Budapest

Of all of my trips thus far, Budapest was planned the furthest in advance. My friend, Annie, found a cheap EasyJet flight around Thanksgiving, and asked if anyone was interested in going. At that point I was up for traveling anywhere. All I knew about the city was from facebook albums that I'd seen of friends who had traveled there, and it looked beautiful and mysterious. As I've also heard of Berlin, this post communist city was raved about by everyone who had visited. It will be interesting to compare it to Berlin when I go with my family in June.

Annie, Rachel, Chelsie and I took Friday off because our flight was in the early afternoon, meaning we'd have to leave for the airport that morning. We had Link (our au pair group) the night before, so we just went back to Rachel's apartment afterwards and had a sleepover. It was a good excuse to start our weekend early :)

I'd printing out the directions from the airport to our hostel, and knew we had to take the train from the airport into the city. After exchanging our Euros and Swiss francs into about 35,000 Hungarian forints (it's one of those crazy currencies that had us constantly calculating at the arrival of every meal bill), we got train tickets for 380forints (about $2) for a half hour ride into the city. We didn't realize at the time how cheap local public transportation (and pretty much everything) was. By the time we hit the mall on the last day of the trip, we decided we were living in the wrong city (Geneva)....

Our hostel came as a recommendation by a friend we met at our Chamonix chalet, and Aussie traveling around Europe with his brother. He said we had to stay at "The Groove" because the people who ran it were awesome and made them feel at home (even made drinks for everyone). There was some discrepancy when searching on hostelworld.com because in Budapest, there are 2 hostels with the word "groove" in their name - "The Instant Groove Party Hostel" and "The Groove." Apparently, we chose the right one, "The Instant Groove Party Hostel, " which actually had a huge night club underneath. Well...that is until a few weeks before our arrival (looking back, this was a good thing...can you imagine the noise coming from below our room if a club would still be pumping all night?). We located the correct street address, however I was initially really scared by the looks of it, and we couldn't figure out how to get in the locked metal doors. I went into the deli next door, and when I asked for help the Hungarian woman gave me some disparaging looks and in communicated to me that it was closed (by waving her hands and motioning slitting her throat). Luckily, a man walked by was able to help us, showing us the right way to buzz in - thankfully, our hostel wasn't shut down with the club, as I had worried. We walked up the winding stairs and our mentalities were flipped once we met the staff and saw how much work they put into the hostel. It wasn't a fancy chain hostel, but the little details and decorating was what I liked about it, and now the picture was starting to match what our Aussie mate had described.

On our walk to the hostel we passed many exotic looking restaurants. The one which looked most appealing boasted a giant totem pole entrance - that's all it takes to win over a few hungry North American au pairs! When we arrived we realized it was actually an enormous tea house (one of the largest in all of Europe). It's called Zold Teknos Barlangja (Green Turtle Cave). We were looking for dinner food, but the unique, trance-like atmosphere alone was enough to keep us from leaving. It was a Native American themed tea house! The servers were clad in Native American garb and even donned feather headbands. With about 8 pages of teas to tantalize our tastebuds, there was still 1 page of food. We ended up ordering 2 traditional Hungarian platter and some fajitas. We opted for dessert and tea as well...all to the tune of 8,500HFT for the 4 of us (about $43)...In Geneva, a meal of fondu for 1 person costs $40!

After dinner we walked down to the Danube and along the river from the Elizabeth Bridge to the Chain Bridge to get some views of the sights lit up at night. Then we headed to a "ruins bar" (like ancient ruins) recommended by our hostel. ROMKOCSMA places (Ruin Pubs) have been cropping up all over the city recently. They are pubs that are built in the courtyards and gardens of condemned houses and apartments. Typically in residential areas, you usually wouldn't otherwise be able to tell that a huge pub occupies the space because the only thing visible from the outside is a stream of people with plastic beer cups and maybe some body guards...once you enter through the plastic hanging flaps, it is a whole new world - music, alternative displays and art everywhere, recycled furniture and anything and everything salvaged from a junk yard thrown onto the walls. They're open until 4am and time definitely washes over you while you're there. I'm really glad we got to experience this part of the night life because it showed a lot about the culture which was difficult to glean from the daily life of the city. The one we visited was called Szimple. My pictures didn't turn out very well...but here's a look at some from their website (http://www.szimpla.hu/budapest/kepek).

