Eastern Europe

After leaving Prague, we drove through Slovakia to get to Budapest. Slovakia has pretty much no forms of life. See picture left. We spent the entire time looking for any form of life. We once saw a bag blowing in the wind and got excited because we thought it was a bird. Slovakia was also really windy because I believe there aren't any animals to block that wind. The roads started to get nicer and smoother. The grass turned green and the sky became bluer. Turns out we were in Hungary. While in the border control, we noticed all the slovakian truck drivers squatted outside their trucks. From there the slav squat was born.



Budapest


Budapest is a city I would go back too. Budapest was actually two cities(Buda and Pest) divided by the Danube River. When we first arrived we went to a look out point with a fort and freedom statue, that ironically looked like it was made from the soviets. We had some goulash and then did a night river walk. We went to this famous bridge for a photo op, and ended up taking a picture with random people sitting in the park. Pretty nice for a first night, I think.

On the morning of the second day we say the Hungarian Parliament, which is based from the West Minster in London. On the way there we saw a homeless lady picking trash out of the trash can and from there the gypsies were born. After the parliament, we went to the St. Mathais church and climbed up for a great view of the city. Went to a dive bar for lunch and got this great typically stew dish and drinks for a total of six euros. When we finished lunch, we met back with Rotex, and we climbed to the highest point in Buda. From there, we drove 45 minutes into Pest to this famous spa complex, Szechenyi Furdo. It was a relaxing day in the sun with a few saunas thrown in.

On the morning of the third day, we went to our last stop, A Budapest market. Things in Budapest are surprisingly cheap, really cheap. I found that I liked Pest better than Buda. Buda is on the left and Pest is on the right side of the river.

Vienna


Going to Vienna was one of the best feelings because we can finely speak german again and understand the locals, a little. We got into Vienna and went first to the 100 water house. That night we got to our hostel and then went to a sports bar, which was also a great first night.

We only had one day in Vienna. We started at the Schoenbunn Palace. It was interesting. After that we went into the city to a market. Then saw some of the city. Esther, our Rotex tour guide for the day, took us to the city center and we received free time there. After free time we went to dinner and had schnitzel because it is originated in Vienna. There were also spicy peppers at dinner, and I was able to eat more than a mexican. No one else would try. One of the proudest moments of my life.

On our way back to the hostel the group of exchange students lost Rotex in the subway station. As they were walking to the wrong exit, I noticed it wasn't right, so that James, Jack, and I turned around and headed to the other exit. We found Rotex hiding in a platform entrance. Then as the group of exchange students started to come back we ran up the stairs to the platform to hide from the others. It was crazy night, running threw the station hiding for the giant group and then meeting them out front because they didn't remember how to get back to the hostel.

I wish I had more time in Vienna because it was a pretty chill city, that I would have liked to see more of. It was also a beautiful city. Here are all the exchange students in front of the Schoenbrunn Palace.

I Didn't Forget About The Blog yet...

I have been gone for the last three weeks touring Europe. An experience that brought us as exchange students closer together as one giant family, and was the greatest vacation of my life,  I am not sure how I will split up the cities because there are 11 of them, and I am sure it will too long for one blog post.

I didn't go with my Rotary club on their Deutschland Tour because I wanted to the Europatour, and I didn't have the money for both. (The Deutschland Tour was 800 €; so don't get crazy Frau.) I kind have wish I did do the Deutschland Tour, after becoming closer to people I only knew threw Rotary weekends. Europa Tour was a 22 day Prague to Paris roller coaster of an adventure.

So that brings me to Prague. Prague was one of my favorite cities. In fact I loved eastern Europe in general. I thought I wouldn't like as much as western. There was one thing that I thought was weird about Prague. You are not allowed to drink on the streets, only in bars/restaurants.

After driving the 13 hours from Duisburg to Prague, Prague was exactly what I expected it to be. We pulled into a parking lot under an expressway in a ghetto part of town. After walking a few minutes, we found our hostel in the heart of the old city. Our hostel was in the strangest part of town. It was a completely safe part of town, but next to the hostel was a smoke shop/ liquor store, next to that was a strip club, and on the other side of the street were bars and souvenir shops. The economy from Prague pretty much thrived on Tourist shops.

On what was left on our first day, we got stopped by German Embassy security guards after a ballon went of the fence of the embassy. The best part of that was seeing the male security guard jump more than the female when the balloon popped. Then we did the Czech Parliament.

The second day was my birthday. As we met in the courtyard that morning, Rotex (our tour guides) made me stand on a flower bed while everyone sang, and then they gave me a Czech T-shirt and a card everyone signed. It was a cool way to start the morning. After being shown around the city a little, we got 5 hours free time. We ended up going to a communism museum that was actually pretty interesting. After that we found a beer garden behind the Museum that had two euro liter beer. On our way back to the meeting point we saw this girl literally strip to her bra and panties and strut down the Carl's Bridge. That night Rotex took us to a bar to celebrate my birthday. It was a pretty chill night.

My only regret with Prague, is that I didn't try absinth. I Think I will just do a city a post for now on because they are pretty long. Here's the skyline of Prague.

There is No Wall In Berlin!

