A lovely week for a guinness! December 17, 2008

I am determined to finish this blog, even though we have already been home in CA for about a week now. Finding the motivation to write about these last 2 weeks is difficult, but I know we”ll be happy that we finished to the end. Sorry the last two blogs are so slow to be published!!!

24.Nov.08

Wanting to see as much of the Irish countryside as possible in the six days we have here, we decided to just do one day in Dublin, so we packed in as much as we could see today. We did our own little walking tour of the city following only a picture we had taken of a guide book as a map. Dublin is pretty much just as one would expect, packed with bars, large gray stone cathedrals and castles, and people speaking the lovely Irish brogue all around. Counting down the days to our trips end, nothing is as exciting as the first 11 months of this trip. We didn’t go to the Guinness of Jameson factory, not that we don’t love either, we just deemed it too “touristy” and unnecessary to enjoy our time here. Instead we first wandered to the nearby St. Patricks cathedral made out of gorgeous gray stone, and named after the Catholic saint who brought the religion to Ireland (for better or worse).

Then we moseyed to the city castle/government building where we took a tour of the insides. The building isn’t where the prime minister lives anymore (once built and lived in by the English rulers), but important meetings and inaugurations still take place here. Our favorite fun fact, described by our guide, is that every Irish prime minister since independence designs their own shield of arms to place on the wall. The more modern ones have become a bit tacky. The castle was impressive, but it has been burnt down, rebuilt, altered, and modernized so much that it was kind of a hodgepodge of design. Next we visited Trinity University which was among the more gorgeous campuses we have ever seen. We half expected kids dressed in black robes running around casting spells on each other; really more of a fantasy school than one for muggles.

After wandering through a massive mall entirely too ready for the holidays, and the city center decked out in bright white X-mas lights we ate dinner at one of the oldest established pubs in Dublin, the Brazen Head. The Irish beef stew was great, the Guinness stew was better, but nothing beat the most important part of the meal, the highlight of the whole day, a delightful glass of genuine Guinness!

We then went back to Francois’ apartment and watched an awesome movie with his housemates, “This is England.” If you haven’t seen this movie I highly recommend it; think of an English version of American History X, yet almost better.

25.Nov.08

With two minutes to catch our train we ran alongside it to the gate, only to sadly watch the train pull away from the station as we reached the end. Luckily the Irish have a very efficient train system, aside from only going in three directions and back to/from Dublin. We waited a measly hour and were back on a train toward Killarney. Our hour layover in a small city Mallow was mostly uneventful, aside from a cute picture of a pair of red and green doors, and a local teenager telling us to “get out as fast as you can, this city is so boring!” Following his advice, we went back to the station and finished the short trip to Killarney. Purchased from a market, we thoroughly enjoyed some delicious Irish soda bread along the way.

The first impression of Killarney is of a very cute, quaint, and quiet city, but we are here in the off season, and during summer so many people seek that quaintness that things become not so quiet anymore. For the first time since Asia we checked in to a hostel, finding no one in this small town to host us through CouchSurfing. We hate having to pay the exhorbitant price, but hostels in Europe are really very nice. Our ten person dorm was nearly void of people and we had nice comfy beds. After going out for ingredients we quickly took advantage of the large, well-equipped kitchen by cooking a nice soup to dip our soda bread into. We socialized with some of the few other guests then went to bed.

26.Nov.08

The “Ring of Kerry” is an area around Killarney full of just what we had imagined of typical Irish countryside, and quaint Irish villages. For the bulk of the day we sat on a bus touring around the area, enjoying all the splendid views, and learning some history from our very entertaining guide. Big gray forts and Cathedrals dotted the way, and cute little homes surrounded by grazing sheep were sprinkled all throughout the countryside. The whole area looked straight from out of a movie and to our great luck it was a beautiful day when during this time of year it is mostly just gray and rainy. We stopped along the coast for lunch at one of the late Charlie Chaplin’s favorite vacation spots. It was a gorgeous rocky beach, but I could never call a beach my “favorite” unless I could swim without becoming an ice pop. Jess and I enjoyed our packed sandwiches sitting on the beach overlooking the dark water crashing on the shore, while the rest of the tour group ate at a pub. Then we walked up the beach where we went treasure hunting for golf balls hit into the rocks from the nearby course. We brought the balls back in the city and distributed them randomly throughout (leaving a quirky scavenger hunt for someone) on our way to a pretty little cathedral atop a mushroom speckled hill. Time was up and we headed back to the bus.

On the last part of the loop we stopped at a nice little waterfall (more of a stream) and one magnificent point called maiden’s view.

Brains filled with lovely images we disembarked the bus and heated up yesterdays soup for dinner. We topped off the day with a pint of Guinness and a Pint of Smithwicks at a nearby pub; the Irish sure do know how to make unbelievable darks and ales, too bad so many Irish youths drink American Budweiser for who knows what completely insane reason.

27.Nov.08

Early to rise we headed out to an old fort along the Killarney lake. The surrounding national park was a beautiful place to stroll through, and the castle was great. We got back, grabbed our bags, and hopped on a bus to for a three hour trip all the way up through Ireland to Galway (what a tiny country!). We arrived before five, but the sun had already set! We followed directions to our next Couchsurfers house where our crazy Polish host Paluch awaited us. Poluch is full of enthusiasm and warmly welcomed us into his house which resembled a messy hippie co-op. Turns out it pretty much is a messy hippie co-op; Poluch works as a bicycle rickshaw driver at night, pulling around drunken Irish, the Aussie housemate works at an internet center, and the English housemate is a “government sponsered artists,” AKA lives on welfare and paints a lot. They sound lazy (a bit), but they were all extremely nice and enjoyed just spending a lot of time hanging out and partying, so we fit right in. Their dog Rollo was a tiny bundle of insanity; we played with him all night, watched many episodes of a British show Poluch showed us (Black Books, watch it, it is hysterical) and cooked some pasta before going to bed in our room attached to the kitchen. The whole house is on a weird schedule of sleep/work/party, yet they were pleasantly quiet when going through our room to the kitchen as they stayed up until wee morning hours hanging out in the living room.

28.Nov.08

Poluch’s housemates were awesome enough to let us take their bicycles out for a ride along the coast. It has been a long time since we rode bikes, but you never forget; it is just like the old saying…well…like riding a bicycle. We biked a bit through the city to the main cathedral and another glorious University nearby, then hit up the coast.The coast of ireland is just one long stretch of beauty, very similar to California’s. We ate a picnic we prepared along the rocky shore and got spattered with a little mist which ended up making a full, beautifully arched rainbow in the sky; rare to see one so complete. Unfotunatly there was no Leprachaun at the end with his pot of gold; I think the recession has hit the Leprachauns hard too. We biked around a couple more hours, taking in the splendour, then headed back, dropped off the bikes, and walked a bit through Galway’s downtown.

For being such a small city, Galway’s downtown area is incredibly lively! Buskars flood the streets playing instruments, dressed as characters, and performing shows; a lot like Venice Beach in LA except less headshops and even more bars. It is no wonder Poluch makes decent money here as a rickshaw driver; there are so many people centralized right down this one main street going to and from the hundreds of bars and shops. Not feeling up to going out tonight we then headed to the market for ingredients to cook a very elegant meal; steak, potatoes, and brussel sprouts with peppercorn sauce; delicious. After dinner we watched some more TV shows and hung out with Rollo and the rest of the house.

29.Nov.08

We were back on another bus today for a tour of some of the sites around Galway. We had a very charismatic guide, even better than last time, who gave a great deal of interesting informaton about the countryside. One of the first stops was to a local farm where we were taken on a hike through the rocky burrens. The view from the top was very nice overlooking an old monastary and the ocean beyond. One couldn’t help notice the strange rock walls slinking up and around many of the hills. Similar stone wall are erected to make property boundaries or keep animals in (or out), but these seem to have little purpose. The truth is very depressing; the walls do have no purpose, and were made by starving Irish during the potatoe blight to make just enough pennies from the English rulers to buy food. The English had them stacks rocks because they refused to have the Irish do anything skill based, fearing they could one day begin a revolution and be independant and self-sufficient again.

After the tour of the Burrens (which just describes the endless sea of rocks making the countryside more similar to the moon), we headed to the Cliffs of Moher! The largest cliffs in Ireland look out over the Aaron islands in the distance. We walked up and down the beautiuful edge, again very lucky to have another gorgeous day of sunshine! A couple hours later we were heading back on the bus stopping at some more view points and another old fort along the way.

Being our last night in Europe we decided we had to go out and celebrate. The rest of the house was busy so Jess and I hopped between a couple bars, enjoying more unforgettable Guinness, Smithwicks, and an awesome local Pale Ale called Galway Hooker (reffereing not to a “lady of the night,” rather old fishing boats which use thousands of hook lines instead of nets). The last bar we hit had a very good indie band from Canada playing. Jessica is a fan of this music, I am not so much, yet I really enjoyed these guys so they must have been really good (or it was the thick Irish beer influencing me). We stayed for some time, chatted with the band after, then made our way through the streets passing hundreds of rediculously drunk Irish all dressed up, stumbling, and yelling on the streets (oh stereotypes…sometimes they are just so spot on). We asked like 10 rickshaw drivers if they have seen Poluch, but we couldn’t find him; it was fun to see how much business they got from all the drunkards to lazy to walk to the next bar though! We crashed in bed and spent our last night on this side of the Atlantic ocean.

30.Nov.08

Our final day in Europe. We said goodbye to our gracious hosts and their adorable dog, walked through the small town and hopped on a bus to Dublin. A couple hours later, past more lovely countryside and we were dropped off directly at the airport. Normal airport procedure occurred and we waved farewell to Ireland as we boarded our plane back to the US. After all the travelling we have done, the seven hours to New York didn’t seem all that bad.

Looking at the New York subway map trying to figure out how to get to my cousin Joe’s apartment felt still a lot like Europe, as NY boasts a beautifully intricate subway system. It was a long journey switching lines a few times and facing delays until finally plopping down at my welcoming cousin Joe’s place in Downtown Manhattan. Joe, his girlfriend Helena, and the guests they had over that night asked us all about our trip, and we gladly spoke fondly about it. Still it is not yet over, as New York is a big beautiful city which neither of us have yet explored. The trip doesn’t end quite yet!

Dublin Flickr Photos:

http://flickr.com/photos/flufflebuns/sets/72157610563604811/

Killarney Flickr Photos:

http://flickr.com/photos/flufflebuns/sets/72157610633696978/

Galway Flickr Photos:

http://flickr.com/photos/flufflebuns/sets/72157610808859182/

Stay tuned for one final installment!

