Love Letters to Budapest

My lovely Budapest,

You're wonderful.  Forget East meets West.  You're Past meets Present & Future.  I love your architecture... that castle on the hill, the neo-Gothic panoramic terrace, all framed by the river that slowly caresses your curves, and all the lovely thermal spas that dot your landscape like beauty marks!  *sigh*  One afternoon with you and I'm in paradise- I can explore your creative nature (I didn't realize what musical talent you had!) while sipping Starbucks, go spelunking into the caverns of your soul, and wind through the dark labyrinth of your underground past.  I know you have a bit of a reputation, let's be honest... but it's cool.  Who doesn't love a party every once in a while?  Too bad I'm just too tired to hang.  I hope that's OK.

Love,
N

Darling B,

Best date ever!  Caving was so much fun!!!  I still can't believe it- the holes we crawled through, the belly slides between rock walls, the huge caverns in between!  I didn't know you had it in you!  I could barely even fit my helmet through some of those spaces.  The Sandwich of Death was the best part though- 12 meters of wiggling on your belly upwards to the tiny hole exit.  Not even enough clearance for ANY other movement other than wiggling.  My boobs barely fit through- do you remember??  The people behind me had to wait a few minutes for me to find a section just one inch wider that would accommodate my ribcage + boobage.  Hahaha.  No wonder half the groups detour around it.  Totally claustrophobia inducing and awesome!

XOXO,
N

about to crawl into a hole

one of the crawlspaces... the 'Sandwich of Death' was about half as high

Dearest Budapest,

I've been thinking these past few days, and... well, I just gotta get this out there.  There are just these tiny issues that have been bothering me a little.  Like my inability to decipher enough Hungarian to buy a bottle of flat water.  I know you told me that the water bottles are color coded, but it was a lie!  I've tried over 5 brands!  You know I can't drink warm fizzy water.  And then that time when I went exploring the labyrinths underneath the castle, with only an oil lantern for light?  I know I went after 6pm on purpose, when I knew they turned the lights off, but WHY did you let that 10 year old kid keep keep jumping out of dark corners trying to scare his sister??  I was getting scared too!  Weren't all the scary statues, sound effects, freaky art and lack of light enough?  If it hadn't been a labyrinth, I would have run!  You know that I'm still scared from that night in Transylvania!

I know you didn't do it on purpose.  I still love you.  That day at the thermal baths was amazing- we really have to do it again sometime!

Kisses,
N

my lantern and one of the freaky statues... see how much light my lantern gives off?  barely any!!

outdoor area of one of the thermal baths

Dear Budapest,

I don't know what to say.  It's been great.  You're wonderful- really.  I just, you know... I don't feel like I can commit to you right now.  It's not the people coming in at 5am in the morning at the hostel, or the gassy water... I just have to go.  Please understand.  It's not you- it's me.

Stay beautiful.  I'll think of you always.

Best wishes,
N

Leia Mais…

you can call me "Castle Fetish Girl"

After being underwhelmed in Sofia, I was pretty nervous/excited for Romania.  Nervous because of all the scary stories I've heard about backpackers being robbed on the night trains going in/out of Romania, and excited to see some castles.

Thankfully, I didn't have any problems on the night train from Sofia to Bucharest, and arrived at Hostel Tina (seriously, I got a kick out of that) tired but intact.  At the hostel, I met a couple girls from Mexico and a Swedish guy, Anders.  Anders and I had a similar sightseeing agenda so we decided to team up and tackle the itinerary together.  And therein started one of the best 3 days of my trip to date!

Bucharest, unfortunately, suffers from what I deem 'Communist architecture syndrome'.  i.e. a lot of the cool old architecture was razed to make way for large, ugly things.  Between eating, loitering around town, and philosophizing about life, Anders and I managed to see the main sights.  

In front of the Parliamentary Palace, on Unirii Boulevard, which was purposefully built just a smidgen wider than the Champs-Elysees. The building is the biggest, most expensive public building... ever.  And it's still not finished yet.  They ripped up a lot of historical neighborhoods to build these two.

