London is much bigger than I thought. That may sound stupid, but what I have learned is that most cities in Europe are much smaller that we imagine in the States. In the States our cities are built much larger and more spread out, not so in Europe. London is pretty damn spread out. I tried walking from place to place, but it took way too much time and energy. The city is already pretty confusing compared to a lot of other cities. Finally, I decide to go the easy route. I buy a ticket on one of the "hop-on Hop-off" tour buses. This gives me free transit for the day and a rough layout of the city.
The full loop is a little over 2 hours. I do most of it seeing the major sites (London Bridge, Tower Bridge, London Tower, Big Ben, Parliament, the giant ferris wheel, etc). Pretty much most of the buildings to see. It gave me a great mental layout of the city and allowed me to map out my route for where and when I want to visit specific attractions.
I stop at Buckingham Palace first because I just happen to be in time for the Changing of the Guards, which only happens once a week. I watch the festivities with the other few thousand people there, listen to the music, etc and then decide to stroll through the beautiful park next to the palace.
I get on the bus again and get off near the British Art Museum and Traflagar Square. I hear there is a free Harry Potter walking tour leaving from this spot and decide to go on it. I have 45 minutes until it starts so I walk around the beautiful and large square. It has some monuments, giant lions you can climb on, the worlds largest ship-in-a-bottle and a giant count-down clock for the Olympics.
Finally, the tour starts and we start walking. The tour focuses on scenes from the movie that were filmed in London. It starts over very slow and sadly doesn't get any better. The tour guide is slow, it is taking forever and the stuff we are seeing isn't very impressive. It is small things. Then he says incorrect information about the movies. He describes a scene and completely gets what happens wrong. (when they are knocking out MM personal to steal their identities and Ron is dragging the women into the closet - the guide says he is saving Hermonie who has been knocked out when showing the photo). At this point I bail, not worth the time.
I decide instead to visit the art museum. A lot of it didn't interest me as it was similar Renaissance work I have seen too much of on this trip already. The exciting part was the Van Gogh's, Monet's, and Rembrant's they had. Including Van Gogh's Sunflower painting and Monet's Waterlillies. I admired those paintings for quite some time.
Eventually leaving the art museum I decide to head to yet another museum, but this time history instead of Art. I went to the British Museum as it is called. They have a hued collection of Egyptian, Roman and Greek artifacts. Including the Rosetta Stone. I stared at that stone for at least 20 minutes. It is both huge and beautiful. It has three languages on it. Hyroglypics, Ancient Greek and the Egyptian phonetic language.
I then walked around and saw plenty of other artifacts. They have the largest collection of pieces from the Parthenon from Greece outside of Greece. I just love history and got to see so many incredible pieces in one place. Soon after this the museum starts to close and I head back to my hostel.
Again, I find out how large the city is. My hostel doesn't seem far on the map, but the walk took 40+ minutes when it looked like 10 compared to other cities I have been in.
The night was pretty boring. At this hostel, I sadly haven't met any fun people to go out with at night so far, so I wander the area around my hostel and then chill out in the lobby chatting with random people and surfing the web.
But tomorrow, STONEHENGE!
Tuesday, November 15, 2011
And Off to England!
England is one of the destinations I am most excited about visiting for a host of reasons.
1) It has been #2 on my countries to visit since I made that list (#1 being Italy, #3 Japan). Just visiting there will finish off #2, while #1 already got taken down at the start of my travels.
2) A great deal of my ancestors are English. My Mom's family (The Springs) were a wealthily family in a small town called Lavenham from 1200-1800 roughly. I wanted to visit this village where the church is covered in our family crest. On the stone, in stain glass windows and the rich patron, Thomas Spring, is buried inside the church. Any of our family that has visited England has been to Lavenham, so it feels like a right of passage.
3) Stonehenge and the Rosseta Stone are both in England. Growing up I was obsessed with Stonehenge and the mysteries it creates. This is a dream in its self just visiting. Rosseta Stone is a smaller victory, but it is one of the artifacts I have most wanted to see in my life. I have always said I will see it before I die.
4) One of my good friends from high school, Chris Stewart, is living in England right now and it will be great to visit another friend.
I left around 3pm and flew into Brussels and took the EuroStar train from Brussels to London (2 hours or so). Now I did this to save money, but def. failed because of a lack of planning ahead. A flight to Brussels was $60. A flight to London was $160. That is a no brainer. But I didn't realize the train was going to be so family expensive. ($110). So I ended up spending more and taking longer to get there. Bummer, but that is okay. Life is a journey and more often than not, when my plans go wrong or I fail to plan, that is when the best things happen. So I am okay with these kind of travel mistakes.
It was rather exciting to get on the train too. I forgot that the UK is not under the same travel agreement that most of Europe is. You have to go through customs and get your Visa stamped. While I am about to customs I am reading a sign that says you can't bring in guns, mace, explosives and knives to the UK....wait...knives.....like the one in my back pack that has a 6 inch double-sided blade that I carry for worst case scenarios........whelp that bag is about to go through the scanner. I am thinking "do I tell them and just ask them to throw it away or play it cool and say I forgot?" My bag goes through, they hand it back to me and say have a nice day. That is right, they did not catch a decently large knife. Given it is just a train, but still. Think about it, I am officially a weapon smuggler. Already illegally smuggled a knife into the UK! (And then threw that sucker away when I got in the country because I have no desire to get caught with it!)
