after the iron curtain

Vilnius, Lithuania

2008-01-31T15:35:00.000-08:00

Although the term may have originated in the Czech Republic, Absurdistan seems the most accurate description of Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania.

From snarling furnaces to ridiculously mustachioed men, the scenery was surreal and the activities bizarre. For example, Andy and I were eating our standard dinner of bread, cheese, and tomatoes when we noticed a little old woman stealing flowers from a soviet era statue to make the perfect bouquet for her man, Jesus.

We spent most of our time in (the Republic of) Uzupis, a secessionist district in Vilnius with its own flag, president, constitution, and army.

Much like Christiana in Copenhagen, Uzupis is the center of artistic life, as well as a meeting place for the city's drunks and homeless. There are several studios and galleries as well as overpopulated squats and trendy cafes.

Separated from the city center by the Vilnia river, almost all of the art was temporary. One day an entire furniture set (sofa, love seat, recliner) appeared in the river, as if someone didn't know what else to do when their old furniture didn't match the ambiance of their new home.

As if the circumstances weren't odd enough, we ended our stay in Lithuania with the most uncomfortable bus ride Andy had ever experienced (I've seen worse). Our 1970s era bus wasn't designed with opening windows because it featured air conditioning. Unfortunately, the air conditioning wasn't working for our 8 or 9 hour bus ride back to Warsaw. The bus driver also stopped at his leisure (to buy berries from a stand on the side of the road, or to treat his son to a popsicle and an arcade game) leaving Andy and I suffering inside the bus or under the searing sun. Andy repeatedly poured a liter of water over his head to stay cool.

The pace was a little slower in Vilnius. Our trip was relaxed, we didn't bother to see any monuments and spent most of our time just 'hanging out'. The grocery stores sucked, and the mosquitos were ridiculous, but I enjoyed the break from intensive travel. And we hardly met any other Americans!

Older Riga

2008-01-09T12:52:00.000-08:00

Wow. A little late for a smooth follow up. Sorry. Next to Prague, Riga has the largest collection of original Art Nouveau buildings in Eastern Europe. Although the buildings are largely restricted to three main streets just outside of the city center, the ability to leisurely stroll the streets and really examine the architecture makes the art nouveau of Riga infinitely more enjoyable than the crowded streets of Josefov in the grown-up Disneyland that is Prague.

As highly esteemed as it may be, I question the validity of some of the architecture. For example, I was under the impression that Egyptian themes were more art deco, as exemplified by the Paramount Theater in Oakland; but one of these buildings had a sphinx at the entrance. Maybe I'm just being too restrictive and I should give them the benefit of the doubt; either way, these are definitely some of the most hideously gaudy buildings I have ever seen.

old riga

2007-11-15T15:29:00.000-08:00

some additions when Riga was part of the USSR, not Latvia.

Stalin's Birthday Cake looks pretty similar to the Culture Institute in Warsaw. Andy and I paid our 2 lat a piece and were personally led by an old Latvian man (who spoke no English but claimed to love America, although he only knew about George Bush) up several elevators and staircases to the outdoor platform. With the doormat shoved in the door to keep it open, he told us to close the door when we were done and left us alone (mind you, this was in broken Russian and German with Andy interpreting). The wind off the river was freezing, but there was an amazing view and we were completely alone.

HUGE market spilling out of 4 hangars. Much like in communist times, everyone sold the same things: cheap clothes, dense dark bread (this stuff is crazy, it will last for 3 weeks in the open), honey, pastries, and Baltic amber.

Train station just south of the Old Town.

Not sure what this building was, but it was certainly hideous.

Typical Social Realist statue in front of the Museum of the Occupation (in an old Communist government building).

Two communist strong holds in a predominantly art nouveau neighborhood.

riga, latvia

2007-11-13T00:35:00.000-08:00

riga was much more interesting than tallinn.

1: an old university, stepped steeples like this were also really popular in poland. 2: new and old in old town. 3: house of the blackheads. 4: most squares in the old town now have outdoor cafes. 5: i squealed so loudly when i saw this dog that he lunged at me. it was love at first sight, but the owner didn't get it and took the dog away from me. 6: orthodox. 7: squat. 8: my little pony in the gardens at the western border of the old town. 9: i saw a few wooden horses like this while driving through latvia and lithuania, but i couldn't figure out their significance. they reminded me of deborah butterfield's horse sculptures though.

