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Published: October 17th 2007
As you may have gathered from our previous blog, after a considerable amount of time in Italy, we were really looking forward to exploring new territory. Budapest provided just the change in pace we were hoping for. Getting there, however, was no easy task. We decided to splurge a little and treat ourselves to a good night's sleep by reserving beds in a sleeper compartment. How silly we were not to anticipate that going through two borders would warrant the need to check passports 8 times in the course of a 12-hour overnight train ride. Could someone please shed some light on the need for such tightly regulated border control into Hungary. I mean... it's HUNGARY!!! Who is trying to illegally sneak into Hungary?
Needless to say, we arrived in Budapest tired and baffled. After freshening up, we ventured out and explored the city. Our sleep-deprivation and frustation over the arduous journey quickly dissipated as we walked through the streets ( with the help of copious amounts of coffee). Maybe it's the close proximity to Romania, but Budapest definitely gives off a Transylvanian vibe - which met our expectations of the city. Upon stepping out onto the streets, we were
greeted with crisp fall air, a delightfully gloomy gray sky, and looming medieval palaces. Embracing this theme wholeheartedly, we decided to actually enter one of these buildings and found our way to a labyrinth underneath Buda castle. We made our way through the pitch-dark maze with our gas lantern. Check out the picture down below of the wine-spewing fountain we came across during our wandering - if you look closely, you'll see a man in the background that we think must be a long-lost Hungarian relative of Count Dracula.
So, due to the previous night's lack of sleep, we were very excited at the prospect of a good night's rest at our hostel that night. This is a synopsis of what Pipaya exerienced.
12:00 AM: Drift off into peaceful slumber....
5:00AM: Abruptly awoken by inhumane, excruciatingly loud .... what can only be described as some form of .... snore.
5:15 AM: Attemting to return to slumber by conjuring up peaceful thoughts. It went a little something like this:
5:30 AM: Rolling meadows, gentle breeze ..... abominable snort, punctuated by gasps for air..... rolling meadows, gentle breeze...
6:15AM: Rainforest, following the distant sound of a waterfall...... ghastly, frightening
snort, punctuated by gasps of air.... rainforest, following the distant sound of a waterfall...
7:15AM: Utter silence - it stopped breathing.... possibly dead? One sheep, two sheep, three sheep..... gasp of air.... explosive sounds... Crickey, it's still ALIVE!!!!
8:15AM: Giving up on the notion of falling asleep to gentle thoughts - resigned to contemplating various methods of torture leading to homocide.
On to Vienna!!!
After experiencing a city that is on its way to becoming a modern metropolis, it was very interesting to then see a city that is the foreseeable endpoint of that transitioning process. Vienna is what every city should strive to be - a perfect blend of old meets new. And we all know how much Pipaya appreciates a good pedestrian boulevard..... Vienna was full of them. So far, we've inundated ourselves with history, art, sculptures, and monuments. It was really nice to step back from the usual suspects and be in a city whose culture is defined by music. The only museum we went to was the Haus der Musik - 6 floors devoted to all aspects of music, ranging from the history of the vienna philharmonic, famous composers from vienna, to
the science of how we perceive sound. Plus, it was interactive... which we love!!! The other aspect that makes Vienna so enjoyable is how aesthetically pleasing it is... we've run out of adjectives.... so, again, we'll just defer to the visual proof.
Gruess Gott!!! Pipaya
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Jenn
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Certainly Spooky!
Hmmm..Maya seems to have disappeared (or turned into a smiling ghost!) somewhere between Buda and Pest! And, thank you for returning to us after your arduous journey! We had to keep Susan calm. We thought you'd been taken hostage in your wine-filled tunnel! :-P All best..onward!!