Another new adventure as I have never travelled with a tour before. We had 12 people & a 42 yr old male guide from chez Republic called Mirek. There were 6 Aussies & 6 kiwis, all over 50yrs old. Fabulous group. This was an Intrepid tour to which they tour very different, giving a good mix of cities, villages, hiking mountains, rafting, mountain bike riding, catch public transport, small shuttle buses, varying types of pensions, hotels & apartments, informative history talks, give you general overview tours of each destinations & then free time to do your own thing, some get togethers for dinners & drinks, plenty of chats & laughter. We crossed Austria, chez Republic, Poland, Slovakia, Hungary.
We started in Vienna, such a lovely place to wonder around in, then 4hrs drive & we stayed at Cesky Krumlov, a quaint village which turned out to be our Favorite place on tour. We did a very challenging mountain bike ride (didn't even fall off), rafting in the river that surrounds the town, only had small Rapids (although did come in on the final embankment stop backwards, which was gr8 entertainment for the tourist who were up on a bridge watching our antics)thoroughly enjoyed the whole atmosphere of this place & can see why it is the guides Favorite village too.
We had a stark reminder day tour of Alswick concentration camps where over a hundred thousand people were gased & killed in hitlers days of the world wars. The most heartbreaking, emotional, painful experience & hope something so horrible in history never repeats itself. We are so far removed from the pain & suffering in Australia that these people & places have had to endure. Blessed to have freedom.
Arriving in beautiful Prague, such a graceful city with her amazing architectural buildings, sculptured statues, fountains, your eyes filled with joy just wondering around, rich in history, wealth & warm friendly people.
We climbed Tatras mountains, staying in the tiniest little village. After the most wonderful day enjoying the fauna & flora, a very relaxed dinner, chilling out drinking, chatting, a group of men gathered round the next table having a drink, one guy got out a guitar & with great pleasure a very informal sing along started to unravel, where the singing in their language was music to our ears, clapping, joking around, laughing & lots of joining in, was a fantastic way to end the evening, amongst all of that was Heathers birthday, which added even more smiles, with cake & singing.
The big city of Kraków kept us nice & busy, fabulous sunsets to be watched from the palace walls along the river, with scenic views all around. The old town village was buzzing with the humming if people eating, chatting, laughing, music, the old clock tower, putting on a show every hour, shopped at the old cloth markets, so beautifully kept for tourist to enjoy this grand old building, went underground to the old salt mines, that part is still in working order & in use today.
Budapest had us in ore of her beauty, history, the chaos of another big city, but such a dynamic, diverse city that allowed us to enjoy the culture, a river cruise always great fun, away from the engine traffic of cars, public transport. It was the end of our tour, such a great city to finish in. The company of our diverse group of travellers, Mirek our tour leader. We were able to immerse ourselves in the cultures, foods, where the guide is so passionate about his history & showing us around., form great friendships, leave us with ever lasting memories, big huggs & kisses as we said our last goodbyes.
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