Don't wanna be here? Send us removal request.
Statistics
We looked inside some of the posts by iainisnotinberlin and here's what we found interesting.
Average Info
Notes Per Post
0
Likes Per Post
0
Reblog Per Post
0
Reply Per Post
0
Time Between Posts
2 days
Number of Posts By Type
Text
11
Video
3
Photo
3
Last Seen Tumblr Blogs
Fun Fact
US Tumblr user growth rate is estimated to slow down to 4.1%.
Text
Genoa (via Bologna)
Unsurprisingly the flixbus was slightly hellish, and arriving to Bologna bus station at six o’clock on a soggy Sunday morning was not ideal, but I decided to make the most of my three hours in the city. I set course for what looked to be the centre, a straight shot south of where I had been dropped off. Stopping for some rocket fuel coffee on the way, before long I had perked up and was enjoying the deserted vias and piazzas of the old town, some of which are very impressive. However the undisputed highlight of my time there was seeing this beauty.
Back on the flix bus I managed another hour or so of sleep, then awoke to enjoy the wonderfully mountainous surroundings on the way down the coast. There were plenty of valleys and ravines to hold my attention, but also slightly concerned for my life. My lack of faith in the drivers was unfounded however, and I arrived unscathed in Genoa at around 13:30. I was first greeted by a motorway which was pretty gross then a view of an industrial port (Italy’s largest) so my first impressions were not overly good. I walked to the hostel to meet Antoniya then we headed out for a short walk only to find the streets crammed with people (locals, not tourists I was informed). To avoid the crowds we went for ice-cream with a couple of her friends and I was delighted to discover that they had many varieties of vegan flavours! We had the ice cream then headed back to the hostel. Later I went out for a pizza to a place that apparently had vegan cheese. It was pretty good and I then walked back to the hostel. My time out alone was pleasant, but it did nothing to improve my view of Genoa as a city. I hoped to be proved wrong!
Writing this in Stuttgart as I am, the last couple of days in Genoa have merged into one, however my opinion of the city improved considerably over the next few days. Early on in my stay I went for a run along the coast which was enjoyable, as the road snakes through several small towns. I had hoped to go for a swim, but after getting into the sea up to chest height the quality of the water changed my mind! Apparently there are several nicer beaches a bit further away, but I didn’t have time to visit them.
The hostel I was staying in was pretty social, and I felt that I had to be a bit friendlier than usual as I was visiting Antoniya. Her co-volunteers were very nice and we had some good chats but I was fortunate to have some solitude during the day and quiet roommates so there was a good balance. Also the rooms had air-conditioning which was glorious! A downside of the hostel was the constant small-talk (as mentioned previously). It’s difficult as sometimes you have to get through the shit-chat to arrive at some good conversation, a bit like dating (I assume). Another downside of hostels, and one that I’ve not experienced so far as I’ve not spoken to anyone, is the transient nature of them. However maybe this helps one to live in the moment more, knowing that you can have a good time with people and happily never see them again.
Two more nice characteristics of Genoa revealed themselves to me later in the stint. Firstly, it is quite famous for the old town’s tiny alleyways, apparently used as a defensive tactic against invaders. It was very enjoyable wandering around them, not knowing what will be round the next corner. Secondly, the nature surrounding the city is quite impressive. I took the funicular up to Righi (€1.60 each way) and went for a quick lunchtime hike. The views from that high were very pleasant, containing a nice contrast of sea, city and forest.
After these activities, it was my last day in Genoa. I checked out of my room, went for a nice lunch at the only vegan place in town and worked the remainder of the day. In the evening I had dinner with Antoniya and friends which was very nice. As I hadn’t been able to spend much time with her as she had been ill and working a lot. Still I’d had a lovely time in Genoa, and after saying my goodbyes I headed to the bus stop for my next destination!
0 notes
Text
Forgot to post these from Vienna! Interesting signage style from the metro.
0 notes
Text
Klagenfurt/ Wörthersee
I departed Vienna for Klagenfurt, catching the train at 10:20 from Vienna Hauptbahnhof. I was really looking forward to spending some time by myself, or at least sleeping in a room alone, and being in nature after a couple of weeks in large cities. The train journey was very pleasant and I really got a feel of the topography of Austria. After a relatively flat start the train snakes up and down valleys and through the occasional mountain. I had a fairly unproductive morning as the train wi-fi was crap, but the view out the window was a serviceable alternative to work.
