The best way to get to see everything you're "supposed to see" while in a city, is a hop on/hop off bus. They're surprisingly cheap (at least the one's I have taken). It was so easy to jump off at a stop, get our pictures, read the info, and then hop back onto the next bus. Sometimes we grabbed the very next bus, while other times we walked for an hour before hopping back on.
Heroes Square
Wine holder!
Budapest castle, on the Buda side of the river
Walked by this on the street...
After the bus tour, we went back to the apartment to relax for awhile. Gellert wanted to take me to this famous bar downtown, so after some relaxation and a nap, we headed out. The place was amazing! Older people were there... kids with their parents were there... married couples... singles... It was just a really cool local environment. The decorations spread throughout the place were randomly awesome. The apartment building used to be part of the Jewish district and was going into ruin when someone decided to open a bar in it. There is a large open space in the center, with multiple floors that have terraces facing the open area. The individual apartments have all been opened up, allowing everything to flow smoothly. Whoever made the first suggestion that the place be turned into a bar, is a genius! It was great seeing such a neat place that ALL the locals hang out at.
After leaving the bar, Gellert and I headed to McDonalds. This wasn't quite the McDonalds I was thinking of...
As we are getting closer to the end of this trip, we are getting lazier. The day didn't start until close to 10 AM. We lazed around the apartment for awhile, slowly packing, until it was time to head to the train station. We got there in time to just hang out in the McDonalds with some coffee until our train arrived. Out of the other two trains MaryAnn and I have been on, this one was by far the nicest. The seats were set up like those of an airplane. We had a lot of leg room, and the ride was so smooth!
We arrived in Budapest, and went to our host's apartment. It turned out that he had gone shopping, just because we were coming. He had so much food in his fridge and pantry, that he doesn't even eat. This degree of hospitality was unexpected, but much appreciated!
It was a rather uneventful night... Gellert, our host, showed us around the city a bit, and left us on the cities busiest shopping street. He made sure we knew how to get home, and set us free! I like getting most of my souvenir shopping done on the first day that we are in a place... It just makes the other days easier, as I don't have to search for anything! I always have to get postcards, a pin for my map, and a t-shirt, from each country. Eventually, I will have enough t-shirts to make a quilt! Check out the new tab on the blog; it shows the t-shirts that I've gotten in each place.
Our boat ride to Slovakia was leaving early in the morning, so we got up and headed into the city. Unfortunately for MaryAnn, we didn't have time to get any coffee... The trip down the Danube river was calm, quiet, and beautiful. After an hour and a half of relaxation on the river, we arrived in Bratislava, Slovakia. Bratislava is at the center of Europe, in the extreme southwest of
Slovakia. The edge of the city actually forms Slovakia's borders with
Hungary, to the south, and Austria, to the west, making it the only
capital city to border two neighboring countries.
We took a tour around the city, and I just thought it was hilarious that this lady wrapped tissues around her headphones... She didn't want to catch any crazy diseases? The tour took about two hours, and after that we just walked around, spent all our money, and ate too much food.
Bratislava Castle
So tired of paying to PEE.
This guy thought he was so clever... I believe there is a seat
under him, connected to the top of that pole that he is holding. The piece connecting the seat to the pole is in his sleeve. That
pole goes down to the ground, and there is a "base" under the rug.
Sneaky, sneaky...
For lunch, I had Bryndzové halušky. When you ask a Slovak what their national food would be, this is their answer. Whatever it was, I had to try it! It turns out that it is boiled lumps of potato, covered in a cheese called bryndza. It's a cheese made from sheep's milk, that is allowed to begin to ferment (or so I read) and is somewhat similar to feta cheese. It was quite bitter, but wasn't "bad." I'll try anything once!!
I'm exhausted, so this blog will be rather short... Get over it. ;)
The day began with a visit to the Danube tower. When I researched Vienna, I did NOT read anything about a bungy jump from the tower... Now, it's too late to book it! So disappointed... Either way, the view from the restaurant in the tower was great! You could see the entire city, and the food was delicious. There are tons of beautiful parks scattered throughout Vienna!
After lunch, we wandered around the city a bit more, before heading to the Prater, which is an amusement park near our host's apartment. It's quite famous, and was a blast. You can see the rides from Marc's apartment, and I've been trying to convince MaryAnn to go on some of them! Finally, she was willing to go.
After leaving Wieliczka, we headed to the train station. Our train to Vienna, a night train, would be leaving around 10:00. I didn't know what to expect, as I had never been on an overnight train before. As we handed our tickets to the conductor, he said "35 and 36, top bunks." When I booked the tickets, there was no mention of top/middle/bottom anything! There was no way MaryAnn would be able to get up on the top bunk. After a bit of polite arguing, she was allowed to take a bottom bunk that no one was sleeping on anyways. The bunks were so tiny! I didn't expect anything fancy... but even with me being so small, I had a hard time fitting on the bunk. On the train from Warsaw to Krakow, we had air conditioning. This one, the one we would be on for 8 hours, did not. Needless to say, it was quite the experience!
