okay...this is a looooong journal post...basically recounting my travels from last month. I really don't expect most anyone to try to read the whole thing. but skim it over if you like.
and the photos are all to be found HERE.
Been back in Austin for a few days now. Just kind of easing back into the normal routine of life. It takes a bit of doing after nearly a month of travelling and vacation. I wish that travelling was my normal routine for life. I could live pretty comfortably out of my large backpack and laptop bag for a few months.
Everything went really well and I had a great time. New York was as incredible as it always is. It certainly helps to have a good friend living there...otherwise I could never have afforded to have spent as much time there as I did. I was there for about four days before leaving for Europe and then spent another five days there after I returned. I hadn't seen my good friend, Howard, in four years. One night in Austin we were hanging out...the next day I left to head west on a long roadtrip and then a month in Europe; he headed East to move to Asheville, North Carolina and then to New York City. When I'm in New York, I usually don't have any particular agenda...other than going to the Met and spending a lot of time in Central Park....I don't have anywhere I need to be...so I like to just wander town. Got to hang out in Brooklyn on the weekend before Halloween with a few former members of the site whom are pretty damn cool. They might even remember it.
Travel excitements were limited to my almost missing flights constantly. I suffered a brain lapse and almost didn't realize that my flight from New York to Budapest was leaving that day that it was. I had already made plans for the evening and everything. I had looked at my schedule and saw that I was checking into my Budapest hostel on the 17th...completely forgetting that there was an overnight flight preceeding that.
and THEN on my return flight I confused my departure time from Budapest to Amsterdam (to cathch my connecting flight) with my Amsterdam departure time. I didn't catch the mixup until 40 min before my flight was to leave. Only through the quick action of the hostel worker and the VERY competent drving of the cabbie did I even make it to the airport five minutes after my flight was scheduled to leave. BUT I lucked out...it landed 45 minutes late and took off almost an hour late...so I still made the flight with plenty of time. Of course that left me only ten minutes to catch the connection in Amsterdam...but I managed. Very tense. It was one of those things where if I KNEW I was going to miss the flight, I could relax and try to figure out the solution...but when you JUST...MIGHT....STILL....MAKE...IT, it's a nail biter.
Budapest was great. I love the city so much. If I ever thought I could learn Hungarian, I would consider moving there. It's a gorgeous, vibrant, busy city. I was only there for one night before heading out to Romania. I linked up with a couple of British guys and headed out to a local bar where we upsconded with, what was supposed to be a reserved booth, and proceeded to drink beer and whiskey. I also ordered a round of shots of unicom liqour...which was pretty much reviled by all...but when in Hungary...you gotta have some. I think it was Ash who decided that it tasted like "polio medicine". anyway I got drunk enough that I couldn't remove my contacts without tearing them both in half. Good thing I like my glasses.
Caught the 16 hour overnight train from Budapest to Bucharest without any real incident. I like that I am familiar with Budapest's main train station. The train ride was long. That's about all I can say about it. Well. it was also comfortable. I had a sleeper compartment. It was set up for three stacked bunks, but there were only two of us in there. I had the bottom bunk, so no climbing or anything. I didn't sleep much because I couldn't get used to the noise and motion of the train. and when I did sleep...we'd stop at a station and I'd wake up...or I'd be woken by someone in a uniform to check my passport. But I got to Bucharest and even managed to find my hostel after some wandering about and stopping for directions. I'm glad I spent some time learning some basic Romanian before I left. It was fairly easy to learn and I liked that I was able to use some of it.
Spent a few days in Buchares, mostly wandering around the city and taking photos. Went out a couple of nights. I stayed at a really good hostel that was right near the Old Town of Bucharest and located directly above one of the more upscale strip clubs in the city. It was so soundproofed that I never heard so much as a bass beat through the floor. Considering the age of the building...that's pretty damn impressive. I like hostels so much because you meet up with other travelers (read: Australians). At hotels, everyone goes back to thier room...maybe to the hotel bar...and noone interacts. At a hostel everyone is in the same room, talking, comparing notes, making plans, sharing stories. I met the usual passle of Aussies, includin Hans..who ended up hanging out with in Bucharest and also in Brasov. There was also Cindy from Sydny who I watched The Prestige with instead of going out into the cold...great movie. There was the walking upper respitory infection from Liverpool...peter...or was it paul. In any case I could only understand about a third of what he said...but he said a lot, so I got quite a bit by statistics of volume. The quiet Japanese girl, Midori, who is working on her graduate degree and restoring artworks at monastaries in Moldova. She, Hans, and I went to the Chemical Brothers Concert my last weekend in Bucharest. GREAT show. the opening acts were okay, but the Chemical Bros. themselves were far better than I expected. The visual (lights and screen animations) show really added to the music rather than just being the usual blinky convulsion inducing starshow.
The bars in Bucharest...the few that I saw...were all interesting. Most were in basements of brick buildings and had this sort of illicit feel to them...even though they were packed full of the usual crowds. The first one I went to with Hans was apparantly a high school hangout (drinking age in Romania is 16). Both of us being 30...we felt a bit old...and left. The Second bar (appropriately called Second I believe) was also in a basement, but much larger. Very trendy but very cool at the same time.
anyhow. that gets us to Brasov just about. but I'm going to stop here and add on the rest later. this is already more than a long read.
anyhow. it's good to be home. not so much to be back at work, but one must have money..however one must get it.
and the photos are all to be found HERE.
