This entry has been delayed because of, well, school. Yes, I know, that thing that I am here to do always seems to interfere with my European experience! Kidding completely, parents. Amidst my packing for my early morning flight to Istanbul, Turkey, tomorrow morning, I am trying to get this entry out to keep a running account of each trip I take.
Seven hours duration brought us from Budapest to the beautiful Czech Republic via a bus that served us hot chocolate (that was a very integral part of the story). Once arriving at around 2 pm, we made an unusually long trek to our hostel to check in, and in doing so we passed through the majority of old town Prague. It was in this short journey that I was able to distinguish that Prague has a very large tourist market, as souvenir shops are seemingly on every corner. Also, however, this massive amount of tourism was due to Prague's "Festival of Europe 2009," which sampled amazing food, live music all over the former Eastern Bloc, sideshow acts, and did I mention crowds, and crowds of people? In all honesty, you could have been there and I would have missed you. After touching down in the hostel, we decided to start walking around. The main square, where there was cheap food, incredibly old buildings, and Czech culture that was accessible to anyone who carried enough Korunas ($$). The best part of the main square of old town had to be the atomic clock, which at every hour, on the hour, would have a skeleton come out of it and ring a bell, while statues of the 12 disciples rotated between two windows on the top of the clock. I say this was the best part because so many tourists would wait for at least half an hour to see this anomaly, cameras drawn, and ready to shoot the amazing Czech atomic clock. However, once the show was over, 'awww' seemed to be the general sound of let down, and the laughter of the native Czechs at the stupid tourists shortly followed. Just listening to the laughter was great.
Next came further foot searching, and crossing the Charles' Bridge, which was constructed in 1357. This bridge is lined with Christian (eastern greek orthodox) statues and angels, and offers an amazing view of the city from the middle. Next came a stop in a pub, and the annoyance that this festival was actually going on. This pub we entered would only allow big groups in, and was catering to a pub race, if you will, where groups of predominately Americans that wished they were still in college went pub to pub, drinking, and drinking, aaaaannnd drinking. Needless to say, the enjoyment of relaxing with my first Czech beer (Budweiser Budvar. . . copyright?) was shortlived. From there came the visiting of the peace wall, which people put graffiti on as a protest to Soviet occupation (http://www.flickr.com/photos/customfun). This was again one more sign of the aftermath of communist occupation, and the effects it had on people. The wall was decorated with John Lennon quotes and charicatures, and powerful slogans [ the most being, "I was born to tell you I love you" - to their oppressors....this was empowering]. After this incredible sight, the night ended with a pub for some food where we were clipped on a huge tip - 20% for their handing out beer and hearty food, oh and not to mention that Czech restaurants don't charge tip. Ever.
The following day was our trek to the castle. This seems to be a habit of every place we visit; to hike up to the one castle. Since Prague's castle complex is the largest in the world, there was plenty to see - from old buildings and the district itself to the absolutely stunning St. Vitus (Veetoosh) Cathedral -http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Vitus_Cathedral -, which is a gothic cathedral dating back to 1344 that is located in the middle of the Prague castle. The construction of this cathedral was absolutely incredible, for the amount of detail that went into creating such a structure is phenomenal. After this, we ventured a pizza joint for a rest. From there we visited the Andy Warhols traveling exhibit from the NY MOMA that had a select few of his 16mm films, and for just over $3 US, it was quite a steal.
From there, we went to visit something I have always wanted to see: The Dancing Building. The Dancing Building is a building that was designed by LA architect Frank Gehry (Disney Concert House, Guggenheim in Bilbao, Univ. Cincinnati Health Center). Just to see something in person that was so abstract as that was really amazing. Surprisingly enough, it fit in quite well to the surroundings even though it had very contrasting shapes and materials. Google 'Dancing Building' and look at the pictures, it is impressive in pictures but was incredible in person. Following this was more sightseeing, dinner, and then back to the hostel, when our group decided to go to the largest dance club in all of central Europe.
I passed.
The following day, Maryann and I arose early (while no one else did, because it was the largest dance club in central Europe) to go to a great bakery to get some tasty treats to end our stay in Prague. The bus ride back consisted of more hot chocolate, a showin of James Bond in Hungarian, and some Czech chocolates we got for the ride.
