The Pastini Potlucks

Probably one of my favorite memories of Rome will simply be our potlucks.

It is such a simple idea.  If you're invited to our potluck, you can either bring a dish or a bottle of wine.  Simple yet effective, this idea has always generated a great time!

Most people brought wine, so Adam and I would be carrying the bulk of the cooking work.  This was fine with us since we love to cook and we're pretty damn good at it too.

Cooking in Rome has been its own little educational experience.  The grocery store sticks to selling only what is in season.  I love it!  I know my food is going to taste better and I have to get my creative juices flowing to make it work.

The ingredients you buy in Italy are generally fresher than the ingredients you buy at home.  It is no secret that Italy prides itself on food, but even the most basic grocery store shares this pride and dedication to food too.  'The best thing since sliced bread' is an incomprehensible phrase for the Italians since all of their bread comes straight from the bakeries unsliced, and that's probably the way they prefer it.

We have been fortunately provided with a beautiful, spacious apartment in a superb location.  I get the feeling that this apartment will be the most expensive residence I ever reside at.

Each of the 4 potlucks were very entertaining, and each one was successively more well done.  The last one was perfect.  There was a diverse assortment of delicious food, desserts and plenty of vino Italiano.

As the attendees get increasingly intoxicated, more people depart for a night on the town.  Finally, (just in time for quiet hours of course) everyone is out of the apartment, well fed and well prepared for evening.  All thanks to the kind folks of Via dei Pastini.

Veneto: It's Been Awhile

The Veneto weekend trip was 4 weeks ago by now.  To be honest, the details are a little hazy.

It's sad to think that all of these experiences are blending together, but it's true.  I've been learning just as much about extended traveling as I have about the places I have traveled too.  The dichotomy between the two is very interesting.  I realize now that I will never have an adequate understanding of the places I visit, only an impression.

Even after spending 4 months in Rome, I have nothing more than an impression of the city.  I've tried my best to get to know the city, the people, and the culture, but the more I see the less I know (to quote Micheal Franti).

I'm recognizing my limitations.

I forgot the original intentions of this trip.  By trip, I mean study abroad.  That's right, I've been calling it a trip now.  To call it study abroad would imply that I'm studying.  We should just call it being abroad.

I fell behind on my blog posts.  But, for me, it is important that I record everything that I do on this trip.  Everyone says that 'study' abroad is the greatest experience of their college career.  I just want to remember why it was the greatest experience of my college career.

Oh yes, the Veneto weekend trip.  I believe I have some pictures to spark my memory.

This guy here is Galileo Galilei and the town you can see behind him is the wonderful little town of Padova.  This is where our Veneto weekend started.  I should clarify that Veneto is a north-eastern region of Italy and is famous for its capitol city, Venice.

Unfortunately, Venice has overshadowed many of the beautiful towns like Padova.  I could tell that there is a bit of animosity between the two when I listened the tour guide talk about Venice with some disdain.  Italian towns are very proud; being Italian comes second to being from a particular Italian town.

Each Italian town tends to have a favorite saint.  They will dedicate buckets of money, build churches, and even enter into violent skirmishes for their saints.  The saint worshiped in Padova is Saint Anthony.  He was apparently a great speaker and was one of the quickest to become a Saint, being canonized less than a year after he died.  For some reason, he is great to pray to if you've lost something.

The Padova citizens built this, the Basilica of Saint Anthony, for their beloved saint.  It was absolutely beautiful, especially inside.

Inside, there was a beautiful, highly-detailed tomb containing the remains of Saint Anthony.  This particular feature required a good amount of effort on the behalf of Padova.  They had to arrange a voyage into Egypt to steal his body back.  When they finally got his tomb back to Padova, they opened it up to see that his tongue and vocal cords had not yet decomposed.

What could make for a better focal piece that that?

In the back of this church, there is a shrine to Saint Anthony.  Center stage, soaking in formaldehyde are his vocal cords, his tongue and his jaw.

Strange.