White winter December 13, 2008

14.Nov.08

Seven hours of today was spent in the car from Budapest to Muenchen. We got a ride through Mitfahrgelegenheit again with a girl trying to make a career as an opera singer. She was interesting company and the ride went smoothly aside from a front tire blow-out on the autobahn which we managed to fix in good time; plus you cannot beat the mere 60 euros we paid for the rideshare. Soon we were at Mark’s apartment in München again, with less people on the streets wearing Lederhosen and Dirndl as last time during Oktoberfest. First and foremost we tracked down a place open selling Augustiner and grabbed two nice cold bottles of my favorite beer on the planet. Every time I drink one I set myself up for disappointment, not possibly able to believe it is as delicious as my brain remembers, but alas, once again, Augustiner is definitely as delicious as expected. We enjoyed the beer, chatted with Henning and Steffie (Mark is already in Flein) then slept away on Marks water bed.

15.Nov.08

Early to rise we jumped inside a red VW bus with our next ride share. This guy was like a taxi, constantly driving between Muenchen and Stuttgart for his business, he offers his car as a rideshare each time to pay for gas and have company. We paid the reasonable fare and 3 hours of chatting with all the other riders later and we were in Stuttgart. From Stuttgart we trained to Heilbronn and then bus to Flein where we were greeted warmly by Jessica’s grandma, mom, and dad. After some catching up and a very welcome German smorgasbord of meats, breads, and cheeses, we met up with Uncle Albrecht and Iris who took us out to watch a friend of theirs take his falcon for a fly. The birds of prey were magnificent and tore through the sky like a jet. It was a treat getting so close to such awesomly powerfull beasts and watch them in action. Iris is learning how to Falconeer so she and the head trainer played what could be called a game of “catch” with one of the falcons.

After watching the falcons we did what is a common occurence in Flein; sat around Grandma’s table drinking wine and talking until late when everyone says goodbye and goes to sleep.

16.Nov.08

We awoke to a band playing on the balcony of the nearby church tower. Today is Oma’s 80th birthday, and living in a tiny village, the whole town knows about it. The nearby trumpets blare to celebrate the occasion as all her kids and grandkids join in toasts of champagne. After the playing a photographer comes to take pictures of Maria (Oma, Grandma, whatever you want to call her) with all of her extended family. The below pic is Jess and her three cousins Goetz, Mark, and Axel with Oma.

Practically the entire town comes during the day to congratulate her for reaching such an epic age; the mayor, town minister, all the neighbors, it gets a bit overwhelming so Jess and I spend some time socializing then relax in the room reading for a bit. Cake is served midday at a huge table for everyone and dinner is at a terrific local restaurant.

17.Nov.08

Unfortunately Jessica has no shoes suitable for running, so I went on a jog myself through the vineyards. It was without a doubt the most epic jog I have ever taken, truly a testament to how much stamina we have built up from walking all day every day on this year trip. I jogged straight for a couple hours up, and around the rolling, green vineyard covered hills of Flein to the top of the tallest hill with a great view of the surrounding countryside. Too bad I didn’t bring a camera!

The whole day Maia received more and more visitors from the village and Jess and I did the same routine as yesterday, socializing for some time, then just hanging out resting our brains from trying to understand their speedy, Schwäbisch dialect German! In the evening we walked through town to Jessica’s uncle Albrecht and his wife Iris’ house for some succulent turkey, & lots of wine. Albrecht was very appreciative of the homemade moonshine we brought from Ukraine as well! Albrecht’s hunting dog Heggie is blind and deaf, but stll managed to beg for table scraps like a pro.

18.Nov.08

The Aqua Toll is a massive pool complex built by Jessica’s great uncle Wilhem’s son. It is just a short drive from Flein in the bigger city Heilbronn. Jessica’s parents drove us over and we had a few nice fun hours at the pool. The place is complete with two massive water slides which Jess and I gleefully slid down over and over again like little kids and then the hot baths were nice and relaxing. Once we got all pruny we got out and ate a bite of Currywurst at the Cafe. Currywurst is a regional specialty of spicy, red curried sausages and french fries, CB used to eat it all the time when he was stationed here for the military (where he met Regine).

When we got back I met some new relatives of Jess; Elke, her husband Rolf and their two amazing girls Teresa & Lena. Elke is great uncle Wilhelm’s daughter, the sister of Karin who’s restaurant we visited in Vienna. The whole family are terrific hosts, their home was extremely cozy, clean, and well organized, Elke served delicious pastries, tea, and coffee, Rolf was very fun to chat with, having surprisingly read nearly all of our blog, and both Teresa & Lena (8 & 10) were a load of fun. Goofing around with them made me again realize how much I love being with kids; these girls were super smart for their age. We had a really fun time meeting with their beautiful family; I wanted to stay to entertain the girls, but we had Oma’s fresh Käsespätzle waiting at home. Before leaving Teresa invited us to her birthday party this weekend with official hand-made invitation.

Dinner was everyones favorite dish; Käsesätzle. Spätzle are homemade egg noodles, and Käse is lots of different types of cheese, throw in some grilled onions and you have Käsespätzle! As always Oma’s food is delicious, we went to be d full of food and wine again.

19.Nov.08

Jessica’s parents CB and Regine drive us out to a nearby town Maulbronn to see a massive monastery complex. We wandered around the complex and learned about it through an audio tour. The most interesting was the invention of the famous Maultaschen, a ravioli like dish where pasta wraps spiced pork. Maultaschen was invented by the monks here because the Catholic church didn’t allow monks to eat meat (aside from fish) so the monks would hide meat in the pasta. It made us wonder what sneaky things the monks did to get around the whole abstinence thing. It was a good day, aside from being freezing cold in the monastary.

For the evening we went to Aunt Erika and her husband Hans splendid house for a feast of meats and pasta, as well as greeting from their crazy pure bred German Shepards which they breed and sell around the world as show dogs, police dogs, and just awesome pets.

20.Nov.08

Straßburg and Strasbourg are technically the same city split by a river separating Germany and France. It was a couple hours in the car and soon we were on the French side enjoying our 19th country we have set foot in during this trip. The city is truly magnificent, a mix between French and German, with rivers and canals flowing all around like Venice with row after row of cute, unique buildings flanking the water. Being a border city between two historically hostile nations, the remnants of turrets and walls can be seen, as well as a massive Gothic cathedral in the middle surrounded by delicious smelling restaurants. We wandered the city for a few hours, too short for our taste, but Jessica’s parents haven’t been walking half the day for the last year so they got reasonably burnt out after a good deal of exploring. We ended the day at a very nice restaurant and ordered some specialties of the area which were far more German influenced than French including lots of meats and mustards.

21.Nov.08

Today was simply another lovely day in Flein. Good food, good company, good wine, good fun. We went to the Aqua toll again for a few hours, where we rocked the slides over and over again. Met with the usual plethora of uncles, cousins, aunts, etc, and chatted, drank wine, and ate Oma’s awesome cooking. May sound boring, but after the last year of crazy, it was one of the many welcome days of relaxing in Flein.

22.Nov.08

Snow covered the ground outside when we first peeked out the window!!! Flein was even more gorgeous blanketed in white, and the vneyards were simply breathtaking. Jess and I put on our warmest clothes and wandered through the vineyards, taking some beautiful shots of the city. A great thing to wake up to.

After our romp through the snow we did the usual for the day, more of Oma’s cooking, and people popping in and out periodically. In the afternoon we went back to Elke and Rolfs for Teresa’s birthday party. To the reader, hanging out with a bunch of eight year olds may seem more like a chore than fun, but Jessica and I (especially the latter) had a blast. They were at that age where girls are just starting to group together away from boys, but I don’t think boys have too many “cooties” yet because Teresa managed to invite one; he has no idea how awesome his odds are. We all went to the nearby bowling alley, but the way there was even more fun than bowling itself as huge snowball fights ensued with the biggest person (me) as the preferred target. They made and broke alliances with one another as to whether they were attacking me or defending me, but it mattered little as in the end they would all end up on my shoulders getting spun in circles. Adults are cool and all, but nothing is more fun than chasing and playing with a group of kids.

The alley was a much different game from conventional bowling with tiny little balls and nine pins attached to strings for a quick set-up. Rolf and Elke had a good number of unique spin offs of regular bowling to play for the kids, which they (and we) loved. A few hours later we got what every kid ultimately comes to a birthday party for: A FREE BAG OF CANDY!!! The walk back involved many more snowballs and Jessica and I giving a fond farewell to the kids and the family.

That night all the extended family met again for a final delicious dinner followed by openings of ancient bottles of wine to celebrate. One German bottle had been aged from the seventies, A French bottle from like 15 years ago, and a Napa Valley Cabarnet Sauvignon about tn years old, which go figure, was the tastiest. Everyone said last farewells as we would be leaving in the morning, off to see some more of the world.

23.Nov.08

CB and Regine’s flight was midday, but ours wasn’t for eight hours later, still they gave a free ride to Frankfurt airport early in the morning so we would just ahve to wait. Not wanting to kill all that time in the terminal we went in to the city for a few hours, which wasn’t much more entertaining. Maybe living in Frankfurt would be fun, but visiting is not very interesting. The river is pretty, and there is some fun art scattered around the city, but it was nothing extraordinary. So we went back to the airport where we waited for many hours until our flight was delayed again, and again from the snow dumping on the tarmac. Finally we got on the flight and headed for Ireland.

We landed in Dublin late and took a long bus ride in to the city where we wandered a bit while the sky misted on us, to eventually find the bar where our new CouchSurfing host Francois was working until late. Immediately we love Francois, who breaks every negative French stereotype you can think of. We walked to his place after our first delicious Guinness in Ireland. He was very generous in letting us sleep on his comfy bed while he took the floor. Our first impression of Ireland is great so far!

Sorry, I broke all the pics into multiple links. Hope you enjoyed the blog, we are so far behind!!!

Pics of Flein:

http://flickr.com/photos/flufflebuns/sets/72157610021574272/

Pics of Maulbronn:

http://flickr.com/photos/flufflebuns/sets/72157610023679352/

Pics of Strasbourg:

http://flickr.com/photos/flufflebuns/sets/72157609956167889/

Pics of Frankfurt:

http://flickr.com/photos/flufflebuns/sets/72157610605481726/

No, not that Buddha. December 5, 2008

08.Nov.08

How the hell we got into Hungary is still a mild mystery to us. We were told to look for some run-down building to the right of the train station in Tschop, the border town between Ukraine and Hungary. We got off the train and to our great surprise all the buildings were quite nice looking…so what building exactly were we supposed to go into? We went into some small square structure to the right and tried to ask about the short train which  is supposed to carry us across to Hungary. The men there in very KGB looking outfits complete with big black aviator glasses, looked at us like we were speaking an alien language…which technically we were as they spoke no English. We managed to get through to these guys that we wanted to go to Hungary. They gave us some walking directions to hit the Border line a good number of Kilometers away. Having no other obvious option we began our long trek to the border when the guard with the bushy mustache (which isn’t very descriptive as they all had bushy mustaches) came out and said simply “here, wait,” then motioned a steering wheel.

