaurant was difficult to find because Google Maps had it mislocated, and had to ask twice for directions. The terrace has only six tables with views of the castle tower and the church over the red rooftops in the foreground, only 3 with really good views. Worth arriving early to get a nice terrace view table.

Roasted brown trout, parslied potatoes, mixed salad, carrot cake for dessert. Because it was roasted, the trout could have had crispier skin. It was however tender and juicy. A leisurely setting with a great view, good service, and value. The prices were reasonable for Cesky Krumlov.

 

Restaurace Babylon

This place is situated right along the river with a view of one of the main churches, and you can hear the bells ringing right from the waterfront tables where we were sitting. Lovely scenery on the water, watching all of the holidaymakers raft down the river, with ducks and fish right below us.  My wife loves to feed the fish and ducks, so there’s always a little scenery to be enjoyed. The menu is simple and it was a good value in hyper touristy CK.

Zander (Asian game fish imported to parts of Central Europe) with potatoes and greens, salad and grilled veggies. Tried a local pilsner style beer, Eggenberg (33 czk!), very good. The cuisine was basic, but well prepared, good service, excellent value, and the views couldn’t be beat.

 

We liked this place so much that we decided to come back a second time for dinner. We wanted to have grilled pork knuckle for our last dinner in the Czech Republic. It speaks volumes about the quality of the service and the food. Dinner was hearty and very good. I can’t believe this place isn’t rated higher on Tripadviser.

 

Restaurant Griechenbeisl

We had dinner here when staying in Vienna overnight to catch the return flight the following day. This restaurant claims to have been in operation since 1447. Our experience here was very good. The service was excellent, in spite of the fact that they were very busy. Service went with on with Germanic efficiency. We ordered herb encrusted fillet of char, risotto with pak choi, and grilled, skewered prawns with coconut-ginger orange sauce pasta.

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Zum Basilisken

We had a late lunch here when staying in Vienna overnight to catch the flight out the following day. This restaurant received horrific reviews on Tripadvisor, especially from people that didn’t know they’d be charged for items offered on the table upon arrival which weren’t ordered.

Clear beef soup with liver dumplings, Viennese scallop with roast potatoes, and apple strudel for dessert. The soup was served so hot that it was not immediately edible, but it was delicious with patience. The Wienerschnitzel was was served piping, and it  was fresh and delicious. My only complaint about this restaurant was that the beer was a bit flat.

 

Vienna Overnight

We stayed a single night in Vienna to accommodate the first leg of our return flight, which was scheduled early. We stayed in the center of town within easy walking distance to restaurants, and a short Uber ride to the airport. The two restaurants we tried while in Vienna were very good, and highly recommended, although ordering a beer didn’t work well for me at one of them – details in the Food Scene section.

We did a mini discovery trek in Vienna, about a six mile walk along the river, then returned back towards our apartment with dinner along the way. It was more exercise than anything else, as the scenery was rather big-city ordinary where we were staying.

 

Epilogue

Cesky Krumlov was by far the least immersive traveling experience of the Western Slavic Countries Itinerary. The Tour Bus Day-Trippers from Prague, and Vienna descended on this little town in herds and hordes, making it feel more like a trip to a large amusement park, rather than a picture-perfect village surrounding a grand castle – with history that dates back to the 13th century. It was very interesting, particularly around the Vltava River – but about as immersive as an outing to Disneyland with thousands of adolescents.

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Olomouc

This is the 5th destination on our Western Slavic Countries itinerary as described in that Travel Planning post.

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We set off from Wroclaw To Olomouc along a scenic route I found via Google maps. After a stretch on the A4 toll road, we were on tree-lined, twisting and turning two lane roads as we drove through the hillsides, with farmland peering through the trees. And as time went by, we saw the landscape become hillier and trending toward mountainous. But all along the way we had two lane roads where we couldn’t drive more than 50 miles an hour or so. And at many points we had the road completely to ourselves, with not a soul in front, nor behind. There was some occasional congestion, as it was a main artery for traffic along the north-south corridor between Poland and the Czech Republic. It was a wonderful drive, interesting, appealing to the eye, and relaxing.

Głuchołazy Stopover

It was the last chance to spend our Zloty before leaving Poland for the Czech Republic. We chose Głuchołazy as it was larger than most of the towns we passed through, somewhat midway to Olomouc, and were hopeful to find a cafe for a quick bite to eat. As we pulled into town, we found the main square, parked the car, and walked around for a bit. We eventually stumbled onto a little café for an early lunch. We had a cappuccino, a cup of tea, and a couple of sandwiches, all for $7 US. Poland was inexpensive, and we would learn soon enough that the Czech Republic was even less expensive.

Arrival

The first thing we did as we entered the Czech Republic was to find a gas station to buy a vignette for the vehicle – essentially a road tax sticker – which allowed us to legally drive on Czech roads. This was not an especially easy thing to do as the lovely young lady at the gas station spoke zero words of English, and I only know two words in Czech, neither of them would’ve helped in that particular situation. However, with the help of Google translate, I was able to figure it out, and off we went.

Arrival in Olomouc was easy. It was an uncongested smaller city with a population of 100,000. Navigating to the center of town and parking close to the apartment was delightfully straightforward after a long, but enjoyable day on the road.

