My parents came to visit this weekend, and so I finally got to do some of the touristy things one never does when one lives somewhere. The best of the new sites are below:
- City Park- so relaxing. We sat on a bench in front of the lake for awhile, and then went to a picnic table and played cards. It was probably 60+ degrees, and I'm hoping I got a tan :)
- City Hall Market- huge market with meats, fruits and vegetables, as well as Hungarian souvenirs.
- Vaci utca- so I just found out this weekend that Vaci utca is actually twice as long as I had previously thought. And I thoroughly enjoyed the "new" second half.
- Opera House- truly gorgeous, I just wished I liked theater/opera/ballet/anything else that could possibly be performed at an opera house so I could get dressed up and go back for a performance. It was truly that beautiful.
- Ethnography Museum- a glimpse into life in Hungary prior to the modern conveniences of the 20th and 21st centuries.
Next on the tourist itinerary: Salzburg, Prague, Berlin, Brussels and Amsterdam. Woo! More upon my return to Budapest on April 13.
03 April 2007
24 March 2007
Countdown to the end
It's hard to believe I will be leaving Hungary one month from today, on April 24. My time will be spent finishing exams and papers, traveling with my parents when they come to visit and then trying to get my thesis done before leaving. Ahh! Mild panic may be setting in.
Realizing that time is short, a few weekends ago the five Ambassadorial Scholars got together so that we could say we had at least one last time together, should another opportunity not present itself. It had been A
aron's birthday a good three weeks before, but the Mongolian BBQ restaurant gives free cake with sparkler to the birthday boy, so we spent the night congratulating Aaron on turning the big 2-5. It was the first time I had really pretended it was someone's birthday when it really wasn't (one or two days off doesn't count), and to be honest it was far more fun than I could have ever imagined. The all-you-can drink aspect of the night probably helped heighten my amusement.
Of all the people I will miss in Budapest, Aaron, Jeff, Monika and Noah are at the top of my list for sure. Although we've only known each other since email contact began last summer, when we get together it's as if we've been friends for life, and even if we haven't hung out in months it's as if it's only been a day. I love Rotary for the opportunity to study for free in Budapest, but love them more for sending me the best friends one could ask for.
Realizing that time is short, a few weekends ago the five Ambassadorial Scholars got together so that we could say we had at least one last time together, should another opportunity not present itself. It had been A
aron's birthday a good three weeks before, but the Mongolian BBQ restaurant gives free cake with sparkler to the birthday boy, so we spent the night congratulating Aaron on turning the big 2-5. It was the first time I had really pretended it was someone's birthday when it really wasn't (one or two days off doesn't count), and to be honest it was far more fun than I could have ever imagined. The all-you-can drink aspect of the night probably helped heighten my amusement.Of all the people I will miss in Budapest, Aaron, Jeff, Monika and Noah are at the top of my list for sure. Although we've only known each other since email contact began last summer, when we get together it's as if we've been friends for life, and even if we haven't hung out in months it's as if it's only been a day. I love Rotary for the opportunity to study for free in Budapest, but love them more for sending me the best friends one could ask for.
Eurotrip 2007... Jonathan Visits Europe
Somehow I managed to turn my two days off from school due to a Hungarian holiday into a week and a half vacation with Jonathan. We had an amazing time traveling around France and Italy
1. New favorite European city: Torino (Turin Rome and Mila n Rome and Krak ow are close behind.
2. Best meal consumed: our daily gelato beats out all other food. Italian gelato is simply amazing. I also introduced Jonathan to the amazingness that is San Benedetto ice tea. We also consumed large quantities of European Pringles, at 2-4 Euros a canis
ter… ouch.
3. Favorite friends made along the way: we stayed with Hospitality Clubbers inMilan and had such a fabulous time that they invited us to visit them over the weekend in Genoa Genoa
4. Most interesting attraction:Monte Carlo 
n Torino , ranks a close second.
5. Favorite souvenir: Knock-off sunglasses bought outside the Colosseum inRome R ome
6. Best weather: probablyRome
7. Biggest disappointment: FrenchRiviera Miami R 
ome
8. Best trip "bonus": meeting Jonathan's aunt, uncle and four cousins in Nantes, where they have been living for the past four years. Spending time with his family was the absolute best way to end the trip.
1. New favorite European city: Torino (
2. Best meal consumed: our daily gelato beats out all other food. Italian gelato is simply amazing. I also introduced Jonathan to the amazingness that is San Benedetto ice tea. We also consumed large quantities of European Pringles, at 2-4 Euros a canis
ter… ouch.3. Favorite friends made along the way: we stayed with Hospitality Clubbers in
4. Most interesting attraction:
n 5. Favorite souvenir: Knock-off sunglasses bought outside the Colosseum in
6. Best weather: probably
7. Biggest disappointment: French
8. Best trip "bonus": meeting Jonathan's aunt, uncle and four cousins in Nantes, where they have been living for the past four years. Spending time with his family was the absolute best way to end the trip.
Pig Killing in Kecskemet
NOTE: THIS POST CONTAINS PHOTOS NOT FOR THE FAINT OF HEART! BLOOD AND GUTS WILL BE REVEALED!
In February, one of the local Rotarians invited me and Aaron, a fellow scholar and partner in crazy Europeans adventure who has been featured in my blog before, to a traditional Hungarian pig killing. The former vegetarian that I am, I took it as a cultural event: in Hungary, each village household generally slaughters one pig a year, which provides enough meat for the family until the following year.
It was a full day event, which began at 5am and ended at 9pm. Just to give you an idea of the schedule:
5:00am- Lazi the Rotarian picked me up and we drove to Kecskemet, a city an hour and a half outside of Budapest
7:30am- ate breakfast (fresh boiled pig's blood and scrambled eggs) and started drinking palinka, a Hungarian liquor that is traditionally consumed in countryside to warm you up on those cold Hungarian winter mornings
9:00am- the pig killing begins (see photos below)
11:00am- wagon ride to a local farm for live music and hot wine
12:30pm- horse show
1:30pm- lunch and more palinka, followed by games, and more eating and drinking!