Maybe we have too much faith in the world at this point in our adventure, or maybe he just seemed incredibly sincere and friendly (save the mildly intimidating outfit) but we simply looked at each other and shrugged before putting our backpacks in the trunk and hopping in the backseats. Another mustaccioed man came along who spoke a bit of German, and we managed the typical conversation of “Where from?” “California,” “Oh, Hotel California!” “Yeah, sure, like the song,” “President Obama!” “Yes, we are very happy he won,” “Yes, he is nigger!!!” “Well, yeah, okay,” “No sorry, no nigger, he black,” “Yes, yes, he is black exactly, well thank you guys so so much for the ride,” and he gave my favorite Ukrainian response to “Thank You;” “For nothing, for nothing.” We arrived right at the heavily guarded border, and our chauffeur wouldn’t even accept gas money. Next of course we noticed there was another slight hindrance…you cannot walk across the border as there is absolutely nothing on the other side. No train, no public buses, nothing…so what now. Next thing we knew we threw our bags in the back of a complete strangers car, hopped in and were in queue for the border check. What just happened we can only assume (without English speakers to explain) that due to bureaucracy you must drive or train across the border. Which train exactly remains a complete mystery to us, but those driving across the border extend their generosity to hitchhikers and the like. Everyone other car waiting took a good deal of time to get checked by the Hungarian guards, but obviously pleased by our American passports our guard checked our legal volumes of vodka and let us pass right through, most definitely pleasing our new driver.

So with that long story out of the way we are now in Hungary! We were dropped off at a town nearby and caught the train with only a couple minutes to spare and before we knew it we were standing in the glorious Budapest! A metro and bus stop later and we were ringing the doorbell of our UCSC friend Jordan Menashe in her extremely well placed and spacious apartment. Her four housemates are also UC students studying abroad and right away, aside from the slight mess, we knew this would be a great stay. Our new hosts are all very nice, and completely to my surprise Alex recognized me from high school. He went to CDMHS a couple years behind me, and is now studying at UCSC! We excitedly shared stories of Orange County and Santa Cruz before sleeping on our comfy pullout couch in the living room.

09.Nov.08

Waking up very late, and just bumming around the house, we finally managed to muster some motivation and hop on a train to the outer suburb of Szcentendra. Jordan and her housemate Emily joined along as we sought out a wine festival that we soon found out didn’t really exist. In any case it was a cute, yet touristy, town with a store packed with every flavor Marizpan imaginable (which we happily consumed). We spent the whole day wandering slowly around the town and sharing travel stories and such. Lunch was at a shop with massive potatoes topped with everything your brain could fathom would taste good on a potato and some things that you would think shouldn’t be on a potato. That was it for the day, the train ride gave us a mere glimpse of the extraordinary city of Buda and Pest to come. It is, in fact, two separate cities, Buda is the more posh area on one side of the river including the Castle, and the hills, while Pest lays on the other side of the Danube where the rest of the sites are. Thankfully we have a good number of days here to explore the expansive city.

10.Nov.08

Our first goal of the day was conquering a large hill on the other side of the river (after the goal of cooking breakfast of course). Climbing the hill gave way to many neat little secrets; a church inside of a cave, a playground with massive slides, and at the top a mighty statue of some greek goddess holding a palm leaf. The view was terrific from the top, over to Pest on the other side of the river with towering cathedrals, and the unbelievably florid parliament house, then Buda on our side boasting the mighty castle district and rolling hills. Climbing a high place is always good to do on the first day to orientate ourselves to the city. After hitting the peak for the view we headed through the valley towards the side entrance of the castle complex.

The castle area in every city is simply where the old wall used to protect the more important citizens of the city and where the royal castle would be. Over the years the typical dark, medieval castles have been converted to not as impressive palaces. Then again we simply hold a large place in our hearts for massive, vicious looking castles crumbling from the ferociousness of time and weather. Little pieces like this outer wall are still preserved in ancient glory however!

Wandering through the streets of the inner walls we were pleased with the row after row of lovely aristocratic villas, and very quaint cafes nestled beside a number of museums, palaces, epic statues, turrets, the national library, and a would be very impressive cathedral, were it not under heavy construction! After some good meandering the castle we moseyed on down to the river passing by more loveliness. On the way down we came upon a particularly splendid view of the amazing parliament building across the river with a typical Hungarian church with its colorful roof, in the foreground.

If the Parliament looks familiar to you it is because you have seen a similar building in London ironically also named “Parliament.” They are similar because they were built by the same fellow for the same reason. This building miraculously survived WWII nearly untouched, which is terrific because it is stunning.

Back at the apartment we got in touch with our friend Peter who worked at Kennolyn day camp with me last summer. Born and raised in Budapest he came over and took us out to a couple of his favorite local student bars. Jordan and some of her housemates joined us and we enjoyed a few rounds of local beer and mulled wine surrounded by excellent atmosphere. So far we are very pleased with Budapest!

11.Nov.08

Surprise, surprise, we walked a lot today. Being incredibly cheap travelers we just cannot justify taking the meticulous subway to get where we want to go, when we have two functioning legs to walk with. So we had another day of tiring ourselves out by exploring the grand city on foot. We began with breakfast in one of the 5 massive markets sprinkled throughout the city in the early 1900’s to be hubs of trade. The grand market we went to is like an airplane hangar filled with local veggies, spices, butchers, bakers, with a second floor of souvenirs and food stalls. Hungarian food is nothing other than delicious, although with each bite you can feel an artery clog. We had a smorgasbord of meat, veggies, & noodles, slow cooked in typical Hungarian paprika sprinkled sauce, then a delicious donut-like pastry oozing with berry jam for dessert. Your mouth should be watering about now.

Good thing we do all this walking otherwise the food is likely to give us a heart attack. Speaking of walking, we walked across the city to another impressive structure, St Istvan’s cathedral. A behemoth dome topped structure lined with saints and very mosque-like turrets, it boasts the mummified hand of St Istvan himself inside (which we didn’t bother paying to see).

Describing every gorgeous structure we pass would make this blog at long as War & Peace, so suffice it to say that wandering this city is simply astounding. Every block has something uniquely beautiful to offer. Massive limestone structures with gold leaf sparkling on the walls, huge columns, ancient walls and statues; the cities lengthy history slaps you across the face with every step you take. Truly awe-inspiring is Budapest; likewise as gorgeous as Prague, Berlin, or Vienna, but but all are exquisite in their own unique ways. We headed to the parliament house for a closer look. As imagined it was even more glorious up close and personal. Walking along the river, blinded by the sun reflecting off its white walls, we came across a tucked away memorial; one of those little things you stumble upon that turn a city from amazing to magical. Had we not been previously told what this memorial meant we would have no idea why someone laid rows of bronze shoes along the river. The shoes signify when the Nazis, desperate and surrounded by the soviets, gathered up all the Jews they could, ordered their shoes and clothes off, lined them up by the river, and shot them in the back, dumping the bodies in the Danube. A truly moving memorial.

Later that night we met up with Peter at the apartment. Alex and Jordan met the three of us at a bus stop after school and we hopped on a bus to a place that would change all of our lives. We got off the bus in a tiny insignificant (or so we thought) suburb 30 minutes outside the city. There was nothing around, but some homes, and big tenement block apartments. Peter guided us through the streets until a heavenly light shown on us down an alley. The light attracted us like moths, a light leading to a tiny restaurant tucked away which would soon have us completely re-discover parts of our taste buds we never knew existed.

Peter did all the talking, ordering plate after plate of divine ambrosia. A soup-like succulent borscht with spicy Hungarian kick, a salad with an array of pickled and spiced veggies and peppers, a plate of egg noodles covered in the reddest most succulent beef Goulash imaginable, pork knuckle breaded and covered with cheese and garlic then deep fried, fried mushrooms in white gravy, all washed down with a liquor passed down straight from the Greek gods themselves; Polenka, made with plum, golden in color, it spread through the palate like milk down a babies gullet. A couple of local beers and chocolate covered crepes topped off the meal of a lifetime. Without question the best meal I have eaten in all of Europe, maybe the world, and the most satisfying part was the beyond reasonable bill. I have had meals in life that have cost 5 times as much, and tasted 1/5th as delicious. A large meal at McDonalds would have cost more. Truly a masterpiece of culinary delight, we couldn’t thank Peter enough for taking us to this hidden gem which barely ever sees the wallets of tourists. A delightful evening!

After dinner we went to a small party held for all the Education Abroad Students. It brought back memories of our time abroad, though of all the people we talked to, they seemed to have seen very little of the gorgeous city they now lived in. Oh well.

12.Nov.08

The first chunk of the day was spent working on blog, journal, and pictures; just taking a break. Early afternoon we went on a long walk to the fine arts museum. It wasn’t anything wow, but it certainly was beautiful. Next we went to the famous mineral baths; a huge complex of baths and saunas with varying temperatures. We hopped from pool to pool nestled next to the plethora of large geriatrics (the previously described Hungarian food is delicious, but as we now learn firsthand, does NO favors for the body). We tried to brave one super hot sauna with a max temp of 65 Celsius (152 Fahrenheit) which we managed about 30 seconds sitting around the other heat lovers with beet red skin.

Feeling rejuvenated after a good number of hours soaking we took the subway back to the apartment for Mexican night! Jess and I made our homemade tortillas and the rest of the Apartment whipped up some fixin’s for delicious burritos. We had a great meal and were later joined by Peter and three people we invited through Couchsurfing. We spent the night chatting, laughing, and drinking wine.

13.Nov.08

Midday we met Peter for a goodbye lunch at a kebab place then headed one of the largest Synagogues in the world for a short tour of the grounds complete with its complex history. When the Jews knew the Nazis were coming they took out all the precious stained-glass windows and buried them in sand, miraculously surviving the war completely unscathed and replaced in the window holes after war. The synagogue and surrounding Jewish quarter was a Nazi military base and the Jewish Ghetto during the war. Today it is used by the remaining few thousand Jews as a place of worship. The top floor of the temple is a small museum with massive quantities of silver Torah casings, dradels, and Menorahs. Aside from the massive Synagogue the rest of the Jewish quarter is pretty non-existent.

Our next stop was the museum of terror depicting the double threat to the Hungarian people in the last century. From the years under fascism of the Arrow-cross party, followed by the Nazis, to being “liberated” by the soviets, only to enter an era of equal terror, torture, invasive surveillance, and genocide. A very griping, and well made museum, though with far too much information to take in.

That was pretty much the end of our Budapest adventure. We went home and just hung out the rest of the night, then packed our bags for our long drive to Muenchen in the morning.

