Europe, Take 2

So I left off at 6 am in Vienna, when we boarded the train to...

Prague!

So after possibly the most terrifying thing ever on the train (Katie and I almost had to get off in the middle of nowhere Czech Republic because our train passes don't cover the country and we didn't have any money, but thank god the conductor was really really nice and didn't kick us off!), we arrive in the morning and make it to our hostel. The place was smelly (a theme I found Prague to have), but not too bad, and there were 5 of us in a 5 person room so that was nice. The guy who ran the hostel was really nice, giving us his cell phone number for emergencies and everything.

So after we dumped our stuff we went for a walk around the city. We walked down to the Jewish quarter and around, then across the river to this park at the top of the hill. There's a big structure at the top, and we found out later it is a statue of a metronome. I guess the hill used to have a statue of Stalin and then one of Gorbachev, so after the iron curtain fell they put the metronome up to symbolize changing times. We got some great views up there, and then played in the park. Then the walk home took a little while since we ended up having to walk around and kind of on a highway for a bit. But we made it back and all crashed for a couple hours.

Then after we woke up two of Colin's friends from home got in to Prague and met us at the hostel. The five of us hung out there for a while and then headed out to a bar in town, which was a great time!

The next morning was a rough one- we all forgot to set alarms so the woman from the hostel had to wake us up at check-out time. Once we were all in order and ready to go, we headed into town where the astronomical clock and the market are. After chilling around there for a bit we went on probably the worst walking tour in the world. Seriously. We think it was the guy's first time, but he was overly detailed, boring and kinda creepy all at the same time. Not to mention impossible to hear and we were in a big group. He took us all over the city and we saw some of the Kafka sites, the Jewish quarter, the Charles Bridge and Prague Castle. The city was gorgeous and it was a really nice day out, but the guide was so bad.

Then we ate at a weird restaurant called Czech Kitchen that our hostel guy suggested. The food was okay, but we realized that some of us were eating liver and that was a turn off. After that we got our stuff from the hostel and headed to board our night train.

Budapest

This was probably the night train from hell. There were 5 of us in an 8 person compartment where the seats didn't recline at all and one of the benches was broken. The bathroom was flooded (I managed to not use it for the entire trip thank god), the car smelled- it was just bad. I ended up getting a couple hours of sleep, but most everyone was up all night.

So we arrived in Budapest completely exhausted and go to our hostel where the guy tells us that he didn't have room for all of us but that we could stay in one of his other hostels. So we go over there and check in and wait for the room to be ready (while the boys sleep in the common room). When our room was ready Colin, Rob and John went and slept all day, but Katie and I walked around, down the beautiful Andrassy, then to the fine arts museum. We were both exhausted too so we went to a great little cafe right across from the museum for some coffee. We headed back down Andrassy and stopped by St. Peter's Basilica which was absolutely gorgeous. Just after walking around for these few minutes I already loved the city. It wasn't as touristy and crowded as a lot of the other cities- it felt like a real city where people actually live. But it also was absolutely gorgeous and had a great history. Katie and I both realized right away that we loved it.

Then on our trip back we spotted some delicious Don Simon in the window of a liquor store so of course we had to get it. We went back to the hostel and hung out in the common room and met a bunch of people staying in the hostel. This hostel was really great because the guys who ran it were just American guys who were really cool and laid back. They all sat around and drank with us too, and then one of them took a bunch of us out to a bar. The bar was kinda weird, it looked like it had been bombed out inside, but we all had a good time.

The next morning Katie and I got up and hiked up to the top of this hill to the citadel, this really cool old fort with a great view. We saw the freedom statue up close, which you can see from most of the city. It was built to commemorate Hungary's liberation from the Nazis, and its a woman holding an olive branch I think. Some kind of leaf or plant, anyway. We didn't go inside because you had to pay, and all it is is more view and a wax museum or something like that. But we walked back down through the park and played on some swings.

Then we went back to the hostel and woke the guys up to go to the baths! These were the best park of the whole city. We went to the big bath house that's on Hero's Square, and it was just amazing. There were like 10 indoor baths that had all different temperatures and minerals. They were pretty relaxing but we spent most time at the outdoor ones, one was warm and really deep, and the other was the 'fun' bath with all different jets and a whirlpool and everything. Oh man, it was just what we needed after traveling for so long! We stayed for a few hours, and i felt like I'd gotten a new back by the time we left.

