I left Budapest at 830am on Sunday morning (230am EST). Well, at least I was supposed too. The plane sat on the tarmac for 45 minutes as we waited for a water truck (???) to come fill up the plane's water supply. Two water trucks apparently broke down in the snowy cold weather, so we had to wait for the third working one. This would have been fine, just a minor setback, if I didnt have a connection in London ONE HOUR after I was supposed to land there. Sitting in Hungary for 45 minutes all but guaranteed that I was going to miss my connection, and my only hope was that the weather back in Philadelphia would delay the takeoff of my connection in London. Arriving in London, I was told that my connecting flight had left on time, so I was forced to wait in line in Customer Service to figure out another way to get home. Eventually, I got put on a flight to Montreal leaving London at something like 3:30pm (10:30am EST), getting there around 6pm EST with a connection to Philly at 8 and arriving at 10. After a 4 hour wait in London with a little rest mixed in, I got on the flight to Montreal. Arriving there, I did not see any signs of departure, and just assumed that I would be getting on a plane in 2 hours to go home. I called my parents and everything to let them know when to get me, and the the unfortunate happened and I found a departure list stating my flight to Philly had been cancelled. Wonderful. I gathered my bags and found customer service, who said there were no other flights to Philadelphia that evening and they would put me up in a hotel overnight, with a 750am EST flight to Ottawa the next morning and a further connection to Philly at 11:30am. So I got a few hours of rest at the hotel, was up early to the airport, and boarded the plane to Ottawa. I arrived in Ottawa and immediately saw that the flight to Philly was cancelled again!!!!!! I then waited in line in the US Airways customer service line, who were able to get me on a Continental flight to Newark because I would not be able to get into Philly for at least two days. After a 2 hour wait to check in at the Continental line and a few beers at the bar, I finally was on a plane to the US. I arrived in Newark around 2:30pm on Monday and my Dad had driven up to pick me up. I was home by 5. Not the best way to end an awesome semester, but I am glad I made it home with only 27 hours of delays. I still have other friends from Europe trying to make it home still!!
Tuesday, December 22, 2009
Saturday, December 19, 2009
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
i amsterdam
It was okay. Almost felt like I was in the US, because EVERYONE spoke excellent English. Whatever.
I got there right at dusk on Friday, so my potential for sightseeing was gone, and i would have to do it all on Saturday, which was also a failure because it rained for half the day. Visited the Van Gogh Museum, that was cool. I didn't really know anything about him other than he painted that Starry night picture, but I'm pretty sure I am an expert now. Did you all know he self-admitted himself into a mental asylubm and subsequently had himself released? Or that he shot himself in the chest but somehow managed to survive two more days before he died? Crazy mofo I'll tell yah. Also went to the original Heineken brewery for the 'Heineken Experience.' It was actually a lot more fun then I expected, and I managed to have 5 beers at the end when they only give you tokens for 2!
Saturday night my buddy Mark and I found an all you can eat ribs menu for 11 euros (approximate $15.50) and proceeded to have four racks of ribs a piece. We can eat. Mark was there to see a concert, and I figured I'd tag along. We saw Silversun Pickups, which didn't ring a bell at first but once I heard their music I knew exactly who they were. It was a packed house and they played a great set, so I enjoyed it. After, I toured the red light district and met up with everyone else before we visited a few bars and called it a night. I woke early to catch a train to Eindhoven (flew from there instead of Amsterdam because it was $150 cheaper) for my flight back to Budapest.
I really needed way more time to explore the city, and hope to go back again in the future, preferably in a warmer month!
Pictures here: Amsterdam
I got there right at dusk on Friday, so my potential for sightseeing was gone, and i would have to do it all on Saturday, which was also a failure because it rained for half the day. Visited the Van Gogh Museum, that was cool. I didn't really know anything about him other than he painted that Starry night picture, but I'm pretty sure I am an expert now. Did you all know he self-admitted himself into a mental asylubm and subsequently had himself released? Or that he shot himself in the chest but somehow managed to survive two more days before he died? Crazy mofo I'll tell yah. Also went to the original Heineken brewery for the 'Heineken Experience.' It was actually a lot more fun then I expected, and I managed to have 5 beers at the end when they only give you tokens for 2!
Saturday night my buddy Mark and I found an all you can eat ribs menu for 11 euros (approximate $15.50) and proceeded to have four racks of ribs a piece. We can eat. Mark was there to see a concert, and I figured I'd tag along. We saw Silversun Pickups, which didn't ring a bell at first but once I heard their music I knew exactly who they were. It was a packed house and they played a great set, so I enjoyed it. After, I toured the red light district and met up with everyone else before we visited a few bars and called it a night. I woke early to catch a train to Eindhoven (flew from there instead of Amsterdam because it was $150 cheaper) for my flight back to Budapest.
I really needed way more time to explore the city, and hope to go back again in the future, preferably in a warmer month!
Pictures here: Amsterdam
Sunday, December 6, 2009
Dutch..
..is a funny language. It sounds like a mixture between German and hocking loogies. However, it can also be a very annoying language when the girl behind you on the plane doesn't shut up for the entire ride as you try to get some much needed sleep after a weekend in Amsterdam...............
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
Damn, it has been hard to keep updating!
It's getting down to crunch time for school.. I have a project and presentation due in International Business on Monday that I am finishing up in the next few days, a paper due on Monday in History that is basically done, and a presentation to do in International Trade that all I have left to due is make an outline for the class to follow along, so I've been pretty busy with all that. This past weekend my buddy Luke and I took a short trip back to Krakow, Poland to do the sightseeing I didnt get to do when I was there before, as well as enjoy the nightlife. On Friday I am leaving for a short weekend in Amsterdam, followed by a day trip next Wednesday, most likely to the western part of Ukraine along the border with Hungary, and a day trip next weekend to Vienna to visit the Christmas markets before finishing off my semester with a week in Budapest. I'm going to try to enjoy my remaining time here as much as possible!
P.S. - I WILL finish my blog posts of my various trips when I have the time, if it has to be after I get home from the trip, then so be it. Also after the trip, I will be writing new posts and giving my opinions/other journalistic things on the various places I've been too as well as what a semester abroad meant/did for me. So keep an eye out for those!
P.S. - I WILL finish my blog posts of my various trips when I have the time, if it has to be after I get home from the trip, then so be it. Also after the trip, I will be writing new posts and giving my opinions/other journalistic things on the various places I've been too as well as what a semester abroad meant/did for me. So keep an eye out for those!
Sunday, November 22, 2009
"A very Hungary Thanksgiving?"
What are seven Americans to do while in a foreign land during a time that everyone is venturing home from school for the best eating holiday of the year? Throw a Thanksgiving party for all our closest European friends, thats what! On Wednesday (no not thursday, a bunch of us will be traveling + a few of us have no class on Wednesday enabling us to cook all day) are hosting approximately 20 people: 7 API Students, API Director (Hungarian), 6 French students, 2-3 German students, 1 Mexican student, 1 API student girlfriend (American of Chinese decent), and possibly 1-2 Hungarian students. We are making roast turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, gravy, cranberry sauce, cornbread, honey glazed carrots, broccoli casserole, pumpkin pie, apple crisp...and all of this is being funded by a 18000 forint (100 dollar) donation made by a former student! Woo! We have told our guests that it is also a potluck, and that if they could each bring a national dish+wine to the dinner that would be great! So tomorrow, a few of us are venturing off to Tesco (supermarket) to gather all the supplies except the turkey, which I will get on Tuesday. Here's hoping I buy a turkey big enough, but also small enough to fit into our miniscule ovens!
Here are some pictures of my time in Budapest for your enjoyment: Budapest Pictures!
