Wednesday, April 20, 2011

Budapest + Vienna + Sun burns + Amazing

So I just got back from a week away. An amazing week away at that.

Last Thursday, Ingrid and I embarked on yet another journey. We left class a little early (after bonding with our teachers), and headed to our favourite airport ever, Malmo Sturup. We were once again delighted with Wizz Airs state of the art planes, but were comforted by a nice man describing the delights of Budapest to us. We touched down in Budapest and weren't exactly wooed by the airport. There were various men yelling "Taxi Please!" at us, but we knew the train cost about 30 cents and ventured on to find that.

After walking to the train station, and then to the other platform (as the ticket machine was broken), we discovered that none of our credit cards were being accepted. Cue brainstorm. We decided to go back to the airport (and through the taxi men) to find some change. We bought our tickets at a tourist booth and were again on our way. We had to sprint to make the train so we ended up in a weird section of a car that was first class. And because we obviously aren't first class citizens, we stayed in this little compartment near the bathroom. The start of our adventure.

PAUSE, my mother is currently about to board her flight to come visit me and I am so excited. Ecstatic even. Annnnd resume.

We got to the centre of Budapest near our hostel and clumsily found out way there eventually (after calling and asking for directions). We were greeted by friendly staff and an adorable cozy hostel. We got settled and immediately found a place to eat. This is when we were introduced to how delicious, meaty, and cheap Budapest is. We had an appy, entre, half-litre beers, and a dessert - for 12 Canadian dollars. Truly amazing. We were stuffed and tired so headed back to do some planning for the days to come and get some sleep.

The next day we started off with a walking tour of Budapest. We saw a lot of major sites and got tipped off on the things to see and do as well as tips to have the best time in Budapest. One of these was to go to the central market to have cheap, delicious lunch. Of course we complied. We were joined on this excursion by an American girl on exchange in Paris. We had some eats and browsed the wares at the market. After we parted ways, Ingrid and I decided to head to the famous bath houses. We wandered to a big city park full of museums and attractions to Széchenyi Baths. We dove right in (literally) to all the pools, steam rooms, and saunas. There's even a big outdoor section. We spent a couple of hours there relaxing and trying everything out. As well as taking some great pictures, obviously.

We were quite relaxed but decided that going out was essential. We went to a ruin bar (bars that were built in old, delapitated buildings) and had a great time taking in the atmosphere with some girls from out hostel. All and all a good first day.

The next day we decided to check out the shopping scene and went to a local mall. After getting some goods (including a new spring coat weee!) we headed back to the central market to browse some leather goods. Ingrid and I both purchased real leather bags for a screaming deal. We also had some Hungarian treats. Yum! We then scaled a large view point and spent a bit of time at the top admiring the view, taking photos, and sketching. It was so nice to be somewhere so green as Malmo isn't quite there yet. We hiked down and up another hill on the Buda side, to the castle. We checked out the Budapest history museum and then went into the labyrinth. Which is literally a maze below the castle, that you navigate with a gas lantern. It was freaky. And cool. But weird. Ha. We watched the sun set from the top then walked along the Danube and watched all the city light up.

The next part was a little tricky. We were on a quest for a restaurant that was recommended to us. And we didn't have a map. We wandered a bit as we were told it was by the Opera house. When we found ourselves at the Parliament we decided to try to find some help. First suitable people we found? Police officers. Unfortunately, they didn't speak much English, so I had to sing Opera to get them to understand me. I'm sure they were impressed. I'm actually surprised I didn't get scouted at that moment. We got pointed in the right direction, but decided to find a hotel to get some proper directions. After finally finding the restaurant, we were happy to find out it was delicious and a table had just opened up. Yay.

We then headed back home and were whisked out again by a group at our hostel. We went to another sprawling ruin-type bar with tonnes of rooms and types of bar/club styles. There was really something for everyone. All and all a good night.

