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!