For pictures please visit http://www.flickr.com/photos/customfun. I apologize for making this entry so brief, but I must pack for Turkey. That entry will hopefully be put up next Wednesday.
Thanks for reading.
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
Monday, March 2, 2009
Don't Eat the Bread Basket!
An entry has been long overdue, and I apologize for its tardiness. I wrote nothing for two weeks because not really anything happened, other than our planning for the future weeks ahead. This entry will cover our journey to Vienna, Austria, but future entries will bring Prague, Istanbul, Berlin, Krakow, Barcelona, and Paris. These will be the exciting weeks ahead.
Wein -
We started out trip out to Vienna on Thursday evening , the 26th, on a train bound for the Westbahnhof station in Vienna. Once there, we checked into our hostel, and decided to take a look around our immediate surroundings, although it was getting late at night. Already we had said it was much, much nicer weather than in Slovakia, as our faces did not freeze when we stepped outside. However, my optimism was peaked when we found one of hundreds of kebab stands located throughout the city. Having never tried one, I could not believe how good it was. If ever curious, visit Austria. . .even for the Kebabs. So we wandered aimlessly to kill time until my comrade Diego showed up from Bilbao, Spain. Diego is studying abroad through USF also, was my roommate last semester, and will be one of my roommates next year. Since he did not reach the hostel until nearly midnight, we tried to get as much sleep as possible, since we had planned to visit our Mecca of this trip. Stuhleck was its name, and skiing the Austria Alps was our desire. We arose early in order to have plenty of time to catch our train that took us directly to the slopes. We were told to board at platform 22, at 8:52, which after a train switch, would eventually get us there. So we boarded a train at platform 22 at 8:52, but it was not the correct train, since they were slightly behind schedule. Sadly, however, is that we did not realize that we had boarded the wrong train until much too late; well, until we ended up in northern Austria instead of southern Austria. The view from the train was gorgeous, but it was very interesting as to how the ticket checker did not say anything to us about being headed in the wrong direction. We had all decided that having been here for six weeks and having nothing go majorly wrong, we were doing quite well. Still, this kind of adaptation was something I was hoping to avoid. Although we love it here, we certainly miss being able to fully, easily, and readily communicate with people. So on our way back, we attempted to laugh it off and plan our day ahead, with skiing scheduled for Saturday.
Once back, we saw an incredible amount of Vienna. Before we did any sight seeing however, we all grabbed another kebab sandwich - a great way to start our sight seeing. We walked around the shopping district, saw some of the oldest churches in the city, and saw many side acts on the streets that were trying to get your money - ah, its the same all around the globe. Architecturally staggering was the palace of the Hapsburgs, most notably of Kaiser Franz Joseph. From the outside, this construction was an architectural wonder, as every single aspect was crafted to perfection. Walking around with our Rick Steve's guide, we saw the greatest things that Vienna had to offer, while avoiding what was not worth our visits. Thankfully to Rick, we found out that we could buy cheap opera tickets (4 euro!) for standing / seatless views from upper balconies. Only paying 4 euro to see a world class opera in Austria was quite the steal, and was something I will never forget. From there, we got some more, uber hearty eastern-European food that practically made our hearts stop. They even had our Slovakian cuisine we tried in Bratislava! We could not escape the sheep's cheese, apparently. And to top the night off, Diego and I had another kebab. I was hoping to get sick of them by the time we left, and I am pretty sure we accomplished that.
The next morning, even earlier, brought our successful ski day. We got to the Sud
bahnhof station early, caught the correct train, and were up at the mountain by 9:47 a.m. The mass amounts of people attempting to rent / or get up to the slopes from the base lodge brought about delay since the lodge was not designed to cater to that many people. Finally getting on the slopes at around 12:30, we enjoyed some beautiful skiing and snowboarding, with incredibly strange rope tows to bring us up the slopes (skiers put these ice-axe looking things behind them, while snowboarders had to put one end between their legs - needless to say, I was hurting). Breaking for lunch around two, we had some Berner Wurstel at a restaurant that was actually on the slope. It was then that we decided that we had incredibly hard lives. Returning to the slopes after that, we were still able to catch some good runs. Surprisingly, and unfortunately, the entire snow park closed at 16:00, contrary to our previous belief of 18:00. The picture posted is of the train pulling through to take us back to Vienna. All in all, our skiing of the alps was something I will never forget. Returning for some food and an early bed time, brought us up the next morning fresh.