This appeared to be the only main attraction of Padova.  However, there was a much larger cathedral in the town which hardly received any attention.  The interesting thing about this one is that it is still unfinished.  The project was too large and there was not enough money to finish it.  Not to mention, the obsession with Saint Anthony had taken over.

I really wanted to check it out.

The unfinished feel of the massive cathedral was very eerie.  There were only 4 or 5 people inside this colossal structure.  It was cold and dark.  The height made me dizzy and the sheer size of the cathedral made the altar seem tiny and even creepier.  It was very odd.

The only other thing worth mentioning about Padova was the 24 hour cafe.  At least, it used to be a 24 hour cafe.  Padova is one of the first academic towns instated by the Catholic Church.  So, as with every college town, there are some pretty cool things going on.  One guy decided to open a 24 hour cafe.  It had no doors so that people could always come together and discuss smart things at any time of day.

Since then, doors have been installed, but it is still the popular gathering spot of the town.

Apparently, there is a popular tradition of gathering around a podium where people are allowed to stand and be heard.  When they are done, another person may take the podium and continue the discussion.  There was a lot of yelling and gesturing in Italian, which I found to be very entertaining.

The JCU travel group had some dinner and went to bed.  My roommate for the night was named Charlie and he was from Wisconsin.

The next morning, while we were waiting for the train to Venice, I met him and his other Wisconsin friends and played a little eucher.  It was good to finally meet some card players.

It's sad to see how few college kids actually know any card games.  I was looking forward to playing cards in college but the opportunities are surprisingly sparse.  Good thing I have a girlfriend who knows how to play cribbage!

The train to Venice was really neat.

Venice (in Italian, Venezia) was one of the few places not inhabited by the Ancient Roman Empire.  Not until the fall of the Empire, was it slowly inhabited by island settlers.  They gained a presence in the area and an expertise in nautical navigation.  Using this expertise, they began to control parts of the Mediterranean.  They used their control to gain wealth and they used this wealth to expand the city.  Venice quickly became one of the wealthiest cities in Europe, hence one of the most powerful too.

As they grew in population and in wealth, they had to expand their territory.  Since they only lived on a series of islands in a lagoon, they had no choice but to artificially expand the islands.  Just about everything you walk on in Venice today is an artificial expansion of the original islands.  They did this by bringing in timber and slowly submerging them around the island.  Wood solidifies underwater and doesn't rot, so after centuries of this process, you finally have what we have today.

A dense mass of buildings placed on artificial islands with tiny waterways everywhere.

No automobiles are allowed in Venice, except for the little parking lot to the west.  That doesn't mean there isn't any traffic.  In Venice, everything that normally takes place in an automobile is replaced by a nautical vessel.  I mean everything!  You have water taxis, water buses, water garbage trucks, water supply trucks, personal water crafts, and even the Carabinieri are on the water.

It's really quite fascinating.

Venice today is much different from the Venice of way-back-when.  Today it is almost like Disney Land in some places.  The tourism here is out of control.

The Venice of way-back-when is very interesting.  Just about everyone that lived in Venice was insanely rich.  Each family had their own Gondolier and the only way they traveled around the city was by Gondola.  The pedestrian friendliness of Venice today is solely a result of tourism: the bridges and the paved streets.  Before tourism, the only way to get around was by boat or swimming (nobody really swam).  That is why the front sides of the homes and palaces, including the front doors, all face the water!  This was their front yard.

Which brings me to the Gondolas.  They are every bit as unique as you would imagine them to be.  Each one is hand crafted specifically to fit the specific Gondolier.  They are all counter balanced so that the Gondolier can stand to one side and keep the boat even.  There is a weight in the front to keep the bow down.  This weight is shaped to symbolize the 6 main islands of Venice and the one outlying island with 6 notches bunched together in the front and one by itself on the back.  Finally, the central part of the weight is shaped in an S like the grand canal that splits the 6 main islands down the center.

(Credit:  http://cdn.c.photoshelter.com)

Originally used to move rich people around Venice, they are now used to move rich tourists around Venice.