I had a great train ride talking to a variety of other passengers. Some from England who loved America and hate the French. A great quote is, "I hate the chunnel, I wish we could build one with America and blow this one up, who needs the French!" I played Gin with some New Zealanders who are living and working in England for a year or two. All and all it was a great time.
I got off the train at King's Cross. I then promptly looked for my train to Hogwarts (it is the station they take in Harry Potter to go to Hogwarts).
I head off for my hostel, which luckily for me is two blocks over. I check in (it is around 9pm), settle into my room and read a poster that says "halloween party on patio." I think okay, kind of lame I am sure, but than I read the part that says, "free food," and think this might be an awesome party.
I go to the patio for my free food and there are about 15 people there. You can carve pumpkins for free, eat food and drink mulled wine. I see a group of 5 girls so naturally I introduce myself and sit down. I had a good conversation with them. Each is living and working in London, but from a different area. 1 from Germany, 1 from Spain, 1 from Italy and 2 from Australia.
After some good chatting I decide to call it a night and hit the hay excited for my first day in London!
1) It has been #2 on my countries to visit since I made that list (#1 being Italy, #3 Japan). Just visiting there will finish off #2, while #1 already got taken down at the start of my travels.
2) A great deal of my ancestors are English. My Mom's family (The Springs) were a wealthily family in a small town called Lavenham from 1200-1800 roughly. I wanted to visit this village where the church is covered in our family crest. On the stone, in stain glass windows and the rich patron, Thomas Spring, is buried inside the church. Any of our family that has visited England has been to Lavenham, so it feels like a right of passage.
3) Stonehenge and the Rosseta Stone are both in England. Growing up I was obsessed with Stonehenge and the mysteries it creates. This is a dream in its self just visiting. Rosseta Stone is a smaller victory, but it is one of the artifacts I have most wanted to see in my life. I have always said I will see it before I die.
4) One of my good friends from high school, Chris Stewart, is living in England right now and it will be great to visit another friend.
I left around 3pm and flew into Brussels and took the EuroStar train from Brussels to London (2 hours or so). Now I did this to save money, but def. failed because of a lack of planning ahead. A flight to Brussels was $60. A flight to London was $160. That is a no brainer. But I didn't realize the train was going to be so family expensive. ($110). So I ended up spending more and taking longer to get there. Bummer, but that is okay. Life is a journey and more often than not, when my plans go wrong or I fail to plan, that is when the best things happen. So I am okay with these kind of travel mistakes.
It was rather exciting to get on the train too. I forgot that the UK is not under the same travel agreement that most of Europe is. You have to go through customs and get your Visa stamped. While I am about to customs I am reading a sign that says you can't bring in guns, mace, explosives and knives to the UK....wait...knives.....like the one in my back pack that has a 6 inch double-sided blade that I carry for worst case scenarios........whelp that bag is about to go through the scanner. I am thinking "do I tell them and just ask them to throw it away or play it cool and say I forgot?" My bag goes through, they hand it back to me and say have a nice day. That is right, they did not catch a decently large knife. Given it is just a train, but still. Think about it, I am officially a weapon smuggler. Already illegally smuggled a knife into the UK! (And then threw that sucker away when I got in the country because I have no desire to get caught with it!)
I had a great train ride talking to a variety of other passengers. Some from England who loved America and hate the French. A great quote is, "I hate the chunnel, I wish we could build one with America and blow this one up, who needs the French!" I played Gin with some New Zealanders who are living and working in England for a year or two. All and all it was a great time.
I got off the train at King's Cross. I then promptly looked for my train to Hogwarts (it is the station they take in Harry Potter to go to Hogwarts).
I head off for my hostel, which luckily for me is two blocks over. I check in (it is around 9pm), settle into my room and read a poster that says "halloween party on patio." I think okay, kind of lame I am sure, but than I read the part that says, "free food," and think this might be an awesome party.
I go to the patio for my free food and there are about 15 people there. You can carve pumpkins for free, eat food and drink mulled wine. I see a group of 5 girls so naturally I introduce myself and sit down. I had a good conversation with them. Each is living and working in London, but from a different area. 1 from Germany, 1 from Spain, 1 from Italy and 2 from Australia.
After some good chatting I decide to call it a night and hit the hay excited for my first day in London!
Tuesday, November 8, 2011
Eastern Hungary Day 2
We all get up pretty early, have a traditional Hungarian breakfast and start discussing on plans for the day. Now, part of the reason I wanted to come to Edit's this weekend was that she lives near the Tokai wine mountain. There is this one mountain/really large hill in Hungary that they grow and make a golden wine. Its sweeter than a normal wine, but you can also get it very dry. It is the best tasting alcoholic drink I have ever had. I am become mildly addicted to this stuff, drinking a glass or two each night.
