The day we arrived in Budapest, we were very disoriented. The East train station was a bunch of rails, a roof, and not much else. We couldn't find a map anywhere. We ended up navigating using google maps over Lauren's phone. After a false start in completely the wrong direction, we finally started heading towards our hotel.

It was a long walk, and a very hot day. The walk was really fascinating, walking through a city we've never seen before without anyone to show us the way. But the incident that sticks out most in my mind is something that happened pretty close to the beginning of the trek. We were walking alongside one of the many construction sites in Budapest, and a man in front of us walking towards us starts laughing. He came toward me, announced in very broken English that I am a good man, hugged me and kissed me on the cheek, then resumed walking past us. I was kind of shocked into speechlessness for a few moments, before Lauren suggested I check my pockets. I did, and nothing was missing, even though I did have some spare change in one of my open pockets. I guess he was just really friendly.

And that kind of set a tone for the whole excursion. Budapest was a place filled with the unexpected. Whether it was the gorgeous tiled roofs on so many of the buildings, or the giant cliffs right next to the river on the Buda side of town, or the insanely-gorgeous Parliament building.

Of course, not all was good. It was pretty plain that Hungary was hit really hard by Communism. Much more so in Prague, Budapest showed signs of just how bad things got. There were still buildings on the street that were damaged back during the revolt in 1956. We visited a Communist statue park outside of town, which was full of cool old statues, but also put into perspective just how controlled Hungary was by the Russians. There were fresh flowers on most of the memorials around town to those who stood against Communism, even the little monuments on the side of buildings in back streets. It was much more dramatic than anything I could have expected.

I really want to go back. I don't understand the language at all and the public transit system is much more confusing than Prague's, but still I was just so taken with the city and I want to spend more time exploring every corner and learning more about everything. So much of what's there is really really depressing, but the more I saw the more I was glad I went.

A few photos from Budapest

Since KC is writing about our travels to Budapest, I figured I would post some of our photos from the excursion.

Also, if you click on a picture it will become gigantic. Enjoy!

One of the really interesting things about Budapest is its lack of reconstruction post-WWII and -1956. I don't mean to imply that the whole city is in disrepair, it actually looks quite nice, but there are definitely places where you can still see the damage from these now-old conflicts. Our hotel was in the Jewish Quarter, which was once a ghetto but is now pretty bohemian-hip. This photo doesn't show it too clearly, but in that neighborhood especially there were many memorials and bits of evidence from WWII and the 1956 uprising. 

The exterior of St. Stephen's Basilica. This place is absolutely massive, and its chapel houses the mummified right hand of St. Stephen who died in the 11th Century. I found this a bit strange, but apparently it's a very important religious object.

See? We really did eat ice cream shaped like roses! And it was delicious!

KC took this photo at the top of an immense staircase leading up to the Buda Castle District. Great view, but SO many stairs! Later that day we found out that there is a funicular going straight up the hill, but walking up was actually rather neat (albeit tiring).

View of Budapest and the Danube River from Buda Castle. Buda is on the left side of the picture, and Pest is on the right. Beautiful city, right?

Fisherman's Bastion, in the Castle District. This structure is incredibly gorgeous and fascinating, but a large portion of it was fenced off due to construction. There is a ton of restoration and construction going on in Budapest, and we predict that the city will continue to become a more popular tourist destination as the years pass. I'm glad we got to see it before the rush!

Photo of KC and I, taken at Fisherman's Bastion. Budapest is really spectacular from all angles.

St. Matthew's Cathedral in the Buda Castle district. This building is also under construction for stone restoration and the like, but still looked quite nice on the outside (we didn't go in). I really love the patterned roof tiles - a lot of roofs in Budapest have bright, stunning mosaic patterns. It's too bad more cities haven't adopted this roofing style, as it's immensely pleasing. 

This is the Dohany Street Synagogue, built around 1850 only a few blocks from our hotel in Pest. According to the tour guide, who had a NY accent and was named Reuben, this is "the first and second largest synagogue in the world." It seats fewer people than Temple Emmanuel in New York City, but has more physical space. The building is really ornate for a synagogue, and actually looks kind of like a church (except for the stars of David, Holocaust Memorial, lack of angel/biblical frescoes, large number of Jews, etc.). It was quite interesting to see this place, as Hungary's Jewish community appears to be thriving today but was decimated during the Holocaust (Hungary was a German ally, and was also rather anti-Semitic to begin with). The cemetery outside of the synagogue is probably about one-fourth of an acre, but has over 8,000 people buried there in mass graves. During WWII, the small but populous Jewish district was walled off as a ghetto and no supplies were allowed in, meaning many people died from starvation and otherwise-curable illnesses. Visiting this place was yet another reminder of the realities of 20th-century conflicts in Central Europe. Although the cemetery and memorial were quite sobering, it was nice to see that the Jewish community in Budapest is thriving once again.

