Budapest

I have delayed this post for a long time due to lack of time to sit at a computer and dig into the past to remember what happened. I went to Budapest as part of the field study a few weeks back… the one where I visited Český Krumlov, and Vienna, Austria. Well… I also went to Budapest, Hungary. It was spectacular. The small part of the city that I got to see reminded me a lot of Prague. The layout was very similar with the river running through, the same sort of buildings, a tree covered hill across the river and a castle up on the hill. I enjoyed it.



Let me compare my notes… today in music class I was trying to make a list of all the things I did in Budapest. I will now write this post by looking at my ‘notes and fluffing them up with random details that will either interest you or bore you to death.

So when we arrived in Budapest I was highly impressed with the location of our hotel. Driving into town we saw this cool looking bridge which turned out to be right next to our hotel, which was right along the Danube River. The hotels layout was frustrating because you couldn’t access anyone’s room unless you were on that particular floor. I was in a room separate from my typical girls so I felt completely disconnected. When I got to my room It sounded like there was a party going on next door. YES! Being the cool curious cat that I am (oooo id rather be a dog tho… ) but yes… I popped my head in and said “hey what’s going on in here?” It was room filled with middle + aged people drinking wine out of the smallest glasses that I’ve seen. The group must have been refilling them often because they were a bit drink and very chatty. It turns out they were from all over the US and Canada and were on a sightseeing cruise along the Danube. How fun! I can only hope to be able to do such a thing when I am older. I know my grandmother was able to go on many trips as well.




So hotel, neighbors….blah blah blah… let’s hear about Budapest already!! Our first night we had dinner paid for at this really nice restaurant across the river. Now if only we had been able to get to it sooner. The whole USAC group walked in the direction of the restaurant only to be held up at a bridge. There were mobs of people, police, and camera people….and no one knew what was going on. I wanted to go check out the scene but Jan (our fearless leader) recommended that I stay put. I ended up giving my camera to a friend so he could cross the ropes and check it out (we observed that they were not letting people by unless that had a big camera. Fortunately mine looks quite impressive to some). He made it over and I was still stuck… without my child waiting and clueless. Finally… the crowd began to move and we were pushing into a sea of people, mostly women holding balloons. I still have no idea what was going on but I’m assuming it was something with breast cancer awareness or something and I felt proud unknowingly supporting the cause.





After dinner we had a tour of the castle and the grounds surrounding it. I just follow aimlessly and stare at everything I see. The night views overlooking the city were fabulous… and again,… reminded me of Prague. Early to bed… and early to rise…


Day 2: began with a trip to the Hungarian baths. I was excited but not because being in a swimsuit after 2 months of Czech food and beer and no summer sun is not something I would like to do.. I sucked it up with no sandals (eewwww foot fungus) and went in the water anyway. While in the baths all I could think about was James Bond movies (the new one comes out soon ...here before the US.. HAHHA suckers… I’m seeing it first! (hopefully it’s in English)). Anyway it felt like a James Bond movie with all the people sitting around surrounded by steam. The only difference was… instead of hot bond ladies walking around it was old harry Hungarian men and older women (unfortunately I accidentally looked into the showers and saw many of them in the nude! AHH). The first pool we got into was the mid range pool, it was warm and had this neat whirlpool in the middle… it sucked you in spun you around and help onto you until you struggled your way out. (no pics of the baths sorry)

After the warm baths I braved being naked (swimsuit on) and headed over to where the boys were. The pool they started in was so nice.. and hot compared to the first bath. We swam around and watched old Hungarian men play chess. They have these tables in the middle of the baths so you can sit and play chess until you turn into a prune. I would have battled a Hungarian, but my chess skills are subpar if they even exist at all. Last time I played I got slaughtered and my opponent was going easy on me (thanks Ryon!)


When I got sick of the baths and being a prune I went back to the hotel and met up with a small group for a steep hike. We explored a mountain (Gelleret Hill) and enjoyed scenic views and looking at hats and handbags made of mushrooms (so strange and I held back on my urge to buy one). Let the pictures explain....









We walked down the mountain and along the river to parliament. The weather was fantastic and the bikers nearly ran us over every 5 minutes. More pictures to explain….










