Regarding Liga & Riga, and Lithuania, ie. the rest of the Baltics

The bus to Riga played Russian popsa the whole way. I was in shock from the familiarity. Also possibly in diabetic shock because the only snacks available in the Tallinn bus station were chips and candy so I went for some Lion bars to accompany my gummy bears for the 5 hour ride. By the way, arriving to take this bus included waiting for a mini-bus on a dusty suburb road, which I then rode in standing because I feel that young people should give their seat up for the old, then RUNNING with my bags between Anneli's and the bus station. One always plans to NOT have to run with luggage, but somehow things never work out this way.

Latvia is chock full of forests, many of them pine


I arrived in Riga in the evening which was amazingly light again, and my hosts, Liga and Kaspars, a married couple in their early thirties, immediately offered me tea with cookies and chocolate at which point my glazed expression and frightened backward step away from the desserts spurred them to feed me some nourishing vegetable soup. Bless their hearts.

I am in love with this cat

In the morning, after sampling various yummy Latvian foods (but no candle to Ukrainian, really) we headed out for the drive to Rozupe. It was the 23rd of June and this is a big holiday in many countries but particularly in Latvia, the 23rd being Liga and the 24th Jani. It is the midsummer holiday and the custom is for women to make and wear garlands of flowers and men garlands of leaves, stay up all night, jump over the bonfire and engage in all sorts of rituals, particularly of the romantic nature. Apparently, one of the various traditions is for a man and a woman to go into the woods together to search for some elusive fern that only blossoms on this night...cue raised eyebrows and exaggerated winking on the part of the man trying to tell you this and steer you towards the woods. I am not so gullible.

It was my host Liga’s name day, and we were going to their friend’s parent’s farm. For me this was quite ridiculous and new, I won’t lie. Mere yards from our tent, cows were roaming freely! Of course, it wasn’t a fully operational, huge farm, but the fact that there were any farm animals at all, let alone gigantic cows being milked before my eyes, well-I am satisfied in calling it a farm.



One of the cows got loose and went to bother another.

The night passed with loads of food, amazing shashlyk (I really have to try yogurt marinades), various traditional games/dances and Latvian songs by the campfire. All the Latvian songs for this holiday have some variation on the word 'Liga' for the refrain...I have heard my fill of "Ligaaaaaa, ligooooooaaaaa, liguuuuaaaaa" forever.

Silly Janis games


Our tent. Cows. Very proximate.


As the group was half Russian, half Latvian, along with me and a Spaniard, the conversation was a mix of the two languages with a teensy bit of English thrown in. I held my own but it is definitely evident that I am American and constantly want to insert an English word into the mix, even when speaking mostly in Russian. All in all, it was an excellent experience and I am so grateful that Liga and Kaspars were generous enough to not simply host me but invite me along to their holiday celebrations so that I could witness and partake in this Latvian tradition.

The next two nights I stayed with a half-Russian, half-Latvian host and her boyfriend. They spoke only Russian at home, with English for the other CS surfer from Canada, and served us salad, herring and potatoes like solid Russians should. The Canadian and I spent our one free day hitting the sights up in serious: an early start at 7 am, train-ing to Yurmala, the “Baltic Riviera” resort town, and stepping into the cold-ass Baltic Sea then back to see all of Riga along with the Museum of the Occupation (featuring stories of partisans and deportees to Siberia), then riding out with Liga and Kaspars to the castles at Sigulda and Krimulda until midnight.

Riga Old Town -the House of the Blackheads


Gutmana Ala, a cave in the Sigulda area where lovers write their names, oldest from 1600's. Cave also comes complete with ancient tales of lust murder and revenge.

After seeing Tallinn, and then Riga, it was pretty evident that these big cities had a high percentage of Russians (so would Vilnius later on). The natives I spoke with resent the Russians only when they refuse to learn the national language, they figure the occupation is long over and they shouldn’t still act like occupiers but assimilate to and respect the country. Familiar story, the world over, no? For me, there was absolutely no resentment or trouble because I was a tourist and that I spoke Russian was a mere additional benefit (and seriously, what a time-saver).

In Vilnius I stayed with two different hosts. The first one was Justas, and his girlfriend Zivelde, in a very nice remodeled flat in an outwardly shabby socialist-built high-rise. Inside it was a vision in red and white Ikea. He toured me around town, complete with another funicular ride/climb up some tall old tower for a completely unnecessary view, but what can you do when someone wants to show you EVERYTHING they can think of?

Bridge-decorating statues left over from Soviet times

Uzupis was a tiny little ‘bohemian’ quarter that has its own amusing constitution with such rights as “the right to be misunderstood” and the “right to cry.” Also, Vilnius seems like it has the highest number of churches per square insert-'whatever measurement you desire.'

Vilnius Cathedral

We watched the euro2008 pre-finals, went to a Bruce Lee–themed cocktail bar, wandered the really large old town, and all in this vein continued when I stayed with my next host, Justina.

I love the spelling.
There were a few other couchsurfers staying with her, a Canadian guy and a Japanese girl who always wore her kimono and sandals with socks when going out. My last night before flying to Switzerland, Justina and I spent hours on youtube watching and showing each other our favorite Russian songs – chizh, ruki vverh (he is so unattractive actually), verka serduchka (I had heard songs before but never realized it was a drag-act. Makes so much more sense now. And it’s hilarious). One day I also took a daytrip to Trakai, where 380 Karaite families were once settled. My grandfather has some Karaim ancestors so I was interested, and I wandered around the tiny peninsula like city, and saw the castle of trakai and ate Karaim food (kibinai-spiced meat-stuffed pastries-very tasty). Sadly, apart from the Kibinai, there was a disappointing lack of information and interesting stuff on the Karaim community.

The castle at Trakai


The next day I flew through Munich and arrived in Geneva where I was thrilled to see Kate and meet Gaby and Phillip. Despite immense anxiety, the travel and passport checks went smoothly.