What makes the wine so special is that the cold winds coming over from the Russian Ural mountains starts to raisin the grapes on the vine while they grow. This creates a very different, special flavor that only happens on this hill. The wine has greatly different tastes depending on what side of the hill it is even grown on.
We drive the 45 minutes to the hill, taken there by Edit's dad. We drive up to the top of the hill and look out over the beautiful farm land. This is a giant hill in the middle of a very, very flat land. I assume God liked Tokia wine so much he wanted to share it with humans, but to prevent everyone from drowning themselves in it, created only one hill it could be grown on. Well played, God, well played.
After we go to the top of the hill we start searching for some wineries. Now, every single house in the village is a winery. Not kidding. Everyone who lives there grows their own and makes wine in their basement. We stop by one house, go to the basement, taste three different types. Full dry, 1/2 dry and full sweet. The 1/2 dry is the best. She then fills a plastic 2-liter for us full of this wine. How much does a 2-liter of it cost you ask? About $3.
Matt and I each get one and to our surprise Edit's dad pulls out his wallet and pays for it. Matt and I both try to protest, but he won't have any of it. He gave us a stare that said, "put the wallet away or lose the hand." I decided to keep the hand. He also gets us a 1-liter of the very sweet wine. It is more expensive, almost $10. It is more expensive because it is pre-bottled in glass and regulated by the government, so there is tax on it.
We decide to go explore the village more, walking around, visiting more stores (Edit gets some wine) and finally viewing a beautiful river. Edit's dad explains that two rivers meet here (you can see that), but they have different colors so if you look you can see where they meet they don't blend, one is a very dark green and one a very light green. It looks awesome. You can follow down the river and see as they blend together.
Edit's dad then says he will go get the car and we keep walking around. When we meet back up with her dad he has presents for both Matt and I. Again, I am just flabbergasted about his generosity. He got Matt a really cool wine bottle that is shaped like a bunch of grapes. He got me a beer mug that has the village info on it and then a small wine bottle with a glass grape bunch in side. The cool thing about the bottle is the bunch is separate, so you put two different kinds/colors of drink inside and you can see the difference.
At this point Matt and I think Christmas came early. Best day ever. We keep thanking her dad and promise when he finally comes to KC how we are going to treat him to BBQ like he has never imagined.
We had back to Edit's house as it is almost lunch time. We get back and Edit's dad asks Matt and I if we want a small drink of Palinka. Small means two very different things to us. We get huge shots of the hazzie again. I have this look of utter defeat on my face and sends Matt into a fit of laughter. It was like going into battle confident you are ready for the fight, only to come over a hill to see an army of 10s of thousands prepared for battle against just yourself. That was the look. Either way we take our shots with pride and a small bit of whimpering.
Now, while we have been away getting wine, Edit's mom and grandma have been at home cooking a full feast and it is war. Again, cooking for your family is one of your greatest prides. Not just filling their stomachs, but tantalizing their taste buds as well. Women in the kitchen don't work together, they work against each other to win. Matt put it best, "It is like a war, but where the bystanders always win and win big."
Oh and did we ever win. A four course meal, with traditional goulash, ribs, salad, bread, beef and so on. Best part, every single ingredient was from the village. Even the milk mixed in. How awesome is it to have an entire feast all from local gardens and small farms, all bought that morning. The meal was so good that when they asked me how it was my response was, "Find me a Hungarian wife quickly." Which they offered to do and gave me a list of pretty, single girls in the village. I told them I will be returning soon. My second request was to move in. They said they would gladly accept me and put me to work in exchange for food.
We sit around and continue to talk, but have to catch our train back to Budapest shortly. Edit's dad again bought those tickets as well and wouldn't hear out attempts to repay him. He loves having guests and it is his honor to provide for them. There is a lot of pride about being able to provide gifts for your guests here. It isn't shameful to accept them, it would be shameful to reject. It isn't presented as "you need it more than me," it is presented as, "thank you for being my guests."
That man will be getting a lot of BBQ and steak when he comes to KC in a few years. Like a Lannister, I always pay my debts.
The train ride back is pretty calm. I destroy Matt in two back-to-back games of Monopoly and then he makes me his toy in a game of Risk (all on the iPad).
When we get back it is around 7pm and we head to Edit's apartment to hang out. I thought about just staying there since it is a 45 minute trip back to my apartment, but around 11pm I decide to go back. The metro has stopped running so I have a new adventure. I have to figure out the night bus system and get back home. Like a badass I succeed with little issue, getting home about an hour after I left (good time).
I already miss the food and wine....I will be back.
What makes the wine so special is that the cold winds coming over from the Russian Ural mountains starts to raisin the grapes on the vine while they grow. This creates a very different, special flavor that only happens on this hill. The wine has greatly different tastes depending on what side of the hill it is even grown on.
