Budapest and Vienna

Ahoj,

At long last, my friends, I have the time and motivation to tell you about my fall trip... now two weeks past. Rather than give you random little stories and thoughts... I'll just start at the beginning. Take a deep breath, this might take a while.

So every year, the Czech Republic in it's entirety takes a long weekend at the end of October to celebrate something historic. None of my students seem to know what this something is, but I'm fairly certain it has to do with the founding of the country. With 5 full days to take advantage of, I opted for a big trip.

The Train

On Tuesday (the 27th?) I joined 7 other teachers in boarding a night train to Budapest, Hungary. There's a whole team of really great ESI teachers there, so I was excited to visit, and tour, and sleep for free. Within our little traveling team, 6 stayed in a sleeping car, while Hayley and I opted for the cheap seats. (If you're unfamiliar with Hayley, send me an email and I'll bring you up to speed.) It's hard to say that things went smoothly, in light of the dozen or so men that woke us up throughout the night to stamp passports and check tickets... but overall things went well... until about 6.

Based on conversations I've had with the folks in the sleeper car, I think it went down like this... At about 5, a uniformed man popped his head into the sleeper car and warned those inside that "The thieves are coming." Though confused, my quick-thinking friends double-checked that all of their things were locked and secure and went back to sleep. At about 6, some men boarded the train, pulled a number of bags out of unlocked compartments, hit the 'emergency stop' button, and jumped off the train. The thieves came, they stole, they conquered. However, because of the abrupt nature of the stop, the train's engine stopped running... completely. The the next two hours, we sat idle on the track waiting for repairs... and then waiting for a new engine altogether. One eventually showed up... but we arrived in Budapest 3 hours late.

Budapest

Its hard to explain Budapest, because I had no pre-existing ideas about what it would be like. It is a beautiful city... I mean really gorgeous... but it has a strange feel to it. It certainly does not feel Western. The unusual architecture, the 25-letter words lacking vowels, the small bacon pastries, and the feeling that laws are taken more as suggestions, all just brought a whole new novelty to the city. Over the course of two days, I saw most of the big and important monuments and buildings, relaxed in Central Europe's largest Turkish baths, strolled through a Chinese market the size of my hometown (shadiest place I've ever been), and feasted on Hungarian meat. My friends Neil, Sam, Jon, and Brady were amazing hosts. I'm hoping to return sometime before I head home.

Vienna

On Friday morning, I met Hayley at the train station and set off for Vienna. Thankfully, this was a completely uneventful ride across the beautiful European countryside. Upon arrival, we joined our friend Sam who had journeyed from Prague earlier that morning. Vienna is totally different from any Central European city I've visited thus far. Though really old, and really beautiful in the same way that Prague is beautiful, Vienna feels much like an American city. The national language of Austria is German, but just about everyone there speaks English. The city is chocked (is that a word?) full of history and architecture like I've never seen. St. Steven's Cathedral is unbelievable. The castle... is like a city unto itself. And the number of little restaurants and beautiful old buildings almost seems overkill... but amazing. I think the thing that sets it apart from a city like Prague is the wealth. Ferraris and 3-piece suits and visually entertaining haircuts are more common than you might think. At one point, I believe it was Hayley who said... "We could probably get a pretty good view of the city just by standing on top of that guy's hair..."

While strolling through the city, the three of us stumbled upon a wine fesitval. Vien in Vein (trans. Wine in Vienna) featured some of this year's best wines from Austria. Like the hot shots we are, Sam, Hayley and I sipped from our glasses alongside a whole bunch of people far better dressed than ourselves... but it was really great. We ended up talking to a English-speaking German woman at the festival for a good 40 minutes. I'm not sure why I told you that... but it all just seemed very surreal.

One more funny story. Upon arrival to Vienna, we had a reservation for a hostel not too far from the center of town. The hostel, called "Believe it or Not" (should have been a clue as to the quality) offered beds in a room for ten, with no curfew, for 11 Euro. "For the young at heart," one ad said. So we follow a map to the address listed, only to find the shadiest looking building in the whole city. Windows broken, doors boarded up... and only a call button next to the door bearing the name "Believe it or Not." Rather than buzzing in, we opted to keep walking. Across the street was another, far more inviting hostel... offering our own room, a key, free breakfast, and clean sheets... for only a few Euro more.

We returned to Prague Sunday morning... and slept.

Ok, I'm done now. Below you'll find some pictures of this whirlwind tour. Leave comments. I'd love to hear what you think of all of this.

Mike