Our last day in Vienna, extended last really, was not actually much spent in Austria. A friend of mine from my first stay in Reykjavik, Kevin, was driving through the area and had contacted me about hanging out. We had decided to do a day trip to Bratislava, Slovakia and he had offered to drive us. While we were waiting for him to arrive, Jen and I went to an old Viennese cafe, which was quite charming. I think we had most fun listening to the conversation beside us though. They would be talking completely in German, then out of nowhere in English. "They were like zombies!" then back to German again. We had a couple good laughs.
When we got to the hostel, Kevin was there waiting, so we got our stuff together and got on the road. It was a quick drive, and Kevin introduced us to a BBC radio show that was hilarious. We parked near a hostel, so that we could get a map of the area, and were fairly unimpressed with the city. Very blocky, and as Kevin said, you could see the stamp of communist in its architecture. After we found the old town though, it was much nicer.
We posed with statues, climbed to the top of a tour, and went though the Slovakian history museum. As we were leaving to head for the castle, it started to rain, and I was the only one with an umbrella. As the rain got worse, Kevin broke down and spent 10 Euros for one that said I Heart Bratislava all over it. He figured it didn't look TOO touristy...
This is where things got interesting though. It was no longer just rain, but sheets of rain pouring on us, with wind coming in sideways. When you can see the wind coming across the pooled water on the sidewalk and brace yourself for it, it's usually not a good sign. We eventually were so soaked, that we gave up getting to the castle, and settled in to a little restaurant to wait out the storm in comfort. We had a simple little lunch, and then decided to walk back to the car and try to drive to the castle.
Unfortunately, this also failed. We couldn't find the parking ticket to get the car out of the lot. Eventually we found a place that could run the parking lot (it had been all machines), and about had a heart attack when he told us it would be 50 euros to get out with out a ticket. Luckily he was honest and realized our misunderstanding and corrected it. He had said 15. That, is a big difference.
Once we got the car out, we also failed at finding the castle. After driving in circles trying to find a way up to it, we called it quits and headed back to Vienna. Jen and I had to change rooms in the extension, and Kevin was staying the night, so we all had to get situated into our rooms still. When Jen and I were settling in, we made friends with an Australian gal named Tiahni, when we found out she was also heading to Budapest the next day, and invited her down for drinks with all of us. We had a low key evening in the WomBar in the hostel, before calling it quits for the night.
When we got off the train, we found two more Australian girls heading for the same hostel, and trying to find the metro. Which only accepts Hungarian Forints, which none of us had. So first we had to find a bank or atm, which turned out to be an adventure. Then we had to figure out how many forints we actually needed. 218 Huf were equal to $1. Hows that for fun math! We ended up having to take out 200,000 Huf, which just seemed a strange number to take out.
Now, with funds in hand, we had to find the metro. After a couple wrong turns, we got to the correct stretch of block and went down to get tickets. There was a little shack on the side, and seemed totally sketch. When we tried to pay, he rudely said, COINS ONLY! Well, this was going to be an issue since the only thing any of us had was not only bills but large bills at that. We finally grouped together and managed to get them all together, and pay with a bill, and one of the Aussies told him off for being rude. I don't think it left much of an impression on him.
Then we went down into the metro. Scariest escalators I have ever been on. Rickety, and fast, we had to hop for the first one. The second one went even faster. All I could think was "Garrett would not be okay with this!" We survive them and get down to a rundown underground line, and get shoved on with a mass group of people. We watched each others backs as much as we could, since pickpocketing is supposed to be a problem here. The cars shook, and the windows were all stuck open and made crazy wind noises as we hurdled to the city center. Luckily, our stop was very close to the hostel, and we worked our way over to it.
Talk about a swanky hostel for cheap! It had only opened a couple months ago and showed. The rooms were impressive and clean, and we had down pillows. Tiahni, Jen, and I were in the same room, and made the mistake of lying down on our very comfy beds. Needless to say we didn't move for awhile. Then I decided to make me bed. I went to put the fitted sheet on, but it was weird with a pocket. Jen told me it was actually to put around the comforter. But this meant I didn't have a fitted sheet. So I decided to use it as a sleeping bag instead and tucked its two corners down anyway. After much laughing, we decided to find dinner.
I had found two restaurants that were supposed to have good Hungarian food online, and a friend from traveling had recommended her favorite restaurant there. All three were close to each other, so we figured we'd walk by them all before deciding on one. Anne's recommendation came first, at it was classy and cute with good prices. We continued on. And the buildings around us were falling apart, and dingy, and we definitely were in an Eastern Europe city. We became less enamored with the city by the minute. Quickly deciding to go back to the first, we aimed for food.