I guess this is a good place to add that Budapest is quite multicultural, which is cool. There is more ethnic variation than in Prague, which I think might be a product of Hungary's shifting rulers over the past millenia - Turkish, Magyar, Hapsburg, they've seen it all.

The Hungarian Parliament, as seen from the tower of St. Stephen's Basilica. The Parliament building is gorgeous, and looks like a cross between a gothic castle and a gothic church. It's spectacularly gothic and incredibly ornate.

KC and I on the tower of St. Stephen's Basilica.

On Saturday we went to Esceri, a flea market on the southern edge of town. They had a ton of interesting antiques for pretty reasonable prices, and we had a blast. However, we  forgot to eat lunch before leaving, so we had to buy this delicious fried potato dough topped with grated cheese. I don't remember what it was called, but holy cow was it greasy and delicious.

KC  has a million cameras. Ok, one of them is mine, but still - what a gangsta.

While we were in Budapest, KC and I visited a supremely strange place called Memento Park. After the fall of Communism, no one wanted Soviet statues or monuments anymore, so the founders of Memento Park collected a bunch of surviving one's from Central Europe and put them on a few acres outside of Budapest. Seeing these statues was bizarre and kind of depressing; I actually felt a bit guilty for paying money to see the imposed-idols that tyrannized this part of the world for so many years. Interesting, sure, but also quite sobering.

Silhouette of a Soviet statue.

Outside the park they had an old Soviet Trabant, which was apparently a notoriously unreliable automobile. This one was in particularly bad shape thanks to tourists breaking off pieces, but there was still enough of the car left for KC to squeeze inside and look ridiculous.

A Soviet-era radio.

I don't know what this building is, but the roof is absolutely gorgeous. This picture doesn't do it justice - the roof is a mosaic of green and yellow tiles that shine in the sun. KC was absolutely fascinated by it when we passed it on the tram, and we went back later so he could photograph it.

I really love Budapest, and I'm so glad we went. It's pretty different from  Prague, but comparing the two cannot convey the true nature of either city. I am so unbelievably fortunate to travel the way I am right now, and I plan to savor every moment of it. Everything we have done and seen so far has been amazing, and as cliche as it sounds, we'll remember this forever.

The Czech word for ice cream is zmrzlina.

Today we started a bit later than usual (slept til 9:30), but still managed to see a ton of great sites around the city. We wandered around Mala Strana for a bit, which was nice but quite crowded. Turns out this city is a big tourist destination - who knew? After lunch we took the tram to Vysehrad, an old castle/fortress resting on some quite impressive cliffs along the Vlatava River. It's a very nice place, and the views from the top of the castle walls are absolutely incredible - we could see quite far down the river and into the lovely countryside. According to an exhibit there, the archaeological record for the region dates back to prehistoric times (around 3800 BC, I think), and there are a number of myths surrounding the area's history. Unfortunately, I do not remember the details of said myths, but suffice to say they were quite fascinating indeed.

While KC was in class yesterday I took a walk in Stromovka Park, which is only a few blocks from our apartment. I went just as the sun was peeking out after a big rainstorm, and it was absolutely gorgeous. This park might just be the most fairytale-like public place in existence. Stromovka used to be a royal hunting ground, and it is filled with tall leafy trees, lovely grass, and paths winding up and down the hillside. I had a great time just wandering around, and made sure to bring KC back later in the day.

The weather here can be pretty volatile, it seems. Yesterday especially. It rained until 8:30, was sunny from 8:30 to 10:00, stormed rather nastily from 10 to 11 (a storm which I was caught in), was sunny, stormed, was sunny, etc. etc. etc. I might even venture to say that the weather in Prague is crazier than the weather in Colorado!

After seeing some of the major tourist spots on the weekend I am very very glad to be living in Holesovice, which is much quieter and more residential. I feel like we're getting a bit more of the local flavour this way. We are slowly learning more Czech, and I recently purchased a phrasebook to help us along the way.

I've noticed a few interesting things about Prague fashion, the most striking of which is the women's propensity to wear stockings. While in America sheer nude-color stockings are not particularly fashionable, here they are worn with skirts, shorts, and even open-toed shoes. A lot of older women also have really brightly dyed hair. We've seen a number of ladies sporting red, purple, or pink tresses.

There are so many places here that I'm just dying to explore! Everything is absolutely gorgeous and fascinating, and the history is wonderful. I wish that we could post pictures and share these great places! Hopefully my computer will be fixed soon - I might have to take it to an Apple Store, but the closest one is in Munich. Weekend trip, perhaps?