Food commentary of the Baltics: much of it was extremely familiar to me given my childhood with Polish grocery stores and Ukrainian food. All the cheap dumpling places were fabulous, but they weren’t vareniki (Ukrainian dumplings, the best!). There was cold borsch everywhere (hurrah!) though why they insist on throwing in parsley I will never understand. Parsley generally ruins things. I stand by this statement, I am not a fan of parsley. Not in my soups or salads. It’s like chewing on grass. What else? Boiled potatoes were served at almost every meal that my hosts cooked throughout the whole of the Baltics. Herring and herring salads were plentiful to my delight. Beer was unexceptional. Sirki (chocolate covered cheese candies) grew on me and now I love them (these started from Russia). Dairy like kefir and yogurt was really, really good. Latvian black bread is the best I’ve had amongst all black bread.

photos from Jani
Photos from Latvia
Photos from Lithuania

Regarding Almost White Nights in Tallinn

Back to my belated travel tales:

When I arrived in Tallinn (back in Mid-june), and I was pleased to walk out into the night to find it still light. I hate arriving in unfamiliar locations in the dark and then having to find my way around while lugging a bulky bag back and forth between wrong directions.

Surprisingly I heard a lot of Russian around me so I immediately asked for directions to the hotel where my cs host works at. Initially I was still a tad uneasy about traveling alone (particularly after my not so fun time getting back to Budapest from Transylvania solo) but the unease passed swiftly because for once in my life, I was traveling in a foreign country where I actually spoke one of the main languages (although all the Baltic States have disavowed Russian and reinstated their native languages as the state policy). Nonetheless, in the big cities, Tallinn, Riga and Vilnius, a significant percentage of the population speaks Russian, and they often work in the service/tourist industries.

So the first two nights I stayed with a girl who was living at her mother's home until she left for school in Denmark. She has already spent a year working in London, and another working/studying in Wales. I am so jealous of the proximity of such interesting places for work and study for Europeans…it’s not quite as exciting to go from Illinois to Nevada or to Kentucky. Even if you go to LA or NY or Boston, it’s still the same language, more or less the same culture, nothing is quite so unfamiliar. Also, the distances in the U.S. are so much greater than Europe where it seems the standard flight is just 2 hours. Go such short distances in Europe and you find an entirely different language, set of customs, cuisine and temperament. Architecture doesn’t vary quite as much though. There’s always a main square and a cathedral.

Their house was half an hour on a bus out of town. This happens often when you are couchsurfing, and especially with such small cities it is unlikely for the hosts to be living in the very center. However, it’s pretty edifying sometimes, I think, because you get out of the little ‘tourist-area’ bubble and can see the socialist block housing that extends across so much of Eastern Europe. But anyways, their house was a legit house, wooden, with trees all around and a sauna indoors. Very cosy.

Adam dubbed these "crackstacks"


My host wasn’t working on Tuesday so she took me into Tallinn’s Old Town, a remarkably preserved medieval old town. Of course the weather was miserable and I was entirely soaked, so we just did some brief walks around, and then holed up in a student-dumpling place where they charge by the weight of the bowl you fill up with various dumplings. They also had boardgames and a book exchange so we engaged in an epic battle of Jenga that was observed and cheered on by all the other patrons.
Finally back home and back in all the warm layers I could assemble from my bag (I was hardly planning for being somewhere this cold and wet in the middle of June!), I cooked tomato-potato soup for my hosts, alternating between English for the daughter and Russian for her mom. Soup and full-length Pj’s…more like November in Chicago than summer in Europe.

I think every russian orthodox church in europe is named after Alexander Nevsky. Wonder who he is...


In the morning I packed up and went to meet my host for the next few nights, Anneli. After settling in at her place, I went to check out more of Tallinn (now in the sun, though still chilly), while she went back to work. It is a charming town, but small nonetheless, so I had my fill of old tower fortifications and narrow alleys pretty quickly and went to an extremely adorable café in the center square so as to use the city’s free wifi.

How do women insist on walking in high heels on these cobblestones?

P.S. Tallinn is very tech-savvy, albeit it’s hardly useful for tourists so not much noticeable. Everything is online or electronic, groceries, taxes, etc. Later when I was in Croatia (writing the draft for this), I sorely missed the ease and E-ness of everything. At the café I got to send some emails finally (I know, y’all think I am online all the time…but all the time is spent doing CS stuff and I always feel rude with hosts, spending so much time on the internet and not socializing with them), and then I got to chatting with one of the waiters, Adam, who lo and behold is an American. Pat on the back, me, for getting over shyness enough to talk to someone while not emboldened by the security of having companions at my side.

this jenga tower got out of hand


Unfortunately Adam set off a terrifying chain of unease in me, all regarding the status of my legality in Europe. Long story short, I spent many terrifying hours sifting through legal terminology, uninformed and misguiding internet forums and all other information I could get my hands on, only to realize that on an American Passport, citizens can go into the Schengen zone for 90 days within 180. The 180 was news to me, and the 90 days does not recharge if you leave the Schengen zone. All of this had been discussed before with other U.S. students but we all basically reinforced each others misguided notions and accepted what was easiest which was not getting a residence permit, thinking 90 days recharged by leaving and reentering Schengen. What can I say? I fully recognize and admit that I pulled the most basic of mistakes and acted the part of the stereotypical Stupid American who forges ahead arrogantly with little to no information. My fault entirely.

So, at this point in Tallinn, I was sitting there terrified that once I left Schengen (to switz or croatia) that I wouldn’t be able to get back in to Hungary and therefore my Ukraine trip with my family would be royally screwed. The blog post I wrote at that time (I think about Munich) was tremendously depressed because at the moment I figured Kate and my parents would play tug-of-war over who could take the first shot at me.
Well suffice to say none of this happened. I followed my plans, everything went smoothly, other than my racking stomach pain at every border crossing, and my passport is a myriad of various stamps. I will forever and anon make sure to get all proper visas/permits. On the other hand, I doubt I will ever again travel for quite such a long stretch of time anyway.