7:00pm- time to go home... zzzzzzzzzz
In February, one of the local Rotarians invited me and Aaron, a fellow scholar and partner in crazy Europeans adventure who has been featured in my blog before, to a traditional Hungarian pig killing. The former vegetarian that I am, I took it as a cultural event: in Hungary, each village household generally slaughters one pig a year, which provides enough meat for the family until the following year.
It was a full day event, which began at 5am and ended at 9pm. Just to give you an idea of the schedule:
5:00am- Lazi the Rotarian picked me up and we drove to Kecskemet, a city an hour and a half outside of Budapest
7:30am- ate breakfast (fresh boiled pig's blood and scrambled eggs) and started drinking palinka, a Hungarian liquor that is traditionally consumed in countryside to warm you up on those cold Hungarian winter mornings
9:00am- the pig killing begins (see photos below)
11:00am- wagon ride to a local farm for live music and hot wine
12:30pm- horse show
1:30pm- lunch and more palinka, followed by games, and more eating and drinking!
7:00pm- time to go home... zzzzzzzzzz
10 February 2007
Update on travel plans
As you know, travel is one of my passions. I think about it constantly. Where can I go next? How will I get there? Who will I go with? What is there to see? Where will we stay?
I love browsing the internet, checking train schedules, looking for cheap flights and reading up on possible travel destinations.
I love the thrill of trying to communicate in unknown languages, navigating a new city based on a tiny map in the guidebook (or no map at all, as was the case in Novi Sad), discovering chocolate shops and cafes and of course trying new food.
I love the satisfaction I get packing my bags (which I have down to a thirty minute science, btw), and experience pure joy as the exhaustion hits me when I get home.
I love the exhilaration of being hastily awakened at 3am on the train so the border guards can put yet another stamp in my passport, which is now complete with added pages AA-ZZ.
So with this in mind, I provide an updated list of my travel plans for the next three months, as well as longer-term:
Next 3 Months- Realistically
My parents are coming in April and I will for sure join them in Prague, Amsterdam
Berlin
Romania
Hungary day-trips: Szeged, Pecs, Balaton, Miskolc
Next 3 Months- Possibilities
Milan, Italy
Greece (to visit a friend)
Kiev, Ukraine
Istanbul, Turkey
Traveling with my parents in April: Belgium and Salzburg, Austria
Next 3 Months- Dream World
South of France, South of Spain and Morocco
Post-Hungary 2007
Toronto (to visit Angela!)
S. America tour w/Jonathan: Peru, Bolivia, Buenos Aires, Brazil
2008 and Beyond
South Africa (2010 World Cup)
Vietnam (to visit a friend who will be posted there with the State Dept later this year)
Hong Kong
China
India
Istanbul, Turkey
Okay well now that we've cleared that up it's back to the real world: thesis, ethics readings and micro-economics test on Tuesday. Have a nice weekend :)
I love browsing the internet, checking train schedules, looking for cheap flights and reading up on possible travel destinations.
I love the thrill of trying to communicate in unknown languages, navigating a new city based on a tiny map in the guidebook (or no map at all, as was the case in Novi Sad), discovering chocolate shops and cafes and of course trying new food.
I love the satisfaction I get packing my bags (which I have down to a thirty minute science, btw), and experience pure joy as the exhaustion hits me when I get home.
I love the exhilaration of being hastily awakened at 3am on the train so the border guards can put yet another stamp in my passport, which is now complete with added pages AA-ZZ.
So with this in mind, I provide an updated list of my travel plans for the next three months, as well as longer-term:
Next 3 Months- Realistically
My parents are coming in April and I will for sure join them in Prague, Amsterdam
Berlin
Romania
Hungary day-trips: Szeged, Pecs, Balaton, Miskolc
Next 3 Months- Possibilities
Milan, Italy
Greece (to visit a friend)
Kiev, Ukraine
Istanbul, Turkey
Traveling with my parents in April: Belgium and Salzburg, Austria
Next 3 Months- Dream World
South of France, South of Spain and Morocco
Post-Hungary 2007
Toronto (to visit Angela!)
S. America tour w/Jonathan: Peru, Bolivia, Buenos Aires, Brazil
2008 and Beyond
South Africa (2010 World Cup)
Vietnam (to visit a friend who will be posted there with the State Dept later this year)
Hong Kong
China
India
Istanbul, Turkey
Okay well now that we've cleared that up it's back to the real world: thesis, ethics readings and micro-economics test on Tuesday. Have a nice weekend :)
Belgrade and Novi Sad, Serbia
Kate and I went to Serbia last weekend. Have I mentioned that I love Europe for this very reason: you can get on a train on Friday night, be in another country on Saturday morning, spend the weekend and then be home Monday morning to start your week? Fabulous.
Who goes to Serbia? Not many people. We went for the adventure and the experience, and found that Serbia is an interesting country for many reasons:
1. Serbia used to be part of Yugoslavia and you see still "Yugoslavia" mentioned everywhere. The word "Yugoslavia" means "Land of the South Slavs," which although the country has broken up I suppose the description is still accurate.
2. Serbia was bombed by NATO in 1999 and evidence of the bombings is still visible.
3. Time has stood still in Serbia: in many ways it feels like Communism is still present, as the economy is stagnating, tourism is basically non-existent (we could not stay the night in Novi Sad because there were no hostels!), buildings are crumbling and the majority of ca
rs are older than I am.
4. There is a lot of Croatian and Italian influence- in fact Serbia is known for its amazing pizzerias. In the northern part of the country (including Novi Sad, one of the cities we visited) there is a lot of Hungarian influence, with a large and active Hungarian-speaking community. In fact, while the majority of the population are Serbs, an additional 37 nationalities reside in Serbia.
