Can I Drink the Water?

One of the many great things about Central and Eastern Europe is that the water there is potable.  We hadn't really thought about this aspect before planning to travel in this part of the world - but being able to brush teeth and fill up bottles with sink water is really convenient.  Not having to worry about whether or not the food we're eating has been washed or prepared with germ-infested water also reduces illness worries.

We thought it was appropriate to give a shout out to the helpful website www.canidrinkthewater.org - as the site has provided us with much water drinking guidance on our trip.  

Pubs in Prague

We had heard that Prague was beautiful, but we were pleasantly surprised by just how beautiful it really was. Because the city wasn't heavily bombed during World War II, most of its historical architecture is still intact and preserved, which means there are old, ornate buildings and bridges everywhere. It's a gorgeous, walkable city.

Our journey into the Czech Republic from Poland became an unexpected adventure when the conductor on the train we were traveling on refused to accept Polish zloty for our fares. He shamefully kicked us off the train somewhere in rural Czech Republic, which had us a bit panicked until we realized we could purchase tickets with our debit cards at the station where we were abandoned. The silver lining was that our tickets ended up being $110 less this way, as we had already crossed the Czech/Polish border and were not required to pay the commuter tax normally associated with border crossing.

We purchased our cheaper tickets and boarded the next train departing for Prague, getting into the city not much later than initially expected - travel win!

Our favorite Prague moments:

- Visiting the Prague Ice Bar, which is a pub chilled to below freezing and made entirely out of ice. We donned the bar-provided parkas, drank from ice block glasses, and took silly photos of the experience. It was goofy and a lot of fun.

- Sampling as much cheap and delicious beer as possible in the city's numerous outdoor pubs. We especially enjoyed accompanying our drinks with pivni syr - a soft local cheese served with raw onions.

- The anticlimactic wait for the world's oldest working astronomical clock to chime in Old Town. Every hour tourists gather to watch creepy moving sculptures on the clock announce the time and it was an experience to join the crowd for the lackluster show.

Next stop: Budapest, Hungary

Krakow, Poland

Our trip out of Romania was much more comfortable than our trip into Romania thanks to the sleeper car that we secured for ourselves for the train ride to Krakow.  Equipped with A/C, bed linens, and electrical outlets, European sleeper cars are an amazing way to travel.  The rhythmic rocking of the train unexpectedly manages to lull one into a particularly restful sleep.  

Thanks to our sleeper car we arrived in Krakow fairly rested, though in bad need of showers.  We were grateful that our hostel let us check in right away so that we could clean up and start exploring.

We started off learning more about the area we were staying in, which was curiously referred to as the Krakow Ghetto.  It turns out that the neighborhood was first created by the Nazis during World War II to house Polish Jews.  The Ghetto was a prison of sorts, it was adjacent to Oskar Schindler's factory, and surrounded by walls that separated it from the rest of the city.  We found so much of Krakow to be full of sad, but important, Holocaust history like this.

Our favorite moments in Krakow:

- Taking a very somber day trip to the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp sites.  From the entrance gates - infamously labeled with the phrase "Arbeit macht frei" (work sets you free) - to the gas chambers, our time at Auschwitz-Birkenau was disturbing and emotional.  We were especially overwhelmed at the enormity of the 425 acre Auschwitz II site, which stretched virtually as far as the eye could see.

- Getting caught in a downpour while visiting Krakow's beautiful Main Square, one of the largest public squares in Europe.  Most of the other tourists cleared out due to the rainfall, but we purchased umbrellas and braved the weather, enjoying the square and the river walk in virtual solitude.

- Drinking local beers at an outdoor pub in the old Jewish quarter, Kazimierz.  Romania didn't have any domestic beer options, so we welcomed the chance to get to sample brews again.  We especially liked the Polish custom of adding raspberry or ginger flavored syrup, which added a pleasant sweetness to the beers.


Next stop: Prague, Czech Republic