Prague, Vienna, and Budapest

I am now in the mind-blowing city of Granada at the amazing residencia where we’ll stay for the first month, after which we’ll move into apartments. But I’ll rave about this city and its awesomeness soon enough—for now, I have to cover my travels.

Prague: A better version of Venice. Like Venice, it’s somewhat small and jam-packed with tourists. Differently from Venice, the city is clean, interesting, and far more beautiful. I spent the first day wandering about and visiting tourist destinations with a Canadian girl I met, discussing life and the politics of our countries. That evening, we tried to go to a club, but it turns out that Sunday is not a big day for going out. Go figure. Nevertheless, the next day was spent lying in bed, listening to the rain, and eventually, watching Harry Potter in English. On the third day, I wandered a bit more, hitting a few tourist spots I’d missed on the first day (museum highlights included the Museum of Sex and the Museum of Communism) but also taking the time to explore the different interesting neighborhoods. That’s when I fell in love with the city, for a few reasons:

1)    As I was in the Jewish quarter, I overheard a tour guide telling the story of the Golem, a clay monster animated by a famous rabbi who came to life and protected the synagogues and the Jewish communities in times of need. I’d heard the story of the Golem among the millions of wonderful Jewish folktales I heard as a child, but it seemed incredible that I was in the city where one of the major legends had originated.

2)    In one market selling various fresh groceries as well as souvenirs, I saw stands selling these hilarious little witch decorations, with a little doll sitting on a tree branch who would cackle, pump her legs up and down and have glowing red eyes with either a sound or motion sensor. After passing by the stand, I noticed that puppet and marionette stores were all over the city. Finally, I appreciated the prevalence of fairy-tale, gingerbread house style buildings: in addition to the big castles, there were a number of normal-sized buildings with little turrets, that were perfectly rounded, that had quirky, imaginative decorations, that somehow seemed to be part of a fantasy world rather than our own.

With all that put together, I appreciated that Prague is a fairytale city that has inspired fairy tales and legends of its own. It’s magical.

Vienna: Not my thing. It has an incredible history and some of the best museums in Europe, but it felt like a big urban city like any other that just happens to have some museums in it. (However, if you really like classical art, opera, and classical music, it’s probably the place for you.) After two days of feeling totally uninspired by the monuments and museums, I decided to spend my third day in a suburb called Grinzing, home of the city’s best known heuringen, or wine taverns. It felt like a charming town of its own in the Viennese countryside (which, by the way, is incredible. On the train ride from Prague to Vienna, I had my eyes glued to the window as I watched the forest pass by). I took a short walk in the hills and had a lovely picnic lunch on a field surrounded by forests, overlooking the valley of the city. I also met a guy named Paul, who asked me if I knew where to get a drink, then told me his life story, which involved skateboarding in Cameron Park, a moderate interest in neuroscience, interning for an oil company in Texas, doing lots of drugs, stopping most of them when his best friend died of a heroin overdose in his arms, growing medical marijuana, not being as dumb as he looked, and having a beach house where Ron Paul is from. (Kid is also 20, by the way.) Anyway, Vienna isn’t a bad city. It’s full of modern culture and would be a lovely place to live. For instance, I ran into a free outdoor film festival while wandering around the city, and had a delicious dinner of chicken tikka masala and a mojito from different food stands.

Budapest: AWWWW YEAHHH. So cool. SO friggin’ cool. Well, actually, friggin’ hot. It was about 100 degrees the whole time, with limited relief at night, so I didn’t have the energy to go to a fraction of the places I wanted to visit. I’m still trying to process the city, as I can’t quite figure out how to describe what struck me as so damn neat about it. It was beautiful and picturesque. It had hills to explore with remnants of ancient buildings, as well as interesting neighborhoods with unique stores and unique vibes. Anyone who feels like they can’t be impressed by any more buildings, castles, or interesting architecture should go. One of my favorite stylistic elements was the use of faces and figures in doorways and as decorations on buildings. It also didn’t hurt that the hostel where I stayed was rad. There seems to be a newer trend of hostels that feel like hotels with bunk beds. This was the only hostel of the three that fit my image of a nice, but real hostel: small, a cozy common area with a couple of slow computers, some couches and a kitchen, a cheap, simple option for dinner, and a cozy bar offering beer in the evening. Given the vibe and size, it was actually possible to meet people, including the staff, who took a few of us out after work to a ruin bar. These are Budapest staples: large, outdoor garden bars decorated as though a thrift store exploded all over the walls. There were old bikes painted all colors hanging from the ceiling, a gnome in a hammock, old bathtubs and sinks all around, not to mention the industrial vibe from the gears and chains…very odd, but a very cool vibe. I had a lovely dinner of kabobs while overlooking the river with what we called the Meeting of the UN: a Spanish guy, a French guy, a British guy, and myself.

Obligatory introspection: last year while traveling, I specifically noted that although traveling alone was not nearly as scary as I’d imagined, I would never do it in a country where I didn’t speak the language. I just did it for two weeks, and it was generally not any more stressful than traveling alone anywhere else, mostly due to the fact that I was traveling to big European cities where most people speak enough English to get by, or are at least used to dealing with dumb tourists who don’t speak their language. As the Spanish proverb goes, nunca digas: de este agua no beberé. (never say: I’ll never drink that water.) A friend oh-so-cleverly noted after I posted that proverb on Facebook that he had that attitude once in Mexico, then spent two days throwing up. Idioms.

