Tonight's Dinner

Poland Weekend Notebook

The Notebook excerpt from Krakow:

3-27-2009 Friday Morning
5:40 AM - Oh crap I woke up late. Oh no, why didn't my alarm go off, oh man, they're about to leave...oh wait, phone, "Olli, have you left? No? give me 15 minutes. OK" RUNNNNN!!!!

6:20 AM On the bus, made it only ten minutes late. Whew!

16:00 Arrival in Krakow, The Castle and River right in front of us. Finally here after the salt mine tour and the loong bus ride. Snow and Rough roads for most of the journey, beautiful snow covered pines shrouded in fog in Slovakian Mountains. The salt mine proved the Polish have distant dwarf relatives. It was HUGE considering most of the mining was done over 100 years ago and started over 400 years ago. Salt carvings of everything, even a gigantic underground Cathedral completely carved out of salt. Statues and carvings covering everything. Who would have thought it'd be so cool?
In the evening we had a pretty delicious "Traditional" Polish dinner, good soup, a sauerkraut like dish, wholesome bread and a piece of cheesecake for desert. (hey, cheese cake isn't polish). I fell asleep when we arrived back at the hostel and was woken at 11 pm to "go out". When in Poland...

3-28-2009 Saturday
8:30 AM Wake. Quietly slip through the hostel and downstairs in search of an Americano. Takeshi joins me and we wander for a bit for early morning snapshots in the still wet streets from the previous night's rain. It looks like the sky has cleared up though and the sun is already going strong.

10:00 AM The hive has begun to buzz. Hostelers, us and others, have awoken and are hungry, descending on the hostel kitchen for the free cereal and toast. Glad I woke early to beat the crowd. I switch on the radio in the common room and "I shall be free" starts playing.

13:30 Krakow is an amusement park for grown-ups and a fulfillment of fairyland towns; castle, river, gardens, old cobblestone, horse drawn carriages, jesters, mimes, street performers, flower stalls and people generally enjoying themselves. You barely notice the tourist, or the tourist become villagers too.

14:00 Pizza, Calzones! Spinach, onion, black olives, cheese! The Brazilians are flirting with the Polish waitress

14:35 More Mimes

15:30 Sunshine and Tyskie Beer in the city square at a patio table.

17:30 Sunset beside the river after a stroll around the ring park. Polish beer! Olli and Francisco are hanging out too. I'm writing postcards, I have my shoes off and am enjoying the breeze on my feet and grass beneath. The Castle towers over my left shoulder.

Lizard King in the evening for some live music.

3-29-2009 Move your watches forward. I've never had to worry about daylight savings time before. There was some confusion and panic at the hostel in the morning...Gabriel had been though to be lost, very drunk, possibly missing, but after some searching we realized he had just been sleeping in an empty room of the hostel on the top bunk in a hidden corner. Funny in retrospect. Ah, the joys of traveling with a big group. We're now on the drive to Auschwitz, on a toll road through the Polish countryside: Villages with chimneys bellowing white smoke, castle ruins on distant hilltops, swamps, a bizarre bunch of dome buildings connected by glass hallways, like a sci-fi moon habitat, wonder what that was...

Haze and rain at the exit of the highway...fitting mood for the destination

16:30 Standing at the gates of Birkenau. Cold, Muddy, Dreary, Solemn. Almost unbelievable and overwhelming.

long ride home...arrive back in Budapest at 1 AM!

Poland Weekend

Pictures at FLICKR...description coming soon.
-Friday: Drive through Slovakia and Wieliczka Salt Mines
-Saturday: Krakow!!!
-Sunday: Auschwitz and the return home

Self Portrait

Margit-sziget Exploration

Olli had the greatest idea ever for this afternoon after magyaóra to explore around northern Buda, in search of Roman ruins and scenic views. We completed the task successfully.

Ideas

Still working on yours Hunter.

Muesli Y2K Style

Czech it Out! Prague Weekend

More Pictures on FLICKR

Notebook:

3-19-2009

15:45 Nepliget Bus Station, Budapest. Backpack is packed with snacks and supplies. Remember, 20 CZK = 1USD. I'm traveling with 5 Finnish. The rest of the group is heading out tomorrow.

