Hey y’all, the last time I checked in was Tuesday night and I was in Katowice, Poland and preparing to head to Krakow the next day to pick up my wife Anna-Maria.
On Wednesday, I checked out of my room in Katowice and hit up the bakery next door for a pastry before getting on the road for the quick drive to Krakow to be there in time for Anna Maria’s 1:30pm arrival to the airport.
Had one of these for breakfast/lunch on Tuesday. Making my way out of central Katowice. So long Katowice. Katowice to Krakow scenery. Katowice to Krakow scenery. Katowice to Krakow scenery.Katowice to Krakow scenery.Katowice to Krakow scenery.Waiting patiently for her arrival at John Paul II Kraków-Balice International Airport. The package has arrived! Reunited after 55 days of me being on the road.
After picking Anna-Maria up, we made our way into the city center of Krakow where I’d booked us a room for the next two nights right beside the main market square. After getting checked in and resting for a little while, we set out to check out some sights in town and grab something to eat.
Fighting Krakow traffic from the airport to the middle of town. A tree lined boulevard approaching downtown Krakow. Found our room at the Hotel Jan. Perfect location and nice enough for us. The place had the smallest elevator I’ve ever been in. The scene out of our hotel window. Constant hordes of people all over old town Krakow. This was directly in front of the hotel. The horse drawn carriage rides are popular in Krakow. Krakow main market square. About 200 feet from the room. Another view of the square. There were musicians and other performers all over the place. Between that and wanting to just hang with Anna-Maria, it was a pretty easy decision just leave the busking alone in Krakow. A dance troupe in the market square. Some more performers. Checking out the town. A medieval hall selling souvenirs and other things in the main market square. A line of horse carriages waiting on tourists. They were pretty expensive, so we decided to pass on the carriage ride. A leaning tower in the market square. Walking through the park that surrounds the old town. It used to be the city walls before they tore them down in the 1800’s and created the park. An appetizer of potato pancakes with goulash we shared – excellent. My dinner on Wednesday – a pork filet with some cabbage. The pork was great but the cabbage was not as good. Anna-Maria getting her first taste of Polish food with some perogi. One of the networks near the restaurant we ate at had a “creative” name 🤣Heading back to the old town after dinner. One more walk through the main market square by night. A city gate that was a lot more important when the walls were still up. The carriages run pretty late in Krakow.
On Thursday, we decided to do a free walking tour of the city that left at 2pm. It was nice to sleep in and have a leisurely start to the day before walking about 5 minutes to the meeting point for that. The tour was excellent and we saw quite a bit and learned a lot about the history of the city.
A slice of pizza next to the hotel for our breakfast/lunch on Thursday. Linking up with the free walking tour at the meeting point. They have free walking tours in just about every substantial European city, but they are not really free as you are expected to give a nice tip to your guide at the end of the tour. They are almost always worth it, although this is the first one I’d done on this trip.
Here are some pics from the walking tour with selected commentary:
This was the toll gate used for everyone entering ancient Krakow – when the walls were still up. The guide likened it to a TSA checkpoint at the airport, where identity would be checked and taxes paid for goods being brought in to market. Getting an overview of the old town. The third McDonald’s in eastern Europe and that second oldest in Poland – opened just before the end of the communist era. The same medieval market hall, packed with tourists on Thursday afternoon. Checking out the University of Krakow. A piece of “modern art” in the old town market square. Evidently, the artist threatened to give it to another city if they put it in the train station as Krakow initially planned, so they put it in the market square. This is a chapel at the Krakow castle where many kings were buried. Statue of Pope John Paul at the castle. Interior of the castle complex. Us in front of the castle. Same view, but without us. An ancient gate into the castle. A bastion at the castle.
After finishing the walking tour at the castle, we walked over the Jewish quarter of the city to check that out. As luck would have it, there was another walking tour of the Jewish quarter meeting up at the old synagogue. Our feet were aching a bit from the first walking tour, but we decided to link up with that tour anyways.
