The last update that I posted I was leaving Prague headed to southern Czech to see the limestone caves just outside of the city of Brno, Cz. I arrived in Brno 7.5.09 (thats how the date is written here, day. month. year) and was informed that the Hungarian labor union was preparing a strike and there would be no trains going in or coming out of Hungary. I did not know how long this strike would go on so I decided to cut my trip to Brno short & hop on a train to Budapest later that afternoon.

I spent the most of the day in Brno before catching the train to Budapest and I saw a lot in the amount of time I had. Brno is Czech’s second largest city next to Praha (Prague). When I exited the train station I set foot directly into the Zelny trh (cabbage market). It’s a huge vegetable market where the locals purchase food for their families. I walked up the hill and had my sights set on seeing Capuchin Crypt. The crypt houses a collection of mummified dead monks and dignitaries, some of which dated back to 1300 ad. The mummies were preserved quite well and housed in glass coffins (I have lots of pictures). I also visited the Moravian museum with lots of ancient and medieval artifacts on my way to the cathedral of SS Peter and Paul. It was worth the kilometer hike/ climb to relax on the balcony of the cathedral tower overlooking all of Brno. After relaxing and taking some time to reflect atop the tower I started my track back to the train station. My backpack felt heavier than ever. Its weighing in at about 26 kilo’s (roughly 60lbs) and it can get quite heavy at times… especially when hiking uphill. I ate some sandwiches from a local food stand on my way to the train station. In fact, I have no clue what was in them but they were addicting. I had four sandwiches and two cola’s (what Europeans call coke) for 100 crown.

Once on my train to Budapest I settled into my seat and started to read up on Hungarian culture and learn a few key phrases that would help me communicate. Mainly Batch-a-knot & be-sung-ang-a-lool. Which means Excuse me, do you speak English, and Kos-a-nomb which means thank you. I was excited about Budapest because of the cost of living. I was able to afford to stay in my own “hotel” room for a similar rate as the hostels I was staying at in Amsterdam & Berlin. I had my own shower and bedroom to look forward to (so sick of hearing people moving around and snoring) which was nice because I hadn’t had a good night sleep yet.

About half way thru our trip to Budapest I overheard some people in the cabin next to mine talking in English (which was refreshing). They said something about the DB (Dutch Bahn) train not going to Budapest because of the strike. I walked over and found out that we had to transfer trains in Sturovo. We all got off and waited for our train to arrive. While waiting I made some friends. Roman, Juliette and company were from Spain and Portugal. They were all studying medicine in Czech. They had a large group of travelers that left Czech most weekends to explore Europe, and their group was rather diverse with people from Lithuania to Portugal and the group spoke about 6 languages. I envied some of their stories and their general outlook on life. Juliette seemed to be the mother of the group taking care of all the planning and travel arrangements. Roman and I hit it off and they invited me to join them as they toured Budapest. We walked about 1.5 kilometers to their hostel and planned to meet at parliament the next morning.

I walked around with them exploring lower Buda and some of Pest. Parliament was the most impressive structure on the Pest side (Budapest is separated into Buda and Pest by the Danube River. From there we started to walk towards chain bridge so we could cross over to the Buda side of the river. On our way we came across hundreds of pairs of cast iron shoes welded to the shore of the Danube. None one in our group knew the explanation or the significance of these shoes but we all knew there had to be one. Just then a Jewish traveler and her husband walked up and told us the story. When Stalin and the Nazi’s invaded the country they did some unspeakable things to the people of Hungary. One of which was an execution style that brings tears to my eyes to think about. They lined the shore with the Jews and chained them together by two’s. They were then ordered to remove their shoes (because shoes were expensive and the Nazi’s didn’t want to waste them). Next each group of two was walked to the edge of the river. One was shot and killed then they were both tossed into the river. The live person was left to die by drowning. This saved the Nazi’s bullets (I also heard stories about Nazi’s lining up the heads of their victims to see how many they could kill with one bullet). There were countless stories just like this in Hungary. I visited the House of Horror on my last day. It’s a museum to honor those that died during World War II. I actually cried and had to leave one portion of the museum after reading about some of the realities these people had to endure. I have a new found respect for the Hungarian’s and I realized they are amazing people.