Sunday, March 1 (I cannot believe it is already March!) brought us a check out time and our last bit of sight seeing before our 15:50 train and Diego's flight. We toured the inside of the Hapsburg palace, and saw the apartments of Franz Joseph and his empress Elizabeth. A very real sight to see, we all agreed that the Hapsburg dynasty left behind some amazing works of architecture, art, and history.
Thus the end of our trip came to a small cafe next to our train station. We sat down, and the nice gentleman took our order of once cappuccino, one tea, and one coke. When he asked if we wanted water, and us saying yes (without specifying 'tap water' because they automatically bring you bottled water and charge you for it) he brought us not only water but a nice bread basket. Assuming it was just something that they offered, like back home, we began to eat it. As we sat, conversed, and ate, I managed to see a few other tables that had full bread baskets, even while the people sitting in front of them had been at their table longer than we had been at ours. When the bill came, we were charged for not only our drinks and water (approx. 15 euro total), but we were charged a nice 10 euro extra for our bread basket. Diego asked the waiter what the charge was since we did not order it, and apparently their fine print on their menu is that if you eat it, you pay for it. It is the subtleties that I truly miss about back home - such as this. Diego and I conclude after this that, 'When in Rome, do as the Romans do, and when in Austria, don't eat the bread basket!' Our frustrations subsided when we realized as to how ridiculous that cafe was, and figured it would make for one more good story later.
Having not had any major problems while being here in Europe, our first run ins with unfortunate language discrepancies, train schedules, and bread fiascoes brought the only small clouds to our incredible trip. We have not forgotten that we are still adapting. We still have to communicate with the few people that speak English, and we still are attempting to get used to the customs of the land. Thus far, this adaptation has been eye opening. And while the few unfortunate events were, well, unfortunate, the train pulled away from the Wein - Westbahnhof station headed for Budapest - Keleti station with me thinking how incredible it was to see that physical remnants of the Hapsburg empire, skiing the alps, and getting a rude awakening to bread basket etiquette.
Thanks for reading.
Wein -
We started out trip out to Vienna on Thursday evening , the 26th, on a train bound for the Westbahnhof station in Vienna. Once there, we checked into our hostel, and decided to take a look around our immediate surroundings, although it was getting late at night. Already we had said it was much, much nicer weather than in Slovakia, as our faces did not freeze when we stepped outside. However, my optimism was peaked when we found one of hundreds of kebab stands located throughout the city. Having never tried one, I could not believe how good it was. If ever curious, visit Austria. . .even for the Kebabs. So we wandered aimlessly to kill time until my comrade Diego showed up from Bilbao, Spain. Diego is studying abroad through USF also, was my roommate last semester, and will be one of my roommates next year. Since he did not reach the hostel until nearly midnight, we tried to get as much sleep as possible, since we had planned to visit our Mecca of this trip. Stuhleck was its name, and skiing the Austria Alps was our desire. We arose early in order to have plenty of time to catch our train that took us directly to the slopes. We were told to board at platform 22, at 8:52, which after a train switch, would eventually get us there. So we boarded a train at platform 22 at 8:52, but it was not the correct train, since they were slightly behind schedule. Sadly, however, is that we did not realize that we had boarded the wrong train until much too late; well, until we ended up in northern Austria instead of southern Austria. The view from the train was gorgeous, but it was very interesting as to how the ticket checker did not say anything to us about being headed in the wrong direction. We had all decided that having been here for six weeks and having nothing go majorly wrong, we were doing quite well. Still, this kind of adaptation was something I was hoping to avoid. Although we love it here, we certainly miss being able to fully, easily, and readily communicate with people. So on our way back, we attempted to laugh it off and plan our day ahead, with skiing scheduled for Saturday.
