Backpacking Bratislava: Exploring the Capital's Castle

Although my trip to Bratislava was very brief (I only stopped over for 1 night in a hostel there and the following evening I was back on the inter rail) when on my backpacking trip through eastern Europe, it was certainly quite eventful. I arrived there in just a very rapid 1 hour long shuttle boat journey from Prague - a fantastic way to get to Bratislava if the weather is clear - in the late afternoon and checked in to our lodgings before hitting the old town to enjoy some very reasonable priced mojitos and a rather nice meal in the pretty old side of the city (rather than the rather grubby industrial side of town on the other side of the river Danube).
I have to say Bratislava's old town is somewhat underrated for some reason - and is certainly as beautiful as anywhere else we went in eastern Europe and as you would aspect is comparable to Prague but on a somewhat smaller scale! The city seems to have a bad reputation for some reason but this half of town is well worth checking out.

If you have some time during the day time, by far the best landmark to visit in the city of Bratislava is its impressive castle which towers on a large hill high over the city. I will warn you now, in the heat of summer in Slovakia, walking up this hill certainly can be quite exhausting - even for a reasonably fit 24 year old as I quickly discovered! If you are going to walk up the hill to enjoy the fantastic views over Bratislava, make sure you take some water for the journey as the hill is pretty steep! It is believed that the original history of the castle can be traced back as far as the iron age where evidence has been found of an early settlement in the area. The site has later apparently been occupied by Romans, Germanic tribes as well as by empirical Slovaks and as such has been built and reconstructed on several occasions - most recently in 1953 to restore the brilliant structure that stands their today.

Giro d' Italia Stage 3 Standings-Petacchi Takes Grado to Valdobbiadene-Prosecco for Pink Jersey

The Giro d'Italia cyclist raced stage 3 today, after starting Saturday with the time trials on Venice's Lido.

Day 3 was another beautiful day in Italy's Veneto region. Today's Giro stage at 200 km had the cyclist traveling from the picturesque adriatic town Grado to Valdobbiadene, the home of sparkling white wine known as Prosecco, named after the prosecco grape from this region at the foothills of Italy's Alps. Although the cyclists make their way up some hills today's giro stage was mostly flat.

The green fields and hills that lined today's Giro d'Italia at the foot of the Alps are lush with vineyards where the famous sparkling wine grapes are grown from steep-hilled villages surrounding Conegliano and Valdobbiadene in Italy’s Veneto region. Today, about 60 percent of all prosecco — some eight million cases — comes from producers outside the traditional prosecco-growing region of Conegliano-Valdobbiadene, a cluster of villages about a half-hour’s drive north of Venice. The newcomers are not held to the same strict production standards as the traditional producers, which are tightly governed under Italian wine laws. The towns were full of people and the race route lined with people who love the action. And with 35km left, action is exactly what today's Giro d'Italia Stage 3 offered.

The last 3 km to go was a race of races with Bruseghin going for it and the pack following. Bruseghin went to early - Visconti charged, building himself a 100m lead with 1km left. But his legs gave up with less than .2 km left to go when Petacchi came through with a time of 4:45:27.

Once again, stage 3 of the Giro d'Italia did not disappoint setting up a great race circuit. After the jump Giro d'Italia Stage 3 video >

The 162 km Stage 4 Giro d'Italia tomorrow, May 12, has the cyclist beginning from the beautiful canal-town of Padua (Padova) to San Martino di Castrozza in the mountains. We'll be watching the climbers to see who is saving their legs and to see who is peaking too early as the Giro d'Italia stage 4 heads toward the Italian Alps.





















For a little taste of Verona in the Veneto region click below:

For more Italy video of the region where the Giro d'Italia stage 1, stage 2, stage 3, and tomorrow's stage 4 click WebVisionItaly.com - Italy video of the Veneto region of Italy including Padua, Venice, Verona, and Vicenza.

Backpacking and Baths in Budapest

Of all the places in eastern Europe that I traveled to last year I have to say that Budapest perhaps more than any other city offered the largest selection of things to do, places to go out and party and great buildings to see. Perhaps this isn't that surprising, considering that Budapest is in fact technically speaking 2 large cities separated by the river Danube: Buda and Pest - get it? Ok, so maybe its not rocket science to understand, but what it does mean is you effectively have 2 big cities rolled into one giant capital to walk around and explore. How's that for value for money?!

If you have travelled to the city in summer, you will no doubt notice that the temperatures can get pretty high by Europe's standards. I'm not sure if I visited the city in the middle of a heat wave last year but at 38 degrees centigrade it was pretty warm let me tell you. Combine this burning heat with walking about 10 miles a day around the city to avoid paying for public transport and you are no doubt going to be ready to cool off. Luckily, Budapest has some of the biggest and best Turkish baths in Europe - if not the world - which are great places to take a load off. My favourite which I visited was the grandeur surroundings of the Gellert baths built back in 1918.

