Up at 5am - checked Facebook and emails. Rang the missus. Breakfast at seven. Checked out of the hotel at eight and stored my luggage until I was ready to catch my bus to Vienna. Generally I found the Hotel President to be very clean, toilet was a bit cramped in a separate room where you had to maneouvre underneath the basin to sit down, warm, very slow heat up for the shower, very good breakfast and great wifi. No problems staying here again.
Walked through the city and over a bridge, Starý Most, that the road has been decommissioned on and has become a pedestrian bridge. Nice view of the city. Only 2°C.
In the Petržalka are I walked down to a new bridge and then along the frozen mud of the riverbank. Different view of the city on offer. Ventured to Sad Janka Kráľa, a park, and it looks a bit sad in winter. Saw a brown squirrel.
Was interested in taking the lift to the top of the UFO restaurant but it was 6.50 euros and it didn't open for another half an hour so I didn't bother. Walked across the bridge, Most SNP, and made my way, the long way, to the clock museum. Turns out this didn't open until 11 so I shot up to the castle. There was a sign telling me where the tickets could be obtained but there was nothing in that direction. Went to the entrance, hurriedly after noticing a busload of Japanese tourists (!), and was told to go back to the ticket office. Duly did so, asked in Slovak for a ticket costing 4 euros, and was provided with a free ticket. Dunno why.
Didn't find the displays of tapestries, history of Methodius and Cyril all that interesting though. Not overly anyway. Some of the paintings on display were nice but you had to have paid for a ticket allowing you to take photos if you wanted to. Display for a castle that was damaged by fire provoked me to make a donation towards reconstruction. View from the turret of the castle was great.
Clock museum next. Three cramped floors of clocks dating from the 17th century. Pity no photos allowed as there were some interesting ones.
Spent some time souvenir hunting before returning to collect my luggage and then walked to the bus station. Had what I thought was my ticket, it was all that I required to get from Vienna to Bratislava, and was told off by the bus driver for not having the correct paperwork. Nevermind. Wifi didn't work so well on the return leg. Grabbed some lunch from Spar in Vienna and talked to the missus on the free wifi.
Found my driver for the trip to Leoben and waited for my Chinese colleague. We talked all the way. Checked in at the Kindler Hotel just before 6pm. Had a shower, possibly best I've ever experienced in a hotel, and met downstairs for dinner at 6:30pm. Nice evening, lovely food at Arkadenhof Gaststätte Schwarzer Adler, dating back to 904 (think that is the town of Leoben and not necessarily the restaurant itself), of sauerkraut and black pudding. Went to bed very tired.
Showing posts with label Slovakia. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Slovakia. Show all posts
Sunday, July 28, 2013
Saturday, June 01, 2013
Short European Trip - Fri
Up early checking emails, bread and cheese/salami for breakfast with a big cup of tea. Could get used to that. Took Michal's youngest son to school, dropped off his skis in Stupava, where Janette Husarova used to train, so they could be sharpened. Few more errands to run. Visited his parents who are both elderly but live at home. The basement had water in it as there had been lots of snow this year and its melting had caused some problems. Came back for lunch where we had a very sweet pasta which looked like a dumpling. Gave his mother some mugs with Australian birds on them - she looked after me quite well when I visited back in '95. Their dog was very timid at first but once he became comfortable with me all he wanted to do was shake hands. Funny that they keep the gate locked, not to keep the dog in, but to keep people out.
Sweet dumplings
Me tucking into the sweet dumplings
Also visited Marianka which is a religious site. So cold, lots of snow, and the place looked beautiful.
Marianka
Off to the golf course - Golf Club Pegas, Lozorno. Only four holes were playable as the course had been under snow until a couple of days ago. Hit a bucket of balls on the driving range. Cold, only 3°C. Time to play - partnered with Patrick against Miro and Peter (Petko). We played a competition for the best score and best summary for each pair for one point each. Scores were tied at the end of the match so we played again. Patrick and I won so Peter and Miro had to buy the tea/coffee.