Upon arriving in Vienna, or as the Austrians call it "Wien", we met our host and began the day's adventures. After about 15 minutes, MaryAnn got this horrified look on her face and said "My purse is on the train." Those are NOT the words I was wanting to here after no sleep, on a hot, muggy train. Marc, our host, immediately began leading us back to the train station. Having someone speaking the language was an immense help. We ran this way and that, called multiple people, went to the security office... All of which, to no avail. Finally, after a few hours of searching, we got news that "someone" had found "something" on the train. No description. They didn't turn it in. The train was gone. We felt hopeless, until we were told the train was coming back to Wien tonight at 9:30. Until then, we just had to explore the city, as if nothing was wrong!
We traveled around on the subway, being lead by our amazing host, Marc. He showed us all the famous buildings in Vienna: The opera house, St.Stephen's cathedral, the Parliament building, etc. We went to the Summer Palace and got lost in a labyrinth. There were two people painted silver standng near the palace... they sat perfectly still until someone put coins in their cans. Then, they slowly bowed... Just watch the video and see! We ate lunch at a hole in the wall restaurant, that we never would have found on our own. All in all, the afternoon was well spent! We had a few hours before we needed to go to the train station, so we went to get settled in at Marc's apartment. A nap was much needed! We finally just relaxed for a little while.
Had to buy it :)
After chatting on Facebook, watching some shows online, blogging, and napping, we were finally ready to go get MaryAnn's bag. We didn't know if it was actually her's, but we had to be optimistic! We found the train, and Marc began speaking in German to a man who worked on it. MaryAnn and I could only watch their facial expressions to gauge whether this was a positive conversation or negative. Finally, Marc turned to us, grinned, and said, "They have it!" Sure enough, they had MaryAnn's purse with everything in it. Her wallet, cash, cards, camera, glasses, and passport are all accounted for.
I talk about enjoying new experiences, good or bad, but this was one experience I could have done without! I don't know what we would have done if Marc weren't there to save the day!
After leaving the concentration camps, we set off to visit the only operating salt mine in the world: Wieliczka. The Wieliczka salt mine reaches a depth of 1,073 ft and
is over 190 mi long. The touring route that we took was 2.2 miles long, and is only 1% of the length of the mine's passages. Many sculptures have been carved out of the salt, and can be seen throughout the touring route. The mines were placed on the UNESCO world heritage list in 1978.
YUM
Chandelier made from salt and wood
Huge dining area carved out of the salt, 1000 ft underground.
"The one who does not remember history is bound to live through it again." - George Santayana
Auschwitz was the largest Nazi German concentration and death camp. At least 1.3 million people were sent to Auschwitz... 1.1 million Jews. 140,000 Poles. 23,000 Gypsies. 15,000 Soviet POW's. 25,000 other ethnic groups. The horrific figures stunned me. After seeing the effect the war had on Warsaw, the history presented here seemed so much more... Real.
The platform at Auschwitz II - Birkenau
Piles of dead bodies are shown here on the platform at the Birkenau camp. Prisoners were told, upon leaving their country, to bring all the luggage they could, so that they could start new in a different country. They were deceived into believing that they had a chance. As the train pulled into Birkenau, doctors came along, and separated the prisoners. Fit, able to work, people would go to one side. Children, elderly, disabled, pregnant women... They would all go to the other side. The able to work group would become prisoners of Auschwitz, while those unable to work were led to "take a shower." Once the group was all in the chamber, canisters of gas were dropped into the room. within 15 minutes, 1500 people would be dead.
I hate to say it, but that's not the end. One image is burned into my memory. Hair. Two tons of hair. Two out of seven tons of hair, that were found in warehouses when the Soviet Union liberated Auschwitz. The Nazis made prisoners shave the dead bodies of all their hair. This hair was collected, and kept, to sell. They sold the hair, of those they murdered.
The following pictures are in black and white, as I feel they better represent the atrocities of what took place in this area of the world. Nothing I read in a classroom could make me feel, remember, and learn, everything that I did here. This is why I travel.
The wall at which prisoners were lined up, to be shot.
If one prisoner tried to escape, he and 12 others were hung here.
Sunday morning started early as we had to call a taxi to get to worship on time. Unfortunately, the taxi company completely failed, and after 30 minutes, I called back. They had not sent a taxi, after telling me they had... Our host called a different company, and 4 minutes later, there he was! We made it to services only 5 minutes late. From my experiences in Australia, I know that the name "church of Christ" does not mean the same thing abroad as it does in the US. Due to this, I wasn't extremely concerned about attending a different "type" of church. I looked online and all the beliefs posted seemed to match up with scripture, so we went! The entire service was in Polish, but we were given headphones, and a man translated for us. It was a new experience, which is what I'm always looking for! MaryAnn didn't seem too thrilled, but she got over it. An American couple from Greenville, SC started the church in Krakow, so it was cool to speak with some Americans that live in Poland now.
Due to our taxi being so late, we were unable to get breakfast before the service. By the time it was over, all we could think about was FOOD! We walked around a bit until we stumbled across a mall. We walked around a bit, and ate lunch, before taking off to the center of town for a few more souvenirs. At this point, we were both just exhausted, so we decided to end the day early and be lazy for the rest of the afternoon!
When we got back to Agniezska's apartment, I rented "The Vow" on my computer. It took 3 hours to download, but we didn't have anything better to be doing anyways! After watching the movie, we just passed out, knowing that we had a long day ahead of us.
