Thursday, June 30, 2011
Day 20: London
Sorry, no time to blog! London was wonderful, but I've got to scram now to catch my flight to South Africa, updates are coming soon!
Wednesday, June 29, 2011
Day 19: Krakow and London
Miles logged: 6095
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It's goodbye Krakow and hello London.
I had an early flight to London, so I only had a brief moment to say goodbye to the city as I hustled to catch the airport train. While I know I probably sound down on Krakow, that isn't really the case. Something I appreciated in particular was the fun Polish signage. After being endlessly confused in Hungary with its crazy language, Polish seemed like a breeze. Rule of thumb: read word and then think what the word might sound like if you removed the last -y or vowel ending. Restauranja? Restaurant. Toalety? Toilet. Alkohole? Well, that's easy. And given that those three words are three of the most important for any tourist, the rest is a cake walk.
So I said goodbye to cheap alkohole and headed to uber-expensive London. After my first flight with the famously sparse RyanAir, I was in London by lunchtime. By afternoon tea time, I had already been terribly reminded how ridiculously expensive London is. Nearly $30 USD to get from the airport to the city center by public transport? Over $50 USD per night to share a closet-sized room with 5 strangers, and which includes neither breakfast nor WiFi? I went to the nearest Sainsbury to pick up some groceries and made myself a ham omelet for dinner to cheaply comfort my pain. Krakow was starting to become a more pleasant memory.
But no, really, I love London, and I'd forgotten how nice it is to not have to apologize for only speaking English. I spent the afternoon wandering around busy Oxford Circus and knowing that if I got lost, making my way back on the underground would be a snap. But I didn't get lost, and I had a nice evening wandering London's beautiful parks.
Tomorrow's plan is for art galleries and careless wandering through London.
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It's goodbye Krakow and hello London.
I had an early flight to London, so I only had a brief moment to say goodbye to the city as I hustled to catch the airport train. While I know I probably sound down on Krakow, that isn't really the case. Something I appreciated in particular was the fun Polish signage. After being endlessly confused in Hungary with its crazy language, Polish seemed like a breeze. Rule of thumb: read word and then think what the word might sound like if you removed the last -y or vowel ending. Restauranja? Restaurant. Toalety? Toilet. Alkohole? Well, that's easy. And given that those three words are three of the most important for any tourist, the rest is a cake walk.
So I said goodbye to cheap alkohole and headed to uber-expensive London. After my first flight with the famously sparse RyanAir, I was in London by lunchtime. By afternoon tea time, I had already been terribly reminded how ridiculously expensive London is. Nearly $30 USD to get from the airport to the city center by public transport? Over $50 USD per night to share a closet-sized room with 5 strangers, and which includes neither breakfast nor WiFi? I went to the nearest Sainsbury to pick up some groceries and made myself a ham omelet for dinner to cheaply comfort my pain. Krakow was starting to become a more pleasant memory.
But no, really, I love London, and I'd forgotten how nice it is to not have to apologize for only speaking English. I spent the afternoon wandering around busy Oxford Circus and knowing that if I got lost, making my way back on the underground would be a snap. But I didn't get lost, and I had a nice evening wandering London's beautiful parks.
Tomorrow's plan is for art galleries and careless wandering through London.
Tuesday, June 28, 2011
Day 18: Krakow
Last day in Krakow.
I had debated whether or not to take a trip to the Auschwitz concentration camp, given that the themes of this trip are supposed to be about celebration, freedom, and fun. I worried that the visit would be too depressing, and I didn't want to make the trip alone. But I also knew that I might not have the opportunity again, and that this was something I should do. So I signed up for the 9am tour with a private tour company through my hostel.
A van and a guide picked me up at my hostel for the one-hour drive out to Auschwitz. Also in the van were two other guests staying at my hostel, three Norwegian women, and an older Scottish couple. I'm not going to write much about the tour, largely because I'm generally trying to not dwell on yesterday morning. The tour looks a lot like the photos from history books, with the exception of visiting Birkenau. Photos don't do justice to its massive size, which is overwhelmingly incomprehensible, even in person. I left feeling depressed, but with a sense that I wasn't appropriately or respectfully horrified enough. But I think there is only so deep our imaginations and emotions will allow us to go voluntarily, or life would be a lot more difficult.
I didn't take many photos, but here's one of Auschwitz
So after the somber morning, I headed back to Krakow where I tried to clear away the visit with a jog around the city parks. I got my last round of sightseeing in before heading to the hostel, where I rejoined with a Canadian who had also been on the Auschwitz tour and other hostelers for a light-hearted evening of hanging out and some serious Polish snack food sampling. I followed the group for a short while to a local club, which was a little too crowded and loud for my liking. Dealing with the crowd, however, was offset by the fact that the club was playing Polish dance music (rather than usual American fare), and that the accompanying Polish club dancing was, well, kind of silly looking and quite amusing. I would best describe the style of dance as Rhumba meets Michael Jackson with a little swing mixed in...kind of ridiculous looking, but GREAT to watch. I will give the Polish some props though, they all looked like they were having a great time and a lot of fun, so who cares what I think!
I've got an early flight to London tomorrow. I've decided that in London I plan on taking a break from being reminded about all the terrible things humanity has done to each other over the last 2,000 years and get back to happy stuff, like wonderful art, mid-season sale shopping, and fun English accents. And if I can find a puppy store, stand out of my way, because I'm so up for some serious puppy therapy!
I had debated whether or not to take a trip to the Auschwitz concentration camp, given that the themes of this trip are supposed to be about celebration, freedom, and fun. I worried that the visit would be too depressing, and I didn't want to make the trip alone. But I also knew that I might not have the opportunity again, and that this was something I should do. So I signed up for the 9am tour with a private tour company through my hostel.
A van and a guide picked me up at my hostel for the one-hour drive out to Auschwitz. Also in the van were two other guests staying at my hostel, three Norwegian women, and an older Scottish couple. I'm not going to write much about the tour, largely because I'm generally trying to not dwell on yesterday morning. The tour looks a lot like the photos from history books, with the exception of visiting Birkenau. Photos don't do justice to its massive size, which is overwhelmingly incomprehensible, even in person. I left feeling depressed, but with a sense that I wasn't appropriately or respectfully horrified enough. But I think there is only so deep our imaginations and emotions will allow us to go voluntarily, or life would be a lot more difficult.
So after the somber morning, I headed back to Krakow where I tried to clear away the visit with a jog around the city parks. I got my last round of sightseeing in before heading to the hostel, where I rejoined with a Canadian who had also been on the Auschwitz tour and other hostelers for a light-hearted evening of hanging out and some serious Polish snack food sampling. I followed the group for a short while to a local club, which was a little too crowded and loud for my liking. Dealing with the crowd, however, was offset by the fact that the club was playing Polish dance music (rather than usual American fare), and that the accompanying Polish club dancing was, well, kind of silly looking and quite amusing. I would best describe the style of dance as Rhumba meets Michael Jackson with a little swing mixed in...kind of ridiculous looking, but GREAT to watch. I will give the Polish some props though, they all looked like they were having a great time and a lot of fun, so who cares what I think!
I've got an early flight to London tomorrow. I've decided that in London I plan on taking a break from being reminded about all the terrible things humanity has done to each other over the last 2,000 years and get back to happy stuff, like wonderful art, mid-season sale shopping, and fun English accents. And if I can find a puppy store, stand out of my way, because I'm so up for some serious puppy therapy!
Monday, June 27, 2011
Day 17: Krakow
After my day off, I was ready to see some sights.
I met Shannon again for an 11am walking tour of Krakow. Most of the tourist areas are contained within the city's medieval old town, which is probably about 1 square mile, so seeing all the major sites was easily done within a 3 hour tour. The biggest sights include Wawel Castle and the market square. After the tour, I said goodbye to Shannon, who was heading to Berlin.
I set off to wander around other areas of the city, first towards the historical Jewish district and continuing to the site of Schindlers' factory. I found that the factory had essentially been turned into a Universal Studio's exhibit, so I decided to spend my afternoon instead at the Contemporary Art Museum that was next door. The museum was decent; there were a couple of pieces that I really liked, but of course, given that it was contemporary art, some of the art was just really out there. After a couple of hours I headed back to the hostel, where I spent the rest of my evening hanging out in the common room. Someone turned on Schindlers' List, which was very appropriate given my day, followed by much lighter entertainment with the movie Road Trip.
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Krakow seems like a fine place, but nothing remarkable. The market square and castle are charming, the food is delicious, the locals are generally friendly, and the prices are great. Yet the city doesn't seem to feel all that wonderful. Perhaps it's because the place is packed full of tourists, or maybe I'm just a tad tired after a few weeks of travel, but I do not have any great hankering to come back here anytime soon. I've had a good time though, and it was a good opportunity to slow down a bit and recharge.
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So far, I think my favorite city has been Berlin, followed closely by Bruges. On Wednesday I head to London, and Africa is not far off.
I met Shannon again for an 11am walking tour of Krakow. Most of the tourist areas are contained within the city's medieval old town, which is probably about 1 square mile, so seeing all the major sites was easily done within a 3 hour tour. The biggest sights include Wawel Castle and the market square. After the tour, I said goodbye to Shannon, who was heading to Berlin.
I set off to wander around other areas of the city, first towards the historical Jewish district and continuing to the site of Schindlers' factory. I found that the factory had essentially been turned into a Universal Studio's exhibit, so I decided to spend my afternoon instead at the Contemporary Art Museum that was next door. The museum was decent; there were a couple of pieces that I really liked, but of course, given that it was contemporary art, some of the art was just really out there. After a couple of hours I headed back to the hostel, where I spent the rest of my evening hanging out in the common room. Someone turned on Schindlers' List, which was very appropriate given my day, followed by much lighter entertainment with the movie Road Trip.