Back in the day, all of these gondolas were extravagantly decorated and colored since they were the icons for the rich families of Venice.  This ceased to be when the people in charge saw that the decorative competition was getting out of hand.  By law, they all had to be colored black, and this tradition has since continued.

My day was mostly spent walking around Venice.  I would say that that is the best thing to do there.  The streets are very unique and the thousands of little random waterways are very picturesque.  I walked through a fish market and the famous San Marco Square.  It was all very beautiful.  It was also all sinking or falling over (left picture).

My choice for lunch wasn't very difficult.  I had a seafood dish with some wine.

I almost missed my train back to Padova since I had underestimated the size of Venice.  My friends and I had ended up on the far side of Venice with only a half hour to make it to the train.  We made it with 5 minutes to spare.

The train took off and we were all very exhausted.  After traversing the scenic bridge back to the mainland, most of the JCU group fell asleep.  We returned to Padova and had dinner at the same restaurant as last night.  Afterwards, I grabbed a bottle of wine and watched some Italian MTV and some other American movies dubbed into Italian.

The next morning, we were heading to Verona.  Unfortunately for me, Verona was made famous by watching the disastrous, train-wreck of a movie, Letters to Juliet.  The movie takes place in Verona and spins off of the romantic idea that anyone can write a "letter to Juliet," post it on the wall of the former house of the Capulets, and expect a response.  Today, the famous Shakespearean house and balcony has become overrun with tourism, graffiti, and chewing gum.

It was a disappointment.

The rest of Verona was beautiful.  Our tour guide brought us to a very beautiful church on a hill across the river which featured a breathtaking view of the city.

Verona, as opposed to Venice, was occupied by the Roman Empire and, due to its corner seat on the river, has been a strategic location for competing powers throughout history.  Today, it is famous for really delicious wine and red marble.  They have a nearby quarry, so the marble is abundant in the city.  In fact, one road, which connects the river to an ancient Roman amphitheater, is paved completely in Marble.

After having lunch and purchasing a bottle of Verona red wine at the market, I visited the old amphitheater.  It's very similar to the one in Rome, but it is preserved in a much different way.  The Colosseum in Rome is preserved as a Church and as a memorial to the Christians who were persecuted there.  The amphitheater in Verona is preserved as a concert hall for classical music, opera, and now popular music.  They were both originally used for gladiator fights and other games.  Imagine going to a concert in one of these.

Overall, I really enjoyed my short stay in Verona.  It's a very beautiful little town.

I watched three movies on the bus ride back home to Rome.  I was intent, when I first arrived in Rome, on reading more and watching less.  Unfortunately, as I adjusted to my new environment, I reverted to my old habits.

Let's just say that Zoolander is better than I remember it being.

Spring Break: Budapest (Day 9 and 10)

Day 9:  To Cleanse My Soul

I woke up with a fairly significant hangover.  My vision was a little blurry, my head was pounding.  Then I sat up and my stomach broke into a million painful pieces.

I was not feeling too pretty.

I quickly made myself some tea hoping that drinking it would cure my self-induced ailments.  No go.  A shower usually helps.  I was getting ready to take a shower when the receptionist informed me that there is no hot water.  That wasn't going to work.

Luckily, I had planned this day around being completely hungover.  

When the Turks conquered Hungary, they brought with them the wonderful Turkish Baths.  When the Turks left Hungary, they left behind the wonderful Turkish Baths.  Today, in Budapest, the Turkish Baths are very popular.

I was banking on the fact that they were the perfect cure to an awful hangover.

I grabbed my swim-suit, borrowed a towel, and asked the receptionist where the biggest, best Turkish Bath was.  

We picked up some breakfast on the way at the most authentic joint we would visit during Spring break. The menu was only in Hungarian, the lady did not speak a lick of English, and we could see the one cook and his kitchen from the window.  Ordering food consisted of pointing to the menu and giving a questioning thumbs up and receiving a head nod or shake.  This process continued until I landed on something which turned out to be eggs seasoned with paprika.