Here are some pictures of my time in Budapest for your enjoyment: Budapest Pictures!
Quick thought...
Lets just say now I know how my parents felt when no one did their dishes/cleaned up after themselves. Mom and Dad. Thank you. I am the responsible resident of my apartment. UGH
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
Munich Nov. 6-8 and Family's Visit to Budapest Nov. 8-11!
Thursday/Friday
The plan was, that if the Phillies forced game 7, I would take the night train towards Munich and get off at Salzburg at 2am and find a hostel that had free wifi so I could watch it...however, with the Phillies loss the night before ( :-| ), I no longer was going to have to make a stop and could just continue all the way to Munich. Three of my friends, Marta, Cristy, and Adrianna, were also going to be on this nighttrain, as they were going to visit Salzburg for the day before continuing on to Munich much later that evening. So we all met up at the train station and managed to find an empy cabin to take up residence in. I offered to stay awake while the girls attempted to sleep, which didn't bother me because its almost impossible for me to sleep on these god forsaken overnight trains, unless I have a bed (which I did not feel like paying the 25 Euros for). I had been on this overnight train a few times before, and knew that once it got to Salzburg it was approximately an hour and a half before it would continue on. The girls got off right when it got there, but with virtually nothing in operation at the station or in town at this hour, I told them to come back on the train until closer to when it would leave (at least it would be warmer). After that ordeal, the train left around 330am for Munich, and I was able to stretch out across a row of seats to get as much sleep as I possibly could.
The train arrived in Munich at 6:20, and I wandered aimlessly out of the station knowing that the Hotel the fam was staying in was very close by, but I couldn't remember exactly where. I saw a row of hotels including the Excelsior and I believe the 4 seasons, so I walked in that direction and not long after stumbled upon the Le Meridien. I went to the desk and somehow managed to get room keys to both my parents room AND my sisters room, and walked up to the 2nd floor and opened the key to the first door. It was chained and I'm guessing my Dad scrambled awake to make sure no one was breaking in to the room haha, but it was just me. I said my hello's to my parents and we sat and talked for a bit (including the break-in of my apartment, which I will touch on in another post) as the sunlight begin to grow heavier and shine into the room.
We woke the sister's up around 730, and went down to the restaurant to get breakfast (BIG mistake a.k.a. not included and $$$$$) before deciding upon what we were to do that day. It seemed a city tour was in order, so we agreed on a hop-on hop-off bus tour so that we can pick the different sights we want to spend more time at and the one's that we would want to skip over. The day's highlights would include the Marienplatz, Nymphenburg Palace, and the Olympiapark.
We boarded the bus and rounded maybe 2 or 3 corners before I sarcastically stated something along the lines of "WOW I've already seen more of Munich then I did during the entire day I was here for Oktoberfest!" They loved it despite the fact they probably do not approve of their son's blackout tendencies. We got off at the Opera house where my father promptly dropped his BRAND NEW camera getting off the bus, which caused a panic/tirade/lets not talk to dad for a little while mode amongst the children. Moving along, we wandered towards the Marienplatz, where we spent a good amount of time oogling the Town Hall and its Glockenspiel before venturing up to the top for some panoramic views of the city. After, we walked through the market area where we all stared with hungry eyes at the amount of pork/meat/other edible yummies in every store window.
After waiting 'patiently' for the bus, we got back on heading in the direction of Nymphenburg Palace. The Palace used to be the Summer abode for Bavarian rulers, and today is one of the most visited places in Munich. The grounds/water features were impressive, and the inside was decorated accordingly. Dad made a few statements regarding how the Palace of Versailles put this to shame, but really, can anything compare to a Palace that according to one source would have cost 300 billion dollars to build :-| . From there, we continued on to the Olympiapark, where the 1972 Summer Olympics were held. We explored the park for about an hour, wandering past the stadiums and arenas, eventually up to a hill that we were told was made by piling up scrap metal and remains from the city after it was bombarded during WWII. On top of the hill offered us some excellent vista's of the city and surrounding areas.
We finished our tour and decided that for dinner tonight we would go to the infamous Hofbrauhaus. Now, my last experience with Hofbrau was a distant/fuzzy memory, and my hopes were that the family really wouldn't be in the mood to go all out, which thankfully they were. Mom, Dad, Melissa and I all got a Mas (liter) of beer! Mom and Melissa couldn't finish so Dad and I had to be the bigger men and finish off their steins. The food was decent, expectable brew house food that you can get at any other place in Germany, but it was good and filled us up. We all turned in REALLY early that night, like 8pm early, which if it had been any earlier I would have missed my registration time for spring semester at UT (which is another whole issue entirely).
Saturday
The entire day today was set aside for an excursion to Neuschwanstein Castle, outside the southern Bavarian town of Fussen. We met our tour guide outside the Hauptbahnhof, and our tour group consisted of about 20-22 individuals: not bad considering this the most popular tourist destination in Bavaria. The train ride was about two hours long and we had to switch trains twice because of construction on the tracks, but the scenery was gorgeous, especially as we moved further south through rolling hills to the doorstep of the German Alps.
Neuschwanstein Castle is set on one of the most picturesque landscapes I've ever seen. In front, you have an open valley of green spaces and lakes; behind and two the sides, mountains rise up and tower over you. Waterfalls are abundant, the views are breathtaking, and it makes you wonder what it would have been like to live as a king. Before heading up the castle, we drove on the bus around the town surrounding it to "see what a typical bavarian town looks like." I don't know if every bavarian town has two castles soaring up behind it (there was a second castle in the immediate vicinty, called ), so I'm not sure if I would have used the phrase "typical." We arrived at the bus stop, snapped a few pics, grabbed a few brats, and started to scurry our way up to where the castle busses pick us up. Driving up that hill was, interesting, to say the least. A one lane road hugging the edge of a mountain is not exactly a walk in the park, especially when a big-ass bus is motoring its way full of people to the top.
The castle itself looks like something directly out of Disney World. It was a fairly new castle (meaning it was built in the 19th century) so it had some fairly modern flair to it, but was something fit for a fairy tale. No wonder the actual castle at Disney was modeled after this one! As expected, it was adorned extravagantly and fit for a king.
I met up with the girls I took the train with later that night as we attempted to seek out a nightclub/bar to hang out at for the evening. The two places we found we smoky, cramped, and the drinks were extremely expensive, and the evening proved all and all, uneventful.
Sunday-Thursday in Budapest
The girls had checked out early that afternoon as they were taking an early early morning train back to Budapest, so we hung-out in my hotel room until they were ready to leave. I left soon after they did on a train leaving Munich at 6am and arriving back to BP sometime in the afternoon, whilst my parents and sisters visited the Dachau concentration camp and would be catching a flight to my lovely city to meet up around the same time I was expected to arrive there. The week was filled mainly with me touring my family around the city as my father wretched and moaned about how much certain tourist attractions cost, in between my classes. I think their favorite part was up on Castle Hill overlooking Pest. We had a few great dinners this week; I got my father to try Langos and Palinka (which he stated hit like rocket fuel! haha!), as well as the more traditional fair like Goulash and Csirkes Paprikas. All in all, it was an awesome experience to share parts of Europe with my family!
Pictures can be seen here: Munich Pictures!
