Day 5 - Are You From Poland?

Date: 30th of June 2015

Route: Vienna – Prague

Vehicles hitchhiked: 3

In the morning, after a quick breakfast, we took two U-Bahns to a petrol station on the outskirts of Vienna where we had planned to start hitchhiking. When we arrived there, it turned out that the petrol station was very small. A few drivers whom we met there refused to take us, so we thought better of it, and started to look for a better place to catch a lift.

Waiting for an U-Bahn

Unfortunately, because of the lack of other sensible options, we ended up standing next to a crossroad nearby, and asking people in cars for a lift, while they were waiting for the green light.

After almost an hour of doing this, I started to be very impatient, and insisted on changing the place; we decided to try hitchhiking on a small traffic island between lanes. Well, it’s generally not allowed to stand in such places, but at least it was easier for us to talk with the drivers.

Several minutes later, we suddenly saw that one of drivers switched lanes unexpectedly, and stopped in front of us – despite the fact that the traffic lights were displaying green. He offered to give us a lift to the next petrol station; we took the opportunity without hesitation, and quickly got into his car. The driver (who worked in T-Mobile) said that he had used to hitchhike in the past, so he understood why we had decided to stand in such a place.

We left the car on a pretty big petrol station on the way to Brno. This time we chose to try asking truck drivers for a ride, for a change; unfortunately, there was one small problem – there were two of us hitchhiking, but at most one free seat in each vehicle. Truckers didn't want to take us, because they didn’t fancy risking a fine.

Finally one of them agreed, but we had some problems with communication. “English?” “No.” “German?” “No.” “Czech?” “No.” So we drove in silence for some time. Then I tried once again and asked, “Polski?” (“Polish?” in Polish). “What?!” he exclaimed, “So you are from Poland, and you haven't noticed that we have been listening to a Polish radio, huh?!” Well, yes, we hadn't.

Even though it was a little bit uncomfortable to sit on only one buttock for the whole ride, I enjoyed travelling with the driver. He was friendly, and he showed us interesting things on the way, such as verdant Austrian vineyards, and the sculpture of Conchita Wurst which was standing near the road.

Lunch on the petrol station near Brno

We got out of the truck on a petrol station near Brno. It took us almost an hour to catch a lift there; eventually, a Czech mathematician agreed to take us. We were lucky because he was heading directly to Prague.

When he asked us where we came from, my answer must have been unclear, because he understood at first that we were from Holland (instead of Poland). When Maia explained to him what I meant, we started talking with him in a Polish-Czech mix (it turned out that he knew a bit of Polish). Then he turned on a CD with nice and lively Polish-Czech songs, and we were listening to them for the whole ride.

We said goodbyes on a parking lot in Prague. Then Maia and I went to a supermarket, where we changed some money to korunas, and bought lots of food (after our visit to Austria everything in Czech seemed very cheap). Moreover, Maia eventually bought a hip pack for himself, which she had been planning to buy since the beginning of our trip.

Going by tram to the city centre

After having some troubles with finding a ticket machine, we went by tram to the city centre. We checked out a few islands on the Vltava River, took photos on The Legion Bridge (Most Legií) and The Charles Bridge (Karlův most), and walked around the old part of the city. We had an occasion to watch a group of talented dancers performing on the main square. Generally speaking, we really liked the atmosphere of Prague, and felt at home there.

Maia on The Legion Bridge ...

... and Justyna on The Charles Bridge

We had arranged to meet with our host around 10 p.m. We still had some time left so we decided to stay in Letná Park, which was on the way, and wait there. We trained some yoga on the grass; it turned out that a few other people got inspired by us, and they tried to stand on their heads, or do the Supported Shoulderstand pose (Salamba Sarvangasana).

Then, we ate yoghurts (in order to get some protein after a bit of physical effort); this time, unfortunately, we didn't have reserves of plastic cutlery in our backpacks, so we came up with an idea to make spoons out of matzo (a kind of hard and crunchy bread).

When we arrived at Petr's flat, we talked with him for some time. He was a pretty cool guy, who worked in a travel agency. We listened with amazement to stories about his crazy hitchhiking adventures from the past.

