skip to main |
skip to sidebar
My first day in Bratislava was as bad as my last night in Budapest. Far from the three wild nights of clubbing I had envisioned in one of Eastern Europe's party meccas, I wanted to die as we trudged accross the city towards our hostel. I couldn't throw my things on the floor fast enough to get in bed and slide into a fevered sleep. Except for frequent trips to the bathroom I didn't move until I was persuaded to wake up at 10:00 p.m. to get some food. To be fair, it seemed like a good idea - I hadn't eaten anything since that fateful hamburger on the Vaci Utca. Let me repeat that: it seemed like a good idea... A cup of chicken noodle soup later, I was back in the bathroom puking. If I hadn't felt so awful I would have found some humor in the fact that anyone who heard me outside the stall would think I'd drank too much, considering we were at a pub. Despite spending my senior year of high school in Germany, and a year of college at UGA, that was my first time ever being sick away from home, and for the first time since I'd been traveling, I wished I was back in Davidson. It was especially hard for me to be sick in Europe because I didn't feel completely at liberty to rest and get healthy. I couldn't shake the thought that I might only be in Bratislava once, and I was missing out so I kept pushing my strength until I started to feel sick again. I still managed to snap a few pictures, mostly on the last day, before we hopped back on the Hydrofoil to head to Vienna.
I hadn't expected how "at home" it would make me feel to be back in a German speaking country. I had gotten so used to being baffled by the local language in Hungary and Slovakia that it was weird to be able to understand advertisements, television, and ask directions without the use of sign language. Being sick in Slokavia made me extremely uncomfortable but I felt much more at ease somewhere where I could look after myself better.
Another huge advantage of being in Vienna at that time was that Austria was co-hosting of the 2008 Euro Cup! We spent 3 nights in Vienna and every single evening from 6:00 to 10:45 we were in the Eurocup fan zone watching soccer with thousands and thousands of rabid fans. Alex and I would literally wake up and think god... what are we going to do until 6:00? Vienna is chock full of museums and culture but I honestly had no interest in them. I spent my mornings and afternoons trying to rest up and get healthy before watching the games. As a rule, I don't take my camera anywhere I think it might get damaged or lost (i.e. clubs, surging seas of drunk fans) so I don't have any pictures of the madness but it was quite an experience. We were lucky enough to get to see the Austrian national team play Poland while we were there. Sadly our prayers for an Austrian victory were not answered, starting a disappointing trend of watching home team after home team lose as we were poised to party with the locals.
The only "cultural outing" I did attend was a trip out to Schonberg Palace, the historical seat of the Hapsburg empire. I got a few nice shots out there, but the highlight of the day was watching Sheena hopelessly lost in the hedge maze. Everyone on the trip already knew that Sheeners is "directionally challenged" but this was truly hilarious because I was in a perfect position to look on and laugh as she kept walking into the same dead ends.
You can see the frustration on her face.
We rode the first train of the trip to Prague after our time in Vienna was zu ende. Even without reservations, we managed to score a booth all to ourselves and Sabrina proclaimed that this was in fact a real train unlike the other trains we rode during our stint in England. Her justification for this was that it reminded her of the Hogwarts train and therefore making it "real" in her world.
These two pictures were taken in Prague's main square, where the viewing screens were set up for the Eurocup. We turned up there on the night of the Czech Republic vs. Turkey game to watch the Czech Republic jump out to a 2-0 lead only to watch Turkey come back in the final 20 minutes to score 3 goals, once again thwarting my dream of celebrating a Eurocup win in the victorious country. At least I got to watch a hobo fight that broke out right next to us in the crowd...
This set of pictures was taken from the Charles Bridge connecting the old town to Prague Castle. Finished in the beginning of the 15th century, this bridge helped to cement Prague as an important trading outpost between eastern and western Europe. Prague lives up to its name as an incredibly beautiful city. Just walking through the streets is like taking a step into the past.
Pubcrawl was such a success in Budapest that we decided to do another one in Prague. Now I'm not going to try to give a recap of the night but I will say that it started with a power hour at a bagel shop and that Sabrina met a "special friend" along the way. Alright!
Special friend stage left.
We had 4 nights in Prague and we decided to use some of the extra time to make a day trip. We decided to head out to Kutna Hora (a town an hour outside of Prague), the site of the Sedlec Ossuary. I honestly was not excited to go considering how early we had to wake up, but it turned out to be one of the most unique and memorable days of the trip. The church stands on what was once a medieval cemetery. When construction started on a Gothic church in the 15th century, the exhumed skeletons of those buried below were then arranged in the lower chapel. It is believed that 40,000 to 70,000 human skeletons were used to decorate the church.