-intertravel-

Prague was amazing. Even my one day in Madrid wasn't too shabby. Now I am in Vienna. Unfortunately both the last hostel and this one have pay-by-the-minute internet so I can't spend tons of time blogging, but rest assured that I am taking notes of absolutely everything so that I can clog the interwebs with stories upon returning to Spain. :)

Vienna was not as awesome as I'd anticipated, but has some lovely sites.

A little introspection: I've realized that I'm not as introverted as I'd come to think. I thought traveling alone would be heavenly, but at this point, not having someone, anyone with whom to share all of this experience, with whom to pass the time on metros and trains, to face the awkwardness of language and cultural barriers, to take risks and explore further is becoming a drag. Better to say: I'm picky about traveling companions, and I'd rather travel alone than with most people, but with a well-chosen buddy far above no one at all.

sugar cube villages, protests, long distance

Hello readers! Last week I had a paper and an oral presentation, so I didn’t feel too inclined to hammer out a post, but I have a few things to discuss.

1) Our third and final excursion was to Zahara de las Sierras, a pueblo in the mountains. It’s one of a series of famous Andalusian villages called Los Pueblos Blancos, on account of their homogeneous paint job. Looking out over the buildings, I felt like I was in a children’s book. We took a brief trek up to the remains of a fairy-tale-worthy ancient castle perched on a hilltop, where we were treated to an incredible view and many a photo opportunity. Afterward, we went to an olive oil mill where we were supposedly going to have an olive oil tasting. I regretted having forced down the huge, bland baguette-and-ham sandwich in my lunch bag when, on top of bread and olive oil, they pulled out wine, jamon, embutidos, olives, tortilla de papas, and beer. We then had a brief tour of the mill, but it was a stifling 100+ degrees so none of us paid much attention. All filled to the brim with knowledge, liquid happiness, salt, and fat, we went to a small man-made lake to cool down, and thus ended our delightful day.

2) My history class has been nothing short of awesome. Never before had I felt the continuum between history and current events the way I do now. I think that part of that is because the US has been fairly static: we’ve been a democracy since our foundation, we have democrats and republicans, and we’ve generally been ok. We’re in some wars now, which are quite important, but we don’t feel the effects of our past wars. There’s now, and there’s history. Spain, on the other hand, is constantly changing. They’ve only been a democracy for 35 years now, before which they were under the dictatorship of Francisco Franco. Spanish citizens don’t have to be particularly old to remember a time when things were drastically different. Moreover, the professor tells the story of the country in such a riveting way that it makes me feel like I’m watching a suspenseful TV show. (“Awwww shiiit, Ferdinand II got SCREWED, what’s he going to do now?”)

Part of the professor’s passion stems from the fact that he is an active member in the 15-M movement. If you’ve heard anything about riots and protests in Madrid for the past few months, it’s this. It started on May 14^th, when a group of about 50 people congregated in Madrid’s Plaza del Sol to protest the governmental policies that have led to the current economic crisis. They decided to camp in the plaza overnight, which was legal, but at 5 in the morning, police violently dragged them out. A video of the brutality went viral, and the next day, the 15^th (hence, 15-M), 20,000 protesters congregated in the square. The protests went on for a while in big cities all over Spain, but slowly, they lost their momentum. (Just the other day, there was a huge resurgence. It’s not over yet, folks.) However, what’s cool about the 15-M isn’t their protesting. Here in Cadiz, for example, a group of them took over an abandoned, dilapidated building that was destined to be a tourist hotel, spent tons of energy cleaning it, remodeling it, and installing electricity, and began to use it as a community space. They now offer a series of free classes, from elementary education to music to exercise. They’re starting a book collection for a community library. As I explained all of this excitedly to Joel the day we learned about it, he noted that offering community classes isn’t going to create more jobs and/or fix the economy. Yes, but:

1)    It accomplishes more than yelling and holding up a sign, and it gives the protesters credibility by showing that they are more than chants and signs.

2)    It directly works to create positive change within the community, which would be the end goal of large-scale political reform anyway.

3)    It’s symbolic of the fact that if the government doesn’t help the people, the people will help themselves.

So it may not create jobs or fix the economy, but it still strikes me as very powerful.

3) Ending with a little meta and a confession. Stop here if you’ll feel awkward about me spilling my soul to you or think that feelings are boring.

Other than the last post, I've focused this blog on what we’ve done, without a lot on my feelings or reactions, which is not like me. This is mainly because my feelings haven’t been nearly as great as they should have been considering that I’ve lived in a dream world for the past month, not only being abroad but also having the chance to settle into Spain in the paradise of this beach town. I felt a little guilty for my withdrawn attitude and for having spent too many afternoons/evenings on the Internet when I should have been out. I’m far more resistant to change than I’d like (high school to college, letting go of breakups, etc) and being happy with a long-distance relationship after spending every night and many days together during an amazing 6 months has been hard. (For the record, not on account of the decision to do an LDR. Zero doubts.) In two days, it’s 7 months, and I’ve finally started to accept the situation, feel better, and immerse myself in life here.

Anyway, we only have four more days of class left, then it’s time for TRAVELXTRAVAGANZA! Stay tuned for my solo-badass-adventures through exotic, mysterious Eastern Europe, including Prague, Vienna, and Budapest.