Budapest Flickr Photos:

http://flickr.com/photos/flufflebuns/sets/72157609080922549/

Sweet, Delicious Neo-Conservative Tears. November 24, 2008

04.Nov.08

Arriving in Kiev was like jumping from Winter to Summer (not that I don’t love spring), except it is still ass cold here. Kiev seems by far more civilized and familiar than East Ukraine. We arrived way too early and made the mistake of going to McDonalds for breakfast, which they didn’t even serve (see I told you Ukraine is backwards, no egg or sausage McMuffins). I hate McDonalds, especially in other countries. They try so hard to be a “cool” hangout place with flat screen TVs everywhere playing “cool” pop & rap music videos, which are all just scantily clad women, big cars, gangsta’s (there is a differentiation between gangsters), and jewelry thrown into a blender of lights, and stupid lyrics; how can anyone older than 8 find this amusing? Plus I always feel nauseous after eating the food and the WiFi never works; suck it Ronald.

We picked up the stuff we left at the Peace Corps office, and then headed to a very nice part of the city where we shot up a less than terrifying Soviet elevator into a super nice apartment Andrea got for us from a professional Babushka (old ladies seem to run this country huh?). Feeling out of touch with the world I plopped into a nearby café where I sat using the WiFi internet for the next few hours while Andrea and Jess went to go looking at boots and clothes. It is difficult to spot a Ukranian female without boots, and I think all the clippity-clop of their walking got Jess & Andrea wanting to buy a pair. I had done a lot of blog and picture work when they came back empty handed, shoes are just as expensive here, might as well wait untill home.

Tonight we had a few more housemates sharing the floor and splitting the cost with us. We went out to dinner with them, which took an unnecessarily long time to get food to the table. Jess & I couldn’t help but notice how serving Peace Corps in Ukraine has gotten in some of these people’s heads, unless they were already a bit crazy to begin with (you might have to be to drop everything and live in the middle of nowhere for over two years). I was having a bit of trouble getting along with them as I tend to be quite free with my speech and topics of conversation, but one guy in particular was as sensitive and as easily annoyed as a beehive in a bear den. The night didn’t end very well, and Jess and I began to sympathize with Andrea who for so long has socialized with only loopy American companions, and Ukrainians who can be, well, Ukrainians. We are sure she will be as good as new when she gets back to sunny California with all its smiles and joy, but for now…well, can’t we all just get along?

05.Nov.08

We woke up around 4am to drag our asses five blocks to the Hyatt where the US ambassador was holding an election party. All sorts of people showed up; there was delicious (and free!) food served, and the room was buzzing with excitement. When we caught the news earlier in the morning it looked like it was all wrapped up for Obama, but McCain’s losing speech (involving plenty of poor-sport booing) and then Obama’s victory speech gave us all massive smiles (well not the neo-cons in the crowd, but no one cares about them). We even met a lot of Republicans who were happy with the outcome, good times had by all. For the first time this whole trip, we feel proud to be Americans abroad.

Andrea’s feet were about to fall off from the high heels she usually never wears (and shouldn’t ever wear, what silly contraptions), so we went back to the house to change then celebrated by walking around Kiev soaking up the city. There was an unusual number of police out today, we thought because of our elections maybe, but found out that the price of the city metro was raised from the minuscule 10 cents a ride to a staggering 2 Hrivnia (32 cents) a ride. In past years people have rioted, but they seem pretty complacent; the Metro system could barely function with so little income, so it is a good thing.

We changed at the apartment then walked around the city a bit. Kiev is beautiful, steeped in very complex history being tossed back and forth between vying religions and nations, experiencing many massacres by those nations. However, the city has done very well to modernize; towering cathedrals topped with gold snuggled near massive underground malls, local markets, statues galore, and a really cool street performer in the underground walkways dressed as a traditional Cossack. (Cossacks are the equivalent to American cowboys; nomadic, spartan, defending the borderlands of Ukraine. Like true cowboys however they only exist in shows, and underground walkways).

We stopped at an Irish pub for a beer with some new PVC’s. Most of the volunteers we have met thus far have been quite young, but these three were all in their 50’s. They were all very sweet and had a much different perspective than the youngins’, one in particular, Norma, was a riot. She was overflowing bilge buckets of emotion in front of the Pub TV at images she had seen ten times already of those excited kids in Kenya cheering for Obama, the repeated shot of the weepy-eyed Jesse Jackson, etc. Maybe she was a little too excited as if she could reach through the screen every time it showed Obama and give him a huge hug; gotta love her though.

We then chilled at the apartment until night (which is around 5pm), then celebrated at a very nice French restaurant over some wine, steak tartar, and ratatouille. The city by night is almost more extraordinary than by day with the statues all lit up and glowing. It has been a good day for us, and the world.

06.Nov.08

Andrea had some business in the PC office, so Jess and I went to a nice Ukrainian art exhibit. We were surprised at the Ukrainians depiction of Jesus and Mary; most European art disregards history and depicts them as white Europeans, but Ukrainian Orthodoxy depicts them as Middle Eastern. It makes sense since long ago Ukraine chose to adopt Greek Orthodoxy, as opposed to the Italian Catholic neighbors. All in all, the exhibit was nice, though nothing extraordinary compared too the many exquisite art exhibits we have seen in the last couple months.

The Siberian winds are moving in today so our noses are red and runny all the time. We met with Andrea at the apartment and went to explore more orthodox churches up close. As aforementioned Kiev has been tossed around between its surrounding kingdoms (Poland, RUSSIA, Armenia, Turkey, Hungary, etc) for its entire history. Kiev used to be a city full of diversity and wealth, but has been substantially reduced through war, communism, and corruption. There are thankfully some very impressive ancient structures still standing.

We spent the rest of the day keeping warm inside bars, our apartment, and a café to use internet.

07.Nov.08

We took a trip on the Metro out to a very impressive set of churches and an underground labyrinth of worship. Orthodox architects tend to think that building more bulbous golden domes makes the church more important. Having lots of gold bulbs looks nice enough, though they do all start to look about the same. It doesn’t seem that most religions really make an effort to support individualism or diversity anyway anyway (as also noticed by the ten thousand paintings of Mary and naked baby we have seen in the last two months!!!)

In the distance stood a massive statue of a woman with sword and shield standing atop a WWII bunker turned museum. We do not have time to visit however, so instead Jess and Andrea were forced to put on goofy skirt things (it is Holy) and we descended into the holiest of Orthodox catacombs in Ukraine. It was a bit spooky down there at first, but remarkably beautiful. So many Ukrainians came to light beeswax candles and make prayer to dead saints lying in gold leafed caskets. With no lighting but candles, the shadows of the faithful flickered off the walls all around us. It was a nice experience.

We made our way out and back to the city where at a supermarket we stocked up on cheap Ukrainian vodka as souvenirs and to give as gifts to our next hosts. We said our goodbyes to Andrea, headed back into train city and caught our night ride to the Ukraine/Hungarian border.

Kiev Flickr Photos:

http://flickr.com/photos/flufflebuns/sets/72157608766355126/

Shades of Gray November 21, 2008

31.Oct.08

We said farewell to Andrea’s little town Bubnivska Slovidka and boarded a Marshutka (for the new readers; a bus type thing) back to Kiev (thankfully without a smelly Babushka this time). There simply isn’t much to write about today because we just killed time in the city. Met with some friends of Andrea, sat at some bars, ate pizza, planned for our next few days, walked around a lot, and that is about it, nothing special. There was little evidence that today millions of people would roam the streets covered in blood & faerie wings searching for candy. An occasional pair of anorexic looking girls would walk by in tight mini-skirt, halter top, high heels, with far too much make-up and crowned in devils horns. This however, is something completely usual for Ukraine, aside from the devil horns (which many Ukrainians probably mistake for Jew horns; oh silly Ukraine). One bar we went to had a joke-telling Dracula, but the jokes were only funny if you spoke Russian I suppose because we weren’t laughing.

Ukrainian trains are quite a few steps up from our experiences with Indian trains, yet much more reasonably priced than other European train systems. The Kiev train station is a behemoth structure more similar to an airport, more like its own city. This is the one truly great legacy leftover from communist times; train stations, awesome train stations. So we lugged our bags passed the endless line of terminals and found our comfy niche where we whipped out a few beers to enjoy over chat, then slept, practically forgetting that for so many years on this day we would be surrounded by a pile of candy about now.

01.Nov.08

Babushkas stand outside train stations offering their apartments for cash. Occasionally this method might force old people to bear the freezing cold on the streets for your money, but hey, it isn’t winter yet and this is one of the cheaper forms of accommodation and Andrea’s plan for Dnipropetrovsk. What happens when there are none there however, and we have nowhere to stay? That was something we left our Ukraine professional Andrea to figure out. Luckily we bumped into a Peace Corps volunteer for this region, Justin. We all headed to the US “embassy” to game plan ( our “embassy” is actually a really delicious diner with WiFi and cheap, hearty buffet food; Puzata Kchata). Justin became a fast friend, and amused us with hysterical stories of his time in Ukraine. He helped us secure a place to stay with another PCV and we went out to wander the city.

The East is always described as industrial and depressing. More so in dead winter I suppose because the streets are littered with passed out drunk (sometimes dead) Dadushkas and shivering Babushkas struggling to stay alive. It is not winter however and aside from the occasional woman doing crack out of a broken light bulb in front of uncaring police outside the train station, and the massive industrial facilities outside the city, it isn’t a bad place to hang out. Our boogers certainly weren’t near as black as they were in India.  Dnipropetrovsk has parks, ponds, a river, cute shops, and tons of statues (mostly of communist “heroes” and Shevchenko, who was a peasant author important enough to have statues all over every city, even though his image always looks like he want to rape you with huge handlebar mustache). There is a big golden ball made of glass, mostly broken and covered in graffiti with a church in the background along the river. And that is about all in the city.

After some Hare Krishna lunch (I know, we were surprised they are here too) Justin left to hop on a train somewhere and we met with our PCV (Peace Corps Volunteer) host Seth. Seth took us and his friends to another park with a crumbling circus building and a lake with sad looking swan boats, then got really excited about the prospect of drinking Guinness at an Irish pub. So that’s what we did (he doesn’t come to the city often, and spends his time isolated in his nearby village, Guinness was perhaps a little too exciting to him).

Soon we were on a Marshutka heading to Seth’s village for the night. Walking from the bus stop to his house felt much more like Halloween night than the last, but apparently was just a normal weekend night.  Teenage “ghouls” dressed in tight black clothes wandered the streets, a crowd of them hung outside the villages “club,” if you call a community center with scratchy speakers set up blasting techno a club. To the left, a 13 year old boy with a bottle of vodka in hand, to the right, a couple kids in the bushes doing who knows what, and every single eye turned to us three strangers carrying large backpacks and looking about as out of place as a diabetic in a chocolate factory. Making our way clear of the gauntlet of youths we came to Seth’s mansion of a house. Every PCV has to figure out their own housing if they choose not to live with their hosts & most don’t want to live with them anymore after their first month or so of forced drinking and eating to excess every day by their hosts who mean well. Seth got lucky, and a family who have a summer home in his town let him use it for free in the off seasons, all he has to do is pay for utilities. Parts of the house reminded me of Fight Club, with rusting, stained, and smelly bathroom, but it was cozy enough and we had a nice night eating pears off the trees and a light pasta dinner.