We drive the 45 minutes to the hill, taken there by Edit's dad. We drive up to the top of the hill and look out over the beautiful farm land. This is a giant hill in the middle of a very, very flat land. I assume God liked Tokia wine so much he wanted to share it with humans, but to prevent everyone from drowning themselves in it, created only one hill it could be grown on. Well played, God, well played.
After we go to the top of the hill we start searching for some wineries. Now, every single house in the village is a winery. Not kidding. Everyone who lives there grows their own and makes wine in their basement. We stop by one house, go to the basement, taste three different types. Full dry, 1/2 dry and full sweet. The 1/2 dry is the best. She then fills a plastic 2-liter for us full of this wine. How much does a 2-liter of it cost you ask? About $3.
Matt and I each get one and to our surprise Edit's dad pulls out his wallet and pays for it. Matt and I both try to protest, but he won't have any of it. He gave us a stare that said, "put the wallet away or lose the hand." I decided to keep the hand. He also gets us a 1-liter of the very sweet wine. It is more expensive, almost $10. It is more expensive because it is pre-bottled in glass and regulated by the government, so there is tax on it.
We decide to go explore the village more, walking around, visiting more stores (Edit gets some wine) and finally viewing a beautiful river. Edit's dad explains that two rivers meet here (you can see that), but they have different colors so if you look you can see where they meet they don't blend, one is a very dark green and one a very light green. It looks awesome. You can follow down the river and see as they blend together.
Edit's dad then says he will go get the car and we keep walking around. When we meet back up with her dad he has presents for both Matt and I. Again, I am just flabbergasted about his generosity. He got Matt a really cool wine bottle that is shaped like a bunch of grapes. He got me a beer mug that has the village info on it and then a small wine bottle with a glass grape bunch in side. The cool thing about the bottle is the bunch is separate, so you put two different kinds/colors of drink inside and you can see the difference.
At this point Matt and I think Christmas came early. Best day ever. We keep thanking her dad and promise when he finally comes to KC how we are going to treat him to BBQ like he has never imagined.
We had back to Edit's house as it is almost lunch time. We get back and Edit's dad asks Matt and I if we want a small drink of Palinka. Small means two very different things to us. We get huge shots of the hazzie again. I have this look of utter defeat on my face and sends Matt into a fit of laughter. It was like going into battle confident you are ready for the fight, only to come over a hill to see an army of 10s of thousands prepared for battle against just yourself. That was the look. Either way we take our shots with pride and a small bit of whimpering.
Now, while we have been away getting wine, Edit's mom and grandma have been at home cooking a full feast and it is war. Again, cooking for your family is one of your greatest prides. Not just filling their stomachs, but tantalizing their taste buds as well. Women in the kitchen don't work together, they work against each other to win. Matt put it best, "It is like a war, but where the bystanders always win and win big."
Oh and did we ever win. A four course meal, with traditional goulash, ribs, salad, bread, beef and so on. Best part, every single ingredient was from the village. Even the milk mixed in. How awesome is it to have an entire feast all from local gardens and small farms, all bought that morning. The meal was so good that when they asked me how it was my response was, "Find me a Hungarian wife quickly." Which they offered to do and gave me a list of pretty, single girls in the village. I told them I will be returning soon. My second request was to move in. They said they would gladly accept me and put me to work in exchange for food.
We sit around and continue to talk, but have to catch our train back to Budapest shortly. Edit's dad again bought those tickets as well and wouldn't hear out attempts to repay him. He loves having guests and it is his honor to provide for them. There is a lot of pride about being able to provide gifts for your guests here. It isn't shameful to accept them, it would be shameful to reject. It isn't presented as "you need it more than me," it is presented as, "thank you for being my guests."
That man will be getting a lot of BBQ and steak when he comes to KC in a few years. Like a Lannister, I always pay my debts.
The train ride back is pretty calm. I destroy Matt in two back-to-back games of Monopoly and then he makes me his toy in a game of Risk (all on the iPad).
When we get back it is around 7pm and we head to Edit's apartment to hang out. I thought about just staying there since it is a 45 minute trip back to my apartment, but around 11pm I decide to go back. The metro has stopped running so I have a new adventure. I have to figure out the night bus system and get back home. Like a badass I succeed with little issue, getting home about an hour after I left (good time).
I already miss the food and wine....I will be back.
Trip to Eastern Hungary
I have spent more time in Hungary than any other European country so far (would never have guessed that), but yet I have only been in Budapest. Given, Hungary has a population of 10 million and 2 million of them are in Budapest. The second largest city is 500K or so. So in all fairness, Budapest is the place to be.
Seeing as how Edit is from a small village in Eastern Hungary and her and Matt were going home for a weekend it seemed the perfect opportunity to explore more of the country. Matt and Edit went there Friday evening, while I joined them on Saturday afternoon. After a 3-hour bus ride I reach Edit's home town.
The town is close to a larger city, but itself is a smaller village. It is 1.5 hours from Ukraine. I meet Edit's parents, who do not speak a word of English, so everything has to be translated and they are just great people. In Hungary, mothers love to cook. It is one of the main ways they take care of their family. And it is a big deal, much bigger than anywhere in the states that I have experienced. Almost the first thing that happens once I walk through the door is I am sat down and presented with nearly a feasts worth of food. Apparently, I am too skinny and need to eat more. I won't complain when the food tastes this good.
