Picture Synopsis

For those of you not on Facebook, here is a link to an album with the best pictures from the trip. Enjoy!

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=42419&l=8318c&id=731281502

Corinne: Final List

Favorites:

1. City: Prague

2. Country: Austria

3. Travel leg: Vienna to Klagenfurt

4. Person we talked to: New York Rangers fan

5. Purchase: Red bag

6. View: Prague

7. European food: Langos

Bests and Worsts

8. Best meal: At the Austrian cafe, the potato and egg dish

9. Worst meal: Ramen in Prague

10. Best hostel: Seventh Heaven

11. Worst hostel: BCD (was it even a hostel?)

When were you most…

12. Awed: Prague view

13. Bored: Lake Balaton

14. Dirty/disgusting: after the long walk to the hostel in Krakow

15. Hungry: Budapest

16. Scared: when the bell rang in the tower of Matthaus Church in Berlin

17. Stressed: the day we missed the flight

18. Tired: Lake Balaton (lethargic is more like it)

What is something you…

19. Learned about Sarah/Rosie/Corinne: About Sarah, she can get distracted easily (especially while navigating), she makes awesome mouth noises, great at calming situations, can pick up people’s moods, and can be pleasingly blunt. About Rosie, she doesn’t complain (ever), has trouble making decisions, doesn’t snack, and is awesome at tap dancing.

20. Lost/left in Europe: Rick Steves with Maria (she better bring it back)

21. Couldn’t have done without: Rick Steves, sneakers, my folder with all our travel info

22. Found: sticker that says “good for you food”

23. Broke: water bottle

24. Liked: that the first opera was actually a ballet

25. Were addicted to: postcards

26. Spent most of the time on the train doing: planning or Sudoku

27. Didn’t really want to do at first, but are happy you did: walk into the sketchy graffiti art gallery

28. Wish you had packed: a book, pillow, dressing up shoes

29. Wish you hadn’t packed: contact stuff

U.S. v. Europe

30. Most missed American thing: pizza

31. Something the U.S. should do more like Europe: more friendly to car-less people (bikes, walking, public transport)

Weights and Measurements

32. What piece of clothing you wore the most without washing and how long it was: possibly my sweatpants, which I wore as pjs every night, and I can’t remember ever washing them… (the truth comes out)

33. How many books you read (with titles): Dune, the Broker, Rick Steves’ Guide to Eastern Europe, Cordina’s Royal Family

34. When you started counting down the days: when we had one day to go

35. Weight of your backpack at the beginning and end of of the trip: 10 kg to 20 kg (thanks Maria)

Leasts and Mosts

36. Most expensive purchase: my bag $20

37. Least favorite person we met: opera guy who bounced us

38. Funniest moment for Corinne/Sarah/Rosie: when Sarah became Sarah Pfeller, when Rosie got up to pee and couldn’t find the key

39. Place that was least like you expected: Poland

40. Most difficult thing you did: canoeing

41. Least used item you packed: contacts

Finally

42. Advice for future travelers: get cash at ATMs, keep a budget, find a guidebook that has advice, not just information, know how to use public transportation

43. The trip in one word: unbelieveable (still pinching myself)

Thanks y’all for being a great audience! We’ll let you know when we have our next adventure. 🙂

Day 34 : The Last Day

Corinne:

Let me just start by saying that we didn’t miss this flight. And I don’t think we are ever going to live down the flack we keep getting…

Sarah warned us this morning that she was going to mention everything we did that was our “last.” And she lived up to her word fairly accurately.

We woke up pretty early so there would be no question of making the plane. I bathed in the in-room shower, and then did my hair in two french braids to match the other two. Solidarity for our trip back. We had an easy journey on the tube to Heathrow, where check-in was easy and the comfy couches were accessible. During the wait, Sarah saw a woman eating a cucumber as a hand food. We are pleased : we left an impression on Europe.

Now, I am sitting in Rosie’s bedroom in New York. My eyes are drooping a bit, and I’ve just had conversations with people I haven’t talked to in weeks. I’m taking the bus down to D.C. tomorrow afternoon, and that will be that. The end of the trip. The end of June in Europe. But, to finish things up, we wrote a list of questions we are going to answer for you. Stay posted.