02.Nov.08

In the morning we headed back through the now less intimidating city, past the big bright blue orthodox church, on a Marshutka back to DP then a bus to Zaporizhzhya, another industrial, gray city.

Why do we keep torturing ourselves by going to these dreary places? The answer is simple, in 2½ years in Ukraine Andrea has been to all but two Oblasts (states), about to end her service, we are accompanying her for the final two. It isn’t so bad, we meet some cool people along the way, and get to experience how many humans in the world truly live (the “real” Ukraine if you will), as opposed to all the fairy tale places we have visited in the last 11 months of travel. While waiting to meet our new PCV host Elizabeth for the night I sit at our American embassy (Puzata Kchata again) with the bags, while Jess & Andrea get some food for cooking tonight.

Elizabeth greets us with a huge smile, happy to have guests to break her usual isolation. We get to know her stories and some info about the area (not much to tell) while Marshutka hopping to her tiny piece of the world. At first glance it is dark (probably because it is night time) and bland town with one big road and massive, gray blocks pooped out like dominoes by communist dictators as “The People’s Habitats.” I wouldn’t force criminals to live in some of these places, but surprisingly once up the crumbling tenement stairs, Elizabeth’s apartment is actually quite nice and cozy made all the better with a super cute, neurotic cat with a worse sense of agility than a slug. Open a door, you hit the cat in the face, step backwards, you step on it’s tail, walk through the tiny hallway, it just stands in your way like a deer in headlights.

We hung out in the living room over plates of a pasta, chicken, veggie thing we whipped up. Andrea gave advice on how Elizabeth is to keep her sanity through her first horrific winter, and Elizabeth, with Chicago accent, and I talked about super nerdy books, games, and shared theatre stories. Then we slept on couch, bed, and floor.

03.Nov.08

The town seemed equally as dark & dreary as in the night as in the morning. We said goodbye to Elizabeth and two more Marshutka rides later we were in a still depressing city Zaporizhzhya again. Taking a tram from the bus station we passed more tenement blocks and big factories to have it all open up for another fantastic looking train station; Communists had their priorities. After some time fighting with the attendant for service (difficult to come by here) Andrea got two very old CCCP coins to use on the once modern, now decrepit lockers. We stored our bags, bought tickets for another night train to Kiev and got back on the tram through more gray buildings.

We walked all day and the highlights were some very muddy looking fountains surrounded by the largest gray tenement blocks we have ever seen, a man dressed in a horse costume, a massive statue of Lenin, and this lady:

Honestly, that is about it, plus Andrea and I worked on our communication skills, both coming from vastly different experiences the last two years, we have had trouble getting along all the time. Like all the PCV’s we have met, the isolation and strange, often backwards Ukraine culture soak into the brain and turn the person a little socially awkward and sensitive at times. Coming from so many pixie and lollipop lands, I see the world through rose colored glasses, while Andrea’s glasses have become tinted gray. I can see from her perspective how I can be annoying; yet Jess manages to be neutral and pleasant as always. We quickly reconciled our differences over pizza as I promised not to speak in English so loudly in public for Andrea’s fear of us getting stabbed for being foreigners, and that I wouldn’t whistle indoors because they believe you’ll whistle your money away, and that I won’t look people in the eyes, or smile too often…bummer.

Soon it was night and we were in a position where I didn’t want to do any of those things. We walked through a park right out of some post-apocalypse Stanley Kubrik film. Metal trash cans licked flames in the air, surrounded by rough looking men wearing black leather and drinking straight Vodka, their shadows flickering through the blackness only from the fires light. An ever burning flame set in concrete to some communist “hero” had been covered with dead, gray branches and dry leaves to make a warm bonfire in the frosty night. I couldn’t help but be reminded of the origination of the word Bonfire; bone fire, a fire hot enough to turn human flesh, muscle, and bone to ash within three hours (depending on how fat you are). We put on our best soviet faces and walked very briskly through the anarchy to a supermarket on the other side where we got food for another Ukrainian tradition; train picnic! We went to the station and got our bags where we met a dog that some cruel individual had drawn eyeliner on, weird.

Waiting in the train station we sat next to a Babushka reading the bible and doing the catholic ‘Hail Mary’ thing really fast & multiple times every page, we got a kick out of it. Then we were on our night train to Kiev digging into a whole chicken enjoyed with some local brew. Spots of chicken grease still on hands and face we slept soundly in our bunk beds.

E. Ukraine Flickr Photos:

http://flickr.com/photos/flufflebuns/sets/72157608768478419/

Dancing with Babushkas! November 11, 2008

If you saw someone wearing a headscarf and complimented them saying, oh what a cute Babushka on your head, you would be telling them they had a cute Grandmother on their head. The colorful headscarf is something that stereotypical Soviet Babushkas wear on their heads in Ukraine (and Russia). Certainly warmth is one reason for the headscarf, and it can also signify being a widow, but many old Babushkas also wear the scarf over ears when they travel because they truly believe that while in a bus or train they will catch a draft from outside which will enter their brains through the aural cavity and kill them. Babushkas believe that vodka (in many forms) is the cure-all miracle drug, also if a woman sits on the sidewalk their ovaries will freeze, thus preventing childbearing which leads to a very short death. Many cling to Soviet ideals and worship Stalin while being very wary of anything modern or capitalist. They are fun to laugh at, but realistically these women have lived through some unbelievably difficult times, seen many people die, and barely survived a plethora of Siberian winters with little warmth or food. Their counterpart are Dadushkas, but most men from Soviet era have died, or you don’t see them as much because they are lying somewhere in a puddle of their own urine with an empty vodka bottle in hand. There were few Babushkas in Lviv, only some singing on street corners for money, but soon we’ll see many more firsthand.

27.Oct.08

We arrived in the massive, airport-like train station of Kiev then headed directly to the Peace Corps office. The office is six stories with a lounge area on top filled with volunteers waiting for buses or trains to their site after their weekend of traveling. We used internet and showered, then took the metro to a bus station outside the city. There are still some awesome things left over from Soviet times. The Metro for instance is simply unbelievably cheap and surprisingly efficient. For a one way token from anywhere to anywhere along any line it is only 50 copecs. (100 copecs is 1 Hrivnia and 6 Hrivnia is 1 dollar). So for $1 you could ride the metro lines 12 times!!! The government has tried raising the price a number of times, but everyone in the city simply riots, so the price has stayed the same for many years.

Next we were on a bright yellow Marshutka for a three hour journey to Andrea’s site Bubnivska Slovidka. At some point a babushka reeking of urine sat in front of us next to a poor young girl who became the old woman’s temporary psychologist for the next hour. We were dropped off in a small village with its 400 or so inhabitants. It was a short walk to Andrea’s traditional Kchata or ‘little house’ complete with functioning water pump as the only means of water, and a wooden outhouse with a simple hole in the ground. We didn’t stay long as we had dinner arrangements with Andreas counterpart Valentina. Valentina is a teacher with Andrea at the school and was the one who arranged for her to come to their specific village through Peace Corps. She had a delicious meal cooked for us, and though by this point she has had dozens of Americans visit while coming to see Andrea, she was very enthusiastic to chat with us in her perfect English.

Not completely spartan, Andrea’s Kchata has electricity and gas, so we had a warm and comfy night in her spare room after watching a few episodes of “Flight of the Conchords” on the computer.

28.Oct.08

We woke up to a call from Valentina mentioning that today is the weekly Babushka meeting at the town historical museum. We were welcomed with open arms by the ten motherly Babushkas in their bright colored bandanas to a massive buffet of home cooked food.

The meal was delicious; blood sausage, apples pickled in apricot and apple juice, chicken, some sort of sweet onion, red, and green peppers dish, and more home made moonshine than we could handle. Naturally being the male I got a shot of Semahon (the local brew) about three times the size as everyone else. I am no lightweight, but this shit could floor an elephant. We drank and ate merrily, made many cheers, and the meal was broken constantly by beautiful choral singing from the women. One woman sang of her husband being killed during the war and her left heartbroken and widowed in this village. Andrea did an awesome job translating everything for us. Soon they whipped out an accordion and I could not resist joining them in dancing. Having no idea what I was doing I certainly got many compliments for my leg stomping and flailing and I managed to get Andrea and Jess to join along. They turned nearby tools from the museum into instruments and we danced until I felt the blood sausage try to make its way back up my system.

After the whirlwind of insanity the Babushkas left to go home and do what they do all day, which is a mystery untold for centuries. The youngest Babushka Katarina Jakivna stayed behind and showed us the museum she managed. The museum showed traditional tools, school supplies, and a decorated living area, as well as documents from the World Wars and Soviet times. Katarina promised to stop by with food later; something that has kept Andrea very well fed over the last two years, Babushkas fighting each other to feed her.

Next Andrea showed us the school she taught at where we met Valentina again. The kids are on holiday, but they showed us the towns one computer with dial-up modem Andrea hooked up for them. The rest of the day was spent recovering from the morning onslaught of food and alchohol until Katarina stopped by with again more food than we knew what to do with! One great thing they all still do from Soviet times is food preservation! Katarina came with like eight jars filled with bell peppers, apricot/apple juice, fresh cow milk, beans, as well as jellied pork and Bleenchikies. Bleenchickies are dangerous because they are one of the more delicious deserts we have had, addictive as heroin, and certainly clog your arteries. They are basically sweet curd cheese with sugar, raisins, and a touch of love, wrapped in soft crepes, and soaked in some sort of sweet milk syrup, and flying pixie dust. I feel diabetic just describing the little devils. I cannot however express as much love for the mildly offensive jellied pork and chicken. When I say jellied I mean JELLIED,  like gelatin; made with ground hooves (yes, in case you didn’t know, the gelatin you eat in candies is almost definitely made with powdered horse, pig, or cow hooves; the more you know…!) When I say pork and chicken I mean all the parts including feet. bones, intestines, etc. It was surprisingly good, but we couldn’t manage to eat all of it.

After our unhealthy feast we just lounged about then fell fast asleep.

28.Oct.08

We started the morning with hot bucket baths in the kitchen. Having no proper shower we pumped water from the well, boiled it on the stove and took turns taking baths in a plastic tub in the middle of the kitchen! Andrea has been doing this for the last two years, pretty wild. Then we got picked up by a local driving in our desired direction and went to a very unique Ukrainian tradition museum. It is a very nice outdoor museum where traditional homes, churches, and forts are re-created in different era styles. The very basic Cossack huts were pretty awesome as well as the fort, and the decorations in the traditional homes are exquisite with dried herbs and hand woven red and white cloths draping the ceilings.

We spent a few hours exploring the museum then headed back to Andrea’s house where we cooked a small feast of Katarina’s food and just hung out.