I had the creamy garlic soup, with a traditional bread (kind of like a Hungarian pizza with cheese and sour cream) and a beef goulash. The soup was delicious, as was the bread dish. The meat was tough and flavorless. Still, it was a fun experience and we headed back in for the night. Tiahni was meeting a local friend to have him show her around a little, and was going to fill us in in the morning.
The next day, we were hoping to see a nicer side of Budapest than we had the night before. It really is a city of extremes though. You can be looking at a beautiful block of old buildings, turn a corner, and it is dingy cement block houses that are falling apart. We did end up having a lot of fun roaming around though.
First we went by the synagogue, which was closed, but even the outside was wonderful. Then we went by St. Stephens cathedral, which was structured remarkably similar. Domed, towers that shined golden. It was an interesting comparison architecturally. After getting our fill of these, we headed for the Danube. We were going to follow it up to parliament.
Halfway along, we passed a bunch of bronze shoes lined up along the rivers edge. I had heard a guy talking about them at breakfast early in the day. It was a Holocaust memorial. I guess between 1944-1945, they lined anyone they found from the Jewish community up on the rivers edge, facing toward a church, and shot them. It was sad to look at all these old shoes, many of which contained candles for vigils. Especially when you realized some of them were shoes of toddlers. We stayed here for awhile, and I found it to be very emotional.
Afterward, we continued to wander towards the parliament building, which is quite impressive. We determined we would have to cross the river to get a proper picture of it, since it was so large. So we wandered across the bridge to the north, stopping at Margaret Island along the way. This is a big park, and no cars are allowed so many of the locals go there to hang out.
After getting our photo opportunities, we decided to climb up to the castle. So we wandered up a hilly side street until we found some stairs. Then we started climbing our way up. The view was completely worth it though! Also, we found our first tasty food here. A baked spiral pastry called kurtoskalacs (remember that every one of those vowels has a symbol over it telling you how to pronounce it in a way we don't in America), coated in different things. I went for cinnamon, Tiahni for nut, and Jen for vanilla. Then with food in hand we went to the palace. Here we got to see the guards do a routine change of positions. Not as cool as a full changing of guards, but still really neat to see. Then we headed back down again, looking to try the next hill over with the citadel. But it took us awhile to get in the right area to start heading up again, and we really wanted to go see the market, which closed at 5. So we took pictures of the statue on the hill from below (I really like how she looked up there, and made sure to buy a postcard with her in it) and called it good.
The market was fun. Mostly meat, fruit, and vegetables, though there were a couple of stands with cheese and clothing as well. On the upstairs level was dining, so we went to try some food. Jen got a stuffed eggplant (which was mostly cold), Tiahni got sausage and beans (her beans were cold), and I got the best deal with sausage, potatoes, and onions. While good, it still left much to be desired, mostly because it was all bland and unseasoned. A running trend we were starting to notice with Hungarian food.
Slowly, we wound our way back through the streets to the hostel. We wanted to rest for a little while, before we went back out to get night pictures. And it was worth going out again. Everything in this part of town was lit up. The bridges, churches, castles, and parliament. It was a fun running around from site to site, finding the best spots to photograph them. Them we realized we were hungry, and that it was 10:30. Options slim, as most places had stopped serving food, we finally found a little restaurant and got some salads. Mine had lettuce with basil, tomatoes, mozzarella, and a little pesto mixed in. It tasted like lettuce. Bland Hungarian food strikes again! I really don't know how they managed to find basil that had so little flavor. After this we decided to call it a night.
Today, when we woke up, it was time to check out and be on our way. We tried to get into the synagogue, but it was too expensive for us, so we said oh well. After we got our stuff all together, and wishing Tiahni well, we braved the metro once more, going to a different train station. Somehow, we managed to find the scariest escalator of all. Definitely should avoid those in Hungary if possible.
It's an all day trip to Zagreb (7 hours) so Jen and I settled into our compartments. 5 hours in, and we were rather bored. We had talked about all sorts of random things, and the scenery left much to be desired. Then we pulled in to a station that was just falling apart it seemed. Then the border patrol came to check our passports. There were three of them, and they all crammed into our little compartment at once to check our information. Then we got new passport stamps! We went to put them away, and another guy comes by for the same thing. Apparently the first were from Hungary and he is from Croatia. So we got another stamp! Five minutes later, a train manager comes by to check our passports again to make sure everything is in order. Luckily, after this many checks, it all was.
So here Jen and I sit. Heading into hour seven. In Croatia, almost to Zagreb, two new passport stamps, starving for anything not coated in sugar(please let the food here be good), and bored out of our minds. I think we will be ready to hike with our packs, no complaints, when this train gets in. Especially since Jen just showed me her boredom manifested sketch of the haribro bear.
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