Our hostess showed us the apartment, and it turned out to be lovelier than it was depicted on Booking.com. The apartment in Kraków was grand and luxurious but this one was better. It had better lighting, with nice views from its large windows. It had a balcony overlooking a quiet courtyard. Centrally located, immaculately clean, and it felt comfortable.

The apartment had high ceilings and crystal chandeliers in all the rooms, including the bathroom. The bedroom had French doors. All of the doors in the apartment had etched glass and ornate hardware. The floors were a herringbone parquet throughout. There was a lovely level of detail throughout the apartment. This was the kind of place I would choose as base of operation were I to move to Europe.

Settling In

The town was so pleasantly uncrowded, and to say it was lightly touristed is an understatement. I think we were among the very few non-locals in town. Walking around, even in the town’s main squares, was easy and very relaxing. The town was laid back, and unhurried – a contrast to the larger cities of Krakow and Wroclaw that we had visited earlier in the week.

I hesitate to use the term “mini-Prague”, but it is appropriate. Prague was beautiful when I last visited in 2012, but it was definitely discovered and densely touristed. Strolling along the Charles Bridge in Prague’s old town – simply stretching out each arm to its full length would have touched three tourists with each hand. Not so in Olomouc, with similar architecture and design as Prague, but with no crowds, and aside from myself and my wife, apparently very few tourists as well.

Discovery Trek

And so we arrived in Olomouc, the historical capital of ancient Moravia, a kingdom that existed for hundreds of years before joining with Bohemia to form what is now the modern day Czech Republic. Moravia forms the Eastern third of the Czech Republic, with Olomouc at its center. Olomouc is also the ancient seat of the Bishops of Moravia, with references to the bishopric in literature dating to the 10th century. Olomouc is steeped in the cultural and religious history of the people of Moravia, which easily discovered with a stroll through town.

Some of the highlights of Olomouc have to be the number of beautiful and historic churches in town, with the most prominent being St. Wenceslas Cathedral, founded in the early 12th century. But there are a half dozen others, including Saint Maurice, Saint Michael, John Sarkander Chapel, and The Orthodox Church – scattered throughout the town.

The old part of town had construction and restoration projects in progress during our stay, including roadwork on the characteristic cobblestone roads found throughout town. Even the construction projects were interesting because they exposed the history of the city through the process.

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Olomoucké Tvarůžky

I love food, and I travel in particular to try new, local fare. And so, I was on the hunt for the famous stinky cheese that is sourced in this destination. Olomoucké tvarůžky is the stinky, ripened soft cheese that bears the city’s name. I’ve read about, I’ve seen travelogs describing it, and I wanted to try it. But finding it proved to be elusive, even with advice from from our lovely hostess. As it turns out, we were too early in the season – the cheese needs to age for several months, and only attains it stinky goodness towards the end of the year.

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Food Scene

Hanacka hospoda

Pork knee, goulash, grilled veggies, fresh veggies, and Olomouc cheese spread to start. Apparently there was a bit of translation issue, and the cheese turned out to be a pork fat spread, which wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t what we were looking for. After further advice from my landlady via sms, we ordered what we thought was the right cheese. But alas we failed to get the right pungent stuff. It took an hour to cook the pork knuckle, so we have a second round of appetizers which, was a really bad idea. I didn’t know the difference between a pork knuckle, and a pork knee – but when it arrived, it was as big as my head. Very crispy skin, fatty, but with lots of meat. It was an enormous amount of food. It was every bit as good as it looks, if you like pork. The vegetables helped. There were lots of spicy vinegary peppers, raw horseradish, mustard, and raw vegetables. The meal could have easily served 4 people, and was very inexpensive at under $40 including a generous tip.

Cafe New One

This enormous cafe has incredible 90 Mbps up/down free wifi. And the food with drinks were very reasonable. Egg with ham scramble, croissant, cappuccino, and black tea.

Restaraucja Maravska

Platter with smoked meats, sausage and Olomoucké tvar?žky cheese (the famous stinky variety, I hoped), trout filet over risotto, perch fillet in garlic butter, grilled veggies – on the table starter: baked phyllo strips, lightly salted with dill seed. The platter came with an apple horseradish sauce which went well in particular with the sausage, and the ham. The apple mellowed the strong horseradish flavor. The tvaruzki was surprisingly mild, I was bracing myself. The goose pate was rich and smooth, and the pine nuts added an interesting texture. The serving of trout was generous, the risotto had a sweet paprika and zesty tomato influence. The perch was very mild, as were the patties of garlic butter. The food was very good, they have 2 items on the table on arrival which will go on your bill if you touch them.

Svatovaclavsky Pivovar

St. Wenceslaus Specialty

Typical Pivovar we’ve seen in Slovakia which brew their own beer and serve hearty fare at reasonable prices.

Beef flank steak, pork tenderloin, chicken breast, smoked boneless pork knee, chicken wings, green salad. It was every bit as good as it looks in the photo, with the smoked pork knee, and wings as the tastiest. The wings were fall off the bone tender, baked with zesty paprika flavor – not spicy. And there just was enough of the smoked pork knee, it was that good. The rest was good, but paled by comparison to the wings and pork knee. More lumberjack food.

