Budapest for the weekend

Great view of the Parliament building

St.Mattias church on top of the hill ("Budha" side)

St. Mattias

St. Mattias

St. Mattias

St. Mattias (looks like a castle!)

Parliament building on the Danube

The chain bridge over the Danube

The Chain Bridge

View of St.Mattias on top of the hill

Such a cute romantic scene!

St.Stephen's Basilica

St. Stephen's

St. Stephens

Budapest train station (I just got off this one!)

Sept 3&4

I was so happy that we finished our report friday night. It meant I have another free weekend to travel. The easiest was to take a 2.5 hour train to budapest which I did on saturday morning. I am getting braver with the public transit and am feeling quite adventurous by this time. I was like this in my youth but I think over the years I've gotten soft. I've been flying business class, staying in nice hotels and have drivers take me everywhere, in other words I havent had to really think for myself. To figure out my traveling on my own in places where they don't speak my language is really rewarding, but only if I get to where I'm supposed to go. They don't announce the stops on these trains so you really have to pay attention and not miss it. I never did figure out the reservation system and it's a trial & error for me. Twice I got kicked out of my seat because someone had reservations.

I decided to splurg and booked into a 5 star hotel for the night. They had a famous spa that's dated back to 1886. I figured if I didn't like the city I have the hotel to enjoy!

After checking in at the hotel I walked to St. Stephen's Basilica which was the meeting point for the free walking tour. It was a 20 minute walk through a quiet neighborhood. I have to admit that my first impression wasn't that great. I remember the words of my guide from the photo tour in prague, budapest is similar to them but darker and dirtier. By dirty I don't mean trash on the streets. It's more the buildings themselves. Most are stone structures that could be very nice but they seem to have a heavy layer of dirt on them.

Our tour group was a huge one (hey it's free) but they were prepared and split the group into 2. I learnt some nice history of the country. Hungary was a really big empire in its heyday. However, over the centuries it has lost more than 2/3 of its land. They were under Ottoman rule for a time during which they learned to grow peppers and now are famous for their hungarian peppers. I thought it was interesting that during the 2nd world war they actually sided with germany but hitler tricked them by inviting the hungarian leader for a visit and kept him there while german soldiers occupied hungary. They were betrayed by their own ally! The russians came to their rescue and freed hungary from the germans but then they forgot to leave! So hungary was under communist rule. The country shared the same important date in history which was the revolution in 1989 when the kicked out the russians. The current average salary in the country is 500 euros a month! Because of this corruption level is high. If you have an issue that needs to be resolved there's an incredible amount of beauracracy to go through, yes, it means bribery. I've learned in my travels to some of these eastern countries that it's normal and it's their way of making some extra money. I don't know if they are necessary bad people, it's something more like desperate times calls for desperate measures. Or it's the way of like that they know.

It was a hot and humid day and after 2 hours of walking I started to think about the nice pool at the hotel. The last part of the tour was to cross the chain bridge over the danube river to the budha side and climb up the hill to the castle. I debated ditching the tour and made the decision as we were walking over the bridge.

Walked back to the hotel and went immediately to the spa!

The next day I decided to brave the metro to the other side of the danube and walked up the hill to St.Mattias. I had 2 hours before I have to catch the metro to the train station. The day didn't feel too hot. As long as you sit still in the shade and not move a muscle. As soon as I started walking I started to sweat. Now add the hill I had to climb to get to the old town. The best thing I did was to "borrow" a hand towel from the hotel. A kleenex would have lasted me half a second. It wasn't as bad as it sounds. I had my hair tied up, had prepared mentally to be sweaty and don't have to worry about finding a bathroom since I was losing all my bodily fluids through sweating. Ofcourse I get the excuse of eating gelato in order to keep cool!

I didn't have a specific destination after going up the hill, I just knew that's where the old town is. I just happened to run smack into St.Mattias cathedral which happened to look like a castle. The view was amazing. And the breeze was so welcomed after the climb.

So glad I was able to see all these different countries during this audit. It was interesting to hear how they have each survived some hard years including the german and russian occupied during which many died. There is a sense that they truly appreciate the freedom they now have. Someone said that those born into freedom it will act different from those who were not. This is at a time when the older generation (parents and grandparents) still act a little differents and are more cautious. They would be more frugal because at any given point everything could be taken away from you, or so they think.