Edit's mom asks a lot of questions and Edit translates our conversation back and forth. It is a slower way to have a conversation, but I am just happy to be able to communicate as well. I also got to see Matt using his Hungarian. I have seen him use it a little here and there and honestly (sorry Matt), he seems to struggle. But here at Edit's home he is just unleashing his vocabulary left and right and there seems to be very little miscommunication. As Matt put it, Hungarian is such a different language that you have to get warmed up. Once he has been speaking only it for a while he does alright. Switching back and forth is very, very difficult for him and that is all I had seen so far.
Shortly after dinner Edit's dad comes home. Now, Edit warned me in advance and her dad loves Palinka and always offers it to guests, A Hungarian custom. What is Palinka you say? It is a very strong alcohol really only drank in Hungary and a little of Austria. The Hungarian's call Russia's children for drinking their children's drink, Vodka. Real men drink Palinka. Now, most Hungarians both buy it from the store and make their own, called (spelled wrong) Hazzie. Store bought it is 30-35% alcohol. Not proof, percent. Hazzie is 50-60%. You may not know me, but I don't drink heavy and rarely liquor and even more rare potent liquor.
Edit's dad tells us a joke. The men are arguing over who can beat a bear in a fight. A German, Russian and Hungarian. First the German goes in and after some screaming gets tossed from the ring. Second the Russian goes in and lasts a little longer but still gets tossed out. The Hungarian pulls out a bottle of Palinka, takes a shot and goes in. After a few minutes they hear a roar and the bear comes flying out of the ring. Palinka makes you a fearless man who can fight even bears.
So Edit's dad comes in, our greetings are translated and he disappears and moments later reappears with a bottle of hazzie and 3 shot glasses. I look at Matt with a look of fear as I realize that this family has just fed me and is housing me tonight, no is not an option. Shots poured, we say our cheers and down the hatch. Now let me just tell you how much it burns. It is like fire that I have never experienced. It smelled like nail polish remover to boot. When the blurring of the eyes stops I get the punch line. With just one shot I feel like I conquered everest and am ready to take on a bear.
The night goes on, we all continue talking and enjoying a quiet evening in the Hungarian country side. We go to bed pretty early as we have a lot to accomplish on the morrow.
Seeing as how Edit is from a small village in Eastern Hungary and her and Matt were going home for a weekend it seemed the perfect opportunity to explore more of the country. Matt and Edit went there Friday evening, while I joined them on Saturday afternoon. After a 3-hour bus ride I reach Edit's home town.
The town is close to a larger city, but itself is a smaller village. It is 1.5 hours from Ukraine. I meet Edit's parents, who do not speak a word of English, so everything has to be translated and they are just great people. In Hungary, mothers love to cook. It is one of the main ways they take care of their family. And it is a big deal, much bigger than anywhere in the states that I have experienced. Almost the first thing that happens once I walk through the door is I am sat down and presented with nearly a feasts worth of food. Apparently, I am too skinny and need to eat more. I won't complain when the food tastes this good.
Edit's mom asks a lot of questions and Edit translates our conversation back and forth. It is a slower way to have a conversation, but I am just happy to be able to communicate as well. I also got to see Matt using his Hungarian. I have seen him use it a little here and there and honestly (sorry Matt), he seems to struggle. But here at Edit's home he is just unleashing his vocabulary left and right and there seems to be very little miscommunication. As Matt put it, Hungarian is such a different language that you have to get warmed up. Once he has been speaking only it for a while he does alright. Switching back and forth is very, very difficult for him and that is all I had seen so far.
Shortly after dinner Edit's dad comes home. Now, Edit warned me in advance and her dad loves Palinka and always offers it to guests, A Hungarian custom. What is Palinka you say? It is a very strong alcohol really only drank in Hungary and a little of Austria. The Hungarian's call Russia's children for drinking their children's drink, Vodka. Real men drink Palinka. Now, most Hungarians both buy it from the store and make their own, called (spelled wrong) Hazzie. Store bought it is 30-35% alcohol. Not proof, percent. Hazzie is 50-60%. You may not know me, but I don't drink heavy and rarely liquor and even more rare potent liquor.
Edit's dad tells us a joke. The men are arguing over who can beat a bear in a fight. A German, Russian and Hungarian. First the German goes in and after some screaming gets tossed from the ring. Second the Russian goes in and lasts a little longer but still gets tossed out. The Hungarian pulls out a bottle of Palinka, takes a shot and goes in. After a few minutes they hear a roar and the bear comes flying out of the ring. Palinka makes you a fearless man who can fight even bears.
So Edit's dad comes in, our greetings are translated and he disappears and moments later reappears with a bottle of hazzie and 3 shot glasses. I look at Matt with a look of fear as I realize that this family has just fed me and is housing me tonight, no is not an option. Shots poured, we say our cheers and down the hatch. Now let me just tell you how much it burns. It is like fire that I have never experienced. It smelled like nail polish remover to boot. When the blurring of the eyes stops I get the punch line. With just one shot I feel like I conquered everest and am ready to take on a bear.