Epilogue

Olomouc was by far the most immersive travel experience on our Western Slavic Country circuit. Among the contributing factors were the relatively smaller population, the long history of the city in the millennium of Moravian culture, and of course the lovely local folks. Adding to the allure is the affordability factor – I had a conversation with our lovely hostess trying to understand the cost of living in Olomouc. The beautiful apartment we had as our residence in the city would rent for 600 euros on a monthly basis. I would be tempted, but not based on affordability alone, although it’s always a factor. Olomouc would be a lovely base of operations to explore Europe for an extended period of time.

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Wrocław

This is the 4th destination in the Western Slavic Countries circuit as described in that Travel Planning post.

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We drove through green, rolling countryside on tree lined roads with a backdrop of beautiful blue skies, on a  sunny day. It was mostly two lane roads but they were very well-maintained and traffic was not particularly dense as it was Sunday morning. We drove through little town after little town, all of them very well-maintained and they looked upscale as compared to what we’d seen in Slovakia. Poland was definitely a rung up on the economic ladder as compared to the Slovak Republic.

 

Wadowice Day Trip

En route to Wroclaw, we made a stop in Wadowice to visit the museum and family home of Pope John Paul II,  and to explore the town around its main square. Wadowice is a relatively small town with a Central Square that, like a magnet, held all of the interesting parts of town hovering near it – the rest of the town was unremarkable. The museum to Pope John Paul II was next to the main church in the central square. Wadowice looked like all the little towns we passed through on the way. It looked clean, orderly and well-maintained , resembling Austrian or German villages in that regard.

 

Arrival

As we left Wadowice, the countryside turned from rolling and hilly – reminiscent of West Virginia or southeastern Ohio, and eventually blended into a more flat landscape, with a steady array of farms. Beautiful, pastoral, green countryside rolled out in front of us, mile after mile, adding to the pleasure of the drive. The sight-seeing eye candy on our 2 lane road was interrupted every 10 minutes or so, as we passed through the next quaint little town. Southern Poland was lovely.

 

Settling in

As we arrived into Wroclaw, I noticed that the the city was different than Kraków. Kraków was spotlessly clean, not only in the old part of town but everywhere we wandered through. Wroclaw as a bit scruffy as compared to Krakow, which is more of a commentary on how spotlessly clean Krakow was, rather than anything negative about Wroclaw.

We found a secure parking lot within a five minute walk of the apartment and dropped off our rental car there. On arrival to the apartment, it wasn’t exactly as represented on Booking.com. The apartment looked like it clearly needed some maintenance, and there were things that didn’t function properly. I was willing to tolerate this inconvenience because of the unbelievable location of the apartment, and it’s proximity to the old town.

 

We dropped off our luggage and went about some initial exploration with the idea of finding a place to eat, and stretching our legs after a long day driving. As it turned out, it started to rain, and we ducked into a restaurant within walking distance before we got too wet. The restaurant – Karczma Lwowska – turned out to be really good, an excellent introduction to Wroclaw. It rained very hard for the next two hours as we enjoyed one of the finer meals we had in Poland. Details in the Food Scene section.

The following morning, as we were preparing for our main day of exploration in Wroclaw, the electricity went out at the apartment, and I notified our host immediately of the issue. We were advised that it would take a couple of hours to repair, so we went about our discovery trek. The electrical problem turned out to be an all day affair, and they were never able to restore power. We had to relocate to a different apartment. The secondary apartment was not in the old part of town, and  required a 20 minute walk to get back to it. We were very disappointed; it goes to show that no matter how well planned the trip, things go wrong, and you’ve got to roll with the punches.

 

Discovery trek

Unlike Krakow’s unscathed survival of the wars of the 20th century, Wroclaw (while it was still the German city of Breslau) as devastated at the end of WWII.  Half of its medieval old town was in ruins, which fared better than the outskirts of the city which were leveled to the ground. The city was among the last to fall during WWII in a bloody siege where tens of thousands lost their lives in defense of the city. Breslau became Wroclaw as the Germans ceded the territory to Poland as part of the post war agreements at the Potsdam Conference. The Poles flowed in following the German exodus.

But the city recovered. The photos will tell the story. The trauma of the 20th century yielded to reconstruction and a grand population inflow post WWII. Wroclaw flourished in spite of the constraints of the Communist era, and bloomed in the the 21st century.  It was hard to imagine that the 20th century destruction ever occurred based on casual observation from walking around the city. Beautifully restored, with the old town along the river, flowing through a half dozen enchanting islands on the Oder River.

 

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Gnomes!

The Poles call them “Krasnoludek”, or dwarves – to me they’re gnomes. And there are hundreds of them scattered throughout the city. This all started with a single statue to honor a group called the Orange Alternative, a counter-Communism group from Poland’s struggle through the end of the Communist era. Since 2001 when that first statue was erected, tiny – about the size of a human hand – statues have appeared all over the city. They are cute, impish and mischievous looking little things that spring around any given corner. It added to the delight of this lovely city.

