Life on the rails, a traveler's story

I started this blog with the idea that I’d fill it with my thoughts on film and TV, but this trip was just too fun to then not write about it. But before I begin, I should probably catch up with some of the films I haven’t written about yet:

Spiderman Homecoming- This goes down as the second-best Spiderman film but shows Marvel at its very best. Tom Holland solidifies himself as the best Peter Parker however, and as a worthy Avenger. 8/10

Dunkirk- Where this is a very different film for Nolan to have made, it is still a fantastic war film that is most certainly more than it says on the tin. With brilliant performances all round and Oscar worthy sound editing, Christopher Nolan proves to us that he can direct and create any form of film be it sci fi, action or war. I wouldn’t be surprised if he made a rom com and came out with critical praise. 8/10

Now the films have been dealt with I can talk of how this trip came to be. All it took was a few pints and Ciaran to say, “Jacob you should come too” to persuade me! After the planning sessions were finished and the tickets were bought I was both parts excited and nervous to travel on my own for the first time before meeting Ciaran. Having two weeks with the family at our house in the south of France preceding our travels was a lovely chilled time with plenty of wine. Side note, wine in France is as unbelievably cheap as it is unbelievably delicious so if you do want to take some home do not fly! Take the ferry and drive to maximise what you can take home!

At the end of our two weeks, I flew from Toulouse to Geneva to begin my trip. Unfortunately, I didn’t get any time to stay in Switzerland but it has its pros and cons. Pros, the sights are jaw dropping. Riding my train to Zurich and being able to witness the glory that was Lake Geneva and the mountains surrounding it was sublime. Cons, it is VERY expensive! Paying 7 Swiss Francs for a wrap was a shock to say the least so if I ever do find myself in Switzerland for an extended amount of time I will make sure I can afford somewhere to eat and sleep (more on the prices of Swiss Franc later). Arriving in Zurich, I gave myself some time to sit, eat and sort out where I was going to find my sleeper train to Budapest. I can comfortably say that my time on that train was the most uncomfortable 10 hours of my life. Spending only 3 hours asleep, I met Ciaran looking like a dead man. Having also been quite sick, which was what made the whole experience that more unpleasant, I had no appetite whatsoever, so on an empty stomach we walked to our hostel. Ciaran had previously informed me that this was a party hostel and that sounded cool, but these guys took the definition of ‘party hostel’ very seriously. The people who worked at the hostel would spend every night going out and getting steaming drunk to then getting up the next day and start the drinking from 10. Retox, as was the apt name of the hostel, was a haven for diversity. With the hostel being predominantly dominated by Australians, this was still the most diverse hostel we stayed at. With guests coming from the UK, France, Israel, America and many more, both Ciaran and I met some fascinating characters. To give one of many examples, an Argentinian lad was traveling his way across Europe and finishing in Warwick where he is doing his masters in international relations! There were some truly intriguing individuals in Budapest and this was a sign, that the rest of the trip would be filled with more travellers. Each with their own unique stories.

Bats or Stars? You tell me!

The city of Budapest itself is gorgeous and two nights was certainly not enough time to experience it all! We did visit the thermal baths however and my oh my was it the most relaxed I’ve been for a while. With the baths both indoor and outdoor, you can soak up both the heat from the sunshine as well as the heat from the bath water. Finishing with the hottest sauna known to man I challenge anyone who is suffering from stress, or a really bad hangover, to spend a few hours there and to then walk out not completely relaxed.

Paralleling that morning with the evening that transpired was quite the turn around. Starting the drinking with the beer bike and finishing with a boat party, it was a real change of setting from the preceding morning. Where I can say boat parties aren’t a first, the beer bike certainly was and with fourteen out of the sixteen passengers attending, this resulted in all participants pulling that much more weight, both in the respect of drinking AND pedalling.

