We've been in Eastern Europe for the last couple of weeks, starting in Bulgaria, moving to Romania, Hungary, Slovakia, The Czech Republic, and now we're in Poland.
Jess has been blogging loads, and in another vain attempt to catch up, I thought I'd try to sum up some of the things we've seen, learnt and experienced.
Things we have seen
When we were in India - particularly Rajasthan - we joked that everywhere we visited had a city palace (with displays of musical instruments) and a giant fort just outside town (with a formidable display of weapons).
We've had a similar experience in our travels in European cities - from Sofia to Bratislava, Budapest to Prague - everywhere seems to have had a beautiful old town, with market square, complete with Christmas market. Outside the town (over a river, often the Danube) is a castle on a hill.
This has been great to see - there's something really nice about walking around a cobbled square with a glass of hot wine, eating a sausage. Also, the cities so far have had the highest concentration of pretendable-statues I've ever seen. We have taken a boat-load of pictures pretending to be statues. For enthusiasts, Bratislava is really good for this. Punching above its weight.
Things we have learnt
I'll be honest, my knowledge of the history of some places we've visited, particularly Bulgaria and Romania, was patchy at best before we went there. It has been really interesting to learn about the sometimes painful history of countries I couldn't reliably point out on a map 6 months ago. We've been going to plenty of museums to learn about the places we're visiting - I'd particularly recommend the Museum of the Romanian Peasant in Bucharest (really, really good) and the Regional Ethnographic Museum in Plovdiv (small and quirky). I feel like we've discovered the Ethnographic Museum since we started travelling. It is really interesting to see what everyday life was like throughout history in different countries, and notice the similarities and differences.
Things we have experienced
Jess has already blogged about her experience of visiting the Auschwitz Museum; I haven't much to add to her thoughts. But that was definitely an experience, and I thought the feeling I got walking around will stay with me more than the particular information we learnt as we visited the exhibitions. We've visited a few museums and places in cities dedicated to previous atrocities: the mass grave behind the Great Synagogue in Budapest, the Museum of Communism in Prague, and numerous monuments to wars past. Before our trip is out I'm sure we'll experience more of this kind of thing - visiting Checkpoint Charlie in Berlin, or the Anne Frank House in Amsterdam for example.
Next week we will have left Eastern Europe behind, and will be in Berlin for five or so days. I know we won't have left behind the experiences of visiting some truly harrowing places, and being reminded of the some of the worst things humans have ever done to each other.
All that said, we've had a really nice time in Eastern Europe. Strolling through the beginnings of Christmas markets, visiting some great museums, and eaten some fantastic food (sausages) : )
Jess has been blogging loads, and in another vain attempt to catch up, I thought I'd try to sum up some of the things we've seen, learnt and experienced.
Things we have seen
When we were in India - particularly Rajasthan - we joked that everywhere we visited had a city palace (with displays of musical instruments) and a giant fort just outside town (with a formidable display of weapons).
We've had a similar experience in our travels in European cities - from Sofia to Bratislava, Budapest to Prague - everywhere seems to have had a beautiful old town, with market square, complete with Christmas market. Outside the town (over a river, often the Danube) is a castle on a hill.
This has been great to see - there's something really nice about walking around a cobbled square with a glass of hot wine, eating a sausage. Also, the cities so far have had the highest concentration of pretendable-statues I've ever seen. We have taken a boat-load of pictures pretending to be statues. For enthusiasts, Bratislava is really good for this. Punching above its weight.
Things we have learnt
I'll be honest, my knowledge of the history of some places we've visited, particularly Bulgaria and Romania, was patchy at best before we went there. It has been really interesting to learn about the sometimes painful history of countries I couldn't reliably point out on a map 6 months ago. We've been going to plenty of museums to learn about the places we're visiting - I'd particularly recommend the Museum of the Romanian Peasant in Bucharest (really, really good) and the Regional Ethnographic Museum in Plovdiv (small and quirky). I feel like we've discovered the Ethnographic Museum since we started travelling. It is really interesting to see what everyday life was like throughout history in different countries, and notice the similarities and differences.
Things we have experienced
Jess has already blogged about her experience of visiting the Auschwitz Museum; I haven't much to add to her thoughts. But that was definitely an experience, and I thought the feeling I got walking around will stay with me more than the particular information we learnt as we visited the exhibitions. We've visited a few museums and places in cities dedicated to previous atrocities: the mass grave behind the Great Synagogue in Budapest, the Museum of Communism in Prague, and numerous monuments to wars past. Before our trip is out I'm sure we'll experience more of this kind of thing - visiting Checkpoint Charlie in Berlin, or the Anne Frank House in Amsterdam for example.
Next week we will have left Eastern Europe behind, and will be in Berlin for five or so days. I know we won't have left behind the experiences of visiting some truly harrowing places, and being reminded of the some of the worst things humans have ever done to each other.
All that said, we've had a really nice time in Eastern Europe. Strolling through the beginnings of Christmas markets, visiting some great museums, and eaten some fantastic food (sausages) : )
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