Day 33: We are on a Perpendicular Street and One Cannot Paddleboat Alone

Rosie:

Today we entered back in to the English speaking world. We woke up and had our second home-cooked breakfast. Delicious. Karen made us eggs in this really cool pan with holes in it. Sarah and I, being engineers, tried to figure it out. There were basically no problems getting to the Chunnel and the ride was pretty short, probably because we slept.

Once we got off of the train we visited platform 9 and 3/4. It was fun but I feel like they could have done a better job with it. The only attraction was an empty shopping cart that was partially sticking out of the wall. We then had to take the Underground to Victoria’s station. The prices were kind of outrageous. A single subway ride was $8. Anyway, after paying way too much for the short ride, they were charging way too much for luggage storage. Sarah and I decided to carry ours, but Corinne payed to keep hers there.

Our first destination was Harrod’s because I remembered going to the Harrod’s in Knightsbridge with my mom 6 years ago and having the best hot chocolate ever. Corinne found a free map that was not detailed at all and we began to make our way there. We kept getting turned around and eventually she asked somebody for directions. He informed us that we were going completely the wrong way, but after walking a few blocks we asked another woman and found out that that was not entirely true. Either way, she gave us really clear directions the store was pretty easy to find. About a block away from Harrod’s, however, Sarah and I lost Corinne. She walked off down the street to check something and disappeared. We actually found her again but then a bus drove in front of us and she was gone again. We decided that we should just go to Harrod’s and find her there . It worked. We met up right outside the main entrance.

After the best hot chocolate ever, Sarah and I decided to go to the hostel area and drop our bags off while Corinne did her site-seeing. It was probably our best decision on the whole trip because the bags had definitely gotten heavier. We had to ask a couple of people for directions to the bust stop, but overall Sarah and I were really impressed with our navigational skills. Also, the people that wee asked for directions were basically the nicest people ever.

The bus did a really bad job of announcing the stops. It never used street names and sometimes did not even say the name of the stop. Sarah spotted the street that we wanted on a sign, which saved us from getting lost. Our hostel was number 639 on the street, but after number 621 there was a giant cemetery and no buildings. Eventually we decided to walk past the cemetery and we found our hostel. Apparently 639 is right across the street from 850.

Anyway, after checking in and dropping our stuff off, we went for a walk to find dinner. There were a ton of places, but after misreading a sign that said “Nodes” as “Noodles” Sarah and I both craved noodles. There was a street with 4 Indian restaurants in one block, but apparently Indian food does not have noodles. One of the places was Indian/Thai though, so we went there. After ordering, the waiter informed us that they were phasing out the Thai food so there were no noodles. We were going to just leave and go somewhere else, but the waiter really didn’t want us to. After a little while and a lot of confusion, we had our noodles. They were pretty good.

After dinner we found our way back to the hostel despite the fact that Sarah gets confused between parallel and perpendicular. The hostel owned 100s of DVDs and after looking through all of them we settled on Braveheart. After waiting for some guys to finish watching a couple music videos, we started playing the movie only to realize that it was broken. We then chose Pretty Woman, but the guy there actually grimaced when we showed him our choice. He insisted on “the Doors” saying it was very good and just popping it in the VCR. It sucked. Like a lot. We left half way through to walk around and sleep. Oh yeah, Sarah almost bought 10 Kinder Eggs, but I talked her out of it.

Corinne:

So because we split up in London, here is my version of events after we went to the Harrod’s Chocolate Bar for suckao.

I began my adventures alone by helping someone find Harrod’s (apparently it is a common question). I had decided earlier to see Hype Park and BuckinghamPalace, so headed the couple blocks to the former. On the way, I was stopped by a motorcade, so if you know anyone famous who was driving by Hyde Park the other day…. Once there, I found Serpentine Lake, which was covered in paddle boats. Sadly, one cannot paddle boat alone. Instead I walked the Princess Diana Memorial Path to the Princess Diana Memorial Fountain and the Princess Diana Memorial Playground and to Kensington Palace which had Princess Di birthday cards on the fence outside (her birthday is July 1st), and a Princess Di exhibit inside. What can you say? The English love their princess.

While I was meandering on my own, I had my iPod shuffle playing, and it was doing a great job of matching music to the scenery. It was playing slow, melodic stuff while I was at the fountain, and upbeat stuff while I was walking. Apple is creepily amazing.