I arrived at Klagenfurt at 14:20 and instead of getting a taxi as I had originally planned due to an unfavourable bus timetable, I decided to wait 2 hours until the bus arrived. I set up camp at the station bar, enjoyed a coffee and a couple of beers and made up for my lack of work in the morning. Shortly before the bus was due I paid up and headed for the bus stop. A 40 minute journey later I was at my stop, and walked 10 minutes to my destination.
The guesthouse is in a small village called Dellach and has a golf course directly adjacent. It is a sweet place with a nice area to sit outside and very quiet, with sounds of animals and insects occasionally interrupted by the ping of a golf shot. I met the host, dropped my stuff in the room and headed out to see the Aussichtsturm Pyramidenkogel, a landmark I had seen previously on maps. As the crow flies it is probably less than a kilometre, however it’s quite a windy road and the hike features a fair amount of aerial elevation.
I arrived at the tower after a wonderful hour featuring breathtaking views. I was also lucky enough to see a bird of prey (not sure which species) up close, as I inadvertently interrupted it’s resting place causing it to fly off towards the lake below. There were quite a few people around the tower and it seems to be a popular attraction, so I paid my €14 and took the 440 steps up to the top which wasn’t a lot after the hike I had just done! The price was totally worth it. There was a 360 degree view and it was one of the most stunning places I’ve ever seen. There were lakes, forests, plains and mountains fading into the distance for as far as the eye could see, and with sunset approaching the colours of the clouds, sun and lake were glorious.
After taking far too many photos and plenty of gawking I took the steps back down and went to the restaurant at the bottom. I looked at the menu and to my surprise and delight there were vegan options. The waiter came over and said that only pizzas were available so I was somewhat dismayed, but after looking at the menu it transpired that they had vegan cheese! So I had a pizza and a beer in the fading light, then headed back down to my accommodation in the vain hope I’d be back before it was fully dark. I was not there before it was fully dark and on the way back down I broke into a run, but in the end I resigned myself to walking through the woods with only my phone light as company. I got back to the guesthouse at around 22:00 and headed to be shortly after, glad I had got the most out of my evening.
Day two in Wörthersee. I arose at around 8:00 after a pretty good night’s sleep and started work quite quickly after as i wanted to have a long lunch. I spent the morning working in between the courtyard and my room, as the room is very warm. My host had told me that in Maria Wörth it was possible to rent bikes from the tourist information office and I wanted to be a bit more mobile, so I went for a run there at lunchtime.
On the run I passed by several great looking swimming holes, but I had decided that I should reward myself with a swim on the way back from the run. I got plenty of funny looks, as I’m probably not the sort of person to visit Wörthersee. It seems very rich and full of older couples, and the way the majority of the lakeside property is privately owned is pretty depressing. There are very few sections where the public can swim for free. Still I was aiming to find a good spot on the way back.
I arrived at Maria Wörth, had a quick coffee (first of the day) and a mooch about the village/ waterfront. I found the tourist information and spoke to the employees, but it wasn’t possible to rent a bike for more than one day, and I don’t have much use for it between 8:30 and 18:30 so I declined. Around this point I noticed that I haven’t spoken English in 2 days, definitely the longest time ever.
Slightly dismayed, but looking forward to running more I set off back to the guest house and stopped at the best swimming spot on the way back. It was just off the road, but featured plenty of space for 40-odd people to chill out in the sun. I dumped my stuff and headed straight in to the water. It was quite warm, but so incredibly blue and clear, more so than I’ve ever seen in my life! The swim was so joyous and it felt amazing being in the lake and seeing the beautiful hills and mountains all around.
I left the ‘beach’ and arrived back at the house and had a casual afternoon’s work. Then in the evening I thought I’d head into Velden, the main town on the lake, for the evening and see what it’s like. It was over an hour’s walk away and I arrived there at around 20:30. Unfortunately, the place was horrible. It was full of middle-aged rich-looking couples and tourist families and felt very tacky. On the walk I did see the below bar, but it seemed to be long dead. I found a petrol station and hot-footed it back to the guesthouse as quickly as possible. I got home at around 11 then headed to bed.
