Splitting a Snickers in Snowy Slovakia

Before I begin: If you have time, please visit http://www.flickr.com/photos/customfun to view recently uploaded pictures that I have slightly influenced through artistic license.

As the title of this entry suggests, we spent our weekend in Slovakia; Bratislava, actually. Now before any details are spilled or interesting stories are accounted for, never in a million years did I say, 'I think one day I'll visit Slovakia.' This is the perfect disclaimer to my experience. It was last Tuesday, February 10th, when I asked Maryann if she would like to go somewhere outside of Hungary to take advantage of our long weekend. Deciding upon Bratislava, we went to the train station to book our ticket. Here was where the preconceived fears of the language barrier really took in full effect. Before coming to Budapest I had always just assumed that pointing or little Hungarian knowledge would get me far enough. But it was when we were booking our "international" train ticket and were getting shooed away left and right for asking if anyone spoke English that the divide was really beginning to take a toll. However, we finally found our way to the correct place to get our ticket to Bratislava, and after a little confusion, successfully booked a trip to a different country's capital for $20 round trip. Ah, the good life. From there I booked a cheap but awesome deal of a hostel that ran us an additional 13 euro for two nights. Before we had even left, I was starting to love our trip.
Leaving on Friday morning for our 9:28 train ride out of Budapest-Keleti pu. station proved even more exciting than anticipated, as Kelli, Maryann's friend, forgot her passport. Not knowing if Slovakia was a part of the Schengen Agreement, we decided to chance it and continued on our way to the station. Once at the station, we simply showed our ticket to the nonchalant ticket guards who in all likelihood would have let us through with a blank piece of paper in our hands. With no signs to mark the platforms or which trains were leaving where, we hopped aboard our (thankfully) correct train and found our way to the first empty compartment. The tickets here have no assigned seating, so getting your own seat seems to be that of a free-for-all. Two and a half hours on the train and we were there. -Welcome to beautiful Slovakia!- I thought, before exiting the train to the bone chilling winter winds that made me wish I had packed heavier clothing. Walking out of the station that had no ticket checkers, no passport stands, or really any evidence of authority was almost a little comical. We did not know that traveling from Hungary to Slovakia was such a low key thing; maybe we overreacted about the passports. We made our way to the hostel via the .50 euro tram ticket and checked in.
Once settling in, we asked the front desk worker where the best place to eat was, as we had the appetite to fill our ravished stomachs with authentic Slovakian cuisine. The Slovak Pub, we were informed, was the best place to go. My first real experience of cultural divide: walking into this pub was like something out of an old western movie. . . only in Bratislava. I opened the door and stepped in, with Maryann and Kelli shortly behind me, to find that literally everyone in the pub was staring at us, for a good 15 seconds. Apparently we do not pass for native Slovaks. After our meal of dumplings, sausage, and sheep cheese (mmmmm tasty), I had thought differently. It was from there that we planned the rest of our stay.
Bratislava is much smaller than I had anticipated, as is Slovakia in general. With a population of around 450,000, I had assumed to see some active city life, even if it is around 1/3 the size of Budapest. However, we were shocked as to how few people we saw for being the capital city of the country. In addition, we were surprised as to seemingly how little there was to do around our hostel. Enter 'Old Town.' Old town is the tourist area of Bratislava that is kept to a 't,' with perfect cobble stone and high end shops and restaurants, it is clearly a financial gain for the city. However, it was almost as if it were a different city completely, as outside of 'Old Town' still greatly reflects communism and political turmoil more than any place we have seen thus far. Once we had seen the tourist locations and the local hot spots, including an authentic Slovakian chocolate bar, we decided to venture out into the real city and see what we could find. With our aimless wanderings we found 8 churches within a 12 block radius, most of which stemmed from the 16th century. One church we found was built in 1297, and was a common place for knights to be knighted (I was in awe). If that wasn't amazing enough, finding the national cathedral was, as 11 kings were crowned in that building which was finished in the early 1450s. Sad to say, however, is that we tried to get into the cathedral twice, and were both times barred due to weddings. Apparently, it is an amazing place to get married. Who would have thought? After seeing the best parts of the low town, the highlight of our trip came to center stage: the Bratislava Castle. Having read plenty about it, we excitedly began our hike up the hill to see this acclaimed building. After all of our reading and all of our hiking in the insanely cold winter, it was being renovated. Scaffolding covered every single inch of each wall. The irony of this moment was as hilarious as it was frustrating.
All in all, Bratislava was an awesome trip. We saw amazing churches, experienced a few very cold Slovakian snow days, and ate the heaviest food that has ever entered any person, ever. Although the tourist aspects of this city could be accomplished in one day, our findings of great cafes, churches, and every bit of history this city had to offer made our trip a memorable one. And on top of that, we met some very interesting lads in our hostel; two went to NYU, one of which was from San Francisco, who lives right next to where I did last fall. Small world, no?
To explain the title of this entry, Maryann and I were sitting on a bench outside of the train station in Bratislava, waiting to go home, splitting a snickers as the snow continued to fall and the cold continued to chill, when we both laughed at the thought that we were in Slovakia. The realization of that alone was amazing.

