Franz Kafka was Born in Prague

Amidst the usual hostel chit-chat there is always that one re-occuring question which ambushes almost every conversation- `What would you say is your favorite place you have been to so far?` Admittedly I have proposed this cliche on several occasions and yet the most frequent answer I have heard has not been any of the usual suspects like Paris or Rome, but Prague.

And within moments of arriving in the Capital city of the Czech Republic, I instantly understood why. Undamaged by the second world war, Prague retains its original flavour and is possibly the most beautiful city in Europe. As a result, it also become one of its most touristic cities particularly in the summer months. No longer a well kept secret, there is a strnge disheartening feeling which is aroused by the sight of endless supplies of post-card stands amidst a crowd of thick Southern American accents. But it was in this fine city, the birth place of Kafka, that I would meet my first group of real travelling companions an eclectic group of English speakers fro Melbourne, San Diego, Winipeg Canada and Texas. Although each of us were independent travellers our quirky sense of humour created a binding force that would take us all the way to Berlin. There were mild rumours going around about a mini Prague in Southern Bohemia with one tenth the touristic load and we all decided to take a chance and head south.

Unintentionally off the beaten track, the hopelessly inefficient railway system took 10 hours to travel a distance which might have taken two hours on German steam. We arrived in Cesky Krumlov at ten in the evening to find the streets virtually empty and the sun on the verge of slipping passed the horion. Our hostel was a warm cosy Log Cabin filled with friendly Brazilian staff and a cheap family restaurant. We walked the city streets as it got darker with an overwhelming sense of awe at the untouched 18th Century buildings and Castle built alongside a winding river on the Mountainside with golden Barely fields and Forest paths in the surrounds.

This place was truly something unique and added to its enigmatic beauty was the favourable Czech exchange rate which meant warm home cooked meals at a reasonable price for the first time on my travels. Our lil crew was serious about its adventure sports and the days were spent planning horse back riding and river rafting outings. I was also thrilled to find a quaint bookshop with an impressive multi-lingual collection and the extensive works of Milan Kundera for a reasonable price. I had to limit my choice to one book on account of space in my back pack but also picked up some work by lesser known Czech writers which I have found to more equally moving. Czesky Krumlov is one of those places I felt a deep affinity with coupled with a knowing I willl be back someday, at with that my answer to that all age old question is the `Czech Republic.´

Munchen loves you...

So from Switzerland I found myself heading further east and a little north as I made my way to the picturesque Austrian town of Salzburg. I arrived in the early hours of the morning as the sun gleamed through the trees and I found myself in a quiet town of ice cream coloured Pastelle Buildings. Salzburg attracts surprisingly large crowds of tourists most of who are here to see t Mozart's birth house and later living quarters. What i found particularly charming about Salzburg are the craft markets along the riverside and the Fresh food markets in the city squares. There is also a beautiful castle on the mountainside as well as several Austrian Baroque churches, which have a unique appeal.

SO looking at the map of where I was I noticed that Munich really wasnt that far away and would even provide an easy detour to get to Vienna. Munich is the capital of the Bavarian region of Germany, and it was with unexpected delight that I would come to know the Bavarian people. The jolly Bavarians are rather friendly which is no surprise as they clock in an average of 1.5l of beer a day each, and i found myself personally escourted to my hostel by a kind Bavarian Oupa who was utterly chuffed that I was from South Africa and pointed out his house far across the distance should i require any help. That night I slept twelve hours straight and woke up to find Munich come alive on its 849th Birthday with mini concerts and Oktober fest-like Beergardens everywhere.

