In the beginning...

My first blog entry. How monumental. Well, for me at least.

I'm starting this blog in preparation for my one-month trip to Eastern Europe, for which I depart in two weeks tomorrow. My itinerary is rough, but will probably look something like this:

Fly into Prague, Czech Republic
5 nights in Prague
Train to Krakow, Poland
5 nights in Krakow (including a day trip to Auchwitz)
Train to Hungary (possibly stopping in Eastern Slovakia on my way through)
2 days in Eger, Hungary, including day trips to see the Lipazennar horses, and hopefully to do some horseback riding and wine tasting
5 nights in Budapest, Hungary
Train to Ljubljana, Slovenia
2 nights in Ljubljana
Bus to Bled, Slovenia
2 nights in Bled
Train to Bratislava, Slovakia
3 nights in Bratislava
Train to Cesky Krumlov, Czech Republic
2 nights in Cesky Krumlov
Train to Prague
2 nights in Prague
Depart back to Toronto.

My plans are very flexible, and will greatly depend on how much fun I'm having in each place, what fun things and places I hear about from other travelers, and how much money I have left to spend.

I thought I'd start this blog, primarily so I could keep a record of my trip for myself. The secondary purpose is so friends and family can keep tabs on my while I'm over there, without me having to spend hours writing individual emails, or sending out mass emails to people who might not be particularly interested in hearing about the nitty gritty details of my trip.

My main travel resource has been the "Let's Go travel guide to Eastern Europe". Today's project is to follow up on a number of emails I sent to hostels in my first few cities, asking about vacancy and prices. Apparently my email is not working, or they are ignoring me, so I'm going to try to make some actual phone calls today.