WEEK 16 for David Foranand Fintan Gillespie.
Having packed our bags after a few days in Bratislava, we hit the road for Vienna, Austria's grand capital. Entering along the Danube, the grandeur of its architecture was striking. Surrounded by museums, palaces and monuments, the city has a high-brow feel.
We arrived days before the start of Euro 2008, so Vienna was decked out with banners and buzzing in anticipation. Wandering around Vienna's Innere Stadt, we visited the Gothic masterpiece of St Stephen's Cathedral, the city's most recognisable structure.
We could get home from Austrian in a few days, but we have planned a scenic route via the Baltics and Scandinavia, so we headed north towards Prague, in the Czech Republic.
Entering its old town, the Hummer struggled through the city's maze of narrow cobbled streets. Armies of tourists descend on Prague every summer, to visit attractions such as St Charles Bridge and the Astronomical Clock. Every hour tourists gather around the clock to watch mechanical figures and a bell-ringing skeleton. We found it laughingly disappointing.
With two long drives either side of Warsaw, Poland's capital, we arrived in Vilnius, in the Baltic state of Lithuania. This tiny, spotless town is a web of charming streets filled with trendy bars and restaurants.
We took a short trip to Trakai, Lithuania's ancient capital, to visit its picturesque medieval castle, built on a small island on Lake Galv.
After an enjoyable drive north through forested roads we reached Riga, the bustling heart of the Baltics. Like Vilnius, the city is split between old charm and modern development. Unfortunately, with EU membership and an influx of low-fares airlines, it has become a victim of stag parties. We arrived late on a Sunday evening, as the old town was winding down after another weekend of carnage, and enjoyed a quiet few days wandering the streets around the 800-year-old spire of St Peter's Church.
Next week we head to Estonia before catching a ferry to Stockholm and the rest of Scandinavia.
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