The next morning I planned out the day to come. I wanted to go for a swim and a read at lunchtime, then head to one of restaurants I came across yesterday in the evening. The first part was achieved successfully, but by 17:00 there was a spectacular thunderstorm, which also featured some large hailstones. I was confined to my room for an hour and a half, but after the storm passed I wandered down to the restaurant (spotting some storm destruction en route) for some soup and pommes, the only vegan options on the menu. It was satisfying to have a decent dinner though, as it’s been difficult to maintain a good diet the last few days as there’s not too much around and no kitchen.
During the evening there was some spectacular lightning strikes on the other side of the lake, which were distracting, but also very cool. After dinner, a few beers and making a considerable dent in my book I wandered home to pack up my things and read some more!
The next day I was checking out, so I awoke at around 8:00, went through the familiar routine of packing up my things, then headed downstairs. I had checked the bus times and to my dismay I found that they don’t run at the weekends. I asked my host to provide me with a good taxi firm, but fortunately he gave me another suggestion. It turned out there’s a ferry which goes to Klagenfurt and after checking the ferry website we discovered the next one was in 10 minutes. I hastily said my goodbyes and got to the jetty with 5 minutes to spare, which was handy as the next one was 3 hours later. The journey took around an hour and was extremely enjoyable, made even better by getting a large discount due to my Wörthersee discount card! It halved the price to around €8 and also provided me with free bus travel around town all day.
Once docking at Klagenfurt I hopped off and caught the bus into town. After alighting the bus I walked to the hauptbahnhof to deposit my bags in a locker and proceeded to have a wander around the city. After a quick lap I came across the stadtsgalerie, which had three exhibitions on, the highlight of the three being a display of photographs from a recent body-painting festival to which Klagenfurt is host.
After my culture fix I had a couple of beers, a bit more wandering then decided to go to the bouldering gym, Boulderama. First impressions were it was a good size gym, very quiet and a wee bit dirty. A lot of the walls had comp stuff on them which is unfortunate a I think I would have preferred some more everyday problems. Still I climbed for a few hours until my fingers were raw, then walked to the only vegan restaurant in town, triVida. Sadly the outdoor area was full, so I had to sit inside alone. I had a wrap/ summer roll-esque creation to start and a polenta pizza as a main. Both were really nice and I had a beer alongside. The waitresses were very friendly and I ended up chatting to one of them for about 2 hours. She was pretty cool and was also quite a talented artist!
I left around 22:30 still with a few hours to kill until my bus to Genoa, so upon my new friend’s recommendation I went to a few bars near the restaurant. I had a couple of beers and read, but during my time in the bar it started to rain very heavily! Fortunately it eased off just before I had to leave, so I wandered to the bus station and boarded the bus to Bologna, after a fantastic last day in Austria.
0 notes
Text
Vienna
I ended my stay in Prague in a low-key manner, with a quiet work day then checking out a new bouldering gym in the evening. The gym was decent, with a large lead section and an equally spacious bouldering section at the back. I’d read on the internet that the gym is an old Skoda factory and the surroundings, a bleak industrial area on the outer edge of town, would suggest it’s true. Following a somewhat sweaty, but social session I arrived back to the hostel to find my room empty and was so excited to have a night’s sleep without squeaky beds, snoring or people pottering about. Unfortunately, I had some roommates arrive very late and wake me up, but such is life.
In the morning I arose at 7, said goodbye to the people I’d been talking to in the hostel and set off for the coach station. The coach journey was great as I managed to get 2 seats to myself and catch up on an hours’ sleep. After my nap I made more of a dent in my book (Three Body Problem pt.2) and was in Vienna before too long. I arrived at the hostel and found them to be self-contained apartments with six bunk beds and very clean & pleasant. I dropped my stuff off, did some food shopping then went to meet Johannes, who had invited me to hang out and swim at the Donauinsel, which is a 20km long man-made island in the Danube. Soon after arriving, Kevin showed up and we had a mini-Albarracin reunion, which was great!
Having had a few hours by the river we headed out for a beer and then walked back to the hostel. Everyone in the apartments is very quiet, which is very much appreciated.