Once back, we saw an incredible amount of Vienna. Before we did any sight seeing however, we all grabbed another kebab sandwich - a great way to start our sight seeing. We walked around the shopping district, saw some of the oldest churches in the city, and saw many side acts on the streets that were trying to get your money - ah, its the same all around the globe. Architecturally staggering was the palace of the Hapsburgs, most notably of Kaiser Franz Joseph. From the outside, this construction was an architectural wonder, as every single aspect was crafted to perfection. Walking around with our Rick Steve's guide, we saw the greatest things that Vienna had to offer, while avoiding what was not worth our visits. Thankfully to Rick, we found out that we could buy cheap opera tickets (4 euro!) for standing / seatless views from upper balconies. Only paying 4 euro to see a world class opera in Austria was quite the steal, and was something I will never forget. From there, we got some more, uber hearty eastern-European food that practically made our hearts stop. They even had our Slovakian cuisine we tried in Bratislava! We could not escape the sheep's cheese, apparently. And to top the night off, Diego and I had another kebab. I was hoping to get sick of them by the time we left, and I am pretty sure we accomplished that.
The next morning, even earlier, brought our successful ski day. We got to the Sud
bahnhof station early, caught the correct train, and were up at the mountain by 9:47 a.m. The mass amounts of people attempting to rent / or get up to the slopes from the base lodge brought about delay since the lodge was not designed to cater to that many people. Finally getting on the slopes at around 12:30, we enjoyed some beautiful skiing and snowboarding, with incredibly strange rope tows to bring us up the slopes (skiers put these ice-axe looking things behind them, while snowboarders had to put one end between their legs - needless to say, I was hurting). Breaking for lunch around two, we had some Berner Wurstel at a restaurant that was actually on the slope. It was then that we decided that we had incredibly hard lives. Returning to the slopes after that, we were still able to catch some good runs. Surprisingly, and unfortunately, the entire snow park closed at 16:00, contrary to our previous belief of 18:00. The picture posted is of the train pulling through to take us back to Vienna. All in all, our skiing of the alps was something I will never forget. Returning for some food and an early bed time, brought us up the next morning fresh.Sunday, March 1 (I cannot believe it is already March!) brought us a check out time and our last bit of sight seeing before our 15:50 train and Diego's flight. We toured the inside of the Hapsburg palace, and saw the apartments of Franz Joseph and his empress Elizabeth. A very real sight to see, we all agreed that the Hapsburg dynasty left behind some amazing works of architecture, art, and history.
Thus the end of our trip came to a small cafe next to our train station. We sat down, and the nice gentleman took our order of once cappuccino, one tea, and one coke. When he asked if we wanted water, and us saying yes (without specifying 'tap water' because they automatically bring you bottled water and charge you for it) he brought us not only water but a nice bread basket. Assuming it was just something that they offered, like back home, we began to eat it. As we sat, conversed, and ate, I managed to see a few other tables that had full bread baskets, even while the people sitting in front of them had been at their table longer than we had been at ours. When the bill came, we were charged for not only our drinks and water (approx. 15 euro total), but we were charged a nice 10 euro extra for our bread basket. Diego asked the waiter what the charge was since we did not order it, and apparently their fine print on their menu is that if you eat it, you pay for it. It is the subtleties that I truly miss about back home - such as this. Diego and I conclude after this that, 'When in Rome, do as the Romans do, and when in Austria, don't eat the bread basket!' Our frustrations subsided when we realized as to how ridiculous that cafe was, and figured it would make for one more good story later.
Having not had any major problems while being here in Europe, our first run ins with unfortunate language discrepancies, train schedules, and bread fiascoes brought the only small clouds to our incredible trip. We have not forgotten that we are still adapting. We still have to communicate with the few people that speak English, and we still are attempting to get used to the customs of the land. Thus far, this adaptation has been eye opening. And while the few unfortunate events were, well, unfortunate, the train pulled away from the Wein - Westbahnhof station headed for Budapest - Keleti station with me thinking how incredible it was to see that physical remnants of the Hapsburg empire, skiing the alps, and getting a rude awakening to bread basket etiquette.
Thanks for reading.
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