Taipei Tamsui part 2

For those who missed us on the previous episode of Taipei Tamsui Old Street, click on the link for part 1. Hugo Wolf spotted on the train from Taipei Main Station to Tamsui Station.

Welcome to part 2 of Tamsui old street. It was Saturday evening with a massive crowd here at Tamsui.

Another stall selling Tamsui fish balls and ah gei.

Fishing!

This Tamsui fish ball stalls was mentioned in the Taipei travel book but our filled up stomach did not allow us to go for more fish balls.

A cute Piggy sign, but it wasn't selling pork.

The street is getting dark.

It is only 5:30pm and the sky is already as dark as nightfall! Let's see what other local Tamsui delicacies we can find!

Another quail egg stall at Tamsui.

We spot a temple at Tamsui old street

Have no idea what fruit is that.

Walking back to where we started.

The crowd at Tamsui never rest!

Fruit stall at Tamsui selling pink guava! We have never seen pink guava before! Have you? Taiwan's pink guava is very sweet, juicy and crunchy!

Hello Hugo!

A curious onlooker sets his eyes on Hugo Wolf, as usual, getting attention everywhere.

It says German pork knuckle! Wow

And another interesting stall - Deep fried durian!

Shida Night Market, Ximending, Jiu Fen, Keelung coming up soon. Stay tuned! (^_^)

Poland - Kraków (Krakow)

As we moved on from Slovakia, we stopped by a gas station and found the sign saying Kraków. Krakow is our next destination, one of the oldest city in Poland and the capitol of Poland previously.

Here is Jolly Wolf again, on the road. He wonders how much further is it to get to Krakow, Poland. Jolly Wolf did not get any pictures here but we still decided to post this entry to share the pictures of this unique country. Hope you enjoy them! ^_^

 Poland uses their own currency, you have to get your euros changed to Polish Zlotys.

This beautiful tree is the big welcome for us as we approach Wawel Hill Krakow.

Wawel Castle and Wawel Cathedral are situated on top of Wawel Hill

The 1,000 year old Wawel Cathedral - Krakow, Poland

What is Jolly Wolf's human doing beside the statue of Pope John Paul II

We head next to Krakow Market Square of the Old Town in Poland

Its a Sunday and the Krakow Market Square is full of people

A head in the middle of Krakow Market Square!!

St Mary's Church or St Mary's Basilica is the main attraction of the Krakow Market Square in Poland.

Gorgeous interior of the gothic St Mary's Church, Krakow

And we saw this awesomely cool street performer in front of St Mary's Church. Try taking a picture of him and you will know how fast he reacts to looking away from your camera.

Krakow Church St Peter and Paul of Poland

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Auschwitz Concentration Camp, Oswiecim Poland

Arbeit macht frei (work brings freedom) sign at Auschwitz concentration camp

Auschwitz concentration camp is a very sad place.

There we a lot of tourist and school children during the visit. No one was laughing or making jokes.

Block 14a - Auschwitz concentration camp

Our steps got heavier throughout the guided tour with explanation and pictures.

The Auschwitz Concentration Camp Gas Chambers where thousands to millions of people were killed. It still sends chills to your spine walking into one of these gas chambers even though many tourist walks in and out everyday.

Spring flowers in Krakow Poland to brighten up the sad pictures above, before we leave for another destination in Eastern Europe - Prague, Czech Republic. There will be much more Jolly Wolf pictures in Prague but we will break for another entry and the final entry of this Eastern Europe series will be in Germany where we visit a few NICI shops so stay tuned!

Slovakia - Bratislava & Banská Bystrica

As we mentioned in our previous entry, we are heading to Slovakia the capital city called Bratislava and a small town called Banská Bystrica. We caught a picture of some spring flowers on the way!

And here goes Jolly Wolf again on the way to Slovakia. Our first stop is Bratislava!

We passed by Orava Castle of Slovakia, a beautiful renaissance structure of the 16th century surrounded by Orava river.

Bratislava Slovakia, being a not very popular tourist attraction compared to other major cities in Eastern Europe, you don't see many people on the streets.

We stumbled upon a Bratislava road sign, their signs are English translated below.

Michael's Gate Bratislava

Next we head to the Bratislava Main Square or Old Town Square first. Its considered a very small main square with not many mobile stalls selling Slovakian souvenirs.

What happened to Jolly Wolf all this time? He was left in his owner's bigger bag as we walked down with just our cameras to travel light. Poor Jolly Wolf, but we got him a pint of Slovakian beer as a solace.

Now we arrive at Banská Bystrica, we are 1188 feet above sea level and the weather is much warmer here. It spikes a high 25 degree Celsius instead of the normal spring temperature of Europe.

Banská Bystrica Castle laid upon our eyes as we walk further uphill

Walked to the very top and this is the whole view of Banská Bystrica old town. Opposite is the new town where there are modernized buildings.

Banská Bystrica fountain in the middle of the old town

We were excited to see flowers in Slovakia! This is springtime

and more flowers

Banská Bystrica old town is a very small place, the people here can speak English and they are friendly with smiles on their faces.

If you walk into any building or house at Banská Bystrica, you can see there is a huge courtyard behind. The houses are not just the front, it has a big area on the inside.

As we descend the hilly area, we found a small chapel with a very nice door.

As we leave Slovakia, we pass by Tatra mountain range with beautiful bungalow houses built on the mountains.

The houses are so far away from one another. It must be great to live here with fresh green air and high altitude.

Then we passed by a ski hotel which we are told that during winter time, this is a popular location for skiing. Tatra mountain range is a border between Slovakia and Poland. So guess where we are going next?