Today I am getting paid for the first time since June. It is going to be really nice to actually have an income. My boss told me on my first day, 'Just write your hours on a piece of paper. Whenever you need money, let me know and I will give it to you.' Kind of a strange way to handle it, but I should be getting close to 400 euros cash today for my 6 days of work! It looks like I am going to do a lot better than just break even this winter. I have been skiing when I have time in the middle of the day. Still not a lot of snow yet, but I'm not giving up. I worked Christmas Eve, Christmas, and will be working New Year's Eve and Day as well. It is sure a lot of work days, but I am not feeling overwhelmed yet. The food and the money more than make up for it.
A bit about work: Overall, the job is going very well. It is pretty simple and basic kitchen help, kind of mindless work but not too boring. I generally wash all the dishes (yes there is a quick automatic machine), sort out the recycling, peel vegetables, mop the floors, sort and dry silverware, that sort of thing. The hotel/restaurant is owned by two German brothers in about their 40s. One of them spends his time in the kitchen while the other does the bar and the general hotel stuff. The other kitchen helper guy is named Klaus. He has been the main one to 'train' me. He is definitely the big dumb doofus of the kitchen. He hardly speaks a word of English to me, which would be very helpful to my quest to learn to German, except he just mumbles quickly even when I ask him to enunciate slowly so I can understand. Instead he points to something and mumbles instructions, I just nod, say OK, and figure it out myself. It's not worth asking him to explain anything twice. He has a certain way he does every task and of course wants me to do things the same way. Since I always find my own way, he seems to think I am incompetent. That actually often works out in my favor, because he just does the difficult and annoying tasks himself. I don't really mind him too much, I just ignore him most of the time. One of the chefs in the kitchen is a younger guy inamed Tommy. He speaks English the best, though I need to tell him to stop talking to me so often in English because I will never learn German if he does.
The best part of my job is the free food. The restaurant is very nice with a fairly wide range of Austrian and international food. The main courses range from about 15-30 euros. I can eat first thing when I arrive in the morning, just a quick snack for breakfast. Then at the end of my shift, there is a big lunch for the staff. Usually salad and bread, plus a big stew made from the previous night's meat, plus multiple side dishes of potatoes, rice, etc. After my evening shift, we all eat again. Usually we get whatever the daily dish was. So far, I have had filet mignon three times, plus duck and an angus beef roast, all with loads of sides. It is not quite food straight off the menu, but much better than most 'staff meals' that my friends are getting at their restaurants. I fill up my own plate, so I usually eat a ton. I can pretty much snack all day long as well on soup, bread, etc. We often get a beer or two at night as well.
Commuting to work twice a day is a big pain in the ass right now. I definitely need to move out of Kitzbuehel and into Kirchberg. Right now I have to take a bus and a train each way to get to work. I have the schedules down for the most part, but it is really stressful on the weekends, holidays, etc. when the schedule changes and/or the busses are late. It would be really nice to live within a ten minute walk to work (i.e. anywhere in Kirchberg). While I glad to be working a lot of hours and also be able to ski in the middle of the day, I might get burnt out at some point. I was told I would be working 6 days a week, but I am not exactly sure how that will work. I am currently working 14 days straight, I hope after that I start getting a day off. I am allowed to take any day off I want if I can find a replacement to send in to do my job. That shouldn't be a problem, but they want me to only send in one guy as a replacement for the whole season. That way they can train him in a couple of days. It will be tough to find someone who is willing to do that whenever I ask for the whole season.
I skiied Saturday and Sunday afternoons between work shifts. Saturday was some of the iciest conditions I have ever experienced, so I went to a new area yesterday which had soft snow and great runs. This weekend I was only been able to go up for 2 hours each day because of my work schedule and the fact that runs close at 4:00. Once I move over to Kirch, I expect to get 3-4 hours a day on the slopes. I'm keeping count of days on the mountain, 9 times so far, already more than my last two seasons combined!
It looks like I am going to be able to save a lot more money than I expected. I don't have to pay for food or transportation (my ski pass covers it), so my expenses are incredibly low. Assuming I pay roughly what I am paying now for rent (300 euros) for the remainder of the season, I should be able to save at least 1000 euros/month and maybe up to 1500. That could put 5000 euros in my pocket by the end of the season which would be great! I'm not entirely sure what I will do come spring, or what I am saving for, but I have a few crazy ideas in mind (to be revealed at a much later date, obviously). Maren is with her family in Austria and I am trying to see if I can get my shift covered at work so I can go ski with her for a day, though she is about a 4 hour train ride away. She will be coming here in a little over a week.
I just posted the pics from my first couple of weeks here. Happy New Year!
December 28, 2009
December 20, 2009
Perfect day on the slopes! Plus, my week in Italy
I spent the whole day skiing today. The sun was out and there wasn't a cloud in the sky. There were very few people on the slopes, and I spent the last few runs in knee-deep, untracked powder! It was amazing snow and I hope it continues...
Last week, I took off for Italy to meet up with Maren. She flew into Bergamo which is outside Milan. So I only stopped for a bit in Milan to change trains. We both wanted to spend some time in smaller towns and avoid the big cities. Bergamo is exactly that, small enough to walk around easily. I arrived late at the B & B, so we didn't get out in town till the following day. Maren and I went for a walk and explored the town center. Then we headed up the hill nearby and got some great views. We also checked out the Christmas market before heading to the grocery store. We cooked ourselves a fantastic Italian feast back at the B & B. We made enough for dinner the following day :)
Next stop on the trip was Lake Como, north of Milan. A quick train ride got us to the town of Como, right on the lake of course. We had a pretty bad experience finding accommodation that night. We got a listing from the tourist information, yet every place seemed to be either closed or they just didn't answer the door/phone. We ended up wandering all over town several times in the cold. It took over 4 hours! But we finally found a reasonably priced hotel room and were incredibly relieved to take off our packs and get warm. We went out to a nice dinner, bought some candy at the Christmas market, and went back to the room to crash.
The following day, Maren and I walked through Como (to the few parts we hadn't seen the previous evening). We walked along the water till we got to a funicular. It was one of the longest I have ever seen, and it took us straight to the top of the mountain overlooking the town and the lake. We walked around up on the hill a long ways and took lots of pictures. We took the funicular back down as it was getting dark, then looked for food. After a long search, we found exactly what we were looking for: an inexpensive pizzeria right on the lake. We had another walk through the Christmas markets after dinner to finish the night.
We left Como the following morning to go to Verona. It was a last minute decision. We had been looking at going to Switzerland, but couldn't seem to find a hostel or B & B at a reasonable price. We were absolutely determined not to have a repeat of Como (4+ hours in the cold), so we booked a B & B in Verona the night before. It was only 30 euros for the double room, and it was right in the center of town! I spent one night on my own in Verona back in September, that's when I went to the Verdi opera. But it is a great town, and I definitely enjoyed another night there! Maren and I spent the evening walking through town, checking out the various Christmas markets, and buying more sugar-coated nuts. We searched for a restaurant for awhile until we found a cute little place where we shared pizza and pasta.
Maren had to get back to Germany soon to visit family and friends for the holidays, so we started making our way north. We took the train to Innsbruck, which is the biggest city in the western panhandle of Austria. It is only about 80 km away from where I am now in Kitzbuehel. We quickly found our B & B right in the center of the Old Town. Innsbruck is a really nice place, and I definitely plan on heading back over there this season (about an hour and a half by bus + train and only 5.50 euros each way!) It was really cold when we arrived, quite a bit below freezing. We wandered through town, ate some roasted chestnuts at the Christmas market, and then found a Chinese restaurant for dinner (we both have plenty of time to experience Austrian cuisine another night :) ).
We woke up relatively early to head out of town. We got on the same train, I headed to Woergl (between Kitz and Innsbruck), while Maren had to spend the whole day to get up to Marburg to visit a friend where she went to school. She is going on a ski holiday with her family in Austria, not too far south of Kitz, after Christmas. Depending on my work schedule, I may head over there to go skiing and meet her family. She will probably spend some time here in Kitz or Kirchberg on her way back in the beginning of the year. I am looking forward to it! When I got back into town, I spent one more night at Alpen Rider (the name of the 'hostel' I had been staying at previously in Kirchberg). I joined the whole crew there for a night out in Kitz. We ate at a traditional Tyrolean restaurant (Tyrol is this area of Austria), then hit the bars.
The next day I moved into a new place in Kitz. There are about 10 of the original group staying here at the 'Deutsch Institute.' It is kind of like a student residence that we are all using as temporary accommodation until we find homes. I am going to start looking tomorrow for a permanent place in Kirchberg. The pink palace in Kitz eventually fell through. Well, I could still live there, but it would be even more expensive than we originally thought. Plus, it makes a lot more sense for me to live in Kirchberg where I am going to be working 2 shifts a day beginning Wednesday. The Deutsch Institute is a pretty decent place, the only real problem is the location. It was a 15-20 minute walk out of Kitz. While it is on the bus line, it still takes 2 busses to get to Kirchberg. It is really cheap though. I am paying 10 euros a night for a double room (all to myself unless someone else shows up) with my own bathroom. I can also stay there as long as I want, though I hope not the whole season. If I am still here when I start working, I will see how bad the commute is, but I think I can hold out till I find a new place. I plan on moving to Kirchberg as soon as I find decent accommodation there.
Well, today was my 6th day up on the slopes. So far, only about half of the ski areas are open due to lack of snow. It is easy to find places with lots of snow, there are just some lower altitude areas that are a bit bare. This place is absolutely gigantic. I have probably seen about 10% of the total area so far. There is a massive web of gondolas and lifts that take you everywhere. You can take a gondola up in Kirchberg, then through a series of lifts, runs, and more gondolas, make it all the way out to Pass Thurn, which is over 30 km away! Sure beats taking the bus!
So far, I am doing alright on a budget. I have already paid for the expensive things (my lift pass, my rent at the Deutsch Institute through the end of December, my ski gear, the week in Italy...). So I shouldn't need much more money until I start working and get paid. I am really looking forward to it, which sounds silly considering the job is washing dishes. But it will be nice to get into a daily routine, plus I will get to eat good food for free and practice German all day long!
Merry Christmas everyone! I will try and update again before the New Year. Pictures of Austria and Italy are coming in the next couple of days! For those that didn't catch it, my Austrian phone number is 0043 664 996 6682. Hopefully I will have a mailing address soon!
Last week, I took off for Italy to meet up with Maren. She flew into Bergamo which is outside Milan. So I only stopped for a bit in Milan to change trains. We both wanted to spend some time in smaller towns and avoid the big cities. Bergamo is exactly that, small enough to walk around easily. I arrived late at the B & B, so we didn't get out in town till the following day. Maren and I went for a walk and explored the town center. Then we headed up the hill nearby and got some great views. We also checked out the Christmas market before heading to the grocery store. We cooked ourselves a fantastic Italian feast back at the B & B. We made enough for dinner the following day :)
Next stop on the trip was Lake Como, north of Milan. A quick train ride got us to the town of Como, right on the lake of course. We had a pretty bad experience finding accommodation that night. We got a listing from the tourist information, yet every place seemed to be either closed or they just didn't answer the door/phone. We ended up wandering all over town several times in the cold. It took over 4 hours! But we finally found a reasonably priced hotel room and were incredibly relieved to take off our packs and get warm. We went out to a nice dinner, bought some candy at the Christmas market, and went back to the room to crash.
The following day, Maren and I walked through Como (to the few parts we hadn't seen the previous evening). We walked along the water till we got to a funicular. It was one of the longest I have ever seen, and it took us straight to the top of the mountain overlooking the town and the lake. We walked around up on the hill a long ways and took lots of pictures. We took the funicular back down as it was getting dark, then looked for food. After a long search, we found exactly what we were looking for: an inexpensive pizzeria right on the lake. We had another walk through the Christmas markets after dinner to finish the night.
We left Como the following morning to go to Verona. It was a last minute decision. We had been looking at going to Switzerland, but couldn't seem to find a hostel or B & B at a reasonable price. We were absolutely determined not to have a repeat of Como (4+ hours in the cold), so we booked a B & B in Verona the night before. It was only 30 euros for the double room, and it was right in the center of town! I spent one night on my own in Verona back in September, that's when I went to the Verdi opera. But it is a great town, and I definitely enjoyed another night there! Maren and I spent the evening walking through town, checking out the various Christmas markets, and buying more sugar-coated nuts. We searched for a restaurant for awhile until we found a cute little place where we shared pizza and pasta.
Maren had to get back to Germany soon to visit family and friends for the holidays, so we started making our way north. We took the train to Innsbruck, which is the biggest city in the western panhandle of Austria. It is only about 80 km away from where I am now in Kitzbuehel. We quickly found our B & B right in the center of the Old Town. Innsbruck is a really nice place, and I definitely plan on heading back over there this season (about an hour and a half by bus + train and only 5.50 euros each way!) It was really cold when we arrived, quite a bit below freezing. We wandered through town, ate some roasted chestnuts at the Christmas market, and then found a Chinese restaurant for dinner (we both have plenty of time to experience Austrian cuisine another night :) ).
We woke up relatively early to head out of town. We got on the same train, I headed to Woergl (between Kitz and Innsbruck), while Maren had to spend the whole day to get up to Marburg to visit a friend where she went to school. She is going on a ski holiday with her family in Austria, not too far south of Kitz, after Christmas. Depending on my work schedule, I may head over there to go skiing and meet her family. She will probably spend some time here in Kitz or Kirchberg on her way back in the beginning of the year. I am looking forward to it! When I got back into town, I spent one more night at Alpen Rider (the name of the 'hostel' I had been staying at previously in Kirchberg). I joined the whole crew there for a night out in Kitz. We ate at a traditional Tyrolean restaurant (Tyrol is this area of Austria), then hit the bars.
The next day I moved into a new place in Kitz. There are about 10 of the original group staying here at the 'Deutsch Institute.' It is kind of like a student residence that we are all using as temporary accommodation until we find homes. I am going to start looking tomorrow for a permanent place in Kirchberg. The pink palace in Kitz eventually fell through. Well, I could still live there, but it would be even more expensive than we originally thought. Plus, it makes a lot more sense for me to live in Kirchberg where I am going to be working 2 shifts a day beginning Wednesday. The Deutsch Institute is a pretty decent place, the only real problem is the location. It was a 15-20 minute walk out of Kitz. While it is on the bus line, it still takes 2 busses to get to Kirchberg. It is really cheap though. I am paying 10 euros a night for a double room (all to myself unless someone else shows up) with my own bathroom. I can also stay there as long as I want, though I hope not the whole season. If I am still here when I start working, I will see how bad the commute is, but I think I can hold out till I find a new place. I plan on moving to Kirchberg as soon as I find decent accommodation there.
Well, today was my 6th day up on the slopes. So far, only about half of the ski areas are open due to lack of snow. It is easy to find places with lots of snow, there are just some lower altitude areas that are a bit bare. This place is absolutely gigantic. I have probably seen about 10% of the total area so far. There is a massive web of gondolas and lifts that take you everywhere. You can take a gondola up in Kirchberg, then through a series of lifts, runs, and more gondolas, make it all the way out to Pass Thurn, which is over 30 km away! Sure beats taking the bus!
So far, I am doing alright on a budget. I have already paid for the expensive things (my lift pass, my rent at the Deutsch Institute through the end of December, my ski gear, the week in Italy...). So I shouldn't need much more money until I start working and get paid. I am really looking forward to it, which sounds silly considering the job is washing dishes. But it will be nice to get into a daily routine, plus I will get to eat good food for free and practice German all day long!
Merry Christmas everyone! I will try and update again before the New Year. Pictures of Austria and Italy are coming in the next couple of days! For those that didn't catch it, my Austrian phone number is 0043 664 996 6682. Hopefully I will have a mailing address soon!
December 10, 2009
Update from Austria
First off, I GOT A JOB!!!
I got a phone call yesterday from a hotel/restaurant I had dropped my phone number off at about a week ago. The guy they had hired flaked out, so I went in this morning and got it! I will be mainly washing dishes in the kitchen, there might be some other work as well. I don't start till December 23rd, so I have a couple of weeks to hang out and ski! I'm going to be working a morning and evening shift six days a week so it will be quite a bit of work. But I will have every afternoon free to go skiing. The guys running the place seem to be very nice and flexible, if I am ever sick or want to go ski all day, I can send a friend in to cover my shift. They are going to start me at 8 euros an hour and if I do alright, bump it up to 10 or so. That seems to be the going rate for dishwashers in town, and it will be plenty to live on around here.
As for accommodation, that is still up in the air. We are still in negotiations to get the 'pink palace' right in the middle of Kitzbuehel. Every day the situation seems to be changing with the number of people that want to live there. So the price keeps changing as well which is making people uncomfortable. I'm still not sure if we are going to end up living there. My job is in Kirchberg, about 6 km from Kitz, so I would be bussing (or skiing) quite a bit every day. It would make more sense for me to live in Kirchberg, so I am going to look for some other places as a backup to the pink palace.
I have been up to the mountain three times this week! So far, the snow has been so-so, they definitely need more of it. The snow machines have been working hard the last couple of days. I have been taking the bus out about 20 minutes outside of Kitzbuehel where there has been a fair bit of powder. Earlier this week, I bought my gear: a pair of one year old Elan skis with bindings, brand new Rossignol boots, and some decent poles. All for 80 euros!!! It was an incredible deal, I was prepared to pay 200-300 euros for it. It was from a rental shop, I still don't know how the guy gave me such a good deal. He even machined the skis for me and he's going to service them again for me for free when I go back in.
Most of the people I have met here have been really cool. I am staying at a hostel with mostly Aussie ski bums. The majority of the people there have had success finding jobs so far. About half the people have accommodation, the rest are holding out for the pink palace as well. I've been meeting some locals as well which has helped me around town. I finished German Level 1 in Rosetta Stone and am now working on Level 2. It has definitely helped, and I am starting to understand a bit. It would be really cool to be speaking at a basic conversational level in a few months. My accent is still pretty terrible though...