The Ossuary stands approximately 3 km. from the center of town, and we made the hike to the city center. Kutna Hora is also famous for a cathedral but at this point in the trip, I was ready for something new. We had been in cities for the past month and a half, and Alex and I manage to conscript Sheena for a trek into the dense woods that surround Kutna Hora. It turned out to be quite the adventure. We walked up this path we found near the edge of the city and decided to veer left and take the path less traveled. The trail was overgrown and it seemed like hardly anyone ever came this way. WRONG! I turned a corner and I kid you not, right in front of me was a naked young Czech couple going at it under a tree. Lets just say she was getting a massage... I stopped in my tracks and burst out laughing as I tried to turn around. As soon as they saw me, they flipped out and ran off down the trail, pulling their underwear up as they scrambled away. We gave them a few minutes to clear out before continuing down the trail where we came up on a huge rundown mill in the middle of the woods. It was the sort of place that would have long been fenced off or condemned had it been in the U.S. The photo directly below was contributed by Alex and depicts me inching across the ledge of death. About seven feet into that pit was an ominous looking man sized black whole leading down to god knows where. We later figured out that it spilled into a dark dank room in the basement after a ten foot fall. Thank god I didn't have to find that out the hard way. 
After exploring the mill's basement we continued on deeper into the woods. It was so welcome to walk in a lush forest after being in cities so long, and we ate it up. I could not help but wonder how in the world I ended up in this place. That is one of the things I love so much about traveling - you find yourself in the most unexpected places.
Before we knew it, it was our final night. It was a sobering experience to be confronted with the realization that after about 40 days together at Oxford and in Eastern Europe, we would have to say our goodbyes. Stephanie flew back to London to meet her mother. Sabrina, Alex, and Sheena headed off to Greece. For me the next stop was Krakow, where I kicked off a week of solo travel in Poland.
As suddenly as our time in Oxford started, it ended. It was really a shame because we had such an awesome time together as a fellows class for the one and a half days we had at the end after we had finished our work. It was quite an expereince but we had to work so hard to complete our studies that we really didn't have the chance to get out and enjoy oxford or each other as much as we had all expected. By the time it came to fly to Budapest, I think I can speak for the others when I say we were ready for a vacation. We came in about 10:00 at soon were safely at home at Síp Utca 5, which was basically a private apartment we had all to ourselves at hostel prices! We had our first taste of authentic Hungarian goulash before hitting the sack as we were all, lets say exhausted, from our last night out in Oxford the night before. In the morning we decided to just get out and explore the city, and crossed onto the Buda side to check out the castle district. The first stop along the way was a solid climb up to the museum palaces. It was a bit of a gray day for photos but here are some of the shots I got.
One of the things that Budapest is known for are the extensive labyrinths that extend out from under the castle district. They were admittedly one of the cooler "tourist attractions" I have seen in my time. They were certainly creepy enough to scare the girls a little bit but I think it would have been even cooler if they would have really blacked them out. I couldn't really take pictures in the depths of the labyrinths because of the darkness but I was able to get these few when it was lit well enough to focus my camera. 
The castle district in Budapest lies on top of a ridge overlooking the Danube and we kept walking along it, pausing every now and then to snap more photos.
Eventually we came down off the ridge and crossed back to the Pest side of Budapest making a quick stop on Margaret Island which lies between them on the Danube. It seemed like a park to us, but little did we know that it turns into a wild party destination at night. 
We must have walked 7 or 8 miles and ended up spending that evening on our balcony with a few local beers. For those of you who know about it, Alex had a date with the gods of Tikka Masala, and Sheena has great pictures of it. I was too busy laughing, that is until some of the other people from our building started throwing down buckets of water from above. What a crazy time...
The next day was to be a party day. Alex found this pub crawl on the web and we managed to convince the girls to come along. We ended up having an awesome time despite our misgivings at the start. It was the wierdest group you could imagine. Other than the girls we brought only two more showed up, one was fat and ugly and the other with her boyfriend. Our girls (Sheena, Sabrina, and Stephanie) laughed each time new groups of guys showed up - apparently Alex and I seemed to be more and more demoralized each time. The best though was this 40 or so year old Indian guy who walked up at the end. Even I couldn't stifle a laugh at that point. Still the bars were great and I ended up getting to know this Hungarian girl named Csilla who was one of our guides. She showed me an awesome time I must say. Sheena donated the next three pictures to prove it. We didn't get home until after the sun came up...
You gotta check out Sabrina's faces in the two pub crawl pictures. Lets just say she wasn't all that comfortable with the whole deal... The next day was going to be a chill day. We had planned to meet at the baths (Budapest is famous for their thermal baths) but we had a solid hour or two to kill. As we were wandering along the Vaci Utca I saw a happy hour buy one get one free for liters of Paulaner! Not one to pass up such an opportunity and feeling nostalgic for Germany we decided to give it a go. "That's a big beer!"
