Last week I finished finals and took off for a tour through central and Eastern Europe. I managed to squeeze in 4 cities, busing between Berlin, Vienna, Prague, and Budapest. Had a couple of program friends with me for Berlin and Prague, the rest was on my own. It was a surreal week; a mini-adventure within this big one. Here are the highlights:
Berlin:
graffiti walls and a taste of history
Walking tour exposure for a good foundation of the city plan
^^Berlin Wall. I found Berlin to be an incredibly transparent city. There were so many reminders of the horrors that took place in the past, a sense of recognition that I believe is necessary before any one person or community can prevent history from repeating itself. This was a city of free yet critical thinkers. I love that.
Prague:
La Traviata, my first Opera. Intermission rooftop view, arias and chardonnay were flowing
Walked through a garden that turned into a view point that turned into a mini forest.
^^these guys trying to get the perfect photo made me laugh. But here’s the view!
Trdelnik! It’s a cinnamon sugar chimney cake (My program travel partner and I added ice cream, strawberries, and chocolate of course)
Buying beautiful earrings as a gift (found on the Charles bridge, mulled wine in hand)
Making personalized perfume, sold by a dynamique man who offered great visual accompaniments to combinations of scents (I.e Marilyn Monroe after smoking a box of Marbolos)
Easter markets everywhere
Walked into art gallery after art gallery and admired the work.
Anonymous bar “send AM” drink
^^^this bar was very cool. V for vendetta themed with a secret scent based menu. Check it out!
Brunch a bunch!
* Day 1 brunch = Cafe Savoy; flat white, fried eggs with truffles
* Day 2 brunch = Eska; industrial minimalist aesthetic, nettle fermented soda, cappuccino, 3 long and large slices of grilled wheaty toast, fresh butter served as a dollop on a piece of dark-stained wood, sweet clotted cream, strawberry jam, apricot jam, green lime salt, Buckwheat and poached egg, and sweet fruity spice bread/cake. Ate it alllllll
Standing alone with my big backpack for 5 minutes, head tilted back watching a dynamic public art installation outside the metro station. It was a metallic face cut into horizontal segments, sections spinning and freezing to ripple the expression and shift the gaze of the neutral visage.
Vienna:
3 euro for an amazing opera performance of Medea
Wandering around the old town at night post opera, blitzinger braut and beer in hand
Offering to take a woman’s photo as she struggled to capture her selfie, the resulting smile was a million dollar one
Lounging in on a Friday night in the cozy hostel
Mélange coffee is delicious!
Decided to walk myself to my bus stop wayyy across town so I could get some exercise and conveniently see everything. I went 6-7 miles with my ginormous backpack and was a pool of sweat at the end but it was awesome.
Walking to cafe central to order cake and rum coffee for second breakfast, via the hofbhurg palace, I stumbled by the Stallburg imperial stables of the famous Spanish riding school. Standing there for 2 minutes admiring the horses in the stalls and a slideshow of how they transform the stall square into a formal venue, suddenly I hear the clip of horseshoes. Appearing behind me are trainers leading small white horses 2 by 2 across the street. Such a brief and magical moment.
I accidentally went through the emergency exit and set off an alarm at the bus station h and m, while wearing my massive backpack (oops!)
Bussed through Bratislava, Slovakia
Budapest:
This was my favorite city of the week. Perfect size for walking, a mixed of architecture, and enough to do to keep you entertained but not overwhelmed. Special note, the city seems to highlight the people. There were statues every few blocks of a person, each of which had a connecting story. The art personified Budapest–it was nice to see the people-centric approach to public installations.
^^cool juxtaposition of the child who wanted to be a princess with the Buda castle behind her. Rub knees for good luck.
^^Rub this guy’s belly and mustache for good luck.
Hostel is grunge and hippy and homey
I chose to go to a pub on my first night instead of a huge pool party at the Roman baths (it was $$$ and probably a bit of trouble for a solo girl) and instead kicked butt at fooseball, played a LOT of pacman and made some friends!
Day shown around the city with new friend Ben (shopped a ton because that’s not something I do in Geneva haha, and visited many Easter markets)
^^Cool Hungarian hat!
Ate a rooster testicle
Hiked to the castle and watched a protest for the shutting down of Central Europe University, got a sunset view at the top
Followed bikes with signs and discovered a cute place called Berger Bar, but it was closed. Next time!
Spur of the moment hopped off the tram for a viewpoint mid Margaret island. Wowza I’m glad we checked it out!
Ate a Lángos. It’s fried bread (basically a donut) with sour cream and cheese and I added paprika chicken and rocket. It was crazy delicious!
Went to the club instant just to eat late night tacos and burgers
Solo brunched at szimpla foods, vintage shopped at retrock and finally found my perfect jean jacket! And some crazy cool pants.
Chased the setting sun up the Citadella (I’m not kidding when I say chased. Got a late start so I ran up the super steep hill and got to the top in time for all of the set)
^^buda side
^^pest side (pronounced “pescht” or “pesht”)
Boat party with the best view of the city lights
On my way back to the hostel checked out the ruin bar, Szimplat, that Budapest is known for.
Met french people in my hostel and chatted in french until 7 in the morning. Then we walked to a convenient store for coffee because it was the only coffee open that early and it was necessary!
On my last day I went to the huge spa baths near gorgeous Hero Square.
The baths were something else. 2 big pools outside, one with lanes the other with a whirl pool and mini bath in the middle. If you went inside you’d find a huge hall of pools sectioned by a few doors. Walking down the hall there were smaller pools of every water temp, steamrooms varying in heat and steaminess, showers, waterfall showers with lights, saunas, saunas and steamrooms with an essence of mint or the scent of wood. Pools that were ice cold, some medium sized ones slightly foggy with minerals. There were massage rooms too for those that wanted to pay for the full experience. Downstairs was a sauna and an old-school wood bucket attached to a pully device if you wanted to drop some cold water on your head. Such a cool place that made you feel you were in Rome.
Visited the huge indoor market to try a cabbage wrap. It was okay, I’m not a big fan of ground pork. Found a whale poster on the way home
Vibrant sunset from the airport before I left.Felt fly (promise that was an accidental pun) as I departed in a new mauve T-shirt, slipper sneakers, scarf, ripped jeans, and my trusty whool blanket cardigan.
Landing in Geneva I sprinted from the airplane to the train and caught it in the knick of time. Made some Swiss friends who were running for it too. Chatted in french.
………….
Running on 2 hours of poor rest, I made it home to St-George by 00:30h, and started a new week of family time and day trips in Switzerland. What a week!
Bridge Over Distance 
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