I also ordered the international Cs, Coke-a-Cola.  Just about anywhere in the world, you can always find Coke-a-Cola.

Some odd-ball guy eating at the cafe said to me, "you Americans still drinking that Coke?"  I was a little shocked that there was someone who spoke English here.  He was strange.  That was all he said to us until a while later when he said, "well, gotta go work.  Work's never finished!"

That was strange.

As we were about finished with breakfast, we saw him walk down the street with a cat in his arms.  Of course, he's a cat guy.  Then he walked into the cafe and got yelled at by the cook.  I imagine, even in Budapest, cats are not very welcomed in cafes.

The rest of the time we watched a Hungarian teenager trying to fix his little moped with two older, larger Hungarian men.  For some reason, it was really entertaining.  The moped was so old and puny, but all these guys were pouring their heart and soul into fixing it.  Eventually they got it all fixed up.

Mickey didn't have a swimsuit along with her so we decided to stop at a second-hand shop, very popular in Budapest.  I love getting my clothes from second-hand shops back in Madison.  They are usually pretty unique and they are always really cheap.  At this one, you literally paid for your clothes by the kilo.

Finally, we were ready to go to the baths!

It was really busy when we got there.  This was the most popular and the largest bath complex in Budapest.

It was all done in Turkish style with a modern twist.  Everything was a beautiful pastel yellow which complemented the blue skies brilliantly.

I changed into my swimming suit, took a shower, and got ready for some hangover exfoliation.

I eyed up my target.  It was a bath to the right of the entrance where everyone looked at peace with the world.  I stepped in and it was amazing!  It was like one massive hot-tub without the chlorine and without the funky mineral smell.  It was just pure, hot-spring water.

My favorite part about this bath was old guys playing chess.  One guy in particular appeared to have been in this pool for years.  He was balding with semi-long, bright grey hair and a full curly grey beard.  He had some wicked shades on and a half tan because he hadn't moved for the entire 5 hours we were there.  I want to be that man (far right) when I grow up.

We spent most of the time in this pool.  It was the warmest outdoor pool and it was the most entertaining.  I got a much needed back massage from the water fountain.

I could feel all of my sins and impurities leaving my body.  All of the smoke from Central Europe was slowly dispersing from my respiratory system.  My mind, body and soul was purified.

There was a chart which showed the exact chemical make-up of the water.  The water was slightly acidic.  This gave my skin a nice smooth feeling, as if sanded with super fine sandpaper.

I felt amazing!

I sat in the sauna for a while.  I was sweating everything out of me.  The good stuff and the bad stuff.  Everything.

I guess you are supposed to do a cold plunge after the sauna to re-close your pores, but I couldn't get myself to do it.

Inside there was a super hot pool.  I tried it out, but I could only stay in for a couple of minutes.  It was unbelievably relaxing.

5 hours later, my hangover was gone.  If only I could do this every Sunday morning.

We walked back very slowly.  It was a nice evening and I was feeling very relaxed.  It was the perfect way to end spring break.  We picked up some bottles of Hungarian wine that was recommended to us by our tour guides, but they weren't all that good.  Definitely not Italian wine.  It was about time to return home to Rome.

We grabbed some dinner at a nicer looking Hungarian restaurant in a pretty neat little square.

We walked along the Chain Bridge and the rest of the Danube River one last time before calling it a night.

That was it.  Besides losing my keys, it was mission accomplished.  All we had to do now was head back to the hostel, go to sleep, wake up at 3 in the morning, catch our shuttle at 4, and get on an airplane.  That shouldn't be too bad, right?

We got back to the hostel and I checked my e-mail one last time.

Holly shit!  Sir Toby found my keys!  Sir Toby, you're the best.

I went to bed feeling pretty accomplished.  I had my alarm set for 3:00 in the morning.

That was really stupid.  It was daylight savings at 2:00, and my phone wasn't going to switch from 2:00 to 3:00...