Driving range
Golf Club Pegas, Lozorno
Bunker filled with snow
Don't fall in at the 9th
Picturesque green at the 9th
Didn't get to finish my tea before we had to go home for a quick bite and find Michal's dog who had gotten out. We drove around town and I found him near Michal's parent's place. Dropped some mugs off for Miro's parents as well before heading back to pick up the skis and get dropped off at Hotel President where I would be staying. Hole no. 9 is 268m and I had to take relief from the road in front of the hole with one of my drives - so I hit it about 250m off the tee. Like the clubs that I borrowed. Had one shot out of the snow in the bunker and put it on. Peter nearly fell in the water on the 9th at one stage.
Enjoying a winning tea after the game
Checked emails, sent some photos to the missus and went to bed very tired after quite a fun day.
Sweet dumplings
Me tucking into the sweet dumplings
Also visited Marianka which is a religious site. So cold, lots of snow, and the place looked beautiful.
Marianka
Off to the golf course - Golf Club Pegas, Lozorno. Only four holes were playable as the course had been under snow until a couple of days ago. Hit a bucket of balls on the driving range. Cold, only 3°C. Time to play - partnered with Patrick against Miro and Peter (Petko). We played a competition for the best score and best summary for each pair for one point each. Scores were tied at the end of the match so we played again. Patrick and I won so Peter and Miro had to buy the tea/coffee.
Driving range
Golf Club Pegas, Lozorno
Bunker filled with snow
Don't fall in at the 9th
Picturesque green at the 9th
Didn't get to finish my tea before we had to go home for a quick bite and find Michal's dog who had gotten out. We drove around town and I found him near Michal's parent's place. Dropped some mugs off for Miro's parents as well before heading back to pick up the skis and get dropped off at Hotel President where I would be staying. Hole no. 9 is 268m and I had to take relief from the road in front of the hole with one of my drives - so I hit it about 250m off the tee. Like the clubs that I borrowed. Had one shot out of the snow in the bunker and put it on. Peter nearly fell in the water on the 9th at one stage.
Enjoying a winning tea after the game
Checked emails, sent some photos to the missus and went to bed very tired after quite a fun day.
Monday, April 01, 2013
Short European Trip - Thurs
On the flight from Singapore my travelling companions are a slightly older German couple from Göttingen, was it? Somewhere between Dresden and Halle an der Saale. They were returning from three weeks in New Zealand. I introduced myself in German, which broke the ice, but they wouldn't tell me their names. Difficult to make conversation with my very limited German but I tried. The lady spoke so quickly so it was a case of trying to get the gist of it.
No chicken left by the time supper was served so I had to have the braised pork which turned out to be fabulous. Mashed potato was inedible though.
By crikey the German girls seated behind me can yack and the one directly behind me kept bumping my seat. So close to me unleashing a bit of air rage.
Watched Lincoln which was great apart from the background aircraft noise which meant that it was very difficult to hear and detracted from the enjoyment greatly. Subtitles would have been handy.
Awake until about 2:30am back home (7:30pm Frankfurt time). Woke up about 1am destination time but listened to music on my mobile - glad I charged my mobile when using the laptop.
Landed about 5:20am and was able to find my way to Terminal 1 section A within an hour. Could've made the much earlier flight if I'd known how simple passport control and no luggage to collect was going to be. Funny thing at passport control - one guy was directing the human traffic flow for the foreigners and was getting a bit upset that people weren't lining up into two lines near the exit point. It wasn't marked, mind you. Then one foreigner behind me got angry with him for "treating people like cattle," and told him so. The guy called out to a passport controller. He started yelling at the protester, who spoke German well, and it was highly amusing to see them yell at each other. The protester suspected that he would be given quite a hard time afterwards but following some words with a security guy nothing more came of it.
Obtained my boarding pass, found my gate, and plugged in the laptop and mobile for a couple of hours of emails and charging. Internet charge was Euro 4.95/24 hours. Toilets were nothing special but some of the lounges were very comfortable. By boarding time for the flight to Vienna I had a headache. Not enough to drink on the plane, I guess. When I went to take my seat I noticed an older guy sitting in my window seat but thought not to argue and took the aisle seat. Later, another gentleman wanted a seat on the other side of the aisle which was taken by someone else who then wanted my seat and we found out that the first guy was in the wrong row! Couple of no-shows so a delay to remove their luggage was experienced.