By the way, found the obelisk again.

I stopped and sat in the rose garden for a couple minutes to eat some pretzels and discovered I was not the friendliest person in Europe (take that, Rosie and Sarah). A nice Indian gentleman sat down next to me, and we had this conversation:

IG: Do you have the time?

Me: 5:40

IG: Lovely weather we’re having.

Me: Yeah, beautiful and sunny.

IG: (something indistinguishable) from?

Me: Where am I from? I’m not from London.

IG: You don’t look like London. Maybe Europe?

Me: No, America.

IG: America?

Me: Yeah, the United States.

IG: Oh, I see. On holiday?

Me: Yeah.

IG: How long are you in London?

Me: 24 hours.

IG: (Laughs and pats me on the knee)

Me: Yep, just seeing some sights before I go home.

(Long pause)

IG: It was nice meeting you.

Me: You too.

(IG rides into the sunset.)

I exited Hyde Park and headed toward the Marble Arch, which I thought was on the way to Buckingham Palace. Actually, it’s not. Should’ve listened to my iPod after it started playing some dissonant music. Good thing I didn’t have to explain my lack of orientation to Sarah or Rosie. I just got a lovely walk up Park Street, the London equivalent of Park Avenue.

Buckingham Palace was extremely underwhelming. After all the palaces with grandiose architecture and manicured gardens, it was a cemented-in blob. With guards. So I decided not to end there, but continue on toward the Thames. I headed to Big Ben and Westminster Abbey. I didn’t go in either, but seeing the famous structures (and the London Eye) was a lot more impressive than the Palace.

I scurried my was back to Victoria station to pick up my luggage, paid with my last pounds, then couldn’t call the hostel for their free shuttle (my card didn’t work in the machine, then I didn’t know whether to include the 0 or not, then was too late). I ended up taking the Underground to find Sarah and Rosie watching some creepy Doors movie. And the rest is (or will be) in Rosie’s blog.

Day 31: Oh. That looks delicious.

Corinne:

It’s been one of those days where you aren’t quite sure where one stops and the next begins.

I feel like Rosie kind of down-played the fact that we missed our flight and were stuck in an airport for nearly 24 hours. About 14 of which took place today.

We had decided to take shifts being awake, and Sarah and I fell asleep at 2 (after running around the airport for an hour making post 30.5). We were on linoleum, and it was hard and cold. Rosie woke me up at 4:30 for my shift and I never got comfortable enough to go back to sleep. And here I am still going (chalk one up for living on little sleep during freshman year).

We dilly-dallied in our little bit of wall, having a nutritious breakfast of rolls, possibly with some Nutella and pretzels. I had a delicious sandwich of Nutella and Honey Nut Cheerios (not quite as good as the peanuts, but still worth a try). Sarah, on her lack of sleep, reacted with a little disjointed but empathic ‘Oh. That looks delicious.’ She was running on as little as I was.

At noon, we checked in for our flight (on time this time).

At 2, we took off.

At 3, we went down through some turbulance that got us all jittery, (including some less annoying gaspers behind us), but an extremely smooth landing.

At 3:15, we were walking through the huge airport making up a story problem about the speed of luggage reaching the conveyor versus the time it takes a passenger to get there.

At 4, we had our luggage and started looking at the cars for an Audi and our host for the weekend, Karen.

At 4:25, we used a payphone to call her.

At 4:45, we finally connected.

Then we spent a pleasant evening with her and her friends and her town. More info later, but we are safe and tired in Belgium. Finally. And have been harassed at every turn not to miss our flight back to the US.

Day 28 : People Who Live in Glass Houses…

Corinne:

So Rick Steves didn’t have a section on Berlin (which is understandable since he was only about Eastern Europe). And even if he did, he is currently cheating on me with Maria. Which leaves me without an all-in-one reference source. Which can be slightly traumatic for me.

This morning started with me and some other girl in the nearly full 32-bed room coughing a call and repeat. (I’ve been sick but thankfully nearly recovered.) It took longer than normal to get up and out, and I’m not quite sure why. Trying to be quiet? Anyway, we had planned to meet for a tips-based bike tour at 11, but got on the first U at 10:50. My plan for the day was to go on the tour, then circle back afterward to any sites we wanted to re-see or go into. So I was stranded, and Sarah and Rosie could probably tell by the desperate way I was pleading with one of the 4 tourist maps I picked up to offer answers.

