Budapest

Budapest was definitely as cool as I'd heard. I do have a couple of regrets though: 1) Should have gone for the Sziget Music Festival that I'd been told about, and 2) Shouldn't have gotten sick. Okay maybe I can't really regret that one, but it really screwed up Budapest for me!

I stayed in a hostel since I wasn't getting many responses from my couchsurfing requests (still) and I wanted an easier way to meet people.  The hostel was nice, despite the bed springs sticking me in the ribs, and I did end up meeting a couple of people right away. Two Aussies stayed there for the Sziget Festival, and we ended up partying one night together before they left. We had so much fun! First was a bar that was playing the worst of 90s pop music, including not one, but TWO Spice Girls songs, some Toni Braxton, even Hanson. No kidding. Unbelievable. Then it was off to a ruins bar! They like to make bars in abandoned buildings that end up being really big and wildly decorated. The one we went to had a big (female) owl on the back wall with wings spread, and a big group of rabbits running around the room, suspended on wires mid-air, all with colored light projected over it. There were also big strange posters over the walls that had human bodies with animal heads and sometimes other odd mixtures. I also liked the big silly moose on the wall that had a projected image of a big chain $ necklace on the wall around it's neck. Silly!

Cool metal railing in the stairwell leading up to the hostel.

The hostel was in a really cool old building.

I took a tram ride on my first day and was amused by this little guy. In case of emergency, pick your way out with a 6-inch pick like the guy in Shawshank Redemption?

View from the tram across the Duna (Danube) River to the Buda side of the city. Budapest is really two cities joined - Buda and Pest.

Their statue of liberty.

They have some pretty silly looking dudes on their bills!

Crazy art in the ruins bar!

My new Aussie friends Laura and Tristan - now I have to visit Australia and tick off another continent from my list!

After our big night out, the Aussies sadly left, and I went and rented a bike to explore the city. I went first to an island in the middle of the Duna, Margaret Island, which had a beautiful bridge leading up to it (see below), as well as a little petting zoo, a water park, fountains, and lots of great little gardens. So pretty! I also explored the city park, where there is a 100-year-old thermal spa (where I went later in the week to party), a zoo, a circus, a castle, and several museums. But just biking around it was amazingly beautiful and peaceful - such a great way to spend a day, just me and my headphones!

Castle (now a museum) on a tiny island in the city park.

Cute statue outside the gigantic spa.

The city is so charming - there is random street art everywhere! If they could only get control on the tagging, which just mucks everything up. Same problem in Barcelona and Berlin - such a shame!

Cool old train station near my hostel.

After my long bike ride, I settled into my room and rested a bit before dinner. My whole body was so sore, and I just thought it was the uncomfortable bike. That was until I realized I had no appetite for dinner and I went to sleep freezing and spent the night freezing and sweating. Great. Woke up with white spots all over my throat and absolutely no desire to get out of bed. It was hard to even get up and get water. I spent a miserable two days and three nights in bed, so sad to be missing out on Budapest. I'd even met a nice Hungarian guy who was my age on the bus ride in and we had planned to hang out that weekend with his girlfriend, not to mention an industrial design student I met at the ruins bar my first night that I wanted to hang out with. What horrible luck!

After those few days, I decided I just could NOT leave Budapest without seeing a little more. So on my last day, I went out with an English couple from the hostel and we went to the circus!  It was pretty fun actually.

An aerialist as a jellyfish!

These dancers were amazing and I NEED to have those crazy dragon costumes.

That is three people standing up on each other jumping rope!

That night a few English girls checked into the hostel and I got to talking with them, and we all decided to go to one of the thermal baths, Széchenyi, where you can party on Saturday nights.  They put a dj out there and little bars and you can party until 3am.  It was pretty amazing!

This is what the bath looks like during the day.

You can see the weird dj pod behind us. This place was just heavy with young guys - the odds were in our favor and we all got hit on!  Such a fun night!

And the next day, tired and a bit hungover, I got on a train to Prague.  I got lucky - the Hungarian guy I met on the way to Budapest helped me book the train ride on a Hungarian website.  While I was finding fares of around 50 Euros for the journey, he got my ticket for 19.  That translates to $25 for a 7-hour train ride.  So awesome!  Nice journey too, I spent most of it staring out the window at pretty country towns with my headphones on.  Even saw a castle or two.  I really don't mind that part of traveling! 

Dear Europe...

Dear Europe,

There needs to be an outlet somewhere in the bathroom. Preferably near the mirror. Thanks.

We can still see the "invisible" bra straps.

Charging people for tap water in restaurants should be a crime. Oh wait, where I live, it is!

It would be super duper awesome if there were at least SOME shops open on Sundays. Like grocery stores for instance. Really would be helpful!