We went back to the hostel and showered and got ready to go out, then we went to this really fun club. Half of it was outside and really relaxed, and then inside was a big crazy dance party. It was a really great night, and Katie's last night with the group. She was going to take a 5 am train, but we all knew that wasn't going to happen, haha.

The next morning we had to move to another hostel because they didn't have room for us in the one we were in. So we woke up, checked out and checked into a new hostel while Katie went to the train station to book a ticket. Then we all met up at the Terror House, a really creepy museum that was a Nazi and Soviet jail at different times. It was mostly about the different atrocities committed by the soviets, and the different forms of torture. It was very disturbing, but a good museum. The only disappointment was that a lot of the exhibits were video or audio with no translation, and considering how much Hungarian we all knew... It was okay though, the written information was always translated to English so we got the point. Half way through Rob and John decided it was too intense and decided to go to the amusement park instead, and after the museum Colin went back to the hostel, Katie and I got a coffee and much-needed salad before we had to say goodbye and she went to catch her train.

When I got back to the hostel I took a long and much-needed nap. Katie and I had been managing on just a few hours of sleep a night for about a week, especially when we started staying out late with the boys and then waking up early to sightsee, so I was absolutely exhausted. When I woke up we went to get some food then just watched movies at the hostel and relaxed- other than when the crazy girl who ran the hostel kept trying out her impression of a southern accent on me and asking we weird questions. Imagine hearing "My name is Laura" 15 times in a row in a strange accent kind of resembling Janice from Friends. Weird.

Bratislava

Anyway what I really should have done after Budapest was hop on a night train to Bucharest where I was supposed to meet Katie Napleton on April 14. I misjudged the train schedule since Slovakia is not on my pass or in my timetable book and thought I could get there on the 14 from Bratislava. So I went with John and Rob and Colin for the night, and when I got there found out that it was impossible and ended up stranding Katie in Buchrest.

When we got in to Bratislava we went to the hostel that we booked, which of course didn't actually have room for us so we had to go to a different one (the themes of hostels misbooking us and everything being under construction were very prevalent on this trip). So we headed to another one closer into the city, which was fine. We hung out there for a bit then went out for dinner at this place called Slovak Pub. Apparently I am very bad at ordering Slovakian food, and this was my first hint. I ordered some dumplings (like gnocci) off the vegetarian menu. Yummy, right? No, I got really weird pasta covered in powdered sugar. Totally ridiculous and disgusting.

After that we had a couple drinks at the hostel and then went out to a bar for a couple more. I was tired so I headed home while they all went out to some insane nightclub I guess. I'm just glad I got a good night's sleep haha.

The next day I went to the train stationa nd tried to figure out some plans to maybe meet Katie somewhere between Bratislava and Bucharest, but in the end we decided just to meet the next day in Budpest. The guys all went to a waterpark for the day, so I decided to go and explore the city. I walked around the little touristy area, down the Hviezdoslavovo Namestie which is a gorgeous promenade that runs from the National Theater to the water where the New Bridge is. There's fountains and statues and they were setting up a stage for something when I was there. I relaxed, sat on a bench and wrote in my journal, it was beautiful out!

I met the guys back that the hostel and Rob left to fly home, so we had a little goodbye. Then Colin and John and I met up with an Irish guy who was staying in our hostel. He was a strange guy, but really nice, and he'd lived in Bratislava 10 years earlier (we couldn't believe he was 35, he seriously looked the same age as me) and was back for the first time. So we went back to the Slovak pub and this time I also ordered something that turned out to just be bread. It was stupid. We had a few drinks and hung out, John, Colin and I then went to another bar for a few drinks.

The next morning Colin and John were heading out to Krakow, and I was heading to Budapest so we checked out of the hostel and got some food then headed to the train station. We said goodbye and they got on their train while I waited for mine.

Budapest, Revisited

I got in to the station and waited around for Katie Napleton to get in, which was really exciting to see her! We hopped on the metro and checked into the hostel (the same one we stayed at the week before which was pretty funny). Then we wandered for food and found this great Italian place where the pasta was delicious! Then we just went back to the hostel and chatted about our travels, since we had both been traveling for a few weeks by now.