Gate to Schindler's Factory
Krakow seems like a fine place, but nothing remarkable. The market square and castle are charming, the food is delicious, the locals are generally friendly, and the prices are great. Yet the city doesn't seem to feel all that wonderful. Perhaps it's because the place is packed full of tourists, or maybe I'm just a tad tired after a few weeks of travel, but I do not have any great hankering to come back here anytime soon. I've had a good time though, and it was a good opportunity to slow down a bit and recharge.
Market Square by Day
Market Square by Night
So far, I think my favorite city has been Berlin, followed closely by Bruges. On Wednesday I head to London, and Africa is not far off.
Sunday, June 26, 2011
Day 16: Krakow
So far, Krakow has proven to be not bad, not bad at all.
I was starting to feel a little weary from traveling. Not quite tired of traveling, but a little less excited about rushing out and seeing the sights. Physically, I was exhausted, too. Between my morning jogs, followed by sightseeing on foot, I estimated I was covering 10 - 15 miles most days, if not more. All of this activity made sleeping through the night at the hostels much easier, but my left ankle was starting to give me problems. So clearly, it was break-time, and I vowed to take the morning off: no guidebooks, no schedules, no cameras, no sightseeing. Instead, I hung out at the hostel, did my laundry, edited and cataloged photos, and generally acted lazy. The only touristy thing I did was to venture out of the hostel to go find some perogies for lunch, which were well worth the break from laziness.
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At 6pm, I met Shannon for a fantastic Polish dinner: beetroot soup with egg, cabbage-wrapped stuffed pork, and roasted potatoes. Easily the best dinner I've had on this trip yet. After dinner, Shannon and I wandered down to the river, where Krakow was hosting a free outdoor concert to celebrate the shortest night of the summer. With some smooth maneuvering on Shannon's part, we were able to snag a great place to watch the show. The stage of the concert was set up across the river, while the crowd stood on the opposite bank. The lead act was Wyclef Jean, which turned into a fascinating show, not because of the music but more because of the crowd watching. I'm not great at estimating crowd sizes, but my best guess would be that about 30-50 thousand people attended the outdoor event. Maybe 5%-10% of the crowd actually knew Wycelf's music -- the attendees were largely Krakow residents whose primary language is Polish, and there were a lot of families. So this was not a group that was going to chant along to Wycelf's top hits, most of which were released 15 years ago and are generally in a mix of English and Spanish. To compensate, Wycelf did a couple of Black Eye Peas' more recent hits, a Shakira song, and some Michael Jackson. But it was easy to tell the crowd just wasn't that in to the concert, no matter how many times Wycelf yelled "Poland put your hands up in the air!" Wycelf must have sensed the lack of enthusiasm, too, because about 4 songs into the act he declared, "someone bring me a speedboat! I need to be on a boat! I want to see the people of Poland." So Wyclef was given a lifejacket and a speedboat, and he came to the opposite shore, where he paraded up and down in front of the crowd telling us to put our hands up in the air, before going back to the opposite side. Perhaps it was planned, but either way it was only a temporary excitement boost, and the crowd quickly returned to a state of mild exuberance while Wyclef continued to tell Poland to put it's hands up in the air. Wycelf started to wind down the concert by thanking Poland for helping his country of Haiti, followed by a free verse song where the chorus was the repeated refrain of "Africa...Poland...Africa...Poland." By this point, even I was confused. Poland's not exactly a land of racial diversity, in fact it's been suffering from a huge brain drain. Ambitious Poles are currently leaving the country to find better wages in other countries, and there's little immigration to Poland. I think the song was supposed to be generally about the importance of freedom and democracy, although I'm a little worried I might be giving Wycelf a lot of help with that interpretation.
But the crowd hung in there, which I found a bit surprising given that it was nearly 11pm and Wycelf had been playing for over two hours. But when Wycelf stopped playing, I realized why the crowd had really hung around -- the amazing fireworks display that followed. The fireworks show was one of the best I have seen in years.
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After the fireworks, I headed back to the hostel. I was able to have a very late phone call with my grandmother, father, and brother in California, and it was very nice to hear familiar voices after weeks of traveling.
It's back to sightseeing tomorrow!
I was starting to feel a little weary from traveling. Not quite tired of traveling, but a little less excited about rushing out and seeing the sights. Physically, I was exhausted, too. Between my morning jogs, followed by sightseeing on foot, I estimated I was covering 10 - 15 miles most days, if not more. All of this activity made sleeping through the night at the hostels much easier, but my left ankle was starting to give me problems. So clearly, it was break-time, and I vowed to take the morning off: no guidebooks, no schedules, no cameras, no sightseeing. Instead, I hung out at the hostel, did my laundry, edited and cataloged photos, and generally acted lazy. The only touristy thing I did was to venture out of the hostel to go find some perogies for lunch, which were well worth the break from laziness.
In the Market Square of Krakow
At 6pm, I met Shannon for a fantastic Polish dinner: beetroot soup with egg, cabbage-wrapped stuffed pork, and roasted potatoes. Easily the best dinner I've had on this trip yet. After dinner, Shannon and I wandered down to the river, where Krakow was hosting a free outdoor concert to celebrate the shortest night of the summer. With some smooth maneuvering on Shannon's part, we were able to snag a great place to watch the show. The stage of the concert was set up across the river, while the crowd stood on the opposite bank. The lead act was Wyclef Jean, which turned into a fascinating show, not because of the music but more because of the crowd watching. I'm not great at estimating crowd sizes, but my best guess would be that about 30-50 thousand people attended the outdoor event. Maybe 5%-10% of the crowd actually knew Wycelf's music -- the attendees were largely Krakow residents whose primary language is Polish, and there were a lot of families. So this was not a group that was going to chant along to Wycelf's top hits, most of which were released 15 years ago and are generally in a mix of English and Spanish. To compensate, Wycelf did a couple of Black Eye Peas' more recent hits, a Shakira song, and some Michael Jackson. But it was easy to tell the crowd just wasn't that in to the concert, no matter how many times Wycelf yelled "Poland put your hands up in the air!" Wycelf must have sensed the lack of enthusiasm, too, because about 4 songs into the act he declared, "someone bring me a speedboat! I need to be on a boat! I want to see the people of Poland." So Wyclef was given a lifejacket and a speedboat, and he came to the opposite shore, where he paraded up and down in front of the crowd telling us to put our hands up in the air, before going back to the opposite side. Perhaps it was planned, but either way it was only a temporary excitement boost, and the crowd quickly returned to a state of mild exuberance while Wyclef continued to tell Poland to put it's hands up in the air. Wycelf started to wind down the concert by thanking Poland for helping his country of Haiti, followed by a free verse song where the chorus was the repeated refrain of "Africa...Poland...Africa...Poland." By this point, even I was confused. Poland's not exactly a land of racial diversity, in fact it's been suffering from a huge brain drain. Ambitious Poles are currently leaving the country to find better wages in other countries, and there's little immigration to Poland. I think the song was supposed to be generally about the importance of freedom and democracy, although I'm a little worried I might be giving Wycelf a lot of help with that interpretation.
But the crowd hung in there, which I found a bit surprising given that it was nearly 11pm and Wycelf had been playing for over two hours. But when Wycelf stopped playing, I realized why the crowd had really hung around -- the amazing fireworks display that followed. The fireworks show was one of the best I have seen in years.
The Wycelf Jean Concert
After the fireworks, I headed back to the hostel. I was able to have a very late phone call with my grandmother, father, and brother in California, and it was very nice to hear familiar voices after weeks of traveling.
It's back to sightseeing tomorrow!
Saturday, June 25, 2011
Day 15: Budapest and Krakow
Miles logged: 5,212
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Krakow and I did not get off to a good start, but I think all will be well - or at least let's hope so, because I'm here for 4 nights.
I spent the morning lingering in Budapest, wandering the streets and drinking a latte on St. Stephen's square, before making my way to the bus station. The bus to Krakow took a total of 7 hours, and passed through Slovakia, which was beautiful and looked like a great place to ski. The ride was bumpy and windy, but fortunately, I had good company. During my tour of Budapest, I had met a Canadian traveler named Shannon, who is from Toronto and in-between law school and a masters degree program. Shannon also decided to take the bus to Krakow on Friday, so we ran into each other at the bus station, and we were able to get seats together for the long ride. Good conversation made the ride much more pleasant, and we finally arrived in Krakow around 10pm. As the bus pulled into the city, my first impression of Krakow was of a generic, European metropolis - the bus station was next to a giant shopping mall, and there was nothing interesting or different about the city at all; it reminded me a lot of very urban Berlin.
After getting off the bus, Shannon and I set off to find our respective hostels. As we approached the turn for my hostel, I agreed to meet Shannon at her hostel in 20 minutes to grab some dinner. As I made my way down the street for my hostel, I started to wish I were back in central Philadelphia, because that might have been a little less scary. On the corner of the street were what appeared to be two young hookers with an older woman watching on nearby, along with a couple of stray, shady male characters, one that crossed the street and started walking behind me on the sidewalk after I passed. I broke a new speed record of walking while saddled with my very heavy dufflebag, but after I had reached the end of the block the area became better lit and near a busy road. I found my hostel, and extremely relieved, made my way up the stairs. As I walked into the reception, I was greeted by a party in full swing - apparently Friday nights are "Polish shot night." As the very noisy party raged on in the common room, I checked into my bed to find one older woman in the bunk below mine sleeping (how???), and another guy in the room calmly reading his Kindle (again, how???, and where's this guy's room?). While paying, the receptionist also let me know that the hot water in the showers was currently not working and probably wouldn't be back on until Monday. I threw down my bags and got the heck out -- I had barely recovered from the scary street and really didn't need the screaming party (although I will give them credit, they were a very friendly screaming party). I eschwed the dreaded scary street for the main road and made the 5 minute walk to Shannon's hostel, and we headed towards the Market area to grab dinner. Unfortunately, most of the restaurants were already closed, so we had to settle (or not really settle) for another round of Turkish street food, which I have now officially determined is the favorite of all of Europe.