Actually, we're thinking about visiting Budapest next weekend. I've heard great things about it, so I'm excited to see it.

A Brief Post

Did I mention? The Czechs make the most delicious ice cream of all time! And it's usually less than $2/scoop, which means every time can be ice cream time.

Also, we wandered around Mala Strana and Hradcany for a while yesterday, and I've concluded that aimless wandering is the best way to see a new city. We stumbled upon most of the major sights, but also discovered some hidden places that would have otherwise remained invisible. The St. Vitus Cathedral was spectacular - it's a giant gothic building with soaring ceilings and incredible stained glass, as well as tombs dating back to the late AD 900s! I've never seen someone that old before (even though they were encased in stone).

That side of town is on a hillside, so we got some amazing views of the city. There are buildings representing every period here; the contrast between older buildings and the Soviet-era buildings is particularly interesting. It's amazing that through the World Wars and Communist cultural programs, the city's amazing architecture remained virtually untouched.

Ok, I'm off to another exciting day!

First Impressions, Part II

I'm not sure how many hours it's been since we arrived in Prague, but I can say with certainty that each one has been filled with excitement, adventure, and various levels of exhaustion. Everywhere we've gone thus far has been absolutely amazing - I can't wait to explore more!

We started today with a trip to a nearby hypermarket, which is essentially like an American supermarket but smaller and more Czech. It took a while to find it in the winding streets of Holesovice, but the walk was quite nice. A good deal of people have dogs here, and we got to see a lot of them on the walk, as well as admire the multitude of old buildings. At the hypermarket, we picked up a few items, but had to squeeze everything in a tiny basket since carts cost Kč5. Aside from that, the biggest difference I noticed between Czech and American markets is the bread section. KC bought a baguette for breakfast, and it was just sitting on a shelf with oter baguettes, we did not have to put it in a bag, and the clerk just put it on the conveyor with everything else. The lack of germ-based paranoia was pretty refreshing, actually.

After breakfast and grocery shopping, we headed to KC's school in Vinohrady for his registration and such. It looks pretty far away on the map, but when we took the metro the commute wasn't bad at all. The neighborhood was pretty neat, and rather different from Holesovice and Old Town - there was a lot more Soviet-style architecture, and a few of the older buildings were being renovated. From the people on the streets and the storefronts, you could tell pretty easily that it was a student area. While KC was doing school things, I met up with Veronika for coffee in the school's cafe (turns out Sodexho does their food, too! Urgh...) It was really great to just sit and chat with her for a while; I learned a lot more about Czech culture and got to know her a bit better. She is an International Relations major and lives in a small town about an hour outside of Prague, which sounds like a pretty intense commute. I'm really impressed by her language s kills, too - in addition to very good English, she also speaks Czech (of course), Italian, German, and a bit of Russian. Veronika still seems a bit shy, but I really like her and hope we can be friends! The three of us went to lunch at a pizza place after, and according to KC Czech pizza is surprisingly delicious (I had to opt out and go for a quiche in order to avoid the glutenzz).

After lunch, KC and I explored Vinohrady a bit more, and found a really incredible train station from 1918 called Praha hlavní nádraží. It is an absolutely incredible place - the train depot is a sweeping building made of metal, glass, and exposed old-style industrial beams, and the inside of the station is very grandiose and majestic. It's currently undergoing renovation and was in quite the state of disrepair, but that made it more interesting. I would love to post some photos of this place (and everywhere else), but my computer decided to break and KC's can't connect to my camera, so no pictures for now. You'll just have to use your imagination, I guess.

We then went to buy metro passes, which was difficult because not a lot of the ticket people spoke English (and I still don't have one because I couldn't convince them to give me a student discount). This afternoon, however, I was able to complete a full transaction without using any English - I was quite proud. We're slowly picking up bits pof Czech, but it seems to be a rather difficult language. I'm hoping that by the end of the trip we'll at least have some "survival Czech" down, or perhaps even a basic understanding of the language (my hopes aren't high for that, though).

So far, this trip has been quite the adventure. We've had a few difficulties, like the lack of hot water on Sunday and perpetually sore feet, but I'm having a fantastic time. I can't wait to learn more about the culture and history of this place - it is so fascinating! We're also thinking of making some trips to the countryside (I hear the Moravian Karst is spectacular), as well as the surrounding countries. I've never been to a place where so few people speak a language I can understand, and it's both terrifying and fun. This is my first trip outside of the U.S., and thus far it seems like Prague was a great (albeit somewhat difficult) place to start. It is so gorgeous and amazing here, with something new around every corner, and I can't wait to explore it more.