We started Saturday with a walking tour of the city. I won't go into detail about that...see facebook for pictures and details. I think it was the best city tour I've been on yet. We were really lucky with a clear sunny day. Our tour group was full of American study abroad students, and our tour guide had a huge personality and good sense of humor. It was a bit windy crossing the Chain Bridge to the Buda side, and you could really feel and see the difference in the purpose and occupants of the east side of the Danube (more historic and militant in one part, upper class residential area in another). The looks of Budapest reminded me of a combination of Paris and Florence.

After our tour we searched for a cafe to eat lunch back on the Pest side. Yet again, we were impressed by the eclectic cafe we found called "Most" - with a yummy array of food with a clean, and quirky designs.

After a little downtime at the hostel we took the subway to the northern edge of the city to experience the Turkish Baths! Two places had been recommended to us, and we learned on our tour that one of them was open until 10pm. Good...we wouldn't have to feel rushed during our soaks and oculd still get back with time to go out that night.

My only exposure to hot natural baths was in Asia - in Tawain and South Korea; both indoors and outdoors. I have to say that the Turkish baths stacked up well to their Asian counterparts... better than I anticipated. There were indoor and outdoor ones. They were bigger than the ones I went to in Taiwan (therefore, not as crowded), and swim wear was manditory, as opposed to the naked jinjipans in South Korea.....which was a good thing because as soon as we entered the courtyard pools, I immediately sensed the eyes of large, Hungarian "mafia" type men. My friends and I had some fun conversations in the bubbling hot pools (we made up "would you rather" situations for each other). One of the "mafia" men overheard our conversations and engaged us in conversation....mostly telling us about his life and travels. We were creeped out until he said that he was an Olympic boxing coach who'd been to the 1996 Atlanta Olympics...despite still being a burly, boxing, "mafia" man, somehow knowing that he'd been to Atlanta made him okay haha. Although we ran into him again in the sauna, and soon made a bee line for the exit...

That night we the rest of the crew at our hostel and played cards in the common space of our kitchen before going out. There were about 12 of us - a mix of British, Canadian, American, and Eastern European. Peter, an Instant Groove staffer took us first to an underground club with live music, and then two some smaller pubs also with dancing - they were really crowded. At first, I got a little agrivated with people who were dancing/falling into me with no apologies, despite the ample dance floor....of course I've been amongst swaying dancers in the past, but this just seemed like the style even for people who weren't intoxicated. The music wasn't anything that we knew how to dance to, but after an hour or two, we just let our bodies feel the flow and partook in the personal space evasion dancing.

We allowed ourselves to sleep in the next morning since we didn't get to sleep until about 6am.....one of my friends tried Absinthe the night before...so when we got back to the hostel she kept us up and laughing for another hour or so. Before checking out of the hostel and heading the the train station on Sunday, we hit up the mall - only covered about a quarter of it, but we all came out with some satisfying purchases, leftover from the January sales.

London Calling

After our first class Eurostar voyage to London (mile for mile, the most money I've ever spent to travel), Brittany, Jennie (same Jenny from Paris, but this is the correct spelling), did our best to turn our frowns upside down and get excited for the second part of our trip. Conveniently we were staying in a hostel right across the street from the St. Pancras train station, so in contrast to Paris, we were already doing better, having made it to our accommodation just 10 mins after arriving in the city.

St. Pancras Station

The first stop after checking into our hostel was Trafalgar Square. We got some pictures and then moseyed into The National Gallary which housed more very famous paintings. I really appreciated finally seeing these in person, after having studied them in Art History at Etown. We also sought shelter and warmth in the Gallary because it was pretty frigid outside.

Next, we headed to Leicester Square to try to get discount tickets for the show 'Wicked' - seeing this show was much anticipated part of the trip. There were many ticket booths along the square from which to choose. At the first one we were kindly told that we would have better luck in the morning. It was nice of them to tell us this rather than try to sell us the tickets at full price. Since it's such a popular show, you can't always get good deals on the price of tickets. From there we went through Soho to Oxford Street (London's shopping street). I was very impressed with the stores and fashions of London. I don't think I had very many expectations for London. I was just looking forward to an English speaking city, but I was delighted by the vibe of the city, the restaurants, fashions and people the entire time.

Entrance to Chinatown

I ended up buying a wallet (zipper style with a beige floral design and gold glitter), which I had been looking for to replace the blue one I got in Taiwan that was falling apart. Dinner that night was at the Irish Pub next to our hostel. We were so pleased with the White Russians we'd ordered at the Irish Pub in Paris, that we were craving them again. However, this was more of a beer house, less of a cocktail bar, thus the bar tender didn't know how to make one. When Jennie tried to describe it, he came up with a concoction that is best described as hot chocolate mix, milk, and vodka....I didn't taste it, but she said it was horrible. The pub redeemed itself with pretty tasty Irish fare. I don't remember what my dish was called but contained a lot of creamed vegetables, a bready side dish and squash.

