Budapesht
Another week has gone by, and for those of you counting, I have just over five weeks left of European ecstasy. Its sad how quickly life moves. This last week was an interesting one, let me tell you about it. Monday was uneventful, just another day of classes and homework. Tuesday was the same, only with an added viewing of Otello by Verdi at the Staatsoper. It was enjoyable, albeit a bit over the top dramatically. But I suppose that's understandable when seeing a Verdi Opera. Wednesday I had another voice lesson with Frau Pescheck. I've discovered through my lessons with her that my voice has achieved a state of readiness. Its ready to progress, and the only thing in my way is the concept of support, which I find difficult to teach my body. Its just a matter of time for this concept to be realized. Wednesday night Alicia invited me over to her place for dinner. Our meal consisted of a pasta
dish created from the remnants of her kitchen... despite that fact, it ended up being very good. After dinner we went to the Volksoper to see Tannhäuser in 80 minuten. The production was a parody of Wagner's Tannhäuser and was performed by a single actor. He was accompanied by a quartet comprised of a guitarist, two violinists, and an accordionist. It was hilarious... the parts I understood. I wish my German was better, but alas I still struggle with the vast vocabulary of a foreign language. On my way home I tried stopping somewhere to purchase some snacks for the next morning's train ride. Unfortunately everything in Vienna is closed around 9pm... its grocery stores close by 7pm on most nights. How I miss having 24 hour grocery stores... or 24 hour anything for that matter. I had to go to a gas station by my bus stop... where everything costs 3 times as much. Anyways, the next morning I woke up early. Our train to Budapest left from Westbahnhof at 7:45am, and we arrived there about 4 hours later. It was overcast. The gray sky painted the buildings with a pale blue light, causing everything to appear tired, worn down. Outside the train staion a large construction project was underway. We walked along temporary wooden sidewalks covered in mud, our luggage thumping along behind us. Our hotel was right next to the 
train station. I had low expectations for our rooms. I was pleasantly surprised, however, to discover the comforts of a normal hotel. And normal pillows... American pillows! Not the flat, neck-ache, european pillows I have come to despise. We had about an hour for lunch before we had to meet our tour guide, so we left the hotel in search for an ATM. Hungary is part of the EU, however they have not yet changed their currency to the Euro. I ended up taking out 9,000 Florians (which is about 40 dollars). We took our new money to Burger King. We were hungry in Hungary (I was fortunate to have heard that lame joke only once while I was there). The food was cheap, but came with the unfortunate bonus of stomach discomfort... experienced a few hours later. We met up with our tour guide. Another freaking tour!!!! I'm so sick of city tours! It took us about an hour and a half to walk to Budapest's famous Synagogue and we spent another 45 minutes there. Nick, Michelle, Emily, and I had had enough. We left the tour and walked back to the Hotel. That night we went to a crazy submarine-themed restaurant in the tourist district. The food and live music were horrible, but it was a fun atmosphere. It was also hilarious to watch us figure out our check... 3 calculators going at once, and we still ended up with the wrong amount. I was laughing so hard, tears were running down my cheaks. After dinner we walked around a bit. We came across a casino, our curiosity led us inside. I wanted to try one of the slots, but I lacked the sufficient amount of change. From the Casino we walked back to our Hotel. On the way we happened to pass a local peeping club featuring a woman dancing in silhouette in the front window. We were asked if we wanted to come inside... we looked at each other and laughed. Oh... dirty Budapest. That night we watched Sweeney Todd on Emily's laptop. I just love that movie:) The next morning we were scheduled to meet our tour guide at 9am. Hearing about our frustrated exodus from the previous day's tour, Cindy (our program director), let everyone know what was planned for the day, and told us we could leave anytime we wanted. We ended staying the whole time. We went, by way of Budapest's public transportation system, to a monument, then to a castle, then to the labyrinth (a series of catacomb's that were turned into a tourist attraction). In the Labyrinth stood a wine-fountain that had been running for however long... perhaps hundreds of years (I wasn't paying attention). They had replaced the wine, for obvious reasons, with red-wine vinegar. Everyone complained about the retched smell. I didn't mind it, 
vinegar is not on my worst smells list. After the catacombs we stopped by a local market to eat lunch... a giant outdoor market indoors. It was really cool, although if you ever go I would recommend staying away from the butcher area. Raw meat is disgusting! After getting some food (pastries for me), it was back to our tour of the city. Fortunately for us, the rest of the tour was spent on a boat. We were able to sit and relax, while the tour guide talked about the city. Why hadn't we done something like that sooner? Why do we walk everywhere... I don't care if we're all young, and supposedly 'in shape.' Give my fat thighs a break, and spring for a bus tour every once and a while. After the boat tour the rest of the day was ours. A group of people went to another market, another group went to a Bathhouse, I went back to the Hotel. I had no desire to be a tourist in a city that was not tourist-friendly. That