 

Food Scene

Karczma Lwowska

The restaurant is on the main square with great views to the cathedral and just of the square itself. The service is professional with the waiter making suggestions and adjustments to your order as necessary. We ordered herring with onion and beets in cream sauce, grilled Polish kielbasa, fried cabbage, grilled mushrooms. The kielbasa was grilled to perfection, served with zingy horseradish and a mild mustard. The fried cabbage turned out be more of a casserole with a creamy dill sauce. I liked it, it went well with the meal. The green salad was enormous and could have easily served 4, with fresh ingredients. For dessert, traditional wafers filled with chocolate and walnuts. It was very light, with more of a hint of chocolate instead of chocolate as the core. We were offered honey vodka with a touch of orange as a digestif.

 

Pod Fredra

Pate stuffed with mushrooms, chicken soup, duck, rabbit, fried mushrooms with garlic and green salad. The soup was served extremely hot and tasted as if it were a vegetable broth instead of chicken broth – it was very good. The pate was very dense, served with a cranberry sauce and bread. It was rich, but not creamy like what I’m used to from France, for example. The cranberry sauce added an interesting contrast. The duck was served as two legs and thighs, fall off the bone tender. The duck came with sliced fried potato and cranberry sauce. The grilled mushrooms were not actually grilled, kind of soft, as if stewed. Not bad, but not as advertised on the menu. The rabbit was very tender, and not in the least gamey – the tastes-like-chicken standard applies.

 

Epilogue

The immersive experience in Wroclaw was made difficult by the antics of our apartment rental team. This was a corporate rental, named Penguin Apartments, that likely specialized more in hostels than in apartments. But the city was truly remarkable, with a long history spanning to the 10th century when the first Slavic tribes settled into the city’s current location on the Oder River. The city developed character from all of the hands that it has passed between over the centuries – a long list that includes, Bohemians, Prussians, Poles, and Hapsburgs. Wroclaw was a beautiful discovery experience.

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Kraków

This is the 3rd destination in the Western Slavic Countries circuit as described in that Travel Planning post.

 

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The route from Kosice to Kraków was mostly a 2-lane road with construction at many points along the way. As the main route, it handled all traffic including trucks, farm equipment, bicyclists and all vehicles imaginable. As such, it made for some interesting driving – the kind where keen attention is necessary as anything may come around the next curve in the road.

 

We broke up the four and a half hour trip with a stopover in a little ski village in the southernmost part of Poland called Krynica. It was so small that we walked its entire length in 15 minutes. We stopped for enough time to stretch our legs, and grab a little bite to eat – to satisfy ourselves for the remainder of the drive into Kraków.  

 

I noticed that the countryside changed once we entered Poland – from a rolling meadow in Slovakia to more of a woodland landscape, and trending toward mountainous. And as as we entered Poland, I noticed that we had climbed to a higher rung on the economic ladder in Central Europe. Gone was any leftover communist era construction. Most of the houses looked very well-kept, larger, more ornate, and located in remote areas. I guessed that they could have been weekend, or vacation homes for well to do city dwellers.

On entering the city limits of Krakow, I knew right away that we were in a much larger city than Bratislava and Kosice. Traffic was thick and slow. I had the GPS in the BMW programmed to guide us to a plaza close to where our apartment was located in the old town. Finding parking was a panic. We ended up at an attended 24 hour parking garage that would cover us for three days of parking for a mere 105 Zloty, the equivalent of maybe $30. A bargain given that it was staff operated 24 hours around the clock, and I wouldn’t have to worry about the BMW at any point in time.

 

Arrival

It was a short five minute walk from the parking garage to the pedestrian center of the old town on Florianska Street. I gasped as we walked through the gate into  the old town, having passed a McDonald’s in the process. I reflected on the lesson learned from my experience in Bordeaux, where our apartment there on Saint Catherine Street was within walking distance to a McDonald’s, and the location turned out to be too touristy.

Florianska street was definitely well touristed because it was part of the “Royal Route”, which starts at the Florianska Gate and works its way to Wawel Castle through the Market Square – passing right by our apartment. The route was taken by Polish kings as the preferred path to their coronations in the 14th through 16th centuries, and has many of the old town’s attractions along the way. So naturally, there were tourists. And a McDonald’s.

It was a good choice to have selected Bratislava and Kosice as the first and second stops on the Western Slavic Countries itineraries because they were good warm-ups for the grander, more visited Krakow.

 

Settling in

The apartment was fabulous. It was grand, spacious, and very accommodating for two people. While it had a single bedroom, it was capable of entertaining a dozen guests. It had ten foot ceilings, large doorways, and near floor to ceiling windows that faced on to Florianska Street. An unbelievable three night residence, priced competitively, centrally located, and less expensive than a hotel room within walking distance of the old town.

 

After settling into our new home for 3 nights, we were ready to stretch our legs and do some initial exploration in the vicinity of the apartment. The area is truly steeped in history, with consistent architecture from the 15th and 16th centuries throughout – with no damage from the wars that scarred so many beautiful European cities. I must have looked like country bumpkin on his first visit to New York City – wide-eyed as I walked around taking it all in.

We were famished after driving all day with a light meal for lunch. Fortunately, our lovely hostess left us several strong recommendations for restaurants focusing on local fare. She insisted we visit Ogniem I Mieczem (The Fire and Sword) first to set the expectation for food in Krakow, advising us to take a taxi, which we did. The meal was spectacular, and is detailed in the Food Scene section. The food was so good, and so filling that we did not take a taxi back to the apartment, electing instead to walk off some of the thousands of calories we just enjoyed. What a great introduction to the Krakow.

