Slowly but surely I'm getting enough time and concentration to continue documenting my travels... so here goes...
The weekend of February 16-18 was initially intended to be one gigantic party in the BCN. Having just acquired our infamous eurail passes, we simply assumed that we could easily hop a night train to the land where the sun also rises. However, our perpetual optimism ended up being fatal in the actual execution of this trip. Upon our arrival at the train station Thursday morning, we were quickly informed that the night trains to BCN run only on Wednesday and Friday nights... Determined not to waste another weekend in the GVA, some quick thinking was required. Just to illustrate how ridiculous this was, here is a rough timelime:
11:00 a- Arrival at la gare (the train station) and prompt telling that night trains to BCN are not a possibility on Thursday nights.
11-1: French class tour of the Greater Geneva Area in the back of my French teacher's car
1-2:30: Lunch and brief nap to rid myself of headache/motion sickness acquired from said French tour
2:30-5- International Organizations Class.
5:00-5:05
-Erica: Let's go to Budapest
-Amy, Natalie, Alaine: Okay
6:00pm: Erica gets eurail pass
6:15-7:15: All 4 girls pack, get our eurail passes activated, buy dinner and a bottle of sangria for the train, reserve seats, I subsequently book a hostel, and a flight home for Nat and Alaine
7:15-7:30: I sprint to the train station in less than 8 minutes with a full weekends worth of stuff on my back repeating the phrase "Rule #76: No excuses. Play like a champion."
7:45: Departure for Budapest.
This was, by far, the most ridiculously spontaneous thing i have ever done. While getting there was one of the most stressful 2 hour periods of my life, the weekend was one of the most incredible experiences i have ever had. I took my first night train (slightly uncomfortable but always entertaining), my first 15 hour train ride (blahhh) and my first trip to a former communist country....
Hungary was incroyable. It was something completely new, refreshing and different from anything else I had ever done. Due to the fact that the majority of my travels up until this point have been to countries that speak romance languages, I've grown rather accustomed to the culture in at least Spain, Switzerland, France and Italy. I've always been able to figure out most of what signs say, and (when i really need to), I've always been able to use a currency I understand and get by using either English or french to get around. This was certainly not the case in Budapest.
Just to give you an idea, the four of us had no idea what the currency in Budapest even was before we arrived (or it's exchange rate to the US Dollar, Swiss Franc or Euro) though after seeing that its abbreviation was Ft in the Rick Steve's guide, we dubbed it the "foot" and referred to it as such for the remainder of the trip. (I have since learned that it is indeed the "forint" and you can get 200 forints per US dollar). Our accommodations ended up working out surprisingly well for booking them 12 hours before arrival. We stayed at the "Green Bridge Apartments" where we actually had a gigantic room, (nearly) private bathrooms and a kitchen all for a mere 20 dollars/night. And so my love affair with central Europe began...
We began our travels at a Scottish pub (how does this always end up happening to me?) for some lunch, and then walked around the city, bought some groceries, and kind of wandered around like chickens with our heads cut off. We ended up meeting some boys in our hostel who accompanied us to a bar down the street for the evening (more Australians... do these people not work ever?!) where i proceeded to get both an Irish coffee (without Jameson, thank god!) and a random bloody nose in the middle of the bar. Zut alors.
The next morning, we stopped by a large market where they sold everything from wine glasses to traditional Hungarian food (Apparently, Hungarians enjoy a food that i can only equate to an elephant ear. You can purchase large pieces of fried dough and get anything from mushrooms to meat to cheese to fruit or, in my case, cinnamon sugar). Later, we were able to meet up with our good friend Thomas who is on the same program and whose parents are from Budapest. He was in Budapest for the weekend visiting family and was dubbed our tour guide for the remainder of the weekend as we really knew nothing about getting around. This is probably the best thing that could have happened to us. Being fluent in Hungarian and having been to Budapest on several occasions, Thomas was able to take us to the Citadel, a castle, the national museum and other landmarks and also suggest a great restaurant for more traditional Hungarian food (Paprika, Chicken, Dumplings and of course, Goulash). The late evening was spent wandering around the city and ended up at the bar down the street from our hostel that we had been to the night before.
