More Eastern Europe!
Trip Start
Jul 26, 2009
1
9
10
Trip End
Oct 03, 2009
Budapest, Hungary
Thursday, September 3, 2009
Krakow! I think that's where I left you... After the intense and sombering experience of Auschwitz, arrive in Krakow slightly depressed, extremely pensive, but still keen to see what the city would bring. It didn't dissapoint. The city was cute, prices cheap, lots of history, and great night life. Quickly discovered the local vodka, zubrowka (flavoured with bison grass apparently??) and apple juice goes down a treat. I was lucky to have met two kiwi girls whom I got on with like a house on fire (no exageration!) and we attempted to discover what was raging in Krakow's nightlife by leaving our original (and perfectly fine) club early and roaming the streets. This meant lining up for the so-called "best bar", Frantic, but by which stage we had sobered up and after all the effort decided to flag paying the 5 euro cover charge (which is actually rather cheap but I dunno where our logic was coming from). ANYWAY, we ended up wandering aimlessly around the Square, visiting a reggae bar (not quite our scene), a euro pop-techno bar (definitely not our scene), and then mistaking a wedding reception for a bar (!). Finally after all the effort we ended up at our original bar. Sigh.
Slight hangover the next day but awakened by our neighbouring room which had 3 girls travelling together who could not last a day without an argument of differing degrees (this one lasted 1.5 hours). How appealing. Jumped on a bike tour (I think I enjoy these almost as much as audio guides) and weaved our way about the charming town. Krakow suffered no destruction in WWII so everything is original. Of course WWII plays a major part of its history and it was interesting to find out that the Jewish Quarter in fact only house approx 150 Jews - this from an a population of 70,000 prior to WWII, plus the Jewish population was originally about 3.5 million, and now is only 150,000. We also visited what was the ghetoo and is now a memorial of empty chairs placed across a concrete square.
Other points of interest in Krakow - castle, monastry garden, lots of legends (all of which the guide classified as 'stupid stories'). Big rivalry between Krakow and Warsaw, whereby Warsaw is viewed as 'money, money' and Krakow as laid-back aka lazy, inspiring the term "Krakow Take" ie all takl, no action... hmmm kinda reminds me of Ireland!! Anyway, all in all, a nice spot.
Next stop, Zakopane, a small skiing resort with 30,000 residents and 3 million visitors pa. A quiet and quaint town that Ill largely remember for its Meat Palace... a restaurant that unsurprisingly serves a whole lot of meat. Even the vegetarian menu has fried cheese and ham on it. The Eastern Europeans love their meat, god knows how they stay so slim... Im going to peg it on genetics. Plus the women are hot, let's be honest. Anyway, on a cuisine note, other EE foods Ive tried include sheeps cheese (meh), pierogi (this stuff is pretty good, kinda like yum char steamed dumplings but a little heavier), zakokanke (not sure about the spelling but these mega huge toastie sticks that you cant go wrong with) and other interesting combos e.g. radishes at breakfast, stuffed cabbage, pork knuckle... hmm you can understand why I am becoming less photogenic by the day.
Anyway, a drive through Slovakia (I ate there and used the WC so it counts as a visit) and we were in Budapest. It still amazes me that you can drive through 3 European countries in a day. Plus I still cant get my head around how borders are laid out...i.e. just 'exactly' where is the border line?? This stuff can keep me awake at night...
Back to the point. Budapest was fabulous and lived up to my high expectations. Yet another night on the town (I see a recurring theme here...) which was pleasantly interrupted by a boat 'cruise' down the Danube. The boat was called the SS Rustbucket which may give some indication of quality. However it had a free bar, so wasnt much of an interruption to the nights's festivities. I discovered a new drink combo (Spanish not Hungarian) - red wine and coke. Soooo good. A 24 hour pub but our hostel (which is disturbingly where breakfast was served) and karaoke ensured a late night but more good times.
A 915 am bike tour (yup another one) in 30 degree heat on cobblestones meant I was on the brink of a hangover. But there was no time for it... plus everyone was in the same boat so what was the point in complaining. [Bit of trivia, Budapest originates from two towns, Buda on the hill and Pest at the bottom and they amalgamated in 1111. Bit of pub quiz knowledge for you]. Although everything looked really close on the map, they werent. Heroes Park was impressive as was the Basilica which took 50 years to build. The Parliament building was the first prize winner in some design competition (plus 2nd and 3rd design winners were made into the buildings next door to it). Its 96 mtrs high, as is the Basilica, to represent the city's founding in 896 (I guess 896metres high would be a little inpractical), and is symmetrical for equality between the upper and lower houses. This was also the site where the unsuccessful 1956 revolution kicked off and the flag that flies there still has a hole in it where the communist hammer and sickle had been cut by the revolutionaries.
Following on the same theme, we missioned the Budapest public transport system to Memento Park, a place out in the wops that houses all the old communist statues. It was kinda interesting although lack of signage meant that half the time we had no idea what we were looking at. Watched entertaining video footage which was basically the 'Dummies guide to being a Communist Secret Agent'... it actually was a little disturbing. You might be familiar with Stalin's giant boots... or maybe youre not... anyway they were there to.
Anyway finished my trip with some Hungarian baths (had to be done), hit a major wall and slept like a baby (that sleeps all night).
Budapest might not be for everyone but I loved it! I guess architiecture and history spins my wheels a lot more than I had imagined. And leaves me constantly wanting to know more!