I don't know where to begin, Berlin is easily one of my favorite cities. This trip gave me a chance to finally unpack my carry-on bag which was still 3/4 of the way filled with gifts and crap to give the future host families that I will never have. I arrived in Berlin on Friday night, and the train station was packed, I guess there was a soccer game or something. The train station has trains on the bottom, and top floor. It was crazy because there were so many things going on, and that's when I realized I am home. It felt like Chicago during rush hour. My Host brothers wanted to ride in a taxi, so we ended up taking a taxi to the hotel. Ever tried finding a taxi for 5 in Europe? It was at least a half hour wait because every car in Germany is a hatchback or only fits 5.

Berlin at night is one of the greatest things I have ever seen. It is hard to describe but all the different lights reflecting of the glass of the new buildings, and how everyone is still up doing tourist things. We stayed out till 10:30 every night. Then for dinner that night we got Mexican Food, it was either that or American food. There is nothing I do not want to eat more than anything else is American Food. Who ever comes up with the crap doesn't have a sense of taste. The American Restaurant was called The Sixites. It was themed as a sixties diner, and it looked like Uncle Sam took a patriot dump all over the inside. I was surprised by the number of people that packed the restaurant every day. Cancun was the Mexican restaurant, and It is pretty good for Europe. I got a Burrito so life was good.

The Hotel was really nice. It was a little wierd tho because it was located in a neighborhood (Alt-Marienplatz). It was bigger than a bed n' breakfast but not huge. The first night Albert saw the candy of the snack bar in the room and that was all he cared about the whole time. Ever heard of Knik Knaks? Lucky you! They are deep fried peanuts and have to be the worst thing for you in Germany. I didn't like them.

The First day went to Alexander Platz, The TV Tower, and West Berlin. Alexander Platz is really cool for about 20 minutes and then I got sick of all the people in the cluster fuck that was the Oktoberfest, or it could of been the people that kept asking me if I wanted to take a bus tour. By the way, we did end up taking a bus tour that was really cool. Petra made sure to get one that did German and English for me, and I was surprised I understood the German better. The TV Tower was pretty cool. One of my favorite things about is that no matter where you are in Berlin, you can usually see it. We went up to the top to see the city and that was pretty cool. We made sure to get Berlin Doener because Daniel said it's the best in Germany. I can not decide which part of Berlin I like better. They are so different. West Berlin was pretty cool. There was this store like Macy's in Downtown, Chicago. On the top floor was a food mart, that had everything, even people there to cook your food for you. It was also my fist time seeing a dog in a grocery store. We got some bread and then at it on the pedestrian zone while we watched some break dancers. West Berlin is the Michigan Avenue of Berlin, and all I heard the whole day is how awesome Niketown is. So we went shopping. Fritz got some Nike sweatpants that he still hasn't taken off since. Who ever told me the Germans never leave their house in sweat pants is wrong.

On Day 2 we went to the Olympic Stadium, The Sony Center, and The Dome on the Capital. In Berlin the subway is FREE! I could not believe it because we went so many places on it and never paid a dime.  It was also really clean, and they allowed dogs on the trains. The CTA needs to start using Berlin as an example. Every Subway station had a Dunkin Donuts and I was surprised I never got coffee once. The Olympic Stadium was really interesting. Daniel and I got the most from the trip. They showed us all of Hitler's clubrooms and places. I got to stand where stood to watch the games, I don't know if I should be proud of that. It was a little weird, but the view was great. Next we went to the Sony Center, one of Murphy/Jahn's greatest creations in my opinion. On the second or third day Petra and Daniel asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up. I told them an Architect and that I wanted to work for Murphy/Jahn and that they designed the Sony Center and Dome on the capitol. Petra made sure we visited it. The Sony center is like the Hollywood of Berlin. The Capitol was interesting for anyone 16 and up because there was a guided tour through the spiral catwalk of the dome about the city. Albert and Fredreich were done in 20 minutes while the rest of us took an hour.

When we finished the tour Daniel realized that is wallet was missing and he thinks he left it when he was buying the kids food. Albert and Fritz never ate enough breakfast so the whole time we were walking around all we heard about was there hunger and Knik Knaks. After everything was taken care of, (all is good now, the cards were not used and he only had twenty dollars in the wallet.). We got some bread and cheese from the grocery store in the train station and ate it by the River Spree.

That night we went to Kreüzberg (HOI-st-berg). It is probably my favorite neighborhood in Berlin. Kreueberg was like Wicker Park but more diverse. There I found a small section of the wall that still stood, called the East Side Gallery. The buildings were all painted not only with graffiti but also artistically. It was combined with the freaks of Venice Beach, California. we decided to get Pakistani food for dinner. My vote was that or the Sudan food. Petra, Daniel, and I out voted Fritz who wanted Pizza. We got different types of curry and shared it. I got lamb, Albert got duck, and Petra for lentil. Lamb was my favorite, but the duck wasn't bad. Some of my favorite pictures came from Kreueberg.

And then the finally day we went to the Brandenburg Gate. This was the main thing I wanted to see out of the whole trip. The Sony Center was a pleasant surprise. The Gate, unfortunately, was closed do to the German Unity Family Carnival. We also say Check Point Charlie. That was interesting for about 5 minutes. As we were walking through the train station waiting to leave Daniel meet some friends from Altstaette, which is weird because Altstaette is only 2,000 people. Wolfsburg was a stop on the way home. It was not only a Nazi founded city but also the home to the VW factory and headquarters. That was cool to see. At the end of the day I took 614 photos of Berlin and my memory card was only have way filled! I love that city and want to go back so bad.

Was that long enough?  I decided to add a photo to prove I am not dead. For the record, I was dressed first that day, Petra is still making fun of us.