Old Town Tallinn fortifications


Meanwhile, while sorting through all the confusion and mess, Anneli was a complete angel who treated me like an old friend. We had some amusing nights out in the Tallinn old town with Adam and his friends which included dodging british stag parties, frequenting bars playing bad 90’s European music with big Russian guys starting brawls, and other bars that included a sleek one themed ‘white’ with all white vinyl décor, to underground ‘hipster’ cafes open all night. It was only dark for a max of 3 or 4 hours any night. Not quite white, but Almost white nights in Tallinn.

Tallinn photos

Regarding the Infamous Berlin Part I and Part II

Time Period: June 11-June 16th, written a few weeks later, finally posted...now.

Court and I got another rideshare to Berlin from Dresden, and again we were lucky enough that there was another rider to bear the brunt of the socializing, so we were able to sleep in the back. After some necessary internet-ing, dropping our bags with our host, Stephen and his son, we headed off for serious sightseeing. Our time was limited because Courtney was only staying 2 nights before heading off to Paris to meet Kate, while I was staying another 3 nights after she left. Stephen had a Lonely Planet specifically for Berlin so we used it for the walking tours, and we walked all through Mitte and Charlottenburg the first day.

I would have to say that Berlin is Big. I realize that there are larger cities, but my optimal size is something like Budapest—3 metro lines and a main tram cover it. Cities like Krakow are probably too small to keep me preoccupied in the long run, but a city like Berlin is rather overwhelmingly large with its endless S-bahns and U-Bahns. We were living in Neukolln while Courtney was there, which is a very Turkish area and that night was the Turkey vs. Switzerland game so the neighborhood was dead silent as everyone watched, and then full of car horns and yelling after Turkey won. We had some beers with Stephen and the 4 Brazilian CS’rs at his local Turkish joint before turning in when 2 more CS girls arrived from St. Petersburg. It was a full house.

Checkpoint Charlie


The next day Courtney and I headed off to see the Checkpoint Charlie Museum, which has been my favorite museum by far along this trip. The stories of people’s escape attempts from the East side of the wall are really moving and intriguing and it’s so strange to read and see all of this and realize that it was in the not-so-distant past in a country we normally consider to be so entirely Western. I highly recommend visiting this museum when you go to Berlin.

Self-explanatory


This was also the day of our caving in to our (or more strongly, my) temptations from having been away from the states for so long. We ate sushi and we went to see a movie (Forgetting Sarah Marshall). Many thanks to the Japanese culinary artists who created the winning combination of seaweed, rice, fish and ginger. Oh man, I miss sushi and I fully intend on having it asap upon returning to Chicago. And truly, it felt so good to be in a theater again! Little lab-top or ipod screens will absolutely never capture the (pardon my cliché) magic of the big screen that really allows you to become engrossed in a story and another world.

In the afternoon we hit up the Pergamon Museum, and then walked along the East Side Gallery on the longest remaining stretch of the wall which had grafitti from 70 artists, commissioned after the fall of the wall, and it was really cool although a lot of it has been grafitti-ed over by now.

also self-explanatory


The long day had a rather unpleasant ending, as the St. Petersburg CS girls were petulant and complaining about their sleeping space, and our host was drunk from hanging out with the Brazilians (a weird drunk), so it was kind of a strange environment. Courtney left early in the morning and I went to get internet and find a place for the next three nights.

Two hours later I met Walter, a Russian immigrant to Germany along the same lines as me (at a very early age). One of his 3 roommates had just moved out so I got an entire room to myself and basically they treated me as a roommate (they even offered for me to stay a month if I wanted, provided that I cook of course). The next few days I visited more of Berlin, with a daytrip to Potsdam, and hung out with Walter, his adorable French girlfriend Helene, and his rather silent&stoic roommate Stuntman Mike. Most notable of the additional Berlin sights was the Judisches Museum which had a very modern design and focused more on the history and contributions of German Jews over time than on the Holocaust, which was a refreshing difference after months of traveling and seeing loads of WWII and Cold War exhibitions. And most notable of staying with Walter & crew was seeing the ‘alternative’ side to Berlin, because one of the first things you notice upon arrival in the city (probably when you are the subway) is that everyone in the city is NUTS. I mean, really, they are weird. But there is definitely an artistic presence in the city, with loads of exhibitions, shows and so on.

My favorite images on the east side gallery (and fittingly they are the most cliche and widely known. i am so not hip. sue me.)



So one night, after hanging out and listening to some reggae, we head off for a party. Only we end up wandering for ages, as apparently the address that they had of the establishment was wrong but instead of giving up, they decide to proceed with the search. At this point it is going on 2 am and we have taken a number of metros as well as countless turns so I am hopelessly lost unless I pull out a map. Finally, at 3 am, we find what can only be termed as an ‘underground’ party in some likewise grungy ‘squat’ that has electronica pumping and the party going on till the late hours of the morning. Presumably this is normal. For Berliners.

On our way home (going on 7 am) we saw a funky hippy van which I commented on. Clearly a bad decision as Walter decided he should relate my compliments to the owners who were looking out the open door. The truest dirty-hippies you could ever find. Dirt was positively embedded in the wrinkles of their 50-year old foreheads, though they could have easily been in their thirties but just ravaged enough by drugs to seem much older. And before you think I am speaking out of prejudice, I assure you that I have always had quite the romantic view of hippies but there was plenty of evidence at the scene to support my comments. In a way, it was so stereotypical, their conversation, their appearance, etc. that it was a bit comic. Only it was 7 am and I was dead tired so not very open to humor.
Anyways, Berlin is a very specific city. Good times were had, new experiences, what all.
As the hippies would say, Peace.