Walking to the Jewish Quarter from old town. A greedy ass pigeon. He’d ate his way through the middle of the bread and now was wearing the crust like a chain. Finding the walking tour gathering at the old synagogue. Learning about the history of the Jews in Krakow. Ukranian support at the Jewish community center of Krakow. Before WW2 there were 60,000 Jews in Krakow. Now there are about 800. A large Catholic church on the edge of the Jewish quarter. Another church in the Jewish quarter. Crossing the bridge to the WW2 Jewish ghetto where the Jews were forced to move. Nowadays it is covered with love locks, much like most bridges in Europe. The deportation square in the ghetto, where Jews were shipped to concentration camps. A post tour snack. I can’t remember the name of these, but they are a Krakow specialty fast food. Kind of like a French bread pizza.
After the tour of the Jewish quarter, we made our way back to the old town to rest up for a few minutes and then get some actual dinner.
I thought this was funny because the sign says only bicycles and horse carriages allowed on this street. And sure enough, there was another horse carriage going by. Some Italian for dinner on Thursday. The Italian food in Europe is good, but always way too small of a portion. Thank God for bread and butter to supplement.
On Friday, we checked out of the Hotel Jan and then went to get some lunch before grabbing our stuff and lugging it to the car to get on the road to the next destination – Czestochowa. I’d already visited Czestochowa last weekend, but we were headed back there for me to play my return show at Lucky’s Saloon on Friday and hang out with my new friends Pete and Patty for Patty’s birthday on Saturday.
Hordes of people in front of our hotel on Friday morning. Burger and fries for me on Friday for lunch. Burgers overall just aren’t as good in Europe because the beef is so lean. But it did the job. Anna Maria’s salad. She’s a much healthier eater than me 🤣But we both like our sweets. This is a tiramisu and was very good. One last walk through the Krakow market square on Friday afternoon. Making our way through the park to get to the parking lot where we’d stashed the Fiesta. Trying to get out of town, fighting through horse carriage traffic. Riding right beside a tram. Absolutely terrifying to me for some reason. So long Krakow and hordes of people – Czestochowa bound. Krakow to Czestochowa scenery. Krakow to Czestochowa scenery. Krakow to Czestochowa scenery.Traffic jam approaching Czestochowa.
Arriving to Czestochowa a little later than planned, we somewhat hurriedly got checked in to the hotel and got ready for the show and then made our way over to Lucky’s to get my stuff set up and prepare for the show.
Back to my previous home in Czestochowa, the Hotel Wenecki – parking for the Fiesta and 5 minutes waking from Lucky’s Saloon. My roadie in Czestochowa. Anna-Maria meeting Patty. Here they were bonding over cat photos. My core crew in Czestochowa. Maciej (the owner of Lucky’s), Pete, and Patty. All great people. Getting tuned up and ready to rock. Just after this pic was taken, I realized the guitar jack that I’d had repaired was not working right. I had to run back to the hotel and get my amp and then rig it to make it work. Since the guys that fixed it told me to trash the guitar if it failed again, I knew this was to be my last show with my black guitar. Pete saying some nice words to the crowd about me and my music in Polish.
Here’s me doing Ain’t No Sunshine by Bill Withers.
Here’s me doing some Let it Be.
A short clip of Imagine by John Lennon. This is a new I’ve learned recently and I dedicated it to the people of Ukraine.
A short clip of The Fireman by George Strait. They seemed to like this one a lot.
A short clip of Seminole Wind by John Anderson.
A short clip of Hey Baby by Bruce Channel. This song is huge all over Europe for some reason.
A short clip of Pete’s request – Big Iron by Marty Robbins. This is the guy that screwed up my guitar on my first show at Lucky’s. He was very sorry about it and wanted to play again. At the very end of the show I let him get back up and do a few more songs. I’m a sucker. Some post show beers with my lady. By the end of the show, the jack was completely screwed up so some local guys did some improvising. Me and Pete killed Lucky’s supply of Bulleit on Friday night. Lucky’s had been very good to me, so I signed my guitar to them and left it behind. I think they were kind of honored by the gesture and told me they will be hanging it on the wall of the saloon. Rock on boys. After the guitar took a shit, we transitioned to karaoke. This crew had been to my first show at Lucky’s and came back to support me on Friday night. Finally making my way back to the hotel late Friday night. Time for zzz’s and to get rested up for the big birthday job on Saturday. But at least I didn’t wind up like her. She was ok btw.