The trip to the beautiful market square, along with an excellent $3 dinner followed by a $1.25 0.5 liter beer helped to greatly improve my mood. Krakow is beautiful but the entire town appears to be on a massive pub crawl, which I guess is understandable given that it was a Friday night and a pint of Polish beer costs about a $1. The prices for food and drink are insanely cheap (except for Diet Coke, that's the same price as in the United States). I ended up having a rather nice couple of hours with Shannon, and I made my way back to the hostel to find that it was now pin-drop quiet, and the Kindle guy was gone, so I crawled up the ladder over the still sleeping old woman and hoped that tomorrow would be better (and that the hot water would return soon).
I don't have any pictures of the day to share (I might have one of Slovakia on my camera to share later), but I did get more photos of Belgium and Germany uploaded. They are here:
Belgium: https://picasaweb.google.com/105899454615652413823/Belgium?feat=directlink
Germany: https://picasaweb.google.com/105899454615652413823/CologneAndBerlin?feat=directlink
Budapest pictures are coming soon!
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Krakow and I did not get off to a good start, but I think all will be well - or at least let's hope so, because I'm here for 4 nights.
I spent the morning lingering in Budapest, wandering the streets and drinking a latte on St. Stephen's square, before making my way to the bus station. The bus to Krakow took a total of 7 hours, and passed through Slovakia, which was beautiful and looked like a great place to ski. The ride was bumpy and windy, but fortunately, I had good company. During my tour of Budapest, I had met a Canadian traveler named Shannon, who is from Toronto and in-between law school and a masters degree program. Shannon also decided to take the bus to Krakow on Friday, so we ran into each other at the bus station, and we were able to get seats together for the long ride. Good conversation made the ride much more pleasant, and we finally arrived in Krakow around 10pm. As the bus pulled into the city, my first impression of Krakow was of a generic, European metropolis - the bus station was next to a giant shopping mall, and there was nothing interesting or different about the city at all; it reminded me a lot of very urban Berlin.
After getting off the bus, Shannon and I set off to find our respective hostels. As we approached the turn for my hostel, I agreed to meet Shannon at her hostel in 20 minutes to grab some dinner. As I made my way down the street for my hostel, I started to wish I were back in central Philadelphia, because that might have been a little less scary. On the corner of the street were what appeared to be two young hookers with an older woman watching on nearby, along with a couple of stray, shady male characters, one that crossed the street and started walking behind me on the sidewalk after I passed. I broke a new speed record of walking while saddled with my very heavy dufflebag, but after I had reached the end of the block the area became better lit and near a busy road. I found my hostel, and extremely relieved, made my way up the stairs. As I walked into the reception, I was greeted by a party in full swing - apparently Friday nights are "Polish shot night." As the very noisy party raged on in the common room, I checked into my bed to find one older woman in the bunk below mine sleeping (how???), and another guy in the room calmly reading his Kindle (again, how???, and where's this guy's room?). While paying, the receptionist also let me know that the hot water in the showers was currently not working and probably wouldn't be back on until Monday. I threw down my bags and got the heck out -- I had barely recovered from the scary street and really didn't need the screaming party (although I will give them credit, they were a very friendly screaming party). I eschwed the dreaded scary street for the main road and made the 5 minute walk to Shannon's hostel, and we headed towards the Market area to grab dinner. Unfortunately, most of the restaurants were already closed, so we had to settle (or not really settle) for another round of Turkish street food, which I have now officially determined is the favorite of all of Europe.
The trip to the beautiful market square, along with an excellent $3 dinner followed by a $1.25 0.5 liter beer helped to greatly improve my mood. Krakow is beautiful but the entire town appears to be on a massive pub crawl, which I guess is understandable given that it was a Friday night and a pint of Polish beer costs about a $1. The prices for food and drink are insanely cheap (except for Diet Coke, that's the same price as in the United States). I ended up having a rather nice couple of hours with Shannon, and I made my way back to the hostel to find that it was now pin-drop quiet, and the Kindle guy was gone, so I crawled up the ladder over the still sleeping old woman and hoped that tomorrow would be better (and that the hot water would return soon).
I don't have any pictures of the day to share (I might have one of Slovakia on my camera to share later), but I did get more photos of Belgium and Germany uploaded. They are here:
Belgium: https://picasaweb.google.com/105899454615652413823/Belgium?feat=directlink
Germany: https://picasaweb.google.com/105899454615652413823/CologneAndBerlin?feat=directlink
Budapest pictures are coming soon!
Friday, June 24, 2011
Day 14: Budapest
I can't believe it's been two weeks. Time is flying.
I started the morning with a long jog, and headed back over to the Jewish District to see more of the area during the day. I jogged by the area's main sight, the Great Jewish Synagogue, and then continued to wander through the area. During WWII and the Communist era, the district fell into disrepair, with many of the buildings abandoned for 40 years. The buildings have gorgeous old facades, but many are clearly still in terrible shape. All of Budapest feels like one big construction zone, as the city continues to renovate major areas in the twenty years since Hungary was liberated. The Jewish district has seen improvements, too, but because of the area's terrible history during WWII, improvements are taking longer. Amazingly, Budapest feels relatively safe, which is impressive given that the city and country have survived through many difficult times.
The Great Synagogue
The Jewish District has turned into a bit of a bohemian artist community, with many of the old buildings and courtyards converted into "ruin pubs." These casual bars have dumpster-dive furniture and a very eclectic decor, with only enough renovations completed to support bathrooms and bar service. They're very nice in the summer evenings, as many of them have outdoor seating areas, and the decor makes for an very low key attitude. I sensed from my tour guides that so many ruin pubs have started to pop up that the locals are starting to find them a little corny, but I thought they were great and unique to Budapest. As I was jogging, I ran by one that was open, and took some photos.
The Jewish District has turned into a bit of a bohemian artist community, with many of the old buildings and courtyards converted into "ruin pubs." These casual bars have dumpster-dive furniture and a very eclectic decor, with only enough renovations completed to support bathrooms and bar service. They're very nice in the summer evenings, as many of them have outdoor seating areas, and the decor makes for an very low key attitude. I sensed from my tour guides that so many ruin pubs have started to pop up that the locals are starting to find them a little corny, but I thought they were great and unique to Budapest. As I was jogging, I ran by one that was open, and took some photos.
A ruin pub
The highlight of my day was the afternoon, when I headed over to one of the public thermal baths. Budapest is situated on over 100 hot springs, several of which were converted to elegant public baths. These are quite the public swimming pools. I went to Széchenyi, a very large, clothing-required bath (there are some that are not mixed gender, and thus clothing optional), and it was quite the experience. I went to the outdoor side, where there are three baths of varying temperature. After the amount of jogging and walking I've been doing on this trip, laying in a hot pool of water in the afternoon sun was just what I needed. The baths also offer massages, mud treatments, and beauty salons, among other indulgences, for an extra cost. These Hungarians definitely know how to relax.
The evening's activities were damped by thunderstorms, although on my way back from the thermal baths to my hostel, I stumbled across a new life rule: "never walk into a bar where the bouncer is wearing a bullet proof jacket." I spotted the bouncer while walking past a bar I'd seen advertised at my hostel as "Budapest's Biggest Party Bar." Given that Budapest has a relatively safe reputation, the bouncer may have been wearing the jacket more for image than necessity. But the life rule still holds, and I thought others should consider adding this to their list of life rules.
Off to Krakow tomorrow. I have a 7-hour bus ride to get there, so I promise to organize my photos during the bus ride so I can share them soon!
Thursday, June 23, 2011
Day 13:Budapest
Ahhh, Budapest...a great place to relax and hang out, but I don't think I'd ever want to live here.
I started my day with a walking tour, which I've determined is the most efficient way to get a lay for the land while also getting an inside scoop on the best tourist sites and places to hang out.
The walking tour wasn't spectacular, but was still quite good. After the three-hour tour of both Buda and Pest, I headed towards Pest's Grand Market, where I planned on grabbing lunch. After touring the market, I headed to the food stands on the market's second floor. For lunch, I had a first course of sausage and peppers, and had a second course of the famous goulash soup. Both were quite tasty, although very, very filling. Hungarian food is considered to be among the best, although I'm finding I'm not so fond of it. It's ridiculously rich -- lard is common ingredient, a lot of the food is fried (in lard), and almost every dish involves some type of meat. For example, one national speciality would best be described as deep fried pizza topped with a cream cheese spread. It's very hot here right now, and the heaviness of the food is a little more than I wish for, given that most of my days involve wandering the streets in the heat. Not unexpectedly, Hungarians are not the slenderest Europeans I've seen (I'd describe the population as "portly", not necessarily obese), and they also don't seem to shy away from breaking out the "skimpy" clothing in the heat, which more than once has proven to be an unfortunate combination. But apparently Hungary winters are bitterly cold, and a little meat on the bones is important.
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After the lunch bomb, I wandered for a bit longer before grabbing a nap at the hostel. In the evening, I headed over to the Jewish Quarter, which interestingly is where the best bars are, as I learned from the tour guides. I had planned on mostly wandering, but I passed by a newer looking wine bar that was offering wine tastings. Curious, I decided to check out the offering, which turned out to be a wonderful decision. I settled on the Hungarian red tasting, as Hungarian reds are not often found in the US, while whites are more available. I was fortunate to take a seat next to a food columnist who spoke great English, and who was able to give me a long introduction to the wines I was trying and the Hungarian wine industry. The owner, David, was also behind the bar and came over to talk more about the wines. The first two wines I tried were local varietals and were decent, although nothing I'd call remarkable. For my third tasting, however, David went off the list and poured me a glass of a pricer 100% Cabernet Franc that was amazing. Apparently Cabernet Franc grows quite well in Hungary because of its cold weather; it's too bad the country has struggled to export these wines outside of Hungary. The fourth, and final, tasting was another Cabernet Franc, which was still great but not quite as exquisite.