5. We saw a variety of languages in use (which was a bit confusing). According to the internet, the office language is Serbian and the alphabet in official use is Cyrillic, as well as Latin. In the areas inhabited by national minorities, the languages and alphabets of the minorities are in official use as well (as provided by law). Like I found in Poland, many people spoke fluent English as well, although Serbia isn't exactly tourist central.
6. The dominant religion is Christian Orthodox, and there are some beautiful Christian Orthodox churches. In fact, in visiting one we walked in on a wedding, and were highly amused by the band playing outside that would literally attack those entering the church, playing music in their faces (as you can see from the picture) and asking for money.
7. I still can't figure out whether Serbia and Montenegro and in fact one country or two; my guide book describes their relationship as a "fragile union;" Serbia uses the dinar, Montenegro the Euro. Very confusing.
8. On the outskirts of Belgrade we saw poverty as we I have not yet seen in Europe: a real-life shanty town, with houses made of cardboard boxes, children running around in winter with no shoes on and trash everywhere... and I mean everywhere. Obviously I came across this kind of poverty in Latin America but it was a bit shocking to see it here in Europe.
Who goes to Serbia? Not many people. We went for the adventure and the experience, and found that Serbia is an interesting country for many reasons:
1. Serbia used to be part of Yugoslavia and you see still "Yugoslavia" mentioned everywhere. The word "Yugoslavia" means "Land of the South Slavs," which although the country has broken up I suppose the description is still accurate.
2. Serbia was bombed by NATO in 1999 and evidence of the bombings is still visible.
3. Time has stood still in Serbia: in many ways it feels like Communism is still present, as the economy is stagnating, tourism is basically non-existent (we could not stay the night in Novi Sad because there were no hostels!), buildings are crumbling and the majority of ca
rs are older than I am.4. There is a lot of Croatian and Italian influence- in fact Serbia is known for its amazing pizzerias. In the northern part of the country (including Novi Sad, one of the cities we visited) there is a lot of Hungarian influence, with a large and active Hungarian-speaking community. In fact, while the majority of the population are Serbs, an additional 37 nationalities reside in Serbia.
5. We saw a variety of languages in use (which was a bit confusing). According to the internet, the office language is Serbian and the alphabet in official use is Cyrillic, as well as Latin. In the areas inhabited by national minorities, the languages and alphabets of the minorities are in official use as well (as provided by law). Like I found in Poland, many people spoke fluent English as well, although Serbia isn't exactly tourist central.
6. The dominant religion is Christian Orthodox, and there are some beautiful Christian Orthodox churches. In fact, in visiting one we walked in on a wedding, and were highly amused by the band playing outside that would literally attack those entering the church, playing music in their faces (as you can see from the picture) and asking for money.
7. I still can't figure out whether Serbia and Montenegro and in fact one country or two; my guide book describes their relationship as a "fragile union;" Serbia uses the dinar, Montenegro the Euro. Very confusing.
8. On the outskirts of Belgrade we saw poverty as we I have not yet seen in Europe: a real-life shanty town, with houses made of cardboard boxes, children running around in winter with no shoes on and trash everywhere... and I mean everywhere. Obviously I came across this kind of poverty in Latin America but it was a bit shocking to see it here in Europe.
22 January 2007
New Skype-In Number
Great news- I can now be reached at a regular U.S. number- (305) 517-7457. It will connect you to my computer; if I'm online, I will pick up; if not, you can leave me a voice mail. You will be charged the regular rate for a local/long-distance call (depending on where you are calling from). Hope to hear from you soon!
Back from Poland!
I am back in B
udapest after a quick weekend trip to Poland. Aaron (my friend, fellow Rotary scholar and most-fun travel companion) and I were pleasantly surprised by Krakow and Auschwitz. In fact, Krakow must might rival Rome for distinction of my favorite city in Europe. I realize this is a bold statement to make, but indeed Krakow was amazing.
Here is a recap of the top-ten trip highlights, in no particular order:
1. "Here is WHAT?"- The journey started Friday night. Initially there was a bit of confusion about the train- we thought our train from Budapest was direct to Krakow, but after six attempts at clarification with the train man we finally understood that we had to change in Miskolc. We got off at Miskolc and then tried to find the actual t
icket windows so we could check the time of our train. After a bit of wandering around the underground tunnels Aaron emerged at street level and said, "Here it is." I followed, got to the top, saw nothing but a parking lot and said, "Here is WHAT?!" We both doubled over laughing, as I had failed to see the huge brick train station to the left.
2. The train rides.- Here is something Americans could learn from the Europeans. I really enjoy trains, I must say. If we could detach ourselves for five minutes from our cars and build our cities in ways that encouraged walking we could hugely benefit from trains. Aaron and I did some of our best brainstorming on the trains- "top travel destinations for the next four months," "number of countries visited," and more. We also were a
ble to recline comfortably as we had our cabins to ourselves each time. And encounters with border guards are always fun. Entering Poland they stamped our passports that we were exiting (instead of entering), and then had to correct that mistake with another stamp, and since they couldn't figure out if we were coming or going they stamped in the middle of the page, effectively taking up an entire page... which means I am now onto the amendments pages. Time to visit the Embassy! Oh, and on the way back we may have fallen asleep and missed our stop. The ticket checker's exact words were something like, "Budapest? That way (pointing in the opposite direction). We're going to Bucharest (Romania)." Oops.
3. Our hostel.- We arrived in Krakow at 7:30am on Saturday morning and went straight to the hostel, which we had booked online ahead of time at Hostelworld.com. Although we initially had concerns about the place (mainly stemming from the
fact that we woke the poor woman up since it was only 8:15am on a Saturday and she was a bit grumpy with us), it turned out to be amazing- we had our own room, own bathroom, entire kitchen set-up, towels and it was located very close to the center of town. The entire weekend we walked everywhere. It was truly super.