Where both of us were feeling a little run down after Budapest, Vienna vitalised our collective systems. It was by far my favourite location. The food, the drink, the architecture, the fact you can walk a lot of it! I’ll start with the galleries, as we were both looking for some form of culture to appreciate so why not start with art? The Albertina and the Kunst Histories Museum were the two we visited and what a range of art there was. The first focusing on Monet and Picasso, with other sections on the history of the Albertina itself. Receiving its name from the owner of the collection housed in the palace, Duke Albert, who had a line to Austrian royalty due to the fact he was a son in law to Austrian Empress Maria Theresa. Upon receiving its name in 1805, it has always housed collections of fine art. The Kunst had more of a focus on antiquities, but with the most extensive collection of Ruben’s work it was hard not to be awestruck by the grandeur of his work. Combining this with a nice bit of Greek, Roman and Egyptian history, this was a great day. What could have made it better? Only stumbling onto a street food market complete with its own outdoor cinema! Ciaran was adamant on eating here, and so was I. My decision was further cemented by the fact I saw a stand selling “GIN AND PRAWNS”. Pairing gin with prawns with an outdoor cinema showing an orchestra perform some of the most iconic movie soundtracks was a phenomenal experience and was made even better by the fact we just stumbled onto it without any prior knowledge. Best night of the trip. Hands down.

The next day, Ciaran had the unique idea of walking across Lichtenstein. Not only would this cross another country off our lists, but it would also provide us with sights of the European countryside in comparison all the cities we’d been getting used to and I must say, it’s a place where I can see myself living once I (if I ever get to) retire. Pictures cannot do it justice. With clear skies, the sun shining and the only noise disturbing the peace coming from the odd passing car, it was easy to feel at one with the environment of Lichtenstein. We then took this to the next level by having a wash in the River Rhine. Coming straight from the Swiss Alps, this water was pristine in colour and was the most refreshing wash of the trip. Yes, it beat the shower after my night train to Budapest. That day, we visited 3 countries. Austria, Lichtenstein and Switzerland so that we could get our train from Buchs back to Vienna. This then brings me back to the price of the Swiss Franc. To set the scene, Pulp Fiction had become a thing we’d regularly quote and after sampling plenty of burgers the line “Mhm, that is a tasty burger!” from Samuel L. Jackson’s Jules became consistently relevant. That line goes hand-in-hand with the more famous line from Vincent Vega after being asked what do they call a quarter pounder with cheese in Europe, to which he states “They ain’t got the metric system so they don’t know what the fuck a quarter pounder is … They call it Royale with cheese.” To then not get a Royale with cheese would be sacrilege, so Ciaran had set himself the task of buying one if there was a MacDonald’s in Buchs. Lo and behold we spot the golden arches, and Ciaran goes to say the magic words. Remember how much one wrap cost me? Well for Ciaran’s Royale with Cheese meal, it cost him the equivalent of £15! You know what they say about meeting your heroes, sometimes your favourite movie quotes shouldn’t be lived. I can personally recommend not going to unsuspecting boys, hoping their name is Luke, and declaring that you are their actual father. Doesn’t end well.

Getting back on track, we embarked on the long journey from Vienna to Krakow. It was there we met with Lisa and Alan, Ciaran’s mum and her boyf, and to change the feel of the trip we stayed in an Airbnb rather than a hostel! It was a true luxury for us both. Again, this was a beautiful and vibrant city with something always going on but much of the sights we saw were outside of Krakow. The Wieliczka Salt Mine is not your ordinary mine. It’s over 300 metres deep, and after its decommission a chapel was constructed inside the mine with all the carvings, statues and alter all being made from salt! I suppose it would defeat the purpose and significance of the mine if any other substances were to be used in the creation of this place of worship!