Day 10:  Close Call

I woke up in the middle of the night.  I was feeling really sleepy so I was just going to go back to sleep, like I normally do.  Then I looked around a bit.  Where was I again?  I certainly wasn't in Wisconsin.  I wasn't in Rome either.

Oh yeah, I was in Budapest!  Cool.

Wait, didn't I have to get up early or something?

I checked my phone... 2:35.

Which meant it was actually 3:35, because 2:35 doesn't exist on daylight savings.

And, our shuttle was at 4:00.  Which meant...  WE HAD TO GET MOVING!

I woke Mickey up and broke the bad news.  Luckily, we packed up last night so we were pretty much set to go in 5 minutes.  I woke up the receptionist who was sleeping on the couch and told her we were checking out.  I gave her the keys and booked it out the door.

I sure hoped we had everything with us this time.

We walked through the Jewish Quarter, where most of the nightlife took place, and things were still bumping.  We walked through a hipster biker gang, which I thought was pretty interesting.  They all had their bikes locked to each other's and they were all drinking in the streets.

I don't think we fit in, but I don't think they cared.  I love Budapest.

We made it with 4 minutes to spare.  We jumped on the shuttle, made our way to the airport and boarded just as the sun was starting to come up.

We arrived back in Rome and I as a little hungry for a victory breakfast.  We stopped by Malva, my favorite cafe, and in true Italian style, had a coffee and pastry.  It was good to be back in Rome.

I needed many things: a shower, a shave, a haircut.  But, what I really needed was a set of spare keys.  The housing desk was kind enough to loan me one.  I got back home and passed out on the couch for a good 4 or 5 hours.

I did it.

I backpacked Central Europe.

Spring Break: Budapest (Day 8)

Day 8:  It's Pronounced Buda-pesht

I checked my e-mail in the morning, hoping for some good news on my keys.  So far, I had nothing.  I sent out the e-mails again and tried to relax with a hot cup of coffee.

I was pretty excited for the day.  We were meeting a free walking tour at 10 so we didn't have to worry about discovering the city on our own.

The tour group met nearby the river in the center of the old town.  We picked up a pretty decent breakfast on the way for under 3 American dollars.

The tour group was pretty large and it was composed of mostly young people.  I found it surprising that less than half of the group was American.  I guess Americans aren't the only ones who love to travel.  There were people from Spain, Italy, and other parts of Europe.

Our tour guide was a short, perky Hungarian girl who was very knowledgeable about her city.  With her was a guy whom I would normally avoid if I saw him walking down the streets.  But, he turned out to be very friendly.

The tour crawled through the old town, down to the Danube River.  There was a statue of what appeared to be a little boy but was actually a little girl.  It's called the Kiskiralylany Szobor and if you can pronounce it, congratulations.  It was finished just after the end of the Soviet occupation and it has since become a symbol of the Hungarian independence.  If you rub both of the knees your wishes will come true!

The Budapest statues are everywhere.  They really add charm to the city.  Each is unique in its symbolism or superstition.

We walked along the river and over to a park.  It was a beautiful day so we sat down and received a little history lesson.

Hungary has an awfully depressing history.  They have been occupied by foreign powers through the majority of it:  First by the Turks, then the Austrians, then the Nazis and lastly the Soviets.  Each of these occupations stamped some foreign element into the Hungarian culture.  The Hungarians had no choice but to adopt and adapt in order to survive.  Although the means are terrible, the outcome is actually a very rich and interesting culture.  This is to the credit of the Hungarians who have tried their best to incorporate their past into their own contemporary identity.

We moved through the park.  To lighten the mood, our tour guide showed us the place where lovers lock their locks.  I have seen this tradition in just about every European city I've been to, and each city claims to have started it.

The idea is that you and your loved one lock a lock to an immovable object with your initials or some cute quip on it.  Then, you and your loved one take the key and throw it into a river or something similar; thus symbolizing a leap of faith into your eternal, unbreakable love.