tallinn, estonia

2007-11-08T00:12:00.001-08:00

the only way to make a trip to the baltics affordable was to fly from warsaw to helsinki and take a ferry over to tallinn, then work our way back down to poland from there. what we hadn't planned on was just how expensive finland was. to save some money, we decided to skip the hostel and instead spent the night on benches outside the ferry terminal.

it wasn't all that bad because the sun never fully set (this picture was probably taken around 3 am.) but it was damn cold. and there was an annoying seagull pushing around an empty beer can for about two hours.

first day in tallinn. the old town is 'picturesque' but not very exciting if you've seen the castle thing before.

still light out at midnight.

all the baltic countries had different personalities; estonia was very scandinavian.

a days worth of food and another lesson in frugality.

we should have been looking for the controversial soviet statue, but sadly, it was in the suburbs, inaccessible to us. so instead, we slept in parks.

starting up again

2007-10-08T17:47:00.000-07:00

it's been awhile. the end of our trip was very hectic. we ended up in new york without internet (but with nick and kayt, who are better anyway) for two weeks, and the following month in the bay area was a lost cause as far as accomplishing anything. then andy had to prepare for stanford and i had to prepare for san diego while my parents prepared the house to move. but i've finally settled into my new apartment in hillcrest, and my neighbor's open wireless network has a strong connection, so i promise to stop abandoning this blog and to post the rest of the photos from europe and new york soon. promise.

Warszawa, Poland

2007-08-09T15:13:00.000-07:00

after the ghetto uprising and the warsaw uprising, the city was practically leveled. elsewhere in europe, this may have been a great opportunity to re-build a modern, attractive capital; in poland, hideous cemet-block housing was the solution.

1: the culture forum (aka stalin's birthday cake) 2: communist statue (similar to one in budapest's statue park) 3: andy and the pink reindeer 4: puzzling crosswalks 5/6: bridge across the vistula river 7: textile factory converted into artist workshops, galleries, and a cafe-bar with boiler left intact 8/9: modern mall beside the central train station 10: escalators in the mall

Oświęcim -I and -II

2007-07-30T11:37:00.000-07:00

Everyone is familiar with Auschwitz-I (commonly referred to as just Auschwitz) and Auschwitz-II (known as Birkenau). We took a day out from our Krakow adventures to pay respect (?) and witness the horror. The exhibits were appropriately disturbing, but as always the experience was marred by disrespectful, rude tourists who simply point and click (in prohibited areas, mind you) without giving the subject matter (a roof full of human hair or the burners connected to the gas chambers, for example) a moments contemplation. You can't help but wonder if they are really learning anything from the visit.

"Work Makes Free" at the entrance of Auschwitz.

Guard House.

Barracks.

Partially reconstructed Crematoria.

Entrance to Birkenau (Auschwitz-II).

Train tracks leading to the platform where incoming prisoners were divided into potential workers and those to be killed immediately.

Dumping grounds for ashes from the crematoria.

Kraków, Poland

2007-07-30T11:00:00.000-07:00

Krakow seemed like a minor stop-off to visit the larger Warsaw and the Auschwitz concentration camp. Coming from Prague, we didn't expect much from Krakow, but the city was surprisingly lively and entertaining.

Just south of the old town was Wawel Castle, which was rather mundane except for the spires.

Krakow takes pride in its Catholic tradition: nuns still wear the habit and Pope John Paul II was from Krakow. It never occurred to me before that his apology for the Church's role in the Holocaust may have been influenced by his vicinity to Auschwitz and the obvious impact among Krakow's Jewish population.

In the old Jewish district of Kazimierz only 6,000 of the 60-80,000 survived. After a long period of neglect during Communism, the area has been revived by the young and hip: relaxed bars, trendy clubs, and ethno-fusion restaurants. Someone went around the neighborhood drawing ghosts in chalk, it is the only clue of Kazimierz' history.

Another remnant in Kazimierz: an old synagogue.

Krakow's old town is surrounded by an expansive park where the moat and city wall used to be. We managed to borrow bikes for free from our hostel and spent the day exploring the Platz and outer areas of the city.

For lunch we went to a Milk Bar. After the fall of communism, local governments subsidize these old city cafeterias to provide inexpensive food for workers in all the major cities of Poland.

We were hoping for something along the lines of A Clockwork Orange... it ended up being more like a cafeteria. But the food was fresh and made on-site every day, and although Polish food is traditionally greasy and heavy, it tasted soooo good. The bike ride after wasn't so fun.

We didn't stop to take photos often, but the outer areas of Krakow were quite interesting.