The night goes on, we all continue talking and enjoying a quiet evening in the Hungarian country side. We go to bed pretty early as we have a lot to accomplish on the morrow.
Thursday, November 3, 2011
Downtime in Budapest
I'll spare everyone the tedium of my day-to-day while in Budapest. I spent a lot of the time relaxing, hanging out with Matt and Edit and exploring the city.
Highlights - One day I was wondering around along the river and say a large cross on a hill under the Citadel (a fortress on the highest hill/cliff face in the city). As I start climbing towards it, I find it is part of a cave church. I decide to pay the $2 to tour the church that is literally just in a long cave. It was pretty cool. Afterwards I just kept walking up the hill and eventually found my self at the Citadel. Now, I thought the palace had the best view of Budapest, but I was wrong, the Citadel wins outs.
Another day Bobbi and I went and explored a large indoor market that sells all local, hungarian made items. It is a best stop for tourists trying to get authentic souvenigns.
One night Matt and I decide to climb the Citadel again, but this time at night, which is equally a spectacular view as during the day.
On the Friday before Halloween Edit got invited by one of her co-workers to a Halloween party and was told to bring her "American Friends" along. Hungary really doesn't celebrate Halloween, so Matt and I decided we didn't need to go all out, but still have to represent the States. Edit came up with the idea as going from things from Minecraft, a video game. We made masks. Matt and I went with Creepers (green guys that sneak up and then explode) and Edit went with a duck. The best part was Matt and wore our helmets/masks/hats on the subway. One girl started getting on and screamed, backing out quickly. Realizing it wasn't a monster she slowly comes back in and sits down with her friends. They can't look at Matt and I without blushing and trying to hide, either embarrassed about screaming or still scared. So of course Matt and I decide to just stare at them for a few minutes. Edit wasn't with us (we were meeting her), but we had her duck costume with us. Different people were taking pictures of us, getting a real kick out of it. A 10 year old really liked our costumes, so Matt offered him the duck one to wear. He sat with us for the ride having the time for his life.
The party was pretty good, too. Matt and I defiantly had the best costumes. We represented well. The party was pretty small, about 10 people.
And that folks is our Budapest recap. Stay tuned for more.
Highlights - One day I was wondering around along the river and say a large cross on a hill under the Citadel (a fortress on the highest hill/cliff face in the city). As I start climbing towards it, I find it is part of a cave church. I decide to pay the $2 to tour the church that is literally just in a long cave. It was pretty cool. Afterwards I just kept walking up the hill and eventually found my self at the Citadel. Now, I thought the palace had the best view of Budapest, but I was wrong, the Citadel wins outs.
Another day Bobbi and I went and explored a large indoor market that sells all local, hungarian made items. It is a best stop for tourists trying to get authentic souvenigns.
One night Matt and I decide to climb the Citadel again, but this time at night, which is equally a spectacular view as during the day.
On the Friday before Halloween Edit got invited by one of her co-workers to a Halloween party and was told to bring her "American Friends" along. Hungary really doesn't celebrate Halloween, so Matt and I decided we didn't need to go all out, but still have to represent the States. Edit came up with the idea as going from things from Minecraft, a video game. We made masks. Matt and I went with Creepers (green guys that sneak up and then explode) and Edit went with a duck. The best part was Matt and wore our helmets/masks/hats on the subway. One girl started getting on and screamed, backing out quickly. Realizing it wasn't a monster she slowly comes back in and sits down with her friends. They can't look at Matt and I without blushing and trying to hide, either embarrassed about screaming or still scared. So of course Matt and I decide to just stare at them for a few minutes. Edit wasn't with us (we were meeting her), but we had her duck costume with us. Different people were taking pictures of us, getting a real kick out of it. A 10 year old really liked our costumes, so Matt offered him the duck one to wear. He sat with us for the ride having the time for his life.
The party was pretty good, too. Matt and I defiantly had the best costumes. We represented well. The party was pretty small, about 10 people.
And that folks is our Budapest recap. Stay tuned for more.
Brussels
Brussels was mostly a bust. It is a very beautiful city, but nothing particularly amazing. I woke up after some bad sleep with a stiff neck and headache that didn't go away.
I woke up, got a map of the city highlighting the main attractions and set off walking. I walked around from about 10am to 4pm seeing the different sites, but not going inside anything. The architecture was beautiful. They have a lovely palace for their royal family. But again, nothing more stunning than I have seen before.
What was awesome was Belgian waffles and chocolate. A stereotype that is quite true, they are both that good!
My day was ruined early afternoon though by a migraine. Rarely do I get two so close to each other. I loaded up on some medicine and hit the sack around 5pm. I slept until 9am the next morning.