Tomorrow I am taking the train down to Milan to visit Maren and hang out for a few days. I bought an Austrian rail pass today as well. Milan is not that interesting (or cheap), so we will probably spend just one night there, then take off for somewhere else. I'm not sure when I will get back, but I will have to sort out the accommodation dilemma right away!
Wow, it just started snowing as I write this!
I got a phone call yesterday from a hotel/restaurant I had dropped my phone number off at about a week ago. The guy they had hired flaked out, so I went in this morning and got it! I will be mainly washing dishes in the kitchen, there might be some other work as well. I don't start till December 23rd, so I have a couple of weeks to hang out and ski! I'm going to be working a morning and evening shift six days a week so it will be quite a bit of work. But I will have every afternoon free to go skiing. The guys running the place seem to be very nice and flexible, if I am ever sick or want to go ski all day, I can send a friend in to cover my shift. They are going to start me at 8 euros an hour and if I do alright, bump it up to 10 or so. That seems to be the going rate for dishwashers in town, and it will be plenty to live on around here.
As for accommodation, that is still up in the air. We are still in negotiations to get the 'pink palace' right in the middle of Kitzbuehel. Every day the situation seems to be changing with the number of people that want to live there. So the price keeps changing as well which is making people uncomfortable. I'm still not sure if we are going to end up living there. My job is in Kirchberg, about 6 km from Kitz, so I would be bussing (or skiing) quite a bit every day. It would make more sense for me to live in Kirchberg, so I am going to look for some other places as a backup to the pink palace.
I have been up to the mountain three times this week! So far, the snow has been so-so, they definitely need more of it. The snow machines have been working hard the last couple of days. I have been taking the bus out about 20 minutes outside of Kitzbuehel where there has been a fair bit of powder. Earlier this week, I bought my gear: a pair of one year old Elan skis with bindings, brand new Rossignol boots, and some decent poles. All for 80 euros!!! It was an incredible deal, I was prepared to pay 200-300 euros for it. It was from a rental shop, I still don't know how the guy gave me such a good deal. He even machined the skis for me and he's going to service them again for me for free when I go back in.
Most of the people I have met here have been really cool. I am staying at a hostel with mostly Aussie ski bums. The majority of the people there have had success finding jobs so far. About half the people have accommodation, the rest are holding out for the pink palace as well. I've been meeting some locals as well which has helped me around town. I finished German Level 1 in Rosetta Stone and am now working on Level 2. It has definitely helped, and I am starting to understand a bit. It would be really cool to be speaking at a basic conversational level in a few months. My accent is still pretty terrible though...
Tomorrow I am taking the train down to Milan to visit Maren and hang out for a few days. I bought an Austrian rail pass today as well. Milan is not that interesting (or cheap), so we will probably spend just one night there, then take off for somewhere else. I'm not sure when I will get back, but I will have to sort out the accommodation dilemma right away!
Wow, it just started snowing as I write this!
December 4, 2009
Lots of Snow in Austria!
I have arrived! I've been hanging out for a couple days now in Kirchberg and Kitzbuhel, right next door. The area is really beautiful. There are several small towns in the valley, each has a gondola or lift up to the mountains. So far, most of the people here are friendly, though in general don't speak as much English as I had expected. There has not been a whole lot of snow prior to today. I woke up this morning and it was absolutely dumping snow! It is still going now, and there is 10 cm on the ground in some places. It is supposed to continue through the weekend. My first ski day will hopefully be tomorrow!
As soon as I arrived, I started looking for a job and a home. It has been really difficult, but I might be making a little progress. There is a lot of competition from all the Aussies here for the few jobs that don't require legit work status or fluency in German. This afternoon a few of us are going to look at a gigantic 15 bedroom house right in the middle of Kitzbuhel. We have to convince the lady to rent half of it to about 20 of us. It is kind of run down, but fairly cheap I think. She wants to rent the whole place to 40 people; she wants 40,000 euros for the season. That works out to 200/month which would be pretty damn good. I also have kind of a job interview tonight as a dishwasher at some restaurant in Kirchberg. Most of the available jobs are dishwashing, kitchen help, hotel work, that kinda thing. Hopefully I can find one that pays a little bit and I can work in the evenings so I can ski all day. I bought my season pass to the mountains yesterday, so I am definitely committed to staying here (it was 500 euros).
Looking for a home and a job has been pretty crazy. I have mainly just been knocking on doors and asking people if they have a room for rent or any job available. It is like cold calling I guess, and I have been rejected hundreds of times by now. But that is the best way to find something in this area. There is also a newspaper with listings that has been helpful. I can't wait till I get the living situation sorted out. That is much more important than finding a job. I am only allowed to stay where I am now until the 15th or so, then they kick all us ski bums out. There is a group of about 25 of us staying there. There are 2 English kids, 1 kiwi, me, and the rest are Aussies (including the owner and all the workers there). Everyone is really nice and friendly, but I think we all realize that we are competing against each other so some people (myself included) are a bit secretive. Most of us are looking to move into the big house though, and once we all find jobs I think we will become good friends.
I have a lot more to say, but WiFi is in short supply around here! I will try to update more next week. Jonathan is here too, hanging out where I am staying and going sightseeing during the day while I look around. Oh, and if I get a home in the next few days, I will go meet up with Maren in Milan next weekend!
As soon as I arrived, I started looking for a job and a home. It has been really difficult, but I might be making a little progress. There is a lot of competition from all the Aussies here for the few jobs that don't require legit work status or fluency in German. This afternoon a few of us are going to look at a gigantic 15 bedroom house right in the middle of Kitzbuhel. We have to convince the lady to rent half of it to about 20 of us. It is kind of run down, but fairly cheap I think. She wants to rent the whole place to 40 people; she wants 40,000 euros for the season. That works out to 200/month which would be pretty damn good. I also have kind of a job interview tonight as a dishwasher at some restaurant in Kirchberg. Most of the available jobs are dishwashing, kitchen help, hotel work, that kinda thing. Hopefully I can find one that pays a little bit and I can work in the evenings so I can ski all day. I bought my season pass to the mountains yesterday, so I am definitely committed to staying here (it was 500 euros).
Looking for a home and a job has been pretty crazy. I have mainly just been knocking on doors and asking people if they have a room for rent or any job available. It is like cold calling I guess, and I have been rejected hundreds of times by now. But that is the best way to find something in this area. There is also a newspaper with listings that has been helpful. I can't wait till I get the living situation sorted out. That is much more important than finding a job. I am only allowed to stay where I am now until the 15th or so, then they kick all us ski bums out. There is a group of about 25 of us staying there. There are 2 English kids, 1 kiwi, me, and the rest are Aussies (including the owner and all the workers there). Everyone is really nice and friendly, but I think we all realize that we are competing against each other so some people (myself included) are a bit secretive. Most of us are looking to move into the big house though, and once we all find jobs I think we will become good friends.
I have a lot more to say, but WiFi is in short supply around here! I will try to update more next week. Jonathan is here too, hanging out where I am staying and going sightseeing during the day while I look around. Oh, and if I get a home in the next few days, I will go meet up with Maren in Milan next weekend!
November 30, 2009
Ready for an Austrian adventure
I flew into Paris yesterday and am very excited to be back in Europe. I spent about 9 days in Seattle taking care of some things. I sold my car, saw friends and family, and packed some ski gear and warm clothes. My dad also emptied my storage unit for me, thanks! Though it was a short trip, I was already getting antsy to get back here.
I had a fairly easy couple of flights to get into Paris, and I didn't get asked a single question at customs which surprised me. Yesterday I went to Montmartre and saw Sacre Coeur. Last night I met up with some French friends of mine, a couple guys I met in Budapest plus Clement and Jonathan (who I met up with in Portugal, Paris, and Krakow). We went out for a couple of drinks, drove through the Christmas markets along the Champs Elysee, and saw the Eiffel Tower Christmas 'light show.' Today I am just hanging out at the hostel until my train leaves this evening, overnighting through Munich to Kirchberg in Tirol. Jonathan will meet up with me in a couple of days to go skiing. There is not a whole lot of snow up there yet, but they should get some this week. There is only one lift open currently, but the entire 60+ lift ski area is set to open December 5th.
I suppose this blog will change a bit from previously. I might not update as often because I won't have as many travel stories considering I should be staying primarily in one place. I hope to find a job and a home as soon as possible. I am not sure what to expect when I arrive, so I am going to just try and be flexible and take whatever comes to me! I will update my progress later this week!
One more thing, here is my new Austrian phone number: 0043 6649966682. You should be able to reach me on that any time through May 2010!!
I had a fairly easy couple of flights to get into Paris, and I didn't get asked a single question at customs which surprised me. Yesterday I went to Montmartre and saw Sacre Coeur. Last night I met up with some French friends of mine, a couple guys I met in Budapest plus Clement and Jonathan (who I met up with in Portugal, Paris, and Krakow). We went out for a couple of drinks, drove through the Christmas markets along the Champs Elysee, and saw the Eiffel Tower Christmas 'light show.' Today I am just hanging out at the hostel until my train leaves this evening, overnighting through Munich to Kirchberg in Tirol. Jonathan will meet up with me in a couple of days to go skiing. There is not a whole lot of snow up there yet, but they should get some this week. There is only one lift open currently, but the entire 60+ lift ski area is set to open December 5th.
I suppose this blog will change a bit from previously. I might not update as often because I won't have as many travel stories considering I should be staying primarily in one place. I hope to find a job and a home as soon as possible. I am not sure what to expect when I arrive, so I am going to just try and be flexible and take whatever comes to me! I will update my progress later this week!
One more thing, here is my new Austrian phone number: 0043 6649966682. You should be able to reach me on that any time through May 2010!!
November 19, 2009
Fantastic final week in England!
My first evening in Manchester, I went out to a unique bar with an Aussie girl named Emily I met at the hostel. The tiny bar was in a converted underground public toilet. We walked down the stairs right from the sidewalk of the street. It was pretty clever. Later we met up with a French guy named Julien I had met earlier, but most of the pubs seemed to be closing around 1 o'clock so we decided to rest up to go out the following night. On Friday, I went to the Manchester Art Gallery to see some British and European art. I also explored some of the buildings downtown, including the town hall and Chinatown. I went back to the hostel and met up with Emily. We found a bus to take us just outside the city to Old Trafford, where Manchester United's stadium is. The stadium was built in 1910, yet is very impressive and looks fairly modern. We went through the trophy rooms and history, then took a tour. We got to walk out to the pitch and into the players' lounge and dressing rooms.
On Friday evening, I made myself dinner at the hostel, then found Emily and Julien. Before we headed out, we met a German girl at the hostel, Maren. The four of us found a bar/club called MoJo I had heard about. The place played really good music and we stayed the whole night at a booth and the dance floor. My rain jacket was stolen when I left the booth for a couple of minutes which was annoying, but I still had a lot of fun. On Saturday, I went to the Museum of Science and Industry with Maren and Julien. We didn't have very much time there, but managed to check out several exhibits on textiles, engines, and airplanes. We rushed back to the hostel in the rain so that Maren and I could grab our things. We walked down to the station just in time to catch our bus to Sheffield.
I had looked up a few places for accommodation in Sheffield, but hadn't booked anything. There are no hostels in the whole city, which is crazy considering the size of it, 700,000 people or so. I guess it is not much of a tourist destination. Maren and I found a bed and breakfast which was full, then found a hotel which was also full. At the hotel, they told us everything was booked because there were several events happening in town that weekend. We were starting to get a bit desperate, so I used my backup plan. I called Emily, who had gotten to Sheffield that morning and was staying in a hotel room she had booked months in advance. She said it was alright, so we got on the tram and snuck into her hotel room. The three of us got ready, then headed to the Sheffield Arena for a concert, the reason we were all in Sheffield. The Arctic Monkeys are a really cool Indie rock band that are actually from Sheffield. I could have seen them a couple of days later in London, but decided it would be much better to see them in their hometown. Emily had bought her ticket way earlier, I bought mine the day before, and Maren just bought hers at the show. The Arena didn't quite sell out, it holds 14,000 people though. Maren actually paid less than Emily and I to get in because there was no service charge at the venue. The show was really good, the band was awesome and the crowd was crazy.
On Sunday, Emily took a train back to London, so Maren and I went to go find our own place to stay in Sheffield. We went back to the first B & B we tried the previous day and fortunately got a room. Though the name has changed, there has been a B & B or hotel in that location since 1817, the photos in our room and the lobby were very cool. We walked into the city to see the cathedral, the winter gardens, and some other sights downtown. The weather was actually nice for a change, so we kept walking up to a hill overlooking the city. We found a couple of walking trails, then a huge park. By the time we started walking back, it was rainy and windy. After we got dried off and changed, we found a pub for dinner. We ate some traditional British food, then found another pub with live music. I got to know Maren pretty well and am a bit sad my travelling is ending at the same time hers is beginning.
On Monday, Maren and I took a bus to York, which is much more of a tourist attraction than Sheffield, or Manchester for that matter. There is still a wall surrounding the city center and a river cuts straight through the town. There are lots of cool buildings and plenty of historical attractions. We went to the first two hostels mentioned in my guide book. The first was turned into a hotel and the second one was closed. We were a bit discouraged but decided to go find a B & B. We walked just outside the city walls along the river to a street that had 5 or 6 different guest houses on it. After a bit of comparing, I negotiated a good price on one of them for a nice room in the upstairs loft. We put our warm clothes on and went into the city center to look around. We found a pub for dinner with a table overlooking the river.
Tuesday was to be my final day in York and my final day in Europe on this leg of my trip. We got up for the 9:15 AM breakfast at our guesthouse. They served us a full British breakfast which was entirely too much food. Cereal, toast, and coffee followed by sausage, bacon, egg, hashbrowns, beans, mushrooms, tomato, and black pudding. Maren and I walked through more of the city seeing some historical ruins, then climbed onto the wall to walk around the city. Next was the main attraction in town, the gothic cathedral which is the best in Britain and one of the largest in the world. We bought the full tickets to see the entire place. We took a tour of the interior and learned the history of the church. Next was the undercroft and crypt where we saw the origins of the first church on the sight, nearly 2,000 years old. Afterwards, we climbed the 275 step tower to get an incredible view of the gothic towers and the whole city. Maren and I went to the train and bus station to arrange our plans. I wanted to stay as long as possible, so I ended up paying way too much to book the last bus of the evening to London. We went out to dinner at an Italian restaurant. Then we ran to the bus stop for the end of my trip.
It was very sad saying goodbye to Maren. Even considering all the people I have met on my trip, she is the only one besides Cameron I have actually travelled with. Though we only spent four days together, we really connected and have a very similar approach to travelling. She is completely carefree: I asked her the night we met if she wanted to go to the concert in Sheffield the following day. She barely thought about it and just said 'OK!' Her trip just began in Manchester, and she will probably find a job and spend a year in England. Fortunately, she is going on a ski vacation to Austria with her family at the end of December. I hope to meet up with her then or maybe have her come stay with me in Kirchberg in January.
I took an 8.5 hour bus ride directly to Heathrow, then a 2 hour flight to Frankfurt, then an 8.5 hour flight to D.C., then a 5+ hour flight to Seattle. The total travel time was about 32 hours.
The title of this blog is still appropriate (though maybe not the subtitle), so I will continue to write here while I am in Austria.
On Friday evening, I made myself dinner at the hostel, then found Emily and Julien. Before we headed out, we met a German girl at the hostel, Maren. The four of us found a bar/club called MoJo I had heard about. The place played really good music and we stayed the whole night at a booth and the dance floor. My rain jacket was stolen when I left the booth for a couple of minutes which was annoying, but I still had a lot of fun. On Saturday, I went to the Museum of Science and Industry with Maren and Julien. We didn't have very much time there, but managed to check out several exhibits on textiles, engines, and airplanes. We rushed back to the hostel in the rain so that Maren and I could grab our things. We walked down to the station just in time to catch our bus to Sheffield.
I had looked up a few places for accommodation in Sheffield, but hadn't booked anything. There are no hostels in the whole city, which is crazy considering the size of it, 700,000 people or so. I guess it is not much of a tourist destination. Maren and I found a bed and breakfast which was full, then found a hotel which was also full. At the hotel, they told us everything was booked because there were several events happening in town that weekend. We were starting to get a bit desperate, so I used my backup plan. I called Emily, who had gotten to Sheffield that morning and was staying in a hotel room she had booked months in advance. She said it was alright, so we got on the tram and snuck into her hotel room. The three of us got ready, then headed to the Sheffield Arena for a concert, the reason we were all in Sheffield. The Arctic Monkeys are a really cool Indie rock band that are actually from Sheffield. I could have seen them a couple of days later in London, but decided it would be much better to see them in their hometown. Emily had bought her ticket way earlier, I bought mine the day before, and Maren just bought hers at the show. The Arena didn't quite sell out, it holds 14,000 people though. Maren actually paid less than Emily and I to get in because there was no service charge at the venue. The show was really good, the band was awesome and the crowd was crazy.
On Sunday, Emily took a train back to London, so Maren and I went to go find our own place to stay in Sheffield. We went back to the first B & B we tried the previous day and fortunately got a room. Though the name has changed, there has been a B & B or hotel in that location since 1817, the photos in our room and the lobby were very cool. We walked into the city to see the cathedral, the winter gardens, and some other sights downtown. The weather was actually nice for a change, so we kept walking up to a hill overlooking the city. We found a couple of walking trails, then a huge park. By the time we started walking back, it was rainy and windy. After we got dried off and changed, we found a pub for dinner. We ate some traditional British food, then found another pub with live music. I got to know Maren pretty well and am a bit sad my travelling is ending at the same time hers is beginning.
On Monday, Maren and I took a bus to York, which is much more of a tourist attraction than Sheffield, or Manchester for that matter. There is still a wall surrounding the city center and a river cuts straight through the town. There are lots of cool buildings and plenty of historical attractions. We went to the first two hostels mentioned in my guide book. The first was turned into a hotel and the second one was closed. We were a bit discouraged but decided to go find a B & B. We walked just outside the city walls along the river to a street that had 5 or 6 different guest houses on it. After a bit of comparing, I negotiated a good price on one of them for a nice room in the upstairs loft. We put our warm clothes on and went into the city center to look around. We found a pub for dinner with a table overlooking the river.