The next morning we went back to Leicester Square on quest for Wicked tickets. This time, we were in luck! Only 30 pounds for tickets. Now, we had really gotten out of our funk, even if the savings wasn't enough to make up for the train ticket.

The show would be the next night, a nice cap to our trip, and something to look forward to when typical last day of trips are looked at with sorrow because they are just that, the last day of a great trip. Next, we headed to the meeting point for our tour. I got lots of pictures of statues and buildings, just to prove I was there, but my favorite pictures are from Buckingham Palace (more pics on facebook) because I was most excited during that part of the tour.

I could have done without that last hour because by that point my feet were frozen and it was actually painful to walk (although I did get picture of Big Ben and in a red phone booth). We had to stop in a souvenir shop so I could find a place to take off my boots and warm my toes (should have packed some toe-warmers) haha! Our tour concluded at a really good fish and chips restaurant and we got to sit down and get to know some other travelers - at our table was a 20-something American girl teaching English in Spain, her best friend from the Mid West visiting, and a California girl studying abroad in France.

On the London to-do list was Harrod's famous department store. It was madly crowded with the commencement of January sales, so we were happy to do a once-around the cosmetic section and leave.

Remember the Texan MBA students we met in Paris? Their next stop was also London, and since we'd exchanged numbers in Paris we were able to make plans to meet up in London. Although neither of us girls were up for clubbing, they suggested going to "Tiger Tiger" a dance club chain in London. We didn't have any better suggestions, so we agreed to meet there. We were barely dressed in club attire, as we quickly noted from the dozens of scantily clad girls. It ended up being a decent night, partially from the people watching we did. In general, the crowd was younger than us, probably because it was the club's weekly "university night," and it was funny to watch them interact - the boys trying to impress the ass-baring girls with their smooth dance moves.

The next day, after lunch at a Thai restaurant (at my request) we started to Covent Gardens. Now a hand-crafts farmers market, surrounded by gourmet food stores, it was formerly the "red light" district of London occupied by prostitutes. That is, until nun's moved in and taught the prostitutes how to sell things other than themselves. The prostitutes learned how to make hand crafts and sold them at their previous posts which became gardens. That is why it's still a market, and the name "Covent Gardens" originated from the nun's using it as a Convent. I loved Covent Garden because one of the shops was a boutique cupcake bakery, where we indulged in sparkly, creamy confections.

Yes, that's an Oreo "cookies'n'cream" cupcake :)

Brittany took us on our own tour of the part of London known as "the city" - the old town. She'd been there a few months before, so she led us to Tower Hill to see the castle and famous Tower Bridge ("London Bridge" is a common misnomer).

We headed back to our hostel to get ready for Wicked. It was everything I'd hoped it would be, except for the British accents. I'd already known the songs so well, that the accents tainted the lyrics at times (especially "Dancing through Life"). It was a touching story though, with a lot of symbolism and great messages about friendship, sacrifices, and society.

Britt and I were a little over excited as we waited in our seats of the Victoria theater

Early the next morning, we took the return trip of our original round trip train tickets back to Paris, trained to the airport, flew back to Geneva, I trained to the train station, trammed to the bus stop, bussed to the free parking lot, and drove home to Andilly, exhausted but satisfied with the nice break provided by my 8 day Parisian/London getaway.

New Year's in Paris

My after-Christmas trip to Paris and London had been in the works since the summer, before I even arrived in Europe. In one of the many correspondences with Brittany (the only au pair I “knew” before arriving here), she told me she had plans to spend New Years 2011 in Paris. I thought that sounded perfect, and since it would be about half way through my stay, why not commit to taking the trip with her so I had at least one trip to anticipate? Fast forward to December. I’d recruited two au pair other friends to join our trip, and she’d made plans to reunite with her sister from PA in Paris.

Rachel and I arrived on different flights on December 28. Reason being that my flight was full by the time she wanted to book hers. The only problem was that we overlooked was that there was more than one airport serving Paris. When I arrived at Charles de Gaulle, and looked for her flight on the arrivals board, it was no where to be found. I asked when Easyjet flight #### was arriving and the woman at the info desk told me that it was flying into Orly airport, in the south western part of Paris. I was embarrassed. It would have been a waste of time and money to take the airport provided shuttle to Orly when Gare Du Nord (the main train station) was about half way between our two airports. I hopped a train to Gare du Nord, and after trying to kill 3 hours in the non-heated train station, I finally met up with Rachel and we continued on to find our hostel.