Ofcourse, while I paint you a rosy coloured post card, there also bad experiences in between like being harrased by the big-as-a-brickhouse Bavarian police for not having a metro ticket. Naturally the only way to ease out of such a tight situation is to play to dumb naive tourist, smile alot and pretend to have no money at all. After all none of the information is in English and it took and German lady ten minutes to explain the strange way the Munich metro system works to myself and some French tourists. DEspite all the festivities and the wealth of history that Munich ahs to offer, I managed to fit in time to travel to Nuremburg for the day to look at the anitquated city centre and walk through the oriniginal Nazi rally grounds. Nuremburg was the propaganda mill of the thid reich and has some of the only remaining Nazi Architecture as well as a somewhat disturbing, yet truly fascinating Museum.

With such a rich taste of Germany it was hard to believe that Munich was actually a convenient transit point on my itenary as my original destination was Vienna. In its hay day Vienna was the musical Capital of the western world and houses the graves of Mozart, Beethoven and Schubert just to prove its impressive case. The city centre has a wealth of old architecture, scultptures and impressive geomtrically aligned parks. And yet here it the cultural heart of a foreign land was where I found my closest encounter with home. While at the Cannes film festival i received an email from a guy who said he had studied through AFDA and was curently living in Vienna and encouraged me to come through at some point on my travels. We continued to mail back and forth and as it happens, the week the I was arriving co-incided with a Richard Linklater Retropsective at the local film museum where Linklater himself would be giving talks after each screening. I was lucky that Manjo had booked us both a seat, and we spent an evening listening to one of my favourite directors of all time, talk with added skepticism about his career. Linklater is a surprisingly down to earth man from the unique artistic environment of Austin Texas which he spent much over the talk reminiscing about.

Vienna was a strange addition to my travel experiences in that it has a wealth of cultural experiences to offer and yet it lacks atmospheric presence of its own. It is possibly the most self contained city I have come across in Europe and as a result I have to say it left an impression that had much to be desired, and yet I hope to give it another chance again some day.

Switzerland. The Seat of Serenity.

So my time spent on the Mediterranean draws to a close as i bid farewell to my adventures in Spain, France and Italy. It has been six weeks now, the longest I can recall being away from home in one stretch, let alone on my own.There are inevidably certain things to you awaken to on such a quest across the globe. Many things which you do not expect to find. Like how much of your personality is only accesible to you through people, and while isolation can be liberating at times it is for me, incomplete. We need to see ourselves relfected back at us through those around us. It is a very human need.

And it so it was that i unexpectedly fell in love with Switzerland, a place where the flying solo does not bother me so much because the vistas are breathtaking beyond any measure of conversation. It is a refreshing change from the tourist frenzy of the Italian coast in June as even in the tourist regions have a calm serenity. It is a place that mirrors the image of utopia oulined by Thomas Moore, where the cumulus formations echo the snow covered peaks and the crystaline waters reflect perfectly, the robust green mountainsides and valleys. Where even the rivers in major Metropolitan areas like Zurich run clear and give home to swans.

My travels in Lucerne which is neatly situated between lakes and moutain peaks. I walked the city for a few hours visiting the Chapel bridge, and ofcourse I smelt it in the Air, the ontemporary art musem, with a surprisingly impressive collection of Picasso, Pisarro, Paul Klee, Kandinsky, Miro and others. Included in the ticket was the Picasso museum which houses primarily photographs of his personal life and provided a unique insight in the life of the eccentric artist in his latter years. It seems to me that my trip has been shadowing the life of picasso whose furios career has left landmarks throughout Europe. I have traced his development from his birthplace in Malaga, to Paris, Barcelona and Rome and did you know that he spent a good portion of his time at his `villa La Californie` in Cannes. I must admit that at first I only identified with some of his works, but now my mind is so conditioned that i have discovered that the secret to my own appreciation of Picasso is to picture his subjects as animate objects. My peculiar friends.

My next stop was the nation's business capital, Zurich, situated on lake Zurich. For the first time on my trip I feel a rivaling affection for a country other than South Africa. When made this remark to an Italian friend he sugested that it was because my mindset was so obviously anglosaxon therefore it appeals to my taste.Err...i thought it was just the cheap low fat fortified flavoured buttermilk. But i think he is absolutely right, and that northern and central european countries do feed into Anglo Saxn mindsets. An d switzerland has the added bonus of unique diversity, a curious melange of french finesse, german efficiency and italian good taste.