 

Walking tour

Normally I like to roll my own for this sort of thing, but there was an organized walking tour of the old town that met at 10:00 by the Barbican, which was very close to our apartment, so we joined them. I wanted to get the lay of land from a local. As it turned out, our guide was a graduate of the famous Uniwersytet Jagiello?ski (Pope John Paul II’s Alma Mater), with a degree in history. He was a tall, bearded man in his late 30s, called himself a BFG (big friendly giant), although his name was Calen. He was very knowledgeable, and entertaining.

The tour hit some of the highlights of the old town – Main Market Square with St Mary’s church, Cloth Hall and Town Hall Tower, remains of Medieval city walls with Barbican and St Florian Gate, St Francis Church, Bishop’s Palace and “Papal window”, Wawel Hill with Cathedral and Wawel Castle, and the Wawel Dragon.

 

Discovery Trek

We did the “Royal Route”, which starts at the Florianska Gate and works its way to Wawel Castle – as mentioned previously, this was the route taken by Polish kings as the preferred path to their coronations in the 14th through 16th centuries. But we also criss-crossed the old town, and headed to the Jewish quarter – called Kazimierz. We then walked a good stretch of the Vistula River as we circled our way back to the old town.

The photo gallery tells the story. But the feeling I had as I walked the old town and the surrounding sights was that of a deeply historic city, untouched by the horrific bombings and battles of the wars of the 19th century. The city was in impeccable order, clean, and well preserved. The crowds were there, but they too were orderly, and generally lacked the tourist density everywhere I walked. Krakow was the Poland of old, the ancient seat of the Polish Monarchy, the pride of the country, and having heard Calen describe it over a period of several hours, the most beautiful and important city in Poland. I could not have argued. Krakow was one of the most beautiful immersive traveling experiences I’ve ever had. I hope the photos do it some justice.

 

Featured Video

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The scene is the central square, which is busy with both tourists and locals. Some of the nicer restaurants are on this square, so it draws a lot of attention. Beyond the people congestion – there are horses. Now with that in mind, notice how neat and tidy the area is. Remember, there are horses here.

 

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Food Scene

Ogniem I Mieczem

“Fire and sword.” Boneless pork knuckle, baby back ribs, fire roasted potato, and cabbage. Wow. What a meal. The ribs were fall off the bone tender, seasoned with garlic. No American style rib sauce. Finger licking good. The boneless pork knuckle was the center of attraction. Crisp on the outside, gooey, fatty, meaty on the inside. Best I’ve ever had. In addition to the high quality of the food, the service was superior. A great intro to the Krakow food scene. I would highly recommend this fine place.

 

Pod Nosem

This restaurant changes their menu monthly to keep their offerings fresh. Slow cooked bacon over radish slices. Baltic salmon, Zander (Baltic perch-pike caught regionally) with white and green asparagus, and a pesto style foundation. The salmon was beautifully presented, arranged as a rose, with very mild radish garnish, crispy, crunchy with no bite at all. That was very flavorful, and sliced rather thick to deliver more flavor per bite. The stuff that looked like black caviar was a garnish mix of black olives, browned bread, almonds, and olive oil. It added an unexpected dimension of flavor to the plate. The Zander main course was also well presented, with a combination of ingredients that worked together very well. Someone knows what they’re doing in this kitchen. Service was a bit slow, but impeccable . This was memorable.

 

W Starej Kuchni

Beef and pork Pierogi, Polish cuisine sampler, with white and dark sausage, cabbage roll, 3 types of pierogi, potato pancake with goulash, and cabbage. The dark sausage had a bland grain filling – not a highlight. The potato pancake was very crisp, with the spicy goulash was a contrast. The white sausage had a bit of thyme to add some flavor, but was not a standout. The beef and pork pierogi were crispy and meaty, but rather neutral otherwise. The entire meal was rather middle of the road.

 

Miodova – in the Jewish quarter

Pink Matias herring with beets caviar served with red onion, cherries, pan fried halibut with broad bean and pea purée, perch filet with young cabbage and sour cucumber foam. The herring was delightfully fishy and tangy. The cherries turned out to be beet hearts, and the caviar too were tiny beet jewels. The halibut was cooked well with crispy skin and flaky white meat. The pea and bean purée was not to my liking, the flavor combination wasn’t working. The perch was cooked well with crispy skin and flaky white fish. The young cabbage worked well in combination with the fish. The service was really slow which detracted from the experience.

 

Jarema

Steak tartare, roast wild boar, veal pirogi, mixed green salad. The tartare came with sardines, dill pickle relish, chopped onion, pickled mushroom, a dab of butter, and a tiny quail egg. Really good combination of flavors, and different than any steak tartare I’ve previously had anywhere. Great appetizer. The roasted wild boar came in a mushroom sauce, very mild. No hint of gamey flavor, to my disappointment – tasted more like roast beef. Good but unexpected. The veal pirogis were simple, just filled with ground veal, and the dumpling pastry rolled out very thin, a light affair with a drizzle of olive oil. Hot apple pie with ice cream and a chocolate mousse for dessert. The service was fabulous. This place is memorable.