The wine bar was also celebrating one of the bartender's 23rd birthdays, and David insisted that I join in on the birthday celebrations by trying Hungary's national spirit, palinka, which is kind of like a fruity flavored gin. Palinka ranges from 40% to 85% alcohol by volume, and it's taken as a shot, so accepting a shot of Palinka without knowing the proof is like playing Russian roulette with your sobriety. After two shots of palinka, many birthday biscuits, and the wine tasting, I had to insist that it was time to go and pass on the birthday party's next stop. But the wine tasting was great, and the bar had been such a wonderfully friendly place, that it had been a fantastic evening.
More Budapest tomorrow.
I started my day with a walking tour, which I've determined is the most efficient way to get a lay for the land while also getting an inside scoop on the best tourist sites and places to hang out.
The walking tour wasn't spectacular, but was still quite good. After the three-hour tour of both Buda and Pest, I headed towards Pest's Grand Market, where I planned on grabbing lunch. After touring the market, I headed to the food stands on the market's second floor. For lunch, I had a first course of sausage and peppers, and had a second course of the famous goulash soup. Both were quite tasty, although very, very filling. Hungarian food is considered to be among the best, although I'm finding I'm not so fond of it. It's ridiculously rich -- lard is common ingredient, a lot of the food is fried (in lard), and almost every dish involves some type of meat. For example, one national speciality would best be described as deep fried pizza topped with a cream cheese spread. It's very hot here right now, and the heaviness of the food is a little more than I wish for, given that most of my days involve wandering the streets in the heat. Not unexpectedly, Hungarians are not the slenderest Europeans I've seen (I'd describe the population as "portly", not necessarily obese), and they also don't seem to shy away from breaking out the "skimpy" clothing in the heat, which more than once has proven to be an unfortunate combination. But apparently Hungary winters are bitterly cold, and a little meat on the bones is important.
The Grand Market
A paprika stand at the Grand Market
Fruit stand
Lunch! For less than $5.
After the lunch bomb, I wandered for a bit longer before grabbing a nap at the hostel. In the evening, I headed over to the Jewish Quarter, which interestingly is where the best bars are, as I learned from the tour guides. I had planned on mostly wandering, but I passed by a newer looking wine bar that was offering wine tastings. Curious, I decided to check out the offering, which turned out to be a wonderful decision. I settled on the Hungarian red tasting, as Hungarian reds are not often found in the US, while whites are more available. I was fortunate to take a seat next to a food columnist who spoke great English, and who was able to give me a long introduction to the wines I was trying and the Hungarian wine industry. The owner, David, was also behind the bar and came over to talk more about the wines. The first two wines I tried were local varietals and were decent, although nothing I'd call remarkable. For my third tasting, however, David went off the list and poured me a glass of a pricer 100% Cabernet Franc that was amazing. Apparently Cabernet Franc grows quite well in Hungary because of its cold weather; it's too bad the country has struggled to export these wines outside of Hungary. The fourth, and final, tasting was another Cabernet Franc, which was still great but not quite as exquisite.
The wine bar was also celebrating one of the bartender's 23rd birthdays, and David insisted that I join in on the birthday celebrations by trying Hungary's national spirit, palinka, which is kind of like a fruity flavored gin. Palinka ranges from 40% to 85% alcohol by volume, and it's taken as a shot, so accepting a shot of Palinka without knowing the proof is like playing Russian roulette with your sobriety. After two shots of palinka, many birthday biscuits, and the wine tasting, I had to insist that it was time to go and pass on the birthday party's next stop. But the wine tasting was great, and the bar had been such a wonderfully friendly place, that it had been a fantastic evening.
More Budapest tomorrow.
Wednesday, June 22, 2011
Day 12: Berlin and Budpest
Miles logged: 5030
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I only had until noon before I'd have to start mobilizing towards the airport, so I woke up early to tour the area near Berlin's parliament building, the Reichstag. After a bomb scare about a year ago, it now takes a reservation made a minimum of 4 days in advance to get into the building (Rick Steves, where were you with that piece of information???), and even the exterior of the building is roped off. After, I did a little more touring around my hostel's neighborhood, but found that most of the fun, artsy stores didn't even open until noon (back to that partying until dawn thing), so I packed up for the airport, where I had a short EasyJet flight to Budapest. I had a great time in Berlin, particularly at the excellent museums, and I wish I had more time to visit a few others. The city needs at least a week to do properly, which is a good excuse to come back.
My first reaction after landing at the Budapest airport wasn't exactly wonderful. The guidebooks had recommended to be careful of taxis, as they often charge very high prices for tourists. My hostel had provided instructions on using public transport to reach the city center, but when I got off the airport shuttle and walked into the very crowded, very confusing, and stiflingly hot metro station, I was starting to think a taxi ride at any price wasn't sounding so terrible. After a bit of a struggle to figure out how to get a ticket and which direction I needed to head, I finally got on a subway car that was clearly commissioned during Hungary's communist era and was packed full of hot (and a little smelly) locals. More than once I had to remind myself that if I had wanted a bit of an adventure, I was certainly experiencing it with this metro trip.
All of my negative impressions of the city dissolved once I reached the city center (although they still hold for the public transportation system). The downtown is beautiful, and I spent my evening wandering around the streets, sitting in a park and watching the world go by. I have no idea what exactly I had for dinner from a self-service cafeteria, but it was some sort of stuffed egg with a corn relish. It was very hot when I landed, but the evening was beautiful and cooler. I spent the end of my evening planning out the next few nights and then playing cards with a mix of Australians, Americans, and French fellow hostelers.
3 nights in Budapest, should be a good time.
Evening in Budapest
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I only had until noon before I'd have to start mobilizing towards the airport, so I woke up early to tour the area near Berlin's parliament building, the Reichstag. After a bomb scare about a year ago, it now takes a reservation made a minimum of 4 days in advance to get into the building (Rick Steves, where were you with that piece of information???), and even the exterior of the building is roped off. After, I did a little more touring around my hostel's neighborhood, but found that most of the fun, artsy stores didn't even open until noon (back to that partying until dawn thing), so I packed up for the airport, where I had a short EasyJet flight to Budapest. I had a great time in Berlin, particularly at the excellent museums, and I wish I had more time to visit a few others. The city needs at least a week to do properly, which is a good excuse to come back.
My first reaction after landing at the Budapest airport wasn't exactly wonderful. The guidebooks had recommended to be careful of taxis, as they often charge very high prices for tourists. My hostel had provided instructions on using public transport to reach the city center, but when I got off the airport shuttle and walked into the very crowded, very confusing, and stiflingly hot metro station, I was starting to think a taxi ride at any price wasn't sounding so terrible. After a bit of a struggle to figure out how to get a ticket and which direction I needed to head, I finally got on a subway car that was clearly commissioned during Hungary's communist era and was packed full of hot (and a little smelly) locals. More than once I had to remind myself that if I had wanted a bit of an adventure, I was certainly experiencing it with this metro trip.
All of my negative impressions of the city dissolved once I reached the city center (although they still hold for the public transportation system). The downtown is beautiful, and I spent my evening wandering around the streets, sitting in a park and watching the world go by. I have no idea what exactly I had for dinner from a self-service cafeteria, but it was some sort of stuffed egg with a corn relish. It was very hot when I landed, but the evening was beautiful and cooler. I spent the end of my evening planning out the next few nights and then playing cards with a mix of Australians, Americans, and French fellow hostelers.
3 nights in Budapest, should be a good time.
Tuesday, June 21, 2011
Day 11: Berlin
Berlin is wonderful, but absolutely exhausting with the amount of stuff that there is to do here.
First, the city is enormous. After previously traveling in smaller cities, my perspective on how far apart sites were was clearly a bit off. I started my morning off with a jog over to the East Side Gallery, which turned out to be a looooong jog. The East Side Gallery is the longest stretch remaining of the Berlin wall. In 2009, the German government invited back some of the original artists to "freshen up" their original artwork, so the wall feels a little too polished and a bit inaccurate, but the artwork is still wonderful and powerful.
I barely had enough time to hurry over to the walking tour I wanted to take. The tour was fantastic, particularly the Australian guide who had moved to the city 18 months ago after falling in love with Berlin (which is easy to understand). The tour included the Brandenburg Gate, Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe, Checkpoint Charlie, the site of Hitler's massive book burning, some other important Third Reich sites, and many others. The tour was 3.5 hours, and afterward, I barely had enough time to squeeze in two museums. First, I spent way longer than planned at the Typography of Terror museum, which focuses on the leaders and inner-workings of the Gestapo and the SS. The museum was fascinating (although many of the images were very disturbing), and I thought the final portion of the museum discussing the repairing of German society after the atrocities and dealing with the population that had been connected to (but not leading) these organizations was particularly provoking.
Checkpoint Charlie, recreated for tourist but still interesting
Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe
My second trip was to the Jewish Heritage Museum, which is really half museum, half art instillation. The design of the building is so cool (for lack of a better word), and the museum is very interactive and modern. I was surprised that 95% of the focus was on German history (both before and during the Holocaust) as opposed to an overall European focus, but perhaps there is some reason behind this choice. Anyway, I was lucky that the museum was open late on Mondays, because by the time I left it was 9.30pm.