Tuesday was to be my final day in York and my final day in Europe on this leg of my trip. We got up for the 9:15 AM breakfast at our guesthouse. They served us a full British breakfast which was entirely too much food. Cereal, toast, and coffee followed by sausage, bacon, egg, hashbrowns, beans, mushrooms, tomato, and black pudding. Maren and I walked through more of the city seeing some historical ruins, then climbed onto the wall to walk around the city. Next was the main attraction in town, the gothic cathedral which is the best in Britain and one of the largest in the world. We bought the full tickets to see the entire place. We took a tour of the interior and learned the history of the church. Next was the undercroft and crypt where we saw the origins of the first church on the sight, nearly 2,000 years old. Afterwards, we climbed the 275 step tower to get an incredible view of the gothic towers and the whole city. Maren and I went to the train and bus station to arrange our plans. I wanted to stay as long as possible, so I ended up paying way too much to book the last bus of the evening to London. We went out to dinner at an Italian restaurant. Then we ran to the bus stop for the end of my trip.
It was very sad saying goodbye to Maren. Even considering all the people I have met on my trip, she is the only one besides Cameron I have actually travelled with. Though we only spent four days together, we really connected and have a very similar approach to travelling. She is completely carefree: I asked her the night we met if she wanted to go to the concert in Sheffield the following day. She barely thought about it and just said 'OK!' Her trip just began in Manchester, and she will probably find a job and spend a year in England. Fortunately, she is going on a ski vacation to Austria with her family at the end of December. I hope to meet up with her then or maybe have her come stay with me in Kirchberg in January.
I took an 8.5 hour bus ride directly to Heathrow, then a 2 hour flight to Frankfurt, then an 8.5 hour flight to D.C., then a 5+ hour flight to Seattle. The total travel time was about 32 hours.
The title of this blog is still appropriate (though maybe not the subtitle), so I will continue to write here while I am in Austria.
November 12, 2009
Partied in Poland, now exploring rainy England
I spent the whole day Wednesday in Greenwich, a London neighborhood to the southeast of the center which I got to by train. It is a cool area of town with a bit of a slower pace and lots to see. The first sight I went to was the Royal Observatory. This is the famous place where the Prime Meridian and Greenwich Mean Time come from. The observatory was up on a hill with great views of the city. I stood on the Prime Meridian at 0 degrees longitude where the world is split into the Western and Eastern Hemispheres. I learned about the history of the observatory and saw the Time Ball, Millenium Clock, and a cool museum filled with clocks, telescopes, and the first ever time pieces. Next stop was the Queens House, an impressive Victorian building filled with British art. After that was the National Maritime Museum. Britain obviously has an important naval and shipping history, and this museum definitely showed that. The best exhibits were on the British navy and explorers. They even had Lord Nelson's uniform he was wearing when he was shot and killed by a French sniper in the naval battle of Trafalgar in 1805. It still has the bullet hole in the shoulder. I walked through Greenwich along the water, then through the Naval College to the Painted Hall. This was a gigantic hallway with a memorial to Nelson. The amazing walls and ceiling took 19 years to paint. I got back into town and met up with my friend Karina, who lives in south London. I initially met her in Seville. We also randomly ran into each other at Oktoberfest on my first night. We had a few beers and have kept in touch. We ate seafood pasta at an Italian restaurant, then found a pub for a couple of pints while we watched a football match.
On Thursday I went to the Victoria & Albert Museum in South Kensington. Once again, I spent an incredibly long time there yet didn't manage to see everything there. The museum is filled with decorative arts, meaning sculptures, paintings, fashion, furniture, jewelry, and everything in between. The place has 6 floors and 4 million items, you have to walk 7 miles to see it all. Some of my favorites were the Rodin sculptures, the samurai swords in the Japanese room, and the silver rooms. I spent 2 hours on the first floor alone! After 4 and a half hours, I was only finishing the 3rd floor, so I gave up and headed home. I might go back at some point, but there are really so many sights to see in London it is tough to do them all. Cam and I went out Thursday evening because he did not have to work Friday. We went to three or four pubs near his place and had a pint at each one.
On Friday, Cam left for Krakow and I headed to Tate Britain. It is filled entirely with British paintings from all periods of history. Most of the 17th and 18th century stuff was pretty good, but I was most impressed by the contemporary art collection. Oh, plus the JMW Turner was very nice. It was raining when I left as it has been every day in London. I decided to head back to Cam's place to relax, then got ready for Friday night in Camden. Camden is a neighborhood just north of central London which is famous for 'alternative' type people. Think piercings, tattoos, and guys wearing lipstick. Needless to say, it was a very interesting evening. I was going out for my friend Pav's (Alex's) birthday. I met Pav in Lagos, then we rented an apartment with a group of friends in Valencia for La Tomatina. The first strange thing to happen was right when I got on the Tube. I spotted Tom, another friend from Lagos and Valencia who stayed in the apartment. It was incredibly random that I saw him given how big London is and how many people are on the Tube. I didn't even know he was in London, but of course he was heading to Pav's party as well. He was with another girl who I recognized who had stayed at the same guest house as me in Lagos. We got to the club/party/horse stable where I waited outside for a couple of friends. I invited Uttara and Karina. Uttara is the girl I met at Oktoberfest and then saw again in Salzburg. I gathered them both and we went inside not knowing quite what to expect. The place is called Proud and is basically a club that has been converted from a horse stable. There are multiple rooms with different DJs plus a live band. The theme for the night was a 'dark circus' or something which basically meant gypsies and evil clowns and cool lighting and bizzare outfits. We found Pav's private booth where she had at least 50 people crammed in. We experienced the crazy party in each room, it was definitely an experience.
I woke up relatively for my flight to Krakow on Saturday. I left my pack at Cam's and just took my daypack which was nice. No problems at the airports or on the flight. No one in my group was at the hostel so I headed to Pawel's place. I hung out with Mishka until Cam got back from his day at Auschwitz. He and I headed into the main square to find the French boys. While we were walking towards our meeting place, I spotted Clement, Vincent, Jonathan, and Julien in the middle of the street. As Jonathan and Julien came over to Cam and I, I noticed out of the corner of my eye Clement wind up and punch Vincent in the face! We all ran over to see what the hell was going on, they acted like they were just joking around. Clem obviously hit him way too hard though, and Vincent started bleeding all over the street. His nose was pretty messed up too, which we had to straighten later. Once he got cleaned up, we went to Pies (the bar I spent a lot of time in last time in Krakow). After a few minutes, Vincent and Clem started yelling at each other, and Vincent started punching Clem. We had to drag the two of them out of the bar, where they kept yelling at each other in the street. As we held them both away from each other, I saw a group of about 8 Polish skinheads nearby watching. Two of them came over to where I was standing next to Vincent. They were laughing as they came over, and I could tell they were assholes, so I told them to get the F out of there and shoved one of them. The other one just continued right up to Vincent, who was bent over wiping blood from his nose. The kid punched him right in the face and kept laughing as I lunged at him. Some girl came in between us and dragged the kid away from me. It was so dumb and totally unprovoked. As the rest of the skinheads came my way, I decided we better get the hell out of there. So I yelled at Cam and we grabbed our two idiot friends and left while the skinheads kept yelling and laughing. Vincent and Clem are best friends and made up about an hour later. Though they are completely immature for starting such a dumb fight to begin with. I still have no idea what caused it. We had to straighten Clem's nose as well and the two of them spent the rest of the trip in Krakow with black eyes. Vincent's was especially bad from that last punch thrown by the skinhead. It was bad enough they wouldn't let him in to the club we went to called Kitsch. So we sent him home, then the other French guys headed home not long afterwards. Cam and I went to another club called Prozak and had fun with some Polish people we met. It was kind of embarrassing for both of us to see our friends act like 6 year olds. Anyway, it was pretty funny when they both tried wearing sunglasses the next day when it was rainy and overcast!
On Sunday, after sleeping in till nearly noon, we got our group together to go to Wawel Castle. The group now included Pawel and his friend Asha. The 8 of us wandered around in town and up to the castle. The French boys weren't moving very quick so Cam and I had to lead the way. I had already seen the castle, so after a quick stop I suggested we go to Nowa Huta. It is a Communist town just outside of Krakow. The Soviets built it as a model communist city, kind of a 'workers paradise.' Of course it was anything but. It was filled with horribly ugly Soviet architecture of cement and steel. It wasn't actually that interesting to see it, I suppose we should have taken a tour to see the cooler sights. After walking Nowa Huta, we headed back into Krakow to go out to dinner at the same German-themed restaurant Pawel took me to a few weeks earlier. We stuffed ourselves with Polish food, beer, and vodka, then went to Pies where I met Pawel's (famous) father who happened to be in town.
I planned on seeing some more of Poland on this trip, so Cam and I decided to head out on our own Monday. The French guys had some other plans in mind. We took a train to Wroclaw (pronounced like 'vraw swahf' if that makes sense), a cool student town north of Krakow. The city is similar to Krakow with a large central square and cool architecture. The nightlife was supposed to be one of the highlights, though unfortunately we were there on a Monday. We found a decent hostel and explored the city center. We ate dinner at a traditional Polish restaurant, then had beers at a couple of bars. As I mentioned, it was fairly quiet being Monday. The city is pretty nice, but ultimately a bit of a let down. It was just a bit to similar to Krakow and the dreary weather and slow Monday night didn't help.
The following day, Cam and I went to Wroclaw's main tourist attraction, a gigantic panoramic painting. We bought our tickets to the tour, then explored the town a bit more. The university was very cool looking, and the river was scenic. The tour began and took us into a huge round building. The painting itself is 15 meters tall and 120 meters long. You stand in the center of it and walk around inside. It was painted by a team of Polish painters and depicts an important battle in Wroclaw where they defeated the Russians back at the end of the 18th century. It is by far the largest painting I have ever seen and they made it cooler by including actual dirt and objects at the base of the painting which made it even more realistic. Afterwards, we packed up at the hostel and went to catch the train back to Krakow. 5 hours later we arrived, then met Vincent and Clem for dinner. Julien and Jonathan had already left that morning to go back to Paris. We went to the same restaurant as before, though this time I shared the seafood platter with Cam. After a few beers and with the place closing, we went out for my final night in Krakow. We decided to go back to Prozak because Cam and I had liked it a lot and the French boys had missed out. One of the first things that happened when we got there was a rather interesting experience. As we walked by the bar to find a table, two girls stopped us and asked if we spoke English. After talking for a few minutes, we found out they were Russian students. They seemed to be very friendly, but I was still a bit surprised when they kept mentioning they were ready to go somewhere else and wanted us to come with them. Vincent came over and whispered something in my ear like 'I think they want money.' He had forgotten the word 'prostitute' but I understood quickly what he meant! I'm still not 100% sure they were Russian hookers, but when they left a couple minutes later, telling us we should join them at their apartment 'after party' where they had Russian vodka waiting, we definitely did NOT go with them! It was pretty funny, especially since I had no idea what was going on at first. Not long after, we met a group of 8 crazy American girls and partied with them at Prozak the rest of the night.
I woke up at noon yesterday and was very grateful I had booked an afternoon flight back to London. Cam is staying in Krakow until tomorrow, Vincent and Clem until early next week. I made it back on my own to Cam's flat. I made myself dinner and lounged all evening. It might have been the most uneventful day of my trip so far, but I badly needed it. Since he was gone, I slept in Cam's bed and got a decent night's rest. Today, I woke up early, ate a huge breakfast, and made by way to the coach station. 5 hours later, I got off here in Manchester. I am excited to see some other places in England, and this city definitely seems like an interesting place so far. I arrived this afternoon and found a pretty cool hostel. The weather is terrible of course, but I explored the city center anyway. Manchester used to have a reputation as a grimy industrial place. True, it is the world's first 'modern' city and the birthplace of the Insustrial Revolution. But from what I have seen, it is a very cool mix of old architecture and ultramodern new buildings. My hostel is in a cool, young area of the city right next to the main square. I checked out Urbis, a new museum with exhibits on the history of rap/hip hop in Britain and the history of British television. Tonight I will probably go check out some local pubs and maybe see some of the live music this city is famous for. Tomorrow I hope to go take a tour of the famous Manchester United's football stadium.
After another day or two in Manchester, I am thinking about visiting Liverpool, only 37 miles away. Probably only one more post before I get back to Seattle next week!
On Thursday I went to the Victoria & Albert Museum in South Kensington. Once again, I spent an incredibly long time there yet didn't manage to see everything there. The museum is filled with decorative arts, meaning sculptures, paintings, fashion, furniture, jewelry, and everything in between. The place has 6 floors and 4 million items, you have to walk 7 miles to see it all. Some of my favorites were the Rodin sculptures, the samurai swords in the Japanese room, and the silver rooms. I spent 2 hours on the first floor alone! After 4 and a half hours, I was only finishing the 3rd floor, so I gave up and headed home. I might go back at some point, but there are really so many sights to see in London it is tough to do them all. Cam and I went out Thursday evening because he did not have to work Friday. We went to three or four pubs near his place and had a pint at each one.
On Friday, Cam left for Krakow and I headed to Tate Britain. It is filled entirely with British paintings from all periods of history. Most of the 17th and 18th century stuff was pretty good, but I was most impressed by the contemporary art collection. Oh, plus the JMW Turner was very nice. It was raining when I left as it has been every day in London. I decided to head back to Cam's place to relax, then got ready for Friday night in Camden. Camden is a neighborhood just north of central London which is famous for 'alternative' type people. Think piercings, tattoos, and guys wearing lipstick. Needless to say, it was a very interesting evening. I was going out for my friend Pav's (Alex's) birthday. I met Pav in Lagos, then we rented an apartment with a group of friends in Valencia for La Tomatina. The first strange thing to happen was right when I got on the Tube. I spotted Tom, another friend from Lagos and Valencia who stayed in the apartment. It was incredibly random that I saw him given how big London is and how many people are on the Tube. I didn't even know he was in London, but of course he was heading to Pav's party as well. He was with another girl who I recognized who had stayed at the same guest house as me in Lagos. We got to the club/party/horse stable where I waited outside for a couple of friends. I invited Uttara and Karina. Uttara is the girl I met at Oktoberfest and then saw again in Salzburg. I gathered them both and we went inside not knowing quite what to expect. The place is called Proud and is basically a club that has been converted from a horse stable. There are multiple rooms with different DJs plus a live band. The theme for the night was a 'dark circus' or something which basically meant gypsies and evil clowns and cool lighting and bizzare outfits. We found Pav's private booth where she had at least 50 people crammed in. We experienced the crazy party in each room, it was definitely an experience.
I woke up relatively for my flight to Krakow on Saturday. I left my pack at Cam's and just took my daypack which was nice. No problems at the airports or on the flight. No one in my group was at the hostel so I headed to Pawel's place. I hung out with Mishka until Cam got back from his day at Auschwitz. He and I headed into the main square to find the French boys. While we were walking towards our meeting place, I spotted Clement, Vincent, Jonathan, and Julien in the middle of the street. As Jonathan and Julien came over to Cam and I, I noticed out of the corner of my eye Clement wind up and punch Vincent in the face! We all ran over to see what the hell was going on, they acted like they were just joking around. Clem obviously hit him way too hard though, and Vincent started bleeding all over the street. His nose was pretty messed up too, which we had to straighten later. Once he got cleaned up, we went to Pies (the bar I spent a lot of time in last time in Krakow). After a few minutes, Vincent and Clem started yelling at each other, and Vincent started punching Clem. We had to drag the two of them out of the bar, where they kept yelling at each other in the street. As we held them both away from each other, I saw a group of about 8 Polish skinheads nearby watching. Two of them came over to where I was standing next to Vincent. They were laughing as they came over, and I could tell they were assholes, so I told them to get the F out of there and shoved one of them. The other one just continued right up to Vincent, who was bent over wiping blood from his nose. The kid punched him right in the face and kept laughing as I lunged at him. Some girl came in between us and dragged the kid away from me. It was so dumb and totally unprovoked. As the rest of the skinheads came my way, I decided we better get the hell out of there. So I yelled at Cam and we grabbed our two idiot friends and left while the skinheads kept yelling and laughing. Vincent and Clem are best friends and made up about an hour later. Though they are completely immature for starting such a dumb fight to begin with. I still have no idea what caused it. We had to straighten Clem's nose as well and the two of them spent the rest of the trip in Krakow with black eyes. Vincent's was especially bad from that last punch thrown by the skinhead. It was bad enough they wouldn't let him in to the club we went to called Kitsch. So we sent him home, then the other French guys headed home not long afterwards. Cam and I went to another club called Prozak and had fun with some Polish people we met. It was kind of embarrassing for both of us to see our friends act like 6 year olds. Anyway, it was pretty funny when they both tried wearing sunglasses the next day when it was rainy and overcast!
On Sunday, after sleeping in till nearly noon, we got our group together to go to Wawel Castle. The group now included Pawel and his friend Asha. The 8 of us wandered around in town and up to the castle. The French boys weren't moving very quick so Cam and I had to lead the way. I had already seen the castle, so after a quick stop I suggested we go to Nowa Huta. It is a Communist town just outside of Krakow. The Soviets built it as a model communist city, kind of a 'workers paradise.' Of course it was anything but. It was filled with horribly ugly Soviet architecture of cement and steel. It wasn't actually that interesting to see it, I suppose we should have taken a tour to see the cooler sights. After walking Nowa Huta, we headed back into Krakow to go out to dinner at the same German-themed restaurant Pawel took me to a few weeks earlier. We stuffed ourselves with Polish food, beer, and vodka, then went to Pies where I met Pawel's (famous) father who happened to be in town.
I planned on seeing some more of Poland on this trip, so Cam and I decided to head out on our own Monday. The French guys had some other plans in mind. We took a train to Wroclaw (pronounced like 'vraw swahf' if that makes sense), a cool student town north of Krakow. The city is similar to Krakow with a large central square and cool architecture. The nightlife was supposed to be one of the highlights, though unfortunately we were there on a Monday. We found a decent hostel and explored the city center. We ate dinner at a traditional Polish restaurant, then had beers at a couple of bars. As I mentioned, it was fairly quiet being Monday. The city is pretty nice, but ultimately a bit of a let down. It was just a bit to similar to Krakow and the dreary weather and slow Monday night didn't help.