Andy trying to fix the rickety old bikes. The hostel workers were amazed we made it back alive with the bikes still intact; but they were free, we weren't complainin'.

other architectural styles

2007-07-13T12:32:00.000-07:00

1: art deco in Wenceslaus Square 2: national theater 3: behind the national history museum 4: 'dancing house' also called the frank and ginger house (for obvious reasons) was designed by frank gehry; it's still rather controversial among the locals 5/6: cubist house/ apartment building (i didn't know cubist buildings existed; they're rather imposing)

art nouveau

2007-07-13T12:16:00.000-07:00

prague is well known for it's authentic old buildings, my favorite are the art nouveau ones, although they tend to get a bit gaudy.

praha, czech republic

2007-07-12T10:52:00.000-07:00

although i had visited prague for three days in march, i was excited to experience the city in warmer weather with andy. it may be a cliche for backpackers to go to prague (what with the abundance of hostels, dirt cheap beer, and legalized substances), and the city may only be unique and truly old because it was decided that beautiful buildings were more valuable than the lives of several thousand jews, but it really is incredible. you can find whatever it is you're looking for in prague, and for andy and i that was small cafes, expansive parks, quiet residential neighborhoods, amazing views, and the best english language bookstore i have found in non-english speaking europe yet.

1:praha 1 through the fog (taken in march) 2:view of Vyšehrad castle from Prague castle 3: view of Prague castle from Vyšehrad 4: view south of Vyšehrad, few tourists venture this far from the old town 5: staircase (taken in march) 6: passing funiculars 7: subway station 8: subway station 9: building in Nové město 10: enjoying the parks 11: don't litter (taken in march) 12: street in Josefov, the historic Jewish part of town (taken in march)

watering hole

2007-07-07T13:45:00.000-07:00

this used to be a private beach/bay; but when the owners of the hotel abandoned it, the beach became a favorite swimming spot for locals, and the buildings became delightfully decayed. despite how clear the water was and how sheltered it was from boats, there were surprisingly few people around, perhaps 10 tops at any given time.

homes in dubrovnik

2007-07-07T13:43:00.000-07:00

Dubrovnik- Old Town

2007-07-07T13:33:00.000-07:00

dubrovnik, croatia

2007-07-01T10:13:00.000-07:00

the pictures pretty much speak for themselves. the town is beautiful, but there is a disgusting amount of tourists wearing visors and clutching their backpacks to their chests (because they were warned about pick-pockets). never the less, we were remarkably successful at finding our own space, whether it be on the hostel balcony, at a local watering hole (photos to come), or along the rocky coastline at night.

mostar, bih

2007-07-01T09:37:00.000-07:00

we stopped in mostar, bih on our way to dubrovnik, croatia.

rural bosnia is ridiculously beautiful, with forested hills and several rivers that are supposed to be great for rafting. andy and i were going to take an ecotour rafting trip, but it was too expensive.

mostar is famous for its big bridge. built in the 16th century, the bridge survived ottoman and yugoslav rule, only to be destroyed by a retreating croat militia in 1993. the bridge was eventually rebuilt and the old town surrounding the bridge became an UNESCO world heritage site.

the damage from the 92-95 war is even more pronounced in mostar.

whereas in sarajevo, buildings are in the process of being restored or are still liveable, at least 30% of the buildings in mostar are completely unliveable, and it looks like nothing is being done to repair them.

bosnians and croats, as we soon learned, have mad love for tito, the founder and leader of yugoslavia from 1943-1980.

the siege

2007-07-01T09:03:00.000-07:00

from late 1992-1995, Sarajevo was essentially closed off to the outside world. serbs surrounded the entire city, except the airport, which the UN maintained. over three years the city was constantly under attack, and it is disturbing how many remnants from the war still exist.

mortar holes in sidewalks and walls were filled with red resin and are called sarajevo roses.

although the airport was the only link sarajevans had with the outside world, the UN wouldn't let them use the passageway. so sarajevans built a tunnel under the airport into the hills past the Serbian troops.

the family that owned the home that the tunnel started in have since turned it into a museum with photos and video footage of the creation and use of the tunnel. you can also walk through part of the tunnel.

many buildings are missing chunks from mortar explosions, or are riddled with bullet holes.

the Muslim cemetary was expanded, but there still wasn't room for all 11,000 casualties. in parks and futbol fields throughout sarajevo there are small markers where people were burried and haven't yet been transfered to the cemetary.

more evidence of the shelling.

sarajevo, bih

2007-06-23T08:22:00.000-07:00

the hills of outer sarajevo, the capital of bosnia and herzegovina.

there was a war in bih fron 92-95 and there are remnants all over the city. it's actually quite surprising how devastated the city still looks.

foreground: ottoman cemetary. background: the ˝lucky˝ casualties of the war, the ones who were burried in the cemetary, instead of neighborhood parks and football fields.

the latin bridge, where franz ferdinand was shot

random apartment buildings in the city center.

