To all 3 of my dedicated readers out there, I apologize for the delay posting. As you recall I've been on a big multicity vacation so I haven't exactly had lots of time to blog. Plus it's hard to write a good blog entry on an iPhone (I left my laptop in France).
So, a quick summary of my vacation. I met up with Elena in Vienna, and we spent the afternoon market hopping. She turned in for the night rather early, so I walked around Vienna for a while on my own. Vienna is a really great city, very modern but at the same time with a ton of history and culture. I also got to make a surprise day trip to Budapest to see two old friends, Kristin and Amelia. Budapest was originally part of our itinerary, but then I thought Amelia was going to be too busy (she goes to grad school there), but the night before I found out via Facebook that Kristin was getting to come, so Elena and I hopped on the train early the next morning for our Hungarian adventure. Hungary was a different world. The language is absolutely foreign to me--it's one of three European languages that isn't related to the rest (the other two are Finnish and Basque). We climbed a hill and surveyed the city, eventually ending up at a little Hungarian restaurant that served one of the best meals of the trip, despite our complete lack of communication.
Back in Vienna, things kind of got worse. I somehow got a weird stomach bug and went to two pharmacies looking for a remedy. I wasn't feeling better, so my last day in Vienna was spent in an Austrian hospital getting an IV to ward off dehydration and lower my fever. I still managed to tour the Hapsburg palace and see a few other things, but I had to miss going to the Vienna opera, which I had really wanted to do.
Next on our trip was Salzburg. I wanted to go to Salzburg for the sole purpose of getting Mozartkugeln (a delicious chocolate-pistachio confection), but I found out when I got there that "The Sound of Music" had been filmed there, too. Pleasant surprise. Salzburg was my favorite stop on our trip. The city is gorgeous, smallish, and very quaint. It also helped that I was starting to feel better at this point. I would love to go back to Salzburg and stay a little longer (and maybe do one of the cheesy "Sound of Music" tours because let's be honest, that movie is awesome. And probably the reason I sing too much...)
After Salzburg we went to Munich. To be frank, I didn't particularly like it. Our room smelled disgusting and it seemed like the only thing to do is drink beer. I think beer is just about as appealing as drinking antifreeze, so I was up beer creek without a paddle. I was pleasantly surprised to find perhaps the most important museum of Greek sculpture outside of Greece, though. Thanks to this museum, I have now seen about 75% of the pieces I studied in my Greek art history class. I also ended up buying a poster for my room with busts of all the Roman emperors, 27 BC - 476 AD. Total geekout.
Next was Prague. Oh Prague, what an adventure. We got in quite late and took a taxi to our hostel, paying 980 Czech koruna (about 39 Euro, or $55) for a 5-minute taxi ride. Needless to say, we fell victim to a tourist trap. We also had trouble finding our hostel, and when a random man came up to us on the street and said, "What hostel are you looking for?" I got a little scared. Elena wanted to follow him, though, and it turned out all right--he actually was the hostel owner. We had quite an experience in Prague. The city is great, if a little touristy. There's a lot to see in terms of sights, although the museum scene wasn't that great. Nightlife, however, was. That was the only time I went out on the trip, since it was more of a culture-y vacation for me, but at the same time who can say no to the largest nightclub in central Europe? I love to dance as much as the next guy, even if I end up looking like a paralyzed octopus. I think it was too crowded for anyone to care, and our awesome new Canadian friends were too nice to say anything.
The next day Elena and I went with another guy we'd met in the hostel to Kunta Hora, a small city about an hour by train from Prague. It's known for one thing: the most macabre church I've ever visited. The city was the site of an early Cistercian monastery, and one of the monks brought soil from Jerusalem to sprinkle in the church's graveyard. This made the little cemetery the trendiest place in Bohemia for your bones to make their final resting place...unless you were one of the unlucky people whose skeleton was turned into a decorative altarpiece or chandelier after the Hussites burned the old building. Yes, you heard me: the church is decorated with human bones. Weird...
On our way back I got on the most crowded train I've ever seen. It was completely packed; every compartment was full, and the hallways were jammed with friendly Czechs, so naturally me, Elena, and Clay (our travel buddy) squeezed into the train bathroom. It's okay; if anyone had needed to use it, they couldn't have gotten there anyway.
After Prague was Amsterdam. This is one of the most unique cities I've ever visited. Canals are everywhere, every coffee shop reeks of (completely legal) marijuana, and EVERYONE speaks English. Amsterdam has a really rich culture, with a number of cool museums (highlights: Van Gough and Tropical Museum). I saw a 50,000 Euro jewel at a diamond factory, strolled around the Red Light district, and went to Anne Frank's house. I tasted Dutch pancakes (twice) and took a canal tour. I stayed a hostel the size of Soissons. Amsterdam is definitely worth a visit, even if you're like me and don't want to smoke pot or cavort with one of the (completely legal) "ladies of the night."
But alas, all epic trips must come to an end. I had a great time, but I was completely exhausted and ready to get back to my life here in France. I got back on Thursday night and worked Friday morning, took Saturday to rest, and then Sunday went off to Disneyland Paris with my family and our guest for the week, Elie's German pen pal. Eurodisney was AMAZING. Being in Disney in Europe was a taste of America. American flags fly over most of the park, and the music they played in line for Thunder Mountain was a sort of "Greatest Hits of American Folk." And by that, I mean the songs every good southern child learns by heart: "On Top of Old Smokey," "Polly Wolly Doodle," "Home on the Range," etc. I wanted to square dance but the other 2,000 people in line might not have liked that.
Otherwise, Eurodisney is a lot like Disneyworld; it's laid out the same, and the rides are comparable, although Space Mountain is better in Paris. When I got back, I crashed into bed rather early. Which sounds appealing right about now. So goodnight world. Pictures are coming soon!