4. Great coffee shops and restaurants.- We had coffee on Saturday morning after arriving at this adorable coffee shop called Coffee Street, and an amazing dinner two nights in a row at a restaurant... what we liked was that each place had a lot of character, friendly staff and reasonable pric
es. Oh and not to mention that the five glasses of wine we each had we amazing. That's over two days for those of you who just rose your eyebrows. A+ for food and drink.
5. The castle!- Way better than Budapest's, that's for sure. Check out the pics.
6. Random sights.- After hitting the Castle and the Jewish District, in an attempt to find a market we had spotted on the way in on the train, we took a bit of a detour (that took us way far off our map) but found some interesting places- a Chair memorial (WWII?) and the site of Schindler's Factory, from the movie "Schindler's List." Very cool.
7. "Krakowa Galeria."- This amazing mall is a shortcut between the train and bus stations and the main part of town. It's amazing. Bright, beautiful shops, grocery stores, organic food stores, coffee shops, gelato stands, pharmacies, travel agencies... it's really a one-stop shopping place. The Americans could really learn something from this example.
8. Ausch
witz.- The Auschwitz compound is actually three concentration camps in one. As a living memorial and museum it was extremely well done and we were thoroughly impressed. We did a three hour tour with a guide who trained for a year and a half for the position.
9. "Alkohole."- Liquor stores are called "Alkholes," which we thought was a hilarious play on words if you look at it from an English language point of view. Someone should step out on a limb and open up a liquor store in the U.S. with this name.
And finally, 10. Very inexpensive!- Poland is significantly cheaper than Budapest, and for $100 (including train ticket, lodging, food and sights) I had one of the most fun weekends ever. Yay!
For more pics check out Aaron's page.
udapest after a quick weekend trip to Poland. Aaron (my friend, fellow Rotary scholar and most-fun travel companion) and I were pleasantly surprised by Krakow and Auschwitz. In fact, Krakow must might rival Rome for distinction of my favorite city in Europe. I realize this is a bold statement to make, but indeed Krakow was amazing.Here is a recap of the top-ten trip highlights, in no particular order:
1. "Here is WHAT?"- The journey started Friday night. Initially there was a bit of confusion about the train- we thought our train from Budapest was direct to Krakow, but after six attempts at clarification with the train man we finally understood that we had to change in Miskolc. We got off at Miskolc and then tried to find the actual t
icket windows so we could check the time of our train. After a bit of wandering around the underground tunnels Aaron emerged at street level and said, "Here it is." I followed, got to the top, saw nothing but a parking lot and said, "Here is WHAT?!" We both doubled over laughing, as I had failed to see the huge brick train station to the left.2. The train rides.- Here is something Americans could learn from the Europeans. I really enjoy trains, I must say. If we could detach ourselves for five minutes from our cars and build our cities in ways that encouraged walking we could hugely benefit from trains. Aaron and I did some of our best brainstorming on the trains- "top travel destinations for the next four months," "number of countries visited," and more. We also were a
ble to recline comfortably as we had our cabins to ourselves each time. And encounters with border guards are always fun. Entering Poland they stamped our passports that we were exiting (instead of entering), and then had to correct that mistake with another stamp, and since they couldn't figure out if we were coming or going they stamped in the middle of the page, effectively taking up an entire page... which means I am now onto the amendments pages. Time to visit the Embassy! Oh, and on the way back we may have fallen asleep and missed our stop. The ticket checker's exact words were something like, "Budapest? That way (pointing in the opposite direction). We're going to Bucharest (Romania)." Oops.3. Our hostel.- We arrived in Krakow at 7:30am on Saturday morning and went straight to the hostel, which we had booked online ahead of time at Hostelworld.com. Although we initially had concerns about the place (mainly stemming from the
fact that we woke the poor woman up since it was only 8:15am on a Saturday and she was a bit grumpy with us), it turned out to be amazing- we had our own room, own bathroom, entire kitchen set-up, towels and it was located very close to the center of town. The entire weekend we walked everywhere. It was truly super.4. Great coffee shops and restaurants.- We had coffee on Saturday morning after arriving at this adorable coffee shop called Coffee Street, and an amazing dinner two nights in a row at a restaurant... what we liked was that each place had a lot of character, friendly staff and reasonable pric
es. Oh and not to mention that the five glasses of wine we each had we amazing. That's over two days for those of you who just rose your eyebrows. A+ for food and drink.5. The castle!- Way better than Budapest's, that's for sure. Check out the pics.
6. Random sights.- After hitting the Castle and the Jewish District, in an attempt to find a market we had spotted on the way in on the train, we took a bit of a detour (that took us way far off our map) but found some interesting places- a Chair memorial (WWII?) and the site of Schindler's Factory, from the movie "Schindler's List." Very cool.
7. "Krakowa Galeria."- This amazing mall is a shortcut between the train and bus stations and the main part of town. It's amazing. Bright, beautiful shops, grocery stores, organic food stores, coffee shops, gelato stands, pharmacies, travel agencies... it's really a one-stop shopping place. The Americans could really learn something from this example.
8. Ausch
witz.- The Auschwitz compound is actually three concentration camps in one. As a living memorial and museum it was extremely well done and we were thoroughly impressed. We did a three hour tour with a guide who trained for a year and a half for the position.9. "Alkohole."- Liquor stores are called "Alkholes," which we thought was a hilarious play on words if you look at it from an English language point of view. Someone should step out on a limb and open up a liquor store in the U.S. with this name.
And finally, 10. Very inexpensive!- Poland is significantly cheaper than Budapest, and for $100 (including train ticket, lodging, food and sights) I had one of the most fun weekends ever. Yay!
For more pics check out Aaron's page.
10 January 2007
Great Day!
I had been feeling a bit down since coming back from Eurotrip 2006. I keep telling myself if don't unpack my suitcases (still not unpacked as of today), the trip's not really over... although if I am honest with myself, when my brother got on the airplane here in Budapest to go back to the States, I guess that was the official end of our adventure. Anyway, so I was feeling a bit down. But yesterday was definitely a good day and hopefully is the beginning of my turn around.