Rachel’s shopping quest of the trip was to find a new pair of boots. Hers had holes in them and she’d resorted to wearing plastic bags over her socks to keep her feet dry…it was time to find a new pair! So that night was spent wandering in and out of department stores and little shops near Notre Dame. We also got to see some famous buildings and bridges lit up – Notre Dame and the Opera house.

Our hostel was actually a small hotel. It had tiny spiral stairs and no elevator to the 4^th floor, but the owner was quite a character and kindly directed us to our desired sights. We were impressed with our clean, though tiny, room with tv. We found breakfast at whatever bakery we’d pass in the morning. This practice continued through the rest of the Paris experience, and may have been one of my favorite parts of the trip.

On Day 2, we were to meet up with Brittany and her sister. The Eiffel tower was an easy enough meeting spot. This was Britt’s and my second trip to Paris. She had visited earlier in the year so her memory of the lay of the city was fresh. The last time I’d studied the metro map was with my grandmother for my “Grammy trip” when I was 11….it came back pretty easily though. The day was cloudy and gray, but that didn’t hinder the excitement that sparked when Rachel and I turned the corner and saw the Eiffel Tower…until that moment we didn’t have the complete feeling that we were actually in Paris. After hearing Brittany and Jenny’s story of ridiculous tears from reuniting at Charles de Gaulle during brunch at La Terrase (a café at Ecole Miliatair metro stop) we walked to Parc du Champs de Mars for a photoshoot in front of the Eiffel Tower.

One of the burdens of the Paris metro is the non-existence of escalators, making lugging our suitcases up and down stairs a little wearing when trying to zip from one end of the city to the other. We had to do this to get to our apartment-style hotel in La Defense. Once we got to La Defense (newer business district), we spent at least 2 hours (!) walking around trying to follow the directions, which stated “an easy 7 minute walk from the metro,” obtained from the hotel website. Since traveling in European cities, I’ve learned that it’s usually not the language barrier preventing me from getting around, but the lack of properly placed street signs (oddly adhered to buildings or posts, rather than hanging over an intersection as in the US). There were signs pointing in the direction of certain roads , but they never seemed to lead us to the actual streets. After numerous breaks of sitting on our suitcases sayingd, “let’s just take a taxi” and “no, we can find it on our own,” we approached a taxi driver who directed us clearly to our hotel. From then on, trips to and from our hotel were 7 minutes (or less…it was cold, we speed walked or ran sometimes!).

I booked the hotel less than a week in advance because our original free stay fell through with some plumbing issues, preventing us from staying there and leaving us in quite a bind . Most of the hostels were full for the days leading up to, and over, New Years Eve. Paris hotels weren’t in our budget, but I searched for some last minute deals online, and stumbled upon the Adagio La Defense which had a sale on their apartment style rooms. Though there were four of us, I booked the three bed room. After not planning on spending a cent for our accommodation, we would manage, and hope we wouldn’t get caught. Rachel stayed in the grocery store beside the hotel while the Britt, Jenny, and I checked in. Luckily, there was a 4 bedroom available so we got upgraded to that, and could rest easy for our stay at Adagio. Our place also had a kitchen where we prepared dinner three nights, and shaved a little off of our food budget for the trip. We were pretty tired after what we’d already endured that day, so we rested in our apartment before heading out to Mont Martre area to see the Moulin Rouge and grab drinks at an Irish Pub. It was an early night.

The next day began with Rachel and Jenny getting haircuts, and me finding a Pharmacy to treat some mysterious itchy bumps (or bites…) covering my arms and neck. I’m not positive they were bed bugs, because Rachel and I shared a double bed at our first hostel and she was fine. Either I’m allergic to something used to launder the sheets or just much tastier than her. I also got these bumps when I stayed at a hostel in Florence L They got extremely swollen and hard when I itched them, and it was too bothersome to just tough out. After a day of antihistamines, I was feeling better, though I still have scars on both biceps, 2 months later. There was a massive mall at La Defense so hair cuts, pharmacy, and shopping (ZARA!!!) could be accomplished at one place. Brittany and I demolished Zara while the other two got their hairdos. Sights for that day were Arch de Triumph and Champs Elysee. We shopped a little there as well. We experienced a much better selection in the Champs Elysee stores than at the same stores in Geneva. There was a Christms Market set up at the end of C.E. and the girls got some crepes....the first of about 4 creperie stops that trip…only in Paris! That night, we donned our new tops and went back to Mont Martre to meet my friend Meghan (from York, PA – also au pairing in Geneva) for a pub crawl. There we met a group of graduate students from Texas, traveling as part of their MBA program to financial firms in Europe. It was a fun night of dancing, new friends, and late night travels finding our way back to our hotel via night bus.

