Vienna and Budapest

So here's the delayed Vienna/Budapest post. My friend still hasn't posted her pictures which is a shame since she had some amazing ones but mine aren't too shabby either (at least I think so....)

So starting out with Vienna....It's a very nice, clean, modern European city. Given that, it was also disappointingly boring. Yea, it's the home of Mozart, classical music, and all sorts of classy things, but one they they never mention is how much it costs to actually get in and see these things. 40 Euro for a lacklustre seat to see an opera performance isn't something that a student's budgets can really afford. Nevertheless, Jackie and I found things to do in the city and enjoyed our visit. Everything is pretty much in walking distance which is pretty cool and our Hostel was in the Chinatown/Nachsmarkt flea market area which was a fun surprise. We actually had some of the best Chinese food in Europe so far there so props to them. I will never forget hearing an Asian woman speak fluent German though...seeing someone else do it made me realize how creepy Asians speaking "European" languages can be, me included. Beyond that, we did notice is that the city can, essentially, be done in about 2 days. We stayed 3 and got really bored so if you ever decide to go to Vienna, keep that in mind. Nightlife in Vienna was also lacklustre. We went to a gay bar which the hostel recommended and it was crap. No dance floor, tiny, expensive, and dead. I feel sorry for the Viennese gays....For all its downsides though, Vienna did hold a few surprises which I will now show....

It rained alot when we got there



Parliament

Our buddy Johann Strauss

Mermaids did exist at one point....they were all executed by angry little children though

Schonbrunn Palace, where I learned of the "jumping photo"

 

It had some wtf statues

 So Vienna was good, if a bit bland. Budapest...well that's another story. If Vienna is the good child in the family that is Europe, the one who did all his homework, ate his vegetables, and went to an elite school, then Budapest was the party boy who went to state college to drink, fuck, and have a blast. Budapest was insanely fun. It was the polar opposite of Vienna: lively, cheap, exciting, and a little rough around the edges. We arrived on a national holiday and what was going on? Protests of course. A labour union from what I could figure was having a protest which ended up blocking many of the streets. However, because it was a national holiday, lots of he museums were open so Jackie and I ended up hitting those up. One of my friends was also staying in the same hostel as us and we ended up hanging out alot at night. They found a bunch of bars and places to go at night. During the day we wandered about and visited the Hungarian royal palace and both the Buda and Pest areas of the city. Overall, lots of fun and we spent next to nothing while there.

Protests

Hungarian National Museum

The Royal Palace

Buda is much more rural

Parliament still decked out for Hungarian Revolution Day

Best book ever.

The grand central market - lots of food and souvenirs.

 Funny to think that now that my day is almost done, my second week-long break is starting haha. Yeah, I have another week off already. I decided against travelling this break for a few reasons in the end. First, cost; I didn't want to go through another $500 to visit Germany. It would have been nice, but I feel I will have plenty of opportunities to visit later on when I actually have the money. Second, I have visitors coming, mainly my friend Kelsey, who is coming in from London, and my mom and my aunt. Both are coming next week and I want to prepare for their arrival. Finally, I miss having alone time and having a house to myself. Since both my host parents work, I figured that I can take the chance to just sleep in, relax, watch some movies, and cook which I haven't been able to do very often. So, it may not be the most exciting break ever, but I'm still really looking forward to it.

Hope everything is well in your neck of the woods.

All the best,

JP