If you are not so confident about your love, you can always put a combination lock on.

We went by yet another weird statue.  If you rubbed this old, fat police officer's tummy, you would be certain to have a good meal.  I tried taking his sword.

The tour went by a university where the tour guides had the chance to brag.  Apparently, the ball point pen was invented here, along with other very useful things.  I found it interesting that the Hungarian language is called the Jedi's language.  They call it this for two reasons: because the language is ridiculously hard and because Yoda speaks in directly translated Hungarian!

The tour continued across the chain bridge spanning the Danube.  It was a beautiful piece of engineering.

I was learning a great deal about Budapest (pronounced Buda-pesht).  It's actually two cities, Pest, where we were staying, and Buda, on the other side of the river, combined into one.  The Buda side, where the tour was headed, was much hillier than Pest and had more of the historical monuments.

As I was climbing up the hill, I started talking to a married couple on the tour.  Their son went to Madison and he was studying abroad in Prague.  They had come to visit him and then go on their own little vacation.  I was told to keep an eye out for him since he was going to Italy over his spring break.  I don't think I saw him...

The top of the hill offered some breathtaking views of Pest.

We toured around the ancient castle and came across yet another statue.  It was of Andras Hadik, some guy who did something or another for Hungary, on a horse.  The superstition around this statue was that if you rubbed the over-sized testicles of the horse you would have a good sex life!  Unfortunately, it is now illegal to touch the statue since, I can only imagine, too many people were touching it.

Finally, we ended up in the Fisherman's Bastion.  This was a neatly preserved castle terrace enclosing the Matthias Church.  It was all in neo-Gothic style, very quaint and very beautiful.  We didn't go inside the church since it was going through some heavy restoration.

Supposedly, the Matthias Church was the first cathedral to start using colorful roof tiles for mosaic designs.  

This concluded the tour.  The guides were nice enough to show us a great place to eat nearby.  They described the menu to us and even sat with u.  Needless to say, they received a nice tip for their generous work.

We walked back to the Danube, crossed the Chain Bridge to Pest, and started walking towards the parliament building.  It was a masterpiece and truly rivaled the Rathaus of Vienna for my favorite building of Spring break.

(Credit:  en.wikipedia.org)

The architect of it tragically went blind before it was completed.

Just outside the parliament building was another interesting statue, of sorts.  It is simply called the Shoes on the Danube Promenade and it honors the Jews who were ordered to take off their shoes before being killed and thrown into the Danube during WWII.

We walked around parliament and discovered another memorial.  This one was for those who lost their lives fighting for independence against the soviets in 1956.

Then, we saw yet another statue.  At this point, I was just trying to have some fun.

Then there was a random statue of Ronald Reagan.  I guess he was a little taller than me.

We were heading back from the parliament building towards a cathedral that we had seen earlier.

The interior of this church was insanely detailed.  Every piece was done so precisely.  It was also brilliantly designed, letting the evening sun in perfectly over the altar.  I was impressed.

I felt like I had gone too long without a drink.  I remembered seeing a really neat place with a table in the front window where you would normally see a shop's display.  This was perfect for people watching.

This night was the only night of the trip where I actually went out and partied.  The Dreher you see here was the beginning of what would turn out to be a very long yet not very expensive night.

The Budapest nightlife is the most exciting that I've seen in Europe.  Maybe, I shouldn't say exciting.  I should say in accordance with my style: relaxed, fun, and interesting.

After dinner, we went to a bar.  Everyone there was sitting down, smoking, drinking and talking.  The music wasn't too loud and everyone was very nice.  There was a little dog which kept running around and flirting with the customers.

We left this and went to a club.  I danced a little but I spent most of my time watching the Hungarians play Foosball.  It appeared to be the main attraction of the club.