None of us were feeling in tip top shape the next morning, but we ventured out to the Louvre and Musee D’Orsay. After about an hour at each, plenty of crowd-passing, and art admiring of famous paintings, we got some pictures outside of the Louvre and went back to our apartment to rest up for the long awaited “New Years Eve in Paris.”

Although we were told by the hotel staff that it would be nearly impossible to get a reservation on Champes Elysee for dinner at this point on New Years Eve, we had found a small place the day before on an alley off of that very street, and booked a reservation for 7:30pm. Our plan was to enjoy a nice dinner in our pretty dresses, see the Arch De Triumph by night and walk down Champs Elysee, stop in a bar, and to the Eiffel Tower for the “fireworks.” Dinner was spectacular, complete with wine and dessert. The walk was pretty, but cold, and there was not an unpacked bar to be found en route to the Eiffel Tower. We did meet some US Marines who were stationed in Germany and visiting Paris for New Years. The girls in their group convinced us to share some Eldorados (a beer/tequila canned beverage) with them on the street as we made our way to the Eiffel Tower. We got some great pictures on the bridge in front of the Eiffel Tower, and then made it to the park where we waited for about 3 hours until midnight. How did we spend this time? Nestled under a large tree, learning more about each other and our new friends by playing "never have I ever..." It was frigid, and we began to feel pretty silly in our fancy attire, and wished we’d been in hoodies and jeans. It wasn’t quite the glamorous New Years under the Eiffel tower that we were imagining, but we did have a nice bottle of champagne to share at midnight, and some people around us were putting off their own fireworks. There were no formal fireworks due to terrorism scares…none of us were aware of this before, or while, we were there. The scene fleeing from the Eiffel Tower just 10 minutes after midnight was madness. There were armed guards and a dog in the subways rationing the number of people allowed to enter at a time. We were stuck on the steps down to the metro for about 45 minutes. It was a little scary, and the first time I’ve been in a crowd where there were people uncontrollably pushing on me from all directions. It was a long journey home, and we were happy to be in our warm beds by 3am.

Every morning, we went to the Monoprix grocery store which had a fabulous bakery. There we’d pick out our pasteries/sandwiches of choice for the first part of the day, and then, sometimes proceed to the Starbucks down the street for some Joe…just perfect! Our last full day in Paris included a third trip to the Mont Marte area to see the Sacre Coeur and go in some souvenir shops, and get more crepes, pictures at the Notre Dame, and walking through the Latin Quarter while restaurant employees tried to lure us inside their establishments.

The next morning was possibly one of the worst mornings of my 24 years on this earth. Brittany, Jenny, and I were set to catch the Eurostar train to London, while Rachel would stay one more night in Paris and then go back to Geneva. We’d planned to leave around 6am from our hotel to get to Gare du Nord to catch our 8:15 train. However, at 8:13am, Brittany awoke and from the other side of the sliding door I heard a stressed, “Oh my God, guys, it’s 8:13. We are going to miss our train”…or something like that. Although I’d just woken up, I wanted to throw up at that moment, and a stressful panic ensued in all of us. What had happened? And what were we going to do now? Our hostel in London was already booked as well as our flight back from Paris 4 days later. Had anyone heard of the Itouch glitch of 2011? Well, this was Jan. 2 2011 and we were relying on an Itouch as an alarm…which didn’t go off. We even tried setting it for 5 minutes later to make sure it had been set correctly, and it didn’t go off. We made it to Gare du Nord, explained what happened at the Eurorail desk (the only train which goes from Paris to London, under the English channel). It was too late to book a flight, plus getting to the airport out of the city would take too much time out of our schedule. The only tickets left for the next train were first class and $350 one way! We had already spent $140 for round trip tickets…this was sickening. I’d never spent that much on a train ticket (or airfare within Europe for that matter). But things like this happen in life, and you just have to accept them, and get on with it. I vowed to tighten my buckle for the remainder of January to cut back on expenses and eventually I’d make up for the loss. The good thing was, traveling first class, we enjoyed "free" fashion magazines, a fancy meal, and a nap.