The following day, Cam and I went to Wroclaw's main tourist attraction, a gigantic panoramic painting. We bought our tickets to the tour, then explored the town a bit more. The university was very cool looking, and the river was scenic. The tour began and took us into a huge round building. The painting itself is 15 meters tall and 120 meters long. You stand in the center of it and walk around inside. It was painted by a team of Polish painters and depicts an important battle in Wroclaw where they defeated the Russians back at the end of the 18th century. It is by far the largest painting I have ever seen and they made it cooler by including actual dirt and objects at the base of the painting which made it even more realistic. Afterwards, we packed up at the hostel and went to catch the train back to Krakow. 5 hours later we arrived, then met Vincent and Clem for dinner. Julien and Jonathan had already left that morning to go back to Paris. We went to the same restaurant as before, though this time I shared the seafood platter with Cam. After a few beers and with the place closing, we went out for my final night in Krakow. We decided to go back to Prozak because Cam and I had liked it a lot and the French boys had missed out. One of the first things that happened when we got there was a rather interesting experience. As we walked by the bar to find a table, two girls stopped us and asked if we spoke English. After talking for a few minutes, we found out they were Russian students. They seemed to be very friendly, but I was still a bit surprised when they kept mentioning they were ready to go somewhere else and wanted us to come with them. Vincent came over and whispered something in my ear like 'I think they want money.' He had forgotten the word 'prostitute' but I understood quickly what he meant! I'm still not 100% sure they were Russian hookers, but when they left a couple minutes later, telling us we should join them at their apartment 'after party' where they had Russian vodka waiting, we definitely did NOT go with them! It was pretty funny, especially since I had no idea what was going on at first. Not long after, we met a group of 8 crazy American girls and partied with them at Prozak the rest of the night.
I woke up at noon yesterday and was very grateful I had booked an afternoon flight back to London. Cam is staying in Krakow until tomorrow, Vincent and Clem until early next week. I made it back on my own to Cam's flat. I made myself dinner and lounged all evening. It might have been the most uneventful day of my trip so far, but I badly needed it. Since he was gone, I slept in Cam's bed and got a decent night's rest. Today, I woke up early, ate a huge breakfast, and made by way to the coach station. 5 hours later, I got off here in Manchester. I am excited to see some other places in England, and this city definitely seems like an interesting place so far. I arrived this afternoon and found a pretty cool hostel. The weather is terrible of course, but I explored the city center anyway. Manchester used to have a reputation as a grimy industrial place. True, it is the world's first 'modern' city and the birthplace of the Insustrial Revolution. But from what I have seen, it is a very cool mix of old architecture and ultramodern new buildings. My hostel is in a cool, young area of the city right next to the main square. I checked out Urbis, a new museum with exhibits on the history of rap/hip hop in Britain and the history of British television. Tonight I will probably go check out some local pubs and maybe see some of the live music this city is famous for. Tomorrow I hope to go take a tour of the famous Manchester United's football stadium.
After another day or two in Manchester, I am thinking about visiting Liverpool, only 37 miles away. Probably only one more post before I get back to Seattle next week!
November 3, 2009
London is so easy and relaxing
On Monday, after the police ordeal I discussed in the last post, I continued on through the park to the Caves Monastary. The Monastary is split between the Upper Lavra and Lower Lavra. I went through the upper section to see the religious sights. I went in to a couple of museums as well. The one containing Ukrainian folk art was pretty memorable. Next, I went down to the lower section to go in the crypts themselves. I walked down the stairs with dozens of of worshippers holding candles. I was supposed to buy a candle as I was the only person without one. I had to walk behind other people just so I could see my way. There were a whole bunch of caskets and sarchophaguses with Ukrainian religious figures in them. Every person was praying and kissing the tombs. A lot of the people buried there were monks. It was a very unique experience. I continued on to the WWII museum, yet arrived there too late to go inside (I blame the cops for the delay). It was interesting to walk around outside, however, as there were lots of tanks, artillery, monuments, and a helicopter. Also, a massive Soviet metal monument is there. It is a woman over 100 meters tall, my guide book says people call her 'tin tits'. Yulia hadn't heard that before and thought it was hilarious. I think normally you can climb inside her but she was closed for renovations. I cooked dinner again for Yulia, Japanese food.
On Tuesday I got on the metro to find the Chornobyl Museum. It took an hour to find off the metro which was kind of frustrating. Even when I know the street names I am looking for, they are very rarely posted anywhere and I can't understand the letters. I really should have gotten a map in Ukrainian, oh well. The museum was really cool. It had all sorts of artifacts and peoples' stories of the disaster. There were recreations of the power plant and simulations of the explosion. I really wish I could have gone to Chornobyl itself, but you can only go on guided tours which don't run very often. The area is about 2-3 hours north of Kyiv. The contaminated area reached the outskirts of the city but fortunately no person in Kyiv received radiation poisoning. The stories of the people working at the plant at the time were really fascinating. It was also interesting to read the Soviet newspapers at the time. All they mentioned was a two sentence statement about an accident at the plant in the paper one full week after the incident. I went to see the main university in the city, but they wouldn't let me go inside. I walked through the botanical gardens nearby, then to another beautiful church. After that was the Russian art museum. Most of the art was really cool, it was nice to see very different art than what I have been used to these last few months. It was also the premier of a new exhibit of interesting modern Russian art, so the place was packed with people. I met up with Yulia later on in the evening for a live organ and chamber music concert. There were lots of different performances and it was very enjoyable. I cooked Yulia pork chops and mashed potatoes when we got home.
On Wednesday morning, Yulia took me on the metro out to a bus stop. I got on the bus to Odessa, about 5 hours south of Kyiv on the Black Sea. I arrived and met Masha (nickname for Maria), who is Yulia's friend she asked to show me around. Masha was really nice to come meet up with me and take me around town. We walked through the main sights in the city center. We saw the main walking boulevard and the beautiful opera house. We headed down to the port and strolled along the water. We took a funicular to get back up the hill. Afterwards, we went back to Masha's flat for me to unload my daypack. I met Masha's husband, Vova (not sure how to spell that, nickname for Volodymyr). He is a really cool guy and we got along great. Both of them spoke English well. They have a fantastic apartment in a really massive 20 story building similar to Yulia's. Vova stayed in for the evening, while Masha and I headed out to meet up with her friend. We went to a cool underground bar until her friend showed up. The three of us listened to some live jazz music and had a few drinks. We got in a cab and were dropped off on a very dark residential looking street. I was really confused until they pointed towards this cellar door. We walked down some stairs and found another really cool bar. It amazes me that none of the places have signs or even names it seems. The three of us enjoyed champagne, sushi, and backgammon while sitting on pillows with our shoes off. A strange combination, but lots of fun! We had a blast and Masha and I didn't make it home until very late.
On Thursday, after sleeping in of course, Masha and I walked down to the beach. It was a nice walk from her flat down to the water. Unfortunately my first view of the water involved some old dude stripping down and jumping in naked. But aside from that, the Black Sea is really incredible and the beach was great. The water is incredible clear despite the name and not even that cold given the time of year. We walked along till we got to the dolphin aquarium. We didn't spot any wild dolphins off the coast which are seen sometimes. So we decided to go see the dolphin show. I felt like a little kid watching the show. There were 4 dolphins doing some really cool tricks. We grabbed some dinner as we walked back to Masha's place. I also stopped at the supermarket to pick up some snacks for the road. I grabbed my things and Masha and Vova went with me to the bus station. I really enjoyed meeting both of them and hope that I see them again in their European travels. I bussed back to Kyiv and arrived around midnight. I got on one of the local busses and hoped it would go to a metro stop. Luckily it did, but the metro stop was closed. They don't usually close till later, but now I was in a dillemma. I got on a different bus that listed some metro stops in the window. After 10 mins or so, I was pretty sure I was not heading into the city. I called Yulia and she told me to just get off so we could figure out where I was. It took quite awhile, but we decided the best way for me to get home was to have her talk to somebody. So I walked up to random people on the street and asked for help as I handed them the cell phone. Needless to say, the first two people just stared at me like I was crazy. Yet the next guy and girl I walked up to decided to grab the phone and see what I was talking about. They explained to Yulia where I was, which was out in the burbs somewhere on the wrong side of town. She arranged for them to explain to a cab driver how to get me home. I eventually did get home, spending the last of my hrvynias, about 5 euros for the 45 minute ride. I felt really helpless which is not a good feeling. Though I am definitely grateful for Yulia and don't know how I would have survived without that cell phone she let me borrow. She had dinner waiting when I got back as well.
Friday was my day to leave Kyiv and Ukraine. I asked Yulia how I should get to the airport, and she said she was coming with me. For work, she has a car and driver she can call pretty much anytime, very cool! We hopped in the black sedan and were escorted an hour away right to the airport. Another painless airport experience and a few hour flight got me to London. I think I must have forgotten how ridiculously easy it is to get around in London. I got out of the airport and there were signs and English-speaking people everywhere ready to help! It felt almost too easy! I got the bus into town, bought a weeklong metro card, and found Cameron's flat. He has a really cool place in an amazing location in the northeast part of central London. He lives with 4 other Aussies that are all really nice. I settled in, then headed out for a beer with Cam and Fathead (Tim). Their place is about a 5 minute walk from amazing nightlife with hundreds of young people roaming the streets. When we got back I set my sleeping bag up on the couch which is my current home. I also finally got a SIM card for the phone I have been carrying around. So if anyone needs to call me, the number is 0044 7760 875 321.
Saturday was Halloween! I spent the day taking care of some errands, exploring the neighborhood, then finding some things for my costume. I got black and white face paint because I was to be Uncle Fester from the Addam's Family. I'm not sure that I looked anything like him, but Cam (Frankenstein) shaved my head to try and pull the look off. The paint was the oily type which I soon found out does not dry. What a mistake, I had to be careful what my face touched the entire night. We went to a house party of one of Cam's friends. I met a bunch of fun people and we stayed at the party until it was starting to get light outside! I had a plan in mind to stay awake, but Cam bailed and got a few hours of sleep. I stayed up and hung out with a South African girl named Deborah. We met up with Cam at about 11 AM, yet she was too tired and headed home. Cam and I then proceeded on to The Church! This was the crazy party that is every Sunday in north London. I went to it back in July and having been raving to Cam about it though he still hadn't been. I made sure to wash all the oily paint off my face first. The Church was the same wild drunken debauchery that it was in my previous experience, though with it being post-Halloween, even more people wore costumes. I was really starting to crash around 2 or 3 PM, so I managed to make it back to Cam's place on my own. I fell asleep for a few hours, woke up and ate the communal dinner with Cam's roommates that they have almost every night. I fell back asleep at 9 PM and didn't wake up until 10 AM Monday morning. All in all, Halloween was fantastic!
Yesterday, Monday, I felt pretty good after sleeping so long. I took the Tube a couple of stops to the Museum of London. This covered the entire history of the city, from cavemen to the Romans to the monarchs. There was a whole lot to see but my favorite part was the exhibit on the Great Fire which destroyed basically the entire city in 1666. It still amazes me that so many museums in London are completely free to go to. I went grocery shopping in the afternoon and relaxed back at the flat. I hung out with the flatmates last night, we had another communal dinner.
Today I went to the Imperial War Museum, another free one. After sleeping in a bit and making breakfast, I didn't get there till noon. The place was really incredible, it covered WWI and WWII in great detail. There were tons of tanks, planes, and artillery, not to mention a German V2 rocket. There were so many exhibitions within the museum as well, on the Holocaust, genocide around the world, British Secret Service, war's affect on children, and more. I spent nearly 4 hours in the museum and didn't feel like I even saw it all. I had to get back because I had volunteered to cook dinner for everyone. I roasted a chicken along with stuffing, mashed potatoes, and corn. Everyone seemed to enjoy it so I might cook again this week.
Tomorrow I will do some more sightseeing, then hopefully meet up with a friend in the evening. One cool thing about London is that a lot of people I have met on my trip so far live here. There are at least a few people that I will see while I am here (besides Cam). I'm leaving for Krakow on Saturday and am really excited for it. After I get back to London, I plan on exploring some other English cities until I fly the 18th when I fly to Frankfurt and then Seattle. I'm also having a party to see all of my friends from home on the 21st at my mom's house which should be lots of fun! I can't believe tomorrow is the start of the 20th week of my trip!
On Tuesday I got on the metro to find the Chornobyl Museum. It took an hour to find off the metro which was kind of frustrating. Even when I know the street names I am looking for, they are very rarely posted anywhere and I can't understand the letters. I really should have gotten a map in Ukrainian, oh well. The museum was really cool. It had all sorts of artifacts and peoples' stories of the disaster. There were recreations of the power plant and simulations of the explosion. I really wish I could have gone to Chornobyl itself, but you can only go on guided tours which don't run very often. The area is about 2-3 hours north of Kyiv. The contaminated area reached the outskirts of the city but fortunately no person in Kyiv received radiation poisoning. The stories of the people working at the plant at the time were really fascinating. It was also interesting to read the Soviet newspapers at the time. All they mentioned was a two sentence statement about an accident at the plant in the paper one full week after the incident. I went to see the main university in the city, but they wouldn't let me go inside. I walked through the botanical gardens nearby, then to another beautiful church. After that was the Russian art museum. Most of the art was really cool, it was nice to see very different art than what I have been used to these last few months. It was also the premier of a new exhibit of interesting modern Russian art, so the place was packed with people. I met up with Yulia later on in the evening for a live organ and chamber music concert. There were lots of different performances and it was very enjoyable. I cooked Yulia pork chops and mashed potatoes when we got home.
On Wednesday morning, Yulia took me on the metro out to a bus stop. I got on the bus to Odessa, about 5 hours south of Kyiv on the Black Sea. I arrived and met Masha (nickname for Maria), who is Yulia's friend she asked to show me around. Masha was really nice to come meet up with me and take me around town. We walked through the main sights in the city center. We saw the main walking boulevard and the beautiful opera house. We headed down to the port and strolled along the water. We took a funicular to get back up the hill. Afterwards, we went back to Masha's flat for me to unload my daypack. I met Masha's husband, Vova (not sure how to spell that, nickname for Volodymyr). He is a really cool guy and we got along great. Both of them spoke English well. They have a fantastic apartment in a really massive 20 story building similar to Yulia's. Vova stayed in for the evening, while Masha and I headed out to meet up with her friend. We went to a cool underground bar until her friend showed up. The three of us listened to some live jazz music and had a few drinks. We got in a cab and were dropped off on a very dark residential looking street. I was really confused until they pointed towards this cellar door. We walked down some stairs and found another really cool bar. It amazes me that none of the places have signs or even names it seems. The three of us enjoyed champagne, sushi, and backgammon while sitting on pillows with our shoes off. A strange combination, but lots of fun! We had a blast and Masha and I didn't make it home until very late.
On Thursday, after sleeping in of course, Masha and I walked down to the beach. It was a nice walk from her flat down to the water. Unfortunately my first view of the water involved some old dude stripping down and jumping in naked. But aside from that, the Black Sea is really incredible and the beach was great. The water is incredible clear despite the name and not even that cold given the time of year. We walked along till we got to the dolphin aquarium. We didn't spot any wild dolphins off the coast which are seen sometimes. So we decided to go see the dolphin show. I felt like a little kid watching the show. There were 4 dolphins doing some really cool tricks. We grabbed some dinner as we walked back to Masha's place. I also stopped at the supermarket to pick up some snacks for the road. I grabbed my things and Masha and Vova went with me to the bus station. I really enjoyed meeting both of them and hope that I see them again in their European travels. I bussed back to Kyiv and arrived around midnight. I got on one of the local busses and hoped it would go to a metro stop. Luckily it did, but the metro stop was closed. They don't usually close till later, but now I was in a dillemma. I got on a different bus that listed some metro stops in the window. After 10 mins or so, I was pretty sure I was not heading into the city. I called Yulia and she told me to just get off so we could figure out where I was. It took quite awhile, but we decided the best way for me to get home was to have her talk to somebody. So I walked up to random people on the street and asked for help as I handed them the cell phone. Needless to say, the first two people just stared at me like I was crazy. Yet the next guy and girl I walked up to decided to grab the phone and see what I was talking about. They explained to Yulia where I was, which was out in the burbs somewhere on the wrong side of town. She arranged for them to explain to a cab driver how to get me home. I eventually did get home, spending the last of my hrvynias, about 5 euros for the 45 minute ride. I felt really helpless which is not a good feeling. Though I am definitely grateful for Yulia and don't know how I would have survived without that cell phone she let me borrow. She had dinner waiting when I got back as well.
Friday was my day to leave Kyiv and Ukraine. I asked Yulia how I should get to the airport, and she said she was coming with me. For work, she has a car and driver she can call pretty much anytime, very cool! We hopped in the black sedan and were escorted an hour away right to the airport. Another painless airport experience and a few hour flight got me to London. I think I must have forgotten how ridiculously easy it is to get around in London. I got out of the airport and there were signs and English-speaking people everywhere ready to help! It felt almost too easy! I got the bus into town, bought a weeklong metro card, and found Cameron's flat. He has a really cool place in an amazing location in the northeast part of central London. He lives with 4 other Aussies that are all really nice. I settled in, then headed out for a beer with Cam and Fathead (Tim). Their place is about a 5 minute walk from amazing nightlife with hundreds of young people roaming the streets. When we got back I set my sleeping bag up on the couch which is my current home. I also finally got a SIM card for the phone I have been carrying around. So if anyone needs to call me, the number is 0044 7760 875 321.