Our hike ended with a trek to the Hungarian market (at market hall Vasárcsárnok). We got there and it had closed. Bummer! Apparently it was a great place to get authentic souvenirs such as wine, spices and other Hungarian foods and such. I guess it saved me some money… if I hadn’t gone crazy and bought a bunch of scarves. Oops….. unsuccessful market was followed by dinner and then wine at the castle. I still find it crazy that in ‘no rules land’ you can basically sit and drink wine/beer anywhere. Oh yeah and you can just hang out at castles…. ‘what-ev’….I felt so cultured and movie –like sitting on a castle with my bottle of Hungarian wine looking over the city. I wonder if the old castle dwellers used to sit and look over their empire and discuss random things over a bottle of wine at 2 AM? Humm… it was amazing…

(and don't worry.. I didn't finish that whole bottle)

New and exciting post coming soon...

Well I am in lubjljana, Slovenia right now, catching a train back to Trieste Italy tonight. I have been gone for the past 10 days taking tons of pictures and making lots of memories. When I get back to Prague I vow to lock myself in my room and get a decent post up soon. Sorry for the wait!

Friday Trips

Turnov:

So last Friday i went with the USAC to a little town called Turnov. It was probably the most beautiful drive i have been on in my life.. well at least the parts that i saw when i was awake. We passed trough a forest of white aspens along a windy road. I felt like i was in a spiraling tunnel of leaves. Fall is my favorite.

So at this little town that is apparently very poor and secluded, we went to a glass blowing factory. Apparently Bohemia is known for its glass. Before entering the factory we learned that legally a person from every family is allowed to work at this specific factory. This law explains what i saw next. The factory workers were a combination of 16 year old boys and middle aged men... all dressed in clothes that looked like they had been work for 3 years straight. The best/worst part was that they were all sitting around and drinking beer.... mind you that the temperature it takes to mold glass is 1400-1600 °C. HOT!!.... what was also hot(sarcasm here) was the man in the short shorts.. basically boxers.. and flip flops. It was awesome!!





The whole scenario was very awkward. We walked into this huge warehouse room with huge furnaces, the men mentioned earlier. We stared at them.. they stared at us... we judged them.. they seized up "who they wanted to blow their tube". It was pretty sick. We got to go up on this platform and blow glass as they selected us. I had no idea what I was doing but I don't think anyone else did either. instead of something pretty and little that I should take home and use a vase or pencil holder i ended up with a giant bulbous!... haha.. yes.. a bulbous. It was a good place for photos but i was being lazy and the lighting sucked. Oh well...




After the factory we went to another little town to a Czech garnet place. (Bohemia is known for its garnets as well). I was interested a bit because Garnet is my birthstone but overall disappointed by the tour. It was like being in a jewelry story where they polished the stones in front of you. I can't even imagine what the poor guys were thinking... jewelry is just not their for-tay.

After the garnets it was back on the bus to enjoy yet another a beautiful drive through the czech country side.

Kutna Hora:

So Friday (yesterday) I visited Kutna Hora. The first stop was a bone church. It was pretty cool and a bit creepy to know that the majority of the bones were from plague victims. I originally thought that the whole church was made of bones but apparently that is a different church somwhere else. Bummer.




Next we explored the town a bit... ate at a quaint little place and watched the world go by... snapped some pics and wandered the streets. Myself and four others visited a tiny castle that used to be the center of coin making back in the day. Kutna Hora was apparently the 2nd richest town in Europe or something.. (look up the details if you really want to know because i forgot).




Being the place for silver we got to go mining... well sort of. I got to dress up like a dork with a white coat, helmet, and flashlight and tour the mines... at least the part that wasn't flooded. The mines were so cool! I wanted to touch everything but avoid touching everything all at the same time. It was wet and drippy and we even got to turn off the lights for a bit to freak some people out. I cant even begin to imagine how life as a miner would have been. some of the passages we went through were so short and narrow that we were basically crawling. Back in the day the miner's light were so dim that they could barely see a hand in front of their face. The tour guide was telling up they they could find silver by the sound of it and the smell... crazy!!

Debates

Note to self: Staying up till 5 AM watching the presidential debates was not a good idea.

Went the the globe at 3AM, got the last night tram back and was still mentally awake and couldn't fall asleep. For not caring enough about politics, I am proud to say that I listened intensely to the whole thing... maybe the persuasion, argumentation and debate classes that I took at Chico have paid off. I now have reason to back up my political stance as well. Nice.

Now I'm mentally debating whether or not to go on a 33 mile hike in the middle of the night tomorrow.... I figure that the amazing Elisa can run 26.2 miles so I can walk 33. Right?? .....details later.