29.Oct.08

The entire area surrounding the village is unbelievably picturesque. Andrea showed us the park she jogged through every day in winter during the meager hours of sunlight. She described her first winter here as teetering on a razor thin edge of insanity. Just a few hours of sunlight each day during which she would be in a classroom teaching. I imagine perpetual darkness would make one want to slit their wrists just to see color for once (maybe that is why Ukrainians are so fond of weaving in bright red). Andrea’s second winter was better because she exercised and ate many more fresh veggies though still had the deal with going to the outhouse everyday in well below freezing temperatures.

We explored the next village with rows and rows of incredibly quaint little homes. The highlight of the day was stumbling upon a gay cat and dog couple cuddling together. They were super cute and friendly, but maybe got a little too friendly with me; I have that effect on animals, I think they misinterpret my love and affection for a deeper meaning. We stopped by the market and Valentina’s house where we picked up all the ingredients needed for Borscht. Andrea gave us the recipe and went to do some work with Valentina while we slaved over the stove for hours making a super complex and awesome meal. As usual Jessica masterminded it while I chopped away and stirred; it came out quite perfect.

Andrea came home and was impressed with our first attempt at borscht; we ate drank, and became merry. It was a silly evening and Jessica and I started to understand a piece of Andrea’s semi-isolated life for the last couple of years, and how she came to hold regular dance parties for herself, by herself. The town is beautiful, there is a plethora of delicious food, the people are very friendly, but it is most definitely a much different way to live than she was used to, a big congrats to Andrea for surviving two years of peace corps out here!

Bubnivska Slovidka Flickr Photos:

http://flickr.com/photos/flufflebuns/sets/72157608608541142/

(Even if you have seen them, check out the pictures again, we recently added some more taken with Andrea’s camera).

A Theme for Descent. November 9, 2008

24.Oct.08.

The sun still hadn’t risen when we boarded the bus from Poland to Lviv, Ukraine. Our host Piotrek was kind enough to wake up so ridiculously early and drive us to the station. Crossing the border was not as difficult as everyone made it out to be. An armed guard came aboard checking for Contraband and after an hour or so wait we were officially in Ukraine! A kind English chap allowed us to use his phone to call Andrea on arrival and soon a she gave us a very friendly welcome. Andrea Ahlert is one of Jess’s best friends from high school and we haven’t seen her for 2½ years since she has been serving in Peace Corps Ukraine teaching English to kids in a small village outside Kiev.

Andrea briefed us about a few of the insanities of Ukraine while riding a Marshutka (city bus) into town. Most import rule of safety: don’t step in puddles, potholes, and especially manhole covers. It sounds like a joke, but her friend had recently stepped on a manhole cover only to find herself covered in human waste and stuck in a sewer for a longer time than desired (which is really any amount of time). We arrived to the city where we met a former English student of Andrea’s who allowed us to stay in his apartment. The very amiable Bukchdan (kch like in Kchutzpah) is one of the outwardly gayest people we have ever met (meaning we love him right away). He only survives in such a horrifically homophobic society because Ukrainians are so delusional to think that there simply are no gay men in Ukraine. Moreover, many straight men in this part of the world dress like the 6^th member of N’Sync, so Buckhdan doesn’t have an issue blending in.

Imagine the most stereotypical soviet apartment block you can fathom. Big gray cubes in rows, clothes draping out the windows, surrounded by dead trees; this is what we pulled up to. Terrified for our very lives we boarded the dilapidated Soviet elevator; clinking and clanking slowly upwards we would have prayed to a deity if we had one. After dropping off our bags we headed back down the stairs this time. We then learned Bukchdan’s (and many other Ukrainian’s) favorite pastime, one we haven’t experienced since our days in Asia; Ghettoblasting. Full volume on his little cell phone he blasted one of the many new pop songs plaguing the world today. Sung by some half-talent diva, the lyrics begin “I kissed a girl, I liked it;” this would now become our theme for descending flights of stairs as hereafter every time we leave his apartment this song echoes off the walls from his phone.

Another Marshutka ride later and we were eating at the modern, capitalist equivalent of a Soviet bread line; Puzata Kchata. This place became an instant favorite; something like a delicious home-cooked meal meets college dining hall, for reasonable prices. Then Bukchdan took us to the Cathedral where his grandmother was baptized as a girl.

We basically just hung out the rest of the day. Ate some delicious pastries at a café, had some coffees, beers, etc. In the evening we went to a Soviet bunker bar, where a bouncer carrying a replica WWII machine gun and a helmet asked us for the password. Andrea translated for us later, the bouncer asked “Are you Russian?” Bukchdan answered “Hell no. Long live Ukraine!” He could tell we were foreign, but allowed us in anyway. The bar was filled with replica guns and helmets to play with and pictures and icons of the Soviet era and Ukrainian resistance fighters. The Ukrainians hated the Russian occupation, and during WWII many people were happy with the Nazi takeover as they were treated better than under Stalin. Years and years later Stalin’s brainwashing worked however, and if you ask many Ukrainians from the older generation they will still praise the greatness of the bushy mustachioed dictator.

So after a few beers we headed back to a very smoky apartment where Bukchdans housemates had a few people over. We drank some vodka with them and conversed in broken English until the higher alcohol content vodka and beers took their toll and we passed into a stone-like slumber.

25.Oct.08

After another meal at Puzata Kchata our first stop today was the top of a large hill to overlook the city. We walked slowly through the park, Bukchdan Ghettoblasting the whole way, and wound up the hill to a platform on top where many others were drinking and smoking, enjoying the pretty weather with a nice view. Going nowhere in a hurry we wound our way leisurely back down and strolled through some more city parks. At some point we saw a pig tethered to a tree accompanied by a very curious small dog; something you don’t see everyday.

After some time souvenir viewing at a local bazaar we met with more of Andrea’s friends in the city for a Turkish lunch where we all shared travel stories. After lunch they went their separate ways and the four of us ended the day with many hours in a Hookah bar where we smoked a tropical blend of Shisha and shared a few beers.

26.Oct.08

Bukchan had other things to do today so we had to sing “I Kissed a Girl” to ourselves while descending the seven flights of stairs. We had delicious omelets at a fancy place then climbed many flights up the city bell tower for a great view over all the city.

Seeing some cool cathedrals in the distance we had our next destination. Slowly making our way through city and parks, and scaring many pigeons along the way we found the towering cathedral to be not so impressive close up. Once inside we witnessed the fanaticism of Ukrainian Catholics. It was like a Jesus orgy; people kissing paintings and statues of his and Mary’s feet, shaking their hands together in highly concentrated prayer, using white cloth to wipe glass encasing relics, and oh the candles! More fervor than even at many Indian temples…it was weird. A ceremony deeper inside was figuratively drowning three babies in the waters of baptism, dooming them to feel guilty the rest of their unwritten lives for sins that don’t exist. Who knows, maybe they do have it all figured out; just to be sure we drank a few helpings of holy water!

A taxi ride later and we were chasing the metaphorical holy water down with some exponentially more delicious beer at the local Lviv brewery. Sadly they had no tour of the brewery, but we enjoyed ourselves nonetheless. Then we walked a long way back to the city center just enjoying the nice day and chatting about travels, Peace Corps, and gossip. Andrea talked about how ready she is to leave Ukraine because it is a difficult place to live with rampant xenophobia, ignorance, and alcoholism, so far however, it seems pretty nice to us, though we would be utterly lost without Andrea as there is no English anywhere to be found and her Ukrainian and Russian is constantly complimented by locals. With one last look at the city square we headed back to Bukchdans to gather our things and leave the city.

We made our way to the train station and caught the overnight train to Kiev. The train was surprisingly comfortable for a more reasonable price than anywhere else in Europe.

Lviv Flickr Photos:

http://flickr.com/photos/flufflebuns/sets/72157608600087313/

Bagels! November 6, 2008

19.Oct.08

It is not even painful anymore to wake up super early. We were out of the house walking towards the Wroclaw Glowny under a black sky while the teenagers were still stumbling home drunk from their long Saturday night. We skedaddled on the train and caught a few more Zzz’s on the way to Krakow.

Jess brought up an interesting conversation topic as we loaded our bags into the Krakow train station lockers. The lockers are clearly big enough for a whole human, how often do you think a corpse or live person have gotten locked in one? We pondered and discussed as we meandered out and towards the city center. Along the way we discovered an awesome treat that is one of the main symbols of Krakow; GIANT BAGELS! We bought a cheesy one and thoroughly enjoyed its deliciousness, reminiscing on how seldom in this year we have had a good bagel; very exciting! The nearest information booth gave us our first essential quest item; a map! The friendly attendant gave some info on the castle and things to do in the city. We had all day to explore before our Couchsurfing hosts got home from work and we’d meet at their house.

The city square was beautiful with the usual statues, fountains, & floods of people shadowed by a towering cathedral. On instinct we skipped into the cathedral not expecting such a massive gathering for Sunday Mass. After all we have just come from such ‘evil’ atheist countries, and naturally we expect cathedrals to be mostly empty save some tourists even on a Sunday. Poland is a whole different enchilada however, a very catholic enchilada. So we wandered through the gaggle of people listening to the unseen guy somewhere near the altar talking in intangible gibberish. For the first time ever we saw people giving confession, complete with old dude wearing black robes, massive silver cross, and a funny black hat which looked like a pair of tits on his head.

We got more bagels for a snack, which are sold everywhere & ridiculously cheap, then headed to the castle sitting atop a hill (as always). As with most castles it had walls, turrets, doors, plants, murals, stones, museums, and a cathedral. Our first stop was the cathedral where photos are, as usual, forbidden which doesn’t stop us from sneaking a few; its not like our photos will suck their soul…or will they? We climbed the steeple to some ancient bell, which would have been more impressive if we could actually ring it. There wasn’t much of a view so we went back down and enjoyed all the art including one quite spectacular silver plate dented delicately to form an intricate war scene.

We have simply been to so many museums and weaponry exhibits in the last month that we didn’t feel up to paying the entrance fees so we headed back out and into the city. A band in traditional Polish costume were playing outside which made for a nice pic:

Around the corner the castle was protected by some fire breathing bronze dragon, which kids loved to climb all over. We wandered more through the city checking out the many surrounding park areas and cathedrals then settled down to a great lunch of traditional Polish dumplings. Feeling lazy we plopped down at a bar where we used the free Wifi and had a beer to kill time before our hosts got home from work. Then we saw a bit more of the city before heading to the station to pick up our bags.

Next to the train station is one of the most massive modern malls we have ever seen; we thought only America built such monstrosities. We killed more time there then grabbed our bags and made a long walk to our hosts place. Ola, Tomek, and their crazy black cat greeted us warmly and we chatted a couple hours away and slept on a pull-out bed.

20.Oct.08

In the nick of time we hopped on the bus to Auschwitz, luckily only a Polish bus or we may have not returned. First stop was camp I, the original detention center and HQ for all death camps. Amazingly the Polish youth don’t seem to have learned anything from history as we caught one high school Neanderthal mocking an Asian family walking by. You’d think they’d learn from what happened here, but we continuously hear other stories even from our hosts of Polish Xenophobia, Homophobia, and Anti-Semitism (maybe goes hand in hand with being 90%+ Catholic?). Camp I’s entrance is the famous “Arbeit Macht Frei” sign (Works makes freedom).