'bosnian' coffee, served in the turkish district with turkish delight on the side.

cevapcici (pronounced sevapchi-chi) is more meat than one could imagine eating, traditional bosnian food.

this pizza is amazing and has essentially become a sarajevo tradition for anyone who visits, just after we ordered our pizzas the crowds appeared and didn't leave all night

amazing salad, perhaps not traditional bosnian food, but worthy of note anyway

the rest of istanbul

2007-06-19T02:40:00.000-07:00

1: andy and attaturk 2: the strays are remarkably healthy 3/4: galata district 5: istiklal cadesi, a major semi-pedestrian street 6: sultahnamet from the ferry 7: spices and tea at the egyptian market 8: street cleaning in eminonu district 9/10: view of sultahnamet and attaturk bridge from the hostel terrace

sultahnamet

2007-06-16T10:17:00.000-07:00

most of the tourist attractions are located in sultahnamet. unfortunately, it seems someone came around and standardized all of the prices, because everything cost 10 ytl (new turkish lira), regardless of how important historically it was or how much time you could spend there. the only thing we paid to see was the ayasofya.

the ayasofya was a 5th century byzantine cathedral, converted into a mosque during the ottoman empire. because of this, you see the arabic script acceptable in mosques with old frescos and icons.

just across the way was the blue mosque, one of the largest (of many) in istanbul.

the mosque got its name from the blue patterned tiles.

both men and women had to have their legs covered to the ankle and enter bear foot, and women were required to have their heads covered. nevertheless, there were tons of disrespectful tourists who mocked the dress or simply took their headscars off the minute they entered. this didn't happen at the mosques outside of sultahnamet, touristy locations ruin everything.
before prayer, muslims must wash their feet.

blue mosque from a distance

what about bob?

2007-06-10T08:43:00.000-07:00

as i recall, you were going to go to turkey with the peace corps. that didn't happen, but i just wanted to let you know what you were missing; and i think it would be bad ass if you and momma moved to istanbul.

this could be you, bob, bathing in the bospherous.

andy thinks small-boat culture isn't that big here, but you could still make do.

you could be napping in this boat, bob. you could be rocked to sleep and not even care that you have this amazing view of the levent business district, because you get to see it every day.

you could smoke copious amounts of cheap cigarettes while drinking concentrated caffeine in the form of turkish coffee in small cafes along the water.

and, if you're lucky, you could have your very own muslim daughter!

Varna (BAPHA), Bulgaria

2007-06-04T02:46:00.000-07:00

varna is somewhat of a resort town along the black sea.

border crossing between serbia and bulgaria

beach in varna

we drink lots of cheap bulgarian beer

cathedral of the assumption of the virgin

ugly communist housing, but it does have an amazing view of the sea

andy speaking russian to buy a chicken

park above the water

benches

boat for bob

cafe in nesebar

5th and 6th century ruins in nessebar

5th century church

budapest subways

2007-06-04T02:40:00.000-07:00

i lied, that wasn't the last of budapest. these were taken along the blue line, M3.

last look at budapest

2007-05-31T09:46:00.000-07:00

with this face, i am regularly approached on the streets by people who think i am hungarian, ticket patrollers don't give me a second look, and people give me just a little more respect then they give to the blatantly american students. i call it my hungarian face.

just off kiraly

the cemetary is tied (with margitsziget) for my favorite park in budapest.

the grave of janos kadar, the communist leader of hungary from just after the revolution in 1956 until his death before the fall of the regime in 1989, was recently vandalized and his wife's urn (complete with ashes) stolen. everything was back in order by the time i made it back to look at the damage.

tram storage at the end of baross utca.

the division between shitty roma housing in outer viii and the small, but new, chinese enclave (it's so small and hungarian-chinese, i'm not sure if it counts as an authentic china town). speaking of hungarian minorities (both roma and chinese are among the 13 officially recognized minority groups who have a right to self-government), the jewish minority nearly disappeared after wwii.

a monument erected in 2005. many jews were lined along the danube and shot into the river. just south of parliament was a popular location, and this would have been their last view.

memorial tree behind the synagogue. this was the western border of the jewish ghetto.

open apartment corridor in viii.

urania theater, one of the many art house cinemas in budapest.

cotton candy on margitsziget.

nothin' but the blues, bar in viii.

