It was the best of times, it was the…well actually pretty good times all in all 🙂I recently spent two weeks travelling by train in Central Europe and visited Warsaw, Krakow, Brno and Leipzig.

 

The first and shortest stop was Warsaw where I spent two nights. I arrived on a Sunday early evening and decided to try my luck at a sauna.. I chose “Sauna the Fire” since it was closest and had decent reviews and was open until 2 am.

 

It is a small place on only one floor, but it has the basics;  lockers, bar, showers, jacuzzi, dry sauna, steam room, and a cruising area with a handful of private cubicles. The place seemed clean and well maintained.

 

When I arrived around 8 or 9 pm it was packed. Most of the crowd were both younger and fitter than me, so I wasn’t sure I would be getting anything except for eye candy that evening. I did find a couple of guys to play with. One late 30’s average build  guy and one early 20’s tall and chubby guy both found this early 50’s tall and reasonably fit guy worthy of a roll in the cubicles.

 

The next day, I walked a lot around Warsaw. It was my first visit there and the weather was lovely, so I did my best to cover as much ground as possible. I also joined a ww2 themed walking tour. Ate Zurek for Lunch and borscht and cherry pierogies at a Ukrainian restaurant for dinner.

 

I was tired after a long day so my efforts to see if I could hook up via Grindr were a bit halfhearted. I did get a couple of propositions from moneyboys. One was from a local or perhaps Ukrainian early 20’s who asked for 200 PLN (around 50 €) and another was from a late 20’s African who asked for 800 PLN plus transport. I didn’t proceed with either of the offers and got a good night's sleep instead.

 

Next stop was Krakow. Hopefully I will get around to reporting on that in a day or two.

Krakow is a wonderful city with a fascinating historical centre and the youthful vibe of a University city. I spent four nights there in a studio apartment. 

 

On my first night I hooked up with a mid 20’s Azerbaijani student, who spent the night. He was of stocky build with a nice meaty ass. Cuddling, conversation and copulation with him were all good.

 

The next morning we went out for breakfast and he took me to a view point/mound, Kopiec Kraka, with a nice view of the city. We went back to the city and parted ways, but agreed to meet again the next day.

 

During the day I had a few chats going on Grindr. One was an early 20’s Ukrainian who I met for a late afternoon hook up. Another was an early 30’s Indian who I met for drinks and joined me in my apartment afterwards for a nice round of sex.

 

On my second full day, the weather was agreeable for a hike, so I walked to the Kopiec Kosciuszki, another and bigger mound inside a 19th century fortress.

 

 

From there I hiked to the Benedectine Abbey in Kotiec where I had a late lunch in a place nearby. I took an Uber back to the city and met with Azerbaijani guy for another walk around the old city, a round of sex at the apartment, and a late dinner in the historical center.

 

On my third and final full day, I visited the Czartoryski museum. It has a great collection of artefacts from Polish history and an impressive art collection with a Rembrandt and a Da Vinci painting. I had lunch at a Georgian restaurant and met Azerbaijani guy for a late afternoon sex and dinner date. After dinner we parted, but as I prepared to go to sleep, I got a message from the Ukrainian  asking for another round. I happily agreed and he came by.

 

Krakow exceeded my expectations, both in terms of regular tourist activities and availability of young men, so it is definitely on my list of places that I would like to return to. 

 

My next stop was Brno, Czechia. I will probably report on that tomorrow.

Krakow is a great city and well worth visiting. Lots of willing young men.

 

The famous Jagielonian University

It also has a fascinating Jewish quarter

From Krakow I boarded a train bound for Prague and then I had to make a change in Ostrava. The little I saw of that city didn’t excite me enough to put it on my list for future destinations.

 

Brno is smaller than Krakow, but equally old and home of several universities. So what you get here is the atmosphere of an old university city, but with considerably less other tourists than Krakow.

 

On the evening of my arrival, Saturday, I decided to visit Las Palmas, the local gay sauna. It's a noticeably old place. But clean and with the facilities you expect. Lockers, showers, jacuzzi, sauna, steam room, and cruising area with 4 rooms where you can find privacy. Cash only, so you need to get hold of some koruna. The crowd was hardly a crowd, I think a maximum of 10 guests including myself. I wasn’t really interested in any of the other guests and noone approached me for any funny business, so unlike the sauna in Warsaw the previous Sunday, there was neither eye candy nor action in this place.