Then we went back to the bar from last night.  There was a DJ there playing some pretty good music.  We just sat in the back and watched everyone go crazy.  I really liked something about the people here.  They didn't seem to care what anyone was doing or wearing.  They were just concerned about enjoying themselves.  I got the feeling that there was very little social pressures.  I was surprisingly comfortable here.  More comfortable than I had ever been in Italy.  I didn't feel unanimously hated for being American and looking American.  Instead, I felt unanimously invited to just relax and be myself.  No pressures.  It was see, be and do.  Nothing more.  I liked it.

Then again, I was pretty drunk.

I got back to Big Fish Hostel, took my shoes off at the door, hit my bed and fell asleep fast.

Spring Break: Budapest (Day 7)

Day 7:  Lost and Not Found

There were no bed bugs during our last night at Wombat's City Hostel.  Still, it was a little difficult to sleep.  I was picturing those little buggers gnawing on me all night.

We had not yet bought our transportation to Budapest, but I looked it up ahead of time.  I had a pretty good idea about how the system worked.  After checking-out of Wombat's City Hostel (good riddance) and saying goodbye to our new friend Esmee, we headed to the train station.

Along the way, we picked up some breakfast from a nearby bakery.

I was barely able to pay for my train ticket.  I felt like a true college student traveler, digging into my pockets and paying for the train ticket with my leftover change.  That was a close one.  Almost got stuck in Vienna, oh darn.

I found my platform, sat down, ate my cinnamon roll, and watched the trains go by.  So many people are always coming and going places.  I always wonder what for.

Our train was really nice!  Next to our seats was a group of older Viennese men drinking beer after beer.  It looked like they were on vacation too.

This was the last impression I was going to have of the Viennese, and it was a quite different one than my first.  Very simply, they love to enjoy themselves.

I thought about Vienna on my trip.  I was surprised about how modern the city was.  It was certainly modern with their prices, at least.  The claim that the city is rooted in its music culture is very accurate.  There were music stores on every block and advertisements for classical concerts every night.  Many of the churches were even used as concert halls in the evenings.  This I found to be particularly cool.

I definitely enjoyed my stay in Vienna.

We arrived in Budapest just a little past 2 in the afternoon.  I could already tell that Budapest was going to be very interesting.  The train station was beautiful but was also very dirty.  I think that this description goes for all of Budapest.

Getting to the hostel was a little difficult.  We took the correct bus, but we took it the wrong direction.  This gave us an interesting look into the outer parts of Budapest.  My first impression of Budapest was that it was very dirty and poor.  The sad thing is that this is actually a reasonable interpretation.

I would later discover that Budapest has more positives than negatives, and like Naples, somehow embraces the negatives into its charm.

After asking a Hungarian girl for directions to our hostel, I immediately started to change my opinions.  She was very nice and patient with us and she got us to where we needed to be, Big Fish Hostel.  She even took the time to whip out her iPhone to help us out.

This hostel was exactly what I needed after our stay in Wombat's.  It was located in an older looking building next to a beautiful theater.  The stairwell was open to the air.  As soon as we walked in the door, we were asked to take our shoes off.  This alone I found to be very welcoming.  It was like walking into my own home.  They only had 4 or 5 rooms and a few bathrooms.  There was a kitchen with free tea and coffee.  Everything was decorated like I would decorate my own bedroom.

Best of all, the receptionist was amazing.  I was going to love this place.

As we were checking in, she gave me a key and said that this would unlock the door to the hostel and that it....

Oh shit!  Key.  Keys.  Where were my keys?

This marked the realization of my biggest blunder of Spring break.  I had left my keys somewhere between Budapest and Prague.  I was trying to remember where I had left them.  I was so upset with myself.  I got into a funk.

It was too bad.  Spring break was going so well, flawlessly if you don't count the bed bugs.  And then this.

Walking to lunch was not cheering me up very much.

If there are two things in this world that will always cheer me up, they are cheap, delicious beer and cheap, delicious food.  Luckily, the hole-in-the-wall restaurant we found had just that.

I had something with paprika in it.  I know this because it was the only word on the menu that I could understand and because it was in the name of every dish.  Budapest loves paprika.

