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!
Sunday, November 22, 2009
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
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)