On Saturday afternoon, I headed back over to Omega Music (where I’d gotten my guitar “repaired” last weekend) to tell them what happened and pick up a new guitar. Luckily I was able find a decent one for about 150 euros and they gave a me a discount on it. After getting that chore taken care of, I headed back to the hotel to get Anna-Maria and head out for some dinner before going back to Lucky’s for Patty’s birthday party.
Headed back to Omega. They warned me that the fix they did on the jack may not hold up, so I wasn’t too mad about giving them my business for a new guitar. The new unit. I convinced Anna-Maria to try some zurek soup and she was a fan. The stuff is amazing. Some shrimp as an appetizer. The sauce was coconut infused and was very good. A chicken dish with some gnocchi. Not that great. Some chicken pasta for her. She liked it. Arriving back to Lucky’s for Patty’s birthday party. They’d rented a room upstairs for their group and had lots of food and drinks provided. Some gag cookies one of Patty’s friends made. They were actually delicious, despite their shape 🤣Take a closer look. Pete said this is “perfect marketing for Poles” 😂Hair of the dog on Saturday night. I got convinced to take a shot of this stuff and nearly puked. 95 percent alcohol. Another poster of my previous show I found in the upstairs bathroom. One more pic with Maciej before he departed for the evening. I have a feeling we’ll meet again at Lucky’s someday. Casper back behind the bar and pouring a new bottle of Bulleit with some flair. Patty the birthday girl. Casper the bartender getting my old guitar out for a couple of late night tunes on Saturday night. One last Bulleit on the rocks with Pete. Final drinks with Pete and Patty. I’ll miss these two and hope maybe they’ll make it to Kentucky someday for a visit. One of the bartenders of Lucky’s is also an artist and surprised me with this portrait of me. I was so honored that someone would take the time to draw a portrait of me and it’s going to get framed when I get home. She made my night with the portrait!Passing by ole Satchmo on the way back to the hotel late Saturday night after the birthday party.
On Sunday, I was hurting to say the least. Two big nights at Lucky’s saloon is enough to make even the biggest party animal start to question their life choices. 😂😂 Regardless, we got checked out of the room and swung by a McDonald’s to get a quick bite before getting on the road to our next destination of Brno, Czech Republic – 3 hours to the south.
Some grease therapy at a Czestochowa McDonald’s on Sunday afternoon. So long Czestochowa – one of the highlight cities of my entire tour. Czestochowa – Brno scenery. (Poland)Czestochowa – Brno scenery. (Poland)Czestochowa – Brno scenery. (Poland)Some Polish heavy industry. Czestochowa – Brno scenery. (Poland)Czestochowa – Brno scenery. (Poland)Czestochowa – Brno scenery. (Poland)Czestochowa – Brno scenery. (Poland)Czestochowa – Brno scenery. (Poland)Czestochowa – Brno scenery. (Poland)Czestochowa – Brno scenery. (Poland)Czestochowa – Brno scenery. (Poland)Czestochowa – Brno scenery. (Poland)Czestochowa – Brno scenery. (Poland)Czestochowa – Brno scenery. (Poland)Czestochowa – Brno scenery. (Poland)Czestochowa – Brno scenery. (Poland)Hitting the Czech border.
Just over the Czech border from Poland is a city called Ostrava that had a few sites that I was interested in checking out, so we made a quick detour to have a look at the city.
A WW2 memorial to Soviet soldiers who liberated Ostrava from the Nazis. The Ostrava cathedral. A historic bridge in downtown Ostrava. A view from the bridge. Close up of the Ostrava city hall clock tower from the bridge. Ostrava city hall. Some interesting looking houses in Ostrava. A Soviet style apartment building in Ostrava. Some birds chilling on light posts in Ostrava.
After checking out Ostrava for about an hour, we got back on the road for the rest of the drive to Brno. The landscape was noticably more contoured than it had been in Poland.
Ostrava – Brno scenery. Ostrava – Brno scenery. Ostrava – Brno scenery. Ostrava – Brno scenery.Ostrava – Brno scenery.Ostrava – Brno scenery.Ostrava – Brno scenery.Ostrava – Brno scenery.Final approach to Brno. Hitting the outskirts of Brno. Hitting the outskirts of Brno.Hitting the outskirts of Brno.