The plan was, that if the Phillies forced game 7, I would take the night train towards Munich and get off at Salzburg at 2am and find a hostel that had free wifi so I could watch it...however, with the Phillies loss the night before ( :-| ), I no longer was going to have to make a stop and could just continue all the way to Munich. Three of my friends, Marta, Cristy, and Adrianna, were also going to be on this nighttrain, as they were going to visit Salzburg for the day before continuing on to Munich much later that evening. So we all met up at the train station and managed to find an empy cabin to take up residence in. I offered to stay awake while the girls attempted to sleep, which didn't bother me because its almost impossible for me to sleep on these god forsaken overnight trains, unless I have a bed (which I did not feel like paying the 25 Euros for). I had been on this overnight train a few times before, and knew that once it got to Salzburg it was approximately an hour and a half before it would continue on. The girls got off right when it got there, but with virtually nothing in operation at the station or in town at this hour, I told them to come back on the train until closer to when it would leave (at least it would be warmer). After that ordeal, the train left around 330am for Munich, and I was able to stretch out across a row of seats to get as much sleep as I possibly could.
The train arrived in Munich at 6:20, and I wandered aimlessly out of the station knowing that the Hotel the fam was staying in was very close by, but I couldn't remember exactly where. I saw a row of hotels including the Excelsior and I believe the 4 seasons, so I walked in that direction and not long after stumbled upon the Le Meridien. I went to the desk and somehow managed to get room keys to both my parents room AND my sisters room, and walked up to the 2nd floor and opened the key to the first door. It was chained and I'm guessing my Dad scrambled awake to make sure no one was breaking in to the room haha, but it was just me. I said my hello's to my parents and we sat and talked for a bit (including the break-in of my apartment, which I will touch on in another post) as the sunlight begin to grow heavier and shine into the room.
We woke the sister's up around 730, and went down to the restaurant to get breakfast (BIG mistake a.k.a. not included and $$$$$) before deciding upon what we were to do that day. It seemed a city tour was in order, so we agreed on a hop-on hop-off bus tour so that we can pick the different sights we want to spend more time at and the one's that we would want to skip over. The day's highlights would include the Marienplatz, Nymphenburg Palace, and the Olympiapark.
We boarded the bus and rounded maybe 2 or 3 corners before I sarcastically stated something along the lines of "WOW I've already seen more of Munich then I did during the entire day I was here for Oktoberfest!" They loved it despite the fact they probably do not approve of their son's blackout tendencies. We got off at the Opera house where my father promptly dropped his BRAND NEW camera getting off the bus, which caused a panic/tirade/lets not talk to dad for a little while mode amongst the children. Moving along, we wandered towards the Marienplatz, where we spent a good amount of time oogling the Town Hall and its Glockenspiel before venturing up to the top for some panoramic views of the city. After, we walked through the market area where we all stared with hungry eyes at the amount of pork/meat/other edible yummies in every store window.
After waiting 'patiently' for the bus, we got back on heading in the direction of Nymphenburg Palace. The Palace used to be the Summer abode for Bavarian rulers, and today is one of the most visited places in Munich. The grounds/water features were impressive, and the inside was decorated accordingly. Dad made a few statements regarding how the Palace of Versailles put this to shame, but really, can anything compare to a Palace that according to one source would have cost 300 billion dollars to build :-| . From there, we continued on to the Olympiapark, where the 1972 Summer Olympics were held. We explored the park for about an hour, wandering past the stadiums and arenas, eventually up to a hill that we were told was made by piling up scrap metal and remains from the city after it was bombarded during WWII. On top of the hill offered us some excellent vista's of the city and surrounding areas.
We finished our tour and decided that for dinner tonight we would go to the infamous Hofbrauhaus. Now, my last experience with Hofbrau was a distant/fuzzy memory, and my hopes were that the family really wouldn't be in the mood to go all out, which thankfully they were. Mom, Dad, Melissa and I all got a Mas (liter) of beer! Mom and Melissa couldn't finish so Dad and I had to be the bigger men and finish off their steins. The food was decent, expectable brew house food that you can get at any other place in Germany, but it was good and filled us up. We all turned in REALLY early that night, like 8pm early, which if it had been any earlier I would have missed my registration time for spring semester at UT (which is another whole issue entirely).
Saturday
The entire day today was set aside for an excursion to Neuschwanstein Castle, outside the southern Bavarian town of Fussen. We met our tour guide outside the Hauptbahnhof, and our tour group consisted of about 20-22 individuals: not bad considering this the most popular tourist destination in Bavaria. The train ride was about two hours long and we had to switch trains twice because of construction on the tracks, but the scenery was gorgeous, especially as we moved further south through rolling hills to the doorstep of the German Alps.
Neuschwanstein Castle is set on one of the most picturesque landscapes I've ever seen. In front, you have an open valley of green spaces and lakes; behind and two the sides, mountains rise up and tower over you. Waterfalls are abundant, the views are breathtaking, and it makes you wonder what it would have been like to live as a king. Before heading up the castle, we drove on the bus around the town surrounding it to "see what a typical bavarian town looks like." I don't know if every bavarian town has two castles soaring up behind it (there was a second castle in the immediate vicinty, called ), so I'm not sure if I would have used the phrase "typical." We arrived at the bus stop, snapped a few pics, grabbed a few brats, and started to scurry our way up to where the castle busses pick us up. Driving up that hill was, interesting, to say the least. A one lane road hugging the edge of a mountain is not exactly a walk in the park, especially when a big-ass bus is motoring its way full of people to the top.
The castle itself looks like something directly out of Disney World. It was a fairly new castle (meaning it was built in the 19th century) so it had some fairly modern flair to it, but was something fit for a fairy tale. No wonder the actual castle at Disney was modeled after this one! As expected, it was adorned extravagantly and fit for a king.
I met up with the girls I took the train with later that night as we attempted to seek out a nightclub/bar to hang out at for the evening. The two places we found we smoky, cramped, and the drinks were extremely expensive, and the evening proved all and all, uneventful.
Sunday-Thursday in Budapest
The girls had checked out early that afternoon as they were taking an early early morning train back to Budapest, so we hung-out in my hotel room until they were ready to leave. I left soon after they did on a train leaving Munich at 6am and arriving back to BP sometime in the afternoon, whilst my parents and sisters visited the Dachau concentration camp and would be catching a flight to my lovely city to meet up around the same time I was expected to arrive there. The week was filled mainly with me touring my family around the city as my father wretched and moaned about how much certain tourist attractions cost, in between my classes. I think their favorite part was up on Castle Hill overlooking Pest. We had a few great dinners this week; I got my father to try Langos and Palinka (which he stated hit like rocket fuel! haha!), as well as the more traditional fair like Goulash and Csirkes Paprikas. All in all, it was an awesome experience to share parts of Europe with my family!
Pictures can be seen here: Munich Pictures!
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
Travel Plans
Later today, I will be hopping off on a flight to Byzantium, or rather, Constantinople, I mean, ISTANBUL TURKEY!! This was not on my list of places I figured I'd travel too during the semester, but this is how it has worked out and I couldnt be more excited!! Coming along for the adventure are my friends Danny (who I traveled with to Croatia), Kevin, Zach, and Shaun. We are staying at a hostel right in the middle of the touristy area, and the weather should be a steady 60 degrees. I will be returning sunday afternoon to begin my birthday festivities.
Side note: I PROMISE i will finish the Poland Update and the 'Update on my life' as promised. Time has just not been something I've had a lot of lately.
Cheers!
Side note: I PROMISE i will finish the Poland Update and the 'Update on my life' as promised. Time has just not been something I've had a lot of lately.
Cheers!
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
Update on my life
Tomorrow (Wednesday), I will finish the entry on Poland, as well as type up one or two more to let you all know what in the world I have been up too for the past few weeks, and what in the world I will be getting myself into in the coming weeks, including travel plans and special visitors!