To parallel portions of the salt mines being turned into beautiful pieces of art for the bewilderment of others, we couldn’t not go to Krakow and not do one of the world’s most infamous landmarks. I am of course talking about Auschwitz, the concentration and death camps created by the Nazis for one purpose: genocide. Established in 1940, Auschwitz was first used as a camp for Pols and prisoners of war as well as Jews, but the situation would become even more dire for the Jewish community than they could ever possibly imagine. It was not until 1942 that the Nazi high command conceived ‘The Final Solution to the Jewish Problem’. This solution involved building a bigger camp, Auschwitz-Birkenau, and was both a concentration and death camp. Jewish men, women and children were both tricked and forced onto these trains, with some Jews having bought tickets to board these trains, and upon arrival were split into those who could work, and those who could not. Those who could not were then escorted to the gas chambers. The guide starts us on our tour and takes us through the front gates which translates to “Work makes you free” generating a sense of cruel and tragic irony, and with that tone in mind we are taken around the blocks in which the inmates were kept. These blocks had been turned into a museum as they tell the story of the Holocaust with photographs, facts and statistics which then come together to form a historical timeline. If you were not familiar with how dark the history of this place was, you would begin to understand rather fast once you enter the rooms that document the inmates. When the Nazis began establishing these camps they documented every single inmate. So, come 1945 when the Allies are closing in from both sides, it made the destruction of the evidence proving they detained and essentially murdered civilians rather difficult as they had been doing it for five years. We were then taken into rooms which held items found at the camps. Seeing all the people’s bags, shoes, spectacles and crockery is awful but nothing makes your stomach turn more than standing in front of a glass case containing tons of human hair. The fact that the Nazis shaved the inmates and repurposed their hair for pillows, mattresses and other household furniture shatters any naivety you had left about this place. (if you had any to begin with!) It was after that our tour group was taken to the underground cells where prisoners were starved to death, the shooting wall where unproductive inmates were taken and shot and to finish our time at Auschwitz we walked through the gas chamber where thousands of innocent men women and children were murdered. Having known where I was standing, it was hard to ignore the sense of death in the air.

The next camp in the Auschwitz system, the one you’d recognise in films such as ‘Schindler’s List’, is far emptier than you might think. Without looking at any modern pictures of what used to be the camps, it is a little surprising to see how much the Nazis destroyed to cover their tracks but however hard they tried it was not enough as it is still clear to us where the prisoners were kept and consequently, murdered.

Auschwitz is a unique experience. Ciaran had himself been to the Cambodian killing fields earlier this year and he said with certainty that these are not pleasant experiences, but must be appreciated for what they are. They are places of history, and as a wise man once said, “The more you know about the past, the better prepared you are for the future.” Note that I did not take any photos of the salt mines or Auschwitz. Where there was a charge to take pictures in the salt mines, which I didn’t fancy paying, at Auschwitz there were places you could and absolutely could not take photographs. Personally, I believe that Auschwitz is a place of mourning and not a place for photographic exploitation. A place remembered for the deaths of millions of innocents shouldn’t have a place on an Instagram feed, a Snapchat story or a Facebook timeline.

Let’s get back to something a little more upbeat, shall we? I was still thinking about what I saw at Auschwitz and, like any rational lover of films, decided to watch Inglorious Bastards on the train to Prague because there’s nothing like watching Nazis getting branded, murdered and humiliated; with a slight touch of class and comedy brought by Tarantino’s film making. Having already been to Prague for one night only back in 2014, I was really looking forward to some proper time in this lovely city. It was also about time that our consistently good run of sunshine should take a break, and this resulted in non-stop rain for the entirety of our stay. This would not dampen our spirits as we chose to make the absolute most of this city in the time we had available. I’ll start with the food, as it these were some of my favourite dishes on the trip. Prague is a diverse city that caters to many different tastes, but one of the tastes that is quite reoccurring is embodied in what they call Chimney cakes. The best way to describe it is to say it’s a messier version of a churro. With the dough baked rather than fried however, it is decidedly more flavoursome, and then you can choose to have it with chocolate spread, caramel or even in ice cream form! In short, you’re bound to get sugar everywhere and make a mess (especially if you have a beard, trust me on this one) but it’s a small price to pay when eating such a brilliant dessert. I must talk about some of the other main courses however, as both Ciaran and I had an amazing steak on our first night at the fraction of the price you’d get in the UK, although the show was stolen by the best belly pork I have ever had. The skin was not overly crispy, the meat to fat ratio was perfect and pairing it with pickles and Dijon mustard is a combination I’ll be sure to use in future meals.

"You lived your life for the
King, you willing to die for
some chickens?"

Food was not the only thing that was big in Prague, as no meal or night out is complete without a few drinks. I’ll start with the oldest tavern in Prague! First opened in 1375, the tavern still holds on to its Medieval roots with pride. With all the waiting staff dressed in 14^th century garb, the entire set up was candle lit with some arms and armour going around the tables. The strangest part was when one of the waitress’ went around the tables with a whip and started hitting customers. Maybe it was what they were into back then? I don’t know but what I do know is we did our best to quote the entirety of the Hound vs Poliver scene from Game of Thrones, more commonly known as the war of words concerning the Hound’s love of chicken. 