I'd been in Germany for four nights, and I hadn't yet had a traditional German dinner, so I decided to fix this. I'd been alternating between two Berlin specialties: currywurst, which is German sausage in tomato sauce with ample amounts of curry, and Turkish schwarma, which are pita-like sandwiches with carved, spiced meat and other fillings. Berlin has a large Turkish population, and Germans love Turkish food. Turkish fast food places are available on almost every street corner, and they are cheap and fantastic. As much as I was enjoying these two Berlin favorites, I felt like my trip wouldn't be complete until I had something that involved sauerkraut. So I made a trip to a restaurant recommended by the hostel for traditional Northern German food, and had crackled pork with lots of sauerkraut, which was wonderful and much better than the sauerkraut served back home, which is much more bitter.
After the long day, I was feeling pretty spent, but I didn't want to pass on one more opportunity to enjoy the East Berlin nightlife. Only a couple of doors down from my apartment was a well-known club called Kaffee Bar, which was a popular student bar in the 70s until the East German government shut the place down. The bar was reopened in 1999, with the interior unchanged from the day it was shut down (a sign even lists the menu and prices from the year it was closed). The place has lots of bad wallpaper and wood paneling. When I walked in at midnight, the place was nearly empty. Based on conversations I had in the hostel with younger guests, East Berlin bars don't even start to get going until after 1am, with the real action occurring about 3am. While I had no desire to verify this information, I did find that by 1am the bar crowd was slowly growing. I started chatting with a group of Spanish tourists in a mix of limited English (theirs) and terrible Spanish (mine), but by 1:30am I found the multi-lingual conversation was becoming more effort than I really had left in me. I headed back to my hostel, where I found my 6-bed dorm-room completely empty (the rest, I assume, were either testing or contributing to the 3am hypothesis). In some future post I'll talk about living it the hostels, where I'm at just about the maximum age before being a weirdo.
But this post is getting long, so another time. A little more time in Berlin tomorrow, then off to Budapest!
First, the city is enormous. After previously traveling in smaller cities, my perspective on how far apart sites were was clearly a bit off. I started my morning off with a jog over to the East Side Gallery, which turned out to be a looooong jog. The East Side Gallery is the longest stretch remaining of the Berlin wall. In 2009, the German government invited back some of the original artists to "freshen up" their original artwork, so the wall feels a little too polished and a bit inaccurate, but the artwork is still wonderful and powerful.
I barely had enough time to hurry over to the walking tour I wanted to take. The tour was fantastic, particularly the Australian guide who had moved to the city 18 months ago after falling in love with Berlin (which is easy to understand). The tour included the Brandenburg Gate, Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe, Checkpoint Charlie, the site of Hitler's massive book burning, some other important Third Reich sites, and many others. The tour was 3.5 hours, and afterward, I barely had enough time to squeeze in two museums. First, I spent way longer than planned at the Typography of Terror museum, which focuses on the leaders and inner-workings of the Gestapo and the SS. The museum was fascinating (although many of the images were very disturbing), and I thought the final portion of the museum discussing the repairing of German society after the atrocities and dealing with the population that had been connected to (but not leading) these organizations was particularly provoking.
My second trip was to the Jewish Heritage Museum, which is really half museum, half art instillation. The design of the building is so cool (for lack of a better word), and the museum is very interactive and modern. I was surprised that 95% of the focus was on German history (both before and during the Holocaust) as opposed to an overall European focus, but perhaps there is some reason behind this choice. Anyway, I was lucky that the museum was open late on Mondays, because by the time I left it was 9.30pm.
I'd been in Germany for four nights, and I hadn't yet had a traditional German dinner, so I decided to fix this. I'd been alternating between two Berlin specialties: currywurst, which is German sausage in tomato sauce with ample amounts of curry, and Turkish schwarma, which are pita-like sandwiches with carved, spiced meat and other fillings. Berlin has a large Turkish population, and Germans love Turkish food. Turkish fast food places are available on almost every street corner, and they are cheap and fantastic. As much as I was enjoying these two Berlin favorites, I felt like my trip wouldn't be complete until I had something that involved sauerkraut. So I made a trip to a restaurant recommended by the hostel for traditional Northern German food, and had crackled pork with lots of sauerkraut, which was wonderful and much better than the sauerkraut served back home, which is much more bitter.
After the long day, I was feeling pretty spent, but I didn't want to pass on one more opportunity to enjoy the East Berlin nightlife. Only a couple of doors down from my apartment was a well-known club called Kaffee Bar, which was a popular student bar in the 70s until the East German government shut the place down. The bar was reopened in 1999, with the interior unchanged from the day it was shut down (a sign even lists the menu and prices from the year it was closed). The place has lots of bad wallpaper and wood paneling. When I walked in at midnight, the place was nearly empty. Based on conversations I had in the hostel with younger guests, East Berlin bars don't even start to get going until after 1am, with the real action occurring about 3am. While I had no desire to verify this information, I did find that by 1am the bar crowd was slowly growing. I started chatting with a group of Spanish tourists in a mix of limited English (theirs) and terrible Spanish (mine), but by 1:30am I found the multi-lingual conversation was becoming more effort than I really had left in me. I headed back to my hostel, where I found my 6-bed dorm-room completely empty (the rest, I assume, were either testing or contributing to the 3am hypothesis). In some future post I'll talk about living it the hostels, where I'm at just about the maximum age before being a weirdo.
But this post is getting long, so another time. A little more time in Berlin tomorrow, then off to Budapest!
Monday, June 20, 2011
Day 10: Berlin
I really wish I had set aside more time for Berlin, which is awesome.
I'm staying on the East Berlin side, which has turned out to be funky, fun, and rather affordable. The entire end of town is covered in a mix of graffiti and Bansky-esk murals, and while it's a little gritty, I don't think that East Berlin would be right without a dollop of grit and lots of graffiti.
I started my day off by lingering a little longer than planned at a weekend flea market, which was exactly everything one would hope from a flea market. I walked away with a few small souvenirs, and only the constraints of my luggage prevented me from purchasing more. I did a quick walk around the area surrounding my ridiculously great hostel, with a lot of window shopping at stores that were closed on Sunday.
After wandering, admiring street graffiti, and checking out some small art galleries, I headed over to the German History Museum, which was very good and I spent longer than I expected; I only left because I was getting kicked out as the doors were closing at 6pm. While the history was interesting, what was more interesting was to see a country's history from its own perspective, as opposed to the American spin. I was a bit mesmerized by the really well done museum.
I left the history museum and learned that the weather had turned rainy, cold, and ugly, so had little choice to head back to my hostel. I wandered over to a bar not from my hostel called White Trash Fast Food, for which the theme is "Irish Kitsch meets a bad Chinese food restaurant." A little odd. The band playing turned out to be, well, also not so good. Maybe that was part of the theme?
Overall, Berlin might be my favorite city so far, particularly the East end of town. The nightlife is laid-back but fervid, the streets are bursting with history, the area is packed with trendy stores covered in graffiti, and food and drink are surprisingly easy on the wallet. There is also a lot to do here - tomorrow is going to be a busy day of museum hopping and sightseeing. Let's hope there's better weather!
Images of East Berlin:
I'm staying on the East Berlin side, which has turned out to be funky, fun, and rather affordable. The entire end of town is covered in a mix of graffiti and Bansky-esk murals, and while it's a little gritty, I don't think that East Berlin would be right without a dollop of grit and lots of graffiti.
I started my day off by lingering a little longer than planned at a weekend flea market, which was exactly everything one would hope from a flea market. I walked away with a few small souvenirs, and only the constraints of my luggage prevented me from purchasing more. I did a quick walk around the area surrounding my ridiculously great hostel, with a lot of window shopping at stores that were closed on Sunday.
After wandering, admiring street graffiti, and checking out some small art galleries, I headed over to the German History Museum, which was very good and I spent longer than I expected; I only left because I was getting kicked out as the doors were closing at 6pm. While the history was interesting, what was more interesting was to see a country's history from its own perspective, as opposed to the American spin. I was a bit mesmerized by the really well done museum.
I left the history museum and learned that the weather had turned rainy, cold, and ugly, so had little choice to head back to my hostel. I wandered over to a bar not from my hostel called White Trash Fast Food, for which the theme is "Irish Kitsch meets a bad Chinese food restaurant." A little odd. The band playing turned out to be, well, also not so good. Maybe that was part of the theme?
Overall, Berlin might be my favorite city so far, particularly the East end of town. The nightlife is laid-back but fervid, the streets are bursting with history, the area is packed with trendy stores covered in graffiti, and food and drink are surprisingly easy on the wallet. There is also a lot to do here - tomorrow is going to be a busy day of museum hopping and sightseeing. Let's hope there's better weather!
Images of East Berlin:
Sunday, June 19, 2011
Day 9: Cologne
Miles logged: 4599
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Yesterday wasn't the most exciting day on my trip so far, but still a solid travel day.
The first stop in Cologne was to its Cathedral, which was probably the most magnificent church I have ever seen. Absolutely breathtaking. How this church was built in the 1200s with the technology available at the time seems impossible, but it was spectacular. I took a few photos, but not many because capturing the Cathedral's height and stain glass windows properly would take a camera far better than mine and would still fail to convey the building's magnificence. Ninety percent of Cologne was bombed and destroyed in World War II, but somehow the Cathedral survived fully intact. A miracle? Divine intervention? Luck? Whatever the reason, thank goodness for all of humanity that such an marvelous landmark survived for future generations to better understand this incredible architectural achievement.
The Cathedral
A doesn't-do-it justice shot of inside the cathedral
After touring the Cathedral, I paid the entrance fee to climb the 533 claustrophobic stairs to the Belfry. The climb up was a tad painful and I'm not sure the views completely offset the climb, but it was off the tourist to-do checklist.