18:00 Electric Windmills in Northern Hungary. Snow and Sunsets in Slovakia.

11:45 Bus arrives in Prague. It's cold! We orient ourselves towards the hostel.

3-20-2009

0:20 Arrival at Sir Toby's Hostel. Check in and drop off our bags. Head downstairs to the Hostel's pub to relax, have a Pilsner (Czech Beer!) and talk with other travelers. We decided to venture our for late night food. We find "Pizza Go Home" We should have followed the name and gone home, because it was pretty bad. Oh well, you learn.

9:30 I wake up early, and have some coffee while everyone else wakes. Eventually everyone mingles downstairs for Sir Toby's delicious breakfast buffet: yogurts, granola, dried fruits, fresh fruits, tomatoes, cucumber, toasts with butter, nutella, jam, honey, sweetened condensed milk, balkan cheese, swiss cheese, hard boiled eggs, pans and eggs for self-made omelets, juice, iced coffee, tea, and...I guess that's about everything! Head out into town with the Finnish.

12:30 Old Town Square, Prague. The light snow is fitting for the last day of spring. It's beautiful here.

13:00 Bong, Bong, Bong! goes the intricate astronomical clock tower. After the spectacle, we go to a Mucha and Salvador Dali Exhibit.

15:00 Crossing the Charles Bridge. More Snow! Winter Wonderland! We head into a restaurant for warmth and tummy filling...I order Onion Soup!

15:40 There's the sun, breaking through the clouds. Perfect for a stroll down to Lennon Wall, a little alley tucked away off the main street that had been a protest spot against communism...the name comes from numerous Beatles lyrics scrawled on the wall and Lennon portraits done in spray paint. Photos!

16:30 Prague Castle, breath-taking. Exploration and Wandering mode is in effect. We meet up with the Italian dudes and...

17:50 Beer! More Pilsner Urquell in a little pub.

20:30 Quick Tesco stop, restaurant searching, regrouping, return to the hostel. The rest of the group has begun to arrive.

22:00 Dinner with the Italians at a restaurant next door to Sir Toby's. Afterwards we play card games (with Mucha cards, obviously) and then head downtown to see the clubs of Prague.

3-21-2009

10:00 Hooray for Spring! It's sunny outside today. Delicious breakfast at Sir Toby's, and heading back into town, this time with 2 Finnish, 3 French, 1 Canadian, 1 Singaporean.

12:00 Clock Tower in Old Town Square again! Street performers are playing Jazz. It feels like spring. Extreme Exploration Mode!

16:00 Rendezvous with others of the group around the Castle. I'm just taking in the surroundings and the awesomeness of it all. 

17:45 We walk up the hill and climb to the top of Petrin Tower (Prauge's "Eiffel Tower") for amazing views of the city from above. iPod - "Buffalo Soldier" Prague Sunsets are amazing from above. We made it inside the Tower just as they were closing...we seem to be really good at timing this entire weekend.

19:25 When in Prague, try Absinthe! and then more Czech Beers. We walk by the dancing building and continue to stroll along the Vltava River. Small paper lanterns are floating up into the night sky, taking flight from a small islands. Swans float in the river. PICTURESQUE.

22:00 Return to the hostel and relax with the group.

3-22-2009

5:00 Awake somehow. Pack up and are out the door by 5:45.

6:25 Board the return bus to Budapest...

Transport is Arranged - Prague

Looking forward to an exciting weekend in Prague. Backpack is stuffed with essentials: clothes, camera, iPod, peanuts, grapefruit, book, map. See you in a few days-

Things I'm Currently Psyced On

-After a little scuds and scrubs, our kitchen is finally clean again
-Bulk trash pick is this weekend and piles of trash are appearing on the sidewalks, bizzare
-This crazy nice McDonalds at Nyugati Train Station
-Tomorrow afternoon I'm getting on a bus to go see Prague for the Weekend!
-These pics I took for you

Batman!!!

EDIT: Decided to see Watchmen instead because it's so AWESOME. Dark Knight later this week.