The next day, I convinced Anders to travel with me to Brasov, in Transylvania to go castle hunting.  You see, I find the whole concept of castles incredibly romantic (in the literary sense), and Transylvania is where you go to find castles. 

Well, Anders and I missed our train.  We are so special.  Our train didn't leave until around 1pm, but we loitered in the hostel, and then took the metro going in the wrong direction (doh!).  I should mention now that I'm an expert in taking trams/subways/buses in the wrong direction.  But I am also an expert at figuring it out fairly quickly.  :-)  Luckily, there was another (slower) train we could take, but the time passed quickly as we got back to our usual- asking each other random rhetorical questions and then discussing them.  I feel like I met my best friend!!

As soon as we got off the train in Brasov, Anders bumped into a few other backpackers he'd met on the night train from Istanbul to Bucharest.  We were all coincidentally heading to the same hostel, which was great. On the way to the hostel though, there was quite a bit of drama involving unpurchased bus tickets, the police, and some fast talking/escaping on the part of Anders friends.  It was great.  I'm sure all my Italy friends can attest to the drama involved with transit police and bus tickets.  Luckily, I escaped due to some nice British hikers who handed us a couple extra tickets right before the police demanded to see them.  Unfortunately, there were 5 of us and only 2 tickets.  Haha.

Our buddy James escaped out the back of the bus and Ken- a veteran of 3 round-the-world trips- talked the cops out of tickets for the others.  After pretty much getting kicked off the bus, we walked the rest of the way with our packs in the rain to the hostel.  It was huge and literally filled to the roof with beds.  We all got beds in the attic, and proceeded to hit our heads on the ceiling every 5 minutes.

our hostel room in Brasov- you could have rolled from one side of the attic to the other, without touching the floor!

Me and the 'Istanbul to Bucharest night train party' crew at dinner in Brasov

Within 24 hours, the group had dubbed me 'castle fetish girl' due to my incessant ramblings about castles in the area.  However, I did manage to convince them to join me on my expedition the next day to Bran castle, which is marketed as the inspiration for Dracula's castle (though Vlad Dracula prob never set foot there).

Bran Castle- probably more ominous looking at night

After the trip to Bran, the group started to disperse, as people were all heading in different directions.  We had just enough time to wander around Brasov for a bit (after I missed yet another train- sigh) before I had to say goodbye to the guys and to Anders.  :-(

Next stop for me was Budapest, via Sighisoara- the birthplace of Vlad Dracula.  My train schedule dictated that I'd be in Sighisoara for about 3.5 hours... catching my connection to Budapest at 1am in the morning.  Well let me tell you- Sighisoara is just about the most terrifying place I've ever been alone at night.  I nearly scared myself witless and convinced myself that vampires are real. 

Sighisoara's famous clock tower

Perhaps I should back up... I arrived at Sighisoara just before sunset, and walked into town to grab some food and do a lightning fast tour of the city.  The city's architecture is very Gothic and age-darkened- everything scary movies are made of.  After making a few rounds of the squares and some interesting looking buildings (including the one where Vlad Dracula was born), I made possibly the worst decision- to climb an old covered wooden staircase (the "Scholar's Staircase") 175 steps up to the hilltop church and cemetery.  At night. 

Ok now let's summarize.  Hometown of Vlad Dracula + creepy buildings + night time + old staircase + hilltop cemetery + me.  Alone.  The perfect recipe to scare the living daylights out of myself.  On the way up to the cemetery, there were other tourists and it wasn't completely dark yet, which was nice.  However, as I was admiring the views from the top of the hill and studiously ignoring the extraordinarily creepy cemetery off to my left, the other tourist disappeared.  Suddenly, it was completely dark, and I was alone in Transylvania standing next to a cemetery. GAHH.

As calmly as I could, I made my way back to the staircase, and that's when I started hearing weird noises coming from behind me, from the direction of the cemetery!  It took every ounce of courage I had left in me not to run down the hill screaming like a wild banshee.  As it was, I kept looking over my shoulder, and made sure to sweep my flashlight around all the dark corners, while walking faster and faster.  Almost to the staircase, my flashlight picked up a dark shadow in the shape of a person just off to my right and I nearly fainted from fright.  After I recovered myself, it turned out to be some other tourist who was walking around in the dark- without a flashlight.  BUT WHO DOES THAT?!?!  I pretty much booked it back down the stairs after that, and it took me the rest of the night for my heartbeat to return to normal.   I gotta say though, it was an infinitely memorable experience... that I will never do again.