View from the belfry
I only had a couple of hours to spend in Cologne, and I was hoping to get my first introduction to the German art scene. Cologne is known as a pretty hip city and very progressive, so I was expecting some good art browsing and shopping opportunities. I hit up the main shopping thoroughfare, which was bland collection of multiple H&M stores and other similar mega Euro-department stores. The area was so packed with Saturday shoppers that I didn't last long, as the area looked much like any major European shopping district.
I had read that there was a hip area called Agnesviertel, a "bohemian" district not far from the main train station. I headed over to check out the neighborhood, but left disappointed. While the area did look like a hip place to live, I didn't find the funky art galleries and shops that I had expected from the tour guide descriptions. So I headed back to the train station at about 4pm to make my way for a long ride to Berlin. The trains are very nice, and I'm riding in first class because at the ripe age of 28, I no longer qualified for a 2nd class Eurorail pass. The doors on my train were just like those in Star Trek - these Germans definitely know how to travel.
Which way to the Bridge?
Since I don't have any great stories from today, I'll respond here to a question I've gotten a lot lately: how I'm liking traveling alone. It's been a great experience, although I'm not so sold on it that I'd only ever travel this way again. Loneliness certainly hasn't been a problem; in fact, I've actually been having the opposite problem - sometimes I wish I could have some more down time. Traveling alone, I can't seem to avoid conversations on trains, at restaurants, or in the hostels. The fact that I'm traveling solo, which makes me completely approachable, and the unusual spanse of my travels immediately leads to conversations that I wish I could sometimes shorten. Both today and yesterday, I ended up in conversations on train rides with German men with noooo sense of humor that just would not stop providing very opinionated thoughts on my destinations, American politics and culture, the economy, and my job prospects. The only way I got out of the second conversation is when the man fell asleep, but then I had to listen to his loud snoring instead. I decided I preferred the snoring.
Finally, I get some time to write my blog!
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Yesterday wasn't the most exciting day on my trip so far, but still a solid travel day.
The first stop in Cologne was to its Cathedral, which was probably the most magnificent church I have ever seen. Absolutely breathtaking. How this church was built in the 1200s with the technology available at the time seems impossible, but it was spectacular. I took a few photos, but not many because capturing the Cathedral's height and stain glass windows properly would take a camera far better than mine and would still fail to convey the building's magnificence. Ninety percent of Cologne was bombed and destroyed in World War II, but somehow the Cathedral survived fully intact. A miracle? Divine intervention? Luck? Whatever the reason, thank goodness for all of humanity that such an marvelous landmark survived for future generations to better understand this incredible architectural achievement.
After touring the Cathedral, I paid the entrance fee to climb the 533 claustrophobic stairs to the Belfry. The climb up was a tad painful and I'm not sure the views completely offset the climb, but it was off the tourist to-do checklist.
I only had a couple of hours to spend in Cologne, and I was hoping to get my first introduction to the German art scene. Cologne is known as a pretty hip city and very progressive, so I was expecting some good art browsing and shopping opportunities. I hit up the main shopping thoroughfare, which was bland collection of multiple H&M stores and other similar mega Euro-department stores. The area was so packed with Saturday shoppers that I didn't last long, as the area looked much like any major European shopping district.
I had read that there was a hip area called Agnesviertel, a "bohemian" district not far from the main train station. I headed over to check out the neighborhood, but left disappointed. While the area did look like a hip place to live, I didn't find the funky art galleries and shops that I had expected from the tour guide descriptions. So I headed back to the train station at about 4pm to make my way for a long ride to Berlin. The trains are very nice, and I'm riding in first class because at the ripe age of 28, I no longer qualified for a 2nd class Eurorail pass. The doors on my train were just like those in Star Trek - these Germans definitely know how to travel.
Since I don't have any great stories from today, I'll respond here to a question I've gotten a lot lately: how I'm liking traveling alone. It's been a great experience, although I'm not so sold on it that I'd only ever travel this way again. Loneliness certainly hasn't been a problem; in fact, I've actually been having the opposite problem - sometimes I wish I could have some more down time. Traveling alone, I can't seem to avoid conversations on trains, at restaurants, or in the hostels. The fact that I'm traveling solo, which makes me completely approachable, and the unusual spanse of my travels immediately leads to conversations that I wish I could sometimes shorten. Both today and yesterday, I ended up in conversations on train rides with German men with noooo sense of humor that just would not stop providing very opinionated thoughts on my destinations, American politics and culture, the economy, and my job prospects. The only way I got out of the second conversation is when the man fell asleep, but then I had to listen to his loud snoring instead. I decided I preferred the snoring.
Saturday, June 18, 2011
Day 8: Bruges
Today involved a lot more cow spotting and bike riding.
I was having so much fun in Bruges bike-riding/waffle-eating/chocolate-sampling/bier-tasting that I would have liked to stay another night, but the weekends in Bruges are very busy and I found that all of the best hostels were full. So I decided I'd spend until the late afternoon in Bruges and then head towards Berlin, stopping for the night about half-way in Cologne.
After enjoying the previous day's bike ride so much, I decided to skip my planned art museum visit (half of it was closed for renovations, anyway) and rent a bike to do some more biking. The tour guide gave us biking maps of the area with suggested routes, so I decided to take a tour on my own to see the Belgian coast.
After renting a bike for a half-day, I headed out of the city and towards the ocean. The ride to the nearest shore town wasn't as scenic as the prior day's tour, but it was still quite nice and within an hour I was looking out at what I believe to be the North Sea, facing towards England. The first two towns along my ride appeared to be primarily industrial shipping ports, but as I continued, the scenery improved. The third town turned out to be a very nice beach town, where I had a tasty lunch that I would best describe as fried gooey fishcake sticks. After lunch, I slowly continued back, getting a bit lost along the way but fortunately able to quickly path out a new route when I rode past a turn because I was too busy gawking at the cows and missed a sign. Overall, the ride was beautiful, and I swung through a few cute little towns along the way, but it would have been prettier had the weather been sunnier.
The Belgian coast
Pier along the coast
Belgian resort town
These bathhouses were in cute rows and were very pretty long the beach
Is that a black sheep along the canal?
I got back to Bruges and cruised for a bit longer around the city. At this point, the cloudy weather had turned to drizzle and the cobblestone streets were becoming very slick. Also, after 4.5 hours, my legs were starting to feel like they were going to fall off. I returned the bike just in time; 5 minutes later, the skies opened up and it was pouring. I dashed to the nearest waffle shop, indulged in one last authentic Belgian waffle, waited for the rain to pass, and then swung by my hostel to grab my bags and send some emails.
I started to head towards the train station, but took my sweet time and got a little distracted, so I missed the train I had intended on taking. I knew there was a train an hour later, but unfortunately the later Brussels-Cologne train required a reservation and was already full. Thus, to get to Cologne by the evening, I had to make an extra train connection which added 1.5 hours to my travel time. Although time-consuming, the train rides were very comfortable and spending a little extra time passing through Belgian and German towns wasn't a big deal, although I was grateful for the iPad.
I got into Cologne at just about midnight, stopped at the first sausage cart (which was quite busy), and promptly scarfed down an excellent currywurst. I've got about half a day in Cologne, then it's off to Berlin!
Danke, sausage cart lady!
I was having so much fun in Bruges bike-riding/waffle-eating/chocolate-sampling/bier-tasting that I would have liked to stay another night, but the weekends in Bruges are very busy and I found that all of the best hostels were full. So I decided I'd spend until the late afternoon in Bruges and then head towards Berlin, stopping for the night about half-way in Cologne.
After enjoying the previous day's bike ride so much, I decided to skip my planned art museum visit (half of it was closed for renovations, anyway) and rent a bike to do some more biking. The tour guide gave us biking maps of the area with suggested routes, so I decided to take a tour on my own to see the Belgian coast.
After renting a bike for a half-day, I headed out of the city and towards the ocean. The ride to the nearest shore town wasn't as scenic as the prior day's tour, but it was still quite nice and within an hour I was looking out at what I believe to be the North Sea, facing towards England. The first two towns along my ride appeared to be primarily industrial shipping ports, but as I continued, the scenery improved. The third town turned out to be a very nice beach town, where I had a tasty lunch that I would best describe as fried gooey fishcake sticks. After lunch, I slowly continued back, getting a bit lost along the way but fortunately able to quickly path out a new route when I rode past a turn because I was too busy gawking at the cows and missed a sign. Overall, the ride was beautiful, and I swung through a few cute little towns along the way, but it would have been prettier had the weather been sunnier.
I got back to Bruges and cruised for a bit longer around the city. At this point, the cloudy weather had turned to drizzle and the cobblestone streets were becoming very slick. Also, after 4.5 hours, my legs were starting to feel like they were going to fall off. I returned the bike just in time; 5 minutes later, the skies opened up and it was pouring. I dashed to the nearest waffle shop, indulged in one last authentic Belgian waffle, waited for the rain to pass, and then swung by my hostel to grab my bags and send some emails.
I started to head towards the train station, but took my sweet time and got a little distracted, so I missed the train I had intended on taking. I knew there was a train an hour later, but unfortunately the later Brussels-Cologne train required a reservation and was already full. Thus, to get to Cologne by the evening, I had to make an extra train connection which added 1.5 hours to my travel time. Although time-consuming, the train rides were very comfortable and spending a little extra time passing through Belgian and German towns wasn't a big deal, although I was grateful for the iPad.
I got into Cologne at just about midnight, stopped at the first sausage cart (which was quite busy), and promptly scarfed down an excellent currywurst. I've got about half a day in Cologne, then it's off to Berlin!
Friday, June 17, 2011
Day 7: Bruges
I could most certainly live in Belgium.
I started the day with a two hour jog/walk around the city, getting lost repeatedly in the winding, narrow medieval streets. Fortunately, the city is surrounded by a wide canal that forms the shape of an egg, with the longest diameter about 1.5 miles, and the main square at the center. Therefore, if you get lost and hit a canal, the best thing to do is just head in the exact opposite direction. Worked every time.
