Going Crazy in Prague

Yesterday, I discovered that I might be going crazy. I can finally empathize with Tom Hanks' character in Cast Away. I have realized how boring I am from my lack of interesting internal dialogue. And frankly at this point, I'd happily adopt a volleyball, name him Wilson, and start talking to him. Unfortunately, Prague does have a very good selection of sporting goods stores. Which is why after two weeks of travelling, I yearned so much for human interaction that I lost all sense of social cues.

Don't worry, nothing crazy happened. Just a little embarrassing. Let me explain. So I went to this chapel outside of Prague that was decorated with the bones of over 40,000 people. It was pretty awesome. I was taking tons of pictures when I overheard it: English! These two girls were chatting and taking pictures of EVERYTHING! So I walked over and broke the ice by asking, "Can you take a picture of me?" Classic tourist, right? Of course they said yes.

But let's be honest, I didn't really care about the picture. What I really wanted was to talk to them. Not creepily, just normally. So I start asking them questions, and at first they were cordially answering them: where are you from? what do you do? how long are you travelling? But as I kept asking questions and trying to initiate questioning, you could tell their answers were getting shorter. They sort of wandered around and (retrospectively) I'm embarrassed to have followed them around, continuing to ask them questions. This is about the point I would normally take the hint and bug off. But like I said, I'm actually crazy now, so I continued following them around.

At this point, we are the only three people in the chapel. All the normal tourists have left. So its almost embarrassingly evident that I would normally have left by now. But these girls liked taking pictures and I liked talking to (read:at) them. Anyways, the short of the story is that I realized today that I have had so little social interaction in the last two weeks that I crave social interactions...and I've become the creepy slash annoying guy who won't stop talking to you. Ugg.

Next stop: Vienna!!! And friends!!

Food and Famous People Day in Prague

This must be what pregnancy feels like. My stomach feels like a balloon on the verge of popping. I am so bloated. I think I ate more food tonight than the past three days combined. And I certainly paid more on my dinner. So why, you might be wondering, did I eat so much? Well, its because I couldn't say no to the waitress tonight. I don't know why. Usually I'm very prepared to say "No. Thank you," when asked if I want dessert. But tonight, some how, a "yes please" came out instead. And that's how not only did my bill increase by 50%, but my stomach also expanded nearly two fold. Which is why, as I sit here updating you on my day, I feel like a pregnant woman. Move over Arnold, theyre shooting Junior II in Prague tonight.

Normally, I'd be a little frustrated with myself, but today's theme was Food and Famous People in Prague, so I chalked it up to cultural research. I spent the morning going to the Kafka Museum and the Mucha Museum. Kafka was a complete bust. You pay 50Kr for a one room museum that has a few quotes and a few random pictures of Prague. I think there were a total of 5 references to Franz Kafka in the entire exhibit. Then the Mucha museum which was much better. I usually hate art museums, but this guy is brilliant. He's one of the father's of Art Nouveau. But I have to admit, I fell asleep in the movie at the end of the museum. I'll blame that on the snorer in my hostel, not he content of the movie (although it was in that early 1990s documentary style).

In the afternoon, I went on a "hike" to the outskirts of Prague to go to a legit Czech bakery. I bought some traditional Laskonka and Pařížské rohlíčky. Impressive huh? Yeah, it would have been if a) i had any clue what either of those two things were before I ordered them, and 2) i could actually pronounce either of those items before I ordered them. But since I knew neither of those things, I basically just showed the sheet of paper my hostel owner wrote for me with the names of both. They packed them up for me...i guess they didn't want me to eat in lol.

Dinner was really good and soooo filling. I had Czech goulash tonight, which is much different than Hungarian goulash. While Hungarian goulash was stewie (makes me think of Family Guy), the Czech version was more like pot roast with some gravy drizzled over it. It comes with dumplings (but not the Chinese kind) and potato pancakes (no apple sauce though). Their dumplings are basically moist bread, so that threw me off a little bit. I kept looking for the doughey balls. And they served it with horse radish, which I didn't realize until I ate the first bite. I promptly moved all of the rest of the radish to the side of my plate. For dessert, pancakes with jam and (too much) powdered sugar...and hot chocolate. So basically, I'm not only bloated, but also in a sugar coma.

Uggg. Tomorrow I start my New Years diet.

Lenin and Lennon in Prague

When I packed for this trip, I brought 3 memory cards with me...just in case. And I'm so glad I did. Because the thing about Prague is, I can't stop taking pictures. Every building is its own piece of art. Which seems surprising, since the commies hated individual expression, color, and fun. But, I've already gone through one entire memory card and have made a significant dent in the second one. All I have to say is, Vienna better not be equally beautiful, or I'm gonna be effed.

