hidden europe has been on the road this past fortnight, meandering through Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is not a country that gets a lot of attention in the travel media. Sarajevo café life, the bridge at Mostar and the Roman Catholic shrine at Medugorje are the three Bosnian “sights” that travel writers love to cover. But what about the rest of the country?

It is of course a region that endured a terrible war in the 1990s. The Dayton Accord may have been a fine way of ending that war, but it wasn’t necessarily the best possible way of creating an enduring peace. But against the odds, Bosnia and Herzegovina is emerging as a credible multi-national state. Its two entities, the Muslim-Croat Federation and the Republika Srpska, have been cajoled into a precarious co-existence, while the town of Brcko (an enclave that is part of neither entity) is maturing from a wayward market town, where everything from guns to women were traded, into an entrepreneurial pocket of Bosnia where some effort is really made to promote the co-existence of Serbs, Muslims and Croats within a single town.

As with all areas where once there has been conflict, the question of rebuilding monuments, churches, mosques, and other emblematic buildings is a knotty one. Even in Dresden in Germany, the rebuilding of the city’s Frauenkirche (destroyed by American and British bombers in 1945) is laced with controversy. Quite whose memories are being embedded in the new stones?

Similar issues arise in Bosnia and Herzegovina, where the world’s media rejoiced a year or two back at the reconstruction of the bridge over the Neretva gorge in Mostar. West European and North American audiences were clamouring for some good news from Bosnia (perhaps conscious that the imposition of a High Representative does not exactly provide a model of democracy.) High flown speeches highlighted how the bridge might stand as a cornerstone of reconciliation, and one dignitary even ventured to suggest that the Mostar bridge might link the worlds of Islam and Christendom. Quite a burden of responsibility for one small bridge to bear.

We may rejoice that the Mostar bridge is back in place, but in the back streets of the city a lot of ordinary mortals are still waiting for their homes and businesses to be rebuilt.

This is the fourth in a series of fortnightly blog posts by the editors of hidden europe.

Photo by Killerwurm.de

If Richard Linklater had filmed “Before Sunrise“—his tale of two strangers falling in love in a span of one day, with Vienna providing the setting—today, he could have found a much more enterprising First District that he did in the mid-1990s.

Spending a day on Vienna’s touristy museum-hopping path, we were enthralled with the sights and sounds of the Inner District, from Graben to the end of Kärtner Straße.

Graben’s landmark is the famous Pestsäule (plague column) built in the 17th century at the behest of Leopold I following the Great Plague of Vienna. Next to it are two fountains designed to contain fire. One of them is adorned with the sculptures of Saints Joseph and Leopold.

We found a young Asian pianist on the middle of the street performing from Beethoven’s Spring piano piece to Franz Lizst for tips. Moving on, we saw a crowd clustered in front of Stephansdom. We struggled to see a group of hunky men jumping and breakdancing to the delight of an awed audience. Before we entirely left Kärtner Straße, we realized that the warm weather might have been responsible for the plethora of performers.

You see, we spied yet more street performers. There were a couple of blind gypsies singing a capella, a group of old musicians playing Austrian folk music with their self-produced CD already on display, and young people’s orchestra who couldn’t stop the wind from blowing their notes. Finally, we spied a couple of two pantomimes pretending that they were on the run while Queen’s “I Want to Break Free” was playing.

These are, perhaps, the typical tourist traps, but we don’t wonder why they look good on screen.

Photo by Steffen J.

This year, St. Stephen’s Cathedral—or the Stephansdom—will celebrate its 860th birthday. Located in the First District, it is the absolute epicenter of the capital. And while Stephansdom is a tourist must-see, it’s also a place of real ongoing significance for the Viennese.

As the Lenten season unfolds in Vienna, for example, the main focus of its celebration is Stephansdom. Ask a local about about the structure’s signs and faint codes. One example: the cryptic “O5″ faintly scratched on the wall of the church; this stands for the Austrian resistance movement during the Second World War.

And of course the best view of the entire city can be seen from the top of the North Tower where its crowning glory, the Pummerin, can be seen. This famous bell tolls only on special occasions, and at mid-day on Easter Sunday—for five to seven minutes—the Pummerin will ring.