I like that a lot of new buildings fit the old style


Berlin Photos
Potsdam photos (much less interesting)

Regarding a Welcome to the West in Köln

Where were we?

Our next stop after Wroclaw, Poland, was Köln, Germany. After the shortest flight of my life, a longer shuttlebus, and a bit of frustration trying to figure out the local city trains, we finally arrived at the flat of our host, Khaled, a student of forensic medicine in Cologne, but hailing from Dubai. He took us around for a walk of the city and my first impression of Germany was “Welcome to the West.” So many familiar stores, restaurants and establishments. Shopping streets, sleek and modern buildings, people of all color, and a plethora of sushi joints—it was like being back in America for a second. Cologne’s main attraction in terms of sightseeing is its famous cathedral, but apart from that there are only a few cobblestoned streets to denote an ‘old town’ so in some ways it is very much not a picturesque or typical destination for a tourist. Simply a western city.

Looking up at the Cathedral

Nonetheless, it had a comfortable vibe, with warm weather and loads of terraced restaurants, and it was a pleasant change to see something more bustling and city-like. Definitely very different from Hungary or Poland.

We visited House 4711, one of the original locations for the creation and sale of Cologne, or rather, Eau de Cologne aka. Water of Cologne. Technically it is an eau de toilette (perfume), and it is unisex, though the term itself, "cologne," is now a generic term that spreads beyond the fresh stuff created in the city.

On our second day we went wandering around again, and cooked dinner at Khaled’s flat. Then we met another CS-er, a Bulgarian on an internship in Cologne, and went for some Kolsch beer which is local to Cologne and found a ridiculously cheap but therefore sufficiently cheesy club (Cent Club, decent beer for 1 euro, good beer for 1.5 euro). The one thing Germans definitely share with all their European neighbors: an unfortunately high incidence of male mullets. Nem szexi.

Courtney and I were so happy in this Oil and Vinegar Store

The next day we found the most adorable café, because we needed to get wireless, and this way we got access to internet plus an omelette, what more can one ask for? (Café Orlando, check it out).God I love that most cafes have wireless. Goodbye to the days of internet cafes where the speed is nonexistent and the ambience is entirely lacking. Free wifi, igen!

Germans love their bread. You should hear
Sarah gush on and on about "real german bread"

In the afternoon we met our ride and headed off for Munich. So, here comes another explanation on how to save money and travel. In Germany, although the trains might run on time (but not always, more on that later), they are usually godawful expensive and subject to strikes. Hence, from the wise words of wiki-travel and some German friends, we discovered that Germans have established a number of ‘rideshare’ or carpooling services. Riders or drivers can post where they are going and for what price, and then get in contact. So to Munich the three of us and a student from Cologne squeezed into the car of a sports journalist and rode the 5 hours down for less than half the price of a train ticket. Don't worry everyone, this is NOT hitchhiking, and we weren't alone.

photos are at: http://picasaweb.google.comLenav09GermanyKolnCologneWelcomesYouToTheWest

Regarding daytrips and the actual last days in Budapest

We went on two daytrips outside of Budapest over the last week.

On Tuesday, we took a 2.5 hour train and arrived in another country--Slovakia, and of course it was the one day that was actually cold and rainy. Bratislava takes about all of one hour to get one's orientation--the old town is rather small and filled with lots of cute and funny statues. In fact, our time in Bratislava between trains was basically spent trying to track down all the funky statues and trying to find good food, which is rather plentiful and the only significantly worthwhile aspect of the trip. Immediately upon arrival we sought out a 'jedalen' for lunch (note: all my blog posts will likely be missing the necessary accent marks, I apologize but time is limited), which is a no-frills cheap eatery serving standard slovakian fare. The menu was written on a white-board, in cursive, with some stuff half-erased, so I proceeded to order 3 random meals for us = cutlets, mashed potatoes and so on. Not bad, but holds no candle to the offering of the Milk Bars in Poland (stay tuned...). After a suitable sightseeing break (the castle "Hrad", and finishing our round of the old town) we went for hot chocolate at Schockocafe in the main square, upon Orla's suggestion. This place takes its hot chocolate literally and they serve basically melted chocolate in cups.

My companions: sarcasm and lack of expression. (drinking liquid chocolate)

If I were a chocolate fiend I would have been in chocolate heaven (Steve was, I think). More wandering ensued, and at this point we were definitely just killing time until it was acceptable to go for dinner and then to our train. We got garlic soup and bryndzove halusky in the Slovak Pub for an incredibly reasonable price and were beyond sated as we returned to Budapest.

Bryndzové halušky - potato dumplings with sheep's cheese and bacon bits

Our second daytrip was on Friday (May 23rd) to Eger, a small town in Hungary known for its wine, particularly Egri Bikaver (I think I already mentioned the story behind the name--hungarians fighting against the Turks drank the wine for spiritual fortification, and the Turks thought the Hungarians drank blood so they fled). Once again, it rained, but only upon our arrival. We wandered around the town and ate enormous pancakes (Courtney and I shared: one with peas, chicken liver, beef; another with peaches and cottage cheese) which made us full for the rest of the day. Then we trekked into the Szepasszonyvolgy (Valley of the Beautiful Women) which is a valley with rows of wine cellars, and had ourselves some tasty Cabernet before catching the train back.

Wine cellar entrances, one after another

This last week also included the Farewell Dinner, at Trofea Grill, and we did quite a bit of kissing and hugging that night (with Steve and Courtney nearby sampling the impressive layout of Hungarian cuisine). Erasmus was going full blast for the last few days, with another sunrise after going to Obuda, the summer island of clubs. Getting there, quite amusing with 40 of us on a nightbus, making it sway dangerously to each side when taking a turn. And getting back, at 5:30 am...a train, to a tram, to home, longest odyssey on no sleep. Ah, I am glad we won't be clubbing while traveling.