night Emily, Michelle, and I tried going to a traditional Hungarian restaurant suggested by our tourguide. We walked in, greeted by 4 people who spoke not a word of english. After about a minute we realized we weren't going to get served, so we turned around and left. Emily's words after realizing they didn't speak English or German..."That's fair, have a good night." Well, if Hungarians didn't want our business, we weren't going to give them any, so we walked to Pizza Hut. I had a greasy, delicious pepperoni pan pizza... oh how I have missed the simple joy of eating a crispy pepperoni. Good luck trying to find a pepperoni on a pizza in Vienna. After dinner we went for ice cream. We witnessed a rather aggressive street fight on our way. To our surprise we noticed they were only using their legs. I guess Hungarians don't believe in fist-fights... they're more flexible and want to show off their high-kicks. A country full of natural born dancers. Also on our way we were stopped by a crazy, homely woman who rambled off something in Hungarian. We told her we spoke english and continued to walk. She walked in the same direction, and for about 10 minutes we thought she was following us. The image of a knife in our ribs crossed our minds. Budapest isn't like other European countries, it didn't feel safe to be walking around at night. We eventually lost the fat, homely woman, and proceeded to buy some ice cream. Not the best I've had... but I've come to expect that from most places in Europe. We spent the rest of the night talking in Michelle and Emily's room... while knitting, of course. The next morning was check out. We were able to check out at 11am... the latest check out time we've had. After dropping off our bags, Michelle, Emily, and I walked to a Cafe near the Danube river. 
The Gerbeaud, established in 1858. It was classy, and old fashioned. The waitresses were dressed like french-maids, and rolled around pastry carts. We all ordered hot chocolate, and different types of cake. It was all very delicious. We sat there for a few hours talking... Emily knitting. There was jazz music playing in the background, and from our window we could people-watch easily and without being detected. From the Cafe we walked back to our Hotel. We still had some Florians in our pocket, so we decided to run to a Grocery store before we left. I bought a few snack items, and gave the rest of my Florians to Trevor (he was trying to get enough to buy two cheeseburgers at McDonalds). We arrived back in Vienna Saturday night at around 8pm. So Budapest wasn't the greatest place I've been, but it showed me that not all European cities are gilded in gold. I used a few similes to describe Budapest, such as: Budapest is like a crotchety old person. They're ugly, yet you can find hints of beauty within them... or Budapest is like a difficult relationship, it takes work in order to reach a state of mutual love. And finally, this one coming from Michelle and Emily, Budapest is like an arranged marriage. We meet Budapest, not by choice, but eventually find ourselves liking it. Budapest is not a typical tourist city, and it lacks the energy found in other European gems... like Prague. But despite these facts, it remains a place of beauty, and rich history... both of which take greater effort to discover.
dish created from the remnants of her kitchen... despite that fact, it ended up being very good. After dinner we went to the Volksoper to see Tannhäuser in 80 minuten. The production was a parody of Wagner's Tannhäuser and was performed by a single actor. He was accompanied by a quartet comprised of a guitarist, two violinists, and an accordionist. It was hilarious... the parts I understood. I wish my German was better, but alas I still struggle with the vast vocabulary of a foreign language. On my way home I tried stopping somewhere to purchase some snacks for the next morning's train ride. Unfortunately everything in Vienna is closed around 9pm... its grocery stores close by 7pm on most nights. How I miss having 24 hour grocery stores... or 24 hour anything for that matter. I had to go to a gas station by my bus stop... where everything costs 3 times as much. Anyways, the next morning I woke up early. Our train to Budapest left from Westbahnhof at 7:45am, and we arrived there about 4 hours later. It was overcast. The gray sky painted the buildings with a pale blue light, causing everything to appear tired, worn down. Outside the train staion a large construction project was underway. We walked along temporary wooden sidewalks covered in mud, our luggage thumping along behind us. Our hotel was right next to the 
train station. I had low expectations for our rooms. I was pleasantly surprised, however, to discover the comforts of a normal hotel. And normal pillows... American pillows! Not the flat, neck-ache, european pillows I have come to despise. We had about an hour for lunch before we had to meet our tour guide, so we left the hotel in search for an ATM. Hungary is part of the EU, however they have not yet changed their currency to the Euro. I ended up taking out 9,000 Florians (which is about 40 dollars). We took our new money to Burger King. We were hungry in Hungary (I was fortunate to have heard that lame joke only once while I was there). The food was cheap, but came with the unfortunate bonus of stomach discomfort... experienced a few hours later. We met up with our tour guide. Another freaking tour!!!! I'm so sick of city tours! It took us about an hour and a half to walk to Budapest's famous Synagogue and we spent another 45 minutes there. Nick, Michelle, Emily, and I had had enough. We left the tour and walked back to the Hotel. That night we went to a crazy submarine-themed restaurant in the tourist district. The food and live music were horrible, but it was a fun atmosphere. It was also hilarious to watch us figure out our check... 