Open all year-round and with no admission charge, Stephansdom sometimes holds concerts and special matinees. For information about tours, call (+43) 01-515-5237-67. Stephansdom is located on the U1 U-Bahn line, at Stephansplatz station.

Photograph by Conundrum37

The elegance and nostalgia of the steam train can warm even the most unromantic hearts. Recognising this, Hungarian State Railways is offering the chance to step back into the Belle Époque of rail travel with its “nosztalgia” train excursions.

There are a wide variety of excursions to choose from: a candle-lit romantic meal with live music; day trips to the Danube Bend or Esztergom, ancient coronation city of the Hungarian kings; “photo journeys” through the most beautiful Hungarian countryside, stopping at landmarks and views.

Prices are very reasonable, even for rail Cheapos like us. The day trip to the Danube Bend, for example, costs just HUF2800 (€11.20; $14.90) in first class, and your ticket includes coffee in your own compartment and entrance to the Visegrad castle.

The magnificent king of steam trains, the Royal Hungarian Express, undertakes longer trips to Bulgaria, Istanbul, Slovakia, Poland, Bosnia, and the Dalmatian coast—but prices for these luxury offers are considerably higher!

Visit the nostalgia train Web site for details.

Photograph by babschi

It seems that Knut, Berlin’s über-cute polar bear cub, is alive and well—and despite the opinion of some animal-rights activists that he should have been killed rather than humanized. Three-month-old Knut made his public debut at the Berlin Zoo last weekend to the adulation of large crowds of children and an international media feeding frenzy. The little fluffball seems to be a natural star and all the attention didn’t faze him a bit.

Good thing, because the Berlin Zoo is banking on a bonanza of visitors this summer to come see Knut in action. He will be out every day from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.

photograph courtesy of hereiskaty

If you were in the dark about London’s transport system before—paying a ridiculous 4 quid (€5,90; $7.70) for a single journey on the Tube—you needn’t be anymore. Last week we highlighted London’s love affair with the Oyster card.

To simplify things for short-term visitors, there are also two Oyster cards specifically intended for tourists—a one-day card and a three-day card. The Oyster card for Visitors gives cardholders nearly 50% off all cash fares around London on tube, tram, bus, and Docklands Light Railway. Although you have to register your details to get an Oyster card—this part is too Big Brother for us; we suggest you register as “John Doe” if you don’t want Transport for London knowing your every move—it’s worth it for the savings.

With an Oyster card, you’ll pay £1 for bus fares and between £2 and £2.20 for Tube rides, a fraction of what you’d otherwise spend. The beauty of it is you can now snag an Oyster card for Visitors before you even get into London. A new partnership with Gatwick Express allows visitors to buy cards on the train from Gatwick on your way into town. For more information, poke around the Transport for London site.

photograph courtesy of Don_Gru

Lots of cities offer discount cards or city passes that aren’t up to snuff. Not so in Vienna, where the 72-hour Vienna Card, priced at €18.50, is an unambiguously great deal.

So what can this card do for you? First off, it’s a great deal for the transportation benefit alone. A single ticket with return option costs €3, so the card really goes a long way for tourists on the move. (And, incidentally, if you’ve ever witnessed Vienna’s ticket control officers sweeping through trams and U-Bahn cars, you’ll never want to ride in the city without a paid fare again.)

The Vienna Card is great for culture vultures. If museums and historical sights are your game, you’re in luck. Vienna Card holders are entitled up to 50 per cent reductions at 210 museums and sights, theaters and concerts. The card even offers discounts at shops, restaurants, coffeehouses, and Heurigen (wine taverns). The Vienna Card comes with a booklet detailing the the 210 sights and offering all sorts of advice.

The Vienna Card can be purchased at, among other locations, many hotels and hostels, the Tourist Information Center on Albertinaplatz, (open from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. every day), the information booths of the Stephansplatz and Karlsplatz U-Bahn stations, the Südbahnhof in the Fourth District, and the Landstrasse/Wien Mitte station.

Those outside of Austria should dial 43-1-798-4400-148 to purchase a Vienna Card. There’s also the nifty option of ordering it online.