Saturday was Halloween! I spent the day taking care of some errands, exploring the neighborhood, then finding some things for my costume. I got black and white face paint because I was to be Uncle Fester from the Addam's Family. I'm not sure that I looked anything like him, but Cam (Frankenstein) shaved my head to try and pull the look off. The paint was the oily type which I soon found out does not dry. What a mistake, I had to be careful what my face touched the entire night. We went to a house party of one of Cam's friends. I met a bunch of fun people and we stayed at the party until it was starting to get light outside! I had a plan in mind to stay awake, but Cam bailed and got a few hours of sleep. I stayed up and hung out with a South African girl named Deborah. We met up with Cam at about 11 AM, yet she was too tired and headed home. Cam and I then proceeded on to The Church! This was the crazy party that is every Sunday in north London. I went to it back in July and having been raving to Cam about it though he still hadn't been. I made sure to wash all the oily paint off my face first. The Church was the same wild drunken debauchery that it was in my previous experience, though with it being post-Halloween, even more people wore costumes. I was really starting to crash around 2 or 3 PM, so I managed to make it back to Cam's place on my own. I fell asleep for a few hours, woke up and ate the communal dinner with Cam's roommates that they have almost every night. I fell back asleep at 9 PM and didn't wake up until 10 AM Monday morning. All in all, Halloween was fantastic!
Yesterday, Monday, I felt pretty good after sleeping so long. I took the Tube a couple of stops to the Museum of London. This covered the entire history of the city, from cavemen to the Romans to the monarchs. There was a whole lot to see but my favorite part was the exhibit on the Great Fire which destroyed basically the entire city in 1666. It still amazes me that so many museums in London are completely free to go to. I went grocery shopping in the afternoon and relaxed back at the flat. I hung out with the flatmates last night, we had another communal dinner.
Today I went to the Imperial War Museum, another free one. After sleeping in a bit and making breakfast, I didn't get there till noon. The place was really incredible, it covered WWI and WWII in great detail. There were tons of tanks, planes, and artillery, not to mention a German V2 rocket. There were so many exhibitions within the museum as well, on the Holocaust, genocide around the world, British Secret Service, war's affect on children, and more. I spent nearly 4 hours in the museum and didn't feel like I even saw it all. I had to get back because I had volunteered to cook dinner for everyone. I roasted a chicken along with stuffing, mashed potatoes, and corn. Everyone seemed to enjoy it so I might cook again this week.
Tomorrow I will do some more sightseeing, then hopefully meet up with a friend in the evening. One cool thing about London is that a lot of people I have met on my trip so far live here. There are at least a few people that I will see while I am here (besides Cam). I'm leaving for Krakow on Saturday and am really excited for it. After I get back to London, I plan on exploring some other English cities until I fly the 18th when I fly to Frankfurt and then Seattle. I'm also having a party to see all of my friends from home on the 21st at my mom's house which should be lots of fun! I can't believe tomorrow is the start of the 20th week of my trip!
October 27, 2009
Watch for me on the Ukrainian version of 'Cops'
Yesterday in Kyiv, I was walking along a path through a park on my way to the Caves Monastary. I was taking a couple of pictures and there were a few other people nearby in the park. Two police officers in uniform approached me and said something in Ukrainian. I told them I did not understand. One of them laughed and said 'Passport.' I instantly knew I was in big trouble. I stayed calm and asked what the problem was, told them I was a tourist, showed them my camera, and asked if I was going the right way to the Monastary. They hardly spoke more than a few words of English, but they persisted and asked for my passport. I told them I didn't have it with me. I actually did have it in my pocket, I always carry it with me. But I am learning how these encounters work and expected that if I handed over my passport, they would be in control of the situation. They told me I had to have an ID card or a passport and began threatening to take me to jail. They patted me down and said something about 'weapons.' Then they asked me to show them what was in my pockets. I showed them most everything except what was in my left pocket, which had my passport and a bunch of random scraps of paper (maps, receipts, directions, phone numbers). They demanded I pull everything out, but I refused to pull everything out of that pocket. They said 'OK' and pulled out the handcuffs. They cuffed me behind my back and said something about 'police station.' I said 'OK, let's go.' I was pretty sure they were still just trying to scare me.
We started walking, only about 5 meters, when they stopped and again told me to empty my pockets. I told them I didn't understand what the problem was, and could I speak with someone who spoke English. They called up the police station on a cell phone and got me some lady who spoke decent English. She said I was required to show them my passport and because I didn't have it, they had to take me to the station. Then came my favorite part of the entire ordeal. I asked her if I had done something wrong, or whether there was some reason the cops had stopped me. She said that yes, there was a very good reason they stopped me: 'Because you are a stranger.' LOL, funniest thing I have ever heard.
I asked her if I were to show my passport, would they let me on my way? She said they would. So I got off the phone, asked the cops to show me their IDs, which they did. I assume they were legit even though I couldn't read them. I fished out the stuff in my left pocket to show them, then said 'Oh, what do ya know, my passport is here! Thought I had left it at home.' They looked it over for about 5 minutes and spoke on their phones again. Then they put it next to my face and determined that it was not in fact my passport. I think I started laughing which did not make them happy. I then told them every piece of information on my passport, and I guess they started to believe me. So I asked if I could go, but of course not yet. They asked if I had my 'immigration card.' I filled out a standard customs type card when I entered the country, and was told to show it when I exited the country. It was in my bag at Yulia's apartment. So I told them nope, and then we went through the same ordeal with them pulling out the handcuffs and telling me it was police station time. I still wasn't intimidated and told them OK. They started asking me when I entered the country and where I was staying. I told them the truth, and finally asked if they could speak with Yulia. I thought about it and decided that might not be a terrible idea.
So I called her up (she had let me borrow a cell phone so I could stay in touch with her) and explained the situation. She spoke with the cops for awhile and then they handed the phone back to me. Next was the moment I had been waiting for. She told me to pay them 50 hrz (4 euros or so) and I could leave. I know that amount of money is basically nothing, but it just feels wrong to pay an obvious bribe. I told Yulia I wasn't going to pay them anything. She said OK and spoke with the cops again. After a few minutes, they hung up and handed me back the phone and my passport. They spoke with each other for a bit, then shrugged, looked at me, and said 'Goodbye.' Victory!!
Yulia later told me about the conversation. Legally, the cops can ask anyone at anytime for their ID card or their passport (which I knew). The law used to say that tourists had to carry their immigration card with them, but that is not true anymore. The law also used to say tourists had to register in every city they visited in Ukraine! The cops told her that I hadn't registered in L'viv or Kyiv. Yulia told them she knew that wasn't the law. But apparently she had read about a bomb scare that day nearby where I was. She though maybe the cops were enforcing some sort of 'state of emergency' type situation and she then asked what I could do to leave. She offered that I pay the 50 hrz because it would be much easier than going to the police station. The cops agreed to her that they would let me go if I paid them. When I told her I wasn't going to pay, she told them and then said I would go with them to the station. then asked which police station we were going to so she could come help me. They told her something like 'OK, nevermind' and hung up on her!
The whole thing lasted maybe 30-40 mins. I am proud to say I didn't panic and have avoided paying a bribe or being arrested twice in a row now!
We started walking, only about 5 meters, when they stopped and again told me to empty my pockets. I told them I didn't understand what the problem was, and could I speak with someone who spoke English. They called up the police station on a cell phone and got me some lady who spoke decent English. She said I was required to show them my passport and because I didn't have it, they had to take me to the station. Then came my favorite part of the entire ordeal. I asked her if I had done something wrong, or whether there was some reason the cops had stopped me. She said that yes, there was a very good reason they stopped me: 'Because you are a stranger.' LOL, funniest thing I have ever heard.
I asked her if I were to show my passport, would they let me on my way? She said they would. So I got off the phone, asked the cops to show me their IDs, which they did. I assume they were legit even though I couldn't read them. I fished out the stuff in my left pocket to show them, then said 'Oh, what do ya know, my passport is here! Thought I had left it at home.' They looked it over for about 5 minutes and spoke on their phones again. Then they put it next to my face and determined that it was not in fact my passport. I think I started laughing which did not make them happy. I then told them every piece of information on my passport, and I guess they started to believe me. So I asked if I could go, but of course not yet. They asked if I had my 'immigration card.' I filled out a standard customs type card when I entered the country, and was told to show it when I exited the country. It was in my bag at Yulia's apartment. So I told them nope, and then we went through the same ordeal with them pulling out the handcuffs and telling me it was police station time. I still wasn't intimidated and told them OK. They started asking me when I entered the country and where I was staying. I told them the truth, and finally asked if they could speak with Yulia. I thought about it and decided that might not be a terrible idea.
So I called her up (she had let me borrow a cell phone so I could stay in touch with her) and explained the situation. She spoke with the cops for awhile and then they handed the phone back to me. Next was the moment I had been waiting for. She told me to pay them 50 hrz (4 euros or so) and I could leave. I know that amount of money is basically nothing, but it just feels wrong to pay an obvious bribe. I told Yulia I wasn't going to pay them anything. She said OK and spoke with the cops again. After a few minutes, they hung up and handed me back the phone and my passport. They spoke with each other for a bit, then shrugged, looked at me, and said 'Goodbye.' Victory!!
Yulia later told me about the conversation. Legally, the cops can ask anyone at anytime for their ID card or their passport (which I knew). The law used to say that tourists had to carry their immigration card with them, but that is not true anymore. The law also used to say tourists had to register in every city they visited in Ukraine! The cops told her that I hadn't registered in L'viv or Kyiv. Yulia told them she knew that wasn't the law. But apparently she had read about a bomb scare that day nearby where I was. She though maybe the cops were enforcing some sort of 'state of emergency' type situation and she then asked what I could do to leave. She offered that I pay the 50 hrz because it would be much easier than going to the police station. The cops agreed to her that they would let me go if I paid them. When I told her I wasn't going to pay, she told them and then said I would go with them to the station. then asked which police station we were going to so she could come help me. They told her something like 'OK, nevermind' and hung up on her!
The whole thing lasted maybe 30-40 mins. I am proud to say I didn't panic and have avoided paying a bribe or being arrested twice in a row now!
October 26, 2009
Kyiv is Unbelievable! Most beautiful city in Europe?!
On Monday I went to Auschwitz. It took an hour or so to get there by bus. But it took nearly an hour to find the right bus! I think they make it difficult because they want people to pay more money and take the group tour. I was told by several people that seeing Auschwitz was a very intense and emotional experience. I suppose that helped me prepare myself for what I was going to see, but I was extremely moved nonetheless. I met a couple of girls on the bus, and we took the obligatory guided tour together. It began with a film about the liberation of the camp by the Soviets. Then we walked through the complex and went into several buildings with different exhibitions. Some of the buildings and most of the stuff inside have been recreated. I think the Germans destroyed much of the camp when they knew the Russians were getting close. But there are still some original things: a room filled with human hair was one of the more disturbing things. There was literally 2 tons of hair they had shaved off of the Jews after they killed them. They used it to make clothing. There were also collections of luggage, brushes, eyeglasses, little kids shoes, etc. The sheer numbers were incredible, I would guess there were several hundred thousand pairs of little girls' shoes. After we toured the main camp, we got on a shuttle out to Birkenau (Auschwitz II). The Nazis opened this camp when the original began filling up. It is much, much bigger than the original, it held many more people and many more people were killed there. The majority of people sent to Birkenau didn't even stay there. They got off the train and were marched directly to the gas chambers. This camp was so massive it is hard to describe. Nothing has been reconstructed here, so the camp looks as it did in 1945. There are brick chimneys as far as the eye can see because the Nazis burned down the wooden buildings as they left. The gas chambers in the back of the camp are still in ruins, but there is one that you can walk into and even see the ovens. All in all, I am glad I saw Auschwitz, I think it is something to see once in a lifetime. Oh, there were also a few huge groups of loud, wild Israeli kids there, all wore the Israeli flag on their back like a cape. They ran around yelling and sticking tiny Israeli flags to every monument they saw. Kind of strange and interesting to see.
The tour lasted 4 hours or so, then I got back on the bus to Krakow. Monday evening was pretty slow. I met up with Pawel because we had planned on checking out the music festival. It turned out the first few days of it did not include any music, just record release parties, fan meet and greet type things. So we went out to dinner and had a few drinks in a bar, then called it a night. Tuesday was my next day trip, this one on a much lighter note. I went to the Wieliczka Salt Mines. These have been around for nearly a thousand years, and are still used today. Again, it was a bit complicated for me to find the correct bus, but the people at my hostel helped me find the right one. I went down into the mineshaft on a guided tour, which is the only way in. We began walking down flights of stairs, and after quite a while, we exited and were 80 meters underground! The mines are like a labyrinth with tunnels heading every direction. Several rooms open up and many include sculptures and churches, all made out of salt of course. We learned about how the mine operated and all the famous people who have visited the mine. I'm not sure why they visited, but there is a salt statue for most of them, including Pope John Paul II, Goethe, Copernicus, and many more. We trekked for 3 km and went down to 135 meters underground. Only 1% of the mines are open to tourists, the whole complex is 300 km and over 500 meters underground! After the 3 hour tour, we were led to a big restaurant and bar, a concert hall, and much more, all 135 meters down.
That evening, I met up with Pawel and we walked into the main part of town. We met a couple of French speaking girls when we were eating dinner, who in turn met a Spanish speaking couple as we left. The 6 of us all went to Pies, which is Pawel's favorite bar. I had now been there about 6 times in less than a week! The group turned out to be a quite a mix of people because niether of the French speaking girls were actually French. I discovered there were at least 7 languages spoken and 6 nationalities represented at the table. It was, as usual, very humbling to be the only person there who spoke just a single language. I will fix that this winter!
Wednesday was my day to leave Krakow. I got on a train to L'viv in western Ukraine. I still don't understand why, but it appears to be about 250 km from Krakow on the map, yet the train takes 9 or 10 hours. The train seemed to be moving fast and in a generally straight direction. True, the border crossing took awhile and was a bit of an ordeal. As I was leaving the Schengen zone, the border guards take their jobs (far too) seriously. They took my passport on the Polish side of the border and said they would give it back to me in an hour. That was kind of scary, I still don't know why they cared so much about me leaving Poland. Then we spent an hour watching the train 'change' tracks. The people next to me explained that the width or guage of Russian (and Ukrainian) train tracks differs from that of Western Europe (and Poland). So they had to basically jack my train car up off the ground and replace the undercarriage and wheels. The process took a long time while the train moved forward and backward, shook constantly, and made a lot of loud noises. On the other side of the border, the Ukrainian border people basically just took a glance at my passport, thanked me, and moved on.
I arrived in L'viv near midnight. As soon as I got off the train, I realized that while I thought I had been travelling in Eastern Europe, I was very wrong. Slovakia, Hungary, and Poland do not even compare to the Eastern Europe feel of Ukraine. There are no tourists, no tourist information, no English signs, no English speaking people! The toughest part is that the language is entirely different. I mean the actualy alphabet is so different that it is difficult to even ask for help. I decided to try and walk to my hostel anyway, though I didn't have a map and only really knew the street name. I walked for an hour in the cold, asked many 8 people along the way who gave me a variety of answers. Another hour and I was pretty sure I was getting close, though I had been going in circles due to the conflicting directions. I finally figured out that my street name is also the name of a monument, plus there are a couple of other streets with the same name. I finally did the one thing that I absolutely loathe: I got in a taxi. I felt so defeated, especially when the drive took about 3 minutes and an hour earlier I had been about 50 meters away from the hostel. The hostel was ridiculously cheap (2.35 euros a night!). I guess I got what I paid for because it was quite a dive. I had to wake someone up to get inside, after I finally got my bunk up on the 7th floor I managed to sleep only to wake up shivering at 6 in the morning. Very few of the lights worked, particularly the ones in the bathroom. I was told there was no hot water in the morning anyway. Strange thing is, the hostel had Wi-Fi with a perfectly strong signal!
I checked out but left my bag at the hostel the next morning. I spent the entire day exploring L'viv, which is a very pretty city with cool architecture and nice monuments. After several hours, I had seen most of the main part of the city (a lot of which I had seen the night before). I ate at a couple of different street vendors selling food for absurdly low prices (about 60 Euro cents for a footlong sub sandwich). In the evening, I saw a very interesting musical street performance in one of the main squares. I couldn't believe my eyes, but the musicians were Native Americans! The Ukrainian crowd was in awe of course. I am still trying to decide for sure if they were actually American or not, but you can take a look when I post the pictures. I went back to the hostel to pick up my bag, then out to the train station for the night train to Kyiv! I think one day was plenty for me in L'viv. The train was fairly painless, and I arrived in Kyiv at 7:30 Friday morning. After navigating the metro, difficult because the alphabet is so foreign to me, I found Yulia! We went back to her amazing apartment. She lives in the northern part of the city that has several massive apartment buildings. Hers is on the 13th floor and is huge. She has an enclosed sun deck type of room with fantastic views of the city.
Yulia helped me settle in but then left for work. I spent all day Friday exploring Kyiv. This city is absolutely phenomenal. I couldn't stop saying 'Wow' everywhere I went. It might be the coolest looking city in Europe! The city is very spread out, so the metro is essential. It is very quick and efficient, and easy to use once I started recognizing the names of the stops. I started out in the city's main plaza, called Independence Square. This was the sight of the Orange Revolution, more on that later. There are amazing buildings and fountains and monuments everywhere you turn. I spotted a gigantic golden-domed church and began walking towards it. Turns out this city is filled with golden-domed churches. They literally dot the skyline and are all incredible. I got to St. Sophia's, which is the 2nd most important religious site in Kyiv. It was really breathtaking as I walked into the cloister and explored the grounds. This one was all original and built in the 11 century. Afterwards, I went to a very similar golden-domed church that faces St. Sophia's down a busy boulevard. This one was destroyed by the Communists to make room for some stupid concrete and building which they never built. So the church was rebuilt ten years ago. The inside was filled with amazing golden art and architecture. I headed out to the main river running through town and through a park with great views. To get down to the river, I took one of the oldest streets in town called Andrew's Descent. It is cobblestoned and steep and lined with souvenir shops. I climbed a couple of nearby hills to see more great views of the city. I walked for an hour or more along the river until I found the Caves Monastary. This is the most important religious place in Kyiv and all of Ukraine. Unfortunately I got there too late to go underground so instead I saw the churches and chapels and the other sights on the monastary grounds.
