Doing a fair bit of hiking in the area around the capital these days. So strange that my exploring of the world started in its farthest corner and only now am I discovering my backyard.

With the border going straight through the national park, one can easily do a two-country-hike. The Czechs don’t call it Sächsische Schweiz though, for them its České Švýcarsko. Which is unpronouncable for Germans, so they call it Böhmische Schweiz. Plenty of Swisses. Our apartment was surrounded on three sides by national park and also just a few kilometres from the border. Many reasons to leave the car where it was and start the hike at the doorstep.

Checkout at 11:00, return of the car at 22:00. That leaves a fair bit of time for in-between-activities. For a start, a visit to the Weifbergturm, a viewing platform towering over the village. Looking over the village in a southerly direction View towards Bad Schandau, Schrammsteine on the left Next stop, while we’re at exploring the German countryside: Spreewald. We both like pickles, so that’s a must-see anyway. The town of Lübben seems fairly relaxed and served good food and coffee.

The April trip had shown me one of the highlights of Sächsische Schweiz: the Schrammsteine. Given that it’s a highlight and you can walk it in two directions, why not go again? We drove the car to Beuthenfall and… discovered that we needed €5 in change for the parking ticket. The things you don’t think about when you always travel on public transport. Got that sorted though. Shortly into the hike, we got the first “woah, nice” moment at the Affensteine range.

Already back after less than four months. Should give the dear reader an idea of how much I liked it the last time. No train travel involved this time. We rented a car in Berlin and drove it down to the last corner of the republic: Hinterhermsdorf. “Am Arsch der Welt”, as the Germans phrase it, or “donde Cristo perdió la chancla” in Spanish. Arrived in the early afternoon and checked into the apartment (Ferienwohnung).

It’s still more than two months to go, but with a trip of this magnitude, I want to do my homework in time. What draws me most about Japan are two things: Ramen-style noodles and the total and utter madness that Tokyo is said to be. I have seen Bangkok, I have seen Hanoi. I’ve made it through rush-hour Saigon. But I expect Tokyo to top it all. What I’m figuring out at the moment is where to stay.

The worst tourist dump ever. The whole old town of Prague seems to exist solely for the purpose of providing a selfie background for intoxicated foreigners. We had found ourselves in the middle of that after arriving in the late afternoon by train from Bratislava. Fortunately the area west across the river was a little more quiet and we could actually take a breather while watching the peacocks in Vojanovy sady.

Just outside the gates of Bratislava starts the mountain range of the Little Carpathians, providing plenty of opportunities for hiking (and sports). Yesterday public transport took us some 20 minutes from our place right to the foot of the south-western edge of the mountains. Even at ten in the morning the temperatures were past 30°, which promised a sweaty hike ahead. The area is beautiful and - at least mid-week - very quiet with hardly anybody else around.

With amazing forested hills just outside the door, there was no way we wouldn’t go for another hike today. This time we benefited from frequent local trains that run up-and-down the eastern side of the Little Carpathians. With countless stops to choose from, we opted to exit at Svätý Jur (Sweaty You). Through a small village the road leads straight up into the mountains and soon we found ourselves once more surrounded by forest.

Austrian Airlines has a connection Tegel to Vienna every two hours. Vienna itself doesn’t tempt me, but from the airport it’s less than an hour by bus to Bratislava. Very convenient. We arrived in the early afternoon and checked into a holiday appartment just next to the Danube. Not the worst view I ever had. The Slovak capital gives off a nice and relaxed flair. People are friendly and the streets clean.