We went back to the hostel so Rosie could get proper footwear on for the bike tour (that also took place at 3, so all was not lost). But now the problem was what to do for 4 hours. We took the U-bahn into the city center and wandered toward the DDR museum (sadly not what you think) but ended up leaving because it didn’t look attractive. We ended up in the Lustgarten outside the Berliner Dom and ate our lunch. (And watched little children play with balloons and accuse each other while playing Red Light Green Light.) We had nothing left to do but walk toward the place where the bike tours met.

We got to the corner an hour before it was supposed to start, and began a long, slow wander through the neighborhood. We got to a large building, and on the side was a face with a quote: “How long is now?” It looked to me like a squatter’s place, with graffiti all over this half bombed out building. When Rosie and Sarah wandered in, I was forced to follow. And we found the coolest little urban art gallery with metal scupltures and fish tanks and textile art… That is when the day started looking up.

We circled the block and got back to the tour just before the sprinkles started. But everyone on the tour was ok with getting wet, so the 3 of us and 10 others got our bikes and set off to see the list of typical sites in downtown Berlin. We each had a brush with death, as Sarah decided not to stop for an ambulance and was in a fender bender, and I couldn’t make it up a curb and nearly slid off and got left behind at a stoplight. And Rosie…survived as well.

Among the things we saw were (giant list that I am really only listing so I can look back on it later) Museum Island and the Berliner Dom; Pariser Platz by the Tiergarten, the Reichstag, and the Brandenburger Gate; Bebelplatz with the Book Burning Memorial, the State Opera and Humbolt University; the Holocaust Memorial and Hitler’s final bunkers; and a lot of angry drivers. Our tour guide was very animated (and from Maine, so ani-Maine-ted, har har) and had some very enlightening tidbits. Such as the fact that Hilter was addicted to cocaine (but we already knew that from “High Hilter” on the History channel). While we were at the Memorial, Rosie, Sarah, and I got a crepe (“banana pancake”, Frank) with banana and Nutella, a slushie, and a “zucker and zimt” crepe respectively. And, despite the fact that Sarah warned her, Rosie still got Nutella on herself. (“That is a bad idea. I think it started when you didn’t take the fork.”)

All in all a good orientation (probably would have been better if I was paying attention to where the sites actually were). And the rain practically stopped after 5 minutes (and did stop after 30).

In the middle of the tour, we were attempting to bike through the Tiergarten but were stopped by the large barricades surrounding the giant screen and the already hundreds of fans jockeying for a spot for the Germany-Turkey quarterfinals tonight. So after the tour, when the three of us went up in the Riechstag, we tried to see the huge crowd, but the trees were blocking it. But what we could hear were the chants.

While we were up in the Reichstag, Sarah needed to go to the bathroom. We were too busy relaxing on this giant, stopper-shaped bench in the middle of the round, glass dome, so we kept delaying the inevitable. Eventually, it reached a peak, and this conversation resulted:

Sarah: “I would go in a corner, but this thing is round and made of glass.”

Rosie: “Well, you know what they say about people who live in glass houses.”

Sarah: “They shouldn’t take off their pants?”

I”m so glad we’ve matured so much on this trip.

When we left the Reichstag at about 8:30, they were turning people away from the FanZone. We tried counting abandoned liquor bottles, but were soon overwhelmed. There was a very smart lady with a cart full of them to turn in for money.

We check a couple U-bahn stations before we found one that was open, then made our way back to the hostel. (We just forgot to pay attention for part and had to take it a stop backward.) Maybe our lack of attention was due to the fact that I was convinced that Rosie’s tap “flap” was toe-heel-toe instead of toe-toe. We took a video of it and slo-moed it to check. I was wrong, but I kept hearing three hits! And then the rest: Dinner of salad and chicken. Watching the end of the game. Now just prepping for tomorrow. Cross your fingers that there might be a plan and it will work.

