Eastern European Recap

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Our 3 favorites in Eastern Europe

• Prague
  
• Budapest
  
• The Baltics

In Eastern Europe, we learned that...
* None of the Eastern European countries in the EU use the Euro
* Europeans love dance music - love it
* the Scorpians "Winds of Cange" and Europe's "The Final Countdown" are still played frequently
* PETA has not made any inroads here. A vegetarian would have to live on potatoes alone, and fur coats are everywhere
* Russian women can wear high heels through the ice and snow in places where we were sliding around in our hiking boots
* most Russians we spoke to like the recent changes in their country, but they regret the break up of the USSR
* Latvians and Lithuanians do not regret the break up of the USSR. They celebrate in every way and in every moment that they can.
* During the periods of Soviet and German occupation, Latvia alone lost more than a third of its population
* In all of the countries we visited that were formerly communist, restaurant menus list both the price and the weight of the food - so you know exactly how much you are getting
* Poles still love them some Pope John Paul II
* The entire city of Warsaw, including the "old" town has been rebuilt since WWII
* As we witnessed in Krakow, a Polish dance-off can end up in total nakedness
* Czech garlic soup is delicious
* We don't really like pilsner, but it's still beer. When it costs less than bottled water or soda, it will do just fine
* Moving south from Praque, the coffee and beer decline, but the food gets better
* Paprika is awesome
* Hungary wins for most difficult language. Hungarian is most closely related to Finnish and Estonian. It sounds totally different from anything else.
* Romania wins for most confusing currency. There are 30,000 Lei to the US dollar. 10,000 Lei = 1 Ron or new Lei. Then there are 100 Bani in 1 Ron. Therefore, 50 Bani=5,000 Lei. Oh, and most hotels and restaurants give prices in Euros (40,000 Lei=4 Ron=1 Euro), but Romania isn't actually in the EU.
* When a Bulgarian woman ties red ribbons all over your luggage while you are at dinner, it's good luck, not a curse (we hope)
* it takes the entire length of Eastern Europe to read "War and Peace"

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Photos

Lithuania
The Hill of Crosses

Poland
Krakow's Cathedral

Czech Republic
Near the Charles Bridge

Austria
An old building

Slovakia
Another old building

Hungary
Chilling in Budapest

Romania
In the People's Palace

Bulgaria
Our night in V.T.