Monday, November 2, 2009
Poland Oct. 16-18
Friday Oct. 16
The Phillies played the night before (or morning of, if you want to get technical) and finished up around 6:00am Friday morning, about the time we were all supposed to meet to catch our bus to Krakow. As we were pulling away, we were asked if we remembered our passports, which happened to slip the mind of myself as well as Corey, so we made a quick detour back to the flat to scoop them up. The ride ahead of us was going to be something like 7 hours, and I was hoping to catch some sleep to make up for pulling an all nighter. Thinking back, I was probably able to get able 3 hours of shut-eye, which is impressive considering I have a very hard time sleeping upright and in uncomfortable seats. During the ride, I awoke to a SEA of white snow. We were driving through the mountains of central Slovakia, and there was a good few inches of snow on the ground. Mind you this was mid-October. We learned later that it was the earliest snowfall seen by the entire in a long time. But the landscape was beautiful and a welcome sight for me, as it had been a while since I've seen a decent snowfall. We arrived in Krakow around 1pm and checked into our hotel. At 4pm, a local guide gave us a VERY quick 1 hour walking tour of the medieval square, which was followed by a 'Crazy Communist' tour. We were picked up in traditional 'Commie' cars, very small, cramped, and simple, and were driven wildly through the streets of Krakow to Nowa Huta, Stalin's proposed planned city for the Nowa Huta Steel Works factory. We stopped at a local bar for a beer as one of the guides began to explain what was occuring in the city during communist times. All the buildings in this area of the city were all the same height, and were mirror images of each other. We were invited into an apartment complex to be shown what a traditional apartment at that time looked at, as well as being given free shots of Vodka and Pickles as our chasers (which works really well actually). Our guide gave us some more information and also showed us pictures of what the city and steel works looked like back then. Afterward, we were driven back to the city center and met up with the API Krakow students, all THREE of them, for dinner. The dinner was excellent, and the portions were EXTREMELY large. Some of us went out for a drink or two afterward, but I was so unbelievably full, I called it an early night/attempted to watch the Phillies game.
Saturday Oct. 17
An early wakeup, we all ate breakfast and made our way to the town of Oswiecim, or as we know it in America, Auchwitz. We visted Auchwitz I and Auchwitz II Birkenau. The entire experience was eye-opening; I knew what happened, I knew the tragedies that occured there, but it is never fully put into perspective unless you are there, seeing, touching, and hearing it. The weather was cold and rainy, adding to an already saddening day. The camps are not places I think I'd ever want to visit again, but I am not regretting going one bit. We returned to Krakow in the early afternoon, and Corey and I ventured off to find the hostel that a large group of our exchange friends were staying at (it just so happened that the same weekend we went to Krakow, about 15-20 other Erasmus/Intl students were also planning to go). Their hostel was located on the complete opposite side of the square that our hotel was, but we had no trouble finding it. We relaxed there for a bit, and were given dinner recommedations, so on our way back to collect the girls, we picked up some fine Polish vodka to have for the festivities that were to began later. Dinner was delicious, I ordered a traditional polish sour soup which turned out to be not so sour, but was good anyway. Pierogies were also ordered, obviously. That evening, we met up with all the exchange students at their hostel to pregame, before heading out. When all was said and done, we had gone to 2 bars and finished the night off at a club, making our way home between 5-6am.
Sunday Oct. 18
The original plan was to go see the castle, but only a couple of us were able to wake up for it. I stumbled drunkenly into breakfast and saw that Claire and Erica had just gotten there as well, so we recapped the nights events. After, I went to buy a few souvenirs before it was time to check out. Before heading home, we stopped off at the Wielizcka Salt Mine, one of the oldest (if not the oldest) salt mines in Europe. The entire place has been turned into a tourist trap/museum, as there were a number of exhibits created entirely out of salt. It was impressive, but not my favorite thing in the world. Around 3-4pm we hopped in our bus and made the journey back to Budapest.
Afterthoughts: I didnt have enough time there. I would have liked to do more in Krakow, but we were strapped for time. Also, the weather was not the best, cold and rainy for the most part, so I would at somepoint in the future maybe come back and explore with a little more vigor.
Photos of my excursion can be seen here: Poland Pictures!
The Phillies played the night before (or morning of, if you want to get technical) and finished up around 6:00am Friday morning, about the time we were all supposed to meet to catch our bus to Krakow. As we were pulling away, we were asked if we remembered our passports, which happened to slip the mind of myself as well as Corey, so we made a quick detour back to the flat to scoop them up. The ride ahead of us was going to be something like 7 hours, and I was hoping to catch some sleep to make up for pulling an all nighter. Thinking back, I was probably able to get able 3 hours of shut-eye, which is impressive considering I have a very hard time sleeping upright and in uncomfortable seats. During the ride, I awoke to a SEA of white snow. We were driving through the mountains of central Slovakia, and there was a good few inches of snow on the ground. Mind you this was mid-October. We learned later that it was the earliest snowfall seen by the entire in a long time. But the landscape was beautiful and a welcome sight for me, as it had been a while since I've seen a decent snowfall. We arrived in Krakow around 1pm and checked into our hotel. At 4pm, a local guide gave us a VERY quick 1 hour walking tour of the medieval square, which was followed by a 'Crazy Communist' tour. We were picked up in traditional 'Commie' cars, very small, cramped, and simple, and were driven wildly through the streets of Krakow to Nowa Huta, Stalin's proposed planned city for the Nowa Huta Steel Works factory. We stopped at a local bar for a beer as one of the guides began to explain what was occuring in the city during communist times. All the buildings in this area of the city were all the same height, and were mirror images of each other. We were invited into an apartment complex to be shown what a traditional apartment at that time looked at, as well as being given free shots of Vodka and Pickles as our chasers (which works really well actually). Our guide gave us some more information and also showed us pictures of what the city and steel works looked like back then. Afterward, we were driven back to the city center and met up with the API Krakow students, all THREE of them, for dinner. The dinner was excellent, and the portions were EXTREMELY large. Some of us went out for a drink or two afterward, but I was so unbelievably full, I called it an early night/attempted to watch the Phillies game.
Saturday Oct. 17
An early wakeup, we all ate breakfast and made our way to the town of Oswiecim, or as we know it in America, Auchwitz. We visted Auchwitz I and Auchwitz II Birkenau. The entire experience was eye-opening; I knew what happened, I knew the tragedies that occured there, but it is never fully put into perspective unless you are there, seeing, touching, and hearing it. The weather was cold and rainy, adding to an already saddening day. The camps are not places I think I'd ever want to visit again, but I am not regretting going one bit. We returned to Krakow in the early afternoon, and Corey and I ventured off to find the hostel that a large group of our exchange friends were staying at (it just so happened that the same weekend we went to Krakow, about 15-20 other Erasmus/Intl students were also planning to go). Their hostel was located on the complete opposite side of the square that our hotel was, but we had no trouble finding it. We relaxed there for a bit, and were given dinner recommedations, so on our way back to collect the girls, we picked up some fine Polish vodka to have for the festivities that were to began later. Dinner was delicious, I ordered a traditional polish sour soup which turned out to be not so sour, but was good anyway. Pierogies were also ordered, obviously. That evening, we met up with all the exchange students at their hostel to pregame, before heading out. When all was said and done, we had gone to 2 bars and finished the night off at a club, making our way home between 5-6am.
Sunday Oct. 18
The original plan was to go see the castle, but only a couple of us were able to wake up for it. I stumbled drunkenly into breakfast and saw that Claire and Erica had just gotten there as well, so we recapped the nights events. After, I went to buy a few souvenirs before it was time to check out. Before heading home, we stopped off at the Wielizcka Salt Mine, one of the oldest (if not the oldest) salt mines in Europe. The entire place has been turned into a tourist trap/museum, as there were a number of exhibits created entirely out of salt. It was impressive, but not my favorite thing in the world. Around 3-4pm we hopped in our bus and made the journey back to Budapest.