The next morning (Sunday 21st August) I woke at around 10(!), breakfasted then went for a walk to the historical area of the city. On the way I stopped for a coffee and a read at a coffee shop for an hour. I then had a quick mooch around some sights and made my way to Blokfabrik, a bouldering gym suggested by Johannes. We had a really long and good session, a quick beer then Kevin and I went for dinner at a vegan place called Swing Kitchen which does vegan burgers. It was a solid feed, although the place is a bit heavy on the single use utensils and cups. We then had some vegan ice cream from Veganista and wandered back to our hood and parted ways to our respective abodes.
It has been playing on my mind how difficult it is to maintain both a healthy diet and a minimal-waste lifestyle when travelling. Whilst it is possible, when moving constantly and not wanting to spend all my time in the hostel I am less inclined to cook for myself and also getting food on the go all the time means it is an unfortunate necessity to use some plastic from time-to-time. However from now on I will try to be more conscious and prepared.
Monday was somewhat busy, having previously planned to go for a bike ride to Wienerwald, a sizeable forest just outside of the city. I awoke 10 minutes before my alarm to a noise that I assume is what a car-crusher sounds like, although it may have been the bins getting picked up. However it was not entirely unwelcome as it meant I could start my work day at 7:00. At around 14:00 I headed to a bike hire shop to pick up my ride for the day, met Kevin then set off for the hills. After a short time going through the city we came across a cycle path that followed alongside a small river below street-level. It was a great route and it led us directly out of the city and into the suburbs, then the forest.
We cycled for around 10km, then got off the bikes to go for a short hike. The map said there was a tower at the top of the hill and we assumed there was a lookout there. Unfortunately, upon summiting we found it to be a small monument commemorating an early patron of the forest/ conservation area. Still, it was a good workout and enjoyed finding a bit of peace and quiet, even though we could hear a noisy road. A highlight of the hike was coming across a warthog pen, and there were a dozen or so little striped piglets running around which were adorable. I’ll live in ignorant bliss regarding their fate though.
We descended the hill back to the bikes, then continued our ride to Wienerwaldsee, as it seemed like a good waypoint to reach before heading back. We had vague hopes of squeezing in a swim but unfortunately the lake didn’t seem like a good swimming lake.
After a brief break and refuelling at the lake we cycled back into Vienna the same way we had left it. I really enjoyed riding along the sunken cycle route, and also it was interesting how quickly one could be in some beautiful natural surroundings. It was not 40 minutes from leaving the hostel to being in what is apparently a pretty vast forest.
We got back into town very tired and hungry, so we chose convenience over quality and went for a curry at a place next door to my hostel. it was decent and very necessary, so I wasn’t complaining too much. I crawled into bed completely shattered at around midnight.
In my last full day in Vienna I went climbing (again) with Johannes to a gym called boulder bar. I started work at 8:00 then cycled to the bike hire place to return the bike I had the rented. A short U-bahn trip later I was at Boulder Bar, arriving just after 12:00. We had a good 3.5 hour session and were pretty destroyed afterwards with both my skin and arms in quite a sorry state.
Around 16:00 I said goodbye to Johannes and caught the U6 back to the hostel to finish my days work. I worked until around 19:00 then ventured out to get some food. Not feeling great physically or mentally I wanted something quick and easy so I headed back to Swing Kitchen for another burger! I don’t feel overly bad about wasting my last night in Vienna. I’ve had a great few days seeing friends, which will always be more important than the sight-seeing aspect of travelling. Also it was stiflingly hot and really wasn’t in the mood to walk around constantly sweating! So my last night in Vienna was spent in the hostel room sitting in front of the air-conditioner 🤘
Onwards to Klagenfurt!
0 notes
Text
Sharing a room. No privacy. Snoring. Constantly changing people. Small talk.
None of these things are nearly as bad as the music played in this hostel. Maybe I should open a metal hostel.
Also I’ve definitely noticed a gap in hostel-listings website market. I searched the internet for ‚best nature hostels in europe‘ and all that came up was a few listicles, whereas I think a website for niche hostels (ones in national parks or ones based around relaxation, for example) would be really useful.
0 notes
Video
vimeo
Timelapse/ Sunset video. It was fun to make a video and put music to it! It came out OK, but if the sun was shining it would have been better. Also featuring some monks heading home after a night on the town, as there is a monastery on the hill.
0 notes
Text
Prague III
Another day, another niche museum-based disappointment. As mentioned there are some lovely trams in Prague and I had intended to visit the Public Transport Museum, but after a quick look at reviews on the internet I found out that it’s only open on weekends!
