First Week of School and Bratislava

Trip Start Jan 09, 2007

Trip End May 11, 2007

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Flag of Slovakia Bratislava, Slovakia
Sunday, January 21, 2007

So, my first week of school here has now passed. It's actually pretty cool; I like my classes (Psychology, Love in Western Literature, Drawing, and Austrian Literature). I'm reading Arthur Schnitzler's Traumnovelle in German for class; some of you may know it better as the basis of Stanley Kubrik's Eyes Wide Shut. I've been eating a lot of falafel from D�ner imbisses (street vendor stands), as it is delicious. Thursday night Webster hosted a welcome party at this rather fancy club. When the DJ played "Just Can't Get Enough" (the third Depeche Mode single), I started to dance pretty crazily. My calves are still a bit sore.

For the more interesting part: yesterday me and four of my fellow American friends went to Bratislava for the day. We got up early, missed the train we wanted to get on, and got on the next one, although it took us to the outer train station, not the downtown one

Bratislava Castle

. Nonetheless, we bussed it to the center, and after initial confusion we oriented ourselves and began exploring and enjoying the city. I really like that all the streets down there (and many in Vienna are like this too) are for pedestrians only, and cars just aren't allowed. We spent all day walking around, including all the way up to and down from the Bratislava Castle. It's pretty cool and has a great view, but the museums inside aren't actually that spectacular. After walking around the historical center a lot, we ate at the Restaurant at the End of Galaxy (sic), which had a couple half-hearted references to Douglas Adams but mostly was a legitimately kind of cool little restaurant with a menu in Slovakian and English, plus many a vegetarian option. Later we visited a chocolate cafe, and although my hazelnut milkshake wasn't actually good, my Slovakian chocolate was. We then searched for a place to hear some music, and the first place we went had a Slovakian Beatles cover band in their basement, which was so crazily cool. They were spot-on, and it was just like my image of the real band playing their small clubs in Hamburg before they made it big. It was really busy, so we could only peek in for a minute. We ended up in another place with a band doing various covers (in Slovakian), and when the stopped playing and turned the radio or whatever on, I swear I heard the Neverending Story theme. And then we took the right train home. (I think. They never actually checked our tickets. Ever.)

It's also great that Slovakian crowns are weaker than the Euro. One Euro converts to at least 31 crowns. It feels ridiculous to carry around 1500 "dollars" in your pocket, and to spend 250 at a restaurant, although really that's barely 8 Euros, which is maybe $11.

Edit: I used Niza's phone to record Keagan jumping on this awesome playground installation featuring a 3x3 squares that produce bell rings when jumped on. He YouTubed it here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Cv_Me0ugUE.

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