Day 25: The Hills Are Alive

Corinne:
While Rosie was writing the blog entry and talking to Frank last night, Sarah and I went down to join the party in the basement of Maria’s dorm. I think I was expecting a little more light; the room was a dim lounge with a bar and a microphone that was providing endless amusement for the tipsy. We mingled by sitting on the couch for a bit, and left to webcam with the parents. The first time we were all in the “same room” in a while, as Mom put it.
We had decided on taking a daytrip to Salzburg today; a train left at 9:30 and 11:30. We got to the bus stop minutes before the weekday bus was supposed to arrive, then realized too late that it was Sunday. Which meant it would take multiple buses to get to the main station in Klagenfurt. The train we wanted also didn’t stop at the smaller, closer station. All this added up to being a little less than two hours early for the 11:30 train.
But it did give us time to ponder: how many dots and dashes does the Morse code alphabet have? We kept thinking 3 per character, but clearly (combinatorially) that is wrong.
We’ve also learned and used a new phrase direct from German: blackride. Defined as not buying a ticket on public transportation. As in, “we always blackride in Klagenfurt.”
After getting on the train minutes before it left despite the large amount of buffer time, we got into Salzburg after chugging through the valleys that reminded us of “Heidi” and “Sound of Music.” Which is appropriate as Maria Von Trapp’s story took place in Salzburg. (More later.)
It was oppressively hot when we got off the train at three, which created a eastward-favoring walk to stay in the shade. We passed through a couple parks, but had no energy to do more than walk through after climbing a sideways tree at the first.
The heat followed us to Mozart’s house, across the Mozart bridge, and to Mozart’s birthplace. We did find sanctuary in the city church, which had enough stone to keep it cool. It is possible we were more apathetic than normal, because no one wanted to commit to a plan for the day. Instead, Sarah and Rosie found these little packets for EuroCup that included Schmink-something-or-other…facepaint!
You know us. We wanted to get to the highest point in the city, and we didn’t want to pay the ten euro for the funicular. So it was finally decision time. Stay out of the heat, was the consensus, which put us back at Mozart’s house, listening to an audioguide of his life. Some of the highlights were when Mozart sent a letter to his sister, mentioning that his missed his landlady and “I constantly see her before me in her beguiling negligée.” He was probably being ironic, given he was 19 and his landlady was in her 60s. I also liked the poem that he wrote for his sister on her wedding day, to tell her husband: “Sir, thy will be done by day/But mine be done by night!”
It was finally cool enough to enjoy the sights up and down the pedestrian walk. On our first go-round, a church caught my eye down the road the other way. When we arrived there, I figured it was closed since it was after 6 at this point. But when a couple people opened the doors and went in, we followed and found ourselves at an evening music service. “Kyrie Eleison” was ringing through out St. Blasius, and I was reminded the reason for all these churches. Not erected to be tourist sites, they were built and often still are used for their holy purpose. I felt really blessed.
We found dinner at a funky little “take-away” shop that had sushi and curry and ramen, then tromped over to the Fan Zone to see a little George Harrison tribute.
The last thing on our list was to climb the dreaded hill.
Halfway up, Maria led us to the nunnery where Maria Von Trapp had been from 13 until about 19, when she became the nanny for the Von Trapps. Beyond the hill lay the Alps in snowed-tipped, breath-taking glory. We tried to identify the gate the children were at when they asked for Maria in the movie (since it was filmed around here), but didn’t get the chance to watch “Sound of Music” so guessed pretty much every single one.
The final uphill lead us through the first defense gate and to another fairly vertical path with a stone wall on the side. And Rosie made her decision of the day when she climbed atop it and everyone else followed. Salzburg looked even cuter and quainter from up there, and as the music of the George Harrison tribute drifted up to us, we sang along to “Free Falling” (correct, Tom Petty, not George, but details.)
Rosie and I managed to amuse ourselves climbing the breaks in the wall and skinning our knees until it was time to head back to the train station.
The entire day we had been plagued with visions of chocolate on every corner. Since Mozart spent his early life in this town (and never really wanted to come back, but they won’t admit it), he has a chocolate delight named after him called Mozartkugeln, translated as Mozart balls. Which Rosie finds funny. We tried one yesterday, so felt no need to get more. And Sarah had decided to “be good” today and not buy sweets. But I feel that in a region of the world where your hands have to be busy with either a cigarette or an ice cream cone, I would gladly choose the lesser of the two evils. Yum.
Also, apparently it comes across in these entries that we are eating a very sparse diet and has been brought to our attention by multiple parents. We eat out enough to experience the culture and local dishes, and pack enough food that we can eat where and when we want. Sounds like a perfect balance of necessity and pure delcious. Fears alieved?
Now, for the problem of sleeping…