Afterthoughts: I didnt have enough time there. I would have liked to do more in Krakow, but we were strapped for time. Also, the weather was not the best, cold and rainy for the most part, so I would at somepoint in the future maybe come back and explore with a little more vigor.
Photos of my excursion can be seen here: Poland Pictures!
Sunday, November 1, 2009
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Thursday, October 22, 2009
Thursday, October 15, 2009
Travel Plans
This weekend, I am heading off to Krakow, Poland with the rest of the API group. We are also going to be meeting up with a group of about 15 ESN Exchange students who are also heading there, so it should make for an extremely good time! A few highlights we will be seeing are the Old Town in Krakow, Auschwitz Concentration Camp, and the Wieliczka Salt Mine. The weather will be a warm and balmy 32 degrees, with a VERY strong chance of snow. Woopieeee!!
Croatia Oct. 8-11
Preface
I randomly had asked my friend Dan, another exchange student, if he would be down for going to Croatia on this particular weekend. He asked for a vague agenda, and I told him my ideas...it took him about 20 seconds to agree to it. So I had a travel companion, and we went about setting our itinerary. The first thing we did was book a one-way flight from Zagreb, the capital, to Dubrovnik, at the very southern tip of the country along the coastline, because we found a ticket for something like 45 dollars. Eventual, we agreed that a train to Zagreb on Thursday afternoon and a train home from Zagreb sometime on Sunday would be our main transportation. Getting back from Dubrovnik to Zagreb would be by overnight bus, but we could'nt book that online, only in person at the bus station. A week went by, and we had been slacking on our accomodation booking, so we got together the Tuesday before we left to figure it out. In Zagreb, we found one for $16 a night, which 'claimed' to be 10 minute walk from the main train station. More on that soon. In Dubrovnik, a lot of the hostels were located 15-20 minute walks outside of the Old Town, but we didn't want to do that, so we paid the 20 Euro for one located in almost the very center of the Old Town, which actually turned out to be an f'in great choice!
Thursday, Oct. 8th.
Anyway, Dan ended up leaving Wednesday afternoon to get to Zagreb a day early, because he didnt have class on Thursday and just felt like getting up and going. I left Thursday afternoon after my classes, and a 6.5 hour train ride later, arrived at the Zagreb train station. I hand wrote the directions to the hostel on a piece of paper, and expected a quick walk around a few blocks to get there, but it turned into me walking a little over a half hour to this place. But I did find it no problem, and Dan was waiting outside for my arrival. We walked back to the Bus Station (halfway between the Hostel and Train Station) to grab a small bite to eat before turning in and trying to get a good nights rest.
Friday, Oct. 9th.
We woke up, got our shit together, and were out of the hostel by about 9:45. The city center was past the train station, so we got on a tram heading that way in hopes that we wouldnt be checked for a ticket, which we were not. Zagreb is the largest city in Croatia, with approx 900,000 people, but the main old town/touristy area is pretty small, like many other cities in Europe. We arrived in the main square, which used to be the dividing point between two medieval towns that eventually joined together as one.
We settled in, showered, and ran off to go grab a bite to eat. Both of us agreed that a seafood meal was in order, and Danny's guide book suggested a place right by the marina. An order of mussels and a seafood risotto did the body good, and the realization that this may be the last time we have had to enjoy fresh seafood until we head back to the states set in. After, we meandered around the old town, and I was dead set on catching a glimpse of the sunset, so we left the old town heading up the Lapad peninsula to try and find a good lookout point. A late arrival forced us to settle for the beautiful colors that the sky was displaying after the sun had already set, but I enjoyed them as they were.
Later, we grabbed to bite to eat at a restaurant that specialized in Bosnian/Serbian food. We ordered a plate for two, called the Genghis Khan (strange?), which was a plate full of meats veggies and sauces...amazingg.
We caught a bus at 9pm to overnight back to Zagreb, stopping along the way in BOSNIA (for all over 20 minutes) and Split, among others, and arrived back to the capital at around 7am. It was cold and raining, and our train didn't leave for another 3 hours, so we moped our way to the train station to wait it out. After about an hour and a half of waiting, I suggested we get a quick bite to eat at the restaurant, which we did. Finishing our meal, an older gentleman kept randomly looking back at us, before asking Danny where he was from, and offering to buy us shots, which we politely declined, considering the time. As we were leaving, he started to question Danny about what he thought of Zagreb, as well as saying something along the lines of "we are poor f'in people here, do you know how we make money? How I make money?" Turns out he was the Zagreb City Pimp and offered Danny a lay, but we hurriedly walked out of there before it turned any more awkward. We boarded our train and endured another 6 hour ride home to Budapest.
You can see pictures of this here: Croatia Pictures!
I randomly had asked my friend Dan, another exchange student, if he would be down for going to Croatia on this particular weekend. He asked for a vague agenda, and I told him my ideas...it took him about 20 seconds to agree to it. So I had a travel companion, and we went about setting our itinerary. The first thing we did was book a one-way flight from Zagreb, the capital, to Dubrovnik, at the very southern tip of the country along the coastline, because we found a ticket for something like 45 dollars. Eventual, we agreed that a train to Zagreb on Thursday afternoon and a train home from Zagreb sometime on Sunday would be our main transportation. Getting back from Dubrovnik to Zagreb would be by overnight bus, but we could'nt book that online, only in person at the bus station. A week went by, and we had been slacking on our accomodation booking, so we got together the Tuesday before we left to figure it out. In Zagreb, we found one for $16 a night, which 'claimed' to be 10 minute walk from the main train station. More on that soon. In Dubrovnik, a lot of the hostels were located 15-20 minute walks outside of the Old Town, but we didn't want to do that, so we paid the 20 Euro for one located in almost the very center of the Old Town, which actually turned out to be an f'in great choice!
Thursday, Oct. 8th.
Anyway, Dan ended up leaving Wednesday afternoon to get to Zagreb a day early, because he didnt have class on Thursday and just felt like getting up and going. I left Thursday afternoon after my classes, and a 6.5 hour train ride later, arrived at the Zagreb train station. I hand wrote the directions to the hostel on a piece of paper, and expected a quick walk around a few blocks to get there, but it turned into me walking a little over a half hour to this place. But I did find it no problem, and Dan was waiting outside for my arrival. We walked back to the Bus Station (halfway between the Hostel and Train Station) to grab a small bite to eat before turning in and trying to get a good nights rest.
Friday, Oct. 9th.
We woke up, got our shit together, and were out of the hostel by about 9:45. The city center was past the train station, so we got on a tram heading that way in hopes that we wouldnt be checked for a ticket, which we were not. Zagreb is the largest city in Croatia, with approx 900,000 people, but the main old town/touristy area is pretty small, like many other cities in Europe. We arrived in the main square, which used to be the dividing point between two medieval towns that eventually joined together as one.
We walked around for a bit, Danny already having seen all this the day before, so he was my pseudo-tour guide for the 3 hours we spent in the city. Visited a cathedral where the corpse of the city archbishop was?? although I was not aware of that until after the fact, walked through the open air market as well as the fresh seafood market, which was awesome, as well as visiting the Croatian Parliament, Presidential Palace, and what they call the Green Horseshoe, a collection of parks and open spaces that when viewed from above takes the shape of a, you guessed it, horseshoe.
After our little tour, we hopped back on a tram to get to the bus station, because instead of paying around $40 for a taxi to the airport, Croatia Airlines has a bus that runs back and forth every half hour for $7. Arriving at the airport, we were checked in and through security in less than what seemed like a minute. Even with the lady in front of me having to forfeit here liquids and gels that were in her carryon. Thankfully, somehow, my cologne, toothpaste, deodorant, and what not made it through no problem.