The next day was when I was heading for Vienna. We checked out some monuments, the parliament (for real this time), and finished off by having lunch at a cafe, on the patio of course. It was so sunny and delightful. After that, I was off to the bus depot to find my way to Vienna. The bus ride, about two hours, was going smoothly until we passed the Austrian border and the bus was stopped for a passport search. A burly police officer came aboard the bus and took everyone's passport who wasn't an EU citizen. I had to refrain from saying "BUT I NEEEED THAT!" He took our passports off the bus and returned, but not with all the passports. Luckily, mine was returned. But after about 40 minutes, one man didn't make it back on the bus. That was awkward. But we were on our away again and I was closer and closer to seeing Jen!

I arrived in beautiful, sunny Vienna to beautiful, sunny Jen. We headed back to her place to collect ourselves and find a place to eat. This started the common thread of our visit - food. We were recommended an Asian restaurant by one of her local friends and were both more than excited to have some oriental cuisine back in our lives. We both pretty much died. This cute, modern restaurant delivered true asian delights. Considering we hung out at the restaurant till closing, we headed back home and crashed hard (she had just returned from a tour around Ireland). The rest of our trip basically consisted of the following: eating, touring, seeing sights, sitting in parks, drinking, eating, eating, eating, sun bathing, drinking, eating, eating. Yum. We had gelato, pastries, deli delights, sushi, Austrian cuisine, and much more. We checked out a lot of parks, a market, shopping areas (necessary after spilling sangria on white shirts), and some bars. We met up with Kristin and Daniel (a local Austrian) one night and it was really great to have someone who spoke the language and knew the city. Vienna is absolutely beautiful. Sunny. Great transit. Could be a contender in the list of European cities Emily would live in. And of course, the cherry on top was sharing it with a good friend from home. Did I mention we sun tanned, and got burnt? Sorry, is it snowing at home? Oops.

Now I'm practically dying of tiredness in bed. I flew from Vienna to Riga, Latvia and had a layover there. I just about missed my flight because apparently Latvia is on a different time zone. But it's okay, I'm here now. And tomorrow my lovely mother and aunt will arrive. And shortly after is my birthday. Oh and it's supposed to be 17 degrees tomorrow. I guess you could say I'm looking forward to this week. Oh and I don't have class until the 28th. Woo.

Facts for your amusement:

1. Being in Hungary makes you feel like a baller. Their one unit of currency is worth 0.005 of a dollar. I took out 40,000. Gangsta.
2. I'm done my Swedish course round two. Had my exam last week. We shall see how we did, I'm not fluent, but I'm way better than before. And after being away, I've realized how much I miss the language when I'm gone.
3. I'm going to be old in a few days. Tragic!
4. I know this may be obvious, but the food culture in Europe is just far superior to Canada. I'm going to miss the inexpensive freshness and quality.
5. Gelato is delicious everywhere. I've had marzipan, pistachio, and coconut. Yum. More flavours to come.
6. It's finally spring here. Trees are almost green. How I've missed it.
7. These facts aren't fun. Forgive me?

xx

Sunday, April 10, 2011

The Week Emily Fell off the Face of the Earth

PSYCHE. I didn't actually, but it's been a while since I've been around here. I blame it on the fact that I have not been updating my blog on Sundays, as per usual, therefore everything gets thrown off. Also, April is probably my craziest month here...trips...homework...and the like.

Anyhow, what have I been up to since the end of March? Well homework, enjoying the sun, praising the beginning of bbq season, laying in the grass, etc. etc. Some random baking, skyping, and partying has also been thrown into that mix.

Now I'm sitting on my bed on Sunday morning with the Swedish sun streaming through my window thinking of all the work I have to do today before I head to Budapest and Vienna on Thursday (with a couple of assignments and a test between now and then). But of course, I made the time to update all you lovely people (read: approximately 4 people).

The big news this week? I went to Poland for three days! Ingrid and I headed to Warsaw on Tuesday after class and flew with the sketchiest airline of all time: Wizzair. I swear my seat pocket was held together with gum and the arm rests were glued on. Barring that, we arrived safely at the Chopin Airport and made our way into the city. We gladly paid approximately 70 cents for the bus (about 30 minutes) and rejoiced with our introduction to this cheap, cheap city. Thanks Eastern Europe! After finding our hostel (full of middle-aged men), we went to the old town to find pierogi of course!