Been back in Austin for a few days now. Just kind of easing back into the normal routine of life. It takes a bit of doing after nearly a month of travelling and vacation. I wish that travelling was my normal routine for life. I could live pretty comfortably out of my large backpack and laptop bag for a few months.
Everything went really well and I had a great time. New York was as incredible as it always is. It certainly helps to have a good friend living there...otherwise I could never have afforded to have spent as much time there as I did. I was there for about four days before leaving for Europe and then spent another five days there after I returned. I hadn't seen my good friend, Howard, in four years. One night in Austin we were hanging out...the next day I left to head west on a long roadtrip and then a month in Europe; he headed East to move to Asheville, North Carolina and then to New York City. When I'm in New York, I usually don't have any particular agenda...other than going to the Met and spending a lot of time in Central Park....I don't have anywhere I need to be...so I like to just wander town. Got to hang out in Brooklyn on the weekend before Halloween with a few former members of the site whom are pretty damn cool. They might even remember it.
Travel excitements were limited to my almost missing flights constantly. I suffered a brain lapse and almost didn't realize that my flight from New York to Budapest was leaving that day that it was. I had already made plans for the evening and everything. I had looked at my schedule and saw that I was checking into my Budapest hostel on the 17th...completely forgetting that there was an overnight flight preceeding that.
and THEN on my return flight I confused my departure time from Budapest to Amsterdam (to cathch my connecting flight) with my Amsterdam departure time. I didn't catch the mixup until 40 min before my flight was to leave. Only through the quick action of the hostel worker and the VERY competent drving of the cabbie did I even make it to the airport five minutes after my flight was scheduled to leave. BUT I lucked out...it landed 45 minutes late and took off almost an hour late...so I still made the flight with plenty of time. Of course that left me only ten minutes to catch the connection in Amsterdam...but I managed. Very tense. It was one of those things where if I KNEW I was going to miss the flight, I could relax and try to figure out the solution...but when you JUST...MIGHT....STILL....MAKE...IT, it's a nail biter.
Budapest was great. I love the city so much. If I ever thought I could learn Hungarian, I would consider moving there. It's a gorgeous, vibrant, busy city. I was only there for one night before heading out to Romania. I linked up with a couple of British guys and headed out to a local bar where we upsconded with, what was supposed to be a reserved booth, and proceeded to drink beer and whiskey. I also ordered a round of shots of unicom liqour...which was pretty much reviled by all...but when in Hungary...you gotta have some. I think it was Ash who decided that it tasted like "polio medicine". anyway I got drunk enough that I couldn't remove my contacts without tearing them both in half. Good thing I like my glasses.
Caught the 16 hour overnight train from Budapest to Bucharest without any real incident. I like that I am familiar with Budapest's main train station. The train ride was long. That's about all I can say about it. Well. it was also comfortable. I had a sleeper compartment. It was set up for three stacked bunks, but there were only two of us in there. I had the bottom bunk, so no climbing or anything. I didn't sleep much because I couldn't get used to the noise and motion of the train. and when I did sleep...we'd stop at a station and I'd wake up...or I'd be woken by someone in a uniform to check my passport. But I got to Bucharest and even managed to find my hostel after some wandering about and stopping for directions. I'm glad I spent some time learning some basic Romanian before I left. It was fairly easy to learn and I liked that I was able to use some of it.
Spent a few days in Buchares, mostly wandering around the city and taking photos. Went out a couple of nights. I stayed at a really good hostel that was right near the Old Town of Bucharest and located directly above one of the more upscale strip clubs in the city. It was so soundproofed that I never heard so much as a bass beat through the floor. Considering the age of the building...that's pretty damn impressive. I like hostels so much because you meet up with other travelers (read: Australians). At hotels, everyone goes back to thier room...maybe to the hotel bar...and noone interacts. At a hostel everyone is in the same room, talking, comparing notes, making plans, sharing stories. I met the usual passle of Aussies, includin Hans..who ended up hanging out with in Bucharest and also in Brasov. There was also Cindy from Sydny who I watched The Prestige with instead of going out into the cold...great movie. There was the walking upper respitory infection from Liverpool...peter...or was it paul. In any case I could only understand about a third of what he said...but he said a lot, so I got quite a bit by statistics of volume. The quiet Japanese girl, Midori, who is working on her graduate degree and restoring artworks at monastaries in Moldova. She, Hans, and I went to the Chemical Brothers Concert my last weekend in Bucharest. GREAT show. the opening acts were okay, but the Chemical Bros. themselves were far better than I expected. The visual (lights and screen animations) show really added to the music rather than just being the usual blinky convulsion inducing starshow.
The bars in Bucharest...the few that I saw...were all interesting. Most were in basements of brick buildings and had this sort of illicit feel to them...even though they were packed full of the usual crowds. The first one I went to with Hans was apparantly a high school hangout (drinking age in Romania is 16). Both of us being 30...we felt a bit old...and left. The Second bar (appropriately called Second I believe) was also in a basement, but much larger. Very trendy but very cool at the same time.
anyhow. that gets us to Brasov just about. but I'm going to stop here and add on the rest later. this is already more than a long read.
anyhow. it's good to be home. not so much to be back at work, but one must have money..however one must get it.