Since I was slow and did not watch The Dark Knight when it was in theaters in the US, I thought I would be doomed to only ever be able to watch it on smaller scale TV or Laptop. But this is Budapest. I found a theater that is still showing it on THE BIG SCREEN, so that is my big plan for tonight. I'm Excited!

Important Facts About March 15th

-Ides of March
-1848 Hungarian Revolution (sort of a Hungarian Independence Day)
-I've been here for two months
-It was raining outside today
-It's Sumit's Birthday. Happy Birthday Sumit!

King of the Hill

Ahh, beautiful weather! Sunshine! The great outdoors! While visiting Robert in freezing German January, he wisely pointed out everyday the weather gets a little better; this week it is really starting to show. Note that I'm just wearing a t-shirt...yep, no jacket today! Taking full advantage of oncoming spring, I went hiking in the Buda hills with Jake from Wisconsin. Riding to the end of tram 61 puts you on the extent of the city and the beginning of nature. We hiked up to an observation tower, atop which we were able to see Budapest in its entirety below. Awesomeness.

End of the line, kid.
upside down flowers
Off the beaten path.
The view from above.
Jake and I with the countryside behind us.
Just enjoying the sunshine.

Jogexploration!

With the weather here in Budapest starting to warm up enough to enjoy being outside, I feel more and more pent up inside the apartment during the day. I still haven't found a bike yet (perhaps I'll work on that more this weekend), so I've decided to pick up this alternative the people do to get around and exercise: jogging. Today I went down to Margit Island to check out Budapest's Exercising Hot Spot. A 5 km (hey look, I can use the metric system) track runs the perimeter of the island, the kind of track made of that nice spongy paving. Transversing the island counterclockwise (positive K direction, as we would say in my current math class) the Duna runs on your right, the parks of the island to your left. The result is an enjoyable little run on a sunny, early March afternoon.

Best sights I saw on the jog:
-Kayakers paddling up and down the river along the bank of the island, I want to do that one day!
-Families pedaling around the island in Bicycle cars, rentals I'm guessing, another thing I need to look into.
-Old Roman Ruins (I'll go back for some pictures)
-A ZOO! I saw some storks and other large birds
-The gigantic Gothic Parliament building spiking the riverside skyline, glowing in the low afternoon sun rays (need pictures of this too)
-The beautiful angel bust sculptures on the pillars of Margit Bridge
-Being in the middle of the Duna with the two sides of the city stretching out and the sunlight illuminating it all

I promise to return on another sunny afternoon, Camera equipped, to share the awesomeness with you. At the end of my jog, I descended a staircase to the bank and sat relaxing in the sun. The river has risen in height since my first arrival in January. Last week you could still see some of the rock banks, now the water level is halfway up the river walls. I'm looking forward to the weather continuing to improve and making new explorations in this crazy place!

Today

Sunshine gleaming through my window woke me up at 7:30 AM, an hour before my alarm. While waiting to meet with my professor for Materials Engineering, I had a cappuccino from a Bianchi made vending machine.

I bought peanuts in the shell at the grocery store. I fixed scrambled eggs with mushrooms and blue cheese for dinner. I also had a glass of chocolate milk.

After finishing up my math homework, I went on a jog down Andrássy út, an old boulevard lined with trees and with the old metro line beneath. It's still pretty chilly outside. My shower felt awesome after the jog.

I can see the full moon out my window. It's a beautiful little orb, you should look at it when it's night where you are.

Lake Balaton Weekend

Budapest to Balatonfüred

Balatonfüred to Tihany

Back to Balatonfüred and then to Keszthely

A Glimpse of Blue Sky

Some blue sky and sunshine managed to break through the morning misting. Decided to have fun with the camera.

Working out plans to visit Lake Balaton this weekend with the dudes. Hopefully we'll spend Saturday in Balatonfüred and the peninsula area, Sunday in Keszthely and Héviz checkin' the hot springs.

Turks and Americans invade Szimpla!

Last night all of us really cool guys went and hung out at Szimpla, a real relax "alternative" bar: basically a huge old apartment building converted into an art supporting, eclectically decorated, multistory hang out.
Keremcan and Tuna from Turkey and IWill just hangin'