The next day I woke up and found it raining out side. Instead of my nice walk to the station, I was scrambling to figure out how to run to the nearest subway and stay dry. Luckily, there was a subway close. I bought my ticket and about one stop short of train station we get kicked off the train. Then I notice a lot of police officers, which sparked my interest, but I ignored it trying to get to the train station.
I go outside the subway and try to figure out the best way to run to the station while finding the most cover possible. I don't care about personally getting wet, but I am worried about my bags.
I get to the station and everything seems normal, except none of the subways are running to it. Now, I don't need a train here, I need a bus that goes to the airport I am flying out of. It is about 45 minutes from the train station. I find the bus and head off to the airport.
While at the airport - have 3 hours till my flight - I meet a nice Brazilian girl who has been living in Europe for the last 12 months studying abroad. First in Sweden and then in Belgium. She casually asks if I heard about the bomb threat to the train station in Brussels. It all hit me in one second and I respond no, but that makes sense and explain the subway thing. Crazy! Bomb threat was my first thought, but I disregarded it pretty fast based on how casual everything seemed.
I keep talking to this girl about life, travel experiences, how excited she is to go home finally. She starts to tell me about her crazy grandma. So one day her grandma (80) comes to her and asks where she can get a fake id. Yep, grandma needs a fake id. So grandma has started dating some young hunk who is 40 and she has been claiming she is only 60 years old. They have been dating for over a year now. She even created fake back stories for the rest of her family and made all of them younger. She gave them all handouts on their new ages. Awesome. Apparently, grandma is pretty convinced he not really 40, but closer to 50 or 60 and lying about his age as well.
Well played, Grandma, well played.
After my new friend leaves, I kill the last few hours on the ol' iPad and fly home to Budapest. After 19 days on the road it is a great feeling being home. I go to my new apartment that Matt has already moved into. It is odd, returning to a foreign city, but to have the feeling when I got there of returning home. That relaxed feeling where you can start to unwind. I can only imagine how much bigger that will be when I return to Kansas.
I woke up, got a map of the city highlighting the main attractions and set off walking. I walked around from about 10am to 4pm seeing the different sites, but not going inside anything. The architecture was beautiful. They have a lovely palace for their royal family. But again, nothing more stunning than I have seen before.
What was awesome was Belgian waffles and chocolate. A stereotype that is quite true, they are both that good!
My day was ruined early afternoon though by a migraine. Rarely do I get two so close to each other. I loaded up on some medicine and hit the sack around 5pm. I slept until 9am the next morning.
The next day I woke up and found it raining out side. Instead of my nice walk to the station, I was scrambling to figure out how to run to the nearest subway and stay dry. Luckily, there was a subway close. I bought my ticket and about one stop short of train station we get kicked off the train. Then I notice a lot of police officers, which sparked my interest, but I ignored it trying to get to the train station.
I go outside the subway and try to figure out the best way to run to the station while finding the most cover possible. I don't care about personally getting wet, but I am worried about my bags.
I get to the station and everything seems normal, except none of the subways are running to it. Now, I don't need a train here, I need a bus that goes to the airport I am flying out of. It is about 45 minutes from the train station. I find the bus and head off to the airport.
While at the airport - have 3 hours till my flight - I meet a nice Brazilian girl who has been living in Europe for the last 12 months studying abroad. First in Sweden and then in Belgium. She casually asks if I heard about the bomb threat to the train station in Brussels. It all hit me in one second and I respond no, but that makes sense and explain the subway thing. Crazy! Bomb threat was my first thought, but I disregarded it pretty fast based on how casual everything seemed.
I keep talking to this girl about life, travel experiences, how excited she is to go home finally. She starts to tell me about her crazy grandma. So one day her grandma (80) comes to her and asks where she can get a fake id. Yep, grandma needs a fake id. So grandma has started dating some young hunk who is 40 and she has been claiming she is only 60 years old. They have been dating for over a year now. She even created fake back stories for the rest of her family and made all of them younger. She gave them all handouts on their new ages. Awesome. Apparently, grandma is pretty convinced he not really 40, but closer to 50 or 60 and lying about his age as well.
Well played, Grandma, well played.
After my new friend leaves, I kill the last few hours on the ol' iPad and fly home to Budapest. After 19 days on the road it is a great feeling being home. I go to my new apartment that Matt has already moved into. It is odd, returning to a foreign city, but to have the feeling when I got there of returning home. That relaxed feeling where you can start to unwind. I can only imagine how much bigger that will be when I return to Kansas.
Last Day in Amsterdam
My last day in Amsterdam was a bit more relaxing. Slept in, got up and enjoyed a large breakfast and started the day by just wandering around the city. So far on this trip I have been out with people and going to specific destinations. Today I just wandered for the first part of it, finding new streets, appreciating the canals, etc.
After awhile I head back to my hostel and run into the two sisters again. They are with another friend from the Netherlands that came down to Amsterdam to meet up with them. They are going to the Heineken Brewery for a tour. Kind of embarrassing, but until I came to Amsterdam I always thought Heineken was German....sorry Netherlands, now I know!!