So, a quick summary of my vacation. I met up with Elena in Vienna, and we spent the afternoon market hopping. She turned in for the night rather early, so I walked around Vienna for a while on my own. Vienna is a really great city, very modern but at the same time with a ton of history and culture. I also got to make a surprise day trip to Budapest to see two old friends, Kristin and Amelia. Budapest was originally part of our itinerary, but then I thought Amelia was going to be too busy (she goes to grad school there), but the night before I found out via Facebook that Kristin was getting to come, so Elena and I hopped on the train early the next morning for our Hungarian adventure. Hungary was a different world. The language is absolutely foreign to me--it's one of three European languages that isn't related to the rest (the other two are Finnish and Basque). We climbed a hill and surveyed the city, eventually ending up at a little Hungarian restaurant that served one of the best meals of the trip, despite our complete lack of communication.
Back in Vienna, things kind of got worse. I somehow got a weird stomach bug and went to two pharmacies looking for a remedy. I wasn't feeling better, so my last day in Vienna was spent in an Austrian hospital getting an IV to ward off dehydration and lower my fever. I still managed to tour the Hapsburg palace and see a few other things, but I had to miss going to the Vienna opera, which I had really wanted to do.
Next on our trip was Salzburg. I wanted to go to Salzburg for the sole purpose of getting Mozartkugeln (a delicious chocolate-pistachio confection), but I found out when I got there that "The Sound of Music" had been filmed there, too. Pleasant surprise. Salzburg was my favorite stop on our trip. The city is gorgeous, smallish, and very quaint. It also helped that I was starting to feel better at this point. I would love to go back to Salzburg and stay a little longer (and maybe do one of the cheesy "Sound of Music" tours because let's be honest, that movie is awesome. And probably the reason I sing too much...)
After Salzburg we went to Munich. To be frank, I didn't particularly like it. Our room smelled disgusting and it seemed like the only thing to do is drink beer. I think beer is just about as appealing as drinking antifreeze, so I was up beer creek without a paddle. I was pleasantly surprised to find perhaps the most important museum of Greek sculpture outside of Greece, though. Thanks to this museum, I have now seen about 75% of the pieces I studied in my Greek art history class. I also ended up buying a poster for my room with busts of all the Roman emperors, 27 BC - 476 AD. Total geekout.
Next was Prague. Oh Prague, what an adventure. We got in quite late and took a taxi to our hostel, paying 980 Czech koruna (about 39 Euro, or $55) for a 5-minute taxi ride. Needless to say, we fell victim to a tourist trap. We also had trouble finding our hostel, and when a random man came up to us on the street and said, "What hostel are you looking for?" I got a little scared. Elena wanted to follow him, though, and it turned out all right--he actually was the hostel owner. We had quite an experience in Prague. The city is great, if a little touristy. There's a lot to see in terms of sights, although the museum scene wasn't that great. Nightlife, however, was. That was the only time I went out on the trip, since it was more of a culture-y vacation for me, but at the same time who can say no to the largest nightclub in central Europe? I love to dance as much as the next guy, even if I end up looking like a paralyzed octopus. I think it was too crowded for anyone to care, and our awesome new Canadian friends were too nice to say anything.
The next day Elena and I went with another guy we'd met in the hostel to Kunta Hora, a small city about an hour by train from Prague. It's known for one thing: the most macabre church I've ever visited. The city was the site of an early Cistercian monastery, and one of the monks brought soil from Jerusalem to sprinkle in the church's graveyard. This made the little cemetery the trendiest place in Bohemia for your bones to make their final resting place...unless you were one of the unlucky people whose skeleton was turned into a decorative altarpiece or chandelier after the Hussites burned the old building. Yes, you heard me: the church is decorated with human bones. Weird...
On our way back I got on the most crowded train I've ever seen. It was completely packed; every compartment was full, and the hallways were jammed with friendly Czechs, so naturally me, Elena, and Clay (our travel buddy) squeezed into the train bathroom. It's okay; if anyone had needed to use it, they couldn't have gotten there anyway.
After Prague was Amsterdam. This is one of the most unique cities I've ever visited. Canals are everywhere, every coffee shop reeks of (completely legal) marijuana, and EVERYONE speaks English. Amsterdam has a really rich culture, with a number of cool museums (highlights: Van Gough and Tropical Museum). I saw a 50,000 Euro jewel at a diamond factory, strolled around the Red Light district, and went to Anne Frank's house. I tasted Dutch pancakes (twice) and took a canal tour. I stayed a hostel the size of Soissons. Amsterdam is definitely worth a visit, even if you're like me and don't want to smoke pot or cavort with one of the (completely legal) "ladies of the night."
But alas, all epic trips must come to an end. I had a great time, but I was completely exhausted and ready to get back to my life here in France. I got back on Thursday night and worked Friday morning, took Saturday to rest, and then Sunday went off to Disneyland Paris with my family and our guest for the week, Elie's German pen pal. Eurodisney was AMAZING. Being in Disney in Europe was a taste of America. American flags fly over most of the park, and the music they played in line for Thunder Mountain was a sort of "Greatest Hits of American Folk." And by that, I mean the songs every good southern child learns by heart: "On Top of Old Smokey," "Polly Wolly Doodle," "Home on the Range," etc. I wanted to square dance but the other 2,000 people in line might not have liked that.
Otherwise, Eurodisney is a lot like Disneyworld; it's laid out the same, and the rides are comparable, although Space Mountain is better in Paris. When I got back, I crashed into bed rather early. Which sounds appealing right about now. So goodnight world. Pictures are coming soon!
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