The next day we woke up and got some breakfast to eat in the park before we headed out to go on a walking tour. I was a little skeptical of the whole walking-tour idea after the one in Prague but we figured we'd give it a try, and I'm so glad I did! Our tour guide was this girl about 20 years old, a university student and she was GREAT! She took us to Hero's Square, which is where they have a memorial to all these different Hungarian kings and she went through each one and so told us the history of Hungary which was incredible. It was pretty much constantly a battleground for centuries and a constant political struggle. Sarah was really funny because she told all the stories like the countries were talking to each other- "The Soviets said, 'Oh, Hungary! You want us to get the Nazi's out of your country? Oh, we can help you.'" She was so cute!

The rest of the tour we walked through the park, to St. Peter's Basilica, and then to the castle area up in Buda where St. Matthias Gothic church (under construction, of course) and the Royal Palace are. It was so great and we literally saw the whole city. It was cool too, because Sarah asked us before the tour started that if we wanted we could pay 1,000 Forint less (about 4 Euros) for the tour and she just wouldn't tell the office that we'd gone. I guess the company is going under and they haven't paid her in 2 months, so of course we agreed.

Then we ate up in Buda before we headed back to the hostel and went out with a bunch of the people staying there too. It was funny because two of the guys there had been at my hostel in Bratislava, and then a couple other people there were going to the same cities as us afterwards, so it was kind of like traveling with them too haha.

The next day we wanted to go to the baths, but I had lost my bathing suit and it was the day after the Virginia Tech shootings so we got kind of wrapped up in the coverage. We did go out to lunch, but just came back and talked to a Canadian guy and Australian girl who were also watching the coverage of the shootings. It was really crazy to think about all that happening, and I just thank god I don't know anyone at that school because it would have been really hard to find anything out from Budapest.

Vienna, part deux

So we got to Vienna in the evening and checked into our hostel. We went out for dinner and had some great sausage and sauerkraut- yum! Our hostel had a bar in it so we went back there for a beer and then went straight to bed. Katie really fell in love with the city right away so we decided to stay two nights and booked for the second night.

In the morning we headed into town and took one of the bus tours around the city since it was kinda cold and rainy. We saw all the important sites, and then after the tour went to the Opera house and got a tour there of the whole building wish is really just gorgeous. It was really different to see all the behind the scenes stuff after seeing an Opera there and seeing how it all works. Then we walked around and took some pictures, went to the palace and the gardens.

For dinner we went to this place right down the street from the hostel called Mozart Stube where we got this ridiculously huge Schnitzel for 5 Euro. Amaaazing! Then we went out with Jack, an Australian guy we met at the hostel in Budapest, Toby, a kid from Libertyville who was also at our hostel in Budapest and Carl, a kid who goes to Virginia Tech (Katie told him to use his student ID to try to get free drinks. It wasn't as funny as she thought it was). The 5 of us went to a few bars, including a really swanky that I'm not sure how we got into, and ended up back at Mozart Stube in the end. We all went back to the hostel then and went to bed, except I called my mom first since there was an available phone :)

The next morning we checked out, got lunch and then went to the train station to catch our train to...

Prague II

So we got in to Prague in the afternoon and are way too exhausted to do anything so we just got groceries and made dinner, then went to bed.

The next day we got up and went to the best restaurant EVER! It's this place called Bohemia Bagel, and its pretty much everything I've been missing from America. Sandwiches, Bagels, pancakes- everything! They even had self-serve, free refills fountain drinks. We ate and then chilled out in the connected internet cafe for a couple hours. Then we went into the Jewish quarter and did the museum that includes 6 parts- the Spanish Synagogue, the Old Cemetery, the Ceremonial Hall, Pinkas Synagogue and Maisel Synagogue. All of it was so beautiful, and it's crazy to think that most of the artifacts were collected by curators during WWII because Hitler wanted to have a museum devoted to the extinct race. So sick.

Then we went and bought our tickets to Krakow the next day and got ready to go out to dinner. We were planning to meet the Australian guy Jack from Vienna and then meet Dan and Evan, friends from high school. So we meet Jack and his friend then walk down the street and I'm thinking, I'm going crazy this girl looks like Nicole. It really started to freak me out and I was trying really hard not to stare at this woman. But then I saw Dan behind her and she turned and it WAS Nicole! I was so shocked it was very strange. It was so great to see her though. We all went to this fabulous vegetarian restaurant where Nicole and I caught up, and really caught up with Dan and Evan who I haven't seen in a long time. Oh yeah and another kid from high school was there who I literally haven't seen in ages. It was a big party! We all went out together then and it was a great time.