I also saw a lot of very nice positive things while in Budapest. Castle Hill, Chain Bridge (opened in 1849 and the first permanent bridge between Buda and Pest), Buda Palace, Watertown, National Museum, the Jewish quarter and St. Stephens Bascilla. I learned a ton about the culture while in Budapest, but my favorite part of their culture is bathing. They call pools baths, and they have some of the grandest places to take a swim that I have ever seen. I visited Szechenyi Spa Baths. The outdoor pools were surrounded by a breath taking palace. Also, over 50 pools of all kinds indoors. It was like a YMCA on more steroids than Mark McGuire. They had swirling water, bubbles that came from the ground in certain areas of pools, lap pools, current pools, sauna’s, steam rooms, and so many separate rooms I got lost for 45 minutes trying to find my locker.

I walked most all of Budapest in three days and never felt unsafe. I met some locals that spoke a little English and they insisted on taking me to a local bar for beers and whiskey. Man these guys in Europe train from a young age to handle their alcohol. I can drink my share but after a few hours at the bar with these guys I found myself hanging my head off the side of my bed praying to my trash can.

I am now on the train (strike was only a one day event) headed to Vienna, Austria. I decided against taking a hydrofoil up the Danube to Bratislava (ill leave that expedition for someone like Craig who likes that kind of thing). Bratislava is a 3 hour train ride and the Hydrofoil is over 6 hours. I saw the boats and that confirmed my decision to stay on the train. They reminded me of the boats Dad and I use to take out at Lake Trafford when I was a kid (not so sturdy). Slovakia is not a country that is part of my rail pass so I figured I could save money on a ticket to Bratislava by traveling into Vienna, then take a day trip to Bratislava (it’s a 15 minute train ride).

From Vienna I am headed to Krakow. Poland. It’s an addition to my itinerary. Roman said that I must fit it in my schedule so that’s what I am doing. He also suggested a few spots in Italy that I must see… but you will have to wait until my next post to see where they are.

A few random things:

Pocket Change is very important- in America you can’t buy anything with coins (unless you take your whole jar in to the store) but in Europe they have a 2 euro coin (which equals about 3 bucks). If you find yourself with a few of these in your pocket you start to have some cash you don’t want to drop by accident.

Coke is called Cola- I found myself drinking a lot of coke. 1. Its familiar. 2. They don’t have many options (I haven’t seen a mtn dew since I left the states) coke or sprite/ Pepsi or sierra mist is the only familiar option. I’ve taken a lot of chances on random foreign beverages (as you will see from my pictures) some are a pleasant surprise and some id like to forget I tried.

Coffee is a staple- almost every European culture drinks coffee and has coffee houses that are a big part of daily routine. It seems that a lot revolves around the consumption of kafe (as they call it in Budapest) all over Europe.

Europeans take Holiday- Every European I come across that speaks English isn’t surprised by my Month long trip. They call it taking a Holiday. Most Europeans take about 8 weeks holiday a year (not including major holidays) they have 4 times as much standard vacation time a year and aren’t afraid to use it all.

I speak broken English over here- I haven’t come across an American in over a week. The only way to communicate with people that have English as an additional language is to speak on their level. I find myself pausing (like im having trouble coming up with the correct words) because it mimics their style of speaking and makes communication easier. I have also learned how to say several phrases and ask a few important questions in Dutch, German, Czech, and Hungarian.

Amsterdam, Berlin, Prague, Brno, Budapest, Vienna, Bratislava, Krakow… now I am going to start to be a little more adventurous with my destinations. I’m getting comfortable traveling, using the rail system, and blending with the people. I plan to take several day trips over the next few weeks to small towns and villages but I fear communication will be an even bigger issue. Most of the population in Austria does speak English (so I’m excited about that), although I hear learning a few German phrases should go over well and I've got that down. So, Guten Tag Austria!