I was actually dreading the day- first of the term for me, since I don't have class on Mondays. One of my classes turned out to be quite interesting, I skipped the second half of micro to go shopping, bought a photo album for Eurotrip pics and memoirs, was AGAIN mistaken for a Hungarian walking on Vaci utca, enrolled in French and actually recalled the word for vegetables after seven years of not taking French, and started planning my next trip. Overall a very positive day!
Speaking of my next trip, a little background. On Eurotrip 2006 Ryan helped me make a list of all the places I want to go in the next 2-3 years. The non-abridged list of places follows:
South of France
South of Spain
Morocco
South Africa (2010 World Cup)
Vietnam (to visit a friend who will be posted there with the State Dept later this year)
Hong Kong
China
India
Prague
Amsterdam
Berlin (where we were supposed to go on this past trip, but could not get a spot on the train)
Krakow
Romania
Ukraine
Latvia (where a friend of mine from the university is from)
Istanbul, Turkey
Greece
Buenos Aires
Brazil
Toronto
You probably did not count the number of items, so I will save you the time and tell you there are 20 places I am absolutely dying to go to. Yes, I just got back from a three-week, six-city tour. You'd think I'd be set on the travel front for awhile. But let's be honest... no point in wasting time, right? So it looks like Aaron and I will knock off Krakow next weekend. I am also working on Greece and Spain, since I have friends in both places. And I am going to use the rest of my Eurail pass to go to Berlin one weekend... anyone want to go? And Prague and Romania are right around the corner (albeit different corners, of course), so that will definitely happen. Amsterdam, Istanbul, S. France and Ukraine are all very do-able this year. So if I manage to get all those done, I will be down to ten. Not bad.
That's about it from here. Back to my reading. Hope you're doing well and your outlook on life is as pleasant as mine is right now. Hugs from Budapest!
I was actually dreading the day- first of the term for me, since I don't have class on Mondays. One of my classes turned out to be quite interesting, I skipped the second half of micro to go shopping, bought a photo album for Eurotrip pics and memoirs, was AGAIN mistaken for a Hungarian walking on Vaci utca, enrolled in French and actually recalled the word for vegetables after seven years of not taking French, and started planning my next trip. Overall a very positive day!
Speaking of my next trip, a little background. On Eurotrip 2006 Ryan helped me make a list of all the places I want to go in the next 2-3 years. The non-abridged list of places follows:
South of France
South of Spain
Morocco
South Africa (2010 World Cup)
Vietnam (to visit a friend who will be posted there with the State Dept later this year)
Hong Kong
China
India
Prague
Amsterdam
Berlin (where we were supposed to go on this past trip, but could not get a spot on the train)
Krakow
Romania
Ukraine
Latvia (where a friend of mine from the university is from)
Istanbul, Turkey
Greece
Buenos Aires
Brazil
Toronto
You probably did not count the number of items, so I will save you the time and tell you there are 20 places I am absolutely dying to go to. Yes, I just got back from a three-week, six-city tour. You'd think I'd be set on the travel front for awhile. But let's be honest... no point in wasting time, right? So it looks like Aaron and I will knock off Krakow next weekend. I am also working on Greece and Spain, since I have friends in both places. And I am going to use the rest of my Eurail pass to go to Berlin one weekend... anyone want to go? And Prague and Romania are right around the corner (albeit different corners, of course), so that will definitely happen. Amsterdam, Istanbul, S. France and Ukraine are all very do-able this year. So if I manage to get all those done, I will be down to ten. Not bad.
That's about it from here. Back to my reading. Hope you're doing well and your outlook on life is as pleasant as mine is right now. Hugs from Budapest!
06 January 2007
Eurotrip 2006
Happy 2007 from Budapest! I'm back from Eurotrip 2006. In one word it was simply... amazing, incredible and fabulous! Okay, so that was three words. But it was great! Just to remind you of the plan for Eurotrip: the idea originated over the summer when I was discussing holiday plans with my family. At that point of course I knew I would be in Budapest. The options were for us to spend the holidays apart, for me to fly home, to meet half-way or for everyone to fly here.
After much deliberation and several "disagreements" which nearly resulted in cancellation of all holidays plans, we deci
ded to meet in London (as half-way as is possible, considering the existence of the Atlantic Ocean) and spend a few days in London and a few in Paris. After some family time together, my parents would return to the US and Ryan and I would continue our European adventure for another ten days. For this leg of the trip we bought Eurail passes and I planned an itinerary which included the cities of Cologne, Berlin, Dresden and Munich in Germany, and Florence, Venice and Milan in Italy. We would then return to Budapest for a few days and eventually Ryan would fly back to the US from Budapest. We made a few definite plans (visiting a friend of mine in Munich and New Year's Eve in Florence) and decided to go with the flow on the rest of the itinerary.
At this point I will recopy from my stained, crumpled but surprisingly legible notes on 4x6 notebook paper to give you the trip play-by-play, along with photos:
12/18-Arrived London (it was a challenge... flight two hours delayed, Gatwick Express train from airport then my first shot at the London Underground... 16 British pounds...!), checked into hotel (where my family had already arrived) and went out to eat at Portuguese chicken restaurant. We stayed at the Comfort Inn Kensington, 2 blocks from the Earls Court underground station. Excellent location. Small room. TV but no heat (this becomes important later). Went to 24 hour Tesco, which was right down the street from the hotel.
12/19- Changing of the Guard at Buckingham Palace, the London Eye (largest ferris wheel in the world), London Dungeon, Covent Garden and Chinatown (where we had dinner). The culinary highlight of the day, however, was Pret a Manger, where we had lunch. I would say it's the upscale British equivalent of fast food combined with the "fresh" food selection you find at a 24 hour store (or at least the 24 hour store across the street from Max and Noah's house). Lots of ready-to-eat gourmet salads and sandwiches, along with hot soup and drinks an
d baked goods. We also purchased tickets for the Big Bus, a sightseeing bus you can hop on, hop off in order to see the city and visit the touristy sights.