Obuda, an entire island devoted to clubs. Sheesh.

And finally, my last night, with Szimpla and a quick stop to Rio, with me actually shedding tears--what a sap I am. But these kind of goodbyes are no good, nem trendy, b/c there actually is no foreseeable dates set for when I will see my friends from Budapest again. Our lives could be entirely different when next we meet. I have definitely made some good friends though, and I will miss them. (If any of you guys read this, which I am sure you don't *crossed fingers* you know you are always welcome in LA!) And, as in the words of Big Chris from Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels: "It's been emotional."

And for your viewing pleasure: photos.

Regarding ruminations and back to Kerouac

It's all sort of coming to a close here which is incredibly sad. My urges are torn between going and doing as much as possible immediately, or to burying my head beneath the covers with a movie and not admitting I won't be seeing this place or these people for a very long time.
I have a feeling this post is going to reveal way more feelings than I want it to.

Warm weather is ever-present, the island and the sun beckon, open-air clubs are springing up all over the place and all I can think is...I am not ready for that next stage. Because once this is over, I will be traveling, and with that comes a lot of uncertainty. Then back to the real world, university, and finding a job--uncertainty rains and thunders down!

And all of my worries and anxieties, from the question of "what in the heck do I want to do with this life?", to "what can i do that will enable me to be productive?", "am I even capable of productivity and doing something worthwhile?", "do I do Film? but do i want to stay in LA forever? Accounting? International work? Environmental management?", to "how can I manage to not go flat broke before the end of my journey's?", to the ever-present "does everyone find love, will I?", and all the way to the silly "i am a girl and i want a pretty pair of new shoes but I can't"...well, I mostly manage to keep these tamped down and not flooding out and making a mess of my daily functioning. But then someone important asks me..."Why did you stop seeing that guy" or "so you know you have to actually get a job, become independent, make a career for yourself--when and how are you going to go about doing this?" Of course it's all out of concern for me, but I am thinking about this ALL THE TIME and I don't have any of the answers, not for myself and sure as heck not for anyone else.

Ok, phew, just wanted to get that out. Apologies for the complaining. I know I have to and I will man up to whatever faces me and everything will work out, but that doesn't mean that I have any certainty about anything and I am just trying to muddle my way through the best way possible, leaving no casualties. And please consider that my general behavior of being flippant or sarcastic or witty about something might mean that I actually care MORE rather than less.

If I might bring things back full-circle to the quote that started all this:

"I like too many things and get all confused and hung-up running from one
falling star to another till I drop. This is the night, what it does to you. I had
nothing to offer anybody except my own confusion."
Jack Kerouac, On the Road

I guess I needed to put all this out there because I might be getting hung up on my worries and all I can do is try to experience, learn, move forward and 'muddle through.' So yep, that's the plan, 'don't worry, be "learning" (and hopefully happy).' Actually, once when I was little, my brother asked me "what have you learned today?" And being a 'too-cool' little brat I responded "nothing," and then he said, "no, you learn something every day." Course I just beat a path out of his presence at the time, but that little exchange has stuck with me and he was very right.

On a more upbeat tone, the events of the past two weeks have been more or less uneventful in any 'exciting stories that would interest my blog readers' sort of way. I had some serious group project work put on my shoulders, but my grasp of the English language (despite my free way with grammar) seems to be my biggest asset (if only I could motivate myself to put it to use to actually write something from ME, like a screenplay or a story. oops, did I just admit another anxiety/repressed wish?). So the work passed smoothly and I am amused to note that I have the highest grades in a few of my classes--amusing as this is the only semester where my grades will not count.

There was also a great deal of partying, though I opted out rather often or early. Two more friends came in for two nights from their study abroad at HEC (outside of Paris) and it was interesting to compare experiences, plus we went to a ridiculous club that basically had a circus show going on inside. There was also an ESN party on a boat on the Danube and my god this city is fantastic, at night especially.

Rope act from Studio

Wall of g0-go dancers at Studio

View from the Europa boat (Parliament, Chain Bridge, Castle Hill)

The Chain Bridge from the boat

I also spent a lot of time with the Irish this past week. Orla's family was visiting and they kindly took us out to dinner for her 21st at Koleves Vendeglo (Stonesoup Bar) which has the most fantastic duck with orange sauce and the poppyseed mess dessert I had attempted making at home, 'makos guba.'

Makos Guba aka Poppy seed Mess

Her father and I had some interesting conversations about propaganda and political regimes, and Orla herself is 'good people,' one of the best here. Plus, the Irish accent, as Courtney puts it, is utterly charming. And on Saturday we celebrated Kevin's 21st (he is also Irish) which was utterly hilarious but also a bit sad as their absolutely crazy landlord joined the party, and seeing an old alcoholic lady like that is just unfortunate. By and large, there are just too many alcoholics in Central and Eastern Europe. That night I also showed a couchsurfer around town, and that was a cool new experience--she was an Australian, working as an au pair in Paris for 6 months, and traveling around now on her own. She was exceptionally outgoing and just contacted me to see if I could provide a bit of company so I invited her out for the festivities with us. In exchange she imparted some useful advice on our future travels from Switz to Croatia.

Now I have exams, which will be done on Wednesday, plus a paper to finish. Probably the minute I finish with all my work I will feel a little 'freer' and less down than this post may suggest. And Steve and Courtney arrive soon after and the great adventures will begin!

I'll add a photolink to this post later.

Regarding my first visitor

Last week Elizabeth came to visit me from Scotland so it was my first opportunity to be a host in this wonderful city. We started her introduction to Budapest on a properly off-putting note: the nightbus from the airport. It can only testify to Elizabeth's open-mindedness and the prevailing charm of Budapest itself, that she was willing to overlook the endless rows of grimy, worse-for-wear, identical communist buildings in the outskirts of the city, plus the...shall we say 'intriguing' companions we had with us on the bus. All in the middle of the night.