Not to be dismayed, I found another interesting attraction near the hostel - the Karel Zeman Museum. Zeman was a pioneer of stop-motion animation and combining live action & animated footage using a variety of techniques. His most famous works being film adaptions of Jules Verne books.
youtube
The museum itself was compact and very interesting, explaining in detail how the animating techniques worked. There were video breakdowns, diagrams as well as some physical recreations of the sets and props (like below) and took around 1.5 hours to get around.
After work I went for dinner at a restaurant called ‘Loving Hut’ which was a decent vegan asian buffet restaurant. It was very cheap, filling and had hot sriracha so who’s complaining? In the evening I wanted to be somewhere quiet & relaxing with nice views so I went for a wander up to the Petřín Lookout Tower and found a nice spot the other side of the park. It was a little busy with people but the view was so lovely I couldn’t complain too much. After the sun, which unfortunately was obscured by some pesky clouds, had set I walked back to the hostel to find a new person in the hostel. She was from Bristol and had been interrailling for 2 months. We were perhaps a bit more on the same page about what we enjoy travel-wise and had a good chat. Around midnight I headed to be to see if I could have a good night’s sleep this time (hint: I didn’t).
0 notes
Text
Prague II
The next day i was determined to do as much as possible so I had set my alarm for 7:00. In the end I think I awoke at around 7:30 as I’d had an interrupted night of sleep due to my bunkmate snoring loudly. I had anticipated being woken up due to other people being loud/ boozed but had not thought of snoring as a factor! I ended up listening to some ‘pink noise’ and rain sounds on Spotify, which I actually found quite relaxing. However, only having headphones rather than earphones meant I couldn’t sleep on my side easily. Earphones are now on the shopping list.
Anyway, I then had productive morning of work, punctuated by researching museums or attractions that might tickle my fancy. After flicking through some websites I decided the Czech Poster Museum would be today’s daytime activity, potentially getting some lunch on the way back. Charting at a respectable #195 on the tripadvisor list of things to do in Prague, I set course for it at around 13:00.
Upon arriving at the address listed on the website I was greeted not with three floors of beautiful poster designs, but a locked door and empty building. I searched the local side streets for any sign but came up empty handed. There does appear to be little evidence of its existence on the internet, and maybe tripadvisor is a bit out of date. Somewhat disappointed and wanting to escape the throngs of tourists I headed back to the park where I had started yesterday’s run. After a quick climb then descent I ended up at Natureza, a vegetarian restaurant not far from the hostel. I enjoyed a very satisfying chickpea curry in a garden with lots of greenery and a bonus shiba!
After lunch I walked the short distance back to the hostel and finished working, whilst thinking of a suitable evening activity. I decided to find a classical music concert and successfully found one at st Stephens church on the old town square. During the afternoon a new guy moved into my room and he was a bit more sociable than any other people in the hostel so far. I’d grown happy sitting, scowling in the corner of the kitchen all day not being bothered by anyone else, however he was a nice chap and it was good to have a conversation with someone.
So after that I set off for the concert, braving the gauntlet that is the Old Town. It was around 20 minutes walk to the church, but most of it was through big tourist areas and the church itself was on a main plaza. However once inside the church, it was very quiet and relaxing. After 10 minutes of waiting, the musicians came out. They comprised of 5 violinists, a double bass player and a cellist. They played one song, then a trumpeter entered, adding a bit extra to the performance! It was really enjoyable and the musicians were very talented (not that a philistine such as myself would know any better).
Feeling somewhat peckish, after the concert and more people dodging I walked across town to Plevel, situated in a quieter neighbourhood south- east of the old town. After summiting a hill I descended a short way to the restaurant. The menu was creative, the interior was kooky without being off putting and the staff were very cool. To start I had a sweet potato and pea dish, which was nice and fresh, and as a main I had a Halušky, which is apparently a Slovak dumpling dish. This was a vegan version with spinach dumplings and tempeh and it was delicious!
Once I had savoured the last of my dinner I walked back to the hostel in a roundabout sort of way. I wanted to avoid the crowds so instead of going to the Altstadt I skirted round the edge of it, and for the first time in a while found myself alone on a street. The feeling of peace and contentment was so wonderful that I didn’t want to have to brave the city tomorrow!
0 notes