They invite my along and I gladly accept. I have never been on a brewery tour before, so this seems like a good start. The tour was pretty good, nothing super exciting. The things I learned that caught my attention were that what makes Heineken different is that one of the first Heineken's invited a specific type of yeast, called Yeast A, which is the secret ingredient to their beer and makes them stand out. Also, though Heineken is brewed all over the world, they get the barley and hops from only one area and then distribute that to all their breweries. That is how they claim to keep such a universal taste to their beer across the world.
During the tour we were showered with plenty of free beer. By the end of tour we were in the bar inside with two free drink coupons. I will say, drinking it fresh makes it taste a lot better for whatever reason. I also discovered that super-chilled, I like beer even more.
We left the brewery and it was about time for me to catch my train to Brussels. I got back to the hostel, backed my bags and was off to the train station. I barely missed the train I wanted to Brussels and had to wait an hour till the next one. It was kind of frustrating because their system for buying tickets is different and they don't really explain it and you have to stand in a long time until you can talk to someone who will explain it. The people behind the help desks don't seem in a rush or really enthused about their career choice.
I finally got on my train and enjoyed the 2-hour ride to Brussels. It still blows my mind that in the same time I could drive from Kansas City to Manhattan, KS I can change countries and be in another major city and then I could be in London or Paris after another 1-2 hours.
Now, when I got to Brussels it was about 9pm and I, like the idiot I am sometimes, did not print directions to my hostel or even write down the address. Luckily, I knew the name, but that was all. It was a Sunday night, so everything was closed. After a question to a cabby, an hour of walking and a lot of confusion I found my hostel. It would have been a 15 minute walk if I knew where I was going. Well played, Tom, well played.
The person working the front desk wasn't too pleasant sadly. In Belgium they speak French or Flemish. He spoke French and barely muttered English to me. He had the reaction like I was a very annoying object that was interfering with his work. Buddy, you work at the front desk of a hostel, I am your work. After finally getting checked in I also find out they charge an arm and a leg for Wifi access. I pay it anyway. To top off my experience with this guy he answered a bunch of my questions incorrectly, which I find out yesterday and failed to tell me I can't be in my room from 11am-4pm for "cleaning."
This hostel wasn't a great experience. The bed was hard as a rock, the sheets were wool and scratched and the pillows I am pretty sure were lumps of plastic. Needless to say, they weren't going to get a great review from me. But I went to sleep anyway.
After awhile I head back to my hostel and run into the two sisters again. They are with another friend from the Netherlands that came down to Amsterdam to meet up with them. They are going to the Heineken Brewery for a tour. Kind of embarrassing, but until I came to Amsterdam I always thought Heineken was German....sorry Netherlands, now I know!!
They invite my along and I gladly accept. I have never been on a brewery tour before, so this seems like a good start. The tour was pretty good, nothing super exciting. The things I learned that caught my attention were that what makes Heineken different is that one of the first Heineken's invited a specific type of yeast, called Yeast A, which is the secret ingredient to their beer and makes them stand out. Also, though Heineken is brewed all over the world, they get the barley and hops from only one area and then distribute that to all their breweries. That is how they claim to keep such a universal taste to their beer across the world.
During the tour we were showered with plenty of free beer. By the end of tour we were in the bar inside with two free drink coupons. I will say, drinking it fresh makes it taste a lot better for whatever reason. I also discovered that super-chilled, I like beer even more.
We left the brewery and it was about time for me to catch my train to Brussels. I got back to the hostel, backed my bags and was off to the train station. I barely missed the train I wanted to Brussels and had to wait an hour till the next one. It was kind of frustrating because their system for buying tickets is different and they don't really explain it and you have to stand in a long time until you can talk to someone who will explain it. The people behind the help desks don't seem in a rush or really enthused about their career choice.
I finally got on my train and enjoyed the 2-hour ride to Brussels. It still blows my mind that in the same time I could drive from Kansas City to Manhattan, KS I can change countries and be in another major city and then I could be in London or Paris after another 1-2 hours.
Now, when I got to Brussels it was about 9pm and I, like the idiot I am sometimes, did not print directions to my hostel or even write down the address. Luckily, I knew the name, but that was all. It was a Sunday night, so everything was closed. After a question to a cabby, an hour of walking and a lot of confusion I found my hostel. It would have been a 15 minute walk if I knew where I was going. Well played, Tom, well played.
The person working the front desk wasn't too pleasant sadly. In Belgium they speak French or Flemish. He spoke French and barely muttered English to me. He had the reaction like I was a very annoying object that was interfering with his work. Buddy, you work at the front desk of a hostel, I am your work. After finally getting checked in I also find out they charge an arm and a leg for Wifi access. I pay it anyway. To top off my experience with this guy he answered a bunch of my questions incorrectly, which I find out yesterday and failed to tell me I can't be in my room from 11am-4pm for "cleaning."
This hostel wasn't a great experience. The bed was hard as a rock, the sheets were wool and scratched and the pillows I am pretty sure were lumps of plastic. Needless to say, they weren't going to get a great review from me. But I went to sleep anyway.
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