Before going to sleep, we checked messages on couchsurfing.com, and found out that we had been accepted as guests in Luxembourg and Berlin. What a lovely end of the day!

The main square

Day 4 - Walking Around Schönbrunn Palace

Date: 29th of June 2015

Sightseeing: Vienna

Following Matthias's advice, we decided to visit Schönbrunn Palace this day. We didn’t feel like entering the palace building, so we just walked around parks belonging to the Schönbrunn complex. We stumbled across the Neptun Fountain, a colourful flower garden, a Roman ruin and a pigeon house (Columbary). Maia followed a gardener who sneaked through a secret hole in a hedge, but there was nothing of special interest on the other side, unfortunately.

While we were climbing a hill situated near the palace, we thought that the view from there was really nice; we came up with an idea of taking photos of each other doing yoga poses there.

My favourite yoga pose - Urdhva Dhanurasana

On the top of the hill, we checked out the Gloriette structure, which had been converted into an expensive café and an observation deck.

In the meantime it started drizzling. We waited on the balcony of the café for some time until the rain stopped; then we headed in the direction of the city centre.

After we walked for some time, we became hungry. Unfortunately, we couldn’t find any vegetarian restaurant en route. Despite our strict rule not to eat fast food, we gave up and ordered a vegetarian pizza for 7.80€. The waiter gave us a can of Coca-Cola for free. We didn’t want to break our another rule (we don't drink soft drinks), so we thought that we could just give the drink to a random stranger.

While we were walking next to a supermarket, we thought that our visit to Vienna would be incomplete without sightseeing a shop. We went inside, and spent some time there, revising food vocabulary and comparing prices of items in Austria and Poland. In a nutshell, fruits and vegetables were not so expensive, but for some things we would have to pay even four times more than in our country. Anyway, we managed to find cheap yoghurts for 0.29€ and bought two of them.

We still had some time left, because our hosts were at work, so we went to the nearest park and rested there.

It so happened that we came back to our host’s flat simultaneously with Doris. We waited for Matthias, and then Maia conducted a yoga class for the four of us.

Maia doing a front split (Hanumanasana) near Schönbrunn Palace

Stretched and relaxed, we chatted with Doris on a balcony (our hosts were growing their own vegetables there); meanwhile, Matthias prepared a tasty supper for us.

We had a pleasant conversation with them about our travelling adventures. We found out that Doris and Matthias had travelled a lot, and had visited several countries in Asia and South America, and that they both had been vegetarians for some time as well.

Then Matthias helped us choose a place to hitchhike on the next day, and gave us tips on how to get there with public transportation.

Since we all had planned to get up at 7 a.m. on the next day, we went to sleep before midnight.

Day 3 - A Stroke of Luck

Date: 28th of June 2015

Route: Budapest – Vienna

Vehicles hitchhiked: 2

This time we managed to start hitchhiking in the morning. After we ate pancakes with white cheese for breakfast, Etelka gave us a lift to a petrol station situated near the motorway leading to Vienna (btw the city is called “Bécs” in Hungarian).

Etelka packed a few pancakes for us to eat on the way. We didn't have cutlery with us, so we came up with an idea to ask for plastic knives in the station café. Since then, asking in restaurants became our standard way to get something to eat with.

We met two boys who were hitchhiking next to the exit of the petrol station. Well, we both agreed that they had to be inexperienced, since they had chosen such a bad place to stand. Knowing better, we walked towards fuel dispensers, and started asking drivers who were tanking up there if they could take us towards Vienna. Unfortunately, after a few minutes we were told by a security guard to go somewhere else. So, we ended up next to the exit of the station as well...

We didn't have much hope of catching a car going directly to Vienna, and everything we wanted was to be taken to the next petrol station or the first bus stop on the way. As luck would have it, when a car stopped several minutes later, it turned out that the driver was going through Vienna
:-)

He was an amiable Hungarian guy who worked in Berlin; he had became a dad not so long before. He said that he always advertised on blablacar.com that he had free places in the car. This time no one had responded to his offer, so when he saw us, he decided to take us, in order to have someone to talk to while driving. So lucky!