12/20- Museum of London, St. Paul's Cathedral, Tower of London and Tower Bridge. We had a Pret a Manger copy-cat for lunch (EAT) and Italian for dinner, where the owner was Spanish and gave us free shots of some sort of Bailey's/amaretto delight. My mom doesn't drink so I had hers as well. And a shot of limoncello... hey, that stuff is amazing and I simply could not resist :).
12/21- The Globe Theater, Florence Nightengale museum, Cabinet War Room, National Gallery and National Portrait Gallery, 10 Downing Street, Trafalgar Square, Harrod's Department Store. We had more Italian for lunch and ate dinner at a real British Pub, the Albert Pub. Oh and we partook in dessert prior to dinner when we found a McDonalds serving this orange McFlurry thing that was simply irresistible.
12/22- Westminster Abbey, Kensington Palace, National History Museum (I skipped on that one and went to visit the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine instead), Christmas market. We had l
unch at the museum cafe and Thai for dinner. And then Ryan and I went to another pub for a drink, and then to McDonalds for another orange delight.
12/23- Eurostar to Paris, taxi to hotel, lunch at a French cafe (where the waitress spoke no English and my mom stood there dumbfounded and giggling trying to figure out what she was saying). We tried to go to the Pantheon but it was closed, so we walked to the Centre Georges Pompidou instead and had a snack at their cafe. Our hotel in Paris as the Louvre St. Honore, which featured some heat and no TV. Actually let me expound on the television issue. We played with the TV for 10-15 minutes trying to turn the static into something more exciting. Hotel TVs can be confusing. Foreign TVs can also be confusing. We thought perhaps the combination of foreign and hotel had resulted in a major puzzle. So I went downstairs to ask and the guy said the service was out. So when did he expect it to be fixed? "Well, it hasn't been working for 2 weeks, so... I don't really know when they're going to come and fix it." Hmph.
12/24- Louvre, Hotel of the Invalides and French WWI/WWII museum (where we had lunch), night bus tour of the city, more Italian for dinner and finally the 11pm music service at the Notre Dame Cathedral. We took a taxi over (somehow I reached into the depths of my brain and recalled enough French to get us there) and walked back.
12/25- Christmas at the hotel! We opened some presents in the morning (although this trip was our real pre
sent), had a late lunch/early dinner near the Champs Elysee and went to the Eiffel Tower. It was very foggy, as you can see from the pictures. So foggy, in fact, that from the top of the Eiffel Tower we could not see the ground. Ryan and I tried to do laundry before lunch but a very drunk, somewhat scary drunk was a bit too interactive with us and so we left. We went back in the evening and got half the wash done before he showed up again.
12/26- Sacre Coeur, St. Chapelle, Pantheon and lunch at a French restaurant run by Asians. We tried to go to the Musee
D'Orsay and the line was 2+ hours long... so we bought tickets for the next day instead. Then Ryan and I went out with my friend Ludo to Montmartre, Shakespeare & Co. bookstore, Kilometer Zero, the Latin Quartier and finally his friend's apartment, where we had pasta for dinner.
12/27- We checked out of the hotel, Chas and Krissy went to the airport and Ryan and I went to the Musee D'Orsay. Our plan was to then take the mid-day train to Cologne, look around and then get back on a train to Berlin. We got to the train station and everything was full... and I mean everything. We tried to go to Barcelona, Madrid, Nice, Brussels, Amsterdam, Rome... you name it, it was full. Our options were Munich and Vienna. Since Vienna is nearly Budapest and we had already planned on stopping to see my friend in Munich, we chose Munich. I made a frantic phone call to Philipp to tell him we were arriving the next morning instead of three days later as planned. Since the train was not leaving until that night we had another day in Paris, and went back to the Shakespeare & Co. bookstore for a few hours, and then went to McDonalds and waited for our train.
12/28- Overni
ght train in the couchette (bunkbed style sleeper car) was great and we arrived in Munich at 9am. We had breakfast (which included the best jam I've ever had in my life, as well as amazing apple-cinnamon tea) at a coffee shop called Coffee Fellos, met up with Philipp, went to a local brewery for lunch, walked to where Oktoberfest is held, walked downtown on the Theresienwirse where all the shops are, saw all of Munich's major churches, and then went to the Olympic Park. Philipp was very kind to let us stay with him- where it was not only warm but the TV worked as well (ha ha).
12/29- After doing some brief shopping in the morning, Ryan and I went to Dachau (former concentration camp) and then took the overnight train to ... Rome! Not on the original itinerary, but we ended up with an extra day or two since we could not get our train to Cologne, so... why not!
12/30- Arrived Rome, hoping we would be able to find a place to stay. After a few misses (56 Euros a night EACH for a single at a hostel or 140 Euros a night at a hotel), we came across a pensione where the hand-less woman who only spoke Italian but somehow understood my Spanish charged us 55 Euros. Phew. The weather was gorgeous (upper 50s and sunny!) so we set off. We did a
nother bus tour so we could see the city, stopping at the Colosseum, Forum and the Vatican. We had amazing Italian food for dinner and went out that night with some new Colombian friends we met at the pensione.
12/31- Tried to go to the Vatican museum, which is free on Sundays, but even at 9am the line was so long we could not even see the end, so instead of toured the Colesseum, had more great Italian food and then took the train to Florence. We stayed with someone from Hospitality Club, who made us a great dinner and served amazing Italian champagne. By this point we were so exhausted we took a nap between dinner and midnight, and then went back to bed and slept until... 3:30pm on New Year's Day.
1/1- After getting a bit of a late start we walked around downtown Florence, had more fabulous Italian food and went to bed again.