As Elizabeth was the first, there is a fair amount I myself had yet to do so part of her trip was exploration for the both of us. On Friday we took a morning trip with some friends to Szentendre, a quaint Hungarian town half an hour outside of the city. The highlights included an unsupervised ramble through an endless wine cellar, which provided a great temptation to spirit away some of the various wines but we were good and moral girls and didn't do any such thing. Then we finally tried the Hungarian street food (street food is a must wherever you travel!)--Langos: deep fried dough with various toppings, the possibilities which include: "sonka": ham/"sajt" -cheese/bacon/curdled ewe's cheese/etc. The other street food option was palacsinta (essentially crepes) with various fillings. Back in Budapest, after lots of walking around essential spots, we decided to brave the Nagysarnok (Great Market) and actually order produce and such there, despite our woeful lack of Hungarian. Suffice to say, it was a success, despite the enormous amount of gesturing and 'Nem'/'Igen' (no/yes) required. It was fabulous to actually cook things like leeks, potatoes, and pork instead of the general pasta fare i've been doing lately. Saturday was more sightseeing, we visited the National Museum, which broke down Budapest's history into convenient rooms for each group of people's that settled or ruled here. We strolled down Andrassy Ut which I never fully appreciated, but god it's a beautiful street---such lovely, yet old, buildings, with such great balconies and paintings on the facades. Then again, that's all over Budapest, but they really put some extra effort into Andrassy (together with Hosok Tere aka Heroes Square, it's a World Heritage Site). We did some people watching at Szecheniy baths (the Italian tourists are arriving by the hordes...you can spot them either with the huge wraparound sunglasses or the lime-green speedo shorts.) That night we continued our multi-national socializing experiences at a Polish dinner party, though the food that could serve about 10 people meant there were not enough pierogi's to go around for 30 people. Sunday, a bit worse from wear from the previous night, we hiked up to Gellert Hill, from which we got some nice views over the city.

It was nice to spend some time to purposely appreciate the city because as weeks pass one can get mired in the daily life routines. It was also great to have Elizabeth visit, as we always have amusing adventures, for better or worse, and she is excellent company. Shout out to the two ZBT boys who effected our introduction, many thanks, haha.

In other HUGE NEWS: I have a new apartment! I moved in with a sweet Belgian girl, whose roommate had to return to Mexico for some months due to visa issues. It's directly above a McDonald's (oh, franchises and globalization...), on the main street that the tram runs on and buses and metro are mere minutes away. I went from living in a cubicle to living in palatial quarters, skipping normal entirely. It's also one of the proper Budapest buildings, with an imposing front door, numerous doors/locks, dark stone stairwells, and inner courtyards. Also, the kitchen is much larger with room to maneuver, and no special implements are necessary to light the stove.

My couch area (in my bedroom).

At the opposite corner, my bed.

View from my balcony.Building courtyard.My balcony and apartment as viewed from the tram stop. Note the McD's.

And so, I've been in this apartment almost the week now and it's great. I've even tested out the kitchen multiple times, and invited friends over (something that was not possible due to NO space in the other flat). It's grand :-D
The recipes I tried: Potato Leek Soup which was spectacular and super simple, Pork Adobo, a Filipino dish which had a very distinct and good flavor but pork is not my favorite meat for long cooking, and I put together a pasta with poppy seeds cuz I heard that they could go well together (butter, poppy seeds, salt/pepper, lemon juice, cranberries) and it was super quick, yummy and different from the standard red sauce deal.

This week has been gloriously warm, despite the weather promising rain every day, so I did another hike up to Gellert, and we've been going to Margit Sziget to throw frisbees around a lot. That island gets packed! But at least it is pretty darn large.

On Saturday, a few of us went to Godollo, a town 40 minutes outside of Budapest which has the largest baroque mansion in Hungary. It was commissioned by Antal Grassalkovich, a confidante of Empress Maria Theresa, and later it was a favorite residence of Elizabeth the favorite Hungarian queen and Hapsburg empress known as Sissi. Not all of the building has been renovated, but there were some really beautiful rooms. It was nice to do a daytrip and feel like I was seeing more of Hungary than just the capital, but at the same time, I've seen more magnificent or imposing royal apartments elsewhere.

Sissi and Franz Joseph

And saturday night was...THE CRAZIEST PARTY I HAVE EVER SEEN. There was a Sparty ("spa-party") at the Rudas baths. 800-some people in bikinis and bathing suits, laser show, belly dancing show, techno, crazy lights...never seen anything like it. Just to give you an idea: Sparty.

Photos from Elizabeth's Visit.
Photos of the new flat and Godollo.

If you haven't noticed, Kate's blog has inspired me to add lots of photos. I apologize for the length of the post. Hope all is well :-)
The date on this should actually be Sunday, April 13 11:40 pm.

Regarding the Budapest soundtrack, and plans for the summer

It seems that wherever we go (club, coffee-shop, H&M, grocery store) the music is always the same. I have heard the following songs way too many times for my taste:
David Guetta "Love is Gone"
Erick Morillo featuring Puff Daddy "Dance, I Said Dance"
Rihanna "Don't Stop the Music"
Natasha Bedingfield "Love Like This"
Britney Spears "Piece of Me"
Sugababes "About You Now"
Kanye West "Flashing Lights"
Fergie "Clumsy"
Timbaland "Apologize"

I am having withdrawal from rock and normal music. I mean...I even know the lyrics to the above-mentioned songs! This is painful.
Unfortunately Pandora and many other North American music sites do not work over here due to licensing restrictions. However, musicovery still does, as do most youtube videos, and someone turned me on to www.deezer.com which is a great site! It doesn't always have everything (like youtube), but it will actually play a whole stream of the same artist or the same album and that just makes my day.

