We departed from Prague 630 AM beginning a morning train ride of 5 or so hours. Sleepy, we found a place aboard. Comfy seats granted us a good journey, but yapping English girls sitting next to us made me think of how old I am getting on this trip. I'm 22, and girls talking about high school romance and drama makes me roll my eyes and dazzle at the fact 6 years of teenage adolescence went by so quickly. Once we landed in Austria, we found the info desk and found we only had 5 hours until our next departure to Hungary. They told us to take the tram (such solid directions, right?). We walked outside, saw 3 trams and went right back to the station to a different info desk to ask for more specifics. With more information we returned to the tram spot, told to stay on until the last stop-the Opera House. Well, the tram stopped and we were in the boonies, no Opera House to be found. We walked into a grocery store hoping for a point in the right direction, but they looked at us baffled when we said the Opera/City Center....their response after some austrian talk "far, not sure". Luckily, as we were walking outside deciding what kind of situation we had put ourselves in, a kind man approached us asking if he could help. Turns out we took the tram in the wrong direction, so we had to take it all the way back, and then beyond. After a good hour and a half deprived from our short visit we were staring at the Opera House, tummies growling for some wienerschnitzel.
Coming from school in the south, this classic dish could be compared to country fried steak, but instead made with veal. Complimented by something like potato salad. Seriously, some of these eastern European dishes just remind me so much of southern US dishes. After a hearty meal we wandered around to the tourist hot spots-some palace where the Hampburg Dynasty used to rule, some pretty gardens, the city hall. I thought it was all pretty, but my camera had died so I relied on my iPhone which isn't as fun with taking pictures. And we really had no in depth knowledge at all the attractions we were walking by, so I just felt a little detached from it all. Maybe I will have a different experience in the future when I have more money and more time, as Vienna is pretty expensive and has a lot to explore. Just brushing the surface of Austria I was excited to get a good delve into Hungary, as we were staying for 3 nights.
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| Beautiful Fountain, Austria |
Saving some money and taking in a novel experience, we decided to couch surf. For those who don't know this term, use my friend google. Our couch surfer had received rave reviews from the website and after Caitlin had Facebook friended him we learned how it's kinda his part time job hosting strangers. So yes, to make things clear, I stayed at a complete strangers house. But this complete stranger also gave Caitlin and his keys, and thus total faith and trust in his apartment for 3 days. A fair trade. The first night he pointed out the "must sees" and directed us to cheap eats. While in Budapest we got by on $35 total, pretty good I'd say. The next morning I woke up for a run, totally forceful though. It was one of those mornings when I was trying to talk myself out of it, and the whole run I was trying to tell myself to walk while my legs were moving fast. Just not the right mental state, which is probably why on my way back I got completely turned around. I thought I found our apartment, but the code didn't work. 20 minutes wandering with no luck, I decided to call Caitlin. Being without 4G and my oh so helpful map app has aided in separating myself from relying on technology, but moments like those I crave being "linked in". After eating at a cheap Turkish place we decided on joining a free tour (slightly disappointed by the small group as I knew we would have to tip more). But the 3 hour tour covered an extensive look into Hungary history-looking at the Jewish quarters, hearing about them landing on the wrong side of the iron curtain, and learning of their smart tourist misnomers calling buildings the "largest in the European continent" to avoid coming #2 from the Uk. It was all very captivating, but the most raw was a story of our tour guide, about 27 years old, who for a few years in his young years had to smuggle goods from Czech to Budapest wearing shoes 4 times to large and wrapping jeans around his body. His job-to pretend to sleep and cuddle under a blanket, since most controllers wouldn't bother such a young kid. Crazy, someone just a few years older than me had to deal with the horrors of Communism. And that isn't even it, they had to bring their grandparents along the journey to make it cheaper-a senior discount you could say. Well, if a grandparent passed along the journey, they had to carry the body back, making pretend they were still alive to help credit the journey as money was so short. I couldn't imagine. So maybe that is part of the lesson of this Europe travel experience-to put into perspective how very, very fortunate I am to be raised as an American. Such a grave appreciation I have been building of this concept.
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| Tour Guide Explaining Bomb Shelter for Royalty |
Sad stories aside, after the tour we joined our couch surfer for dinner at a hummus restaurant. Boy do I love hummus. I always said, if I were to be on an island with one food island, it would have to be hummus. And this whole trip I haven't been able to hinder that craving, none in Greece of all places, but finally in Budapest! Our couch surfer then took us up to the most beautiful panoramic view of the city, we ousted for public transport as we had walked a lot already. What a view. Stiff competition to that of Florence. The city sparkled, the beautiful buildings illuminated...I could have stayed up there for days. Of course, it's in those instances when the cameras just don't capture the same exact image. Click, mental picture. Nadir, our couch surfer, then took us to the #1 and #3 bars in Budapest.
He tooted that Budapest has the best life in Europe, but we couldn't judge since we came mid week. So, the #1 bar was very hipster, I could see it in Charleston but in a smaller state. They have been using rundown buildings to house bars in Budapest because historical restoration costs so much, so they basically let buildings crumble until they rebuild. As a UNESCO city I understand the high cost, but I think its just funny when our tour guide said oh yeah we have great plans for this or this building...we just have to wait. Anyways, probably not up to city code in US standards but a very cool concept and it was full of random bath tubs and old cars turned into seating. Also, a random event, some girl walked around the bar asking the tables if they wanted to buy a carrot stalk. I laughed, what an interesting bar snack.
A good night sleep, I passed on the morning run, which in hindsight was a good choice as we walked something like over 4k that day. Wandering around heroes square, where some colonel overcame the Magyars, chowing down on more Turkish food, and taking the hike to an island in the middle of the Danub* river. We napped on a bench overlooking the water, it's funny how I've come to be able to sleep on almost any surface. I used to be such a snob for my temperpedic, cloud-essence of a mattress, but I can sleep on the floor now. Granted, I will be desiring an ultimate chiropractor session and a deep tissue massage to get my body back in sorts. Caitlin always makes me laugh when she says what an old woman she feels she has become from this euro trip. While walking off the island, I saw a cyclist completely tumble on her bike. Across the road, and with people immediately aiding her, there was nothing we could do. But those moments just jolt me and make me realize how in any moment a random injury could occur. We visited a castle, supplementing our walk with a long set of steps. On our return home Caitlin and I agreed we could use some salad in our lives. After returning home and setting up the kitchen, chopping veggies, Id realized in Caitlin's delirious state she grabbed cabbage instead of lettuce. I swear my dad has done that a handful of times when my mom has sent him to the store. The salad was still good, finally being able to dress it with something other than just oil and vinegar. Although we had previously planned to check out the club scene, Caitlin and I couldn't imagine walking any further, and we had a train to catch at 630 am for Croatia. Our couch surfer had invited a friend over though, so we felt obliged to drink some and we had vodka left over from Poland that I didn't really want to keep lugging around. As Europeans do, we took shots. Palinka is this Turkish liquor made 100% from fruit, it burns like whiskey in the throat but is a clear liquor. So we shared music, browsing through YouTube, and took shots of the various alcohol we had available. They also don't use chasers, making it an experience of holding back a gag face. A fun night with new company, and so suddenly it was time to depart for the train.
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| View from the Castle |
A great close to our Eastern Europe adventure. But after venturing so many cities and hearing about so much disturbing and raw history, I was craving the coast. The ocean brings me a peace of mind that cityscapes just don't compare. Off to Croatia we go.....
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| Caitlin and Me In Front of Parliament |
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