Today i found myself in Basel which is unique in that it is a striking combination of the old and the new, the traditional swiss houses juxtaposed with metal and glass buildings. It is a cultural hub and the reasonably priced basel pass can get you into 30 musuems for free as well as the Basel Zoo. Although realistically I`ll leave the game viewing for when i Get back to sunny SA.
Basel is really quite a unique place in that the energy is young and fast paced by Swiss standards. There is no natural or sceneic beauty but there is a wealth of cultural museums to take advantage of. I can`t say that I have had any fondue yet, but i will be sure to pick up some tomorrow before I head out to the Swiss Alps to do a bit of hiking.

Vive Italia!

I think that everyone at some point in there life dreams fo going to Italy, that Holy and Mystical boot, home to both the Roman Empire and the Catholic Church - Two of the most influential forces in the Western world. And yet i do not think that any amount of preparation or imagaining can prepare you for the realities of the Italian culture and lifestyle. Italians are unmistakebly, people of passion . There is a sense of drama and chaos in daily Italian livig which is both Jovial and frustrating. I kickstarted my Italian adventure with a train from Milan to Venice. Venice is an intricate and utterly unique labrynth of 117 Islands interconnected through canals and pedestrian bridges. At first I decided to walk across the city to the exclusive touristc suburb of San Marco which has an impressive square and golden mosaic Basilica, or Cathedral. But far from the madding touristc crowds, as you get lost in the winding streets of Venice, that is when the magice overcomes you. That is when you truly awaken to the uniqueness of this city. And so it was as if in a trance that i wandered into the halls of the Peggy Guggenheim musem, where the famous heiress and art patron is buried amongst her many poodles. She was the lover and companion of Jackson Pollock for much of his life so naturally the musem houses an extensive collection of his work, as well as the work of Francis Bacon.

From Venice I found myself in the very different yet equally magical and antiquated Town of verona. The town has an ancient Roman arena at its centre as well as several other well preserved ancient buildings. I was lucky that at the time of my visit the operatic version of Rome and Juliette was on its last night in the Arena. The story of Romeo and Juliette is actually based on a factual story about two young lovers who lived in Verona. It was later turned into a short story which eventually became the basis for one of Shakespeare´s most famsous plays. It was a magical experience and a unique way to experience itlalian culture by watching families, friends and young lovers on this extroadinary outing.

Napoli and Pompeii are considered a road less travelled on the touristic route of Italy, but to be honest, in June, July and August I do not think that any part of Italy is left untouched by the summer time frenzy. On the train to Napoli, which is in the very South of Italy, I was more likely to overhear people speaking English than Italian. (especially in loud boisterous American accents which made it difficult to sleep.) Italy is a truly diverse country and indeed epople seem to identify mroe with the region or city than with the notion of being Italian. It is also easy to understand when you learn that it was not always a unified state and fairly blatant to see when you travel to different parts of the country. Napoli is noticeably poorer thant the cities further up north and even an first time traveller like myself can notice the different intonations in language, the more relaxed dress sense and the dirtier streets. But amongst many other things, it is the birthplace of one of Italy's most famous exports - the Pizza . Pizza made in Napoli however has a signature thick soft crust in comparison with the roman pizza which is paper thin and crispy. My stay in Napoli was highlighted with an excursion to the ruins of Pompeii, the once prosperous Roman town which was destroyed by the erruption of Mt. Versuvius. It was a fascinating trip because the story behind the ruins was something which echoed throughout my childhoos, and the view of Versuvius is stil as impressive as I am sure it was back then.

