A Taste of the Eastern Culture

This past weekend I had a trip ready and booked to go to the Auschwitz Concentration Camp and then Prague. I was very very excited for this, but unfortunately no one else was and therefore the trip got cancelled. Fail.

SO Instead I went on a trip to Budapest and Vienna! It was a very quick change, a girl (Yassaman) in my class was trying to go somewhere for the long weekend, seeing that I had suddenly found myself in the same boat, I chimed in to see if she had any bright ideas. Next thing you know, three days later we were on a bus to Budapest.

Now this was my first organized group trip. It was with a company called Bus2Alps. They are well known and seemed like a well run company. 

As of right now, I am indifferent on the whole packaged trip deal- You will find out why as the story goes on. 

We left Thursday night and 14 hours later, arrived at our hostel in the great city of Budapest, Hungary. It was a really weird feeling because well 

1. it did not feel like a new day and 

2. it did not feel like I was in another country, let alone Hungary. 

Seeing that our bus ran a couple hours late, our whole itinerary was off. Our guide, Grace, was a little bit stressed out about this which resulted in the group having minimal guidance. But it was all good- I am glad I did not need anyone to hold my hand during the many adventures.

While we were on the bus, Grace went around to ask us which selected activities we would like to participate in- she needed the money and the final count for when we arrived. 

One of the options were caving. Now, I would just like to mention that I am claustrophobic AND super afraid of caves, but I said "hey.. ya know what I came on this trip to go outside my comfort zone, and dag nab-bit that's what I am going to do." So I took a deep breath, gave her my money and tried not to think about what I was getting myself into. Yassaman, thank goodness also has a phobia, however, I was the only one in the group who has seen the movie Descent. (which I recommend to anyone who does NOT plan on going caving anytime soon). 

Boy let me tell you- even if I tried to prepare myself for caving, I would not have been able to. This activity was not like "oh hey lets walk through a cave and look at the crystals." It was more on the level where we were playing the game, "how small of a tunnel can YOU fit into without getting stuck?" 

It was, to say the least, intense. 

I had to wear this.

This fashionable "onezie" protected me from the mud, however, it was really restricting when I was trying to shimmy down a small tunnel so small that I had to be on my side with one arm up with my head resting as close as possible to my body. That was probably my least favorite part, but as long as there was no need for  me to be suspended in the air by a cord and a hook, then I was okay- that is where I draw the line.

I was pretty proud of myself with the caving. The tunnels were small, it was slippery, and it took a lot of upper body strength that I do not particularly have. 

At one point we had to turn off our headlights to see the natural light. That would be no light. pitch darkness. I had a flashback from the movie Descent at that point (Dad- you know what I mean). 

The group we went with was really great too. The instructor made it clear in the beginning that caving was a team activity. We all helped each other- we told one another where to grab, to watch out for a slippery slope, and talked people through a tight situation when they started to freak out. It was really nice to feel that sense of teamwork and allowed the group to bond really quickly. 

Me, Yassaman, Alice, and Chirstie

walking through the entrance

down the ladder we go, instructor first!

Hey, let's crawl in that hole. (Not even the smallest one)

The "ghost" of the cave

the elephant of the cave

I cannot believe this is happening

the "library"

"The Chapel" where people used to go for church during WWI  

The Descent

Almost done

I MADE IT

that's what I crawled under

The cave had a really cool story as well. It used to be a bomb shelter during WWI. People used to have a chapel down there where they would have mass, so their is a lot of history involved with it. 

After two hours in a cave, and navigating around Budapest practically on our own, relaxation time was a must... good thing the city is known for their natural thermal baths. These things are pretty much massive built in hot tubs that are open to the public. 

I was a weird concept to me, but I was not about to argue it. I was very excited. I was happy to find out that the water was shocked with a lot of chlorine to make it clean. As you can see, they look like big public pools that happen to be hot, but they are all natural from the earth. Budapest is filled with them, but we went to the main ones. There are spas and saunas in these locations as well. It was tempting, let me tell you- but the hot pool was relaxing enough for me. 