A very, very quick 50 minute flight later, we landed in Dubrovnik to beautiful surroundings and a lovely temperature of about 79 degrees. We caught basically the same bus from the airport to the Old Town, and made our way to the hostel to check in. The Old Town is very hilly, and our hostel was located at the very top of one, but it was so worth it. Our bedroom was on the top floor of this 4 story building, and out our windows this is what we could see:
We settled in, showered, and ran off to go grab a bite to eat. Both of us agreed that a seafood meal was in order, and Danny's guide book suggested a place right by the marina. An order of mussels and a seafood risotto did the body good, and the realization that this may be the last time we have had to enjoy fresh seafood until we head back to the states set in. After, we meandered around the old town, and I was dead set on catching a glimpse of the sunset, so we left the old town heading up the Lapad peninsula to try and find a good lookout point. A late arrival forced us to settle for the beautiful colors that the sky was displaying after the sun had already set, but I enjoyed them as they were.
Arriving back at the hostel, we met some of the other travellers/backpackers that were staying there, most of them being Australian, but also one from Finland and a few from New Zealand. Some drinking and conversing occured, before some of us headed off to the only? club still open, Fuego. I made my way over with two kiwis and the Finland guy, and we stopped at the Hilton Imperial for a drink, Finland guy paying (thank god because the beers were like 15 bucks each). We reveled in our short-lived high-roller status, and proceeded to walk across the street to the club. Many drinks later, and after refusing a few shots the Aussies had bought for me, further evidencing that Americans can't drink worth a crap compared to the rest of the world, I managed to drag myself back to the hostel and passed out.
Saturday, Oct. 10.
Waking up and looking outside was beautifulllll, almost made me forget how much I felt like crap! Holy Hangover! Around 10 after we had eaten a quick breakfast, the first thing on our agenda was to walk the mile and a half along the top of Dubrovnik's famous walls. These walls were originally built to protect the town from invasions and what not, and some are set directly on the cliff side overlooking the water, rising over 120 feet high in some places. I struggled a bit, but slowly was feeling better...very slowly. After our walk, we decided a quick bite to eat was in order before beachin' it. I ordered a salad, but couldn't finish it. My stomach just said no. I was actually really excited to find the beach because I'd get to pass out for a little bit. Well, we found a pseudo-beach, not wanting to walk the extra 15 minutes to the real one, and we both jumped in a swam for a few minutes before Dan retired to a rock to read and me to another to lay down.
Earlier in the day while on the wall, we had seen a few guys jumping off some of the rocks/cliffs on the outside of the walls, and Danny had his heart set on doing it. I agreed, somewhat hesitantly, but definately wanted to partake in it. The place we ended up going was this cliffside bar called Buza. Rows of chairs and umbrellas lined the multiple levels of this place, with an area to hop into the water at the bottom and plently of rocks and cliffs to jump off of. It ended up being the same place that we saw the guys jumped earlier, so we were excited. Turned out to be one of the funnest things I've ever done, and it gives you a real rush. We started off with what we figured were 20-25 foot cliff, but Dan made the suggesting to move up a little higher, and we were jumping off 35+ foot rocks. Everyone loved us. People would stop and watch us from atop the wall, people sailing by would cheer us on as we jumped, and we even got a few others to join us and made a marathon of it.
Later, we grabbed to bite to eat at a restaurant that specialized in Bosnian/Serbian food. We ordered a plate for two, called the Genghis Khan (strange?), which was a plate full of meats veggies and sauces...amazingg.
We caught a bus at 9pm to overnight back to Zagreb, stopping along the way in BOSNIA (for all over 20 minutes) and Split, among others, and arrived back to the capital at around 7am. It was cold and raining, and our train didn't leave for another 3 hours, so we moped our way to the train station to wait it out. After about an hour and a half of waiting, I suggested we get a quick bite to eat at the restaurant, which we did. Finishing our meal, an older gentleman kept randomly looking back at us, before asking Danny where he was from, and offering to buy us shots, which we politely declined, considering the time. As we were leaving, he started to question Danny about what he thought of Zagreb, as well as saying something along the lines of "we are poor f'in people here, do you know how we make money? How I make money?" Turns out he was the Zagreb City Pimp and offered Danny a lay, but we hurriedly walked out of there before it turned any more awkward. We boarded our train and endured another 6 hour ride home to Budapest.
You can see pictures of this here: Croatia Pictures!
Weather
So one good thing about coming to Europe was that I would actually get to experience fall for the first time in 4 years, right? Wrong. Budapest had extremely warm weather consistently, being in the 70's well into October, so it still somewhat felt like summer. But on Monday, winter arrived a lot quicker than expected. It was been raining, gusting winds, and in the mid 30's to 40's since. I was not prepared to deal with such cold weather in the middle of October, but luckily, its supposed to warm up to the mid-high 50's and low 60's next week, so I pray that the weather report is correct.
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
Transylvania, Romania Oct. 1-4
Thursday, Oct. 1st.
I arrived back to my flat in Budapest at around 9:30am. I was very cranky, having not gotten THAT much sleep on the train back. I think it may have had something to do with the sleeping pills I took during my hangover, and the hallucinations that proceeded to occur. I don't remember ever laying back down for a quick nap, as the roommates woke up and wanted to hear all about what happened.
Sooner than later, I had to pack up my things and head over to the meeting spot to catch our bus. I showered, but still somehow felt very dissheveled as we made our way, stopping at a sandwich shop to pick up some food for the road. Having not ate in what felt like forever, I grabbed three of them.
On the excursions held by API, we hire a driver and a large van/small bus capable of holding 17 people, so there only being 7 students, Reka, and 3 other tag alongs, we had plenty of room to spread out, and I opted for a row of 2 seats all for myself.
The drive was about 8-9 hours through the open grasslands of Eastern Hungary and the rolling hills and mountains of Northwestern Romania, before we arrived at our destination of Cluj-Napoca (Romanian) or Koloszvar (Hungarian). The city has 2 different names because of the large minority of ethnic Hungarians who live all over Transylvania. We were being accomodated in a fairly new hotel called Hotel 7, which was set up on one of the hills of the city. We checked in and found our rooms, and proceeded to make our way down into the city center to find a place to eat. Walking on the main strip, we found a fairly nice restaurant that looked like it catered to the more upper class customer, yet when we looked at the menu we were astonished to see the prices for meals. Between the 8 of us that had a full me (soup/main course, sometimes both and a drink or two) the bill came out to be only 80 dollars. We all agreed we loved Romania.
Proceeding from there, we decided to venture off to look for a bar to go to for a few drinks. Kevin had asked the receptionist at the hotel about a good place to go, and attemped to navigate us to this place. When we arrived, we all were clearly underdressed (Jeans and a tee shirt/shorts), but decided to try our hand at entering anyway. We all made it in except the person wearing shorts, Kevin, so the group split up, with Erica, Cristy, Corey, Hannah and I staying and Kevin, Dan, and Claire heading back to the hotel. Standing around at the bar, we all were convinced that everyone was staring at us, and that everyone knew we were Americans, but we ordered drinks anyway and huddle in a circle, laughing at the crazy Romanian's and their dancing. I believe we were all on the verge of leaving anyway, when Corey decided to go party boy and accidentily knocked Cristy's glass from her hand, falling to the floor and breaking and in the process giving Erica a minor cut on her foot. The girls ran off to the bathroom to patch her up, as I stood there and acted like nothing happened, trying not to draw any more attention to our group then already was. I kicked the glass off to the side while waiting for the girls, and once they were done we immediately left and headed back to get some rest.