Upon snaking our way into old town Brno, we located the hotel I’d booked there for the next two nights. It was a 5 star historic hotel, but I’d found it on booking. com for only 80 euros a night. I’d never spend that much on a room for just myself (at least not on this euro tour where they’re are cheaper options) but thought it would be nice to splurge a little bit on my lady. The place turned out to be amazing and our room overlooked one of the main squares of Brno.
Locating our fancy hotel in old town Brno at about 8pm. Our 5 Star experience in Brno. Not only was the room nice, but the staff here were incredible. The view from our room. A late night meal at the hotel restaurant. I had this souffle pork chop and it was great. An Argentine flank steak for the wife. It was very affordable for the quality.
On Monday afternoon, we set out to do a little bit of exploring in old town Brno and get some food from a Czech restaurant nearby that had some good reviews.
A little bit of construction work was going on at the main pedestrian boulevard of Brno. Trading in my Polish money from playing a Lucky’s for a little bit of Czech spending money. 24 Czech crowns equals one Euro. A monastery in old town Brno. A partial view of Liberty square in Brno. A fountain in Liberty square. A statue in Liberty square. An astronomical clock in Liberty square. Another partial view of Liberty square. Some Czech garlic soup for lunch on Monday. It was very good, but very garlicy. A chicken dish I had. A type of cheese platter that Anna-Maria had. After lunch it unleashed a short but strong rain shower on us. A statue in front of the Czech supreme court building. A guy out singing and playing some accordion. He sure wasn’t doing too good on tips but I threw him a few coins for his efforts. A statue to WW1, WW2, and Soviet occupation victims. The Brno cathedral.
After walking around for a couple of hours, we popped into a museum that had a lot of mummified bodies of Capuchin priests. It was kind of creepy but very interesting. Here are some pics of that – not for the squeamish.
After checking out the mummies, we grabbed the Fiesta and took off to see a few points of interest in the areas of the city outside the old town.
Heading back to the hotel to get the car. Our hotel in the background. Our first stop was the Jewish cemetery. This gentleman was a victim of Treblinka. I’d visited there earlier in my trip. A plaque to WW2 concentration camp victims at the Jewish cemetery. Making our way to our next destination – Spilberk Castle. Ice cream pit stop at a local park. A fountain outside the castle. It was a tough climb up to the castle, but the views of Brno were worth it. Castle walls. Cannons on top of the castle walls. Hoofing our way back down to the car.
After doing our sightseeing at the castle, we took the car back to the hotel and chilled for a while in the room. I was eager to try out my new guitar on the rig, so I made a last minute decision to do some busking in Brno at about 8pm. Everything worked good and it turned out to be a great idea. It started out slow, but by the end of the evening I had about 40 people standing around listening to me play and made a decent chunk of change!
Set up and ready to busk (and try out the new guitar) in Liberty square on Monday evening. Anna Maria hung around for a while and took some videos of me playing. In the pic you can see some of the folks hanging out listening to me play, but after she left to go back to the room I had at least three times this many spectators. It was awesome! Sadly, the police came at about 10:45 and shut me down.
Here’s me doing some Jolene – always a money maker on the streets.
Here’s me doing some Turn the Page by Bob Seger.
Here’s me doing some Whiskey In The Jar for some nearby Irish listeners.
Here’s me playing a new one I’ve been working on – Chicken Fried. Getting back to the hotel and dumping my busking haul. A little more organized – I wound up with 2,301 Czech Crowns and 14 euros. Altogether, about 107 euros of currency. One of my top street hauls of the trip and def not bad for a Monday in the Czech Republic. Figuring out how much my Czech money was worth on Monday night.
On Tuesday morning, we got up and Czeched out of our hotel and went out for some breakfast and to check out one last museum that I was interested in that had been closed on Monday. It was a catacomb in the basement of Brno’s 13th century cathedral where they had relatively recently discovered the skeletal remains of tens of thousands of people who had been entombed there in centuries past. It was also creepy, but really interesting to see!
Hitting up a breakfast spot on Tuesday morning. Some eggs benedict for me which was eggcellent. Entering the catacombs where the walls were lined with actual human bones. They discovered this during renovation work a few years ago and decided to make a museum of it. A pyramid of skulls. ☠️A column lined with bones. This is a photo of what the catacomb looked like when it was discovered, with bones strewn about in a haphazard way.