Thanks for reading.

The Plunge

It has come to the realization that we are thriving. No longer are we dashing out to experience the tourist aspects of this place. No longer are we planning our daily and weekend adventures based off of a book or some entry that Rick Steves pushed atop some most notables list while in Budapest; no longer are we playing the rushed game of what we have to see immediately since, as Americans, we don't have castles that are 1000 years old back in the States, let alone Oregon. It is taking constant reminding and recognition of our stay here to fully enjoy it, so that we can experience the non tourist aspects of this city; so that we are not trapped in the confinements of a tourist book, but so that we are lead by curiosity, and maybe Laci's direction. I have never been away from the U.S. this long, so I have never had the opportunity nor the luxury of being able to relax and assimilate to a different cultural cycle. So it is taking the best of us to remember that we will not be returning to our homes until June, and it is only February. Once we remind ourselves of these things, however, we quickly realize that albeit we want to see the tourist aspects of this city, we also want to experience what could not be accomplished while just being here for a short stay. It is the difference in a ten day vacation to a five month stay.
In our search for the entertainment and culture of the local Hungarians we have already found much. Whether it be the pubs they go to, the theaters they visit, or the everyday places they venture to which would seem like monuments to any American - we are following. I am, however, drawing the line at the Szex Bolts (Sex Shop) which seems to be at every major intersection. Sex is taboo here, and is so much more widespread than back home, even if that may seem hard to believe. When viewing a modern interpretation of Shakespeare's 'A Mid Summer Night's Dream,' this became very apparent very quickly, as their use of nudity in theater was something I had to attempt to appreciate as the shock would not subside. I have come to the conclusion that what would be worthy of condemnation back home is of everyday talk, and to some, use for a society that is much more willing to accept this.

Aside from our first experience in Hungarian theater, we have found a 'local' church to attend. When I say a local church, I mean St. Stephen's Basillica, which is by far the largest place of worship I have ever been in my entire life. Pictured is a view from inside. I make a point to this because, although there is a 200 year old church down the street from us, this Basillica is an icon in the eyes of the Hungarians, and it just so happens to seat over 8,000 people. When visiting it with Maryann to get the mass schedule, we found out that none other than St. Stephen's right hand is held on display in the back of the church. I must say, this was really cool to see. St. Stephen founded Hungary in 1000 A.D. and still is seen as monumentally influential in Hungary's history, as he not only founded the political organization of this country, but also declared it to be Roman Catholic. Hungary is one of the only historically Roman Catholic countries in all of Eastern Europe, as nearly every other country (aside from Romania), belonged to the Eastern Orthodox Church, since the center was in Byzantium, or modern day Instanbul. There are multiple statues of St. Stephen throughout the city, including the one on the front of my university.

As I wrap up this entry, I wanted to put in another picture of my roommate, Nick. In this particular shot, we were up at the Statue of Freedom, which was errected after Nazi occupation. Nick is pictured on the left in an archway looking out over the Buda side of Budapest. This is an amazing place for any personal historian or lover of art, architecture, or culture. Budapest is a pocket in Eastern Europe that, even through many years of political turmoil, has survived to still be as beautiful as it is. I highly recommend it to anyone who would be so lucky as to have an opportunity to travel this far from home. And the best part is that it still has not exploded to American tourism like the Western European countries have. Being here three weeks almost, I have only ran in to Americans once. The separation is phenomenal. We are completely engulfed in this fantastic cultural experience. We are travelers that have decided to stay a while.

Thanks for reading.