Every summer it gets pretty hot at least for a little while. So I know it doesn't really make sense to install an air-conditioning system, but investing in some floor fans wouldn't hurt.

Love,
Heather

PS: I miss you already and I haven't even left yet! Back soon!

Vienna

I got a bit lazy about taking pictures while in Vienna, but I had a great time there! I had a confusing first day, trying to get to the apartment I was renting from a guy on airbnb.com. I have always used a little netbook in the past for travel, but I should have just brought a smartphone and paid whatever it costs to use a phone in these countries. I was trying to meet up with a friend of the guy who has the apartment (who was in Spain), so I could get a key and get in, but it was so hard to meet up and get it all worked out. Especially since the payphone at the airport was broken and the payphones in the subway stations don't take coins, only bank cards that have electronic chips inside! He also didn't realize I couldn't speak German, but luckily he spoke Spanish, being from Chile, so we communicated using his broken English and my broken Spanish. It worked well enough that we hung out a couple more times actually! Freddy took me to this little lake, part of the Danube River (Donau as they say) that was dammed off. It was really nice out that morning, but by the time we actually got there, a storm was rolling in and it became a bit too windy and chilly for a swim. It was very pretty there though, lots of trees and swans and sailboats racing around, so we just chilled out and watched.

On my second day in Vienna, they had a major heatwave, so I figured it would be a good day to hit up a couple of museums. First was the MAK - Vienna's Museum of Applied Arts. It had old and new furniture, a room showing the movement and evolution of fashionable lace (in Italy, France, Belgium, Spain), a room of designer chairs, and my favorite, three huge rooms of displays of Asian architecture. I must have spent over an hour reading about architects using found materials to build, or problem solving for poor communities or small spaces, and some just incredible modern spaces. Such a great museum!

Then I went to the Leopold Museum, where there were special exhibits of Viennese artists Klimt and Schiele. I knew Klimt from The Kiss, but Schiele I didn't know and he was a great surprise - I loved his paintings! Very raw and beautiful. Here are a few of my favorites.

Another day I met up with a couch-surfer, Max, whom I'd asked to stay with, but was unable to host me. He said he could go out and meet for a radler though. We went to a dive bar that had wooden outdoor furniture inside and a daybed. Luckily we got the daybed and lounged around for a few drinks - so comfy! We had spritzers, which are really popular there. They are just white wine with sparkling water, and they're quite refreshing actually! The Viennese really know how to drink in the summer - lightly and with lots of water/juices. We also popped into a trendy bar, I think it was called The Donau (Danube), and it had such a neat vibe with electronic music and shapes of light projected all over the walls. Both bars were smoky though - they can still smoke in bars in Austria (gross!)
Hanging out that night with Max was awesome. In Barcelona, I'd felt so out-of-touch and misunderstood. I just wasn't really connecting with people there and felt so lonely. But with Max (and with Freddy), I felt pretty relaxed, like I could just talk as if we were already friends. We connected so easily and chatted for hours! When you're traveling alone, that is just priceless. I'll always remember running down a really long upwards escalator with Max, scared my flip flops would trip me, but laughing all the way down and then seeing all the silent people waiting for the subway who probably heard our ridiculous laughter. What a fun night  =]

On my last day in Vienna I hit up the Museum of Natural History, as a Viennese man I'd talked to told me how great it was and they were having the Bodies exhibit that I'd missed when it was in Phoenix. That exhibit shows real bodies, the flesh replaced with silicone and plastics to preserve it. You can see everything - from fetuses in different growth stages to vascular systems to full figures showing muscle movement. Photography was unfortunately not allowed in that exhibit.
This museum has an incredibly impressive stone collection, also fossils, even linens. Their meteorite collection is one of the best and it was really neat to see samples of what has flown down and hit the earth. Right now they also are having a human evolution exhibit, which I was excited to see, but by the time I got there (after a few hours of reading and wandering), I was too hungry to continue. Luckily I took that class in university, but I could have used a refresher.

From Arizona!

That crystal is like a 2-footer, holy cow!

That's a rock?

They had this one cool display section showing the naming of stones after plants and animals or vice versa. Of course it was one of the only parts of the museum that had no English, so I just read the scientific names and played a fun little guessing game.

One of many samples from America

Moonstone! It even looks a bit like the moon...

A very impressive piece, also found in America (I think it was Kentucky).

Yikes! They also had an anima-tronic dinosaur that looked pretty scary to children, but I couldn't get a good shot of it. Pretty awesome fossil collection too, showing the evolution of plants and animals and models of what some of the old sea creatures probably looked like. Great museum!

