Grindstaff Publishing

Train from the Alps to Venice, Italian culture and tourists, pizza and cheap red wine above the canals, Bologna and its university, revolutionaries mixed with punk rock and beer, Florence with the Duomo and Renaissance masters, Pisa and the tower with its complex, Cinque Terre hiking, microwave pizza and a funeral, on to Genova with a California girl, pizza with sardines, contemplating the meaning of the Great European Adventure, on a ferry from Italy to Spain, walk off amongst palm trees and Barcelona

After Budapest I found myself sitting on a wooden bench at an Austria castle looking out onto the Alps with black clouds streaking wildly across. The following day found me on top of those Alps, high in the clouds drinking beer in an Alpine hut. The clouds finally broke and I hiked frantically, taking pictures and finding new angles. Innsbruck was full of pastel colored buildings with snow-capped mountains behind, a hostel full of just as colorful people and a hike into a magical land. Austria started off with the big city of Vienna but ended with the natural beauty of the Alps.

Arrive in Salzburg, birtplace of Mozart, climb up to the Hohensalzburg Castle, Alps moody in the background shrouded with clouds, morning on a tram to the top of the Alps, clouds block the view, German beers in a traditional Alpine hut, clouds break, able to see vast Austrian countryside, trek to Innsbruck, pastel colored buildings and Alps, professional chef cooks the hostel food, communal table and conversation, hike amidst grass fields and towering mountains, meet a junkie plagued with demons, fall asleep wondering what kind of demons I myself am trying to run away from...Austria.

Austria. Slovakia. Hungary. Three countries in a little over three days. Fast travel and a whirlwind of mind expansion in a short amount of time. The countries may have flew by but the insight gained by the people, cultures, and sights will last a lifetime. Join the discussion of the trip as it moves south through Vienna, Bratislava, and Budapest!

Quick stop in Vienna, high-socked tourists gazing at old statues, crap hostel, sprawling palace with red roses, on to Bratislava, free beer at the hostel, wonderful castle, European politics with the bartender, rugby match in a crowded pub, on to Budapest in the rain, couldn't find hostel, found a travel friend, walking tour, Hungarian liquor and night photography, three countries in three days...exhausted.

With a new found confidence in "eastern Europe" I meander down through Czechia. Brno brings culture and an underground bone collection, Prague is massive with soaring Gothic architecture, Ceske Budejovice becomes my writers retreat, and Cesky Krumlov is a medieval UNESCO wonderland. Czechia, or as it was called in 2015 Czech Republic, was an amazing country which offered so much more than I could have ever thought.

South from Poland by train, Brno in the rain, party hostel with room to myself, giant phalic astronomical clock, underground ossuary, pondering mortality amidst piles of bones, Prague with its Gothic architecture and supreme beauty, old Japanese man with wooden sandals, Ceske Budejovice as a writer, hostel above a bar, drinking with Czech men, Cesky Krumlov and its UNESCO castle and pink church, more writing more wandering, ending Czechia in a travelers pub with fire raging and pen flowing...Czechia.

Poland was the first country which gave me second thoughts. On the bus from Berlin to Gdansk, I couldn't shake the anxiety of going to "eastern Europe" and the stigma it held. Once there all of my trepidation was taken over by historical beauty and the friendliness of the people who live there. Castles, architecture, food, history, and tragedy all came together beautifully for me in my quick journey through Poland.

On to eastern Europe, Gdansk at dawn, girl on heroin, Edward Gorey-esque buildings, medieval crane, old men fishing, drug deals, train tracks to a hippie hostel, The Doors, Columbian and English leading the way to a castle, a true hostel environment, on to Krakow, loud hostel, found luggage, Aushwitz, Berkinau, horror of history, rebound in the city center, on to Czechia...Poland.

Germany stood as the first country I would tackle alone. Missing a bus, lost in a big city, almost losing my bed in a shit hostel...the beginning to the solo adventure was rough. Hamburg turned into Berlin and the notion of walking amongst history I knew was a relief. By the time I left Germany on my way to Poland I felt like I had travel under some sort of control. Plus, the currywurst and cheap beer was a great help!