After breakfast and the quick stop at the catacombs museum, we got on the road for our next destination of Graz, Austria – nearly 4 hours to the southwest. It was here that we would be meeting Anna-Maria’s parents who were driving down from Germany to meet up with us for the next two nights. Here are some pics from that very scenic drive:
So long Brno. Brno – Graz scenery. Brno – Graz scenery. Brno – Graz scenery.A couple of castles we saw approaching the Austrian border. A bunch of windmills just inside the Austrian border. Hitting some very hateful traffic in the Vienna Metro area. Austrian countryside. Austrian countryside. A random church on the hill.Getting into the good stuff here..More Austrian countryside.Final approach to Graz. Hitting suburban Graz. Snaking our way to the hotel in the old town.
After some minor confusion finding the parking garage for the hotel, we eventually got settled in and found Anna-Maria’s parents, Klaus and Inge, waiting for us at the hotel. It was great to see them again! We got checked in to our room and then headed out to get some dinner at a nearby restaurant they’d picked out and had a great meal and a nice time catching up with them.
Klaus, Inge, and Anna-Maria at our hotel in old town Graz on Tuesday evening. Our home for Tuesday and Wednesday nights. Not too shabby and a great location. The little cafe where we had some dinner on Tuesday night. Schweinbraten for me. A type of chicken schnitzel for Klaus. A Weiner-schnitzel for Inge. And some cheese spaetzle for the wife. A traditional Austrian dessert of some kind. It had an apricot-like filling and was damn good! Anna-Maria and Inge enjoying some wine and Austrian food.
On Wednesday morning, we went to a cafe on top of a nearby shopping center for breakfast and had a good meal and some nice views of the city.
Breakfast on Wednesday. A view of old town Graz from the breakfast cafe. A view of Graz fortress from the breakfast cafe.
After breakfast, I lead the 4 of us on a walking tour of the old town based on the points of interest I’d researched about Graz. We started by taking the funicular train to the fortress and then proceeded to walk all over town checking stuff out.
A busker playing some Australian folk songs just outside of our hotel. A church in the old town. The “Muhr Insel” which is an artificial island in the middle of the Muhr river with a cafe and a bridge to either side of the river. Anna Maria, Klaus, and Inge in front of the Muhr Insel. View of the other side of the bridge and old town Graz. The “Kreigssteig” or “War Climb” to the fortress. We opted to take the Funicular train to the top instead.
Heading to the fortress on the Funicular.Me with the funicular train at the upper station.
Here are some shots of the scene atop the hill at the fortress:
A 12th century bell tower at the fortress. An interesting looking fire department vehicle at the fortress. This guy was doing some cool stuff on this harp thing.
Then all of the sudden he started playing Metallica on it. Pretty damn good. I heard a guy playing accordion, but he decided to take a break before I could get to him for a video.
But a couple euros later he’d picked it back up long enough for me to get a video. He was an incredible player. The Graz art museum. The Uhrturm – symbol of the city. It’s hands are reversed, so it was actually 1:25 when we were there – not 4:09. Taking in one last view of the city on the way down the stairs. Inge has an injured knee at the moment, so she took the Funicular back down and got some pics of us walking down the Kreigssteig. Almost back to the old town. Made it back down – time to continue the tour. The Gemahltes Haus. The town hall in the main city square of Graz. A fountain in the square. The MariensäuleA closer view. The Bauchstich fountain. A courtyard of the Landeszeughaus. An unusual statue in the courtyard. The Graz Cathedral. A WW1 memorial on the side of the Cathedral. The mausoleum of Kaiser Ferdinand II. A view inside the mausoleum. Another view inside the mausoleum. The Graz opera house. A fountain near the Opera House. A unique double spiral staircase at the Graz castle. A view out from atop the spiral staircase. Another fountain and statue in the old town. A random, but interesting looking building I saw in old town Graz.
After our walking tour together, I split off to check out a medieval armory that I was interested in while the rest of the crew relaxed at a nearby cafe. The place is called Landeszeughaus and is home to one of the world’s largest collections of 16th – 18th century armor and weapons and was very interesting. Below are some pics from the armory:
One of the only complete horse armors in the world. I thought this was particularly cool – they staged them to look like a unit of armored infantry on the march. This one left some sensitive areas exposed 🤣
After checking out the Landeszeughaus, I linked back up with the rest of the family and, after a short break at the hotel, we headed to the Gösser beer garden that Klaus had chosen for dinner. The food (and beer) there was excellent!
