Headed west

---

Welcome back, dear reader. This entry and the one immediately following it is this week's DOUBLE FEATURE! Blog written by me, Jordo, and a special edition entry where Rindi compares Hotels to Hostels and the pros and cons of both! I think! I haven't read it yet! We are by no means an authority, as of yet, but we have stayed in our fare share of hostels by now. I'll let her get to the nuts and bolts of that, later.

Also, a tip for opening links to the pictures below (so that you don't lose your place), either right click on the link and "Open in New Tab" or use your middle mouse button to click on the link and it will open in a new tab automatically! You're welcome.

Budapest, Hungary

We left Croatia fairly rested and ready to have some movement back into our lives. We immediately threw that concept out the window by staying in beautiful Budapest for nine days. We booked a weird Airbnb right in the middle of the city for five days. It was decorated like someone decided that the aesthetic tendencies of the 80's/early 90's weren't stupid and needed to be preserved for all time through the art of home decor. The comfy factor was a solid 8/10, though. It even had a washer (no dryer). Function over form, amirite? Anyway, the location was fantastic: two blocks from the Parliament building, the river, and a ten minute tram ride to a couple of Hungarian baths. We decided on the third or fourth day to go to Gellert bath-house because I decided that I liked the architecture based on pictures. We were not disappointed. 38 (C) degree water and 65 degree saunas, followed by a plunge into 12 degree "cooling" pool that is literally breathtaking. Not to mention that after emerging from the cold-as-hell water you feel so... fantastic. I repeated this hot/cold cycle once every twenty minutes until I'm sure my brain was depleted of pleasure chemicals. Rindi, even hating the cold as she does, took the plunge into the icy depths. She wasn't impressed.

Budapest has a fairly healthy night-life, of which we did not partake too often. There are these really unique "ruins bars" that are built inside of bombed out buildings; holdovers from their relatively recent war. Definitely a place for all the cool kids of Budapest. Beers were cheap, though, and the music was diverse. There was a girl walking around selling giant carrots for a snack to all the drinkers. We bought one cause, why the hell not? It was yum-town. Another day, we took an evening cruise up and then back down the Danube. It was really one of the only touristy things we did, but I got my self-imposed requirement of local history. No one barfed.

The last three days we crashed on an exceedingly comfortable Ikea futon owned by the kind and accommodating Andrea. She is a friend of Rindi's from her time at the Four Seasons New York. Andrea has lived in Budapest for a four years now and has a bad-ass flat in downtown Budapest. She kindly let us stay on her (seriously) comfortable couch for a few nights before we were due to leave for Prague. We went out dancing with Andrea and some of her friends and I ran support by wresting Andrea free of a very drunk Hungarian man who was trying just a bit too hard. Also, some girl grabbed a big-ole handful of my ass and walked away with a truly predatory look on her face. Not sure if I've ever been so flattered. Anyway, thanks Andrea. It was a fuckin' blast.

We then headed west! On horseback! Into the setting sun! When I say "horse" I mean train.

Prague, Czech Republic

Former eastern block red menace at it's finest. The home of Pilsner (the town, Pilsen, came BEFORE the beer, thank you very much) and pork. The food all around (Hungary, Czech, Austria, Germany) has a lot of the same traditions and tastes. Schnitzel, pork knuckle, brown sauce, cabbage. Austro-Hungarian empire cuisine. I shall be eating greens for the next couple months to make up for everything that I ate in that former empire. We stayed at another Hostel One location (the chain of Hostels that all seem to be pretty stellar) for a night and then were cordially invited to stay with another one of Rindi's former Four Seasons mates Shannon and her man Jakob (pronounced YAH-kub) and their adorable tiny humans. Kids, weirdo.

What is it with Rindi's friends and their comfortable-ass beds?! I guess when you sleep in such a wide variety of beds all the time, the good ones stick out. Either way, this one was also top notch. Shannon and Jacob (sorry, Jakob, I didn't learn how to spell your name so I will alternate spellings in an effort to stave off your inevitable wrath) were among the most warm and friendly people we have yet to meet on this walkabout. They have an exceedingly adorable daughter named Matilda, and a brilliant son named Max. Matilda's solution to all problems is covering the affected area in ice, and Max is a budding programmer and video game enthusiast. A man after my own heart. We took a day trip out to a castle built in the 13th century, full of early baroque architecture and stories of terrifying monarchs and religious leaders. Their bathrooms are also on the outside of high up walls so that they could defecate upon the serfdom, as tradition dictates.

Begrudgingly, we departed Shannon and Jacob's company (it was just so homey) after making them promise to come hang out with us back in Colorado or elsewhere. As the train trundled out of the station towards Berlin, we vowed to be back.

Berlin, Germany

We stayed in Berlin for a total of three and a half days. Unfortunately, I didn't get to see much of it as I was in bed for 48 hours. Presumably, our hostel room-mates didn't like me very much. The bathroom was a war zone. The side I was rooting for was my bowels. The aggressor, a small bacterium with a penchant for multiplication, was ultimately defeated by one Azithromycin pill. I think that's what it was called. It's one of those 'ycins. Either way, it was a slaughter. Science wins this battle.

Not wanting to ruin everything, I insisted that Rindi get out and explore, which she did like a pro. She probably walked a good five miles each day, proclaiming that she was the master of bi-pedal movement. Okay she didn't say that. It's what I believed. I read an entire book. The last day, after the anti-biotic bombshell, I managed to go see the remains of the Wall and Checkpoint Charlie. Pretty great stuff, actually. I am disappointed they allowed newer artists to paint over the work that was on the last-remaining part of the wall, though. There are sections of the wall placed all around the city with the original artwork intact, so I wasn't too mad.

Munich, Germany

We took a train down to southern Germany to see what Munich was all about. Rindi had been here before, as well as Berlin for a short period of time. She thinks we may have stayed in the same hostel she did while in Munich. There wasnt much going on in this city, as it was some holiday celebrating 40 days after Christ's Resurrection or something like that. Ascension day, I believe. As my friend Jon put it, "Don't they already have the day he got nailed, then three days when he woke back up?" I agree. How many times do we need to morbidly celebrate the murder of a dude? Too many, that how many. So consequently nothing was open again. We walked around the city, watched a clock tower dance at us, then left to get on a train to Salzburg, Austria.

Salzburg, Austria

Salzburg seems more like a town than a city. It isn't vast. It's not spread out. It does, however, have a spectacular view of the Alps. As well as an old fort (read: castle) called Hohensalzburg Castle. A happy little city, Salzburg was also in the throes of the Ascension day madness, but celebrated with polka and currywurst, which is a satisfying combination. It also has the distinction of being the birthplace of Wolfgang A. Mozart and all his shenanigans. Also, the Radlers (Pilsner or Helles beer with either lemonade or grapefruit juice added) are very nice on toasty alpine days. We stayed at the YoHo hostel in Salzburg, which boasted a know-it-all bartender and nightly viewings of the Sound of Music, much to the amusement of the hostel-goers. We spent about two and a half days in Salz, enjoying the castles and taking naps in parks. Fantastic place filled with boisterous and lovely people. I want to come back here. But alas, we must keep moving.

Amsterdam... next time! haha, suckers!

---