While I thought that coming to Budapest was the most exciting and bold move I had ever made up to this point in my life, what I did Sunday afternoon quickly trumped it...
A little back story: Hungary and specifically Budapest is widely regarded as a wonderful place to partake in thermal baths:
"Budapest is richly endowed with natural springs of thermal waters possessing various medicinal properties, and it is these that supply the city’s many thermal baths. Not for nothing is it known as the City of Spas. Among its most precious treasures are its sixteenth century Turkish baths, as well as the Széchenyi, the Gellért and the Lukács Baths, and the Rác Baths, which are currently closed for renovation. All are known for the healing qualities of their waters."
So, what better way to conclude our trip to Hungary than to take a dip in some warm water and be healed of all of our ills? One catch: Yes, these are public and YES, we did forget our swimsuits that weekend. (Germ-o-phobes (i.e. Megan) , do not read further) SO, I experienced my first RENTED swimsuit adventure and full coverage of one's rear-end was not an option at this juncture. As a result, about 300+ Hungarians and tourists have seen my precious derriere in all its glory. WooHoo. Needless to say I think I left my mark on Budapest and burned a beautiful image in the minds of countless people there upon my departure Sunday night.
As for now, it's midterm week so it will be another few days before I can write all about my Spring Break. I'm off to Venice and Padua this weekend avec les hommes so that is bound to be a weekend full of being scared to death (why do I make friends with people who make a hobby out of giving me heart attacks on a daily basis?), food (I think a 3 gelato cone per diem allotment should suffice) , and fun (or being made fun of). Take good care of yourselves and do one thing everyday that scares you (though exposing your ass to 300 people should probably not be one of them)
Currently reading... My problems of International Organizations Reader though I am about to start Walden
Currently listening to... Not Myself by John Mayer (Kevin-do not think that you were awarded any points on this one.)
Lots of love,
aim
The weekend of February 16-18 was initially intended to be one gigantic party in the BCN. Having just acquired our infamous eurail passes, we simply assumed that we could easily hop a night train to the land where the sun also rises. However, our perpetual optimism ended up being fatal in the actual execution of this trip. Upon our arrival at the train station Thursday morning, we were quickly informed that the night trains to BCN run only on Wednesday and Friday nights... Determined not to waste another weekend in the GVA, some quick thinking was required. Just to illustrate how ridiculous this was, here is a rough timelime:
11:00 a- Arrival at la gare (the train station) and prompt telling that night trains to BCN are not a possibility on Thursday nights.
11-1: French class tour of the Greater Geneva Area in the back of my French teacher's car
1-2:30: Lunch and brief nap to rid myself of headache/motion sickness acquired from said French tour
2:30-5- International Organizations Class.
5:00-5:05
-Erica: Let's go to Budapest
-Amy, Natalie, Alaine: Okay
6:00pm: Erica gets eurail pass
6:15-7:15: All 4 girls pack, get our eurail passes activated, buy dinner and a bottle of sangria for the train, reserve seats, I subsequently book a hostel, and a flight home for Nat and Alaine
7:15-7:30: I sprint to the train station in less than 8 minutes with a full weekends worth of stuff on my back repeating the phrase "Rule #76: No excuses. Play like a champion."
7:45: Departure for Budapest.
This was, by far, the most ridiculously spontaneous thing i have ever done. While getting there was one of the most stressful 2 hour periods of my life, the weekend was one of the most incredible experiences i have ever had. I took my first night train (slightly uncomfortable but always entertaining), my first 15 hour train ride (blahhh) and my first trip to a former communist country....
Hungary was incroyable. It was something completely new, refreshing and different from anything else I had ever done. Due to the fact that the majority of my travels up until this point have been to countries that speak romance languages, I've grown rather accustomed to the culture in at least Spain, Switzerland, France and Italy. I've always been able to figure out most of what signs say, and (when i really need to), I've always been able to use a currency I understand and get by using either English or french to get around. This was certainly not the case in Budapest.