Observations of People and Hockey

I just got back from a trip to the grocery store, Tesco. Before that I went to try a so called ‘legitimate döner’ with a few people. On this venture out I observed a lot of Czech activity. Now that I feel comfortable in this city I have taken a lot more time to people watch. Throughout this trip I have also found myself observing human behavior (how people act when they have a crush, first stages of relationships between romantic partners and friends, the forced friendships that occur among people in close proximity, roommate dramas, the differences between extroverts and introverts in the study abroad experience, shit talking, acceptance of mixed culture, opinions and world views of different states, reactions of Czech people to tourists and other people in general.. ya know… basically everything).

Let me say that I love non-verbal behavior. I have held complete conversations with strangers without saying a single word. A lady on the tram a few weeks back went on and on about something to me… she smiled.. I smiled… she made a strange face.. I made a strange face… she laughed… I laughed… I laughed and she looked at me strange… I nodded my head and utilized the sad confused face, as if I misheard her. Although I should be past the point and show stage I do it almost everywhere I go. When you speak Czech here the locals look at you confused (and angry) and try to speak to you in English. I will never learn Czech or understand why it is so hard to order something as simple as a bowl of potato soup and a pivo (beer). Sidenote: last Friday I found an amazing place to get this meal for about $3. Delicious!




So today on my trip to the grocery store I specifically observed several things. 1) People here judge you. By this I mean they stare at you, give you the ol’ up and down look, all while maintaining the typical Czech, solemn ‘I won’t smile at anything’ look. Yes. This makes me feel like crap and sometimes I smile back just to make them uncomfortable….or I mug them back so that I appear to be a local.

2) I saw two young men helping woman exit the tram with their baby carriages. When I first arrived in Prague I watched a short video that explained that this act is a polite gesture on all trams. People here are also very respectful to the elderly and give up their seat willingly to seniors. (Sidenote: During the day the majority of the people on the trams are elderly and middle aged people with a few punk teenagers. People are mostly quiet and keep to themselves. At night the trams are packed with young people….girls sitting on their guys lap… making out, hands in each other’s pockets, cooing and kissing. (we have a point system game going for PDA. It is everywhere). At night the young people are loud and everywhere. I feel like most the youngins I see are in their late teens. Maybe this is because the drinking age is lower or Czech people look more youthful. )(that was the longest sidenote/paragraph ever. )(Random picture from Vysehrad.. the park above my house).



3) In broad daylight, children pee in public all the time. I witnessed two today… both were in trees. By trees I mean one, not a forest of trees…those lone trees in the middle of the sidewalk that are surrounded by, not shrubbery, but concrete or a grate. This means that everyone walking by… and there are a lot of people walking by… can see them. The first kid I saw was a little boy, about 3 years old. The second a 10 year oldish girl… that is wrong! Remember I have witnessed these things at 2 in the afternoon. Not appropriate to my standards of ‘civilized’.

4) Dogs are everywhere. YES!... but they poop everywhere too. And now that Fall is here, I have come to terms with the fact that I will step on a leaf and either a)realize the smell later or b)slip and fall on my ass right then and there. .. Speaking of slipping… I’ve got a story.

Story: Friday night, sometime after midnight, a friend, Bonnie (we joke about being the same person), and I were making our way home on the tram. We were escorting our friend’s friends from Denmark back to their hostel. They needed to get off at I.P Pavlova which is a few stops near out tram stop. We put them on a train heading that direction(home for us)… without realizing that we were supposed to be getting on the same tram. Instead we waited at a stop heading the opposite direction. About 46 seconds too late we realized we needed to be on a tram that was just about to leave about 30 meters away (the one the guys were on). We sprinted as best we could on the wet and slippery cobblestones towards the soon to be departing, stopped tram. Now at this time I am running….thinking “don’t slip Erinn, you’re going to fall… don’t slip don’t slip’. BAM! Bonnie, who was right in front me, falls to her knees and slides about 6 feet, arm stretched out towards the tram as if she was about to propose to someone who had just climbed on the tram. She pops right back up (like a good softball player would) and gets on the tram… or what we thought was a tram. I get on and suddenly realize “Oh shit.. this is a bus Bonnie get off get off!!’. Out of breath and laughing hysterically we make it off the Bus and wait for the correct tram.



We get on the right tram and reach our transfer stop. Across the street we see the tram we need to transfer to. On the run again….across the street… on the wet slippery cobble stones and BAM!!.. I’m on the ground…. Sliding….on my ass.... not graceful at all. Bonnie with her loud laugh cocks her head back, laughing with her mouth wide open. I’m on the ground sitting and laughing as well. A drop of roof water plops right onto Bonnie’s tongue…. HAHAHA. She is grossed out, I am laughing even harder… and we missed our tram. This is just an example of the crazy things that happen when Bonnie and I are alone together and when night transportation gets a bit confusing. All this happened while sober… just to give you a better idea.