The unexpected highlight of my trip to Itlay was its current cultural hub and capital - Roma. I have my own reservations against much of Roman history and particularly the Catholic Church therefore the idea of Rome was not something which enthralled me. The reality however, was captivating beyond my wildest expectations. Roma is a city with historical wealth that is incomparable. There is the lesser known pre-Roman Etruscan Period, Thge Early Roman Empire, Holy Roman Empire, Mediaval and Gothic Art and Churches, the Baroque Period, the Renaissance and The Vatican to behold and compare.Apart from all that weighty history the cities is just filled with beautiful architecture ( more churches than any where else int he world i am sure), great food and a pleasant, helpful people.

Equally impressive, but a little too touristy is the legendary Florence, home of the Renaissance. Florence undoubtedly has some of the most impressive art collections in the world the most famous highlights being - Michelangelos David and Botticcelli's birth of Venus ( which I waited three hours in a line to see at the Uffizi musem. ANd just a quick train ride away is the exquisite town of Pisa with its eually famous leaning tower. Unfortunately at this point my cameras battery had run out and the only images of that real hot hunk David I manages to caputre on virtual celluloid is a replica.. *sigh*

Quelle suprise from the Cote d'Azur to Milan.

The Railway to Ancient Eze.

So for a fresh change from the hustle and bustle of Cannes i decided to move onward to Nice, with the the intention of staying for only a day or two. Nice is a beautiful yet down to earth town on the Cote d'azur which was once home to Picasso and Matisse and also boasts an impressive collection of Marc Chagall.

The city itself has a dirty down to earth appeal with equally down to earth prices in comparison to the exorbitant excess of Cannes during the festival. I found myself in a cosy youth hostel run by a charming old French woman who spoke very little English and provided the perfect opportunity to practice some French; which she remarked I spoke impressively well. The hostel itself was filled with long term residents which was a refreshing change as it meant that you came home to the same faces each day. Amongst them I met my first South African (not part of of the Cannes clan), New Zealanders and Australians, Israelis, a Honduran and some jolly Scandinavians. It was the first truly jovial hostel experience I have had as everyone expressed an easy and genuine interest in each other.

I spent my days in the local museums, swimming in the icy Mediterranean and a day trip to the Ancient Medieval town of Eze. Eze sur la mer is a small settlement on the coast while Eze Ville is a one and a half hour walk up the mountainside. The panoramic view from the top of the mountain is absolutely beautiful, and unlike the more touristy Carcasonne up north, Eze Ville retains its ancient Medieval atmoshpere.

Le Cote d'Azur. The place where the Ocean makes the Sky Jealous.

It was with a strange sadness that I left Nice, a place I was not even expecting to like. But Milan invited new adventures as I would regroup with a German born Australian lady called Eva, I met in Cannes during the Festival. We seemed to form and instant bond and had dinner together almost every night during the festival as we forged an unexpected bond of likemindedness . Truth be told we were both kicked out of our hostel for outrageous nitpicky reasons such as wanting to take a shower while the maid was cleaning or complaining that there was someone else in my bed when I came home.

Eva headed of to a horror film festival in the South of Italy while I spent time in Nice and so it was that we decided to meet up again in Milan. Eva had a model friend from Sydney, Gideon, who was staying in Milan for a month for a fashion show and then heading to Paris for the Paris Fashion Week. Eva and Gideon had met during an one year Acting course while studying togethr in Sydney and told me fantastic stories about protesting outside the Sydney Opera house while it was being used for a G8 summit as they felt it was an invasion of public space.

Gideon a tall lithe haute couture model with celtic appeal, lived in a studio with two other male models from the Sweden and the US. With Zoolander as my only point of reference into the world of male modelling, i was surprised to find that Gideon was one of the most Sophisticated and interesting people I have ever met. He took us on a walking tour of Milan from the ancient monuments to some of the most exclusive shopping strips in the world.

The italians have a 3 hour long happy hour called aperitivi from 6.oopm till 9.00pm during which time any beverage comes free with a moderate all you can eat buffet. We certainly got our moneys worth coupled with scintillating conversation and so it was that what is termed one of the most boring cities in Italy was an unexpected adventure for me.