szimpla, my new favorite bar, ever, is hard to find, but i think it's in vii.

outdoor patio surrounded by ugly brick facades, upper level covered in plants, random rooms with interesting interior.

and that's it for budapest. at least for the next couple of years.

the sights

2007-05-26T08:52:00.000-07:00

between planning our trip, my roommates leaving, and trying to locate my medications, andy and i have been seeing some of the major attractions in budapest

lion on lanchid (chain bridge) and castle

view of margitsziget and parliament from castle

fisherman's bastion

matthias church

inside the national theater

parliament dome (my environmental professor took us on a private tour, he used to be a member of parliament)

rudas baths (by far, my favorite. they're only co-ed on friday and saturday nights, when they're open until 4)

st. stephen's basilica

the main altar looks just like a church i visited in vienna

fun in statue park

more desecration of soviet statues
>
marx and ernst

last day of classes

2007-05-24T08:16:00.000-07:00

the eap budapest program ended with a catered dinner on the danube. the program doesn't pay for alcohol, however, so we got started early with the best cocktails in budapest from menza on liszt ferenc ter.

after the boat ride, a few of us went for dessert with our hungarian teacher erika (sitting to my left) on raday utca.

then we continued drinking on our way to some bars.

we ended the night with the ever-popular drag show.

some were more convincing women then others. it was a good night, and a nice way to cut ties with many people i will never see again. i'm not saying they were all immature, un-inquisitive, and lame, but a simple majority was enough for me.

damn.

2007-05-21T10:10:00.000-07:00

internet in this coffee shop is too slow to upload pictures. or maybe it's my computer. sajnos. andy finally arrived in budapest after 5 days in germany (stuttgart, munich, frankfurt) and 5 days in russia (st. petersburg and moscow). we have been seeing some sights, but moreso eating good food and going to trendy bars. my roommates left this morning (for america) so we're all alone now, and have 1 week to see all there is in budapest before we leave on our 2 month journey through central europe. we've booked some plane tickets and are will more or less be following this schedule:

5/29-6/2: Varna, Bulgaria
6/3-6/12: Istanbul, Turkey
6/13-6/17: Sarajevo, Bosnia
6/18-6/26: Dubrovnik, Split, Hvar, Korcula; Croatia
6/27-6/30: Prague, Czech Republic
7/1-7/5: Krakow and Warsaw, Poland
7/6-7/9: Tallinn, Estonia
7/10-7/13: Riga, Latvia
7/14-7/18: Vilnius, Lithuania
7/19-7/20: more of Warsaw
7/21-7/26: Berlin, Germany
7/28-8/1: Copenhagen, Denmark
8/2-8/7: Amsterdam, Netherlands
8/8: New York

we're both pretty excited. just some last details to take care of (drugs, tent, clean the apartment) and we should be ready to leave for bulgaria. de jó!

elté

2007-05-21T09:25:00.000-07:00

some photos of my school, Eötvös Loránd Tudományegyetem.

and some photos of the bufe where we get sausage and beer before sleeping through afternoon classes.

nights in pest

2007-05-09T02:56:00.000-07:00

just some of the places we go at night

1: my roommate Christian's family came to visit, they took us to this really nice restaurant on the lake in ciy park. 2/3: belly dancing at west balkan (behind the corvin theater at boraros). 4/5: hookah and belly dancing at shiraz (on raday). 6: drum circle on margitsziget, we didn't actually join this, but there are tons of outdoor bars and clubs when the weather is nice. 7: popcult, just 2 blocks from my apartment, has live music and a nice patio, captain morgan rarely makes appearances. 8: tuesdays will always be reserved for gypsy music at sark: it's fast, it's fun, and it's really sweaty.

siraly

2007-05-09T02:50:00.000-07:00

i thought it appropriate to post photos of my favorite coffee shop, since i have been practically living there lately. siraly (pronounced she-ry) is slang for cool, and is located on kiraly (pronounced key-ry), which is also slang for cool. the coffee shop is three stories with a basement for concerts and tons of books in the upstairs portion (where i took these photos). they serve organic, fair trade, strong coffee; and at night, the place has more of a bar feel. either way, the crowd is mostly locals and they don't care if you spend all day using their free wireless. i'm quite fond of it.

budapest urban art

2007-05-07T06:07:00.000-07:00

markusovszky ter in district IX

more of barcelona

2007-05-07T02:54:00.000-07:00

1-3: market off las ramblas. 4: palaca de toros de les arenes. 5: view of la sagrada familia, placa de les glories catalanes (the phallic building), and the rest of barcelona from castel de montjuic. 6: castle de montjuic and the mediterranean. 7/8: barceloneta (fishing village) at night.

gaudi in barcelona

2007-05-07T02:35:00.000-07:00

after sevilla i traveled to barcelona for a few days of exploring the city on my own. although i had no hostel reservations for the last night and didn't speak the language, things worked out remarkably well in the end.