Market Square of Bruges
After the jog, I had signed up for a 4-hour guided bike tour of the countryside. Our local guide, Steven, was both a Ph.D history student and wryly funny. The tour and the countryside were beautiful, with lots of cows, sheep, farms, and flat bikepaths. We went to nearby Dammes to see another beautiful, but smaller, medieval town that used to be an important port for Napolean. We stopped for a bier break in yet another small town before heading back to Bruges. The ride was wonderful, although the weather flopped back and forth between down-pouring rain and bright sunshine. The Belgian countryside is wonderfully flat, and bikes are abundant here. Scooters and regular bikes might just outnumber cars on the roads. Getting the chance to try out the local form of transport was quite fun.
A Belgian Blue cow (they're big!) in the countryside.
I returned to Bruges and rewarded my very active day with a trip to Damons, a well-known chocolate shop near the Market Square. The reputation did not disappoint, and I happily enjoyed my selections while cruising the streets with a little window shopping. Since most of the shops close at 6pm, I decided that since my day was on such roll with so many of Belgium's cultural treats, I should splurge a bit and try the local mussels at a nice restaurant for my last dinner in Belgium. I found a table outside just right off the market square, and ordered the famous "moussels". My mussels in garlic sauce were quite tasty, and of course, were served with pomes frites. The restaurant manager saw me sitting alone and came over to talk a bit, and later sent a bowl of gelato to my table on the house. Bonus!
After dinner I went back to the hostel for the very popular 9pm 1-euro happy hour, and joined a fellow hosteler I met the day earlier for a beer. By 10pm, I was completely beat from the jogging and bike riding, and even the loud bar couldn't keep me from falling asleep almost immediately.
One more day in Bruges, then off to Germany. More photos are coming soon.
I started the day with a two hour jog/walk around the city, getting lost repeatedly in the winding, narrow medieval streets. Fortunately, the city is surrounded by a wide canal that forms the shape of an egg, with the longest diameter about 1.5 miles, and the main square at the center. Therefore, if you get lost and hit a canal, the best thing to do is just head in the exact opposite direction. Worked every time.
After the jog, I had signed up for a 4-hour guided bike tour of the countryside. Our local guide, Steven, was both a Ph.D history student and wryly funny. The tour and the countryside were beautiful, with lots of cows, sheep, farms, and flat bikepaths. We went to nearby Dammes to see another beautiful, but smaller, medieval town that used to be an important port for Napolean. We stopped for a bier break in yet another small town before heading back to Bruges. The ride was wonderful, although the weather flopped back and forth between down-pouring rain and bright sunshine. The Belgian countryside is wonderfully flat, and bikes are abundant here. Scooters and regular bikes might just outnumber cars on the roads. Getting the chance to try out the local form of transport was quite fun.
I returned to Bruges and rewarded my very active day with a trip to Damons, a well-known chocolate shop near the Market Square. The reputation did not disappoint, and I happily enjoyed my selections while cruising the streets with a little window shopping. Since most of the shops close at 6pm, I decided that since my day was on such roll with so many of Belgium's cultural treats, I should splurge a bit and try the local mussels at a nice restaurant for my last dinner in Belgium. I found a table outside just right off the market square, and ordered the famous "moussels". My mussels in garlic sauce were quite tasty, and of course, were served with pomes frites. The restaurant manager saw me sitting alone and came over to talk a bit, and later sent a bowl of gelato to my table on the house. Bonus!
After dinner I went back to the hostel for the very popular 9pm 1-euro happy hour, and joined a fellow hosteler I met the day earlier for a beer. By 10pm, I was completely beat from the jogging and bike riding, and even the loud bar couldn't keep me from falling asleep almost immediately.
One more day in Bruges, then off to Germany. More photos are coming soon.
Thursday, June 16, 2011
Day 6: Brussels and Bruges
Miles logged: 4,129
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I had an early flight from Dublin to Brussels, and landed in Belgium at 9am. I took the train into the city and explored for a few hours while hitting up the major tourist attractions. I went to the Grand Palace, which was incredible and beautiful, and then the Mannequin Pis, which has got to be the most overrated attraction of all time. The statue might be 2 feet high, and if I hand't seen all the tourists gawking I probably would have never thought to glance up. The Belgian waffles, however, were not overrated and were in fact amazing and far better than the ones typically served in the US. I also dropped into some interesting art stores. Overall, Brussels seemed like a city with potential, but I didn't feel very disappointed that I needed to be getting on my way to Bruges via a very nice train ride through the Belgian countryside.
Bruges, on the other hand, is incredible and wonderfully picturesque. Absolutely gorgeous, with interesting shops, lots of chocolate stores, and a beautiful main square. The town is totally overrun by tourists, but given how beautiful Bruges is, as it was once one of the wealthiest and important medieval towns in Europe and survived generally untouched during both world wars, the town could not be more scenic and its popularity is understandable.
I checked into my hostel about 7pm, got some laundry going, and started wandering the main square. The Flemish are very proud of their pomes frites (NOT French Fries), so I decided to indulge. I really didn't find them as significantly better than those found in the US (unlike the Belgian waffles). Still, it was pretty magical to walk around in Bruges eating my pomes frites served with mayonnaise as twilight was setting.
The hostel that I'm staying in has a bar on the first floor that serves a wide choice of Belgian beers at pretty great prices, with a staff that's very helpful and more than willing to offer advice on which beers might be appealing. The hostel is probably about 90% Americans, which made for easy conversations and getting to meet a few people. Unfortunately, the bar made the hostel very loud all night, and it was tough to get a good night's sleep in the place.
Overall, Bruges has been as wonderful as promised and I'm loving Belgium. I'll update this post tomorrow with some photos!
Now these are tasty!
Now that I look at this photo, I think it's a little weird how I'm holding his arm...hmmm
That's it?
-----
I had an early flight from Dublin to Brussels, and landed in Belgium at 9am. I took the train into the city and explored for a few hours while hitting up the major tourist attractions. I went to the Grand Palace, which was incredible and beautiful, and then the Mannequin Pis, which has got to be the most overrated attraction of all time. The statue might be 2 feet high, and if I hand't seen all the tourists gawking I probably would have never thought to glance up. The Belgian waffles, however, were not overrated and were in fact amazing and far better than the ones typically served in the US. I also dropped into some interesting art stores. Overall, Brussels seemed like a city with potential, but I didn't feel very disappointed that I needed to be getting on my way to Bruges via a very nice train ride through the Belgian countryside.
Bruges, on the other hand, is incredible and wonderfully picturesque. Absolutely gorgeous, with interesting shops, lots of chocolate stores, and a beautiful main square. The town is totally overrun by tourists, but given how beautiful Bruges is, as it was once one of the wealthiest and important medieval towns in Europe and survived generally untouched during both world wars, the town could not be more scenic and its popularity is understandable.
I checked into my hostel about 7pm, got some laundry going, and started wandering the main square. The Flemish are very proud of their pomes frites (NOT French Fries), so I decided to indulge. I really didn't find them as significantly better than those found in the US (unlike the Belgian waffles). Still, it was pretty magical to walk around in Bruges eating my pomes frites served with mayonnaise as twilight was setting.
The hostel that I'm staying in has a bar on the first floor that serves a wide choice of Belgian beers at pretty great prices, with a staff that's very helpful and more than willing to offer advice on which beers might be appealing. The hostel is probably about 90% Americans, which made for easy conversations and getting to meet a few people. Unfortunately, the bar made the hostel very loud all night, and it was tough to get a good night's sleep in the place.
Overall, Bruges has been as wonderful as promised and I'm loving Belgium. I'll update this post tomorrow with some photos!
Wednesday, June 15, 2011
Day 5: Kilkenny and Dublin
One of my favorite parts of this trip has been my early morning jogs. They've been a great way to get a chance to quickly (or at least relatively quickly, based on my pace) cover a lot of sight-seeing ground, while also getting a chance to explore before the areas become packed full of other tourists. I woke up early on Tuesday and went for a run through Kilkenny, and was super happy to find that the castle grounds were open and nearly empty, except for a couple of other stray joggers. I was able to snap several nice photographs which are included in the web album.
Kilkenny Castle
After the morning run, I headed over to St. Canice Cathedral as the church was opening, and had the church entirely to myself for a solid hour. After admiring the very old tombs and stain glass widows, I paid an extra 2 euros to climb the watch tower that dates from 849 A.D. It was quite the set of steep stairs, and as tough as climbing up was, coming down was a little frightening.
View of Kilkenny from the top
Starting to wish I hadn't had that last Smithwicks last night.
The views from the top were impressive, and I was lucky to have a bright, clear sunny day for my visit. After climbing down, I grabbed a half-Irish breakfast and then went to the Smithwicks brewery for a tour. The Smithwicks brewery is 300 years old, but beer brewing in Ireland is believed to have formally taken hold in a style common to today's beers at the abbey on Smithwicks' site in the 1200s. Our tour guide, Ronan, had worked at Smithwicks for over 30 years, and gave quite a good tour. Unlike the Guinness tour, we were able to actually go into the brewery to see the process and the equipment. Of course, the best part of the tour was the end when Ronan poured us a proper pint of Smithwicks, which is a slow process but creates a beer with an impressive head that reminded me of a top of a soufflé.
A proper pint
I knew this was going to be a good tour when they broke out the safety goggles.
After the tour, I had a few more hours to stroll the city before grabbing a train ride back to Dublin. My hostel in Dublin was fantastic, with a great sitting area and rather nice rooms. By last night I was feeling a bit saturated, both of Irish beer and sightseeing, and I decided to unwind at the hostel to simply relax rather than do more sightseeing. I spent the evening watching One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest with other hostelers, and met a very interesting couple, Sarah and Aaron, from Oklahoma. Before calling it a night I decided to grab one last pint of Guinness in Ireland with them (so much for saturation). I would have liked to have chatted with them more, but my flight to Brussels was at 6.50am the next morning and it was definitely time to get to bed.