I also found a used bookshop that had the tiniest assortment of english books so of course I got something. I read the first book on the train to Vienna, Lajos M., Aged 42 By Zsolt Csalog. It was actually in Hungarian and English, on opposite sides of the book, and it was about a hungarian prisoner of war in the soviet work camps following WWII. I can honestly say I have never read anything more morbid and brutal than this. I'm surprised I didn't have nightmares.
I'm looking forward to the next book that I found in the bookshop...one from the Gossip Girl series, bahahaha.
In other media news, I just watched 3:10 to Yuma. It was ok, built up to some moments, but I wasn't too impressed. Some of the dialogue was just ridiculous: "Tommy was weak. Tommy was stupid. Tommy is dead." Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid is better by far. Actually, during the end credits, I realized the film was based on a short story by Elmore Leonard--wow, that man is prolific! His stories/novels have inspired Jackie Brown, Get Shorty, Be Cool, Out of Sight. He is very readable, lots of captivating stories and alcoholic, brash, charismatic, rough-but-kind leading male characters. I do enjoy his work. So yea, the movie wasn't bad, but it wasn't the best. Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid is better by far. Then again, I am hardly the most interested person when it comes to Cowboy's and the Wild West. On the actor front, Christian Bale still looks gaunt (from his Rescue Dawn days?) while Russell Crowe is rather portly...but nonetheless, both fine specimens of maleness.

On that note, we went to club called Moulin Rouge the other night, and got in for free as it was a private business-sponsored party (and we were three young pretty faces, :-P )...so it was definitely an older crowd. Despite the saying that men age better...oooeee, not by the looks of this place! I guess it's the whole alcohol-is-a-big-problem in the East thing, and they grow the bellies while losing the hair. Not pretty. Then again, these guys at least have jobs, whereas most of the drunks I encounter in the bus or I smell on the street likely don't.
The club did have the nicest interior I've seen. It's actually an old theater, so the upstairs have theater boxes and it is very ornate. This picture is more of the theater 'lobby' area.
What a weird reversal...this week we went out every night M-Th, so for the weekend I was like...ummm, hell no! I so enjoyed creating study notes, doing laundry, and watching movies, you have no idea.
On Friday my friend did beg me to go to a rock&roll night with her, and as I was so fed up with the club music, I agreed. This was hilarious! Apparently Gaby takes salsa lessons, and whatever school teaches it was
having a boogie-boogie night in some dorm. I felt like it was a junior high dance, and they were missing the pink and blue streamers! But it was cute, the music was definitely better, and I beat the hell out of there as soon as Gaby's class partner showed up.
The crowd at the dance night did remind me of my earlier tirade against men with long hair. I don't know if I clarified this correctly, but my issue is not so much with the cute, mildly hippie, say-no-to-the-man, beach bum of the USA. The guys with long hair here look like they play Dungeons and Dragons, read books about trolls and warlocks, and go out to clubs that are really converted meat warehouses (Blade?! anyone?!). Ok, that's actually a bad reference as the Blade people looked kind of cool.

On the travel updates: Ryanair had a huge special earlier this week so Courtney and I were frantically trying to put together our plans. So far, Steve and Courtney come to Budapest mid-may, we check it out here and do some day trips, then head toPoland. From Poland we take an awesomely low-cost Ryanair flight to Germany, where we go all over and Kate will meet us there. Then, Kate and Courtney do their thing, while Steve and I fly to Estonia (also nice price--this one from EasyJet, much more user-friendly website!), and hopefully make our way down through Lith and Lat. But this is where we are stuck (near the end of June). Somehow we need to make our way to Kate in Croatia around July 4th, but first we need to get out of the Baltics and go somewhere else. Unfortunately, despite the fact that Eastern Europe is on the whole cheaper than the west, it does not have the transportation infrastructure to make traveling it particularly convenient. As in, most flights seem to go to the West, and trains take incredibly long and I don't think I can keep my eyes open while gripping my passport tight for two whole days, passing through mafia-run land.
On the plus side, we already have sketched-out plans and some flight tickets for half the summer (although still have to sort out the trains/buses, accommodations) and apart from the Baltics, I have friends in every country we are going to.

Regarding the weekend in Vienna

So, as mentioned before, thanks to an organized Dutchman, a whole heck of a lot of us went to Vienna for the weekend. Most of us caught the 11:10 train and were in Vienna around 2 something...I wasn't paying attention, haha. Nine of us were staying at a hostel right near the train station (Westbanhof) called the Westend, and 8 of us were all in a room together--5 boys, 3 girls. While the others went to their hostel, we headed off exploring. We walked along Mariahilfer Strasse all the way to the inner circle and further to Stephansplatz. Mariahilfer is like Millenium Mile or something along those lines...all the big shops, sometimes 3x. As it crosses into the center (and changes names) it becomes even swankier. Just on this 20 minute walk...probably three H&M's, multiple Salamanders, etc. There were also some surprising shops--Claire's?! Didn't think that company had such a presence as to make it overseas. And on little offshoot streets there were some pretty hippy places and not a few erotic stores.
The weather was ridiculously gloomy, wet and cold. We girls (Amandine & Alix--french, Orla--Irish) decided to split from the boys and go get warm. Read: go to a cafe and ogle the deliciousness.
That night, as the boys napped and then killed off a bottle of Smirnoff in preparation for the evening, we girls again split off and went for dinner at Centimeter on Stiftgasse, on the recommendation of the hostel reception. While the food was yummy, fair priced and suitably austrian (more on food in another post entirely devoted to it, haha), the service was catastrophically bad. We got a bottle of wine but no glasses until AFTER our food finally arrived. Two of the plates were cooling on the kitchen rack while the other two were being prepared, and we had to ask for the bill so many times that we were prepared to simply leave. But seriously, thank god the food was good enough for us to get over it.