1-4: la sagrada familia. 5/6: casa batllo. 7/8: la pedrera. 9: building along av diagonal. 10-13: parc guell, a surreal park with amazing views of barcelona and gaudi architecture.

sevilla

2007-05-07T02:18:00.000-07:00

I stayed in Sevilla with Priscilla and her amazing host mom Esperanza over a month ago. I'm long overdue for an update.

1,2- typical buildings in andalucia. 3,4- along the waterfront. 5/6- traditional costumes worn during semana santa (the holy week before easter) processions... yeah they look like kkk outfits 7- unfortunately, sevilla is the most popular destination to experience traditional semana santa, so the city was overrun by tourists, you can see the long line in front of al alcazar, which we ended up not visiting. 8- hada, a fox terrier, is a real snowy, and that's why esperanza picked her. 9- the weather was pretty shitty in andalucia, but we finally made it to the beach for a little bit of sun, although it was too cold to go in.

portuguese food

2007-04-12T06:15:00.000-07:00

coffees were typically around 60 euro cents, the cheapest i have seen, next to hungary of course

delicious custard pastries called pastel de nata from the belem neighborhood

arroz com mariscos, a tomato based stew with fresh shrimp, crab, scallops, and fish served over rice

famous portuguese seafood

more of lisboa

2007-04-12T06:03:00.000-07:00

Priscilla was my translator and sidekick

views of lisboa

2007-04-12T05:54:00.000-07:00

lisboa has their own version of the golden gate bridge from sf and the cristo redentor statue from rio

the sun didn't set until after nine, it was amazing.

lisboa decay

2007-04-12T05:45:00.000-07:00

buildings throughout lisboa appeared to be in various stages of decay. i'm not sure if these are old relics from the eighteenth century earthquake, but i doubt it. either way, they are interesting to look at.

lisboa tiles

2007-04-12T05:37:00.000-07:00

i went to portugal and spain for spring break and fell in love with the tile work on apartment buildings in lisboa.

Budapest Details

2007-03-28T04:43:00.000-07:00

Some aesthetically pleasing details and some less aesthetically pleasing details.

1- tiles on campus. 2- asymmetrical building in hills of buda. 3- building on deak ferenc ter subway stop. 4- communist housing along the danube. 5- tereza korut at oktogon, our subway/tram stop.

Budapest

2007-03-28T04:38:00.000-07:00

Some of the more popular sites

1- freedom bridge. 2- parliament. 3- chain bridge and castle at night. 4- ELTE campus. 5- fountain on Vaci Utca

London 4

2007-03-28T04:16:00.000-07:00

Portabello Road Market. Jamie and I had the best Ghanan food for lunch: it was delicious rice and chicken-peanut curry cooked in large pots, served with hot sauce and green onions. It was the first spicy food I've had in Europe, and the runny nose and tingling lips were a nice change from all the bland food in England.

London 3

2007-03-28T04:09:00.000-07:00

1- park. 2,3,4- british museum. 5-trafalgar square

London 2

2007-03-28T04:06:00.000-07:00

Night walk: park, london eye, various bridges, and the millenium bridge with cathedral

London 1

2007-03-28T03:58:00.000-07:00

Some generic photos of London, including Harrods, phone booths, the tube, drury lane (for muffins), and covent garden market.

Caves and Bled

2007-03-12T14:25:00.000-07:00

This cave was huge, it took an hour and a half to walk through and has a huge river that carved the largest under ground canyon in Europe into the cave. We weren't supposed to take photos, and many didn't really come out, but it was incredible. Spelunking is definitely something I'd like to pick up.

Stalactites are on the top, stalagmites are on the bottom.

After the caves, we drove north of Ljubljana to the Alpine lake town of Bled. Once again, beautiful water.

Bled, like all other cities in Europe, had a castle. It was not special. But it had a nice view of the town.

The castle tower, just to prove how unremarkable it was. Every castle in Europe looks like this (at least in Eastern Europe).

We got into the Castle with a German tour group so we didn't have to pay, then followed them to some strange Slovenian festival. They wore costumes, did stupid medieval dances, and roasted a pig. I think Europe has some of the lamest heritage there is.

