Statues

Today I ventured off to Momento Park. It's a museum talking about the communist time in Hungary. A part of the big park is Statue Park which houses several communist statues that were taken down around Budapest when the soviets left. Another part of the museum is a tribute to those who revolted against the soviet occupation, and information about the spies that worked for the government. The government had their own film studio that they made training videos to use to train new spies - everything from how to follow someone and bug their home to how to recruit new members. At the museum I was able to watch some of the videos. It was quite interesting. I am going to try to upload a little bit of video of the video that I took with my camera. :)

After the park I went back to my couch surfing hosts' home (well after going to the grocery store to get lunch). I uploaded a few pics and then set out again. I intended to walk to the Jewish Synagogue(I believe it is the largest one in Europe and second largest in the world), but I arrived a half an hour after they closed (oops)! I will have to return on Sunday (as they are closed on Saturday) to go through it. I then continued on to see the Parliament building close up. It was a bit of a walk and quite the adventure as part of the area surrounding the building is under construction, SO I had to walk on the beach. I am now at a bar enjoying a beer while I use the free wi-fi. In a little while I will head out to meet my CS host and join her at another bar/club for a bit. I do not know how long we will stay there, but it should be interesting none the less.

Tomorrow I go to a hostel to stay for two nights. I am looking forward to it a bit since I have been couch surfing a lot and it will be nice to have some of my own space (well as much as I can have in a hostel) and be able to do everything on my own terms. I love couch surfing for sure, but I need to alternate between that and hosteling or I get a little too overwhelmed by it all.

I posted a few more pictures today - you should be able to view them through the link I posted yesterday when I created my latest album. I'm sure more pictures will be up tomorrow as well. :-D Happy Friday night everyone!

Number 101

I just noticed that my last blog was post number 100, which makes this one 101. I have definitely written a lot in the last year!

A Day of Firsts

I had a lot of "first" experiences today.

1. I was sucked into my first tourist trap and paid almost $6 for just over an hour of internet.
2. I stumbled across my first European perv doing something very private in a public place.
3. I climbed to the top of my first mountain (ok, it's not really a mountain, but it might as well be).
4. I narrowly missed being pooped on by a pigeon for the first time.
5. A priest got mad at me for no apparent reason (that I can figure out anyway) and that has definitely not happened to me before. (He clapped his hands at me and motioned vigoriously for me to go over to him - I opted to just leave the church instead.
6. I spoke Hungarian for the first time and said, "hi" and "thank you." Of course now I cannot remember how to say either of them.
7. A Hungarian man hit on me for the first time. He wanted to know where I was from and how long I was in town for after I bought a souvenior from him. (Don't worry Eddie, I am not leaving you for the castle salesman. You're stuck with me for awhile.)
8. I made my first mistake at the grocery store when I meant to buy yogurt and bought sour cream instead.
9. I almost ran into a monk in the middle of the street. He suddenly appeared next to me in his robe and other monk accessories.
AND
10. I almost fell down the stairs of a tower - oh wait, that's not the first time I have done that, but it is the first time in Hungary. :)

As you can tell I had a very full day. I think that is about it regarding my "firsts," but I did a lot more. I climbed a ginormous hill/mountain to the citadel and took lots of pictures. (Pictures are now up in album #5 on facebook.) I walked a lot and have some blisters to prove it. I visited a castle and two churches. I even managed to buy a few souvenirs and was back at my couch surfing hosts' flat by 4. Wow!

I have two more nights courch surfing in Budapest, then two nights in a hostel. I leave for Vienna on Monday and will be there for four or five nights. I'm sad to be leaving the "cheaper" countries, but am excited to be moving on to some places that I know a little bit more about already!

Not As Long As Usual

A friend of mine e-mailed me the other day and mentioned how long winded my blog updates are. I laughed because I know it is true – even though I’m sure Eddie and my mom wish that I gave more details in each update. I thought, I’d insert a little apology for my long-windedness here. I’ll try to keep this one a little shorter. I am guessing that I have probably lost much of my readership due to the extended length of my updates. :-\ What can I say? I’ve always liked to share extra details and talk and talk and talk and talk – just ask my mom.

I’m on the train to Budapest where I will be couch surfing for a few nights and will then move to a hostel. I’ve just left Brno in the Czech Republic where I couch surfed with a fun girl for two nights. My first night in town I stayed at a hostel and I was very glad to leave the hostel and couch surf. It wasn’t a terrible place, but it was not my most favorite hostel to stay at. In the midst of it all I was fighting a cold, which I’m almost over now, so that presented an extra challenge, to say the least.

Today is a marking point for a few things – it’s the end of the 6^th week that I’ve been in Europe, which leaves 11 more to go. It’s also been four months since Eddie and I had our first in-person date, so that’s kind of fun. I have had a lot of alone time during these last six weeks and have realized how thankful I am for Al Gore and his little invention of the internet. Without it would not be keeping my sanity on this trip and I also would not have met Eddie. I am quite glad to be living in the 21^st century.

There isn’t a whole lot to report – I think that’s why it’s been difficult for me to find something to write about each day. I think things are beginning to blur together a bit, so I am trying to slow down my pace. I am sure that some of the couch surfing hosts and hostel employees think I am just wasting my time in each city and not taking full advantage of everything there is to see. I however, am realizing that I cannot keep going at the pace I have been or I will burn myself out preemptively. I have seen more churches and climbed more towers than I think most people do in a lifetime. It’s a lot to take in over a short period of time. I am thankful for the opportunity to have this experience though and see these things that many people don’t get to. I’m just pretty sure that every story I tell is going to be about some church in some place that I went to because I wont remember all the details.