Just to give you an idea, the four of us had no idea what the currency in Budapest even was before we arrived (or it's exchange rate to the US Dollar, Swiss Franc or Euro) though after seeing that its abbreviation was Ft in the Rick Steve's guide, we dubbed it the "foot" and referred to it as such for the remainder of the trip. (I have since learned that it is indeed the "forint" and you can get 200 forints per US dollar). Our accommodations ended up working out surprisingly well for booking them 12 hours before arrival. We stayed at the "Green Bridge Apartments" where we actually had a gigantic room, (nearly) private bathrooms and a kitchen all for a mere 20 dollars/night. And so my love affair with central Europe began...
We began our travels at a Scottish pub (how does this always end up happening to me?) for some lunch, and then walked around the city, bought some groceries, and kind of wandered around like chickens with our heads cut off. We ended up meeting some boys in our hostel who accompanied us to a bar down the street for the evening (more Australians... do these people not work ever?!) where i proceeded to get both an Irish coffee (without Jameson, thank god!) and a random bloody nose in the middle of the bar. Zut alors.
The next morning, we stopped by a large market where they sold everything from wine glasses to traditional Hungarian food (Apparently, Hungarians enjoy a food that i can only equate to an elephant ear. You can purchase large pieces of fried dough and get anything from mushrooms to meat to cheese to fruit or, in my case, cinnamon sugar). Later, we were able to meet up with our good friend Thomas who is on the same program and whose parents are from Budapest. He was in Budapest for the weekend visiting family and was dubbed our tour guide for the remainder of the weekend as we really knew nothing about getting around. This is probably the best thing that could have happened to us. Being fluent in Hungarian and having been to Budapest on several occasions, Thomas was able to take us to the Citadel, a castle, the national museum and other landmarks and also suggest a great restaurant for more traditional Hungarian food (Paprika, Chicken, Dumplings and of course, Goulash). The late evening was spent wandering around the city and ended up at the bar down the street from our hostel that we had been to the night before.
While I thought that coming to Budapest was the most exciting and bold move I had ever made up to this point in my life, what I did Sunday afternoon quickly trumped it...
A little back story: Hungary and specifically Budapest is widely regarded as a wonderful place to partake in thermal baths:
"Budapest is richly endowed with natural springs of thermal waters possessing various medicinal properties, and it is these that supply the city’s many thermal baths. Not for nothing is it known as the City of Spas. Among its most precious treasures are its sixteenth century Turkish baths, as well as the Széchenyi, the Gellért and the Lukács Baths, and the Rác Baths, which are currently closed for renovation. All are known for the healing qualities of their waters."
So, what better way to conclude our trip to Hungary than to take a dip in some warm water and be healed of all of our ills? One catch: Yes, these are public and YES, we did forget our swimsuits that weekend. (Germ-o-phobes (i.e. Megan) , do not read further) SO, I experienced my first RENTED swimsuit adventure and full coverage of one's rear-end was not an option at this juncture. As a result, about 300+ Hungarians and tourists have seen my precious derriere in all its glory. WooHoo. Needless to say I think I left my mark on Budapest and burned a beautiful image in the minds of countless people there upon my departure Sunday night.
As for now, it's midterm week so it will be another few days before I can write all about my Spring Break. I'm off to Venice and Padua this weekend avec les hommes so that is bound to be a weekend full of being scared to death (why do I make friends with people who make a hobby out of giving me heart attacks on a daily basis?), food (I think a 3 gelato cone per diem allotment should suffice) , and fun (or being made fun of). Take good care of yourselves and do one thing everyday that scares you (though exposing your ass to 300 people should probably not be one of them)
Currently reading... My problems of International Organizations Reader though I am about to start Walden
Currently listening to... Not Myself by John Mayer (Kevin-do not think that you were awarded any points on this one.)
Lots of love,
aim
No comments:
Post a Comment