Ireland was great, I'm a bit sad to be leaving such a fun country. But the good news is that I finally stopped nearly bumping into people on sidewalks by remembering to yield to the left -- cars drive on the left, people walk on the left. Finally got it.
Other general musings on Ireland:
1. Obama is insanely popular which is somewhat difficult to understand. But the Irish people seem to think he's wonderful, as I learned from several conversations with the locals I met.
T-shirts in Dublin
Bread in Cork...the use of pinhead oatmeal seems a little questionable
2. I had no idea the Irish were such smokers. In Kilkenny, I saw two young women who were collecting change in tin cans for the Irish Lung Cancer Society taking a smoke break. The Irish government recently jacked up the taxes on cigarettes, and they are now quite expensive. To get around this, smokers are instead buying loose tobacco (which is far cheaper) and rolling their own unfiltered cigarettes. I don't know what the exact economic term for this is, but it would definitely go under the fail column.
3. Many of the discussions I had with locals talked about the recession in Ireland and if the US economy was improving. From what I gathered, things in Ireland aren't desperate but are still rough. The pubs in particular have suffered -- with beers averaging about 4-5 euros, people are staying home more and pubs are struggling.
4. Everyone here understands me with no problems, even given how fast I speak, and I have a much harder time understanding them with an Irish accent. This is the first time in my life this has ever been true. I blame Hollywood.
That's about it. I'm on my way to Belgium now and looking forward to eating too much chocolate and indulging in some waffles. More pictures of Kilkenny and Cork are up here:
https://picasaweb.google.com/105899454615652413823/CorkAndKilkenny?feat=directlink
After the morning run, I headed over to St. Canice Cathedral as the church was opening, and had the church entirely to myself for a solid hour. After admiring the very old tombs and stain glass widows, I paid an extra 2 euros to climb the watch tower that dates from 849 A.D. It was quite the set of steep stairs, and as tough as climbing up was, coming down was a little frightening.
The views from the top were impressive, and I was lucky to have a bright, clear sunny day for my visit. After climbing down, I grabbed a half-Irish breakfast and then went to the Smithwicks brewery for a tour. The Smithwicks brewery is 300 years old, but beer brewing in Ireland is believed to have formally taken hold in a style common to today's beers at the abbey on Smithwicks' site in the 1200s. Our tour guide, Ronan, had worked at Smithwicks for over 30 years, and gave quite a good tour. Unlike the Guinness tour, we were able to actually go into the brewery to see the process and the equipment. Of course, the best part of the tour was the end when Ronan poured us a proper pint of Smithwicks, which is a slow process but creates a beer with an impressive head that reminded me of a top of a soufflé.
After the tour, I had a few more hours to stroll the city before grabbing a train ride back to Dublin. My hostel in Dublin was fantastic, with a great sitting area and rather nice rooms. By last night I was feeling a bit saturated, both of Irish beer and sightseeing, and I decided to unwind at the hostel to simply relax rather than do more sightseeing. I spent the evening watching One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest with other hostelers, and met a very interesting couple, Sarah and Aaron, from Oklahoma. Before calling it a night I decided to grab one last pint of Guinness in Ireland with them (so much for saturation). I would have liked to have chatted with them more, but my flight to Brussels was at 6.50am the next morning and it was definitely time to get to bed.
Ireland was great, I'm a bit sad to be leaving such a fun country. But the good news is that I finally stopped nearly bumping into people on sidewalks by remembering to yield to the left -- cars drive on the left, people walk on the left. Finally got it.
Other general musings on Ireland:
1. Obama is insanely popular which is somewhat difficult to understand. But the Irish people seem to think he's wonderful, as I learned from several conversations with the locals I met.
2. I had no idea the Irish were such smokers. In Kilkenny, I saw two young women who were collecting change in tin cans for the Irish Lung Cancer Society taking a smoke break. The Irish government recently jacked up the taxes on cigarettes, and they are now quite expensive. To get around this, smokers are instead buying loose tobacco (which is far cheaper) and rolling their own unfiltered cigarettes. I don't know what the exact economic term for this is, but it would definitely go under the fail column.
3. Many of the discussions I had with locals talked about the recession in Ireland and if the US economy was improving. From what I gathered, things in Ireland aren't desperate but are still rough. The pubs in particular have suffered -- with beers averaging about 4-5 euros, people are staying home more and pubs are struggling.
4. Everyone here understands me with no problems, even given how fast I speak, and I have a much harder time understanding them with an Irish accent. This is the first time in my life this has ever been true. I blame Hollywood.
That's about it. I'm on my way to Belgium now and looking forward to eating too much chocolate and indulging in some waffles. More pictures of Kilkenny and Cork are up here:
https://picasaweb.google.com/105899454615652413823/CorkAndKilkenny?feat=directlink
Tuesday, June 14, 2011
Day 4: Cork and Kilkenny
Miles logged: 3531
-----
Day 4 would best be described as the day of very friendly (too friendly?) locals.
After waking up early and getting a great jog around Cork, I visited Cork's English Market. The market was a lot like Philadelphia's Reading Terminal market, except in a more historical looking building, but an eighth the size.
At 11am, I grabbed a 3-hour bus ride to Kilkenny. The ride was pretty but bumpy. Upon checking into my hostel, I learned the internet was down, so I dropped into a nearby pub that had WiFi and began typing furiously before my battery died. The bar was entirely populated by older, local gentleman and two Russian waitresses, and my iPad unexpectedly became the topic of conversation for the entire bar. I was a tad surprised that the locals seemed engrossed by the device; I've seen the internal sales figures, and I know Apple sells plenty of iPads in Ireland. Anyway, I finished blogging and turned to the pint of Guinness in front of me while making small chat with the still staring locals. The Irish are certainly friendly, but can be a little heavy handed with personal questions. I had an older gentleman next to me, "Dan the Man," that seemed unwilling to be satisfied until he had my personal life story, a deep understanding of my relationship status, and why I'm not married yet.
Dan the Man, the very friendly local.
By the time I excused myself from Dan's grilling and offers for another pint, most of Kilkenny's sites were on the verge of closing. I had just about enough time to tour the castle grounds, before discovering that pretty much everything in Kilkenny closes at 6pm, even many restaurants. Kilkenny is not known for it's nightlife. About the only places that stay open are the pubs, of which there are at least two per drinking age resident (a slight hyperbole, but not too far from the truth). I grabbed a quick nap at the hostel, and then decided to check out the traditional Irish music across the street, which was close enough that I could hear the music from my room. The traditional music was nice, although a bit sleepy, but I chatted with some Canadian backpackers for a bit. After, I started talking to a local at the bar, who recommended a place with a popular local singer who sings traditional Irish ballads. The bar and singer had been recommended to me earlier by the locals from the first pub, so I decided this bar had to be worth checking out.
I wandered over, and found that the place was packed with locals, and the singer was in fact quite good. My accent quickly gave me away, and I went through another round of life-story interrogations. After a couple of pints, I found the attention was getting to be a little more than I needed for the evening, although I did enjoy that the singer pulled me over for Morrison's brown-eyed girl (too bad my eyes are green), but it was time to go.
Another fun day in Ireland, although the pubs can be claustrophobically friendly!
More on Kilkenny and photos coming tomorrow!
-----
Day 4 would best be described as the day of very friendly (too friendly?) locals.
After waking up early and getting a great jog around Cork, I visited Cork's English Market. The market was a lot like Philadelphia's Reading Terminal market, except in a more historical looking building, but an eighth the size.
At 11am, I grabbed a 3-hour bus ride to Kilkenny. The ride was pretty but bumpy. Upon checking into my hostel, I learned the internet was down, so I dropped into a nearby pub that had WiFi and began typing furiously before my battery died. The bar was entirely populated by older, local gentleman and two Russian waitresses, and my iPad unexpectedly became the topic of conversation for the entire bar. I was a tad surprised that the locals seemed engrossed by the device; I've seen the internal sales figures, and I know Apple sells plenty of iPads in Ireland. Anyway, I finished blogging and turned to the pint of Guinness in front of me while making small chat with the still staring locals. The Irish are certainly friendly, but can be a little heavy handed with personal questions. I had an older gentleman next to me, "Dan the Man," that seemed unwilling to be satisfied until he had my personal life story, a deep understanding of my relationship status, and why I'm not married yet.
By the time I excused myself from Dan's grilling and offers for another pint, most of Kilkenny's sites were on the verge of closing. I had just about enough time to tour the castle grounds, before discovering that pretty much everything in Kilkenny closes at 6pm, even many restaurants. Kilkenny is not known for it's nightlife. About the only places that stay open are the pubs, of which there are at least two per drinking age resident (a slight hyperbole, but not too far from the truth). I grabbed a quick nap at the hostel, and then decided to check out the traditional Irish music across the street, which was close enough that I could hear the music from my room. The traditional music was nice, although a bit sleepy, but I chatted with some Canadian backpackers for a bit. After, I started talking to a local at the bar, who recommended a place with a popular local singer who sings traditional Irish ballads. The bar and singer had been recommended to me earlier by the locals from the first pub, so I decided this bar had to be worth checking out.
I wandered over, and found that the place was packed with locals, and the singer was in fact quite good. My accent quickly gave me away, and I went through another round of life-story interrogations. After a couple of pints, I found the attention was getting to be a little more than I needed for the evening, although I did enjoy that the singer pulled me over for Morrison's brown-eyed girl (too bad my eyes are green), but it was time to go.
Another fun day in Ireland, although the pubs can be claustrophobically friendly!
More on Kilkenny and photos coming tomorrow!
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