Trip to the Adriatic

2007-03-12T14:13:00.000-07:00

Our second day in Slovenia, we decided to rent a car to visit some of the other sights. By the time we rented a car and found our way to the caves we intended on seeing, we had missed the tour by 30 minutes. With 3 hours until the next tour left, we decided to drive to the coast, probably the best spur of the moment decision ever. It was beautiful and warm, just like La Jolla. And to think, only 24 hours earlier we were in a torrential downpour in Ljubljana.

Another farmers market, another lunch.

We could have visited Italy, but one of the girls in the car forgot her passport. Anyway, it was right there.

The water was gorgeous.

Warm weather warrants yummy gelato.

ljubljana street art

2007-03-12T05:20:00.000-07:00

The hostel we stayed at is behind this wall.

Ljubljana 2

2007-03-12T02:26:00.000-07:00

This funicular was just opened in December, 2006 and was really nice.

It was all glass, silent, smooth, and only 2.50 euro round-trip for students.

The funicular went up to the castle, which had amazing views of Ljubljana. Note the snowy Alps in the background.

The castle was pretty typical, except for this cave. I'm not sure what these lights are supposed to be, but we called it Dildo Cave.

After the castle, the rain (which had soaked us in the morning) was gone and the rest of the day was beautiful.

Ljubljana 1

2007-03-12T02:14:00.000-07:00

On a whim Christian (my roommate) and I decided to tag along with 2 other kids to Ljubljana, Slovenia. Then 2 other kids followed us. For less than one day of planning, the trip worked out really well. The train arrived at 2 in the morning, and we were able to check into the first hostel we found, an ex-prison whose cells were converted into rooms. It was actually the nicest hostel I've stayed in, with a popular bar next door and artsy fartsy crap throughout.

Ljubljana is a small town based around a river.

It wouldn't be Europe without a big cathedral.

Cobblestone streets.

Creepy door to the back of the church.

We typically save a lot of money by buying our lunches in farmers markets. It's wonderful: the freshest food, cheapest prices, and I've seen one in every city in Europe.

Agens

2007-03-09T07:06:00.000-08:00

Friday night when we arrived we had the option of seeing a modern opera. It was in the art museum we visited Sunday, and was very strange, but again, I liked it.

Opera Poster.
The male singers wore these crazy costumes made out of styrofoam packing material. They were also wearing traditional slippers for Japanese Noe Opera, which are basically flip flops on a foot tall platform. Their faces and hair were all painted white.

Final curtain call. The opera was very unusual. It mixed Italian, German, Latin, and Hungarian with all different styles of music. The second scene consisted of the woman with the red hair taking her top off and proceeding to make out with a young man and woman, both only wearing briefs. Some people thought it was about desperation, others thought it was about menopause. I think they're one in the same.

Art Museum in Debrecen

2007-03-09T06:55:00.000-08:00

Sunday morning we visited a contemporary art museum in Debrecen. I enjoyed it. Here are photos.

1-4 taken by my roommate Beaudry. I took the last one, and that's Hillary in the sea of masked men. All the photos from the last post were also from Beaudry's camera. I should really invest in a huge pack of batteries or a battery charger.

Debrecen

2007-03-09T06:41:00.000-08:00

A few weekends ago, our entire program boarded a bus and drove east to Debrecen, the second largest city in Hungary. It was a pretty small town though. This was the view from our hotel room of the pedestrian walkway in city center.

After communism, many nationalistic movements arose that tended to also be anti-semitic. This was one such rally outside our hotel the first night we arrived.

The tram, which I never ended up needing because the town was so small.

Hungarian poet named Petofi; most streets, bridges, and plazas are named after Hungarian poets, and this is a popular one. I can't say I've seen any English translations though.

I make a point of visiting a park every Sunday. This one was small and shitty, so we climbed on their monuments. Suckers.

City Park on Valentine's Day.

2007-03-07T05:20:00.000-08:00

It was finally sunny and beautiful on Valentine's Day, so we skipped class and wpent the afternoon in City Park, only 3 metro stops away from our apartment.

Gothic Castle.

Budapest tends to mix their building styles, this museum is right next to the gothic castle.

Spraying yummy pesticides.

The largest outdoor ice skating rink in Europe, it didn't freeze naturally this year though.

My roommate Beaudry standing in the unfrozen part of the lake. The restaurant behind her would be nice in the spring.

Vienna 2

2007-03-07T03:40:00.000-08:00

This church was blinding it was so gaudy, nearly every surface was guilded.

This crypt housed many of the Hapsburgs. I thought the tiny ones for still-born babies were the creepiest.