Back to Czech people and culture. (And something I can use as an excuse to post pictures.. the earlier topics are sort of wordy)

I went to my second hockey game yesterday evening. I was in the 3rd row right next to the fan section for less that 6 bucks. I could hear the roar of the Slavia fans and see the players’ expressions as they smashed each other up to the glass. We were right behind the goal so it was pretty exciting. I was like ‘monkey see monkey do’ when it came to cheering. I had no idea what anyone was saying but I chanted along using sounds that may or may have not been correct. Slavia won… they are a pretty good team and win often so that is always nice. The last quarter was intense! 2-2 and Slavia scored to win it with 00:45 left in the game. Amazing! Another amazing thing about the game was this fierce red mullet (Appreciate it Melissa.) Also, at the end of the game (if they win) the players come out on the ice and sing with the crowd. Then they line up and slide on their bellies towards the crowd. So entertaining!





...Also... a picture to inspire you to read about the photography exhibits I have seen since I've been here.(You can read more about it on my other blog if you so desire....

Vienna

After Český Krumlov it was off to Wien (Vienna), Austria. Yes! Another country to add to my map! I’d explain my first encounters with Vienna like a Google map zoom. We started at a distance and worked our way in. Our first stop was the highest hill in the city. It had great views of the entire city.


From the lookout point I made my way down the hill through the Kahlenberg vineyards. It seemed again that I was trekking through people’s backyards… I hesitated as I passed a house with the sign ‘don’t worry about the dog, beware of owner’… followed by pictured of guns and evil dogs. Oh well… I made it! Once at city level we passed several older art students painting different parts of the city and vineyards. I always love taking pictures of people making pictures… art on art. Overall I was not impressed with Vienna. It reminded me a lot of SF… Just a lot of newer type high-rise buildings, graffiti and people (but German speaking, which I loved) I am seriously considering picking up a tape that will teach me how to become fluent).


When we had finally zoomed into Vienna we ended up in our hostel. Zooming in even further we found soggy pizza in our windowsill. The oddest/creepiest thing about the city was the mannequins. (in the words of Dane Cook... "have you ever seen a mannequin that you want to f*ck?"... a laugh at this). Our hotel was located right on the main strip of shops and the window displays were freaky... so realistic down to kids playing and a child sticking his tongue out at another. I took my favorite picture of the trip in Vienna but you will have to check it out on my other blog. mannequins make great models but like real ones they don't eat. Bummer.





The one cool thing about Vienna was the kebabs!.. YUM!!... oh yeah.. and the millions and millions of museums and galleries that were there. The night I stayed in Vienna it was Museum Nacht (night). I got a free ticket(usually 13Euros) that allowed me to get into any museum from 6pm to 1am. The group of people I was with spent a large amount of museum time searching for dinner… a döner dinner of course. I later coined the term ‘what would you do for a döner?'.... creative, I know, but it will be on a t-shirt one day. Another phrase that I forgot to mention last post was “when in Krumlov.” Several of us have been using this term since we arrived in Prague… the ‘when in Rome’ thing just didn’t fit right.

So back to museum night…. I ended up at the Albertina viewing the works of the famous Van Gough, Picasso and Monet, and at a Butterfly House that had about six butterflies and 14,564,822 cockroaches! I also so a golden Mozart wooing women. I’ve discovered that I look at a lot of art as I would a photograph. I have no idea if this is how you are supposed to look at art but I do it anyway. I have also become very frustrated with the concept of art. I mean who gets to decide what good art is, or who end up on display? I know a lot of people are not famous for their work until after they are dead but why them over someone else. You can’t judge tastes so how can you judge art. Some contemporary art can be, for example, a canvas painted blue. It is art… why? A 4 year old could finger paint something more creative than that!... I know I’m ranting but I’m just trying to figure it all out right now. I’ve been going to photography exhibits in Prague and been absolutely confused about the difference between good and bad, art and not art.







Back to Vienna. Van Gogh was amazing because it was a life’s worth of work in a few rooms. Although people were packed in the gallery like spam in a can, it was crazy to get up close and think that although he painted it up close (where it looks like a bunch of little lines) once you step back it was a beautifully constructed image. Neat! I want to paint!

The morning of the second day we explored the gardens (I forget which ones). Here the boys in our group molested a statue...boob grabbing and motor boating was involved. Rude yet amusing.