The famous rooftops of Prague

Sunday Aug 28

They say the you can recognize the city of Prague by the red rooftops. The best way to get a view of them is on the south tower of St.Vitus Cathedral. We made our way up the hill to the castle complex. I noticed a sign to climb some stairs to the top of tower. It was a nice sunny day so I wanted some shots of the city. When you go in they do have signs warning people that it's a hard climb up 287 steps. Well, I didn't stop to think how many steps that is. We started up this narrow stone spiral staircase. Towards the top I started getting dizzy. Not from the height, more because of the constant circling up the spiral staircase! I thought it would NEVER end! Once we got to the top I told Mike I wasn't going anywhere until I stop sweating! 287 steps is like going up 15-20 stories! Wait, I wouldn't know that because if I was in a building that tall I would be taking the elevator!!!

All whining aside, it was worth the beautiful views! It was nice and quiet with only the sounds of the breeze. You can walk all around the tower to get a 360 degree view of the city.

Love locks in prague

Sunday Aug 29

I think it's a common practice of the love locks in europe, at least I'm starting to notice them. I saw it for the first time in cologne germany and again here in prague. It's a nice idea to come with someone you love and place the lock and throw the key into the river. Hmmm, I'm trying to think a place in az for me and gary to declare our undying love. With our luck we'll probably get arrested for defacing public property.

Beautiful Prague

Henry Tower near old town

Astronomical Clock in the old square

Weekend festival in the old square

"16" Cathedral in the old square

Charles Bridge

Sunday Aug 28

One of the best way to tour a city like this is with a bike tour. It takes you out a little further and on foot. We signed up for a ride in the morning. It's a city tour so I told Mike that I get nervous riding a bike through crowds so let's see. I had to practice a little while waiting for everyone to be ready :-) I just don't want to kill any unsuspecting tourists!

Our guide was a young guy named Michael. He was good at stopping frequently to tell us some history. We started in the old square where he promptly declared that the prominent sculptor in the middle was quite ugly. However, one of the figure was one of the most famous in czech history: Jan Hus. Jan Hus started the Protestan movement when he rebeled against the catholic church during the times when greed and power was a dominant feature. He was not popular with the church and had to go into semi-exile to his small village in slovakia. The pope invited him to a gathering in rome and promised him safety. He came and found out it was a lied and was arrested. The pope gave him the option to disclaim what he has preached and tell people he was possessed by the devil, or he would be burned at the stake for witchcraft. Well, he chose the later and became a hero/martyr for the locals.

Michael started out saying that czechs were cowardly people and usually did not fight back any foreign occupation. I would have said it differently, maybe they are just a peaceful people. As in Slovakia the country was under Austrain-Hungarian rule, then german occupation and then russian occupation. The revolution took place in 1989 and by 1991 they were a free country with their own constitution. Most interesting part of the tour was the jewish quarter. For centuries a specific part of the city was dedicated for the "jewish ghetto". Jews were not treated equally and not allowed to live outside an actual erected wall within the city. They could not build out as the population grew so they built up. The cementery nearby was small naturally so they had to bury the dead in layer (as in 10-20 layers per plot).

We rode by the charles bridge which was built in the 13 century and still standing strong today. Part of the reason is the diamond shaped feet column designed to take minimal impact of the water flow, especially during flooding. They really know how to build these things back then. Tour books will tell you that it's very crowded and advised times when you can go when it's more quiet. It's very popular because it's only a pedestrian bridge and has statues along the bridge. You will find many vendors and artists as you stroll across the bridge. I thought part of the charm are the crowds. Besides, it wasn't as bad as people made it sound. You haven't experienced crowded until you are on the champs Elysee on news years eve. Trust me, that's crowded.

Saw the "lennon wall" Just a big wall in a quiet neighborhood where people spray painted whatever they wanted to express. I guess during those occupied times, freedom of expression was a precious thing. Most of the drawings and words were related to j. lennon or the beatles. Someone mentioned that it's actively painted on so that you will see a different wall if you come back in a week.

It was a lovely sunny day and perfect for a bike ride.