Quite a few Asians working at the terminal - their German was fine. Don't see too many typical looking Germans doing the menial tasks at the airport. And Frankfurt Airport is enormous. It has a Camel Smoking Booth - but I didn't see any camels in there, only humans.
Nice view of the Alps en route to Vienna. At one point I was able to spot five planes heading in the other direction at the same time. Quite a busy route. Saw a falcon or hawk sitting on one of the runway signs at Vienna International Airport. Supposedly only 3°C in Vienna. Lots of snow surrounding the city. Couldn't see any animals outside on the farms as we approached the airport.
Free WLAN in Vienna! Exited the arrival area and found the ÖBB Intercitybus counter. Cash only so had to change some British pounds that I had left over from the last holiday. Bought my return ticket but was too late for the 11:30 bus. Bought some sandwiches, a bottle of water and a block of chocolate @ Spar Gourmet for less than six euros!
Bus ride took less than one hour - free wifi onboard. Even got to call my missus for free. You can see Bratislavsky Hrad (Bratislava Castle) from so far away. Only waited about 15 minutes for my friend, Michal, to arrive although the bus was a little early. He had a conference to attend so took my luggage and asked me to meet him at the Danube Hotel @ 4:30pm.
I headed off to Ondrezy Cintorin, a cemetery, and had a look around. Some famous people buried there, all of them dead. Then wandered around until I found Centrum - centre of town. Searched for the tourist info which had signs pointing to it but the building itself wasn't that obvious so I missed it the first time and did a lap of the city centre. Obtained a map and made my way to Michalska brana - St Michael's Gate, the only remaining city gate of four originally. It houses some very old weapons and war memorabilia, along with Slovak independence history, and there's a good view of the city from atop the tower. Had a bit of time left so walked up to the hrad. Good view of the city too. Didn't have time to check out the castle so walked around two of the walls and then went down. Passed the US embassy, which was a pedestrian-free zone, and saw the national theatre (divadlo) before making my way down to the Danube River. Visited the port to see if I could catch a sightseeing boat to Hrad Devin but they only operate from May. Discovered that there is free wifi in the city. Walked along the Danube until I reached the Park Inn Hotel Danube where Michal came to pick me up.
Picked up his son from school and then went to the Max Inn Hotel to meet his brother-in-law. I had fettuccine prawns and it was close to the spiciest meal I've ever eaten. Very nice though.
Back to Michal's house where I met his eldest son. We watched some golf, had pizza, helped his youngest boy with some English homework (reading) and saw the dog and cat.
No chicken left by the time supper was served so I had to have the braised pork which turned out to be fabulous. Mashed potato was inedible though.
By crikey the German girls seated behind me can yack and the one directly behind me kept bumping my seat. So close to me unleashing a bit of air rage.
Watched Lincoln which was great apart from the background aircraft noise which meant that it was very difficult to hear and detracted from the enjoyment greatly. Subtitles would have been handy.
Awake until about 2:30am back home (7:30pm Frankfurt time). Woke up about 1am destination time but listened to music on my mobile - glad I charged my mobile when using the laptop.
Landed about 5:20am and was able to find my way to Terminal 1 section A within an hour. Could've made the much earlier flight if I'd known how simple passport control and no luggage to collect was going to be. Funny thing at passport control - one guy was directing the human traffic flow for the foreigners and was getting a bit upset that people weren't lining up into two lines near the exit point. It wasn't marked, mind you. Then one foreigner behind me got angry with him for "treating people like cattle," and told him so. The guy called out to a passport controller. He started yelling at the protester, who spoke German well, and it was highly amusing to see them yell at each other. The protester suspected that he would be given quite a hard time afterwards but following some words with a security guy nothing more came of it.