Ingrid and I each had 10 dumplings, an appy, a beer, and dessert. It came to about 28 dollars. If that isn't a steal, I don't know what is. We followed dinner by meandering through the streets of old town and decided to call it a night. We headed back to our dorm and we greeted by the sound of a snoring symphony. Hurrah.

The next day, we started out to a museum, the Warsaw Uprising Museum a little out of the city centre. It was really cool (and educational of course), but the best part was the 3D film of what the city looked like during the war. And by best, I mean probably most depressing, but really interesting. And we got to wear really cool glasses. Nice. We then got lost roaming the streets but bought delicious treats to console ourselves. The old town once again beckoned us for some lunch and shopping. We bought some polish handi-crafts and amber jewlery (which is really cheap - $30 for a sterling silver ring, woo!). At lunch, we realized we were too polite for Poland as we didn't beckon the waiter for the bill. This wasted about 20 minutes, but we really got to experience the...culture? Sure. After, we walked back to the centre and went to the Palace of Culture and Science to go up to the roof top terrace for a view of the city. The complicated part? This building has about 45 entrances all for different things. After trying about four and having English signs tapped for us, we found our way and coughed up the largest sum of our trip - $5. We took some pictures of the city and went on satisfied. Out into the rain, blah. To lift our spirits, we again got some treats and went shopping. Haha. After this brief stint of retail therapy, we walked to a big round about with a fake palm tree in the middle and a monument of Charles de Gaulle. Strange, I know. We then wandered to find a place to dinner where we again learned quickly we were too polite and also had to take a stab at whether a circle or triangle represented the women's bathroom (surprise, it was the circle). On our way home we bought some Krupnik (Polish Honey Liquor) and decided to start our night. We hung out with people at our hostel til the wee hours of the morning and consumed liquid honey alcoholic deliciousness. Fortunately, this consumption of alcohol allowed up to sleep through the snoring.

The next morning we met up with some people from the night before and headed to a very Polish establishment, McDonalds, for breakfast. The language barrier really came into play here when I was trying to order a McCroissant and hashbrown patty. There was a lot of jumping and pointing involved, but I got what I ordered about 20 minutes after the Playboy earringed cashier rung through my order. We gobbled down our food and then headed to Lazienki Park. We tried to pay for the bus there, but couldn't figure out the system...apparently the ticket checkers couldn't either as they boarded the bus and didn't bother to check anyone's tickets. Oh Poland. We wandered through the park stalking peacocks and strange squirrels, saw the sites and enjoyed some inner-city greenery. After our stint here, we headed back into the city as I needed to catch a bus to the airport. We grabbed some lunch, did some sketches and got distracted by H&M on the way to the bus. I made it on time, don't worry, but was intimidated by all the airport workers wearing camo pants and combat boots. I picked up some duty-free liquor and was on my way home. Warsaw was pretty cool, a lot of history (they basically rebuilt the entire city) neat buildings etc. Something that was not neat? The language. So confusing. A 'y' is basically equivalent of an 's'. Strange.

Oooh also, last weekend we went to the bath house. It was pretty cool. We hung out with a lot of old sweaty Swedish ladies but got to sweat it up in the sauna and jump into the Baltic Sea. Naked. Ow ow! Katreace, Katharina, Alyce, Elise, and Lauren all had a fabbity weekend together. We also had our first experience at a Swedish club. This basically consisted of all us exchange students going out and having the equivalent of one of our parties at the club. Amazing.

Anyways, I'm off to start my productive day and I will talk to y'all when I'm back from my travels to greet my lovely mother and aunt! Cannot wait!

It's that time again...
1. In Poland, they only eat meat and starch. And cabbage. Whatever that is qualified as.
2. We are all fiending for summer so bad. We had a bbq last night and stayed outside as long as possible even though we were shrouded in blankets.
3. Voting while overseas is extremely complicated. My recommendation to the government you ask? Online voting! Yay.
4. Alcohol is so so cheap in Poland. A 750ml bottle of Vodka is about $5. For the good stuff.
5. Happy Birthday Sophie!!!
6. It's pretty funny when you're going into the bathhouse and someone you're with yells that "It's stupid!" that we can't wear bathing suits. Especially when the employees response is "No it's not." Haha.

xx