My thoughts are with Courtney, Jeff (Brother Bear), their father Stu and the rest of the Creighton family during this time of mourning. They unexpectedly lost Rita, Courtney and Jeff's mother, on Sunday.
Read about Rita here.
Please keep them in your prayers.
Hi all,
Where did I leave off? Oh yes, so Wesley and I arrived into a sketchy part of Budapest after we were robbed, but landed at a very nice hostel on the other side of Pest (Budapest is actually two cities (Buda and Pest). We spent most of the morning exploring and the city grew on us. We were most impressed by the Parliament building, which is sort of like the White House there, and we caught part of Easter mass at the local main Christian church.
We left Budapest after a night for Vienna, which is a lovely city, too. It was a whirlwind though, because we had fewer than 24 hours there before catching the train to Salzburg. This pace is hectic but rewarding.
Salzburg reminds me a lot of Switzerland -- green and quaint. This is the birthplace of Mozart and where "The Sound of Music" was filmed. In fact, at our hostel, they play "The Sound of Music" once a day. We're taking a guided tour tomorrow during the day and will further explore the pubs and clubs tomorrow night before we catch a train to Munich.
___
We met a Russian man at the hostel in Vienna and got into a conversation with him about his global travels, which include most of Europe, Dubai, New Zealand and Australia. He said he knew we were Americans because we were so friendly and introduced ourselves. He said every American he has met from in his travels has been delightful and so on. This was a nice change because most of the people we've met (usually on by train or hostel) has asked:
I hadn't realized that the world was so focused on the US elections, because frankly I don't know who the main political leader is in most major countries, but we've been told time and time again about how drastically US economy and policy affects European counterparts. Everyone here has their own strong opinions about Clinton, Obama and McCain.
A middle-aged German man: "Obama could be the next Kennedy."
A 20-something Irish girl: "I'm Clinton all the way. She's got the experience."
We've had some insightful, often intoxicated discussions on the matter.
In Budapest now. Gotta be quick because Internet is $ here. We got robbed on the night train last night and lost cash and iPods. Still have all of our IDs and credit cards, but a huge bummer. We're only spending one night in Budapest because it's kinda on the sketchy side. Will hop back online when we get into Vienna.
Paolo will accept gift certificates to Best Buy for his birthday to replace said stolen iPod.
Hi all,
Wesley and I are still alive.
The free Internet at this hostel in Prague is awesome. I randomly just met a girl from Ballard who was sitting next to me in the computer room. Weird.
Last night, we found a rock club and watched a ska band that sounded a lot like Save Ferris. On our way back to the hostel we heard some jazz on a side street and followed the music to find a sweet jazz club. Accompanied by a Pilsner Urquell, I grooved to the jazz until the bar closed.
Today we did more of the touristy thing, visiting the Prague Castle, Charles Bridge and Old Jewish Quarter. The weather is very overcast today, but I'm hoping that some of my pictures turn out.
Tonight -- more jazz clubs and more beer. Going to try and find some absinthe, too. Tomorrow we're spending the day in Prague and are taking a night train to Budapest.
Cheers,
Paolo
We just arrived in Prague.
The hostel is in an awesome spot, centrally located. Unfortunately, I don't have a way to upload photos, but the scenery is just beautiful. (I'll post one single blog with photos at the end of this trip, not a long series that takes six months too long and angers Al Castle.)
We are going on no sleep right now. Last night in Berlin the Irish brought the rave back to the hostel and we pulled an all-nighter.
We're off now to grab a bite to eat and then head to one of the many jazz bars in Prague.
Thanks to everyone for checking in here. Thanks to Anna for providing me punctuation marks via Gmail in real time. I hate these damn keyboards here.
- Paolo