Olomouc

Heading towards Krakow and Poland, I break my trip in Olomouc (pronounced Ola-moats), the former capital of Moravia, hoping for the charm of Prague without the bustle. And charm is what Olomouc will have to rely on, as it lacks the grandeur of the capital. Its annual festival is taking place the weekend I’m there, so that should be a good start.

All I want for Christmas is a Prague away trip

First evening productively spent on the computer following England’s exit from the cricket world cup and catching up on this journal’s backlog. The latter appears to be a recurring theme and I’m wondering if “blog” is actually a shortened form of “backlog”. Out into the city the next morning and immediately accosted by a drunken (maybe 17) who is on a school trip from the provinces. Clearly looking to improve his English he barraged me with questions – most problematically = where did you finish school – to the great amusement of his friend and increasingly passers-by on the tram. Sadly my knowledge of Czech doesn’t extend to “performance art, ladies and gentlemen, please give generously.” Actually my Czech doesn’t even extend to “yes” and “no”. Another thing about Prague trams, particularly the older ones is that when pulling away they make a sound just like the opening notes to Piece of Me by Britney Spears, before making a screeching sound for most of the rest of the time. I’m sure you can all think of your own punchline here, but I think Piece of Me is awesome.

It’s Vienna, the World, as we know it, and I feel fine.

Unlike the rest of this trip where I’ve been walking round by myself most of the time, in Vienna I had a full-time guide. Alert readers may remember mention of a couple of Austrian girls who I met in Valencia who offered to show me round Vienna, and although unfortunately Ally couldn’t make it, Sabina generously sacrificed her weekend to show me the sights. While this was great for me, it meant that I told her any jokes I thought of, so I haven’t got (m)any left for you.

Before I arrived, my ideas about Vienna were almost entirely derived from Before Sunrise, one of my favourite films, which showed a lot of the city as a backdrop to the plot. And it looked a beautiful city. However, in 3 days here, I barely recognised a single scene from the movie – but still saw a lot of lovely stuff. So I guess there’s a lot of prettiness in Vienna.

This means nothing to me, oh Siena.

On a day trip from Florence, I went to Siena, which is strategically placed up a big hill from the railway station. Siena is an exceptionally well-preserved renaissance city which has ensured that any development since has to conform to the existing design (sadly this has not prevented a McDonalds being built there). It looks very pretty. After being refreshed by a liquid lunch, I decided to check out the cathedral complex – a ticket for the cathedral also gives access to the crypt, the libreria, the baptistry, a very high wall that had been intended to be part of a new cathedral, and a gallery across town.

Firenze and Rain

On the train to Florence and for the first time in my life, at least that I can remember, I’m travelling first class. I’ve always been ideologically opposed to the concept of first class travle (well, second class actually, but you know what I mean) plus I’ve usually been to poor to afford it. But on this trip, for some bizarre reason it was actually marginally cheaper, and I’m all for saving money. Still, travelling first class does make me feel slightly dirty. Actually, I am slightly dirty, I deliberately dressed scruffily just to discommode the rich people who thought they’d manage to escape contact with prole scum for a couple of hours. Of course, after 5 weeks living from a backpack I didn’t have much option about dressing scruffily.

Como as you are

I was going to Como primarily for the same reason as everyone else goes there – as a stopping off place for Lake Como, but the town itself (or at least in the environs of the harbour) is a very attractive, bustling small town. It also has 2 cathedrals which seems a bit excessive for a place that size, even in Italy, but worth are worth looking at. The old one (technically not a cathedral since the second one was built) is twelth century and very striking despite its subsequent restoration not having been very successful. The eighteenth century cathedral that superseded it is really lovely from the outside, not just in itself, but also in managing to enhance the town centre without dominating it.

Out on to the lake, which from the outset is impressive. Perhaps it has a little too many houses built around it for the view to be entirely unspoiled, but the houses are picturesque enough. The lake is surrounded by heavily wooded hills, which contrast nicely with the deep blues of the lake. At the Como end of the lake, that’s really all there is and though you can’t go far wrong with a lake/hills/trees combination is a little monotonous. Further north, however, there are some more rugged cliffs, some snow capped peaks in the distance and a couple of picture postcard islands. It’s beautiful.

I stopped at Belagio, which has a front devoted entirely to tourism, restaurants, souvenir shops and hotels but its not overpowering and the view of the lake is always an escape. Behing the front is an absolutely gorgeous series of back lanes covered with flowers and a pervading aroma of honeysuckle. I don’t think it is in any way authentic but it was very nice. Then back on the boat to Como, train to Milan. In a trip where I’ve seen a lot of man made beauty, it was great to just sit back for a day amid nature’s handiwork.

This land is Milan

Milan, and another city I don’t really know what to expect from. While Rome, Florence and Venice instantly bring to mind a mental idea of their cultural riches, Milan is more famous for football, fashion and finance. Which is fine for alliterative purposes, but less helpful for the discerning culture vulture eager to discover its renaissance heritage.

Wouldn’t it be Nice

What a difference a day makes (sometimes).

Had I left Nice as planned after just one full day I think it would have been summarily dismissed as “not my sort of town”. That was probably my view before I arrived and neither the tacky area around the station, festooned with sex shops; nor the innumerable chic fashion emporia, festooned with overpriveliged, overdressed women did anything to change my mind. I got to the beach, but that was nothing earth-shattering either. No sand, just stones and significant sections fenced off for the overpriveliged and underdressed. Sure, there were some nice squares but in France that is surely a given.

Lisbon (2)

While I could probably sum up most of the places that I’ve been to so far in a couple of sentences, Lisbon defies easy categorisation. And such is my distaste for having to think through my judgements rather than relying on instinct and prejudice, it has taken me until now, 25 hours into a 32 hour train trip from Lisbon to Nice (via Hendaye, Toulouse and Marseille stations) to finally try and put my thoughts to paper. Anything to distract me from how long I’ve been travelling in these clothes anyway.

Still Alive…

…and have passed from Lisbon through Nice to Milan. But I’m struggling to spend much time online so haven’t been able to keep you all fully updated. Hopefully there will be a bumper report soon!