Friday evening I met up with Yulia back at her place. A friend of her's came over and the three of us went downtown and found two different pubs with live music. Yulia and I got a slow start on Saturday, but made it out to see a few more sights in town, including two museums. We also climbed the bell tower at St. Sophia's which was lots of fun. We walked through a brand new, rich neighborhood of Kyiv. It is filled with houses of cool colors and interesting architecture. After eating dinner at a traditional Ukrainian restaurant, Yulia informed me that Saturday evening would be The Orange Revolution - Part 2! She didn't tell me much more than that so I was pretty excited. In short, the Orange Revolution was a populist movement in 2004 after a fraudulent and corrupt election. The people protested in masses in Kyiv for a couple of months until the courts declared a new election, which the original winner then actually won. 'Part 2' probably wasn't quite as exciting, but I sure enjoyed it. We went to Independence Square, which was absolutely packed with people. There were easily several hundred thousand people, maybe even half a million or so. It was a political rally for the current Prime Minister who is running for president. We muscled through the crowds while several people spoke on the podium, then found a spot right in the middle about 50 meters from the stage. Their PM (named Yulia as well) looks like a beautiful doll, not a politician. After she spoke, several famous Ukrainian musicians came out and played, then fireworks finished off the night.
For some reason I have been seeing a lot of politics in the last couple of months. First was the vote on the Lisbon Treaty when I was in Dublin. Next was the German elections when I was in Hannover and Munich. Then I stumbled upon that right-wing rally in Budapest. Now a Ukrainian rally as well. The politics here are pretty unusual. The guy who the PM is running against is the same guy who initially 'won' the corrupt election in 2004. He has also been to prison 3 times, including once for rape! I don't understand how a convicted rapist can become president. The guy is actually leading in the polls!
Yesterday, Sunday, Yulia and I took the metro and then a bus just outside of the city to an open-air museum. It was actually kind of an old Ukrainian village that has been set up to see how people used to live. It is in a massive park, basically, so we walked through and saw old straw huts, windmills, wooden churches, barns, and a lot of other cool stuff. We stayed there till dark. We stopped at the grocery store on the way home so I could cook dinner. Yulia has been really nice to let me stay at her place and show me around. I cooked Italian food last night to help repay her. Today, she is off at work and I am planning on heading back to the Caves Monastary to go underground. I hope to also see the WWII museum.
A few things about Ukraine. The currency here is the hryvnia which is difficult to pronounce, so I don't really try. There about 12 of them to one euro. Yet they have a one hryvnia note and all the coins are even smaller. By comparison, the smallest euro note is 5, which is about 60 hryvnias. So everyone constantly uses notes here to pay for even the smallest things which is pretty strange. The public transportation is unbelievably cheap. The tram in L'viv cost 1 hryvnia to use which is 8 cents! I am glad I bought tickets though because the ticket police checked me 3 different times. In Kyiv, the metro tickets are a whopping 1.70 hryvnia. Apparently they used to be .50 and people threw a fit when they upped it by so much. For the metro, you buy little plastic tokens instead of a ticket. I really like this method, much better than having a ticket stamped or punched. You put your token in and walk through, nothing to carry on you to show anybody. People here are also extremely religious. Nearly every person that even walks past a church or monument crosses themself. Many of them even go kiss the monument as well. Even the most famous churches are actually filled with people praying, not just tourists like most places. Every person here speaks two languages as well! They speak Ukrainian and Russian, which are quite similar. But in Kyiv, it is 50-50. I don't know of any other city that has an even split of two spoken languages where everyone understands both.
I have my plans for the next few weeks as well. Last Wednesday, I bought 3 plane tickets! I am flying from Kyiv to London this Friday. I am going to hang out with Cameron and I'm sure go to a fun Halloween party. Then on the 7th I fly back to Krakow! It is going to be a reunion with Cameron, Vincent, Clement, and Pawel. I'm sure it will be a lot of fun even though I was just there. I will try and do a day trip to either Wroclaw or Warsaw. On the 11th, I head back to London. I would like to explore England a bit (I have only been to London so far) until the 18th when I have to get to Franfurt for my flight to Seattle. As for this week, I will spend the next two days here in Kyiv. Then on Wednesday I am going to take a bus down to Odessa on the Black Sea. It is a big beach party city during the summer, but I think it is pretty laid back this time of year. Yulia has a friend who I can stay with and who will show me around. I will probably head back Thursday night before my Friday morning flight. I am really enjoying Ukraine. It is very different from anywhere I have been so far! I am trying to learn a bit of Russian as well :)
The tour lasted 4 hours or so, then I got back on the bus to Krakow. Monday evening was pretty slow. I met up with Pawel because we had planned on checking out the music festival. It turned out the first few days of it did not include any music, just record release parties, fan meet and greet type things. So we went out to dinner and had a few drinks in a bar, then called it a night. Tuesday was my next day trip, this one on a much lighter note. I went to the Wieliczka Salt Mines. These have been around for nearly a thousand years, and are still used today. Again, it was a bit complicated for me to find the correct bus, but the people at my hostel helped me find the right one. I went down into the mineshaft on a guided tour, which is the only way in. We began walking down flights of stairs, and after quite a while, we exited and were 80 meters underground! The mines are like a labyrinth with tunnels heading every direction. Several rooms open up and many include sculptures and churches, all made out of salt of course. We learned about how the mine operated and all the famous people who have visited the mine. I'm not sure why they visited, but there is a salt statue for most of them, including Pope John Paul II, Goethe, Copernicus, and many more. We trekked for 3 km and went down to 135 meters underground. Only 1% of the mines are open to tourists, the whole complex is 300 km and over 500 meters underground! After the 3 hour tour, we were led to a big restaurant and bar, a concert hall, and much more, all 135 meters down.
That evening, I met up with Pawel and we walked into the main part of town. We met a couple of French speaking girls when we were eating dinner, who in turn met a Spanish speaking couple as we left. The 6 of us all went to Pies, which is Pawel's favorite bar. I had now been there about 6 times in less than a week! The group turned out to be a quite a mix of people because niether of the French speaking girls were actually French. I discovered there were at least 7 languages spoken and 6 nationalities represented at the table. It was, as usual, very humbling to be the only person there who spoke just a single language. I will fix that this winter!
Wednesday was my day to leave Krakow. I got on a train to L'viv in western Ukraine. I still don't understand why, but it appears to be about 250 km from Krakow on the map, yet the train takes 9 or 10 hours. The train seemed to be moving fast and in a generally straight direction. True, the border crossing took awhile and was a bit of an ordeal. As I was leaving the Schengen zone, the border guards take their jobs (far too) seriously. They took my passport on the Polish side of the border and said they would give it back to me in an hour. That was kind of scary, I still don't know why they cared so much about me leaving Poland. Then we spent an hour watching the train 'change' tracks. The people next to me explained that the width or guage of Russian (and Ukrainian) train tracks differs from that of Western Europe (and Poland). So they had to basically jack my train car up off the ground and replace the undercarriage and wheels. The process took a long time while the train moved forward and backward, shook constantly, and made a lot of loud noises. On the other side of the border, the Ukrainian border people basically just took a glance at my passport, thanked me, and moved on.
I arrived in L'viv near midnight. As soon as I got off the train, I realized that while I thought I had been travelling in Eastern Europe, I was very wrong. Slovakia, Hungary, and Poland do not even compare to the Eastern Europe feel of Ukraine. There are no tourists, no tourist information, no English signs, no English speaking people! The toughest part is that the language is entirely different. I mean the actualy alphabet is so different that it is difficult to even ask for help. I decided to try and walk to my hostel anyway, though I didn't have a map and only really knew the street name. I walked for an hour in the cold, asked many 8 people along the way who gave me a variety of answers. Another hour and I was pretty sure I was getting close, though I had been going in circles due to the conflicting directions. I finally figured out that my street name is also the name of a monument, plus there are a couple of other streets with the same name. I finally did the one thing that I absolutely loathe: I got in a taxi. I felt so defeated, especially when the drive took about 3 minutes and an hour earlier I had been about 50 meters away from the hostel. The hostel was ridiculously cheap (2.35 euros a night!). I guess I got what I paid for because it was quite a dive. I had to wake someone up to get inside, after I finally got my bunk up on the 7th floor I managed to sleep only to wake up shivering at 6 in the morning. Very few of the lights worked, particularly the ones in the bathroom. I was told there was no hot water in the morning anyway. Strange thing is, the hostel had Wi-Fi with a perfectly strong signal!
I checked out but left my bag at the hostel the next morning. I spent the entire day exploring L'viv, which is a very pretty city with cool architecture and nice monuments. After several hours, I had seen most of the main part of the city (a lot of which I had seen the night before). I ate at a couple of different street vendors selling food for absurdly low prices (about 60 Euro cents for a footlong sub sandwich). In the evening, I saw a very interesting musical street performance in one of the main squares. I couldn't believe my eyes, but the musicians were Native Americans! The Ukrainian crowd was in awe of course. I am still trying to decide for sure if they were actually American or not, but you can take a look when I post the pictures. I went back to the hostel to pick up my bag, then out to the train station for the night train to Kyiv! I think one day was plenty for me in L'viv. The train was fairly painless, and I arrived in Kyiv at 7:30 Friday morning. After navigating the metro, difficult because the alphabet is so foreign to me, I found Yulia! We went back to her amazing apartment. She lives in the northern part of the city that has several massive apartment buildings. Hers is on the 13th floor and is huge. She has an enclosed sun deck type of room with fantastic views of the city.
Yulia helped me settle in but then left for work. I spent all day Friday exploring Kyiv. This city is absolutely phenomenal. I couldn't stop saying 'Wow' everywhere I went. It might be the coolest looking city in Europe! The city is very spread out, so the metro is essential. It is very quick and efficient, and easy to use once I started recognizing the names of the stops. I started out in the city's main plaza, called Independence Square. This was the sight of the Orange Revolution, more on that later. There are amazing buildings and fountains and monuments everywhere you turn. I spotted a gigantic golden-domed church and began walking towards it. Turns out this city is filled with golden-domed churches. They literally dot the skyline and are all incredible. I got to St. Sophia's, which is the 2nd most important religious site in Kyiv. It was really breathtaking as I walked into the cloister and explored the grounds. This one was all original and built in the 11 century. Afterwards, I went to a very similar golden-domed church that faces St. Sophia's down a busy boulevard. This one was destroyed by the Communists to make room for some stupid concrete and building which they never built. So the church was rebuilt ten years ago. The inside was filled with amazing golden art and architecture. I headed out to the main river running through town and through a park with great views. To get down to the river, I took one of the oldest streets in town called Andrew's Descent. It is cobblestoned and steep and lined with souvenir shops. I climbed a couple of nearby hills to see more great views of the city. I walked for an hour or more along the river until I found the Caves Monastary. This is the most important religious place in Kyiv and all of Ukraine. Unfortunately I got there too late to go underground so instead I saw the churches and chapels and the other sights on the monastary grounds.
Friday evening I met up with Yulia back at her place. A friend of her's came over and the three of us went downtown and found two different pubs with live music. Yulia and I got a slow start on Saturday, but made it out to see a few more sights in town, including two museums. We also climbed the bell tower at St. Sophia's which was lots of fun. We walked through a brand new, rich neighborhood of Kyiv. It is filled with houses of cool colors and interesting architecture. After eating dinner at a traditional Ukrainian restaurant, Yulia informed me that Saturday evening would be The Orange Revolution - Part 2! She didn't tell me much more than that so I was pretty excited. In short, the Orange Revolution was a populist movement in 2004 after a fraudulent and corrupt election. The people protested in masses in Kyiv for a couple of months until the courts declared a new election, which the original winner then actually won. 'Part 2' probably wasn't quite as exciting, but I sure enjoyed it. We went to Independence Square, which was absolutely packed with people. There were easily several hundred thousand people, maybe even half a million or so. It was a political rally for the current Prime Minister who is running for president. We muscled through the crowds while several people spoke on the podium, then found a spot right in the middle about 50 meters from the stage. Their PM (named Yulia as well) looks like a beautiful doll, not a politician. After she spoke, several famous Ukrainian musicians came out and played, then fireworks finished off the night.
For some reason I have been seeing a lot of politics in the last couple of months. First was the vote on the Lisbon Treaty when I was in Dublin. Next was the German elections when I was in Hannover and Munich. Then I stumbled upon that right-wing rally in Budapest. Now a Ukrainian rally as well. The politics here are pretty unusual. The guy who the PM is running against is the same guy who initially 'won' the corrupt election in 2004. He has also been to prison 3 times, including once for rape! I don't understand how a convicted rapist can become president. The guy is actually leading in the polls!
Yesterday, Sunday, Yulia and I took the metro and then a bus just outside of the city to an open-air museum. It was actually kind of an old Ukrainian village that has been set up to see how people used to live. It is in a massive park, basically, so we walked through and saw old straw huts, windmills, wooden churches, barns, and a lot of other cool stuff. We stayed there till dark. We stopped at the grocery store on the way home so I could cook dinner. Yulia has been really nice to let me stay at her place and show me around. I cooked Italian food last night to help repay her. Today, she is off at work and I am planning on heading back to the Caves Monastary to go underground. I hope to also see the WWII museum.
A few things about Ukraine. The currency here is the hryvnia which is difficult to pronounce, so I don't really try. There about 12 of them to one euro. Yet they have a one hryvnia note and all the coins are even smaller. By comparison, the smallest euro note is 5, which is about 60 hryvnias. So everyone constantly uses notes here to pay for even the smallest things which is pretty strange. The public transportation is unbelievably cheap. The tram in L'viv cost 1 hryvnia to use which is 8 cents! I am glad I bought tickets though because the ticket police checked me 3 different times. In Kyiv, the metro tickets are a whopping 1.70 hryvnia. Apparently they used to be .50 and people threw a fit when they upped it by so much. For the metro, you buy little plastic tokens instead of a ticket. I really like this method, much better than having a ticket stamped or punched. You put your token in and walk through, nothing to carry on you to show anybody. People here are also extremely religious. Nearly every person that even walks past a church or monument crosses themself. Many of them even go kiss the monument as well. Even the most famous churches are actually filled with people praying, not just tourists like most places. Every person here speaks two languages as well! They speak Ukrainian and Russian, which are quite similar. But in Kyiv, it is 50-50. I don't know of any other city that has an even split of two spoken languages where everyone understands both.
I have my plans for the next few weeks as well. Last Wednesday, I bought 3 plane tickets! I am flying from Kyiv to London this Friday. I am going to hang out with Cameron and I'm sure go to a fun Halloween party. Then on the 7th I fly back to Krakow! It is going to be a reunion with Cameron, Vincent, Clement, and Pawel. I'm sure it will be a lot of fun even though I was just there. I will try and do a day trip to either Wroclaw or Warsaw. On the 11th, I head back to London. I would like to explore England a bit (I have only been to London so far) until the 18th when I have to get to Franfurt for my flight to Seattle. As for this week, I will spend the next two days here in Kyiv. Then on Wednesday I am going to take a bus down to Odessa on the Black Sea. It is a big beach party city during the summer, but I think it is pretty laid back this time of year. Yulia has a friend who I can stay with and who will show me around. I will probably head back Thursday night before my Friday morning flight. I am really enjoying Ukraine. It is very different from anywhere I have been so far! I am trying to learn a bit of Russian as well :)
October 18, 2009
It's cold in Krakow! Next stop Ukraine!
On my final day in Budapest, I headed out to Memento Park just outside the city. After a tram ride and a bus ride, I made it out to see the Communist sculptures. After the fall of communism, the city moved all of the various pieces of Soviet art around the city to this park. It was fairly interesting, especially seeing Stalin's boots. They are a famous symbol of Hungary, I guess they destroyed this huge statue of Stalin except for his boots. I headed back into town and went to the Jewish Quarter. There I headed for the synagogue, which is apparently the second largest one in the world. Who woulda thought that would be in Budapest? The inside was very lavish and impressive. Later that day back at my hostel, I was hanging out in the common area when a girl (Lia) came to check in. I heard her say she was from Seattle, which is strange enough considering I have not met a single person from Seattle in the last 4 months of travelling. I got to talking with her, turns out she is from Mill Creek (where I used to live). We figured out that we knew all of the same places and used to go to one particular bar in the Mill Creek Town Center called Azul. My old flatmate Megan used to work there so I went a lot. After talking with her longer, we both finally realized that we actually met at Azul back in March. My friend and I went into Seattle with Lia and her boyfriend at the time and partied all night! We had both obviously not recognized each other or remembered each other's name. Small world! Can't believe she was staying at my tiny little hostel in Budapest!
My bus ride to Krakow was leaving at 6 am the next morning, so while any normal person would get to bed early to make sure they woke up at 5 am, that's just not my style. Plus I would probably have slept in no matter when I got to bed. So I decided to head out with Lia! We went to a few bars, sang karaoke, and met a whole bunch of people, including some Hungarians that took us to a fun club. We stayed out until 5 am when I had to head back to get on my bus. The bus ride took 8 hours, and went straight through the beautiful mountains of Slovakia. I didn't get as much sleep as I had hoped for, but I am glad I got to see a little bit more of Slovakia. When I got to Krakow, it was snowing!! I stepped off the bus into -1 C degree weather and a near blizzard! OK, maybe blizzard is an exaggeration, but it was really coming down! I met a couple of Polish guys from Krakow on the bus who told me they have never seen snow in October. They showed me around a bit and gave me some tips before I headed to my hostel. I dropped off my stuff and headed to the main square in town to meet up with Pawel. It was pretty funny when I found him because neither of us had any warm clothes at all! We both had just light rain jackets on and were freezing.
Pawel is both French and Polish and speaks both languages. His father lived in Krakow for 40 years and was an important anti-communist activist. Everybody in this city knows him apparently, and Pawel therefore knows a whole bunch of people in town. Pawel is doing an internship at the company of one of his father's friends (Tommy). He is also living at the guy's apartment, it is his first time living in Poland. We headed out for a beer after we met up, then went to go see his flat. The place takes up the top two floors of the complex which is really cool. I met Mishka, who lives there as well, she is Tommy's daughter.