I'm also worried about getting back into America or ever trying to get a job with the US government. Because for the second time in a week, I've visited a communist museum. I'm just thankful that Joseph McCarthy and his "ism" are dead. Because otherwise, I'm pretty sure I'd be deported or something. First it was the House of Terror in Budapest, and now its the Museum of Communism in Prague. If I'm honest, then I knew nothing about communism except for the few bits I learned for AP US History (Thanks, Nancy Clark). So this is all both new and fascinating to me. I think my favorite part about the era is that I don't have to "imagine that there wasn't a fire and then another one and that they didn't build this giant wall through the place where this ancient building was." Because that's what I get when I go to all the ancient castles in the area. This stuff is real, with pictures and even video.

So there is my new interest in communism and the soviet union. I also happened upon this incredible memorial wall for John Lennon, appropriately named the Lennon wall. In the 80's, Lennon's ideas really worried the communism regime, so his words were censored. When Lennon was assassinated in 1980, Prague citizens spontaneously graffiti-ed a wall in memory of him. Every day, the Communist soldiers would paint over the mural, only for citizens to come back the next night to paint again. This happened for years, until finally, the communist party was disbanded and the mural stuck. Notes read about love and peace. There were lyrics from Lennon's songs along with people's own person notes. I found some guys with some paint, so I got to add my own message: I Love People.

Not to get all sappy on you guys, but it felt really cool to contribute to the wall, knowing that for some period of time my statement would be read by people from around the world. And isn't that sort of what we all want, to leave something behind to be remembered by? And even if gets covered up by someone else's message, I contributed to the tradition started by Lennon more than 30 years ago.

Tomorrow? All things Jewish! Shalom!

Thermal Baths in Budapest

I love my camera. Its small, easy to work, and the battery lasts forever! But sometimes I take its long battery life for granted, and events like today happen. The last time I remember charging my camera battery was exactly one week from today, before my trip to Auschwitz. So I was definitely pushing my luck when I didn't charge it last night. But the idea didn't even come into my head. What do you mean my battery might die.

The one complaint I have about my camera is that it gives you about a 10 minute heads up before the battery is completely dead. It goes from being fully charged to being half charged to being dead in less than 15 minutes. So you really have no warning. Which is why I was so frustrated when, after an hour walk to the Prague castle, my battery suddenly died. Now I'm in the hostel charging the camera before I go back out.

Lucky for you, this means I can update you on my most recent adventures.

On my last day in Budapest, I was supposed to visit the statue park (about an hour and a half away), but got sort of lazy. Instead, I just decided to spend the afternoon at the thermal baths. It was amazing. They have three outdoor baths. I walked out in the 3C weather with a bathing suit and barely made it to through the fog to the baths. While in the baths, I met three guys from Georgia Tech (small world!). We bonded over a mutual belief that we should be able to drink beer in the bath. The bath was full of speedo-ed up, overweight European men and blonde haired czech women. Outside didn't smell too bad, but if you went into the indoor baths, the place wreaked of rotten eggs (because of the sulfur).

My friend Kris (we met in Stockholm a few years ago...see the profile picture of me with the blonde wig) invited me to go out with him and a friend. We ended up at a place called Opium. I don't have much in terms of European clubs to compare with, but this club seemed pretty tame. The music was loud, but not loud enough to preclude talking. And you could actually see people. So that was weird.

I didn't get back to my hostel until 4:30am and had to get up at 8am to make my train to Prague, so I slept most of the train ride to Prague. Called it an early night and just did some reading before bed. Figured I would start my touristy stuff today...until my battery died.

Today: Prague Castle. Whenever I get back there.

BUDA and PEST

While I was walking down the main street in Budapest tonight, I realized something: Budapest is a city...a real live city. I know this sounds stupid, but let me explain. I realized the past few days, I have treated not only Budapest, but Krakow as well, like a huge amusement park or something. As a tourist, I guess I just treated all the people walking around as if they were being paid to make my experience more "authentic." But seriously, when someone walks past me, he or she is really going somewhere...in their real life. This isn't a big vacation for them too.

With that being said, Budapest is rather small by American city standards. Not as small a Krakow though. I made the mistake on the first day of not buying a metro pass for the day. I thought I could walk wherever I want. You know what they say, "Europeans aren't fat because they walk everywhere." They should probably add a little footnote to this statement..."but not in Budapest." I was lucky for a while though. I snuck on buses here and there. Until a guy asked me for my ticket and I didn't have one. He was a pretty intimidating Hungarian. I caved immediately and was all but forcibly removed from the bus. Tomorrow I will buy a 24 hour transportation pass.

London is like the antithesis of London for me. In London, I knew EVERYTHING I wanted to see. There was notoriety. They spoke English. In Budapest, I know nothing and have zero idea of where I want to go, what I want to eat. I don't really even know the history. Tartars and Hapsburgs and Communism are all words that sound important to me...but I have zero idea about about any of them. This has made touring somewhat difficult, but also significantly more relieving. I have no pressure to see "everything." I really wont know if I have missed something.

I met up with my friend Kris, who I met while doing my research in Stockholm two summers ago. It was great to see him and he gave me some great advice for what to see. I also got him to give me some hungarian lessons.

Off to the Thermal Baths for much of the day tomorrow and getting train tickets to Prague!