Obtained my boarding pass, found my gate, and plugged in the laptop and mobile for a couple of hours of emails and charging. Internet charge was Euro 4.95/24 hours. Toilets were nothing special but some of the lounges were very comfortable. By boarding time for the flight to Vienna I had a headache. Not enough to drink on the plane, I guess. When I went to take my seat I noticed an older guy sitting in my window seat but thought not to argue and took the aisle seat. Later, another gentleman wanted a seat on the other side of the aisle which was taken by someone else who then wanted my seat and we found out that the first guy was in the wrong row! Couple of no-shows so a delay to remove their luggage was experienced.
Quite a few Asians working at the terminal - their German was fine. Don't see too many typical looking Germans doing the menial tasks at the airport. And Frankfurt Airport is enormous. It has a Camel Smoking Booth - but I didn't see any camels in there, only humans.
Nice view of the Alps en route to Vienna. At one point I was able to spot five planes heading in the other direction at the same time. Quite a busy route. Saw a falcon or hawk sitting on one of the runway signs at Vienna International Airport. Supposedly only 3°C in Vienna. Lots of snow surrounding the city. Couldn't see any animals outside on the farms as we approached the airport.
Free WLAN in Vienna! Exited the arrival area and found the ÖBB Intercitybus counter. Cash only so had to change some British pounds that I had left over from the last holiday. Bought my return ticket but was too late for the 11:30 bus. Bought some sandwiches, a bottle of water and a block of chocolate @ Spar Gourmet for less than six euros!
Bus ride took less than one hour - free wifi onboard. Even got to call my missus for free. You can see Bratislavsky Hrad (Bratislava Castle) from so far away. Only waited about 15 minutes for my friend, Michal, to arrive although the bus was a little early. He had a conference to attend so took my luggage and asked me to meet him at the Danube Hotel @ 4:30pm.
I headed off to Ondrezy Cintorin, a cemetery, and had a look around. Some famous people buried there, all of them dead. Then wandered around until I found Centrum - centre of town. Searched for the tourist info which had signs pointing to it but the building itself wasn't that obvious so I missed it the first time and did a lap of the city centre. Obtained a map and made my way to Michalska brana - St Michael's Gate, the only remaining city gate of four originally. It houses some very old weapons and war memorabilia, along with Slovak independence history, and there's a good view of the city from atop the tower. Had a bit of time left so walked up to the hrad. Good view of the city too. Didn't have time to check out the castle so walked around two of the walls and then went down. Passed the US embassy, which was a pedestrian-free zone, and saw the national theatre (divadlo) before making my way down to the Danube River. Visited the port to see if I could catch a sightseeing boat to Hrad Devin but they only operate from May. Discovered that there is free wifi in the city. Walked along the Danube until I reached the Park Inn Hotel Danube where Michal came to pick me up.
Picked up his son from school and then went to the Max Inn Hotel to meet his brother-in-law. I had fettuccine prawns and it was close to the spiciest meal I've ever eaten. Very nice though.
Back to Michal's house where I met his eldest son. We watched some golf, had pizza, helped his youngest boy with some English homework (reading) and saw the dog and cat.
Thursday, June 24, 2010
Proof That Channel 7 Should Never Have Soccer TV Rights
I believe a few years ago that Channel 7 had the TV rights for soccer in Australia. And then they proceeded to show bugger all matches. They did a disservice to the sport for sure. This morning further proof that Channel 7 should never be sold the TV rights to soccer/football. On the Sunrise program this morning they reported that England defeated Slovakia 1-0 in the World Cup. Such a shame that England are in Group C with the Slovaks in Group F. They even showed it on the news ticker at the bottom of the screen. Ever heard of Slovenia? I suppose we should be greatful that they've finally recognised that Slovakia is no longer part of Czechoslovakia - something that happened in 1993.
Leave the soccer/football to SBS. They are the professionals. They know The World Game and Channel 7 does not as evidenced with its latest show of ineptitude.
Hands off, Channel 7.
Leave the soccer/football to SBS. They are the professionals. They know The World Game and Channel 7 does not as evidenced with its latest show of ineptitude.
Hands off, Channel 7.
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