And yes, I do believe a little in vampires now- at least in Transylvania.  You would have too!

Leia Mais…

Sofia, Bulgaria

Spent an relatively uneventful few days getting through Bulgaria to Romania.  Took a night train from Istanbul to Sofia, Bulgaria, where I figured out there isn't much to do.  Awesome.  I did have a lot of fun trying to interpret Cyrillic signs though.  I will have to ask Lonely Planet why their map is in English when all the signs are in Cyrillic.  It would have been much easier to play 'match the symbols'.

Met an Aussie within the 1st hour of checking into my hostel and as he'd just missed his train, he had a full day to kill.  We decided to check out the views of Sofia from one of the surrounding hills, and proceeded to take the LONGEST ski lift ever to the top.  It took 3 lift changes and about 45 minutes to get to the top.  The craziest part was that the majority of people taking the lifts were mountain bikers, carrying their bikes to the top, and whizzing down the switchback trails underneath the lift back down.  No joke this was an incredibly steep hill- I'm still not quite sure how these people do it without serious bodily injury.

view of Sofia from the ski-lift (still going up!)

After killing some time wandering around the top (which was actually really scenic and nice), we headed back to the hostel and met a few more people there.  Randomly, I seem to meet a lot of engineers on the road- I'm not quite sure how that worked out.  Our group of new friends bonded over pre-dinner drinks, then went out for food (and more drinks).

Left to Right: Canadian, American, Aussie & British!  The guys on either side of me are engineers.

One of the best things that came out of my trip to Sofia was a Bulgarian stew that I discovered at a local restaurant.  Served complete with a twirling ring of fire!!

ok, so you can't see the fire, but the stew!!!  yummm

My engineer buddies both left the next day, so I contented myself with a day trip to a famous monastery about an hour out of town in Rila (did I mention there isn't much to see/do in Sofia?)  It was well worth the trip though.  The Rila monastery is set in the mountains, and the views were pretty spectacular. 

paintings on the exterior of the main chapel

partial view of the Rila monastery complex

Leia Mais…

Istanbul: where East meets West

Extended my trip in London for a few days so I could travel to Istanbul with Bailey!!  :-)  Such good luck that she was looking for somewhere to go and had the time off.  Had a bit of drama in London, but c'e la vie, eh?  Except sometimes it seems more like deja vu.... :-/

Anyways, Istanbul with Bails!  Hilarious, hot, and very interesting.  The city itself is pretty cosmopolitan, and the main tourist area is VERY touristy.  And also full of young men trying to pick up tourist women (hi strange men!  you're awfully friendly!).   But it also begs the question:  where are all the women?  Are they in hiding, or are they all in the suburbs?

On our first day, Bailey and I proceeded to wander around looking at the gorgeous mosques everywhere, get lost trying to find an underground cistern that we were literally on top of, and then scare ourselves in it.  We also got invitations from no less than 3 groups of guys to go out with them at night.  And I'm pretty sure the entire wait staff of one restaurant wanted to be our best friends.  haha.  Well meaning as we were, Bailey and I opted to chill at a hookah bar near the water instead, where I proceeded to have a very, very hilarious conversation with our waiter in a broken mix of Turkish and English.  Do I speak Turkish?  no.  Did the waiter speak English?  no.  Hence the hilariousness.  However, I'm told I can make decent approximations of Turkish words/syllables.  Maybe I should learn Turkish! 

I find Turkish and Arabic really beautiful languages, especially in songs.  We popped into a bar with live music that night as well (in a sad, language hampered attempt to find hookah prior that night), and the woman singing had the most gorgeous voice I've ever heard live.  I kept thinking it was a pity that her voice wouldn't be heard internationally unless she sang in English/Spanish/French.  But then, by the way she was chain smoking, I don't know if that voice will last long.