Crossing the Hungary-Austria border

We covered a distance of more than 200 km in 2 hours. We were left on a petrol station near Vienna, where we ate pancakes, and then we managed to find a couple who gave us a lift to the city centre.

While walking around Vienna, we were revising German vocabulary. Both of us had had the occasion to learn this language for a few years at school, but we had forgotten a lot since then.

It was hot, and we were carrying heavy backpacks, so when we were crossing near the Volksgarten (the park in the centre of Vienna), we decided to stay there for some time and relax. I was reading Dan Brown's “Inferno”, but fell asleep after some time. 

Maia took a photo of me when I was sleeping

Meanwhile, Maia was learning Japanese using the Anki program. She was going to start working in Japan in September. As a preparation for this event, she kept learning the language for at least two hours a day (she had been having such a routine for about two years!). Whenever she had time, in cars or in parks, she practised speaking Japanese, or reading and writing kanji characters.

After two hours, we started sightseeing again. I did Urdhva Dhanurasana (the pose that Maia had wanted to do on the tower in Budapest) on the stairs of The Rathaus (meaning “Town Hall”), then we admired Vienna's architecture (in the meantime looking for free wifi in order to download a German-English dictionary), then took some fresh water from a “Trinkwasser” (Drinking Water) stand, listened to a man playing on bottles near the U-Bahn station, and came back to the park. This time we sat near the Theseus Temple.

Urdhva Dhanurasana in front of the Rathaus

There was a public toilet there, where you had to put a 50-cent coin in a door lock if you wanted to use it. I followed Maia's advice to wait until someone is leaving and slip through the door without paying. A few women who were standing behind me found it brilliant, and did the same.

We were supposed to meet with Doris and Matthias around 11 p.m. because they were coming back home late on that day. We walked a few kilometres to get to their flat; we were tired, so we stopped several times on the way.

We were tired and stopped several times on the way

When we finally reached the destination, we were greeted by the smiling couple, who lived in a very modern and spacious flat. Unfortunately, we had very little energy, so we went to sleep after chatting with them only for a short while.

At any rate, we were going to stay in Vienna for one more night.

Day 2 - Amazed by People's Benevolence

Date: 27th of June 2015

Sightseeing: Budapest

When we woke up in the morning, we heard Etelka bustling about the kitchen. We checked emails and messages on couchsurfing.com (we had still been looking for couches in 3 cities in Europe), and then we were served a yummy breakfast: peach mousse, soy milk and choco-grain bars (I really like being a vegetarian in such moments!)

After we finished eating, our hosts drove us to the city centre, and walked with us around the Buda Castle. We generally don’t enjoy behaving like typical tourists, so just a short trip was enough to satisfy us. We found the castle unique, and we were surprised after finding out that public buildings, and even houses, were a part of it as well.

While walking around the castle

We took some photos and ate homemade bread rolls with several kinds of vegan paste and raw vegetables, while sitting on the grass near the castle. In the meantime we stumbled across strange trees with fruits looking like the mix of strawberries and blackberries (a photo below).

Trees with weird fruits

Then, Etelka told us what we should see in Budapest, and she and her boyfriend went back home.

We considered going down with The Budapest Castle Hill Funicular, but we changed our minds after seeing the price. We decided to go through the Chain Bridge and climb St. Stephen's Basilica's tower, instead. In that case we spent only 800 HUF for both of us.

Looking at the city from the tower

I liked the view from there: red tiles everywhere, Buda with its hills, opposed to the flatness of Pest... 

Maia wanted to make the Upward Bow Pose (Urdhva Dhanurasana) on the parapet of the tower, but I managed to convince her that it was not the best idea :-) This situation caused a long conversation about falling, landing, parachuting and paragliding (Maia had been experienced in the last one).

We looked at a map, and decided to head for the Margaret Island and check it out. We walked near the Danube, admiring the striking Hungarian Parliament Building on the way.

