Asking the Sofija taxi office stand as I had been advised to do, and not take the taxis in front of the station. I knew the fare was around 5-6 levas, sure enough the driver said seven! I think even the office girl was aware of the price and knew it was higher than it should have been. That’s part of the price you pay for being a tourist in all countries. The taxi rip off is standard fare all…
The breakfasts at the hotel in Sofia, well, hostel actually, have been great, cereals, fresh yogurt, homemade bread with the usual continental choices of meat and salad . Bags packed, I spent time on the iPad with my daughter trying to work out a solution to the problems at the bank with the stolen card that was filched in Bar, Montenegro. She did eventually come up with a great solution and resolved the problem to everyone’s satisfaction using facetime to…
A kind Bato dropped me back to the Bar station first thing, ready to catch the 9am train back to Belgrade through the Tara River Gorge. This time I changed seats in order to get the seat that had the windows down. Crossing my fingers that no one would have it reserved. The train left right on time. I was able to take pictures of the bays that we had gone to on the boat trip. The first stop saw…
The last day for me in Bar was a quiet day with washing to do ,so instead of planning a tour I decided to have a closer look at the town and possibly get some more clothes. There was a shop that I had seen next to the supermarket that looked as if it would be worth looking at. So mid morning chores done, I wandered into the shop just browsing it was here that someone kept bumping into my…
Finally having had a decent nights’ sleep, I was up and eager to go look at the new destination of Bar in Montenegro! First there was the trip to the money machine to get the hotel paid. After achieving this Bator, the most accommodating owner offered to drive me to the old city where the Franciscan Monastery was found with the churches of St George and St Nicholas Dropping me off at the bus stop so I would know where to…
I left Vilnius at 11.25 for Warsaw, by train with changes at Kaunas and Sestokai. Kaunas is Lithuania’s second largest city about an hour and a half away. One of the more modern trains, it sported an upper deck and was a very comfortable ride. Toilet at one end of the carriage for convenience. The change at Kaunas included a half hour wait, just across the platform for the next train, for which I was grateful. Towing heavy bags is…
Next day the usual bright and early start to my day in Warsaw, although it’s generally all about breakfast, as nothing happens in these countries until at least ten in the morning. So breakfast and a surf of the net to start the day, all done sitting in minimal space in the kitchen. The well appointed kitchen with all mod cons is really only big enough for three maybe four people to use at once. The hostel has no real…
I had booked to visit the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camps on sunday afternoon so until then I would go and see some of the city of Krakow. The kindly truckie, Russell, who had given me a lift from Russia through to Lithuania had raved about how beautiful this city was. He felt that it was a standout european city. When morning finally rolled round it was out to see the magnificent sights of the city. Every road had buildings to enjoy,…
Having done the trip out to Auschwitz , the other must see for me was that of the Wieliczka salt mines. Until I started planning for this trip I had never heard of these mines. Once I had my attention drawn to them it became a must see. The longevity of the mines, first started in the thirteenth century, it was still producing salt in 2007. The sculptures in salt all too much to pass. Leaving at 10.15am left…