Upon returning to the hostel, it took was a quick look at the brochure stand to notice two words. “JAZZ CLUB”. This won my curiosity and the first nights plan was decided upon. Discovering that a newly formed 3-piece combo was playing, we headed off for a music filled night. This tiny underground club was nearing capacity but we managed to grab the last two chairs with some brilliant drinks service. With beer and Cosmopolitans flowing, the live music was something neither of us had ever experienced and only excited my dream of working in a jazz club further. I cannot help but reference La La Land now as we witnessed jazz in its most pure form. Sebastian states in the film that jazz “is not relaxing… each one of these guy is composing, they’re rearranging, they’re writing and they’re playing the melody… It’s conflict and it’s compromise… and it’s very very exciting.” This is the perfect way to describe what happened in the U Malého Glena jazz and blues club that very night. The conflict and composition that was going on created a beautiful sense of compassion felt by not only the members of the band, but by each member of the audience. The last night was based around a different form of art. The art of Cocktails! This establishment was called Black Angels, and whilst we didn’t eat in the restaurant we most certainly drank at the bar. Although, there was quite an unconventional sign at the entrance which prohibited the taking of any photographs! It is clear to see why though as these cocktails were like nothing you’ve ever seen or tasted! The menu was the size of a small novel and did not only present each of the cocktails and every other drink they had on offer, but told the story of some bloke who wondered the world in pursuit of making cocktails! Once we waded our way through that and made our minds up about what we wanted to drink, the drinks themselves did not disappoint. My first drink came with a stick of burning cinnamon whereas Ciaran’s came in a huge chalice! The next round was a funny one. We chose each other drinks instead and it was weird to say the least. Ciaran received my drink of choice which was based around the British-American Tea trade, with slight hints to the Boston Tea Party, and was served in a super fancy cup and saucer! Mine was, singular to say the least. I forget the former part of the drinks name but the latter was “Swizzle Stick” which I thought had some form of phallic undertones. I was not wrong as the cocktail, cock being the operative word here, was named after male porn star and it even came with an ice penis. Can’t say I’ve ever had a drink like that before…

I won't lie, I 100%
do not remember
taking this.

Then it hit us, we were boarding our final train to Berlin! Our trusty Interrail passes had served us well but the end of the trip was in sight. Having been to Berlin before, I had already seen most of the big sights the city had to offer and unfortunately for us we had neither the time nor the money to go and visit all these sights. We then checked into our hostel and decided to hit a few bars and experience drinking in Berlin. I can whole heartedly recommend Berliner pilsner as the drink of Berlin. Never have I consumed a beer that goes down so smoothly. So smoothly in fact that it doesn’t you right away with the knowledge that you’ve been drinking it for much of the night. It is at this point I must state something that should be a given when out drinking and with that being said, DO NOT MIX BEER AND GIN ON A NIGHT OUT I CANNOT STRESS THIS ENOUGH. Getting back to the hostel we thought it would do us good to have one more drink before bed. This drink tuned into two drinks, then free shots and sparkling went around and it is about then when it all goes into a complete blur. Damn that hostel for having a gin library. I curse my mother for this as she allowed me to acquire a taste for such a delicious and flavoursome beverage.

All good things must come to an end they say, and was most certainly a good trip. Spending our last day in Berlin sightseeing, with the most notable sights being the Reichstag, the Soviet War Memorial and Checkpoint Charlie, it was time to go home and embrace the reality of returning home. Waiting to depart from a surprisingly small yet brilliantly designed airport, shout out to Berlin Tegel, we had one last sandwich and reminisced about the memories we created on this trip. Having spent most of the money I had earned over summer on this trip, I have zero regrets. What good is money if you don’t spend it on things or invest it in something? In spending money on this trip, I invested in the greatest possible thing, unforgettable memories with a brilliant friend. Thank you, Ciaran, for allowing me to tag along on this small adventure. Here’s to the next one.