The indoor pool has one of the most impressive interiors I have seen - intricate and detailed tiles throughout, huge classical style columns and a glass roof.

The outdoor pool has been recently improved and updated and is in itself something great to behold, with a wave machine that is just like standing in the sea being pummeled by the real thing! No doubt that there is a lot of great fun in the sun to be had in there. There are also a lot of more relaxing chill out areas with benches outside and a smaller, very warm pool to relax in - perfect for the hung over backpacker. When visiting Gellert baths you really can't miss out on the thermal baths either. This unique experience is apparently very good for the skin - but watch out for the transition between the baking steam room and the freezing plunge pool. I felt that the baths also offer very good value entertainment - although I'm told that Gellert is the most expensive of the baths I still spent the entire day there and it only cost me around 10 quid!

UEFA Finals Rome: Barcelona ties Chelsea, Faces Manchester United

Barcelona tied Chelsea with a spectacular goal by Andrés Iniesta's in the 93rd minute during penalty time to tie the game 1-1. Since Barcelona was the away team its goal counted for more than Chelsea's goal, meaning the tie goes to the away team and Barcelona is going to Rome to face Manchester United in the Champions League UEFA final in Rome May 27. Last year Manchester United beat Chelsea in the finals, but there will be no repeat this year.

Manchester United Going to UEFA Finals in Rome

Manchester United remains on course to become the first team to reach the Europe Champions League final, scoring two goals in the first 11 minutes led to a defeat of Arsenal 3-1 for a 4-1 aggregate victory and a place in the final against either Chelsea or Barcelona, which game will be played tomorrow, in Rome at the UEFA Finals.

Beautiful Barcelona: A Guide To Europes Capital of Art

Barcelona is capital of the Spanish province of Cataluna and is situated on the beautiful Mediterranean coast in the North East coast of Spain. The city has become an iconic centre of culture with its history of fine art, architecture, food and sport. Perhaps amongst the most famous in his field, the artist and architect Antoni Gaudi designed the huge cathedral that has become the cities most famous iconic landmark - a truly ornate structure quite unique to anything I have seen across the world. The intricacies of its decoration are quite fantastic to behold - and at just a short tube journey from the central street of Las Ramblas this really has to be worth a visit. While on Las Ramblas you can take the time to check out the numerous cafes, bars and restaurants that line the street - and don't forget to check out the fantastic fish market which produces some of the finest and freshest seafood in Europe. Why not follow Las Ramblas down to the sea front and see the famous bridge and picturesque docks and harbour.

Fans of football the world over know and fear the name Barcelona - a club enshrined by legendary status in the sport. The Spanish giants look set to regain the La Liga title this term and face Chelsea in the Champions League Semi Final. You can watch some of the worlds best players such as Messi, Etoo and Henry at the huge and magnificent Nou Camp Stadium here in Barcelona and even take a tour of the ground during the day to see the huge selection of trophies the club have won over the years. I found attending a match at the 120,000 capacity ground quite awe inspiring and when the crown are behind their team for a big game such as against league rivals Real the noise and atmosphere can be deafening.
If you are looking for a good, friendly hostel in which to stay I can highly recommend "Hello BCN". The hostel has friendly staff, a large common room with a bar and table tennis, gym and excellent internet access from either the free WIFI or the computers provided. At around 20 euros a night it wasn't the cheapest I'd stayed in, but it has an excellent location and the facilites are worth the money.

Cracking Krakow: Poland's Party Town

Although only the third largest city in Poland, I have to say that Krakow was for me, by far the best place we visited - and one of my favourite cities in Eastern Europe. The city has it all: a beautiful old town square with a superb market, great nightlife, friendly and fun people, and in summer at least some very nice sunshine and temperatures into the mid 30s. It is also still relatively cheap once there - in spite of large price increases in the last few years due to the growth in tourism in the region. Heading just out of town there are still places where we managed to grab a 1 litre stein of beer for around £1. Prices are a little higher in the square but still very reasonable in both the bars and restaurants which can be found in abundance in this area. There are also great places to visit nearby such as the salt mines with its huge underground cathedral decorated with ornate salt carvings. You can also take a very inexpensive guide to the former Nazi concentration camp Auschwitz which is not far from the city. I personally found this to be a very humbling and often distressing experience and it is certainly not for the faint hearted or young children. If you are backpacking as I was when I last visited and are looking for a great hostel I would suggest the NEW (as their are 2 hostels of the same name!) "Goodbye Lenin: Lets Rock" Hostel situated around 3 minutes from the old town square. An excellent hostel with great facilities and staff is yours for around 12 quid a night including breakfast - a very reasonable rate!