1/2- The plan was to get up early, take our bags to the train station and get tickets for Venice, go see the David, and then take the train to Venice. So we got up early, took our b
ags to the train station, and found out that all trains to Venice were full. All day. No buses go to Venice apparently either. I was feeling a bit panicky at this point. The woman at the ticket counter was mean and not very helpful at all. In desperation we went to the information desk and I started to whine to the guy there (in Spanish). I think he felt bad for me because he said, "that rain there is leaving for Venice in 2 minutes. Go!" When I stood there, looked at Ryan in confusion and then looked back at him he started to yell. "GO!" We ran to the train (although it did not say that it was going to Venice), and literally five seconds after we got on the doors closed and it left. It took us to another station in Florence where we switched trains and took a dining car seat (sound familiar, Monika?) for the three hour ride to Venice. Venice was incredible, of course. No cars, lots of tourists and people walking around. Looks just like the pictures you see. Wonderful. Had great fried calamari and pizza for lunch. Took the night train to Budapest.
1/3- Night train was awful- they kept the lights on all night, we were woken up every 1-2 hours either by Bo
rder Guards or ticket checkers. First it was hot, then cold, then very, very hot. Arrived in Budapest slightly tired, as you can imagine. After stopping briefly at CEU, we met Monika and Nathan for lunch, then went home to "rest." My host mom had prepared a feast, including champagne. After stuffing ourselves we laid down to rest, a rest which lasted until the next morning.
1/4- After a warm, quiet and dark night of sleep, we woke up feeling refreshed. My host parents did our laundry, and it was great to be clean from shower but also to wear clean clothes. We went to the
Castle District, National Art Museum, Westend. Went to see "Borat" (the movie) in the evening.
1/5- Liszt Ferenc ter, Terror House museum, Basilica and coffee with Linda. Mailed postcards. Met Linda, Noah and Szilvia for a drink in the evening, and took the night bus home (quite an experience if you've never done it, let me tell you).
1/6- Made CDs with all trip pictures (almost 600 in total!) and went on a tour of Budapest's public transport system (took hev, vilamos, metro and bus to the airport- a journey of one and a half hours!). I was very sad to see Ryan leave, which officially marked the end of Eurotrip 2006 and our 17 days of travel plus three days in Budapest. Fun, fun times.
After much deliberation and several "disagreements" which nearly resulted in cancellation of all holidays plans, we deci
ded to meet in London (as half-way as is possible, considering the existence of the Atlantic Ocean) and spend a few days in London and a few in Paris. After some family time together, my parents would return to the US and Ryan and I would continue our European adventure for another ten days. For this leg of the trip we bought Eurail passes and I planned an itinerary which included the cities of Cologne, Berlin, Dresden and Munich in Germany, and Florence, Venice and Milan in Italy. We would then return to Budapest for a few days and eventually Ryan would fly back to the US from Budapest. We made a few definite plans (visiting a friend of mine in Munich and New Year's Eve in Florence) and decided to go with the flow on the rest of the itinerary.At this point I will recopy from my stained, crumpled but surprisingly legible notes on 4x6 notebook paper to give you the trip play-by-play, along with photos:
12/18-Arrived London (it was a challenge... flight two hours delayed, Gatwick Express train from airport then my first shot at the London Underground... 16 British pounds...!), checked into hotel (where my family had already arrived) and went out to eat at Portuguese chicken restaurant. We stayed at the Comfort Inn Kensington, 2 blocks from the Earls Court underground station. Excellent location. Small room. TV but no heat (this becomes important later). Went to 24 hour Tesco, which was right down the street from the hotel.
12/19- Changing of the Guard at Buckingham Palace, the London Eye (largest ferris wheel in the world), London Dungeon, Covent Garden and Chinatown (where we had dinner). The culinary highlight of the day, however, was Pret a Manger, where we had lunch. I would say it's the upscale British equivalent of fast food combined with the "fresh" food selection you find at a 24 hour store (or at least the 24 hour store across the street from Max and Noah's house). Lots of ready-to-eat gourmet salads and sandwiches, along with hot soup and drinks an
d baked goods. We also purchased tickets for the Big Bus, a sightseeing bus you can hop on, hop off in order to see the city and visit the touristy sights.12/20- Museum of London, St. Paul's Cathedral, Tower of London and Tower Bridge. We had a Pret a Manger copy-cat for lunch (EAT) and Italian for dinner, where the owner was Spanish and gave us free shots of some sort of Bailey's/amaretto delight. My mom doesn't drink so I had hers as well. And a shot of limoncello... hey, that stuff is amazing and I simply could not resist :).
12/21- The Globe Theater, Florence Nightengale museum, Cabinet War Room, National Gallery and National Portrait Gallery, 10 Downing Street, Trafalgar Square, Harrod's Department Store. We had more Italian for lunch and ate dinner at a real British Pub, the Albert Pub. Oh and we partook in dessert prior to dinner when we found a McDonalds serving this orange McFlurry thing that was simply irresistible.
12/22- Westminster Abbey, Kensington Palace, National History Museum (I skipped on that one and went to visit the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine instead), Christmas market. We had l
unch at the museum cafe and Thai for dinner. And then Ryan and I went to another pub for a drink, and then to McDonalds for another orange delight.12/23- Eurostar to Paris, taxi to hotel, lunch at a French cafe (where the waitress spoke no English and my mom stood there dumbfounded and giggling trying to figure out what she was saying). We tried to go to the Pantheon but it was closed, so we walked to the Centre Georges Pompidou instead and had a snack at their cafe. Our hotel in Paris as the Louvre St. Honore, which featured some heat and no TV. Actually let me expound on the television issue. We played with the TV for 10-15 minutes trying to turn the static into something more exciting. Hotel TVs can be confusing. Foreign TVs can also be confusing. We thought perhaps the combination of foreign and hotel had resulted in a major puzzle. So I went downstairs to ask and the guy said the service was out. So when did he expect it to be fixed? "Well, it hasn't been working for 2 weeks, so... I don't really know when they're going to come and fix it." Hmph.