The striking Hungarian Parliament Building

We were a little bit disappointed when we found out that there was a long broad asphalt road with plenty of tourists on the island. We had expected it to be more of a park...

A big asphalt road on the Margaret Island

While I was waiting for Maia for a moment, I checked the flavours of ice-cream sold on a stand nearby. When I asked about one of them, I was immediately handed a scoop. I was surprised, and tried to explain that I had simply asked a question, and I didn't want to buy anything. The merchant replied that I should take it anyway because one scoop was for free. Well, I would definitely have chosen some other taste, but I guess I shouldn't complain – Maia wasn't so lucky, and she had to pay for her "gratis" scoop of ice-cream.

It turned out that, despite our worries, there was quite a big park on the island. People were doing various interesting things there.

We stumbled across a half-Polish girl who was doing slacklining. Maia asked her if she could try to do it as well. If someone knows Maia, he knows that it meant that I had to wait for her until she managed to walk from one side of the line to the other without falling (well, it didn't take so long, she had done slacklining before) :-)

A slacklining girl

After seeing ruins of an old castle and a mini zoo on the island, we walked back to the city and caught a bus to Etelka's house. This time Maia trained yoga together with me. After that we were served rice with vegetables for supper.

Well, our hosts were really too kind and too hospitable. What's more, they slept in a tent so that we could use their bed (sic!)

Day 1 - We're Setting Off!

Date: 26th of June 2015

Route: Cracow – Budapest

Vehicles hitchhiked: 3

Despite our great plans to hit the road earlier, and have a better chance of coming to Budapest before nightfall, we began hitchhiking around 11 a.m. We were standing on a bus stop near Zakopiańska Street, holding our backpacks, a sleeping bag, and a bag full of food reserves (which we had bought earlier in the morning).

After only about half an hour of waiting there, a geology student stopped next to us. He drove us to Pcim, and left us on a slip road leading to a motorway towards Slovakia.

Unfortunately, it turned out to be a kind of a dangerous place for cars to stop, so people didn't feel like pulling over there. We spent more than an hour in that place... At some point Maia apparently started to be bored, since she climbed a high barrier next to the road, and stood on it.

Nevertheless, the wait was worth it, because we covered a long distance with a driver who eventually pulled over (a friendly IT student) – he drove us all the way to the Poland-Slovakia border.

When we were standing on a petrol station in Chyżne, where he left us, it dawned on us that it was pretty late, and we still had to cross the whole Slovakia, and then, if we were fortunate enough, hitchhike from Šahy (a town on the Slovakia-Hungary border) directly to Budapest.

Sadly, none of the drivers who were filling tanks agreed to take us... I started losing hope, and getting used to the thought that we would have to sleep that day somewhere in the bushes, next to a road...

One of the drivers who helped us

Suddenly, we heard a man calling us and inviting us to his car. It was a miracle, I couldn't believe in our luck – he was heading directly to Budapest!

I was told later that the man had refused when Maia had asked him to help us before. Most probably, he had been observing us then, while we had been asking other people for a lift without success; then he had consulted the matter with his family, and they had consented to help us in the end.

We travelled in a car with the man and his wife, following the rest of their family who was driving in the other car. The journey was pretty slow, since it was impossible to drive more than 80 kph most of the time.

When we finally reached Budapest, it was around 7 p.m. We walked to a shopping mall, changed 50 PLN to Hungarian forints (HUF), and went by bus to meet with our first couchsurfing host on this trip – Etelka.

On the way to our host's house

When we arrived at the gate of a small cottage house with a big garden, we were greeted by a friendly pointer named Dió (“Walnut” in Hungarian). We felt at home immediately :-)

Nevertheless, we were pretty exhausted, and it was already quite late, so I went to sleep just after chatting for a short while (and drinking a cup of delicious rice milk, prepared by Etelka and her boyfriend). Maia felt stiff after sitting in cars for a long time, so she chose to train a little bit of yoga before joining me.

Before I went to sleep it dawned on me – so we really arrived in Budapest!

It was an amazing day. But it was just the beginning of our adventures...