Friday, October 2nd
The next morning, we awoke to breakfast in the Hotel, and then met our guide for the remainder of the trip, Zolt. He was born and raised in Cluj-Napoca, but is completely Hungarian in ethnicity. The first part of our day consisted of a two hour walk around the city, seeing some of the major highlights. Having spent the night on top of one of the hills, we first drove over to a lookout point and you could see almost the entire city.
After our tour, we boarding the bus and headed off on an hours drive to the town of Torda, famous for its underground salt mine. I had never been in a salt mine before, so this was a first. The temperature inside was a cool, crisp 45-50 degrees, so we all bundled up before heading in. The tunnel to get inside the mine was really cool, and very, very long, as seen here. Inside, there was an echo chamber...we all agreed I had the loudest voice (go figure) and I was to yell something. My echo was heard something like 26 times over, and our guide said that normally 17 is the approx number of times you can hear it. Guess I do have a really loud voice....Inside, there was salt everywhere, as you can imagine. A staircase encrusted with a few inches of salt, salt dripping down from the rocks on the walls and ceilings, salt everywhere! It was a pretty neat thing to see, and a nice stopping point during the day of what was a day full of activity!
Finishing up at the salt mine, we again boarded our bus and began our journey to the town of Segesvar, or Sighisoara in Romanian. This town is best known as the birthplace of one Vlad Tepes, or as you all know him Vlad the Impaler/Dracula. To preface what I am going to say next, Romania has a very large minority of Roma people, or Gypsys. For the most part, normal people think of Gypsys as poor/nomadic people always on the move and scam artist masters. However, in this particular part of Romania, the Gypsys are very rich. The men wear a tall, black hat (similar to what was worn by Abraham Lincoln) their whole life, and the price of such hat is upwards of 100 Euro. Also, they build extremely large houses, larger than any of those that a normal Romanian would build, to symbolize their status and wealth. This is one reason why they are not very liked in this part of the world. However, these 3, 4, and sometimes 5 story houses are never fulled occupied. The Gypsys only live in the basement or ground floor, and all other floors contain absolutely little to no furniture at all. I snapped a picture of such houses as we drove by on our way to Segesvar.
We arrived in Segesvar at around 330-4pm. We walked up to the old town and visited the clock tower, walked up to the lookout of the clock tower (obviosuly), visited Vlad Tepes' birthplace, grabbed a bite to eat, and before we knew it we were leaving and on our way to our accomodation for the next two nights in Zetelaka. Zetelaka is located in an area where there is a very high percentage of ethic Hungarians...I believe about 90% of the county was made up of them, specifically, the Szekely Hungarians. Zetelaka was not that far from Segesvar, about an hour and 30 minute - 2 hour drive. We arrived in the village, and after navigating a few dirt roads, we found our street with the host families we would be staying with. There was another, much larger tour group arriving at the same time, and we all were invited into the yard of the head businesswoman in the village, Olga. Welcome drinks and snacks we given by children dressed in traditional clothing, and we all stood around and socialized for a few minutes before heading off to our respective families.
I arrived back to my flat in Budapest at around 9:30am. I was very cranky, having not gotten THAT much sleep on the train back. I think it may have had something to do with the sleeping pills I took during my hangover, and the hallucinations that proceeded to occur. I don't remember ever laying back down for a quick nap, as the roommates woke up and wanted to hear all about what happened.
Sooner than later, I had to pack up my things and head over to the meeting spot to catch our bus. I showered, but still somehow felt very dissheveled as we made our way, stopping at a sandwich shop to pick up some food for the road. Having not ate in what felt like forever, I grabbed three of them.
On the excursions held by API, we hire a driver and a large van/small bus capable of holding 17 people, so there only being 7 students, Reka, and 3 other tag alongs, we had plenty of room to spread out, and I opted for a row of 2 seats all for myself.
The drive was about 8-9 hours through the open grasslands of Eastern Hungary and the rolling hills and mountains of Northwestern Romania, before we arrived at our destination of Cluj-Napoca (Romanian) or Koloszvar (Hungarian). The city has 2 different names because of the large minority of ethnic Hungarians who live all over Transylvania. We were being accomodated in a fairly new hotel called Hotel 7, which was set up on one of the hills of the city. We checked in and found our rooms, and proceeded to make our way down into the city center to find a place to eat. Walking on the main strip, we found a fairly nice restaurant that looked like it catered to the more upper class customer, yet when we looked at the menu we were astonished to see the prices for meals. Between the 8 of us that had a full me (soup/main course, sometimes both and a drink or two) the bill came out to be only 80 dollars. We all agreed we loved Romania.
Proceeding from there, we decided to venture off to look for a bar to go to for a few drinks. Kevin had asked the receptionist at the hotel about a good place to go, and attemped to navigate us to this place. When we arrived, we all were clearly underdressed (Jeans and a tee shirt/shorts), but decided to try our hand at entering anyway. We all made it in except the person wearing shorts, Kevin, so the group split up, with Erica, Cristy, Corey, Hannah and I staying and Kevin, Dan, and Claire heading back to the hotel. Standing around at the bar, we all were convinced that everyone was staring at us, and that everyone knew we were Americans, but we ordered drinks anyway and huddle in a circle, laughing at the crazy Romanian's and their dancing. I believe we were all on the verge of leaving anyway, when Corey decided to go party boy and accidentily knocked Cristy's glass from her hand, falling to the floor and breaking and in the process giving Erica a minor cut on her foot. The girls ran off to the bathroom to patch her up, as I stood there and acted like nothing happened, trying not to draw any more attention to our group then already was. I kicked the glass off to the side while waiting for the girls, and once they were done we immediately left and headed back to get some rest.
Friday, October 2nd
The next morning, we awoke to breakfast in the Hotel, and then met our guide for the remainder of the trip, Zolt. He was born and raised in Cluj-Napoca, but is completely Hungarian in ethnicity. The first part of our day consisted of a two hour walk around the city, seeing some of the major highlights. Having spent the night on top of one of the hills, we first drove over to a lookout point and you could see almost the entire city.
Finishing up at the salt mine, we again boarded our bus and began our journey to the town of Segesvar, or Sighisoara in Romanian. This town is best known as the birthplace of one Vlad Tepes, or as you all know him Vlad the Impaler/Dracula. To preface what I am going to say next, Romania has a very large minority of Roma people, or Gypsys. For the most part, normal people think of Gypsys as poor/nomadic people always on the move and scam artist masters. However, in this particular part of Romania, the Gypsys are very rich. The men wear a tall, black hat (similar to what was worn by Abraham Lincoln) their whole life, and the price of such hat is upwards of 100 Euro. Also, they build extremely large houses, larger than any of those that a normal Romanian would build, to symbolize their status and wealth. This is one reason why they are not very liked in this part of the world. However, these 3, 4, and sometimes 5 story houses are never fulled occupied. The Gypsys only live in the basement or ground floor, and all other floors contain absolutely little to no furniture at all. I snapped a picture of such houses as we drove by on our way to Segesvar.
We arrived in Segesvar at around 330-4pm. We walked up to the old town and visited the clock tower, walked up to the lookout of the clock tower (obviosuly), visited Vlad Tepes' birthplace, grabbed a bite to eat, and before we knew it we were leaving and on our way to our accomodation for the next two nights in Zetelaka. Zetelaka is located in an area where there is a very high percentage of ethic Hungarians...I believe about 90% of the county was made up of them, specifically, the Szekely Hungarians. Zetelaka was not that far from Segesvar, about an hour and 30 minute - 2 hour drive. We arrived in the village, and after navigating a few dirt roads, we found our street with the host families we would be staying with. There was another, much larger tour group arriving at the same time, and we all were invited into the yard of the head businesswoman in the village, Olga. Welcome drinks and snacks we given by children dressed in traditional clothing, and we all stood around and socialized for a few minutes before heading off to our respective families.