Headed to the Gösser for dinner at about 7pm on Wednesday. A Cordon Bleu for my dinner. Klaus and Inge both had the Hungarian style goulash. And a schweinbraten for the wife. Prost!
So you guys, that brings me up to the current moment in time. I’m back at the hotel and putting the finishing touches on this post for y’all and relaxing. Tomorrow we will part ways with Klaus and Inge – they will be heading back to Germany and the wife and I on to Ljubljana, Slovenia. I have a gig there on Thursday night with my good buddy Jimmy Blackmore and the Pointless Rebels that I am much looking forward to. On Saturday morning, Anna-Maria will fly back home from Ljubljana, and I will start making my way to Lichtenstein for my next planned gig the following Friday. As always, thanks for riding along with me and I’ll do another update soon!
Luckys looks like a great spot with folks you’ll not soon forget. And the food in Austria looks incredible!!
Zeb South
Thanks buddy. You are right about Lucky’s! And the food is dope…I know you already know about the food over here 😎
Nancy
Oh my goodness Zeb! This one was so fast paced I was exhausted myself just from reading about it all! So happy for you to have Mary Anne and her family with you for a bit to share it all. There is sure no shortage of interesting and beautiful sights along the way and how awesome that you have made so many good friends. So cool that you left the guitar for them. I bet there will be a lot of stories told about that. I think the scenery is get more beautiful and especially in Austria. I don’t know if it’s just me or are the roads way cleaner than here? I haven’t seen a bunch of trash like you do here. Enjoy the rest of your time with the family and stay safe! My best picture award for this blog has to go to the tiramisu!! Now I have to go find some. 🙂
Zeb South
Haha hope you find a good tiramisu! It’s been great having them to be a part of the trip for sure. Yes, lots of beautiful sights RV everywhere here – Austria in particular! The streets are cleaner here, this is true. And yeah I think they will definitely appreciate the guitar for a long time to come. I appreciate your feedback on my post and hope you are doing great!
linda South
WoW!!! Another fantastic post ,enjoyed it tremendously, especially all the pics in Austria since that is where Mom’s family came from. How terrific you and Anna Maria were able to link up and spend a couple of days with Klaus and Inge,it looks like you all had a wonderful time! Stay safe as you continue your Big Adventure! Love you two bunches!!
Zeb South
Thanks Mom – yes it was great to see them for a couple of days. Appreciate it!!
William Schwab
Once again great picks and music. It’s nice to have your family with you. Be safe and continue on.
Andrew
Luckys looks like a great spot with folks you’ll not soon forget. And the food in Austria looks incredible!!
Zeb South
Thanks buddy. You are right about Lucky’s! And the food is dope…I know you already know about the food over here 😎
Nancy
Oh my goodness Zeb! This one was so fast paced I was exhausted myself just from reading about it all! So happy for you to have Mary Anne and her family with you for a bit to share it all. There is sure no shortage of interesting and beautiful sights along the way and how awesome that you have made so many good friends. So cool that you left the guitar for them. I bet there will be a lot of stories told about that. I think the scenery is get more beautiful and especially in Austria. I don’t know if it’s just me or are the roads way cleaner than here? I haven’t seen a bunch of trash like you do here. Enjoy the rest of your time with the family and stay safe! My best picture award for this blog has to go to the tiramisu!! Now I have to go find some. 🙂
Zeb South
Haha hope you find a good tiramisu! It’s been great having them to be a part of the trip for sure. Yes, lots of beautiful sights RV everywhere here – Austria in particular! The streets are cleaner here, this is true. And yeah I think they will definitely appreciate the guitar for a long time to come. I appreciate your feedback on my post and hope you are doing great!
linda South
WoW!!! Another fantastic post ,enjoyed it tremendously, especially all the pics in Austria since that is where Mom’s family came from. How terrific you and Anna Maria were able to link up and spend a couple of days with Klaus and Inge,it looks like you all had a wonderful time! Stay safe as you continue your Big Adventure! Love you two bunches!!
Zeb South
Thanks Mom – yes it was great to see them for a couple of days. Appreciate it!!
William Schwab
Once again great picks and music. It’s nice to have your family with you. Be safe and continue on.
Zeb South
Thanks Bill!