Beyond which lay a series of detention blocks with small museums filling many. The museums were packed with documentation, pictures, and relics of the atrocities at Auschwitz. Most stunning was an unreal amount of woman’s hair in a massive pile behind a glass case. The hair would have been used to make cloth which there were examples of. Diagrams of the killing chambers, piles of glasses, briefcases, combs, prosthetics, the stories of Jews, Homosexuals, Roma/Sinti (AKA gypsies, which we finally learned were originally from India), and the tales of those persecuted and brought to Auschwitz from each individual European nation. It was all exactly as we expected to be, but still very powerful.

One disappointing part was the massive amount of Catholic relics as opposed to Jewish. At many monuments where mostly Jews were killed stood crosses, images of the pope and JC, and often not one Star of David to be found. I felt it necessary to be a temporary “good Jew” and drew a Star of David to put among the plethora of placed crosses on a firing squad wall.

Next we headed to Camp II by bus which was beyond any size we have ever imagined. This was where the true evil took place and millions of people lost their lives. In a last ditch to cover their tracks while under pressure the Nazis bombed and burned most of the camp, leaving a sea of standing brick chimneys surrounded by electric barbed-wire fence, and a handful of intact wooden structures. The feeling was somber as we walked through the camp reflecting on the atrocities which took place all around us. To actually walk the road where a million people’s final steps were taken is deeply moving and horrifying. Though the crematoriums and gas chambers lay in ruin, and grass covered the tossed ashes of those incinerated, one could feel the depth and suffering by knowing that these once functioned as factories of no use other than mass human extermination. From early on we learn about the Holocaust in school, books, television, movies, pictures, & stories, but only here, where you can feel the pain of the deceased and hear their screams for help, is one fully able to reflect on the brutality of mankind. The suffering one can so easily inflict on another is astounding. Nothing like the Holocaust must ever happen again. Sadly the human race continues to commit such atrocities, and hatred and suffering exist in the skeleton-filled closet of every country on earth.

Making our way back to the entrance to catch the bus home we passed two groups of Israelis draped in blue and white flags. We later learned from our hosts over a home cooked dinner that the Israeli government flies school classes out to Auschwitz all year.

21.Oct.08

Today we began by taking a stroll old Jewish quarter. Sadly those swastika wearing shit-heads ripped away anything Jewish and left empty buildings that could nowadays barely be called temples or synagogues. The area was used as a Jewish Ghetto before many were sent to Auschwitz. The survivors would have moved back to their Polish homes, but ironically enough the Polish turned around and decided to be anti-Semitic as well, leaving currently not one Jew or used Jewish building in the area; there was the only Jewish bookshop in Poland however!

We had some nice ribs and soup at a local place and for the rest of the afternoon we enjoyed the beautiful weather, strolled through parks, sat and read/played Sudoku, and walked to a gorgeous Cathedral in the distance with a really disappointing interior:

In the evening we hung out with our hosts at their place and they made us some pickle soup dish.

22.Oct.08

Krakow has a nice, efficient system of private buses which we caught for an hour ride out of town to one of the world’s largest salt mines. We paid for entrance and waited for an English tour to start because you cannot enter the mines without a group and guide. When we had a group we made our way down a nearly infinite number of stairs. The tour was a couple of hours with a background and history of the mine. Most notable were the “Methane Burners” who were life-sentence criminals who would wear thick water drenched cotton and come down with massive flaming cotton swabs to burn out methane vents for the days work. If this weren’t done, the methane would build up and when it touched a flame would engulf a good chunk of the mine, making a charred corpse of all the unfortunate who stood in its path. Accidents still happened, which is why lifers were put down there. The next most interesting part were the statues made of the dark gray impure salt, and an entire cathedral deep down carved out of the salt walls.

We became among the lucky few to use the deepest toilets in the world, a place where the deepest bungee jump was made, and the deepest area where a hot-air balloon was raised. Thankfully instead of killing ourselves on stairs back up there was a convenient elevator to surface us. Then we took a bus back to Krakow where we got some goods from the market and made dinner.

In the evening we strolled back into town with Ola and Tomek for some bar hopping. They brought us to a place with a huge variety chilled Vodkas served in frozen glasses. We sampled many varieties and the night felt warmer all of a sudden. Then we hopped in and out of a few more bars and later headed to get the best Kielbasa in town. Seemingly in the middle of nowhere a green truck pulls up every night for a few hours and serves fresh kielbasa with bread and mustard. This has been happening for around 20 years, and people come from all over the city for the BBQ; delicious.

23.Oct.08

We spent the morning cooking socks on the electric stove top to try and dry them. The washing machine doesn’t have the best spin cycle so even leaving them hanging for 24 hours left our clothes wet and we didn’t want them smelling in our bags. Still slightly damp we packed our clothes away and walked to the bus station grabbing a few delicious farewell bagels along the way.

A short train ride later and we were in the nowhere city of Rzeszow. There was one sort of okay looking downtown area in the city surrounded by industry. We spent the afternoon in a bar using WiFi and reading. We only came here for one night and then tomorrow we leave for Ukraine. Our CS hosts Piotrek & Dorota picked us up when they finished work and we headed to their brand spanking new, modern apartment and shared travel stories from India and elsewhere. They were super nice for hosting us just one night.

Krakow Flickr Photos:

http://flickr.com/photos/flufflebuns/sets/72157608592143860/

Wroclaw got to do with it? November 4, 2008

Currently the title should make little to no sense for most of you, but even when I explain it, it will still be stupid. Pronounced in Polish, Wroclaw sounds almost exactly like “What’s love?” reminding us always of that damn song… Thus is our next stop, the Polish gnome town of Whatslove.

15.Oct.08

We had it all planned out through the Czech travel website. We were to board a bus from Prague at 11am from the main station, though sometimes shit happens. We got to the station with plenty of spare time, but apparently our particular bus going straight to Wroclaw hasn’t been running for the last year; how about a site update people! So instead we took a train at 2pm and bummed around a couple hours in the station. Finally we were on a series of three different trains zig-zagging through Czech & Poland to our destination. After much reading and conversing with a crazy Swedish guy we arrive at the Glowny (main station) around 11pm. Now in Poland, we took a walk past all the drunks, over a bridge, then through a park along the river where we met our hosts at their apartment.

Russ is a tall, slim vegan fellow from Texas studying Polish and Esperanto, and his girlfriend Anne is a Polish vegetarian working and studying in her home town. Both love board games and met each other at a super nerdy Esperanto conference somewhere in Europe. For the layman (like us) Esperanto is a language made up a good while ago to be the next major world language. Every piece of grammatical structure and vocabulary is designed to be basic, yet rhythmic and beautiful. It is no countries official language, but everywhere in the world contains a community of enthusiasts. The people obsessed with this language would be similar to the people who want to have Kelvin become the primary form of temperature measurement because of absolute zero logic; in other words: nerds (but cool nerds like us). We met our hosts and another Couchsurfer they were hosting, but after a short chat we all went to sleep.

16.Oct.08

Today we went gnome hunting. Wroclaw is the center of an anti-communist movement called project Orange, a small artistic group who went around dressed as gnomes and protested against the commies by giving out menstrual pads and other items difficult to come by in those times. The idea was that the government would look foolish arresting gnomes trying to do something essentially good; a well planned political statement. The group and their leader got in bits of trouble here and there, but altogether gave good hope to the people of Poland and was among the reasons Poland was one of the first countries to drop Communism like a red hot coal. As a part of their movement they hid 13 gnomes throughout the city of Wroclaw to remind the people of their struggle. The gnomes still exist for our enjoyment, like this cute one:

Continuing our gnome hunting we headed to the city museum where we wandered through more medieval and modern art exhibits. After that we headed to the gem of the city, a massive domed building containing a stunning 360 degree oil painting of a battle fought in the name of Polish independence from Russia (they lost the battle, but the fight increased Poland’s morale). It sounds silly, but the details of the piece and its massive scope made it quite stunning. As a play by play description of the battle scene was given through a headset it truly felt you were part of the action happening all around you. Pictures were forbidden, but I snuck this okay one.

With ocular cavities fully satisfied we headed back towards our hosts apartment grabbing a bunch of groceries and beer to cook dinner for them. We cooked roasted veggies and cabbage with onions and apples. We taste tested all the delicious local beers and played a few of their stacks of board games all night.

17.Oct.08

Russ and Anna had work again so Jess and I explored more alone. Gnome hunting was tough, we managed to find about five, and an alley filled with a bunch of bronze animals. They (I don’t know who ‘they’ is; the tourism industry?) claim that Wroclaw is the “Venice” of Poland, but the only resemblance we saw were a couple of islands surrounded by water. The islands were very pretty with lots of trees and fun art sprayed on old communist tenements. We explored a series of remarkable churches and climbed to the top of one’s steeple. It is all very splendid, but you know…the churches and art in Europe do end up blurring together a bit after so long traveling here. It doesn’t get boring I suppose, just repetitive, oh how we long for a Mosque.

We discovered an unbelievable year round local market in a big old brick building. Like two excited little pigs we skipped around buying a wide assortment of fresh veggies; most excitedly a couple varieties of foraged mushrooms! Our hosts had gone out to a performance for the evening, so Jess and I had a nice night to ourselves and cooked a delicious mushroom soup. We played more board games when they got back and went to bed.

18.Oct.08

Longing for a day of doing nothing, we simply stayed home with our hosts, read, used internet, and played board game after brain-busting board game. For you at home who have some silly idea that we were playing kids games like Monopoly or Life, you are wrong. The games we played required brainpower to a larger degree than even chess. After too much constant play our heads would hurt like when you drink or eat something really cold too fast and it cools your pulmonary artery, pumping the chilled blood to your brain and making your face shrivel up like a constipated pug. Near brain aneurysms aside it was a relaxing day and mostly ugly outside anyway. We managed to leave the house once to get groceries, cooked dinner, and went to bed early having to wake up long before the sun rises.

Wroclaw Flickr Photos:

http://flickr.com/photos/flufflebuns/sets/72157608558633848/

Wait, There are no Umlauts in Czech… November 1, 2008

11.Oct.08

Saying goodbye to Jitka and Jirii in Cesky Budejovice was painful. We could have easily stayed longer in their comfortable, welcoming home for ever. Thus is the life of us nomads however, we must move where the wind blows us; in this case we feel a strong southern wind pushing us very quickly via train to Praha! Also known as Prague and without question one of the most popular cities in Europe, we thoroughly await our arrival in the metropolis. Luckily for you readers we can just teleport to arrival right now!