12/24- Louvre, Hotel of the Invalides and French WWI/WWII museum (where we had lunch), night bus tour of the city, more Italian for dinner and finally the 11pm music service at the Notre Dame Cathedral. We took a taxi over (somehow I reached into the depths of my brain and recalled enough French to get us there) and walked back.
12/25- Christmas at the hotel! We opened some presents in the morning (although this trip was our real pre
sent), had a late lunch/early dinner near the Champs Elysee and went to the Eiffel Tower. It was very foggy, as you can see from the pictures. So foggy, in fact, that from the top of the Eiffel Tower we could not see the ground. Ryan and I tried to do laundry before lunch but a very drunk, somewhat scary drunk was a bit too interactive with us and so we left. We went back in the evening and got half the wash done before he showed up again.12/26- Sacre Coeur, St. Chapelle, Pantheon and lunch at a French restaurant run by Asians. We tried to go to the Musee
D'Orsay and the line was 2+ hours long... so we bought tickets for the next day instead. Then Ryan and I went out with my friend Ludo to Montmartre, Shakespeare & Co. bookstore, Kilometer Zero, the Latin Quartier and finally his friend's apartment, where we had pasta for dinner.12/27- We checked out of the hotel, Chas and Krissy went to the airport and Ryan and I went to the Musee D'Orsay. Our plan was to then take the mid-day train to Cologne, look around and then get back on a train to Berlin. We got to the train station and everything was full... and I mean everything. We tried to go to Barcelona, Madrid, Nice, Brussels, Amsterdam, Rome... you name it, it was full. Our options were Munich and Vienna. Since Vienna is nearly Budapest and we had already planned on stopping to see my friend in Munich, we chose Munich. I made a frantic phone call to Philipp to tell him we were arriving the next morning instead of three days later as planned. Since the train was not leaving until that night we had another day in Paris, and went back to the Shakespeare & Co. bookstore for a few hours, and then went to McDonalds and waited for our train.
12/28- Overni
ght train in the couchette (bunkbed style sleeper car) was great and we arrived in Munich at 9am. We had breakfast (which included the best jam I've ever had in my life, as well as amazing apple-cinnamon tea) at a coffee shop called Coffee Fellos, met up with Philipp, went to a local brewery for lunch, walked to where Oktoberfest is held, walked downtown on the Theresienwirse where all the shops are, saw all of Munich's major churches, and then went to the Olympic Park. Philipp was very kind to let us stay with him- where it was not only warm but the TV worked as well (ha ha).12/29- After doing some brief shopping in the morning, Ryan and I went to Dachau (former concentration camp) and then took the overnight train to ... Rome! Not on the original itinerary, but we ended up with an extra day or two since we could not get our train to Cologne, so... why not!
12/30- Arrived Rome, hoping we would be able to find a place to stay. After a few misses (56 Euros a night EACH for a single at a hostel or 140 Euros a night at a hotel), we came across a pensione where the hand-less woman who only spoke Italian but somehow understood my Spanish charged us 55 Euros. Phew. The weather was gorgeous (upper 50s and sunny!) so we set off. We did a
nother bus tour so we could see the city, stopping at the Colosseum, Forum and the Vatican. We had amazing Italian food for dinner and went out that night with some new Colombian friends we met at the pensione.12/31- Tried to go to the Vatican museum, which is free on Sundays, but even at 9am the line was so long we could not even see the end, so instead of toured the Colesseum, had more great Italian food and then took the train to Florence. We stayed with someone from Hospitality Club, who made us a great dinner and served amazing Italian champagne. By this point we were so exhausted we took a nap between dinner and midnight, and then went back to bed and slept until... 3:30pm on New Year's Day.
1/1- After getting a bit of a late start we walked around downtown Florence, had more fabulous Italian food and went to bed again.
1/2- The plan was to get up early, take our bags to the train station and get tickets for Venice, go see the David, and then take the train to Venice. So we got up early, took our b
ags to the train station, and found out that all trains to Venice were full. All day. No buses go to Venice apparently either. I was feeling a bit panicky at this point. The woman at the ticket counter was mean and not very helpful at all. In desperation we went to the information desk and I started to whine to the guy there (in Spanish). I think he felt bad for me because he said, "that rain there is leaving for Venice in 2 minutes. Go!" When I stood there, looked at Ryan in confusion and then looked back at him he started to yell. "GO!" We ran to the train (although it did not say that it was going to Venice), and literally five seconds after we got on the doors closed and it left. It took us to another station in Florence where we switched trains and took a dining car seat (sound familiar, Monika?) for the three hour ride to Venice. Venice was incredible, of course. No cars, lots of tourists and people walking around. Looks just like the pictures you see. Wonderful. Had great fried calamari and pizza for lunch. Took the night train to Budapest.1/3- Night train was awful- they kept the lights on all night, we were woken up every 1-2 hours either by Bo
rder Guards or ticket checkers. First it was hot, then cold, then very, very hot. Arrived in Budapest slightly tired, as you can imagine. After stopping briefly at CEU, we met Monika and Nathan for lunch, then went home to "rest." My host mom had prepared a feast, including champagne. After stuffing ourselves we laid down to rest, a rest which lasted until the next morning.1/4- After a warm, quiet and dark night of sleep, we woke up feeling refreshed. My host parents did our laundry, and it was great to be clean from shower but also to wear clean clothes. We went to the
Castle District, National Art Museum, Westend. Went to see "Borat" (the movie) in the evening.1/5- Liszt Ferenc ter, Terror House museum, Basilica and coffee with Linda. Mailed postcards. Met Linda, Noah and Szilvia for a drink in the evening, and took the night bus home (quite an experience if you've never done it, let me tell you).
1/6- Made CDs with all trip pictures (almost 600 in total!) and went on a tour of Budapest's public transport system (took hev, vilamos, metro and bus to the airport- a journey of one and a half hours!). I was very sad to see Ryan leave, which officially marked the end of Eurotrip 2006 and our 17 days of travel plus three days in Budapest. Fun, fun times.
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