Pawel and I headed to one of his favorite places for dinner. It was kind of a German beer hall themed restaurant with huge portions of cheap Polish food. We each had a liter of beer, a plate full of pierogi, then shared a massive platter of Polish meat. There was multiple types of sausage, chicken, pork, steak, and other stuff I couldn't identify. Of course there was 2 of everything, plus vegetables and rice. It was a ridiculous amount of food that we couldn't quite finish. It cost 50 zlotys each which is about 12 euros. And that is by far the most you would ever pay for food in this city. I have been eating lunch at restaurants for about 3 euros. You can eat the Polish version of fast food for about 2 euros or less.
On Thursday, I headed into the main part of the city, the old town. Krakow is very compact and you can walk just about everywhere. I went to the church in the main square which was absolutely stunning inside. I explored the old town some more, then headed to the main shopping mall. I went straight to H & M, of course, and bought a jacket, gloves, hat, and scarf for about 60 euros. The jacket was more expensive than I had planned, but it is exactly the kind I wanted and very warm. I am both relieved and excited to start preparing for winter weather! I changed into all my new stuff back at my hostel and re-entered Krakow warm and cozy! I explored Kazimierz, the Jewish section of town, which also has some of the scenes from Schindler's List. Pawel had some other plans Thursday night, so I decided to go out on my own. I found some tasty Polish food, then went to a couple of bars.
Most of the bars in Krakow are underground in brick cellars. Often there is hardly even a sign and you walk down stairs having no idea what to expect. They usually have small rooms connected by passageways, some of them actually have dozens of rooms! I found a cool one and ordered a beer, which costs about 1.5 euros and comes with a shot of cherry vodka! Some people pour the vodka into the beer which I tried, it actually tastes pretty good. I was then told that a 'concert' was about to begin so I headed to that room. There was a projector with some strange and random images in crazy colors. There was a guy on a laptop controlling the image and the sounds. The sound was not music, it was mainly static that was played at a deafeningly loud level. It was a very bizarre attempt at modern art that in my opinion failed miserably.
On Friday I slept in and barely made it to my hostel's breakfast which ended at noon. I did my laundry as well, then went to Wawel where Krakow's castle is. The castle is huge and you can tell it was built in sections over a very long time period. There are many clashing architectural styles. The castle is up on a hill with some good views of the city. I went to the cathedral and climbed up the bell tower. It was probably the biggest bell I have ever seen, it weighs 12,600 kilos! I also went into the crypt which has tons of Polish royalty. After that, I checked out the museum/treasury/art gallery and learned a bit about Poland's history. I met up with Pawel later in the day and we got ready for the 'big party' he had been telling me about. He and Mishka and I went over to one of their friend's places and got a group of people together. We drank Polish vodka, of course, and headed out to their usual string of bars and clubs. There is no way I would have ever been able to find some of those places on my own. I walked down a sidestreet, into an alley, around a corner, down several flights of stairs into basically a dungeon, only to find a bar packed with Polish people drinking and dancing. Definitely not a tourist place. We had a great night and I ended up sleeping on Pawel's couch when we got home.
Saturday was a bit of a slow day. When we finally got moving, Pawel and Mishka and I went to Kazimierz where Mishka is working on an apartment. She is an architect and interior designer. Her father bought a flat there and is letting her basically do whatever she wants with it. It is pretty run down, so she is basically acting as contractor to fix the place up. We checked the place out while Mishka talked with the electrician. Then we got lunch at a famous Polish fast food place. I also picked up my backpack from my hostel and moved to a new hostel where I am now that is only one block from Pawel's place. It is making things a lot easier. That evening, Pawel and I went into the old town. We found a traditional Polish cellar restaurant and paid about 8 euros for a full meal with drinks. We met up with one of Pawel's friends and drank cherry vodka at several places until the wee hours of the morning.
Today, Sunday, Pawel and I went to a museum that is named after a famous royal Polish family that Pawel is a member of. I guess there are quite a few people in Krakow that have the same last name as the name of the museum. It had some interesting art in it, including a famous Leonardo da Vinci painting. We went to the mall to get some warm clothes for Pawel, then found a spot for lunch, borsch and pierogi! We lounged around his apartment for awhile and watched a Polish football match. Tomorrow I am going to Auschwitz. There are a bunch of tours that head out there, but I am going to do it on my own. I think the bus takes an hour and a half so it will probably be an all day trip. A weeklong music festival starts tomorrow in Krakow, so Pawel and I will go check that out tomorrow night. Sometime this week, I am leaving Krakow. My next stop is Ukraine! I have a couple of reasons for going there. The first is to visit my friend Yulia who I met in Budapest. She lives in Kyiv (Kiev) and invited me there. The second reason has to do with the Schengen zone, my lack of a visa, my future plans in Austria, etc. It is complicated, but basically I need to leave the main part of Europe now so that I am able to get back in safely later. I will probably spend a few days in Lviv (I don't know how to pronounce that either), then on to Kyiv.
Oh, I also have my next flight booked! On Nov. 28th, I fly from Seattle to Paris, just in time to get to Austria on Dec. 1st! Thanks mom!
For my memory mostly, here's a quick recap of the cities I have stayed in during my trip, in order: London, Dublin, Galway, Belfast, Glasgow, Edinburgh, London, Paris, Caen, Paris, Barcelona, Madrid, Tangier, Fez, Sahara Desert, Oarzazate, Marrakesh, Essaouira, Casablanca, Marrakesh, Seville, Albufeira, Lagos, Lisbon, Valencia, Madrid, Venice, Verona, Balogna, Paris, La Houssaye-en-Brie, Nantes, Dublin, Hannover, Ingolstadt (oops!), Munich, Salzburg, Vienna, Bratislava, Budapest, Krakow...
My bus ride to Krakow was leaving at 6 am the next morning, so while any normal person would get to bed early to make sure they woke up at 5 am, that's just not my style. Plus I would probably have slept in no matter when I got to bed. So I decided to head out with Lia! We went to a few bars, sang karaoke, and met a whole bunch of people, including some Hungarians that took us to a fun club. We stayed out until 5 am when I had to head back to get on my bus. The bus ride took 8 hours, and went straight through the beautiful mountains of Slovakia. I didn't get as much sleep as I had hoped for, but I am glad I got to see a little bit more of Slovakia. When I got to Krakow, it was snowing!! I stepped off the bus into -1 C degree weather and a near blizzard! OK, maybe blizzard is an exaggeration, but it was really coming down! I met a couple of Polish guys from Krakow on the bus who told me they have never seen snow in October. They showed me around a bit and gave me some tips before I headed to my hostel. I dropped off my stuff and headed to the main square in town to meet up with Pawel. It was pretty funny when I found him because neither of us had any warm clothes at all! We both had just light rain jackets on and were freezing.
Pawel is both French and Polish and speaks both languages. His father lived in Krakow for 40 years and was an important anti-communist activist. Everybody in this city knows him apparently, and Pawel therefore knows a whole bunch of people in town. Pawel is doing an internship at the company of one of his father's friends (Tommy). He is also living at the guy's apartment, it is his first time living in Poland. We headed out for a beer after we met up, then went to go see his flat. The place takes up the top two floors of the complex which is really cool. I met Mishka, who lives there as well, she is Tommy's daughter.
Pawel and I headed to one of his favorite places for dinner. It was kind of a German beer hall themed restaurant with huge portions of cheap Polish food. We each had a liter of beer, a plate full of pierogi, then shared a massive platter of Polish meat. There was multiple types of sausage, chicken, pork, steak, and other stuff I couldn't identify. Of course there was 2 of everything, plus vegetables and rice. It was a ridiculous amount of food that we couldn't quite finish. It cost 50 zlotys each which is about 12 euros. And that is by far the most you would ever pay for food in this city. I have been eating lunch at restaurants for about 3 euros. You can eat the Polish version of fast food for about 2 euros or less.
On Thursday, I headed into the main part of the city, the old town. Krakow is very compact and you can walk just about everywhere. I went to the church in the main square which was absolutely stunning inside. I explored the old town some more, then headed to the main shopping mall. I went straight to H & M, of course, and bought a jacket, gloves, hat, and scarf for about 60 euros. The jacket was more expensive than I had planned, but it is exactly the kind I wanted and very warm. I am both relieved and excited to start preparing for winter weather! I changed into all my new stuff back at my hostel and re-entered Krakow warm and cozy! I explored Kazimierz, the Jewish section of town, which also has some of the scenes from Schindler's List. Pawel had some other plans Thursday night, so I decided to go out on my own. I found some tasty Polish food, then went to a couple of bars.
Most of the bars in Krakow are underground in brick cellars. Often there is hardly even a sign and you walk down stairs having no idea what to expect. They usually have small rooms connected by passageways, some of them actually have dozens of rooms! I found a cool one and ordered a beer, which costs about 1.5 euros and comes with a shot of cherry vodka! Some people pour the vodka into the beer which I tried, it actually tastes pretty good. I was then told that a 'concert' was about to begin so I headed to that room. There was a projector with some strange and random images in crazy colors. There was a guy on a laptop controlling the image and the sounds. The sound was not music, it was mainly static that was played at a deafeningly loud level. It was a very bizarre attempt at modern art that in my opinion failed miserably.
On Friday I slept in and barely made it to my hostel's breakfast which ended at noon. I did my laundry as well, then went to Wawel where Krakow's castle is. The castle is huge and you can tell it was built in sections over a very long time period. There are many clashing architectural styles. The castle is up on a hill with some good views of the city. I went to the cathedral and climbed up the bell tower. It was probably the biggest bell I have ever seen, it weighs 12,600 kilos! I also went into the crypt which has tons of Polish royalty. After that, I checked out the museum/treasury/art gallery and learned a bit about Poland's history. I met up with Pawel later in the day and we got ready for the 'big party' he had been telling me about. He and Mishka and I went over to one of their friend's places and got a group of people together. We drank Polish vodka, of course, and headed out to their usual string of bars and clubs. There is no way I would have ever been able to find some of those places on my own. I walked down a sidestreet, into an alley, around a corner, down several flights of stairs into basically a dungeon, only to find a bar packed with Polish people drinking and dancing. Definitely not a tourist place. We had a great night and I ended up sleeping on Pawel's couch when we got home.
Saturday was a bit of a slow day. When we finally got moving, Pawel and Mishka and I went to Kazimierz where Mishka is working on an apartment. She is an architect and interior designer. Her father bought a flat there and is letting her basically do whatever she wants with it. It is pretty run down, so she is basically acting as contractor to fix the place up. We checked the place out while Mishka talked with the electrician. Then we got lunch at a famous Polish fast food place. I also picked up my backpack from my hostel and moved to a new hostel where I am now that is only one block from Pawel's place. It is making things a lot easier. That evening, Pawel and I went into the old town. We found a traditional Polish cellar restaurant and paid about 8 euros for a full meal with drinks. We met up with one of Pawel's friends and drank cherry vodka at several places until the wee hours of the morning.
Today, Sunday, Pawel and I went to a museum that is named after a famous royal Polish family that Pawel is a member of. I guess there are quite a few people in Krakow that have the same last name as the name of the museum. It had some interesting art in it, including a famous Leonardo da Vinci painting. We went to the mall to get some warm clothes for Pawel, then found a spot for lunch, borsch and pierogi! We lounged around his apartment for awhile and watched a Polish football match. Tomorrow I am going to Auschwitz. There are a bunch of tours that head out there, but I am going to do it on my own. I think the bus takes an hour and a half so it will probably be an all day trip. A weeklong music festival starts tomorrow in Krakow, so Pawel and I will go check that out tomorrow night. Sometime this week, I am leaving Krakow. My next stop is Ukraine! I have a couple of reasons for going there. The first is to visit my friend Yulia who I met in Budapest. She lives in Kyiv (Kiev) and invited me there. The second reason has to do with the Schengen zone, my lack of a visa, my future plans in Austria, etc. It is complicated, but basically I need to leave the main part of Europe now so that I am able to get back in safely later. I will probably spend a few days in Lviv (I don't know how to pronounce that either), then on to Kyiv.
Oh, I also have my next flight booked! On Nov. 28th, I fly from Seattle to Paris, just in time to get to Austria on Dec. 1st! Thanks mom!
For my memory mostly, here's a quick recap of the cities I have stayed in during my trip, in order: London, Dublin, Galway, Belfast, Glasgow, Edinburgh, London, Paris, Caen, Paris, Barcelona, Madrid, Tangier, Fez, Sahara Desert, Oarzazate, Marrakesh, Essaouira, Casablanca, Marrakesh, Seville, Albufeira, Lagos, Lisbon, Valencia, Madrid, Venice, Verona, Balogna, Paris, La Houssaye-en-Brie, Nantes, Dublin, Hannover, Ingolstadt (oops!), Munich, Salzburg, Vienna, Bratislava, Budapest, Krakow...
October 12, 2009
Spectacular Budapest! Krakow next! Plus, plans revealed...
My last night in Bratislava I went out with Jan, Ben, and Lenke, a Slovakian girl who worked at our hostel. We went back to the bar from the previous night and had loads of fun. The same singer was there, though he now had a new guitarist and drummer. The band was really good and the whole scene was a lot of fun. We met quite a few people, including some Slovakians and some American art students. At some point as we were leaving I lost track of Jan, Ben, and Lenke, and headed off with the artists to a couple of other bars. I didn't make it back to the hostel until very late. There I found Ben having a beer that this funny drunk Scottish guy had bought for him. He demanded I have one as well, so I didn't get to sleep until nearly 6 am!! I set my alarm, but no use, I slept in and missed my bus. Oh well, it was only 4.5 euros. I ended up taking a train that cost 13 euros instead. That turned out to be quite an ordeal, however. I got the schedule from my hostel. There were direct trains from Bratislava to Budapest leaving later in the day. They recommended one of them because it would be easier, but I preferred to get to Budapest a bit earlier. So I chose the 3-connections route through Vienna.
I bought a ticket at the train station that simply listed Bratislava to Vienna, with no connections mentioned as well as no departure time. I figure that meant I could take any way I wanted. I asked the ticket person, but she didn't understand a word I was saying. I used the printout my hostel had given me and took a couple trains through to Vienna, then just made the one to Budapest. I was halfway through Hungary when I was finally asked for my ticket aboard the train. Some Hungarian lady told me my ticket wasn't valid. She didn't give me any explanation why despite me asking over and over. She plugged some numbers in her little machine and said I owed her 31 euros! Of course I refused and promptly got kicked off the train at the next stop! What a joke, I still have no idea what was wrong with my ticket. I still wasn't going to pay any more money, so I waited about 10 minutes till another train came along which said Budapest. I hopped on and sweated the whole way waiting till I got kicked off again. When the ticket guy came by, I was pretty nervous. He studied my ticket for about 30 seconds, then shrugged and said 'OK'. I was incredible relieved.
I got into Budapest last Thursday and walked through town to my hostel. The town is separated by the Danube into Buda and Pest, I am staying in Pest, the newer city. My hostel has been rated highly and won a bunch of awards. It is very poorly labeled from the street, and once I got in it looked like a very run down apartment building. I got up to the floor where the hostel was and couldn't believe the place. It is called Home Made Hostel, and every stick of furniture in the place is really interesting and bizarre. The staff are the some of the friendliest people I have ever met, and the people staying here are all incredibly nice. A huge variety of people as well. In my first 4 nights here, I had to switch beds every night! They are constantly juggling me around to make sure I can stay here even though they are fully booked. One night I had to sleep on a makeshift bed on the couch, but I didn't mind one bit. I only planned about 3 days here, but I love the hostel and love the city even more, so it became 6 nights! I didn't do too much on Thursday after I arrived. That evening, I decided to go out for dinner. I met an Irish girl named Ruth and we found a local place with excellent Hungarian food for fairly cheap.
On Friday I went sightseeing on my own. I went in St. Stephen's Basilica nearby which is supposedly the most impressive church in town. I walked over the Chain Bridge to Buda and saw the castle along with several other sights up on the hill overlooking the river and the whole city. I went into two museums, the first was an art gallery. It was entirely Hungarian art from the 19th and 20th centuries. I didn't really know what Hungarian art was prior to that, but I was extremely impressed! Most of the 19th century stuff was gorgeous, while the modern art was much more fascinating than most of the modern art I have seen. The next museum was the Budapest History Museum which took me through the 7000 year history of the city. That evening, I went out for dinner with an American couple from Oregon and a Scottish guy. Had some great food again and a few beers. I planned on a fairly early night, but then I met a group of 4 French guys from Paris at around 11:30. Next thing I knew I was having a few beers and then heading out for a big night! (I know, I know, this blog definitely makes me sound like an alcoholic) We found a pub fairly close to the hostel, then discovered there was a club downstairs. We spent the entire night dancing down there. We met a whole bunch of people, Hungarians and travellers, and the French guys probably took 1000 photos! Made it back home around 4 or 5...
On Saturday, I went out for some more sightseeing on my own. I first headed to the Parliament building, which is probably the coolest building in town. All of the architecture in Budapest is stunning, and this building is the highlight. When I got close, I discovered there was some political rally taking place. I watched for a bit and grabbed a pamphlet. I didn't understand a word of it, so I later asked at my hostel and they told me those were the radical right-wingers! I walked up to the north part of town to an island in the Danube. There wasn't much to see there, but it was a nice walk with good views. I took a short nap back at the hostel, then headed out with Ruth and a couple of English girls I met at the hostel. We went to a truly amazing place, it is called a 'ruined bar', which are unique to Budapest. It was basically a huge, old, run down building with a very strange floorplan that has been converted into a bar. It was filled with random, crazy furniture and a mish-mash of art, lighting, and decorations. It had two foors with a massive courtyard. I drank some great Hungarian beer and we basically just hung out at a table for most of the night.