So here we are now in the innards of the train station which is under heavy repair and reeking of chemicals. We manage to find the subway ticket machine and quickly make our purchases for a short trip to our hosts place. The Prague “underground” is an understatement, a crazy steep escalator shot us down to where we could nearly feel the flames of hell licking at our feet. Soon we are on the train car when again for the second time this whole trip we are checked for tickets. Also for the second time this trip we are pulled out of the train and the security guard tries to force another 700 crown ($40) fine for not having purchased the “correct” tickets. We politely explained how utterly confusing their stupid machines are and no other subway system requires you to buy a separate ticket for a transfer, but he was merciless. Asking for our passports and putting his cell phone to ear to get the police, we called his bluff and just walked away. Amazingly it worked; he had to realize we weren’t worth the time and effort and walked away as well. Sweet!

Now of course we became instant fugitives. Too stubborn and nervous to go back and use the subway, and stuck in the middle of nowhere (a nowhere which doesn’t appear to exist on our little guide book map). So we wander aimlessly seeking assistance. First we come to a Gypsy (Roma) man who could only manage to state his own ethnicity “Roma, Roma” he said and pointed at his chest. Well that certainly doesn’t help. Then we showed him the map and he looked at it as if I were aliens showing him our newest Bcklogk machine. We managed to get him to understand it was a map of Prague and he finally pointed us towards the river we needed to get to.

More wandering and we found a street tram which brought us finally to our Couchsurfer host David’s house. Luckily we met him right as he was leaving, and he invited us in, we had a bit of a chat, then he left to do some chores and we ate at a nearby pub.

He gave us a great map we followed to the city center. We came to a currency exchange center which had good rates to change some money, but there was a large line outside. Thankfully there was a man standing outside offering to change our money for a terrific rate 20Kc per $1 (as opposed to the usual 18Kc). Being used to scams we gave him a hundred and checked his Czech note thoroughly. We’d never seen a 2,000Kc note however, but it looked legitimate. His biggest mistake was being too pushy in asking us to exchange one more hundred, and then Jessica looked closer at the bill and saw umlauts (these things: ä, ü, etc) which we know do not exist in the Czech language; it was in fact a note from Hungary worth about 3/4 less to the dollar. We handed him back the Hungarian money and he gave our hundred back still insisting as he snuck away “it is real, it is real.” We had to give the guy credit for creativity and honesty (it was after all real money). Before we could get the police, he disappeared like a ghost. Close call!

Soon we found ourselves boarding an alien spaceship-like elevator which took us high in a clock tower overlooking the entire gorgeous city. We had a great view of the castle in the distance, the massive public square surrounded by cathedrals, and the plethora of old bohemian apartments flooding the city. We stayed until sunset and soaked in the gorgeous view.

We descended the tower and followed the sounds of a large ruckus being made in the distance to stumble onto an anarchist rally. As with all anarchists we would love to see these people try to exist in true anarchy, as the only skills they seem to have is putting together neat costumes, listening to good techno, owning cute dogs, and drinking heavily. We followed the rally for awhile and tried to snap some photos of their freaky ass outfits and decorated cars. As always there was no specific purpose to their weakly organized rally, but it was fun anyway. We were just happy this post soviet society allowed such a crazy rally, yay freedom of speech!

Then we were crossing a massive ancient bridge flanked with dark statues and gatehouses on each side. It gave a terrific view of both river coasts and the splendid city lit up at night. On the other side we made our way back down to David’s house where he was cooking us dinner. His Czech girlfriend saw our “Best Of” picture slideshow and showed more enthusiasm than anyone we have shown it too. She gave the terrific idea that we should put some of the best pictures we have taken this year on exhibition, something we now plan to try! David works as a wine Somelier in a fancy restaurant, and his taste in reds and white was magnificent and complemented his tasty pasta well. So that was our night, then we slept deep on our pull out bed.

12.Oct.08

Our first goal was heading to that gorgeous castle on the hill. We took a street tram up and on the way walking bumped into a little sanctuary with a small but amazing collection of hunting birds. A volunteer with perfect English gave us some very interesting info on each bird, including the bird she owns clinging to her arm. She talked of being a falconer and how she hunts with her beast. It made us want to pick up a new hobby.

After spending a good amount of time with this girl filled with bird passion we made our way to the nearby castle. We queued in line to enter the gothic cathedral towering over our heads. Exploring the Cathedral was worth five times the wait; an absolutely flawless piece of art, second only to St. Peter’s Basilica in Vatican City. Every inch was awe-inspiring, the bright, intricate stained glass, towering columns, and silver statues. Cathedrals in use close off some of the more beautiful areas only for the catholic elite, but with the Czech Republic’s dwindling catholic population this cathedral is now a free exhibit open to the public and preserved by the state; Czech is awesome.

We bought tickets for the castle area and spent the day wandering from museum to museum in the castle. Each contained different relics and information on the extremely long history of the castle grounds, dating back to times when man just smashed rocks together and grunted a lot (if you are a mormon, or Sarah Palin this might be around the time humans lived with the dinosaurs). There were some great little abbeys, a prison tower, and a very quaint merchant sector with small slanting buildings in a cobblestone alley. Our last stop was through the castle vineyards which boasted another great city view.

On the way to the middle of nowhere we stopped at a bakery for some sandwiches. The server nearly had a stroke when we asked for tap water, something I don’t think tourists usually do (even though the Czech water is great). When we went back for a refill her manager yelled at her for pouring us water…it was kind of an awkward situation, not like we were going to pay for water either way! Then after a long tram ride we followed the steady stream of black shirts for awhile and found the club where Animosity would be playing tonight! Feeling like Charlie with the golden ticket to the chocolate factory we entered the club using the “we know the band” move. We met up with Leo soon, but it was too loud to talk much. We enjoyed the music until it was time for Animosity to play; unfortunately the lead and rhythm guitarist were nowhere to be found, later learned to be at a bar in the city getting drunk with a midget (I’m actually not kidding here). So for the first time in all their many years of tour history Animosity forfeited their spot and Red Chord played early, but finally they showed up and Animosity played a short, but sweet set.

After they played we all went outside, sipped cheap wine, and talked about their current tour, our traveling, and how Leo’s dog Milo was doing after falling off a cliff in SF (full recovery after lots of surgery). There was some fun drama between band members and involving the tour manager, but it was a good night and awesome seeing Leo after so long. The headlining band was Walls of Jericho, which Jess and I were surprised to see a female death metal vocalist for the first time. We were especially impressed that she could manage being the only chick with 32 smelly guys packed in two busses for a month of tour. So that was our night, we caught the last street train home and went sleepy.

13.Oct.08

Our host David had some commitments to attend to, so we had to move in with a new host Irena a ten minute tram ride away. We dropped off our bags and went out to breakfast with her, then she went back to work as a curator for a museum and we went to see some Jewish stuff.

The Jewish quarter no longer has many Jews, for obvious reasons, but all the old temples have been converted into museums on Jewish culture, practice, and history. After buying our unnecessarily expensive entrance tickets our first stop was an old community hall with the names of every Jew from Prague killed in the Holocaust painted in red on the walls. Next was the stunning cemetery with gravestones smushed seemingly haphazardly in a small courtyard. This configuration was necessary with the small amount of land allotted to the Jews over the centuries, but ended up being truly gorgeous formations of Hebrew writing on old moss covered stones.

Unfortunately for us, and people who like our pictures, our camera’s battery ran out at this point. Still we enjoyed our time wandering the Jewish quarter and visiting all the temples and common rooms. There was a lot of cool history and artifacts containing tons of silver. Many Torahs and prayer shawls later we felt like experts on Jewish culture and religion.

Next we had some Goulash at a pub and met with another familiar face from back home. If you read the beginning of this Blog we stayed our first days in New Zealand with the Mulgrew family. Joe Mulgrew was a camp counselor with me at Kennolyn where he met his girlfriend Eva from Czech also working abroad at our camp. Joe flew in yesterday and is staying with Eva in Prague where they plan to travel a bit of Europe before he finally goes home after almost two years away from Kiwiland. We met them in the town square and after a quick chat headed to a really weird art exhibit.

The artist was one of the most famous in Czech, and his photos were all nude pictures taken black and white and painted over with vivid colors. The entire exhibit was very aesthetically pleasing, but some of the pieces were even weird for us, and if you are familiar with all the weird shit we are in to, then you understand how unbelievably insane this exhibit must have been. Overall we found it a very enjoyable and interesting exhibit.

The four of us went out to a unique bar where each table had four beer faucets for filling your own glasses, all electronically measured. We drank a good amount and talked into the night about all of their and our travels. On the way back we had our first blatant anti-American sentiment from this entire trip when a guy walking by us muttered “Fucking Americans.” I turned around and sincerely explained his complete ignorance on the subject. We can dislike Americans because we are and we know the proper ones to dislike (like the red states). He however was making a stupid judgment based on our appearance and accent, which is the same ignorance one could legitimately judge about so many Americans, not that the rest of the world is any better or worse as we’ve learned. After laughing him off we made our way back home and slept in our new loft.

14.Oct.08

Far too early for our liking we were napping on a bus to a city on the outskirts of Prague called Kutna Hora. Our main motivation for visit was a Cathedral where the bones of 40-60,000 skeletons of plague victims were used to decorate. We thoroughly enjoyed viewing every inch of the morbidly beautiful interior covered in namely skulls and femurs. Historically, people buried in church graveyards are only renting the space. After a hundred years or so the bones were dug up and put into an ossuary and a fresh corpse is buried in its place. Lacking ossuary space and overflowing with skeletons from the ‘Black Death,’ one creative monk made statues, chandeliers, and organized piles of the remains in this city cathedral. The Bohemian King Rosenberg’s crest was even made of bones complete with the part of the coat of arms with the Turks skull being pecked at by a raven. This place was right up our twisted alley.

We came here for the bones, but did not anticipate the city itself being so cute. After lunch and a couple beers we wandered around the quaint city and to a magnificent cathedral overlooking a valley of colorful trees. It was like teleporting back a few hundred years walking along the cobblestone flanked by statues with massive gothic pillars and spires in the distance. It was quite a sight and completely unexpected beauty.

We hopped on the bus back to Praha where we continued with more street trains to one of the only parts we haven’t explored yet, the monastery complex. The buildings were closed, but it was significantly splendid simply from the outside. We were surprised with more excellent views of the city and one photo of a lion statue that was particularly dramatic (though the lighting has been digitally enhanced, a cool function on our camera when details are too dark; makes for a sick enough picture though).

We walked a few kilometers back to our temporary home passing by the American embassy where completely unnecessary automobile screenings took place by heavily armed guards for any car driving on the street leading to the big Red, White, and Blue flag. It was embarrassing to walk by as it just showed the nutso paranoia of the US government especially since none of the nearby embassies had anything similar. That was all of our Prague adventure; overall one of the more beautiful cities we have seen!

Prague Flickr Photos:

http://flickr.com/photos/flufflebuns/sets/72157608148102681/

Kutna Hora Flickr Photos:

http://flickr.com/photos/flufflebuns/sets/72157608148256847/