I was feeling much better about my situation, also a little tipsy.  My keys had to be somewhere.

I decided to be proactive about it and I e-mailed the two hostels I had stayed at.  I narrowed it down to two possibilities.  Either I left them at Sir Toby's when I was checking out or I left them at Wombat's when I was violently awoken by bed bugs and had to change rooms.

With the e-mails sent, there was little else I could do.  Time to go enjoy the evening in Budapest.

We walked down the streets to the far North side of the city where there was a park and an old castle, Vajdahunyad Castle.  During our walk, the streets of Budapest started to become a little more comfortable.  Nobody seemed to be stressed out.  Sure, everything looked dirty and a little grimy, but somehow it was inviting, like a hand-me-down sweater.

The castle was enclosed by a very nice park.  There were a few people hanging out and enjoying the end of the day.

It was a little disappointing to see that they had drained the moat and nearby artificial lake.  Apparently, they use the lake for ice skating in the winter, and it looked like they were performing some maintenance on it.

On the West side of the castle there was a bronze statue dedicated to anonymous.  He was the author of some early twelfth-century, Hungarian historical records who singed his name as 'the anonymous notary of King Bela.'  So, he is shown with a golden pen in hand his hand.

Budapest had some really cool statues.  They all symbolized something and there was usually some sort of superstition surrounding them.

There was a street that I wanted to walk down on the way back to our hostel.  It ran towards the river, away from Hero's Square.  Hero's Square seemed like the cool place to hang-out.  Teenagers were everywhere skateboarding, BMX-ing or just chilling.

The street I was looking for was called Andrassy Street.  Located on it were a bunch of embassies and some really nice apartments.  The architecture was impressive.

We stopped somewhere for a couple of drinks before returning to our hostel.  It was a sports bar, and on the television was a very interesting sport.  We asked a Hungarian about it.  He told us that it was women's handball and that the Hungarian team was the current world champion.

We struck a conversation with another Hungarian.  He had spent a couple years in New York.  It was easy to talk to the Hungarians.  Most of them have no choice but to learn English, mostly because Hungarian is an impossibly difficult language.

The fact that everyone in Europe is taught English is something that has bothered me ever since I've come here.  Why is it that our language is forced upon everyone?  Why has our language been designated as the international language?

At first, it seems a little unfair.  Many young Europeans know a good amount of English.  Very few young Americans could carry even a brief conversation in another language.  Did we force the rest of the world to learn English?  This is what I believed at first.  But now, I think that this explanation is actually quite self-centered.

Instead, it seems that the globalization of Europe has necessitated an international standard for communication.  English was probably the best choice because of Britain's political position and because of America's role in the globalization process.  This helps to remove the guilt of not knowing another language.  Still, I feel bad not knowing one sometimes.

I digress.  After a couple of drinks and some conversation with the locals, we headed back to the hostel and asked the receptionist where we could find some music.  He gave us a recommendation and we headed out.

Hungary was probably the first country in Central Europe to ban smoking in all public buildings.  But, you wouldn't believe me if you stepped into this place.  It was difficult to see your hand in front of your face.

We went down stairs looking for the music.  Instead, we saw that everyone in the basement was quietly staring at one guy.  This guy was speaking very loudly and passionately.  Everyone was hanging on his every word.  Was this the concert?  We asked the bar tender what was going on.  She said that this guy runs the concerts and that the concert is in the other room.  There was nobody in that room except the band.  The room with the loud guy was more appealing.  We asked her what he was talking about.  Just a lot of politics she told us.

Even though I didn't know exactly what he was saying, it was still very interesting to sit in and listen.  Hungarian was a nice enough language and this guy was simply fun to watch.

We ordered some food and hung out for a while, occasionally talking some politics of our own.  Then we headed back to the hostel and crashed.  That's where we met our roommates, American students studying in Prague.  They were spending their weekend in Budapest as well.  They were all very nice.

A little chit chat and it was time to go to sleep.  We were going to catch a 10 o'clock free tour in the morning.  I was pretty excited!