Can you imagine this coffin 200 years ago before the martyr's body had completely decomposed? Stinky!

One of the only art museums I didn't visit in Vienna: the Contemporary Art Museum.

These parks surrounded the Upper Bellvue Museum, which housed several Klimt paintings. We got there before the museum opened and wandered through the gardens just long enough for me to remember how much i hate pristine gardens and topiary bushes.

I love Budapest, but...

2007-02-28T09:30:00.000-08:00

I love budapest, but there are some things I could definitely do without:

1. Dogshit in the streets... This is a serious problem in Budapest. I think it's great that everyone owns dogs, and I especially enjoy all of the westies out on walks, but the special poop disposal containers seem to have little effect on how much shit there is on the sidewalks. I've decided this is a remnant of life under communism, it seems to say "my life is already so horrible that a little dog shit smeared on my shoes doesn't really make a difference." When I think of shit as a soviet relic, it's a little easier to tolerate, but not much.

2. Violent homeless people... I was playing with my cell phone while walking to the subway one day, when I felt something hit the back of my neck. Hard. I turned around to see an old woman with 5 full shopping bags in a tattered fur coat yelling at me in Hungarian. The bitch hit me. I didn't really know what to do, so I walked away. I couldn't figure out if there was something about me that screamed American, or maybe she was jealous of my cell phone (it is pretty cool), but when I told my Hungarian teacher the following day, she said she was attacked on Christmas Eve, and that the homeless are just really disgruntled and violent. Being homeless during the cold winters in Budapest would suck, but I'm still going to fight that woman if I ever see her again.

3. The laundry situation... This one really isn't that bad. I can deal with the lack of dryers, even if air drying my clothes does make them stiff and scratchy, but the spin cycle on our washing machine does not dry the clothes out at all. Two days ago it was like pulling my laundry out the pool, and they're still not dry. That's right, I've been wearing the same underwear for two days, life in Eastern Europe sure is tough.

4. Horrible service... I've gotten in arguments with waiters over misunderstandings, and apparently, the customer is always wrong. It's also not fun when you don't get your bill until you ask for it and the waiter ignores you for 45 minutes. But this is just another relic from communism, and thus tolerable.

Don't get me wrong, Budapest is one of my favorite cities in the world, if not my favorite. But I'm writing a paper on minority rights and the Roma in Hungary right now, and at this point, I'd rather be almost anywhere else but here. I guess I'll accomplish that tomorrow, because I'm going to Ljubljana, Slovenia tomorrow. Wish me luck with finding a hostel at 2 in the morning!

Vienna 1

2007-02-28T03:44:00.000-08:00

I forgot my camera, so all photos were taken by my roommate Beaudry.

I was initially really excited for the secession building because it has an entire room designed by Gustav Klimt. This was the only room we could see, however, because they were in the middle of switching exhibits and we could't get through to see the rest of the interior. It was pretty, but definitely not worth 3.50 euro.

Sculpture of Strauss

The gothic cathedral was one of the main attractions in Vienna.

One of the prettier domes in Vienna. Although most of the architecture in both Budapest and Vienna is from the Hofburg Empire, I prefer the layer of communist dirt on Budapest's buildings to the cleanliness of Vienna.

The Natschmarkt was definitely on of my favorite things in Vienna. The farmers market consisted of tightly backed stalls selling gourmet meats, cheeses, vegetables, wines, and fruit. The pathways were so tightly packed that if someone in front of you stopped to buy something, you pretty much had to wait until they were done to continue. When we went on Saturday there was also a flea market on the southern end selling mostly crap to poor gypsies (we call them Roma here because we are PC). I was able to buy a pashmina-silk blend scarf (green paisley, my favorite) for only 6 euro, which was considerably cheaper than the ones I found in Budapest for Ft. 5,000 (about $25). If I had my own camera, I would have taken many more photos of the stalls, but I didn't, so I'm left with one photo of flowers. Oh well.

my apartment

2007-02-21T05:22:00.000-08:00

my apartment in budapest is awesome. it's located in district VI just two blocks away from our tram stop (oktogon) along the 4/6 korut (circle). there's a 24 hour gyros place around the corner, and i haven't visited the underground bar two buildings down, but i will soon. we live on the top floor (5th american) and the apartment opens to a large atrium that has a garden on the ground floor, definitely preferable to the parking lots of neighboring buildings. like all buildings in budapest, there are a lot of detains and asymmetry in the architecture. i'll post more pictures of buildings soon, but here's a taste:

2007-02-21T03:31:00.000-08:00

just a test.