The next morning Nicole came and met us bright and early at 8:30 for pancakes at Bohemia Bagel (we really just could not get enough!) They were amazingly delicious and we scarfed them down before we got on the train to Krakow. Had to say goodbye to Nicole which is always sad, but I knew I'd be seeing her in a week and a half haha.

Krakow

Well, it was sad to get off the very last train ride I'd be taking on my trip. So many good times, so many bad times on trains, but overall it's the best way to travel in Europe. If I could, I'd probably take trains everywhere! Well, maybe not but I did really like it.

We got in to the city and immediately could see that it was really cool and beautiful. It's tiny though too. I think it was a great city to end on because we were both losing steam a bit on the sightseeing, so we didn't mind just wandering around a relaxing a bit. The night we got in we went and checked into our hostel which was great! It was ranked 4th best hostel in the world, and we agreed. If you ever go to Krakow, Mama's Hostel is where it's at. It was really homey and clean and just nice all around. At this point we both checked our bank accounts as well and I realized I was running pretty low, and Katie only had $45 in her account. That was alarming.

After we got over that shock we went to this place called Bagelmama (we were really into bagels and mamas at this point). Did you know the bagel originated in Poland? Now you do! They were delicious bagels and soups. We also ate a lot of bagels from street vendors which are more like the original Polish ones, kinda a mix between pretzel and bagel. Yum!

We went back to the hostel and watched The Graduate and took it easy, then went to bed. The next morning we went up to Wawel Castle where we toured the state rooms. They were really unique and didn't look like a typical castle. There were tons of tapestries, and not nearly as much gilded decor as castles usually have. The courtyard was gorgeous and there was a good view of the city too. Then we went down to the bank of the river and saw the dragon, a statue representing a dragon fabled to have lived there. It was pretty sweet. It spits fire and everything. Then we sat on the bank soaking up some sun and writing postcards.

Then we went back to the hostel and hung out, watched Happy Gilmore and then went out for dinner at a really great sushi place- yum! And then got some desert and went to bed early since we had to be up really early for our tour to Auschwitz and Birkenau.

The tour was really interesting. On the bus ride there they showed a documentary about the camps, and then we were with a guide through all of it. We spent a lot of time at Auschwitz, since most of it has been converted into a museum about the holocaust and atrocities of the camp. They took us through rooms filled with the victim's shoes and tons and tons of hair. Literally everyone has about 20 grams worth of hair on their head, and the Nazis collected hundreds of kilograms which really helps you begin to understand how many people were killed there. We went through the prison which is really just a torture and execution building. And then we also walked through the incinerator and gas chambers, the only one of 5 at the two camps that the Nazis didn't destroy before liberation. It was really eerie and disgusting.

Then we went to Birkenau. The only problem with the tour was that we barely spent any time here. They walked us through the sleeping quarters and bathrooms but then we had to leave. I thought Birkenau was much more shocking because the conditions were much more poor than at Auschwitz, since the barracks were built by the prisoners themselves out of material taken from the houses that used to be in the area (the barracks at Auschwitz were old Polish army barracks). It was surprising that half of the barracks had been dismantled by former residents who came back from the war and wanted to rebuild their communities and live on the land again. It's amazing that anyone could think of living there after all that had gone on, but our guide was telling us that Polish people are very community-based and wanted to move back into the same community they had left. Even though all the information at Auschwitz was interesting and it was a good museum, I think that it would have been a more effective and moving experience to walk around Birkenau (which is 20 times the size of Auschwitz) and take in all the horror that happened there.

After that we were pretty emotionally exhausted and headed back to town for some lunch and then we wandered around and had a couple drinks that night. The next morning we got up and flew back to Galway! I know that given an indefinite amount of time and money I would love to keep traveling, but I was ready to come back. And especially now that I'm back and realize that 1) I love Galway and 2) I only have a few weeks left here! But I would have to say, seeing all the places I did, meeting so many interesting people and having amazing travel buddies made this trip one of the most amazing things I've ever done, and I wouldn't change one part of it if I had the chance. My only hope is to go back everywhere again!

If you made it through all my ramblings, then kudos! If not, I promise I won't judge you, haha. I'll post again soon to write about Nicole and Katie's visit to Galway and then my trip to Amsterdam- also both fantastic!