After a wonderful stay at the baths Alex and I climbed to the highest point in Budapest, overlooking the Danube. The day was overcast and not the best for pictures but at least they give some impression of how high up you get. 
I made the biggest mistake of the trip at dinner when I ordered a hamburger on the Vaci Utca, a major tourist street in Budapest. I thought it was a bit sketchy when I saw it but I had already paid 1500 forints for it so I ate it anyway - more on that later. Sheena, Alex, and I had been planning to stay up all night and watch the sunset and sunrise from the rise overlooking the city. I got some nice pictures on the way out there but torrents of rain ruined our plans. Instead we retired back to the pad to watch Juno. I had never seen it and I guess I still haven't since I started to feel truly sick part way through the film. After a night of puking and cold sweats, I had to wake up at 6:00 a.m. to carry all of my stuff back to the river to get on the hydrofoil to Bratislava. I hadn't felt so miserable in such a long time... Little did I know it would be over a week before I really got my health back, which pretty much ruined Bratislava for me.
I hadn't expected how "at home" it would make me feel to be back in a German speaking country. I had gotten so used to being baffled by the local language in Hungary and Slovakia that it was weird to be able to understand advertisements, television, and ask directions without the use of sign language. Being sick in Slokavia made me extremely uncomfortable but I felt much more at ease somewhere where I could look after myself better.
You can see the frustration on her face.
These two pictures were taken in Prague's main square, where the viewing screens were set up for the Eurocup. We turned up there on the night of the Czech Republic vs. Turkey game to watch the Czech Republic jump out to a 2-0 lead only to watch Turkey come back in the final 20 minutes to score 3 goals, once again thwarting my dream of celebrating a Eurocup win in the victorious country. At least I got to watch a hobo fight that broke out right next to us in the crowd... 
This set of pictures was taken from the Charles Bridge connecting the old town to Prague Castle. Finished in the beginning of the 15th century, this bridge helped to cement Prague as an important trading outpost between eastern and western Europe. Prague lives up to its name as an incredibly beautiful city. Just walking through the streets is like taking a step into the past.
Pubcrawl was such a success in Budapest that we decided to do another one in Prague. Now I'm not going to try to give a recap of the night but I will say that it started with a power hour at a bagel shop and that Sabrina met a "special friend" along the way. Alright!
Special friend stage left.
We had 4 nights in Prague and we decided to use some of the extra time to make a day trip. We decided to head out to Kutna Hora (a town an hour outside of Prague), the site of the Sedlec Ossuary. I honestly was not excited to go considering how early we had to wake up, but it turned out to be one of the most unique and memorable days of the trip. The church stands on what was once a medieval cemetery. When construction started on a Gothic church in the 15th century, the exhumed skeletons of those buried below were then arranged in the lower chapel. It is believed that 40,000 to 70,000 human skeletons were used to decorate the church.
The Ossuary stands approximately 3 km. from the center of town, and we made the hike to the city center. Kutna Hora is also famous for a cathedral but at this point in the trip, I was ready for something new. We had been in cities for the past month and a half, and Alex and I manage to conscript Sheena for a trek into the dense woods that surround Kutna Hora. It turned out to be quite the adventure. We walked up this path we found near the edge of the city and decided to veer left and take the path less traveled. The trail was overgrown and it seemed like hardly anyone ever came this way. WRONG! I turned a corner and I kid you not, right in front of me was a naked young Czech couple going at it under a tree. Lets just say she was getting a massage... I stopped in my tracks and burst out laughing as I tried to turn around. As soon as they saw me, they flipped out and ran off down the trail, pulling their underwear up as they scrambled away. We gave them a few minutes to clear out before continuing down the trail where we came up on a huge rundown mill in the middle of the woods. It was the sort of place that would have long been fenced off or condemned had it been in the U.S. The photo directly below was contributed by Alex and depicts me inching across the ledge of death. About seven feet into that pit was an ominous looking man sized black whole leading down to god knows where. We later figured out that it spilled into a dark dank room in the basement after a ten foot fall. Thank god I didn't have to find that out the hard way. 
After exploring the mill's basement we continued on deeper into the woods. It was so welcome to walk in a lush forest after being in cities so long, and we ate it up. I could not help but wonder how in the world I ended up in this place. That is one of the things I love so much about traveling - you find yourself in the most unexpected places.
Before we knew it, it was our final night. It was a sobering experience to be confronted with the realization that after about 40 days together at Oxford and in Eastern Europe, we would have to say our goodbyes. Stephanie flew back to London to meet her mother. Sabrina, Alex, and Sheena headed off to Greece. For me the next stop was Krakow, where I kicked off a week of solo travel in Poland. 
