Whew, what a trip! In the beginning of May, my college roommate Jessi and I embarked on an Eastern and Central European adventure. Equipped with plane tickets, bus tickets, Eurail passes, cameras, Jessi's huge backpack (watch out fellow bus-riders), and adventurous stomachs, we hopped from London --> Prague, Czech Republic --> Budapest, Hungary --> Vienna, Austria --> Salzburg, Austria --> Munich, Germany --> back to London.
Traveling in Eastern Europe was definitely one of the most eye-opening experiences of my life, because having mostly been exposed to Western culture in the US and South Africa, the Czech Republic and Hungary were so different and fascinating. It's very bewildering to suddenly have no idea how the public transportation works, how much to tip at restaurants, if the unrequested bread basket delivered to your table is free (never was, the sneaky buggers), if it's safe to take taxis, what the cooking instructions on the pasta say, and why the streets are so impossibly named and seem to constantly switch places with each other while we wandered around in circles. Never mind having to continuously divide currencies in your head (by 20 in Prague, and 200 in Budapest). I now understand how it's so easy to get drawn into the "tourist trap" areas in a foreign country, where restaurant prices are doubled, and the shop owners get a glint in their eye when they hear your accent. It's much more familiar and comfortable (and cleaner) to stay in that bubble, although overall I think Jessi and I did a pretty good job of avoiding those types of areas.
We both kept travel journals over the course of our journey, and after we left each city we rated it on several categories, very serious and important categories. Here are the winners:
1. Attractiveness of local males: MUNICH. by far. definitely. without doubt.
2. Culinary offerings: BUDAPEST. Best quality and variation. Also best potato dumplings (pretty much our diet staple in Eastern Europe)
3. Deliciousness of baked goods: BUDAPEST. Best croissants ever. I don't even need to go to France.
4. Friendliness of locals: MUNICH. After carrying a bike up 3 flights of stairs, someone offered to help at the top step. Better late than never...
5. Best value for your money: PRAGUE.
6. Historical sights: BUDAPEST. A castle + bridges + really beautiful historical buildings, what more can you ask for?
7. Coolest nightlife: PRAGUE. The 5 story club (that we didn't go inside) was pretty impressive.
8. Cheapest alcohol: PRAGUE. sooo cheap. $1 beer anyone? Even water was more expensive.
9. Ease of navigation: VIENNA. Would have been Munich except for their poorly marked nature trails (I'll explain later)
10. Quality of ice cream: VIENNA. Homemade, organic, family-owned deliciousness. Makes all other ice cream obsolete.
11. Caliber of yogurt (our breakfast staple): all average. Nothing can compare to good 'ol American in this category.
As you can see, our main priorities rested with our stomachs!
I just realized that Salzburg didn't win anything, but I should've created a "natural beauty" category, in which case Salzburg would have won by miles. Such a beautiful town, if you've seen Sound of Music you'll know what I mean, because that's where the movie was filmed.
Overall, this trip was definitely a highlight of my entire 7 month adventure. Looking back, it was quite the experience, I never thought in my life I would become blase about seeing "just another castle". I tried my first beer, ate enough pork and potatoes to last me a lifetime, went caving underneath Budapest, got lost in the Bavarian mountains (well we pretty much got lost everywhere we went, but that one mattered a bit more), and walked my way through 2 pairs of shoes. I would say I've definitely caught the Europe travel bug...like Austria's lesser-advertised son, "I'LL BE BACK!"
And of course, like the good tourist I am, I of course took millions of photos. Here are some of my favorites:
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| Prague Castle |
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| Jessi and I in Prague |
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| A really cool memorial fountain in Budapest- when you walk up to it, a section of the water disappears to let you through. It represents all of the people unjustly imprisoned in the war. |
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| Budapest at night, from the castle looking down at the city |
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| Our hostel in Budapest, "The Loft", in the roof of a really old building with a courtyard in the middle. |
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| The view of Vienna from the Belvedere |
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| The Belvedere |
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| Salzburg at night |
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| The Salzburg fortress |
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| My kind of bakery! A cute butterfly and hedgehog in Salzburg |
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| Beautiful view from the Eurail train from Salzburg to Munich |
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| The "Glockenspiel" in Munich- a really cute cuckoo-like performance happens at 12 pm every day |
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| Me and my pretzel in Munich. Delicious. |
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| The surfer wave pool in a canal in Munich...poor guys. |
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The breathtaking field that Jessi and I accidentally came across in the mountains outside Munich when we got REALLY lost on our bikes. Ended up going up and down an extra mountain by mistake...45 km later we finally got to our intended destination, Wolfratshausen. We took the train back.
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Tomorrow is my last day in London, time to squish many months worth of gifts, clothes, and souvenirs into my original suitcases. Considering I'm that annoying person who without fail exceeds their weight limit, and ends up rifling through the suitcase at the front of the check-in line, it should be interesting...Nevertheless, I'm really looking forward to being home sweet home!