Day 22: The Great Book Exchange

Corinne:
I’m going to start with the opera last night. Rosie spent a well-deserved evening in while Sarah and I went to try for the 4th time to buy opera tickets and see the show. The first two times were the day before yesterday, when we saw the line and baled (1) then went to the theater after the opera already started and got the news that they were sold out (2). Then yesterday we went and had just our shorts and tennis shoes on and were told we needed pants or skirts (3). So we hurried back to the hostel for dinner, changed, and speed-walked (sped-walk?) back to the opera house, getting there five minutes after the performance started, but finally got our tickets (4). It was literally standing room, and we couldn’t see much of the show or any of the translating screens for the first two acts. So we enjoyed the singing and passed notes on ideas about what was going on. After the intermission, we got spots on the railing to see the translations and more fully understand “Don Carlos.” But it was blazing hot, and some one else had already fainted, so with about ten minutes to go we popped outside, then saw the finale and left for the hostel. Where I ate two pieces of toast with Nutella and peanuts. Best midnight snack ever.
I was fully surprised when this morning went off without a hitch. Yesterday, I had also received an e-mail from Maria asking when we were going to get in and giving us two late train times. Since our hostel wanted us out by 10 and we wanted to get on the 11 to Klagenfurt, I e-mailed her back to try to meet us for the earlier one. She got the message and so we were on track to get to the 11. We were ready by 10 (for the first and only morning of the three in the hostel), took an easy bus with our pre-purchased tickets, didn’t need reservations for the train, got a compartment to ourselves, and weren’t bothered for the rest of the ride.
I believe you have heard about our book “woes.” Rosie has Dune, and I traded “Sammy’s Hill” in for “The Broker” when we arrived at Vienna, then traded that for some Nora Roberts romance. However, then Rosie and I traded so now she is reading the romance and I began “Dune” while Sarah read it while I was fully preoccupied with the scenery on the train.
About the scenery: I was a chapter in when I looked up and couldn’t look away. The hills were verdent and dramatic, with little village pocketed throughout. That was the end of “Dune” for me. It was also the end of any idea I had of sleeping (after staying up to finish my other book last night. Yes, my life is slightly ruled by literature.) We all agreed that this is the best trainride we’ve taken yet. It is also the last with our large bags, as it is just day trips and airplanes from here on out (minus the Chunnel).
Anyway, gorgeous, with a castle.
And then we arrived. I was a little preoccupied with making sure the train didn’t leave with Sarah on it because she had forgotten her sweater in our compartment. So I was waving at the conductor, and then looked over to see Maria!
Haven’t seen her in months. Hair was longer, but that’s about it. Still my sister. And I was already excited even before she navigated everywhere with her full proficiency in German.
We went on a “shopping spree” to get all of our groceries for the next couple days, then came back and decided on a walk before dinner (after eating some poppyseed-filled croissants called mohnkipferl).
We went to and from the lake, passing a cornfield, the university, and a bunny. At the lake, we decided that Austria is currently our favorite country.
That didn’t stop us from having stirfry for dinner.

Day 19 : Happy Birthday, Eva!

Corinne:

Today dawned sunny through our skylight, which was good since I forgot to set an alarm yesterday. After a wakeup song of Hannah Montana, I left to “cash out” at the “szupermarket” down the street while the other two finished getting ready. My 280 forint (about $2.60) got me yogurt, some little packs of Nutella, and some Kinder chocolate. The best part was when I got back, Rosie was ready for breakfast with our bag of milk.
So yesterday there was a slightly heated conversation within five minutes of the other two waking up that discussed whether or not we had enough milk for our cereal. From this conversation we determined that a) there would have been enough milk had Sarah and I not had cereal for a mid-afternoon snack the day before, b) we had to go to the store before noon when it closed, and c) all conversations that happen within five minutes of wakeup have an edge to them that isn’t so pleasant.
Anyway, the only milk (“tej”) left was either the boiled kind that didn’t have to be refridgerated or the bag. Which we didn’t end up using yesterday. But today, our cornflakes and coco krispies were accompanied with bagged milk.
We also made our sandwiches with cheese that hadn’t been refridgerated. Living on the edge. But Sarah assures me that food poisoning only takes three hours. It’s been more and we are still alive, so no problem.
Our attempted train schedule was hectic, as given to us by the internet. It involved four trains and three connections of less than twenty minutes. We managed to make the first two, getting us to Celldomolk before the train ran 25 minutes late. If you can’t do math, I’ll help.
We missed our train.
Not a problem. Our train pass allowes us unlimited travel in one day, so we just hopped on another train headed in the right direction (actually, to the same city). However, it took the woman in the ticket window 5 minutes to flip through her train schedule book. Rosie wondered why she didn’t just use the computer. Pretty sure that station was as low tech as they come.
On all our trains, we just sat and rattled along. Rosie has almost finished Dune, and Sarah and I are salivating over it, since that is the only reading material we have. I did pick up a book in Prague. And finished it in Prague.
Yesterday, while we were freezing, we solved some Sudoku that I have along. Today on the train, there were multiple times we were sitting in silence counting to 9 in our heads. CMU all the way.
(And, Dad, your trick with the dots to represent the numbers has been duly passed on.)
So we got to Vienna, a little later than the original plan, but a little earlier than our second thanks to a train going to the other Vienna train station.
From there, it was a clean, sleek train station navigation to an ATM. Then to the buses. Where we realized with didn’t know how they worked. We found machines that dispensed tickets. While we were standing there confused, a worker approached us, giving us a map and pointing us to the right ticket. Thank goodness for EuroCup.
We walked on to the bus as it pulled up, but then were chased off. The bus we were trying to board was out of service. The bus we did take was ridiculously crowded with a group of pre-teens and some woman who was trying to converse with Rosie in German.
Our hostel is a cute, meticulate apartment with about 10 beds totally, but there are other people. (What, actually sharing a room with other people? We haven’t done that since night 3.) And they seem to all be American. Save the German guy who had Rosie paint his head.
We got to the hostel, Rosie got sucked into the internet, and Sarah got antsy. We were given a map to the nearest grocery store. Sarah was holding the map. A minute later, when we ask where the store is, she finally looks at it, and points the direction we came. Two minutes later, when we ask where the store it, she looks at it, turns it 180 degrees, points back the way we came again, and forces it on Rosie.
So after walking back and forth passed the same cafe three times, we get to the store for tomorrow, and got something to eat at a sidewalk restaurant. Wienerschniztel and “gostz” (?), which was hash browns, pork bits, and an egg. During dinner, which crowds of red and white bedazzled fans walking by, we decide to go to the fan zone (we were going to dress up before realizing we didn’t have the right colors for either team). It was a crowd of people, with a couple big screens and not enough standing room. And that was about it. But people were hanging off everything, from the statue, to the trees, to the roofs of a bank of ATMs. After five minutes of wandering (and nearly getting run over by a tram), we gave up and watched it in the hostel. With a couple other Americans guys. We aren’t as invested as the crazy people passing us on the street hooting and hollering. We were warned that sleep tonight might be interesting. We’ll see how the game ends.

Day 16: It’s like snow for food!