So, one story that I do remember is from yesterday when I was at the Peter and Paul church in Brno. I was sitting in the pews admiring the magnificence of the altar when there was a loud crashing noise behind me that enveloped the entire room. I turned around and someone had knocked over the big wooden collection stand. Fortunately the church was not full of people (I think maybe 4 including me were in there) so it was a little funny and I’m sure very embarrassing for the woman who knocked it over. I was just glad it wasn’t me.

I’m sure there will be more things that come to mind to share in the next day or so. I will try to remember to write them down so that you can all enjoy the experience along with me. Until next time friends …

In Budapest

I wrote a new blog on the train today and had intended to upload it once I arrived at my couch surfing hosts' home. I did arrive and was able to locate the flat quite easily, but they do not have wireless internet, so I am using their computer and thus cannot upload my pre-written blog. I will probably hit up an internet cafe tomorrow and upload from there.

I am thankful to be able to be online, but the lack of the freedom to use my own computer has made me feel a little helpless and cut off. I like knowing that I am only a computer away from my world at home. It is comforting to have that security. Maybe these three days will be a growing experience for me before I am back in a hostel with wi-fi.

We'll see ...

Spending Money

I spent a bit of money today. I bought my train ticket for tomorrow. I bought gloves - since it's starting to get cold. I also bought some souvenirs and some food and whatnot.

I'm excited about my gloves - even though the two people I've shown them to seem to think that they make me look like OJ Simpson or a mass murderer. They are black leather gloves, so I understand the comparison, but I'm excited to have warm hands.

It was a good day, but rather low key. I am a fan of that. I think I'm getting a little sick so not doing a whole lot is a good option for me. I have been trying to upload pictures to facebook all night but for some reason I keep getting an error message. I am wondering if the hostel has some sort of firewall up, so I'll try it tomorrow when I go to the new hostel in Cesky Krumluv.

There isn't a whole lot to say tonight, so I'll update more tomorrow once I arrive in my new location. :)

Giving Directions

Today I visited the Prague Castle and the Malá Strana (Lesser Town). I walked from my hostel to a nearby grocery store to pick up some cheese and bread for lunch and then began my adventure. I crossed the Charles Bridge (Karluv most) and bought some souvenir gifts for two wonderful people in my life. I found my way to the John Lennon Wall and then wandered around the streets until I found the castle. You can walk through the courtyard and visit the cathedral for free, but you have to pay to go into the actual castle. I opted for the free option and enjoyed winding my way through the courtyard taking pictures.

The St. Vitus Cathedral, Vitus being the patron saint for epileptics and preventer or oversleeping, is big and gothic and beautiful – but overcrowded with tourists. From the castle I could see just about all of Prague and took some fun pictures. I could see a garden area that had a giant concrete wall. Someone near me said that it was skulls built into the wall. I didn’t remember reading about this or seeing anything in my maps so I checked it out myself. It’s not skulls at all, just a giant concrete wall that has shapes and figures built into it. Some of the shapes look like faces, but no skulls.

After I made my way down from the castle I was going to go see the St. Nicholaus Church, but for a $3 entrance fee I decided to go get a beer instead since I couldn’t even take pictures inside. So lame. Instead I went to Ceska hospoda to enjoy a .5 L Staropramen for all of 25 czk – about $1.45. I am a fan of that.

I think tonight will be another relatively quiet night in for me. I bought some hot dogs at the store last night and will eat a few of them for dinner tonight along with my bread and cheese and beer. Tomorrow I will finish up the few things I haven’t done yet, like the church with the severed arm and try to go to St. Nicholas’ Church in the old town square. I’m debating about climbing the clock tower since I have my city view from the castle, even though it isn’t a full 360 degree view. Tomorrow I will also go to the train station and buy my ticket for Saturday to Cesky Krumlúv and my ticket from there to Brno. I will also need to figure out my housing situation for Brno. I was waiting on a few leads about couch surfing but it does not look as though it will pan out. So sad.

My five male roommates are most likely going to be out drinking tonight so I should be able to fall asleep in peace, unlike last night as they chatted it up for awhile. I should also be able to avoid them walking around in their underwear. I guess that’s the risk you take when staying in a mixed dorm room. Who knows how loud they will be when they return to the room though, my guess is not very quiet, but we’ll see. I’m sure they will appreciate my 7am wake up again. :)

I am feeling good about Prague. I have been able to find my way around pretty well and I was even able to help two people out with directions today. I think for day 2.5 in Prague – really day two since the first day I didn’t go out into the city – that is pretty good. I gave someone directions yesterday too, but it was from where I had just been, so it doesn’t totally count. I’m impressed with my ability to recognize some street names already and know where they are. Yea me! Hahaha …

Well, that is the update from Prague. Nothing too exciting but nothing too terrifying either. I am safe and sound and doing just fine. I have a mission to purchase gloves while in The Czech Republic as well as a new lock. The cheap factor is appealing here and I know it is going to get cold soon so gloves would be a good idea. Also, the lock I bought in Munich broke last night. Somehow the bar got bent and it wont go back in the hole to lock again, so hopefully I will find something that is better quality but not too terribly expensive. Sounds like a plan eh?