3 calculators going at once, and we still ended up with the wrong amount. I was laughing so hard, tears were running down my cheaks. After dinner we walked around a bit. We came across a casino, our curiosity led us inside. I wanted to try one of the slots, but I lacked the sufficient amount of change. From the Casino we walked back to our Hotel. On the way we happened to pass a local peeping club featuring a woman dancing in silhouette in the front window. We were asked if we wanted to come inside... we looked at each other and laughed. Oh... dirty Budapest. That night we watched Sweeney Todd on Emily's laptop. I just love that movie:) The next morning we were scheduled to meet our tour guide at 9am. Hearing about our frustrated exodus from the previous day's tour, Cindy (our program director), let everyone know what was planned for the day, and told us we could leave anytime we wanted. We ended staying the whole time. We went, by way of Budapest's public transportation system, to a monument, then to a castle, then to the labyrinth (a series of catacomb's that were turned into a tourist attraction). In the Labyrinth stood a wine-fountain that had been running for however long... perhaps hundreds of years (I wasn't paying attention). They had replaced the wine, for obvious reasons, with red-wine vinegar. Everyone complained about the retched smell. I didn't mind it, 
vinegar is not on my worst smells list. After the catacombs we stopped by a local market to eat lunch... a giant outdoor market indoors. It was really cool, although if you ever go I would recommend staying away from the butcher area. Raw meat is disgusting! After getting some food (pastries for me), it was back to our tour of the city. Fortunately for us, the rest of the tour was spent on a boat. We were able to sit and relax, while the tour guide talked about the city. Why hadn't we done something like that sooner? Why do we walk everywhere... I don't care if we're all young, and supposedly 'in shape.' Give my fat thighs a break, and spring for a bus tour every once and a while. After the boat tour the rest of the day was ours. A group of people went to another market, another group went to a Bathhouse, I went back to the Hotel. I had no desire to be a tourist in a city that was not tourist-friendly. That night Emily, Michelle, and I tried going to a traditional Hungarian restaurant suggested by our tourguide. We walked in, greeted by 4 people who spoke not a word of english. After about a minute we realized we weren't going to get served, so we turned around and left. Emily's words after realizing they didn't speak English or German..."That's fair, have a good night." Well, if Hungarians didn't want our business, we weren't going to give them any, so we walked to Pizza Hut. I had a greasy, delicious pepperoni pan pizza... oh how I have missed the simple joy of eating a crispy pepperoni. Good luck trying to find a pepperoni on a pizza in Vienna. After dinner we went for ice cream. We witnessed a rather aggressive street fight on our way. To our surprise we noticed they were only using their legs. I guess Hungarians don't believe in fist-fights... they're more flexible and want to show off their high-kicks. A country full of natural born dancers. Also on our way we were stopped by a crazy, homely woman who rambled off something in Hungarian. We told her we spoke english and continued to walk. She walked in the same direction, and for about 10 minutes we thought she was following us. The image of a knife in our ribs crossed our minds. Budapest isn't like other European countries, it didn't feel safe to be walking around at night. We eventually lost the fat, homely woman, and proceeded to buy some ice cream. Not the best I've had... but I've come to expect that from most places in Europe. We spent the rest of the night talking in Michelle and Emily's room... while knitting, of course. The next morning was check out. We were able to check out at 11am... the latest check out time we've had. After dropping off our bags, Michelle, Emily, and I walked to a Cafe near the Danube river. 
The Gerbeaud, established in 1858. It was classy, and old fashioned. The waitresses were dressed like french-maids, and rolled around pastry carts. We all ordered hot chocolate, and different types of cake. It was all very delicious. We sat there for a few hours talking... Emily knitting. There was jazz music playing in the background, and from our window we could people-watch easily and without being detected. From the Cafe we walked back to our Hotel. We still had some Florians in our pocket, so we decided to run to a Grocery store before we left. I bought a few snack items, and gave the rest of my Florians to Trevor (he was trying to get enough to buy two cheeseburgers at McDonalds). We arrived back in Vienna Saturday night at around 8pm. So Budapest wasn't the greatest place I've been, but it showed me that not all European cities are gilded in gold. I used a few similes to describe Budapest, such as: Budapest is like a crotchety old person. They're ugly, yet you can find hints of beauty within them... or Budapest is like a difficult relationship, it takes work in order to reach a state of mutual love. And finally, this one coming from Michelle and Emily, Budapest is like an arranged marriage. We meet Budapest, not by choice, but eventually find ourselves liking it. Budapest is not a typical tourist city, and it lacks the energy found in other European gems... like Prague. But despite these facts, it remains a place of beauty, and rich history... both of which take greater effort to discover.
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