Over the next few days, we tried to see as much as we could- the Grand Bazaar, the Blue Mosque, and even did a river cruise.  We also took a LONG walk while exercising our special map skills to the Topkapi Palace, which was gorgeous, and covered in intricate artwork.  And gold- lots of gold.  We made sure to visit the Harem and ooh and ahhh over everything.  The best part was on the way out, when we asked a man to take our picture for us.  After chatting for a bit, he offered me a job selling rugs in Istanbul!!  My first job offer!!  Unfortunately, I had to turn him down because I had so many other travel plans.  Maybe I shouldn't have... ah, if only I had more time.  :-(

one of the rooms in the Harem

After all the sightseeing, Bailey and I were intent on some R&R at the famous Turkish baths.  Now here is the fun part- putting on the bikinis that are provided for 'modesty'.  Erm, suffice to say, the tops they gave us were not modest at all!  After we asked them for something more than two tiny triangles tied together with string, a little man came by in the bath to switch the tops for us...  Literally!  He told just to hold our arms out and he proceeded to take off the tops and replace them!!  Hilarious and embarrassing.  We decided later that the little man just wanted to see us with our tops off.  Whatevs- we were pretty much nude anyways!  The Turkish bath experience was interesting- a combination of a hot sauna, a serious scrub-down, and a little massage.   Much better than what I'd expected, given a friend's description of being 'whipped by water' during his Turkish bath experience!

On our last night in Istanbul together, on the recommendation of the Aussie hotel guy (who'd married a Turkish woman), we were driven to what we described to us as the 'seafood market'.  In reality, it was a huge area of restaurants and rowdy groups of people wining and dining themselves.  yay!  It was great people watching and trying to puzzle out what other people were eating.  Especially the dishes that were being set on fire by the waiters (flambé, olé!).  The musicians who came by our table were fun too  :-).

Dinner at the 'seafood market'

After dinner, Bailey and I found another hookah bar near our hotel and hung out there until the wee hours of the morning with some other foreign travelers and a few Turkish guys.  As usual, we spent most of the night refusing invitations from the guys to go clubbing, but had a great time- especially after we found a little black kitten to play with.

The next day, Bailey left to fly back to London, and I spent the day wandering around a museum near the palace and visiting the Hagia Sofia.  I didn't have huge expectations for the museum, but as some know, I am a fan of museums, especially in cities where there is a lot of history/culture and high probability of good collections.  The biggest gem of the museum complex was a sculpture museum I stumbled upon.  Not many people are aware that I am slightly/obsessively fond of classical sculpture, and consider sculpture among the highest forms of artistry.  This gallery made me want to cry a little bit.  In fact, I may have.  It was an extraordinary collection...  I would live there if it wouldn't scare the bejesus out of me to see so many lifelike, life-size and disembodied sculptures alone at night.

The Hagia Sofia is amazing too- the mosque was turned into a Catholic cathedral at some point in its history, so it has the amazing vaulted, rounded turrets, an incredible space, and yet it has mosaics of the Virgin Mary and the Apostles around the walls.  The space is just like Istanbul- where East meets West.

Inside the Hagia Sofia

I keep hearing good things about the rest of Turkey from other travelers.  Must resolve to return one day.

Leia Mais…

men in skirts: where are your knickers?!?

So the Scotland leg of this trip had a bit of a rough start. Upon my arrival at the airport to check-in, I got a text saying the 2 Australian girls who were to meet me in Glasgow had missed their flights due to some traffic accident in London. Crap. Luckily, I had the hotel information, and they were able to re-book their flights for the following day. I ended up with just over 24 hours to kill in Glasgow alone.

Now Glasgow: I don't know how you treat your other 'special friends', but to tell you the truth- you didn't give me the best first impression. Oh yeah, the wifi on the airport bus was impressive, but the sketch guy on the dark street? You know, the obviously drunk one who swayed so badly on the sidewalk that he finally pitched forward... into the steel retaining wall? Not so impressive.

The first morning also started off interestingly. I woke up to the sound of voices in the hallway- the maids, I assumed. In my morning confusion though, I thought I'd somehow woken up in Turkey (my next destination) because for the life of me, I couldn't understand a thing the women were saying!! Was that English?!? It went on all day.  I've never been so utterly confused in my life. I thought every single person I passed on the street was a foreigner. It must have been nearly dinnertime before I could actually detect the English words underneath the thick Scottish accents. Whew! I'm not going crazy after all.