 

Epilogue

Reflections on Kraków. I was sad to leave Kraków, even though I knew I had half the Western Slavic Countries itinerary in front of me. I wanted to stay and linger longer. I concluded that I could live in Kraków for a season, if not a year. Beautiful people, extremely gracious hosts, wonderfully good food, and drink. Architecture and history that spans the centuries, in the heart of Poland. This was a very immersive experience, and a memorable destination. 

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Košice

This is the second destination of 6 on the Western Slavic Countries itinerary as described in that post.

We got a late start out of Bratislava because of two reasons: It was apparently our Uber driver’s first time picking up a customer. He drove by us several times and after the third time I had to actually chase him down on foot leaving the luggage with my wife. Had it not been for that, we might still be waiting there. The second reason was that we were picking up our vehicle at a Sixt satellite office in the city. They were expecting us at noon but we showed up just before 10:30. This location was used by appointment only, and was not otherwise staffed, so we had to wait. There was a happy ending, as they upgraded me to a BMW 5 series with the M package.

 

[googlemaps https://www.google.com/maps/d/u/0/embed?mid=1GLbzUM9CLuZoGFOs9JTho0gOOCs&w=640&h=480]

We had a fabulous drive to Ruzomberok, our stop-over point en route to Košice. We stopped for lunch at at Salas Krajinka, a working sheep farm that had a restaurant on the property. Very interesting combination. However, the food was pretty good and the scenery was unexpected. The place was packed with people, as it turns out this is a restaurant that is sought out by people driving from Bratislava eastward as a stop-over, and it was well patronized. Lots of details on the experience at the restaurant in the food scene section.

 

Arrival

We had driven some beautiful undulating landscape with the Tatra mountains as a backdrop. On the road we could see the remnants of the post communist era construction visible as we approached villages and towns of any size. These old communist era construction apartment blocks – gray, unadorned, very basic, were modern-day eyesores. I thought that as I drove further east and away from Bratislava that I would see less and less of them, but this didn’t turn out to be the case. As we approached Košice, we noticed the eyesores again. Apparently, they are ubiquitous in the Slovak Republic. So, as we entered the city and worked our way towards our apartment, we traveled into the center of town and the landscape changed dramatically. We found a beautiful old part of town with interesting and well preserved architecture, where the pace and the scenery were different than the outskirts.

 

Settling in

Our apartment was in exceptional condition. Everything was new, well decorated, and in the very central part of this very small old town. The old town looked like it could have been walked completely end to end, and probably hit every every cross street, in under an hour.

This particular apartment rental was done through Airbnb which is not typical for me. For reasons discussed previously, in a blog that I’ll eventually post separately, I don’t often book through Airbnb. However this was the best option and I knew exactly what I was getting, which is the main issue with Airbnb. They don’t allow you to do a Street View. They don’t allow you to see the physical location of the apartment. The lack of transparency on location is unacceptable, because location is such a significant ingredient in the formula for having an immersive experience. Our hostess met us and showed us around the apartment, gave restaurant, and sightseeing recommendations, and helped us to get settled in. We had a stroll around town just stretching our legs after the long drive. We eventually found an interesting place to have a non-lumberjack meal. The Slovak cuisine is highly focused on meat and very hearty at that. So our second seafood meal of the trip was very welcome. Way more detail on this fabulous restaurant can be found in the Food Scene section below

 

Discovery trek

Košice Stare Mesto should be properly called the pastel old town. The buildings were varied pastel colors throughout the old town, by design, and with a consistent architectural approach. It appealed to the eye. It was a lovely little town to stroll around at a relaxed pace. There was a delightful park that was placed down the center of  town. It was filled with flowers, grass, trees, monuments, fountains where children splashed, and an abundance of park benches where mothers sat watching their children play while others enjoyed their ice cream in the warm sunshine. It was an idyllic scene and epitomized the slower pace of life there. The city was mostly locals with a light tourist presence, which made it seem custom ordered for an off the beaten path immersive experience. I had a great couple of days in Košice, with the car remaining parked the entire time, and all exploration accomplished on foot.

 

Food Scene

Salas Krajinka

Chicken noodle soup with meat and veggies (just like mom’s), sauerkraut soup with pork sausage, potato Perogies with bacon and sheep cheese on the side, sheepshank with grilled onion and green beans, potato dumplings with cabbage. The lamb shank was fall off the bone tender, served in a light brown gravy – neutral tasting. The potato dumplings were well spiced with sweet paprika, so much that it looked like a light tomato sauce, and they snuck in another round little pepper, red this time, that laid waste to my taste buds. The pirogies were tender with a mild flavor, surprisingly, and the sheep cheese not as strong and salty like what we tried in Bratislava. The bacon, however was on the salty side, and very smokey – complementary combination of flavors. All very filling, like lumberjack food.

 

Pan Ryba

Carpaccio of Octopus with aioli and sepia mayo, grilled sea bream, grilled calamari, spinach mashed potatoes and spicy tomato sauce. The bream was grilled to perfection with crispy skin, and moist, flaky flesh. The carpaccio had a delicate flavor, and the sepia infused mayonnaise gave it just a little kick. The grilled calamari was tender, over a fresh tangy tomato sauce – but not spicy as advertised. Everything was very fresh and well prepared. Service was excellent. And what great value at 26 euro all in.