See, the nice thing about having a guide is that she had been there before. She took care of how to use the metro, the prices, and making sure everyone stuck together. We showed up to our hostel without looking at a map, we were told where to go to change our money, shown where a good place to eat was and etc. (with exception from when we first got there). 

At the same time, I enjoy figuring out a city for myself. I like finding my way through a map, and going off the beaten path to find authentic places and shops. I am good at that- it makes me feel as though I have conquered the city and really know it. I didn't quite get that feeling this weekend, and I am not sure how OK I am with that.

To touch a bit on changing my money. Hungary uses Fiorents instead of Euros. The money is totally different, and I ended up spending thousands.

These "thousands" are actually quite similar to Monopoly money. 3000 is equivalent to about 10 Euros. so things were very cheap in Budapest, which everyone loved of course. I had to take a picture though, because it looks kind of cool you have to admit.

The next day, in attempt to discover Budapest on our own, Yassaman, Chirstie, and I set out to explore. This was going to be more of a low key day; we could not even raise our arms over our head without whimpering. So much pain.
We saw The Castle and went to the main local market which had both shopping and food. We were a bit short for time, however, because of a scheduled walking tour which we decided to go on, and did not get to go up to the castle or spend a lot of time in the market.

The tour, was less than enthusing. We walked by the same places I had seen just a couple hours earlier, and learned about kings and warriors that I could have gone without knowing. Nonetheless, ended up having a great day filled with great food, people, and sights.

Started my day with some hot wine and apple stroodle

GIANT COTTON CANDY

Look, It's Hogwartz

you gotta eat like the locals

I met the nicest Canadian couple here, have I ever mentioned how  much I love Canadians? They are very genuine people.

The next morning- It was off the Vienna! 

What a beautiful city. We had a walking tour right away. This tour guide was much better than the one in Budapest. You could tell how much he really loved his city. It was a three hour tour in the burr cold, none of us could feel our toes or hands and I contemplated on crying about half way through. The weather conditions made it difficult to pick up and focus on what Charlie (the guide) was talking about, but I tried my hardest to pay attention. 

Things I learned:

*Hitler is from Vienna and his book "My Fight" is about his life there.

*Austrian people really really hated the Jews way before the Holocaust

*Mozart is from Vienna- he was a rock star in his day and died at the age of 27.

*Austrian people, or at least Charlie, hates Napoleon

* Wiener Schnitzel is NOT a sausage

Before I froze, I managed to take some pictures of St. Stephens Cathedral and the city.

It was really weird being in a different country on Easter. I definitely missed my family celebrations, I feel like I missed the Holiday all together.

The tour took up most of that day, afterward we warmed up with some soup and apple stroodle. 

The next day was an early day- we headed out to see the Habsburg's summer palace. This is basically like Versailles of Austria. Let me tell you, it was huge.

If I was to ever own a palace, I think I would want to own one just like this. The gardens were never ending, the building itself was giant. I mean, there was a zoo ON THE PROPERTY. ? If that does not explain the size of this place, I am not sure what would. 

Looks a little "jail-esk" but in the summer these would all be roses

The best part was there were shops on the property as well seeing that it was Easter. 

To all the pretzel lovers out there:

yes.

The fact that the weather was much better really helped lift my spirits and allowed me to enjoy the day.

After our short time in Vienna, it was time to head home.

I really wish we would have had more time in both cities. I wouldn't book one f these organized trips again if it went to two cities in one weekend. It doesn't give me enough time to see the place and enjoy it or discover little things about it. If I had to choose, I would want more time in Budapest. It was a really really cool city with a great night life. It was also HUGE so I needed more time to see it all. 

The trip home was beautiful. We drove through the Alps, and the view was breath taking. 

Please tell me that does not look like a post card type of view. I could not believe it. I may not have taken a trip to visit the Alps- but I got to drive literally through them. Loved it.

Stay tuned for more adventures!