We then met up with everyone from both hostels at Stephansplatz and while most of them went to the S-Club, eight of us decided to pop into the 1516 Brewing Company around the corner. Although I'm mostly a wine drinker (but not a connoiseur) I saw a really delicious looking beer that someone was having so I had to try it--it was called Canada Pale Ale, and it had a faintly orange/sweet flavor, with differing initial/after tastes. Umm, I think that makes no sense, but bottom line--it was great!
Afterwards we went to the S-club to join everyone--big mistake! The cover was 12 bloody euro, the music was hardcore techno (the best song was honestly when they remixed and defiled the Red Hot Chili Peppers), the crowd was 16-17 (where are they getting the money?!) and it was smaller than the size of Amandine's flat. I honestly couldn't even PRETEND to try to dance, and after thirty minutes we left in search of the night buses (which was actually a great success). On our way home, Orla and I were simply horrified at how much we had paid to enter such a colossally worthless club and swore to not follow all the rest of our erasmus students again. There were some amusing moments as the night continued and the boys came home. I drifted in and out and came to when Max (German) was griping about someone snoring. Apparently, Frans' (Swedish) train-whistle/snake rattle wasn't helping anyone get any z's and it turned into a multi-effort operation to get him to shut up.

Saturday morning, as the boys slept on, we headed off to the Schonbrunn Palace. It was actually kind of sunny, but ridiculously windy. The palace and grounds were grand and immense! We walked around to the Grand Parterre (the gardens) and up to the Gloriette, from which this picture is taken. As you can see from the photo, the clouds were gathering, and we ran inside the Gloriette cafe (after running all around the building) just as rain began pouring. The entrance to the cafe is on the one side of the Gloriette that no one ever thinks it is, so while many tried every side, they got caught out in the rain.

From the Schonbrunn, we made our way over to the Parliament, where they run tours every hour that are only 2 euro and very worth it! The building was built in a Greek style and it is absolutely opulent and magnificent inside. Although they used a ton of real marble inside, some rooms also have Stucco Lustro, which is an application onto the wall that looks like marble. Apparently, since there are so few who know how to use this technique well, it's cheaper for the Parliament to get real marble than renovate those walls that use this. And of course, on our way there we ran into some of our folk on the metro, and more were at the same tour as us. We took over the city!
Then we rode the tram around the big ring road (that used to be the wall of the city, way back in the day) and got off to explore the Jewish quarter. Unfortunately, it was sooooo cold, wet and windy by this point, and people kept giving us wrong directions, so we never did find a synagogue. But apparently there were no particular sites, or at least we didn't know about them. Go me, I have TWO books on Eastern Europe, and zilch on Western. Vienna is not included in the Eastern. On the other hand, Vienna is so goddamn expensive, and apart from spring break in Scotland, I don't think I'll be venturing West again until the dollar decides to improve its worth.
So after another cafe (they wanted ice cream--why?! the cold!!! I, on the other hand, enjoyed some knockoff nutella I took from breakfast at the hostel-mmm) we went to see the Hundertwasser Haus which is an architecturally unique building. Not my style, per se, rather amusement-park like, but interesting to see. Then again, maybe we were just too cold and tired to enjoy it.
When we got back to the hostel around 6, everyone was there, fast asleep. We too crawled into our bunks and knocked off, but only for an hour because then the boys woke up and started planning the night. I have to say, for one room with eight people, and sharing one bathroom/shower, I was super lucky because I always got the shower when I wanted it. Then again, I'm not so sure that most of them showered quite so much, haha.
We drank some Gruner Veltliner, a wine made from that grape that is grown almost only in Austria and then maybe in Czech Republic, but it was pretty cheap and positively rank! We had to mix it with some apple soda just to get it down. Then we were off and wound up at someone's flat (again, as glorious and spacious as any in Budapest) and then we went to the Bermuda Triangle, an area full of bars and clubs. (This was the one failing of my awesome, compact map from the hostel--it showed the BT on the other side of the Danube in the Jewish Quarter, so we did have some wandering around). We found a bunch of ours at Wundabar but they were just leaving...and taking forever as always. We got fed up and walked into another place, which was very small, with an even smaller dance floor but decent music. Before we had taken off our jackets, everyone had joined us...just goes to show that WE should always lead the way, haha.

As always on a night that I enjoy myself, the music was hilarious! They played Ricchi E Poveri for godsakes! And our favorite current pop/dance music (omg, I need some serious infusions of rock into my life!), and there was a half hour block of solid german music, haha.

The boys didn't come home until around 7 am, but I was so tired I barely noticed. Getting up at 9:30 was trouble and a half, but we checked out, left our bags at the hostel, and girls and boys split again. We went to the Albertina, a really nice museum which was having an exhibition of a private couple's collection that they donated, which included: Picasso, Monet, Kandinsky, Chagall, Munch, Nolde and many more. I am unfailingly amazed at how versatile and prolific Picasso was. Lots of the artwork wasn't to my taste, but I really liked some of Munch's drawings and all the woodcuts. There was also a fixed exhibit with a little bit of Michelangelo and Albrecht Durer (who I really like)through rooms that were outfitted with old furniture and were incredibly ornate and beautiful. You can put me in the green room, thank you. Finally, there was an exhibit on Max Ernst's publication Une Semaine de Bonte aka Les Sept Elements Capitaux which was a book he put together with different themed drawings, per the day of the week. This exhibit was awesome! The drawings were incredibly morbid and also wonderfully detailed. Lots of murder, death, lust, animal-people and so on, but truly fascinating! I am so glad we made it to this museum, even if we were beyond tired.

The next stop was Zum Bettelstudent, a restaurant on Johannesgasse that Holy Shit recommended as having an excellent sunday menu. More on that later, haha. Then we finally went into Stephansdom (the cathedral) which was basically like all gothic cathedrals, and we managed to squeeze one last cafe in before we ran off for the train. And on the train...we slept, open mouths, jerking heads and all. Ultimately, a satisfying experience!

Photos