 

Golem Pub

Peasant’s Dream – pork, chicken, sausage, bacon, mustard, horseradish, and chilis, French fries, cucumber salad. Classic traditional Slovak fare, and nobody speaks English. Can’t get any more local. We popped in to escape the sudden downpour and decided to give it a try for lunch. We were encouraged by the lack of English.

 

Pan Ryba – Part Deux

Seafood soup, grilled sea bass, fillet of cod baked in paper, green salad. We really wanted to eat light, and also wanted seafood. There are few choices in town, and we knew the quality here was great from our earlier experience. The cod was tender and flaky. Not a large portion, but a good combination of ingredients, and very tasty. The sea bass was just a tad over-grilled, very crispy on the outside, but because it’s less oily than most fish, it can dry out easier as well. Still good, though – and I’m a tough grader.

 

Epilogue

Reflections on Košice. A beautiful, charming, and very compact old town – much less touristed than most parts of Europe I’ve visited. I spent a very enjoyable 2 days relaxing, and being a local. This was a very immersive experience, and a memorable destination.

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Bratislava

This is the first of six destinations as laid out in the Central Europe Trip post. The big picture difference between a Trip and Destination post is that the former is about conception and planning, while the latter is about execution and being there.

It is in the nature of things for plans to not work out as laid out in the schemer’s mind. From an adage like Murphy’s Law, to the “Best laid plans of mice and men,” I am reminded that random events deviate us from our best intentions. And out of the swirling chaos that is Heathrow Airport, British Airways experienced multiple failures in their computer systems effectively shutting down their global operations while we were waiting to connect to Vienna from London. Brilliant. And so we had a 6 hour delay inserted into the schedule getting us off to a late start. This news story highlights the catastrophe, and to be honest, we were lucky as we were only delayed by six hours. Most flights were delayed twice that, or rescheduled for the following day.

I have no more control over airline operations than I have over the weather. The difference is that for the weather I can bring an umbrella and have some sense of recourse, while for airline issues I can only bring a good attitude and hope for the best.

 

Arrival

The 2 hour flight from London to Vienna was uneventful after the long wait due to BA’s computer snafu. The English flight staff were more apologetic than usual for the delay-imposed inconvenience. And passport control was a breeze in Vienna, with well organized short queues which moved quickly.

I was glad to have bypassed any further public transportation to get to central Bratislava, as I’d had enough delays for 1 day. It was a quick 40 minute Uber ride to get to the center of town from the Vienna airport. Our Uber driver was sitting proudly behind the wheel of a new Mercedes E class. He shared with me during our German-efficient introductory conversation that his new Benz had only 3,000 KMs on the odometer. It actually was a nice ride, as the vehicle handled the road competently. But the driver never really tested the vehicle’s capabilities, keeping to the speed limit the entire way. What’s the German word for “pussy?”

 

I was relaxing and taking in the scenery on our drive to the city center. There was an interesting contrast between the countryside in Austria and Slovakia. The Austrians had wind turbines everywhere, scattered across the farmland – spinning slowly, producing that good green electricity. And in The Slovak Republic, the countryside was left onto itself, rolling, pastoral, and green. Did the Slovaks lack the economic means to stand up the wind turbines like the Austrians? Whatever the explanation, the contrast at the border was noticeable.

As we entered the outskirts of the city, I couldn’t help but notice row after row of large, gray Soviet era big block apartment buildings. Function without aesthetic appeal, the legacy of the socialist hive-mind thinking all over former communist Europe. It contrasts so well with the beautiful old architecture of the pedestrian-only center of the city,

 

Settling in

Our apartment was located on Biella street just 50 paces or so from Michael’s gate. It was situated in the northernmost part of the old town in a 500 year old building, very conveniently located to access the compact, scenic old town of Bratislava. The apartment was spacious with 10 foot ceilings and large windows which let in a good breeze when opened. It was comfortable with a spartan decor, a theme that would play out for most of our apartment rentals on this trip. There was minimal street noise considering the central location, and pedestrian traffic.  On the downside, the apartment did not have AC, a necessary compromise when renting in a 500 year old building, and another repeating theme on this trip.  The apartment was well ventilated, and a fan was available, so no hardship was endured without the AC. I would both recommend and re-book this property.

 

Discovery trek

We essentially did two discovery treks, the first was in the historic, pedestrian-only old town.

The capital of The Slovak Republic is pleasantly under-touristed, and less densely populated than most European capitals I’ve had the pleasure to visit. It is situated on the Danube river, at a crossroads of Central Europe, within driving distance of Vienna, and Budapest – both of which have much more international recognition than Bratislava. Most of the highlights of this Central European treasure are within or near its compact old town, or “Stare Mesto.” There is no grand scheme necessary to see all there is in Bratislava, Google Maps are unneeded as well. I used the tried and true technique of wandering around on foot from one interesting thing to the next, finding good food and drink as I went.  Best discovery technique ever, and fun too.