Jewish Quarter and Overnight Trains

I decided to dedicate the better part of my last day in Krakow in the Jewish district. I visited the Jewish cemetary that the Nazis demolished during their occupation in WWII. They have a cool mosaic wall with all the broken headstones that they couldn't restore. I went to Schindler's factory, which was not as exciting as I had hoped. Again, Hollywood has but undue pressure on Krakow to live up to its 2hr masterpieces.

Then, on the way back from the factory, a car splashed in a puddle in front of me. I just remember seeing this wave of water flying at my face. And not just clean water...no, this is dirty Krakow. This was the dirtiest water you have ever seen. So yeah, had to change my clothes after that.

Then to an eclectic bar for some postcard writing and journal updating. I think the tart I had tasted pretty good, but I can't be sure. My nose is really stuffed up and can't really taste much of anything. I'm debating if it is even worth my time buying dessert at this point, given that I really can't enjoy the tastes.

Last night, I boarded a train headed for Budapest. This was my first "sleeper" train experience, and it wasn't half bad. It was sort of like Freshman year at college with a new roommate or a really great summer camp experience. They guy I met, Marcello (from Italy) had brought his own assortment of goodies--various food items, beverages, etc. He immediately started referring to me as "My Teacher!" in that very excited, roller coaster of intonation that only comes from Italians. We covered the basics last night: still vs. steal; tooth vs. teeth; mirror; and lighter. By the end of the night, he was offering me food and drink, saying, "A man who drinks alone is either a stealer or a spy." So in an effort to discourage any sort of plundering of my stuff (I'd heard varying things about security on these overnight trains), I took him up on his offer.

We arrived in Budapest early this morning and now I am just getting settled into my hostel.

Auschwitz and Salt Mines

Two days into the trip and I'm already behind on my blogging. Perfect.

I'm staying in a pretty awesome hostel about the size of a traditional flat. The flat itself has teh decor of a Friends set (imagine that purple paint from Rachel and Monica's apartment) but the atmosphere of Cheers (where everybody knows...and uses your name). On the first night, the guy brought me up mulled wine...just because. I think I'm the only person staying tonight, so for like 6 pounds I got an entire hostel to myself.

Krakow is cold, but apparently not really. At this time of year, the temperature is usually -20C, which I guess is roughtly -5F. And around a meter of snow. So I'm thankful that there is no snow and only a bitter 41F.

I'm kind of over Polish food. I had pierogis the first night, which were good, but filling. I brought back half the order and have been trying to do damage on them each night. Only four more left. They eat a lot of meat and potatoes (sounds familiar). Not as bad as Scotland though. They at least have spices.

I went to Auschwitz yesterday which was quite an experience. The original camp was actually pretty cute. I guess I was expecting some big, ugly, fluorescently lit death houses. They had all these exhibits with the items they stole from all those killed. Hair, suitcases, glasses, shoes. Even with all of the massive display cases full of personal belongings, it was still hard for me to imagine what 1.1 million people would look like. And as hard as I tried, I couldn't imagine what the jews, pow, gays, gypsies and other prisoners must have looked like, felt like, smelled like in those camps. I know how disrespectful this probably would be, but I sort of wanted there to be a mini-Auschwitz where people dressed in the clothes and went through daily life in the concentration camp. Kind of like the renaissance fair or something. Just to better envision it. I know...probably disrespectful.

Today I went to the Salt Mines outside of Krakow. You're probably wondering why would I ever want to look at salt. Well, I wondered the same thing. Turns out they are pretty cool. I guess at one point they were trying to promote salt mining, so they opened a museum and had artists carve stuff out of salt. Now they take you through some of the caverns of the mine and show you these statues. It's pretty cool.

Tomorrow, Schindler's Factory and another Castle (yawn). Then, an overnight train to Budapest. This should be interesting.

4 Cities, 2 1/2 weeks

So after a long and relaxing break at home, I'm back on European soil. I brought back presents (like the amazing cough that I've been fashioning for the last two weeks). I sound like I'm dying, and being up for 36 hours straight with jet lag didn't help. So while most of St. Andrews is studying for finals, I'm doing a little different form of studying. I'm hitting the road (well, more like the skies and the rails) to explore Eastern Europe first hand. Yes, you heard me right. I've got two and half weeks to spare and some money saved up from last semester.

The official "itinerary" is out: Krakow, Budapest, Prague, Vienna, and Bratislava. Yes, all of that in 18 days. What's more, I'll be doing it all in the nearly artic tundra that is Eastern Europe.

I'm gonna try this blog a little different than previous ones. First, I'm gonna actually try to update while things are happening, rather than waiting three or four weeks to update you on a trip. This daily updating thing, while overwhelming, may actually be good for me. You see, it gets dark at like 4pm. So there really isn't a ton to do in the evenings. So hopefully that will give me some time to "reflect." (If I had a therapist, she'd be so proud.)

What does this mean for you? Two things: 1) the updates are going to be shorter. This means no excuses for all of you that say my posts are too long. 2) fewer or no pictures in the blog for a while...this is going to disappoint most of you, i know. It will all depend on whether the hostel i'm staying at has the ability to upload pictures.

Let's go!