The houses on this one particular street were actually very nice. There is a program called Rural Tourism that many towns in Transylvania take part in, providing homestays filled with nice beds, clean sheets, and excellent meals. For some areas, including the one we were staying in, this is the only main source of income they have. That is because Romania refuses to use funds that are sent specifically by the EU for the development of the Transylvania region. However, Romania does not like the fact that Hungarian minorities are using their ethnic heritage as a tourism device, and the governments ultimate goal is to assimillate all minorities into one, Romanian-centric culture. They do this by refusing to allow ethnic Hungarians to be educated in Hungarian schools, attempting to abolish the use of the Hungarian language, etc etc. And it is such a shame. But anyways, our home was very very nice...nice furniture, fairly large, and our host was a lovely woman named Erika. She didnt speak much English and kept out of sight, and only really appeared when serving us food. Speaking of food, it was absolutely amazing. We were given two flasks of Palinka, one Cumin flavored and the other Sour Cherry, and our meal started off with this Paprika infused potato soup that was to die for. The soup was followed by a Schnitzel of sort, with rice pilaf and pickled cabbage and peppers.
After dinner, our tour guide Zolt rounded everybody up, apparently to go look for bears or something. Well, we didnt find bears, and it was cold and raining, but we did find this very scary bridge over a small river, with some A-Holes deciding it would be funny to swing it back and forth when no one could see more than a foot in front of them coughKevinandDancough. After our little walk through the village, we walked towards the main road and headed to a bar to enjoy some drinks, before heading off to bed in preparation for a long day on Saturday.
Saturday, Oct. 3rd.
We awoke to the smells of breakfast, but before that, I proceeded to take a shower in a tub with no curtain. If anyone has ever done that, they know the challenge that situation poses and the extremes you have to go to not to flood the entire bathroom. But anyways, after a nice helping of friend eggs, meats, and cheeses, as well as 5 cups of coffee, we again loaded off the van and were off to an obscure location in the Eastern Carpathian mountains for a hike. Something like three hours later, and after a quick stop off at the top of a mountain to galavant around for a few minutes...
....we arrived at the Bekas Canyon. We walked the 3 kilometers through the canyon, admiring the scenery and and such and stopping to pick up a souvenir or two. I bought a winter hat because it was mad cold, and also a traditional Szekely knife...crazy sharp. Here are some pictures of that!
After walking through the canyon, we made our way back up the road towards Lake Gyilkos, or Killer Lake. Legend has it that a shepherd and his heard were swept into the like by an avalanche/mud slide, and his image can still be seen in the moon light at the bottom of the lake. We grabbed a bite to eat, a few of us getting fresh grilled stream caught trout, and also chimney cakes, a cylindric shaped pastry that still had smoke coming out one of its holes after it was cooked, hence the name. After we left, we stopped in a few small towns on the drive back to Zetalaka, one town Szovata, is famous for its helio(sun)-thermic lake, and another, Korond, is famous for its handmade pottery. I picked up a few pieces because they were fairly cheap. I also enjoyed a very nice sunset and a "moonrise?"
Dinner at the home-stay was even better the second night then the first. The soup to start it off was amazing, and was followed by some cabbage stuffed with minced meat and sour cream, again, amazing. After dinner, we all agreed we didnt want to walk back to the main road to go to the same bar again, so our guide called the head host family lady to see if there was a bar in the village, which there was. It was "right across" the large wooden bridge, so we ventured off to see if we could find it. Crossing the bridge, we didnt have the faintest idea of where this bar might be, so we continued walking in the direction of the wobbly bridge we had crossed the other night. I decided it would be fun to cross it and actually know where it goes/hold on and not be in the rain, and we had all but given up on the fact that we couldnt find the bar and were going to head back. In a sense, we did one large loop through the village, and on our way back passed the same bridge that we were told the bar was across. I told everyone to stop and that I was gonna walk back over to see if I could find it, and I came across what looked like a large barn with a HORSE parked outside and a bunch of noise and commotion coming from within. I went back to my tour guide and told him of the horse parked outside, and he said yes, that is the bar we were looking for. So strange haha. But anyways, the bar was a small hole in the wall inside a courtyard to what I thought was a barn. The bartender was very friendly, but we apparently picked the night when the village drunk decided to show up as well. Not even our tour guide, who speaks Hungarian, could understand what he was saying. But we managed to make friends with Ferenc (the village drunk), Bela (his friend who may or may not have been embarrassed by Ferenc's actions) and another man who just sat quietly at the table drinking as we all attemped to converse (which was a fail, because we dont speak Hungarian and none of them spoke English). Another man showed up at the bar, and proceeded to buy every one of us at least 2 rounds of drinks, maybe 3. He was younger than the other 3, but was missing teeth and was creepily hitting on the girls lol. This night in its entirety may have been one of the funniest nights of my life.
All pictures of my Transylvania trip can be seen here: Transylvania Pictures!
Dinner at the home-stay was even better the second night then the first. The soup to start it off was amazing, and was followed by some cabbage stuffed with minced meat and sour cream, again, amazing. After dinner, we all agreed we didnt want to walk back to the main road to go to the same bar again, so our guide called the head host family lady to see if there was a bar in the village, which there was. It was "right across" the large wooden bridge, so we ventured off to see if we could find it. Crossing the bridge, we didnt have the faintest idea of where this bar might be, so we continued walking in the direction of the wobbly bridge we had crossed the other night. I decided it would be fun to cross it and actually know where it goes/hold on and not be in the rain, and we had all but given up on the fact that we couldnt find the bar and were going to head back. In a sense, we did one large loop through the village, and on our way back passed the same bridge that we were told the bar was across. I told everyone to stop and that I was gonna walk back over to see if I could find it, and I came across what looked like a large barn with a HORSE parked outside and a bunch of noise and commotion coming from within. I went back to my tour guide and told him of the horse parked outside, and he said yes, that is the bar we were looking for. So strange haha. But anyways, the bar was a small hole in the wall inside a courtyard to what I thought was a barn. The bartender was very friendly, but we apparently picked the night when the village drunk decided to show up as well. Not even our tour guide, who speaks Hungarian, could understand what he was saying. But we managed to make friends with Ferenc (the village drunk), Bela (his friend who may or may not have been embarrassed by Ferenc's actions) and another man who just sat quietly at the table drinking as we all attemped to converse (which was a fail, because we dont speak Hungarian and none of them spoke English). Another man showed up at the bar, and proceeded to buy every one of us at least 2 rounds of drinks, maybe 3. He was younger than the other 3, but was missing teeth and was creepily hitting on the girls lol. This night in its entirety may have been one of the funniest nights of my life.
Sunday, Oct. 4th.
We woke up feeling greatttttttt (NOT). Many of us were hungover/still drunk. We got on the bus and drove to the city of Tirgu Mures and walked around the city for a few hours (most of us). We visited a few churches and the cultural palace. The city center was very quiet but that was most likely do to it being early Sunday morning. We left to head back towards Cluj-Napoca and drop our guide off, before heading back on the 8 hour drive to Budapest.
All in all, Transylvania was about 35% what I was expecting, with the other 65% surprising the hell out of me. I knew there were going to be old villages, I knew there was going to be a strange mystique associated with the land, but some of the information we all learned and the sights we took in were invaluable, unable to describe to someone unless they visit there for themselves. American's thoughts of the area consist of Vampires, and thats about it, but there is oh so much more to discover about this wonderful, naturally beautiful area in Eastern Europe
All pictures of my Transylvania trip can be seen here: Transylvania Pictures!
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