 

On a recommendation from a couple we met on the Bratislava Food Tour, we did a discovery trek to Lake Drazdiak the following day – a local spot for urban water recreation, surrounded by the old Soviet-era apartment blocks. It was a meandering 6 kilometer walk to the lake, crossing the Danube from the old town, and a vast array of monolithic, communist-era block apartments as we went.  The Soviet housing was a somber contrast to the elegant, historic architecture of the old town. The locals did what they could to make the communist relics more appealing. They were painted with color schemes that appeared to disguise, or soften the hard angles of the basic, functional Russian designs. There was a completely different vibe walking through this part of town. I didn’t feel unsafe in any way, I just didn’t feel comfortable, and I didn’t want to linger.

We followed a path along a canal to the lake, which was well used by many locals for exercise and strolling on the Monday morning in late May when we were there. Once we arrived at the lake, we continued our long walk by circumnavigating it. We stopped for lunch at a lovely, rustic restaurant on the lake shore, as described in the Food Scene section. The lake experience truly was immersive, as we were among only locals. We were the only English speakers within earshot at any given point, which is my measure of success.

 

Food Scene

I found the food and drink in in Bratislava to be hearty, and the cuisine simple and basic. With the focus on pork, dumplings, sausages, and soup, I would hesitate to recommend this destination to vegans, or folks on a restricted diet, if variety of food were a primary focus.  Personally, I found the food to be delightful, but I knew what to expect on this trip. Hearty, lumberjack food, with some breaks here and there.  They do have foul and fish, but would add that those are more of a specialty, and not offered at a typical local place.

Bratislavský Meštiansky Pivovar.

A Pivovar is essentially a pub with its own micro brewery, which serves food. This place had an extensive local menu and was recommended to us at check in time. It looked like we could eat all of our meals here and have something different every time. I chose the roasted pork knuckle and my wife selected the roasted pork belly. The beer was a lager, and I tried a juniper brandy called Borovicka, which didn’t agree with me. The food was very good, and we considered returning here to try the other tempting menu items. I would highly recommend this place, and as it turned out, it was a stop on our Bratislava Food Tour!

 

Restauracia Drazdiak

This restaurant was on the shore of a little urban lake with the same name. I’ve never felt more like a local in a restaurant.  Fire grilled mackerel, and trout, mixed salad, grilled veggies. The grilled mackerel was cooked to perfection, with the crisped skin retaining the juicy, savory, fishy goodness. I like mackerel and look for it out when available, and this place did it right. My wife liked the grilled trout as well, a much milder fish.

 

Slovak Pub

Roast pork with red cabbage and dumplings. Garlic soup in a bread bowl, roast pork ribs with pickled veggies, horseradish (on the milder side), and mustard, also rather mild. The little round, green peppers were very spicy. One bite and my mouth was on fire, nothing else registered on the taste buds after that. The quality of the food, along with the service was rather middle of the road. It was not up to the Pivovar Pub standard.

 

Moods

English Breakfast, a modest sized cappuccino, a generous mug of black tea. It was a Slovak interpretation on the classic dish. The sausage was a spicy hot dog like variant, the bacon local, one egg sunny side up, half of a tomato, baked beans,  plus a small mixed salad on the side. I don’t believe the English would approve.

 

Bratislava Food Tour

This was one of the highlights of discovering Bratislava. The food was great, our guide was friendly, energetic, and knowledgeable, and we met some nice folks as we indulged in the local goodies. I would highly recommend this as a way of getting to know the city and food culture. Below are the locations, along with the fare sampled there.

BRATISLAVA CASTLE

C?uc?oriedkovica (blueberry brandy

 

KAPUCINSKA

Oravský korbác?ik (little whip cheese) 

Oravské udené uzlíky (smoked knot sheep cheese) 

Bravc?ová klobása (pork sausage) 

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BRATISLAVSKÝ MEŠTIANSKY PIVOVAR            

Oškvarková nátierka (cracklings paté with bread) 

Bryndzová nátierka (bryndza spread with bread) 

Vianoc?ná kapustnica (Christmas sauerkraut soup) 

 

BUCHTÁREN?            

Buchta s c?erešn?ovým džemom (steamed dumpling with cherry jam) 

Buchta s nutelou (steamed dumpling with nutella) 

Buchta s bryndzovou nápln?ou (steamed dumpling with bryndza filling)

IMG_1436

 

ZYLINDER

 Špenátové pirohy (spinach pierogi with bryndza sauce) ?

 Kac?ací konfit (roasted duck breast with stewed cabbage, potato pancakes and bread dumplings)

 Prešporský schnitzel (Bratislava veal schnitzel with potato salad) ?

 Red wine André 

 

LUCULUS 

Zmrzlina (ice cream)

 

MOODS – DOBRÁ NÁLADA NA KORZE

Bratislavské rožky (Bratislava rolls with poppy seed/nut filling)

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Epilogue

Reflections on Bratislava. A charming and historic old town, less crowded and touristy, contrasted harshly with the remainder of the outlying city with its sprawl of Soviet-engineered apartment complexes. I had the distinct feeling that Slovakia was on a lower economic rung as compared to its western-slavic neighbors in Poland and the Czech Republic – and most certainly as compared with Austria. The locals were lovely and friendly. The food and drink were basic and hearty, with pork, dumplings, cabbage, soups highlighting the local menu; and beer, Slivovica (plum brandy) and Borovicka (juniper brandy) as beverage staples. I would do a return visit to Bratislava in a heartbeat. This was a memorable destination, and the photos do not do it justice.

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