Mike went back to dudo by 5pm and I went back into town and got tickets for a classical concert in the Rudolfino theatre. I like the music but I was interested in the building itself. Apparently during the german occupation it was used as headquarter for the german gestapo police. The concert was held in a smaller room with about 200 seats. The sounds was amazing and the czech symphony orchestra (the string section) played some popular collection of mozart, vivaldi and bizet. Loved it. The violinist was amazing, some pieces were so intricate and fast he held the audience transfixed. Prague seemed to have endless number of theatres, I was I had more time!

My (almost missed) travel to Prague

Saturday Aug 27
So it was time for another bonehead move on my part. A couple of months ago I planned a weekend in Prague while I'm working in Bratislava. Bought plane tickets out of the local airport, it's only 1 hour flight. Cool. My friend Mike from Dudo will join me in Prague so he also bought tickets. Cool. Well come Saturday morning I took a taxi to the Brat local airport. When inside I couldn't find my flight on the monitor and didn't see any counters for Czech Air. Perplexed I finally found someone and showed him my e-ticket. It was a group of 3 workers and they first laughed and then told me that they cancelled this route over 2 months ago and there are no flights to Prague from this airport. It took a few seconds for it to sink in and i realize that my friend Mike has landed in prague by this time and waiting for me. I asked the worker if there are any other way to get to prague and could he help me. I hadnt decided to go after all but let's get all the info first. The orignal plan was to go saturday morning and go back by 6pm the next day. Not a lot of time to begin with and I already lost valuable time. Well, turns out there was a train that leaves Bratislava around noon and gets into Prague 4 hours later. At first I was going to forget the whole thing. Not enough time there and going alone on a train in a foreign country in which I don't speak any of the language? Definitely outside of my comfort zone. I guess in my old age I've lost some of my adventurous (a.k.a. stupidity) spirit, at least enough to make me hesitate. I took the local bus to the train station even while texting Mike that I haven't decided what to do yet but on my way to the train station to get more info. Eventually I got the brilliant idea to go after all and stay until Monday making it worth the trip. By the way Monday was a bank holiday so we had that day off anyway! In a very round about way I got tickets - it was only $50 round trip. I have always wanted to see Prague and who knows when I will get to go. Gary has already been there so it's usually not first on our list of trips.
Train trip was easy enough and I found my way to the hotel. Taxi driver at the train station tried to rip me off with the first quote. I told him the price was too much and I'll just take the subway (it was a bluff because I didn't know my way around yet and it was raining). Miraculously his colleague came to me and cut the price in half, bastards. I can imagine how people they've ripped off.

Mike and I walked around old town a little bit but the rain was a bummer, even with our umbrella. Then we decided to duck into one of the theatres and bought tix to a show. The performance was Carmen. It was very innovative because they made it a combo of an opera on one side of the stage and a ballet on the other side, with a small orchestra playing in a back corner. The singers were fantastic and they even had a marquee on top of the stage to translate the singers.

After the theatre we sat in one of the sidewalk cafe for a pitcher of sangria and cheese. Nice view right next to the astronomical clock in the old square. A few minutes before 10pm all these tourists suddenly appeared in front of the clock and held their cameras poised. I had no idea what was going on but also got out my camera and held it ready. At 10pm the clock chimed a few times and that was that.How lame!! Well, the next day someone told us that at the top of each hour there are 12 figurines that come out of the clock and it's only up until 9pm!

So sad to hear a german talking like a cali surfer

Most of the time my german (or from other countries) asks me to teach them proper english. This audit is a different experience because we have 2 americans in our group of 5. Me and Clay who is from southern cal and talks like it. The other night one of our german colleague wanted to learn some american slang. I refused to teach him because I didn't want to be responsible for corrupting the poor guy. So what does he do? he goes to Clay who was more than happy to teach him. It was so funny that I couldn't help but throw in some words of my own like "dude" or "moron" or "that's so wacked". By the end of the evening Stefan was calling us douch bags (this was NOT part of my contribution). I was busting up when he had to google the word during dinner to figure out what that word meant and wanted us to explain further! Ofcourse Clay was more than happy to explain where the word douche came from (in french it means shower but in the US it's used very differently!) There was also fascination about the culture of LA (about the girls in particular) which I was quick to say does NOT represent the rest of the country. Some of the topics were so funny and cannot be posted here!

Hrad castle at night

This castle makes an imposing view from most anywhere in the city. Pretty impressive