Spent the day at a museum, checking out a cool little street festival, and basically wandering the streets. That evening, Laudy and Lisa showed up and we went to dinner. Funny enough, none of us had any plans for sightseeing in Glasgow, so we decided to solicit some 'local' advice. You know what the locals said? "Hmm, things to do in Glasgow... well, you could go to Edinburgh!" HAHA. And so it was decided. The very next morning we set off for Edinburgh.

Now Edinbugh, whooee!  Gorgeous!  I loved the historical architecture, the castle, the narrow alleyways, the men in kilts!!  :-)  Over the next few days, the girls and I took a few tours of the Edinburgh castle, the Queen's palace, Dr Jeyll/Mr Hyde house, the city, and the pubs.  In fact, we found one pub we quite liked in particular, which had great live music.  What is it about a man with musical talent that makes him that much more attractive?  Hmm.  Think about it and get back to me, k?

Laudy, Lisa & myself in front of Edinburgh castle

The best part was our day trip to the Scottish Highlands, all the way up to Loch Ness.  All the days so far we'd been in Scotland had been rather cold and dreary, so surprise surprise when the day of our tour, the clouds parted and there was sun, glorious sun!  The Highlands have got the be one of the most visually stunning/green places I've seen.  I definitely want to go back.  We saw a 'hairy coo', which is, literally, a hairy cow, and did quite a bit of soaking in the sights at Loch Ness...  Such a tranquil spot, but I have to admit- I was quite gutted that Nessie didn't make an appearance.  Maybe next time?

the gorgeous Scottish highlands!

I had an extra day in Edinburgh after Laudy and Lisa left to catch their flights back to Australia.  Since we'd been pretty efficient at knocking out all the major tourist attractions, the only thing left I wanted to do was a tour of Mary King's Close, which was an underground area back in the day that housed small businesses and homes.  They try to make it scary, and they succeeded... dark underground places that have existed for centuries definitely have an edge on terror.  I'm just glad I opted out of the underground ghost tours.

Leia Mais…

back to London

I love London. God, I love London.

I'm not sure what it is... the faint smog in the air, the mysteriously reticent sun, the high street shops, the Marks & Spencers?!? Who knows. But it's SO GOOD to be back. Especially when one of my first stops was my favorite Indian restaurant. I used to go there so often that as soon as I walked in (after a 6 month absence no less!), the owner recognized me straight away and asked where my old roommate/co-worker was. Obviously we used to go together. Nearly once a week! *sigh* and also, *drool*

Since I've explored the city already, my first few days there were mostly about seeing old friends and old haunts. Staying with the ex was maybe not the most brilliant idea I've ever had, but that's a whole different topic. Being back, even for just a few days, did make me realize a few things. Namely:

1) I miss my old roommate & other friends who no longer live here; it's not the same without them

2) I am SO thankful that I don't work on the project here anymore. I get anxious just thinking about it.

3) Living in central London before was a great idea. Even if I'd spent a king's ransom in rent.

4) I still love the city. But, like Florence, my other love- it's the people who make it magical.

Next stop, Scotland!!

Leia Mais…

everything in this country is uphill

I don't think I've walked-nay, hiked more hills in my life than I have in my last 6 weeks in Guatemala.

Uphill to the weaving school, up and down those unnervingly high sidewalks (sometimes there are steps up to the sidewalk!), climbing volcanos on the weekends..... up, up, and up, and up! and sometimes down, though not often enough to suit me.

I'm also going to climb another volcano called Santa Maria, and camped up at the summit for a night to watch the sunrise the next day.... It's a steep 4-5 hour climb (Edit: er, 5.5 for me), but I hear watching the sunrise from the summit (nearly 2 miles above sea level and through 2 cloud plains) is worth the pain.... I sure hope so. One thing I know for certain, I'm going to have quads of steel after I leave Guatemala.

edit: picture from the summit of Santa Maria Volcano. Definitely worth the pain.

Leia Mais…