A night and a day on trains - Krakow to Belgrade

The overnight train to Budapest was luxury compared to the ageing Silesia Sleeper from Prague to Krakow. Our compartment in the brand-new carriage featured hotel-quality sheets, real pillows and ample duvets, a hand-basin, coat hangers, a power socket and complimentary bottled water. Even so, we struggled to get much sleep with the train roaring and lurching south through Slovakia into Hungary.

Some puzzling changes occurred during the night. As we pulled out of Krakow station, our carriage was at the back of the train and we could look straight out at the tracks disappearing into a snowy vanishing point behind us. A bathroom visit in the small hours revealed an engine car attached and us travelling the other way. In the morning, we were going in the original direction again and there was a passenger carriage attached to ours.

Breakfast in Budapest and then a daytime train to Belgrade. A day off from our holiday bringing the welcome chance to relax in our spacious and cosy six-person compartment occupied only by us for most of the journey, and to watch the white plains pass by out the window. By the time we reached a small town called Kiskoros, the snow had turned to rain and high-trained vineyards became the dominant feature of the bleak flat landscape. There are no platforms in the small towns the train stopped at, so the boarding passengers have to throw their bags up into the carriage and scramble aboard from the tarmac beside the tracks. A woman and her grandson joined us in our compartment for a 15-minute stretch. The train paused in a field outside a small village and they jumped off and hurried across the wet grass through the rain.

So here I am writing, reading and watching the wet, featureless landscape pass by. Even though it's raining there is a hoar frost that hasn't melted, so the grass, scrub and trees are coated in shiny silver. We'll arrive in Belgrade at around 6pm, in good time for dinner and drinks in the renowned party town.

Krakow

It was snowing again as our night train, the "Silesia Sleeper", groaned its way out of Prague's main station and headed east through a flat, dark, snowy landscape. We had booked berths in a four-person couchette, the private lockable compartments having been sold out. We were apprehensive about this, with reports on the Lonely Planet forums of various crimes ranging from petty theft to people boarding the train, knocking passengers out with ether-soaked rags and making off with their belongings. But as it turned out we had no need to worry, as we had the whole cabin to ourselves and the door locked securely from the inside.

Another blizzard welcomed us to Krakow early the next morning and we plodded through ankle-deep snow, dragging our wheelie bags, to our hotel where early-check in allowed us to have a welcome rest and shower. No point trying to tick off the sights with 20 metres visibility and snow falling horizontally, so after a quick browse through the Christmas market and the shopping arcade inside the medieval cloth hall, we settled for the opportunity to thaw out over an unhurried lunch.

The slightly kitsch but perfectly cosy Miod Malina was a great choice. We sat near the roaring wood-fired oven, and as we defrosted from the inside out with little meat-filled dumplings submerged in beetroot soup, and sour soup made from fermented rye with hard boiled egg, sausage and onion, we watched our pork ribs sizzle away in the oven. They were melting and tender with a sticky plum glaze. My main of Polish dumplings turned out to be a dessert - comforting doughy balls stuffed with preserved plum filling.

We completed our day of indoor sightseeing with a bit of shopping interspersed with visits to tiny bars hidden down the old town's medieval streets. The unpasteurised Polish beer commonly on offer, Kasztelan, tastes good. We noticed many locals drinking their beer with straws. And of course we had to try the vodka of which the Poles are so proud. My favourite was the hazelnut flavoured version - like liquid Belgian sea shell chocolates.

The next day was clear and sparkling and -8 degrees Celsius. We saw the castle and snacked on moreish fried dumplings at the Christmas market: spiced spinach, cheese, cabbage and meat fillings inside crispy pastry. Also irresistible were the pork and onion skewers cooked over charcoal and served with sauerkraut, which came with the welcome chance to warm our hands over the coals.