Also in Vienna I was able to visit the Sigmund Freud Museum. The coolest part about this museum was that it was in his old house. I peed in Sigmund Freud’s house! (In the WC-water closet -of course). How wicked. The most interesting thing I observed was the location of him desk. He sat by the window but had a hanging mirror on the latch of his window….very interesting to me. I felt surrounded by the intelligence of many great minds as I toured the museum. Everything he studied and taught us is fairly recent. After Freud it was döner time and back on the bus to our next destination… Budapest… but before that…. a quick stop at the Hundertwasser-Krawina Haus…. a place with unique modern architecture where lines don’t exist but the toilet of modern art does.

Třísov

I just returned from a 5 day trip throughout the Czech Republic, Austria, Hungary and Slovakia. About 45 students from the USAC program went by bus to see some of the coolest castles and most important cities in Europe. The blogging of this trip will take several days and there will be many pictures.

We started our trip by going to Třísov, a little town in the south of the Czech Republic. It was sprinkling when we got off the bus which stopped in what seemed to be the middle of nowhere. Finding the castle was our goal. The landscape was magnificent. There were miles and miles of grassy fields scattered with trees that appeared to be on fire due to the changing leaves. (I love fall). The few houses that we saw had red-roofs to keep with the Czech tradition. We walked along a path that wound through the woods. Most of this walk I felt like I was walking through people’s backyards.. it was so refreshing, the air was crisp (unlike the stale bus), and very peaceful. After about 15 minutes we came upon Dívčí Kámen Castle… or what used to be a castle. After visiting my fair share of castles this trip I have been most impressed with the ones that barely exist anymore. It’s so cool to stand where something used to be and imagine what life used to be like. So we got to the castle, threw a random football around and headed back to the bus… next destination Český Krumlov.




Of the entire trip Český Krumlov was my favorite. It is a tiny town that is tucked inside a winding river. It was so peaceful and friendly and had a great.. and very entertaining… nightlife. We stayed in a quaint little hostel called 99 in a room called ‘show white and the seven dwarfs’…. I think I was Sleepy.. or maybe bashful since in the middle of the night a random man walked into our room and jumped on top of me. … ok ok… here’s the story: So we had a little nap time once we arrived at the hostel and just as we were waking up from it a guy popped his head in. I said ‘hello there sir, who are you? would you like to come join us for nap time. You can come lay right here signaling to my bed.” This was all in fun and I was just being friendly me trying to meet new people. The guy told us, in his Australian accent, that he was looking for someone and might make it back to hang out at like 3am.



So the ladies and I had a good laugh and went back to our business which just happened to be a guided tour of the Baroque style Český Krumlov Castle. Apparently the castle is very close to its original state. Our tour guide was a friend of Jan (the main USAC guy) and was originally from Florida. He made funny jokes, gave good information, and later played his guitar and sang songs and eventually smoked ‘grass’ with a few people from out group. My favorite part was the ballroom (of course) which had walls painted in the most peculiar fashion. There is no real explanation for the artwork but has something to do with people from all over finding each other at a masquerade ball in a way that is confusing with mirrors. Some people in the murals images face others and if you follow where each of them is looking you can see that they are all communicating with people throughout the room. The song Bohemian Rhapsody is inspired by the castles ballroom as well. It is awesome.. and I may eventually do some research online to learn more….. maybe.





After the castle we ate traditional goulash at a brewery. The dinner ended with the whole group singing ‘American Pie’, ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’, Pink Floyd’s ‘Wish you were here’.. and others… it was a blast. After we went to a club and started the dance party… as usual. I am embarrassed and excited to say that I have begun to recognize techno songs that have been played in every club we go to. How fun!


After the club I hung out at the boy’s hostel, where they had a pub/most happening place in town. The walk back to our hostel was spectacular. It felt like we (my friend Heather and I) were the only people in town. The sky had cleared and, although it was cold, it was calming to wander the cobblestone streets. I went to sleep and around 3am a man jumped into my bed. Haha..I was surprisingly calm when this happened. I may have still been sleeping when I said ‘hello there, who are you?.’ At this point I thought it was a random person who had drunkenly stumbled into the wrong room. He informed me of who he was and we let him hang out for a bit because he was harmless. It was probably one of the most entertaining things I have experienced at that hour of the night. To make it even more entertaining one of the funniest people in the USAC program came in the room demanding that the Australian man (Dean-pronounced Dane) took off his clothes and got into her bed because it was her Birthday.



None of this is probably funny to those reading because it was a ‘had to be there’ situation. I write it because… well maybe so I won’t forget. What a night! Český Krumlov is my favorite and for a $10 bus ticket I have no reason not to go back and never return…



Soon to come: Austria, Hungary and beyond….