 

I went back to the hotel, the Continental, a nice place that is supposedly a prime example of Czech mid-century modern architecture. On Grindr I chatted with a late 20’s Iranian recent graduate from one of the universities and we agreed to keep in touch for a possible meeting the next day.

 

The next day the weather was absolutely gorgeous, almost summery. I took a tram to the dam at the edge of Brno and hiked around the Western bank of the lake to Veveri Castle and back via the Eastern bank. If I were to do it again, I would choose the Eastern bank both ways as it was much more quiet and scenic and reserved for only bicycles and pedestrians. Btw, the trams in Brno are super modern and easy to use. You just tap your credit or debit card as you enter and exit the tram. If you forget to tap on exit, you are only charged for a one hour ticket.

When I came back from my hike, I had a very nice hook up with the Iranian guy.

 

I also use Tinder, but it doesn’t update locations as frequently as Grindr, so it can be a bit tricky when you are on the road. I matched with a nice early 20’s Ukrainian student, and I spent most of my second full day with him in my hotel room and on a nice walk around the old city.

 

After we parted I visited the Capucine Crypt. It contains around 40 mummified monks and patrons of the monastery. The bios of the monks and patrons also tells the story of the monastery and some of the History of Brno. I found the place fascinating.

 

On my third and final full day, I visited the labyrinth under the Vegetable Market in the city centre, climbed the tower of the cathedral of Saint Peter and Paul, and walked up to and around Brno Castle. In the evening, I hooked up with a mid 20’s Czech student of Vietnamese descent, whom I met via Grindr. It was another very nice hook up.

I think I may be going back to Brno in the future. It’s a lovely place with interesting and not very crowded sights and enough young men from the universities to keep my afternoons and evenings busy.

 

From Brno I took a train bound for Berlin and changed in Dresden for a connection to Leipzig. I hope to get around to the last and final installment on Leipzig in a few days.

Leipzig is called Hype-zig by those who claim that this is where creative and artistic types have moved after gentrification has priced them out of Berlin. If that is the case, they forgot to tell the gays There are few gay venues in Leipzig and their opening hours seem restricted to around weekends.

Still Leipzig is a nice university city with a small historical centre, museums, and monuments. The highlights of my sightseeing were the Grassi Museum’s applied arts exhibition and a nice walk to the Südfriedhof (Southern cemetery) and the nearby monument to the battle of Dresden (Napoleon’s first defeat).

Hook-up wise, I met an early 30’s Filipino bottom and a late 20’s muscular Vietnamese top in my hotel room. Both were very nice. 

 

I also tried my luck at the local sauna on a Friday night. Place is called Stargayte Sauna, so I was expecting gay, but it was a mixed night with many straight couples and a few single ladies, and a few mtf trans who hadn't done bottom surgery. The place is very big, several saunas, jacuzzi, pool, big steam room, play areas on two floors, a nice bar and generally clean and well maintained. I did play a little with a couple of guys, but I think the gay and bi guys there including myself were a bit inhibited by having a female audience.

 

I really enjoyed my trip. In Europe, the university cities that are not capitals, are often overlooked by other tourists, but they still have life, culture and places of historical interest. Also, their high streets have not yet been fully claimed by the international retail brands and fast food chains that are making European capitals look more and more similar. 

 

As for hook ups, I think there is a “big fish in a small pond” dynamic that works well for me as I seem to get more attention on Grindr in the smaller cities than in the bigger ones.

 

What is your favourite city that is not a capital?

Thank you for your postings, FunFifties.

11 hours ago, FunFifties said:

battle of Dresden

Battle of Leipzig🙂

https://www.britannica.com/event/Battle-of-Leipzig

53 minutes ago, Tomtravel said:

Battle of Leipzig🙂

https://www.britannica.com/event/Battle-of-Leipzig

Yes Leipzig of course. Thanks

My favourite is Dresden. But Nurnberg and Leipzig come not far behind. All three were very musical cities and there are statues, busts and streets named after quite a few famous classical composers. Among those either born in the cities or who spent much of their working lives there were Johann Sebastian Bach, Richard Wagner, Richard Strauss, Robert Schumann, Felix Mendelssohn, Gustav Mahler and Edvard Grieg. Nurnberg also has the Albrecht Durer House as well as the chamber where the Nazi leaders were tried. I already posted a few elsewhere on Dresden. Here are some others -

Nurnberg

Durer's House

The restored chamber where the Nazi trials were held . . .

. . . and the original from the opposite angle

Leipzig

The grave of J.S.Bach in the church where he worked for 27 years