On Sunday, I went back to the Parliament building because I wanted to take a tour inside. The only way to get a ticket is to show up that morning and get one for the afternoon. On Saturday they were sold out when I got there, and the same thing happened on Sunday! So I walked around a bit more, then headed to the Terror Museum. This was in a building where both the Nazis and the Communists had the headquarters of the Secret Police. The museum covered the whole history of the Nazi and Communist occupations and the methods they used to suppress people, interrogate them, and even torture them. It was very interesting, and I learned a lot of history. The final two rooms had photos of the 'victims' then the 'victimizers' and it was pretty intense. I walked to Heroes Square which is just a huge courtyard with some gigantic monuments in it. I walked through the city park just past it. That evening, I decided I wanted to see the opera. I had been looking up tickets to it the previous couple of days, but all the shows I wanted to see were sold out. Ruth had already bought a couple of tickets before she arrived, so she had seen the ballet on Saturday and was getting ready to go to the opera on Sunday. I decided to head over there with her to see if I could grab a ticket at the door. I'm glad I bought a new long sleeve dress shirt a week ago because people really dress up nice for the opera! At the door, everyone seemed to deny me entry, claiming there were no tickets and there wouldn't be any empty seats. I couldn't find any scalpers outside either. I think Ruth felt really bad as she walked in without me, but I stuck around a bit longer. Right as the show was getting ready to begin, I asked a ticket lady again and she told me that there were seats available if I didn't mind not being able to see the stage. I couldn't believe no one had told me that earlier! I bought a ticket for about 2.50 euros (no joke!) and got up to the third floor about 2 minutes before the show began. I never even went to my seat of course, I just stood in the back leaning against a column. The theatre is so small, though, that my view was perfect! The opera house is truly an amazing feat of architecture. I would have paid that much just to walk in and see the place. The opera was a famous Hungarian opera called Bluebeard's Castle. It is kind of a dark fairly tale about a king that kills all his wives, and his new wife has just moved in. The music and singing was fantastic, and I found Ruth sitting right nearby me at the intermission. The opera is only one act which is just over an hour long. The second half was basically a replay of the first half which seemed rather strange, but they added some interesting twists. After the show, Ruth and I headed out to a restaurant for a bite to eat and a bottle of wine. By the way, she is a very interesting person. She hasn't lived in Ireland for 5 years. She moved to Moscow after getting her Master's to be a TV producer at a government run news channel. After that, she moved to Paris where she lives now to work for a TV station there. She speaks fluent Russian and French and travels a lot! We planned on heading to the famous Budapest baths the next morning.
Monday morning I slept in and woke up to a rainy, cold day. My first day in Budapest was really warm, I think it was 25 degrees! Now it is getting very cold, and the forecast has snow on Wednesday and Thursday. Ruth and I decided to wait till the afternoons for the baths to see if the weather cleared because some of them are outdoors. I walked down to the Parliament building again for a ticket. They told me the building will be closed for the next few days, so I went 0-3 in trips to get a ticket! Oh well... I bought a new pair of flip flops I was going to need at the baths, I destroyed/lost my others at Oktoberfest. I took a nap back at the hostel, then Ruth and I headed to the baths. We went to the famous and popular one in town. The building itself was really spectacular. It was a bit difficult to figure out the protocol, but I eventually got a locker and changed. The number of baths was incredible, each of them are labelled with the temperature. They are of all shapes and sizes, in large rooms and down tiny corridors. There are plenty of saunas as well. Ruth and I headed to one of the huge outdoor baths despite the rainy, cold weather. It was actually very refreshing to jump into the warm water with steam rising from it. We basically ran back inside afterwards because it was so cold. I went into one of the 16 degree cold plunge baths inside, then into a 40 degree jacuzzi immediately after, lots of fun! The whole thing was really relaxing and we stayed until it closed at 7.
After the baths tonight, Ruth and I headed out for dinner. She found a Roma (Gypsy) restaurant in a guidebook that was nearby. The place was really unbelievable, probably one of the more unique experiences I have had on my trip so far. We walked down the stairs from the street into a cellar. There were two guys playing these cool Hungarian Gypsy instrument called the Cimbalom. It is an upright, piano-like string instrument, they tap the strings with what looks like drum sticks. The restaurant was only one room, with brick walls and ceiling, and had only 3 tables, all of which were empty. Our server spoke a bit of English, yet told us the menu was only in Hungarian. We quickly found out there was only one choice of food anyway, and I don't think a menu even existed. We got a bottle of red wine and the dish of the day, which was delicious though I can hardly describe what was in it. The musicians were very friendly and played the whole time. They tried to get us to buy their CD as well. We finished our meal and got a shot of Schnapps each, which is the traditional Hungarian thing to do after the meal. We ended up buying a shot each for the musicians as well. A couple of other groups came into the restaurant for drinks. A third musician joined as well, a violinist. He was really incredible, so Ruth and I decided to stay and have another drink and watch. I think we must have stayed for about 3 hours after we had finished our meal! They played all sorts of Hungarian and Roma music. The violinist spent half the night playing just for Ruth and I, probably because we seemed to be enjoying it the most. A few other Roma guys showed up as well, they all looked like they were in the mafia. One of them took over for another guy on the cimbalom which was really surprising. The whole evening was really amazing as it was like experiencing a culture within a culture.
I'm spending one more full day in Budapest tomorrow. I'm hoping to make it out to the Communist Sculpture park which should be interesting. On Wednesday morning, I have a bus booked for Krakow! My French friend Pawel lives there, so it will be really cool to see him and have him show me the city. I'm not sure how long I will stay there and have no plans afterwards.
Alright, now to reveal my plans! Thanks to my mom, I have changed my itinerary for my flight home. I will be back in Seattle November 18th! 'But wait,' you say, 'I thought you wanted to travel forever?' Very true, I am not done with my travels. I will be booking a flight in the next couple of days for my return to Europe! I plan on flying back here around the 28th of November. So I will only have about 10 days in Seattle. I plan on selling my car, selling all the crap I have in storage, packing up a bunch of warm clothes, taking care of a few other loose ends, and of course seeing friends and family (hopefully Thanksgiving in Oregon!). So why only 10 days? Because I have somewhere to be on December 1st!!! I will be heading to Kirchberg, Austria to work the entire winter ski season! Alright, so I don't have a specific job lined up, I don't have a work or travel visa, and it all probably sounds a bit shady. But I got this particular idea from speaking with some Aussies in Munich that did it last year. They hooked me up with an Aussie guy that lives in Kirchberg and runs a hostel. He puts together a 'ski bum' type deal every year where he lets a few travellers stay with him for a week or two. He helps them find jobs and places to stay. The jobs are nothing exciting or well paying, but they pay cash which is what I am looking for. One of the girls I spoke with ended up washing dishes in a restaurant for a few months getting 8 or 9 euros an hour. But she stayed in a house with a bunch of other travellers doing similar types of work and her rent was 5 euros a day. She boarded the entire season and had a blast, even saved a bit of money. Ideally, considering I am a fairly avid skiier, I will find a job giving ski lessons to tourists who speak English. That might be tough to pull off, but I will certainly give it a try. Either way, I am determined to make this happen and continue my travels. Though I will have go under the radar when it comes to immigration... but I have a few plans in mind for how to resolve that issue.
Well, hope to see family and friends at the end of November! After that, I might not be back to Seattle until May! I am having the time of my life!
I bought a ticket at the train station that simply listed Bratislava to Vienna, with no connections mentioned as well as no departure time. I figure that meant I could take any way I wanted. I asked the ticket person, but she didn't understand a word I was saying. I used the printout my hostel had given me and took a couple trains through to Vienna, then just made the one to Budapest. I was halfway through Hungary when I was finally asked for my ticket aboard the train. Some Hungarian lady told me my ticket wasn't valid. She didn't give me any explanation why despite me asking over and over. She plugged some numbers in her little machine and said I owed her 31 euros! Of course I refused and promptly got kicked off the train at the next stop! What a joke, I still have no idea what was wrong with my ticket. I still wasn't going to pay any more money, so I waited about 10 minutes till another train came along which said Budapest. I hopped on and sweated the whole way waiting till I got kicked off again. When the ticket guy came by, I was pretty nervous. He studied my ticket for about 30 seconds, then shrugged and said 'OK'. I was incredible relieved.
I got into Budapest last Thursday and walked through town to my hostel. The town is separated by the Danube into Buda and Pest, I am staying in Pest, the newer city. My hostel has been rated highly and won a bunch of awards. It is very poorly labeled from the street, and once I got in it looked like a very run down apartment building. I got up to the floor where the hostel was and couldn't believe the place. It is called Home Made Hostel, and every stick of furniture in the place is really interesting and bizarre. The staff are the some of the friendliest people I have ever met, and the people staying here are all incredibly nice. A huge variety of people as well. In my first 4 nights here, I had to switch beds every night! They are constantly juggling me around to make sure I can stay here even though they are fully booked. One night I had to sleep on a makeshift bed on the couch, but I didn't mind one bit. I only planned about 3 days here, but I love the hostel and love the city even more, so it became 6 nights! I didn't do too much on Thursday after I arrived. That evening, I decided to go out for dinner. I met an Irish girl named Ruth and we found a local place with excellent Hungarian food for fairly cheap.
On Friday I went sightseeing on my own. I went in St. Stephen's Basilica nearby which is supposedly the most impressive church in town. I walked over the Chain Bridge to Buda and saw the castle along with several other sights up on the hill overlooking the river and the whole city. I went into two museums, the first was an art gallery. It was entirely Hungarian art from the 19th and 20th centuries. I didn't really know what Hungarian art was prior to that, but I was extremely impressed! Most of the 19th century stuff was gorgeous, while the modern art was much more fascinating than most of the modern art I have seen. The next museum was the Budapest History Museum which took me through the 7000 year history of the city. That evening, I went out for dinner with an American couple from Oregon and a Scottish guy. Had some great food again and a few beers. I planned on a fairly early night, but then I met a group of 4 French guys from Paris at around 11:30. Next thing I knew I was having a few beers and then heading out for a big night! (I know, I know, this blog definitely makes me sound like an alcoholic) We found a pub fairly close to the hostel, then discovered there was a club downstairs. We spent the entire night dancing down there. We met a whole bunch of people, Hungarians and travellers, and the French guys probably took 1000 photos! Made it back home around 4 or 5...
On Saturday, I went out for some more sightseeing on my own. I first headed to the Parliament building, which is probably the coolest building in town. All of the architecture in Budapest is stunning, and this building is the highlight. When I got close, I discovered there was some political rally taking place. I watched for a bit and grabbed a pamphlet. I didn't understand a word of it, so I later asked at my hostel and they told me those were the radical right-wingers! I walked up to the north part of town to an island in the Danube. There wasn't much to see there, but it was a nice walk with good views. I took a short nap back at the hostel, then headed out with Ruth and a couple of English girls I met at the hostel. We went to a truly amazing place, it is called a 'ruined bar', which are unique to Budapest. It was basically a huge, old, run down building with a very strange floorplan that has been converted into a bar. It was filled with random, crazy furniture and a mish-mash of art, lighting, and decorations. It had two foors with a massive courtyard. I drank some great Hungarian beer and we basically just hung out at a table for most of the night.
On Sunday, I went back to the Parliament building because I wanted to take a tour inside. The only way to get a ticket is to show up that morning and get one for the afternoon. On Saturday they were sold out when I got there, and the same thing happened on Sunday! So I walked around a bit more, then headed to the Terror Museum. This was in a building where both the Nazis and the Communists had the headquarters of the Secret Police. The museum covered the whole history of the Nazi and Communist occupations and the methods they used to suppress people, interrogate them, and even torture them. It was very interesting, and I learned a lot of history. The final two rooms had photos of the 'victims' then the 'victimizers' and it was pretty intense. I walked to Heroes Square which is just a huge courtyard with some gigantic monuments in it. I walked through the city park just past it. That evening, I decided I wanted to see the opera. I had been looking up tickets to it the previous couple of days, but all the shows I wanted to see were sold out. Ruth had already bought a couple of tickets before she arrived, so she had seen the ballet on Saturday and was getting ready to go to the opera on Sunday. I decided to head over there with her to see if I could grab a ticket at the door. I'm glad I bought a new long sleeve dress shirt a week ago because people really dress up nice for the opera! At the door, everyone seemed to deny me entry, claiming there were no tickets and there wouldn't be any empty seats. I couldn't find any scalpers outside either. I think Ruth felt really bad as she walked in without me, but I stuck around a bit longer. Right as the show was getting ready to begin, I asked a ticket lady again and she told me that there were seats available if I didn't mind not being able to see the stage. I couldn't believe no one had told me that earlier! I bought a ticket for about 2.50 euros (no joke!) and got up to the third floor about 2 minutes before the show began. I never even went to my seat of course, I just stood in the back leaning against a column. The theatre is so small, though, that my view was perfect! The opera house is truly an amazing feat of architecture. I would have paid that much just to walk in and see the place. The opera was a famous Hungarian opera called Bluebeard's Castle. It is kind of a dark fairly tale about a king that kills all his wives, and his new wife has just moved in. The music and singing was fantastic, and I found Ruth sitting right nearby me at the intermission. The opera is only one act which is just over an hour long. The second half was basically a replay of the first half which seemed rather strange, but they added some interesting twists. After the show, Ruth and I headed out to a restaurant for a bite to eat and a bottle of wine. By the way, she is a very interesting person. She hasn't lived in Ireland for 5 years. She moved to Moscow after getting her Master's to be a TV producer at a government run news channel. After that, she moved to Paris where she lives now to work for a TV station there. She speaks fluent Russian and French and travels a lot! We planned on heading to the famous Budapest baths the next morning.
Monday morning I slept in and woke up to a rainy, cold day. My first day in Budapest was really warm, I think it was 25 degrees! Now it is getting very cold, and the forecast has snow on Wednesday and Thursday. Ruth and I decided to wait till the afternoons for the baths to see if the weather cleared because some of them are outdoors. I walked down to the Parliament building again for a ticket. They told me the building will be closed for the next few days, so I went 0-3 in trips to get a ticket! Oh well... I bought a new pair of flip flops I was going to need at the baths, I destroyed/lost my others at Oktoberfest. I took a nap back at the hostel, then Ruth and I headed to the baths. We went to the famous and popular one in town. The building itself was really spectacular. It was a bit difficult to figure out the protocol, but I eventually got a locker and changed. The number of baths was incredible, each of them are labelled with the temperature. They are of all shapes and sizes, in large rooms and down tiny corridors. There are plenty of saunas as well. Ruth and I headed to one of the huge outdoor baths despite the rainy, cold weather. It was actually very refreshing to jump into the warm water with steam rising from it. We basically ran back inside afterwards because it was so cold. I went into one of the 16 degree cold plunge baths inside, then into a 40 degree jacuzzi immediately after, lots of fun! The whole thing was really relaxing and we stayed until it closed at 7.
After the baths tonight, Ruth and I headed out for dinner. She found a Roma (Gypsy) restaurant in a guidebook that was nearby. The place was really unbelievable, probably one of the more unique experiences I have had on my trip so far. We walked down the stairs from the street into a cellar. There were two guys playing these cool Hungarian Gypsy instrument called the Cimbalom. It is an upright, piano-like string instrument, they tap the strings with what looks like drum sticks. The restaurant was only one room, with brick walls and ceiling, and had only 3 tables, all of which were empty. Our server spoke a bit of English, yet told us the menu was only in Hungarian. We quickly found out there was only one choice of food anyway, and I don't think a menu even existed. We got a bottle of red wine and the dish of the day, which was delicious though I can hardly describe what was in it. The musicians were very friendly and played the whole time. They tried to get us to buy their CD as well. We finished our meal and got a shot of Schnapps each, which is the traditional Hungarian thing to do after the meal. We ended up buying a shot each for the musicians as well. A couple of other groups came into the restaurant for drinks. A third musician joined as well, a violinist. He was really incredible, so Ruth and I decided to stay and have another drink and watch. I think we must have stayed for about 3 hours after we had finished our meal! They played all sorts of Hungarian and Roma music. The violinist spent half the night playing just for Ruth and I, probably because we seemed to be enjoying it the most. A few other Roma guys showed up as well, they all looked like they were in the mafia. One of them took over for another guy on the cimbalom which was really surprising. The whole evening was really amazing as it was like experiencing a culture within a culture.
I'm spending one more full day in Budapest tomorrow. I'm hoping to make it out to the Communist Sculpture park which should be interesting. On Wednesday morning, I have a bus booked for Krakow! My French friend Pawel lives there, so it will be really cool to see him and have him show me the city. I'm not sure how long I will stay there and have no plans afterwards.
Alright, now to reveal my plans! Thanks to my mom, I have changed my itinerary for my flight home. I will be back in Seattle November 18th! 'But wait,' you say, 'I thought you wanted to travel forever?' Very true, I am not done with my travels. I will be booking a flight in the next couple of days for my return to Europe! I plan on flying back here around the 28th of November. So I will only have about 10 days in Seattle. I plan on selling my car, selling all the crap I have in storage, packing up a bunch of warm clothes, taking care of a few other loose ends, and of course seeing friends and family (hopefully Thanksgiving in Oregon!). So why only 10 days? Because I have somewhere to be on December 1st!!! I will be heading to Kirchberg, Austria to work the entire winter ski season! Alright, so I don't have a specific job lined up, I don't have a work or travel visa, and it all probably sounds a bit shady. But I got this particular idea from speaking with some Aussies in Munich that did it last year. They hooked me up with an Aussie guy that lives in Kirchberg and runs a hostel. He puts together a 'ski bum' type deal every year where he lets a few travellers stay with him for a week or two. He helps them find jobs and places to stay. The jobs are nothing exciting or well paying, but they pay cash which is what I am looking for. One of the girls I spoke with ended up washing dishes in a restaurant for a few months getting 8 or 9 euros an hour. But she stayed in a house with a bunch of other travellers doing similar types of work and her rent was 5 euros a day. She boarded the entire season and had a blast, even saved a bit of money. Ideally, considering I am a fairly avid skiier, I will find a job giving ski lessons to tourists who speak English. That might be tough to pull off, but I will certainly give it a try. Either way, I am determined to make this happen and continue my travels. Though I will have go under the radar when it comes to immigration... but I have a few plans in mind for how to resolve that issue.
Well, hope to see family and friends at the end of November! After that, I might not be back to Seattle until May! I am having the time of my life!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