Corinne:
This morning dawned with the phone ringing. And ringing. And by the time I got the energy to wake Rosie up, I didn’t have the energy to make her get up. So we got a late start. Which was fine because the train we looked up last night was supposed to leave from the closer train station at 13:30.
After a breakfast of Honey Nut Cheerios and 2.8% milk (what’s with the milk percents?) and toast (melted cheese was attempted and failed, but none other than our lactaphile Rosie), we left our funky hostel. I’m not sure if anyone has described it to you, but it is pretty much like a house with a couple random rooms. And the ceilings are high, so the owner decided that building tree-house-like lofty bits was a good plan. So Rosie and I got to share a large couch-masquerading-as-a-bed while Sarah slept under the really steep steps. Everywhere you looked there was a random door or loft with more beds in it. However, the three of us were the majority of the residents the majority of the nights we were there.
Anyway, we left that place of eccentricity for the metro to the train station. (And we actually have two Budapest metro tickets left. So if anyone wants one, let us know.)
We get to the train station, and the way to do things around here (and at all the train stations we’ve been to) is to go to the information desk, inter- or intra- national, then with your information, go to the respective ticket desk. We get to the station, and for one thing, it has the worst layout of them all. There is a large hall with fastfood joints around it and trains down the middle. We manage to get stuck behind some fences, then just decide to go to the information place we went after we tried to get our pass validated when we came into Budapest. And that consisted of completely leaving the building, going around some construction work, walking over plywood, then ignoring the signs to get to a window. Where they subsequently tell us that the train we want would go from the other Budapest train station. (We looked it up online and distinctly wanted to get on this train because it left from the station we where closer to.) Rosie finally just asks for the information desk for intracountry travel, which was down the hidden stairs (even though they were right in the middle of the foyer). We get there and are told basically the same thing, even though we know we are right about this train. We turn away from the window to leave when she suddenly gets us back and asks to see our tickets. I’m very confused at this point, but once she sees we are on a rail pass, she tells us about another train..in fact, the very train we wanted to begin with! So we get our reservations and wait for the train to pull up.
When we get to the track, we are met with train we don’t want…then attached to it is the one we want. Which reminded Rosie of a story of her brother when the train went two different places and half of his group ended up in a different place. From this and where our train was headed, we decided that half of every train goes to Vienna.
The nearly empty car (save a man who only spoke Hungarian but attempted a conversation) got us to the right place. We went directly to the information window, where told directly to get to platform 7, stepped right on the train, and were off to Revfulop in a matter of minutes. It was great timing.
The more crowded train cruised by the shores of Lake Balaton, which I’ve decided is a lost Great Lake. There were a couple of school groups of varying ages and pitches that were on the train as well. (Sarah is going to have very well-behaved children from the way she acts.) The man we chose to sit with got off at the next station after asking Sarah if he could ask her a question, then asking where we were from. Then leaving the train.
The only directions as to how to get to the hostel are to walk 200 meters from the train station. Luckily we had the address as well and managed to find it without much difficulty. Go Friday the 13th. (Need I not remind you of the last time we had instructions like that…BCD Hostel…where we had to interrupt someone’s evening walk to take us the more than 200 meters there…)
Our luck held for a little bit longer as the school groups that were hurting Sarah’s ears so much on the train were also needing the bigger rooms in the hostel. So we are tucked away in a three-bed attic room in a brand new house in the  And had our stuff all over within 5 minutes.
But that is where our luck ran out as we got the grocery store minutes after it closed, then couldn’t find the restaurant that our host described. We did walk along the lakeshore though, including through a field of what appear to be baby dragonflies. The larks where having a heyday, but we didn’t want to open our mouths. All along the pier it was the same thing, with hundreds on each building.
So, we were planning on spending our days on the beach tanning. Since we all had our long sleeves on, I’m thinking it’s about a 50-50 at this point whether we’ll manage to wear only tanktops. The brisk wind also made wearing a skirt (the only clean thing left) exciting. Wind always finds us when one of us is wearing a skirt.
What we did end up finding for dinner was meat. Sarah had chicken, while Rosie and I each had a Sausage. With bread and mustand.
I think Rosie described langoses for you yesterday, but to reiterate, they are disks of fried dough. And I had one and a half yesterday. And then, after vowing never to have another, split one with Sarah tonight. With powdered sugar, which is like snow for food. Yum. But I think that the two unhealthy foods are battling it out in my stomach. Tums.
We had a large load of laundry started before we went to grocery shopping-turned-dinner, and came back to help hang it in the gale-force winds. I was scared I wouldn’t have any clothes left by the time the wind was done with those clotheslines.
We were only charged for one load, but because of extra soap that was put in, a bunch needed to be rinsed again. After we had given that batch back, the owner asked us to pay for another load. I was pretty sore about that because we would have down it just find without the six scoops of soap he put in the Maytag washer (“American, no?”).
So we got to hang the “second” load, then goofed off inside with cards and a pixelated Juno.
If you hadn’t realized, like almost everything around here, internet isn’t free, so we’ll probably be uploading everyother day or whenever we have extra money laying about.
And, as a postnote, Rosie was extremely brave and only shrieked twice when a “large” bug came out of the sink.