On my way out of Vienna, I stopped into Freddy's bar to drop off the apartment key and say goodbye. Went to use their bathroom before my long bus ride to Budapest and found myself pulling a really strange door handle...and then Freddy showed me the complementary door handle on the men's room. What interesting metal work in Vienna! It reminded me that there was one time there, while waiting for the subway, I noticed an advertisement with a naked woman on it, standing sideways so you could plainly see her breasts. Right in the middle of a public subway station! I was sad to leave Vienna (not because of that!) I met really nice people there and had a great few days.

Barcelona

Barcelona was a bit of a tough one for me. I arrived in the middle of some drama at home with my boyfriend and my roommate who decided to move out before I get home. Stressful! I tried my best, but I spent a few days walking around without really seeing. Rough stuff. Barcelona is very beautiful and deserves exploration!  The other part that was hard about it was how hot it was. I can see myself walking around this city for hours, but I was always so sticky and uncomfortable in the humid heat. It was also a little awkward when you would meet a person and, as is customary, kiss each cheek once. They don't exactly kiss cheeks though, it's more like kissing toward the ear and touching cheeks. And then your cheeks sort of stick together in the humidity and it's not the most pleasant thing! Sweet custom though.

I started out couchsurfing with a girl from Korea who was there studying Spanish. She took me to the beach where we met a couple friends of hers and had a nice time. The beaches are very relaxed - you can drink beer and even go topless (or probably nude if you want). She also taught me how to make one of my favorite Korean dishes - bibimbap. It basically means mixed rice, and it includes cooked vegetables over rice with the most delicious spicy red pepper paste. Yum! Unfortunately it was too spicy for her Colombian roommate. I guess they don't really eat spicy foods there.

After couchsurfing with Suemin, I stayed in an apartment I found on airbnb.com with a couple from South America (Colombia & Brazil). They were very cool too and told me of nice places to go.  It was still so hot though! Thankfully the room had a fan.

This is the elevator that goes up to their apartment. I only used it once because the first time I tried, it stopped between floors at random and scared the crap out of me.

Walking around the gothic area of town, I wandered into a pretty cathedral and took a few photos. It was called Santa Maria del Mar and it was built in the 1300s!

One day it cooled down a little and there was even a little bit of rain. Finally! The whole trip has been so hot! So I rented a bicycle for the day and gave myself a tour of the city and its parks. This is the Palau Nacional (palace) near the Parc Monjuïc that has a massive fountain, both built in 1929. The Parc Monjuïc is where parts of the 1992 summer Olympics were held, so there are buildings there for that, as well as a variety of gardens, museums, pavilions, and a castle. It's a gigantic and beautiful park!

I was lucky enough to find some deserted gardens to wander around - a pleasant change of pace from the masses of tourists all over La Rambla (a main shopping and tourist street).

A few from the gardens of Barcelona - check out that massive church on the mountain!

You can easily see Antoni Gaudí's Sagrada Família from up high. Impressive how it towers over everything else!

Biking past the string of beaches I saw cool sculptures like these guys.

And Frank Gehry's massive fish! I loved him when I was a kid and forgot this was here - such a great surprise!

I met this lady in the park when we were both getting some water from a public fountain. Me for my water bottle, her for her bubbles. She was a super cool Aussie lady who now lives in the park. Didn't ask me for anything, but gave me a lesson on how to make big beautiful bubbles  =]

I love it when I find castles in the middle of cities! This is the castle of three dragons, right in the middle of the city park.

They also have an Acr de Triomf!

I found another random little park on my ride - this one was full of land sculptures like this big tiled wave.

It also had a spiral stepped into it with tiled steps.

On one of the main streets, I found La Pedrera, another of Gaudí's buildings. Amazing metal work, I am so in love with his work! 

The sidewalk around La Pedrera

I like these bench/lamp posts.

And across from La Pedrera is another of Gaudí's masterpieces, is this one, Casa Milà. As per usual, there were hoards of folks around it, so I didn't go in. The outside and the building next to it were amazing though.

The building just next door was really cool too, love the tiles!

I went back to Palau Nacional one night to see the Magic Fountain. It was originally built with the palace in 1929, but it's been added onto of course. Some of the original mechanisms are still being used today.

It's just massive and so beautiful!  Wish they could stop the traffic blocking the view though.

This is the view down the street if you stand near the big part of the fountain. There are fountains all the way up the street to the plaza.

Finally my friend Adam came - the same friend I met up with in Paris. We had such a nice time there that I asked if I could stay with him in Barcelona along with some of his juggling friends in an apartment they rented for the week. We had a great time walking around and seeing things, and I was very happy to be around people I could talk to (especially burners!) On their first night when everyone was exhausted from the bus journey from the juggling convention in France, Adam and I went out for delicious tapas in the neighborhood Gràcia  We found a nice place called Sol Soler and were surprised when Adam asked for the bill and the server brought us each a shot, and took one himself with us - on the house! We liked the place so much we went back with everyone a few days later, and even with our table of 6, we still each got free shots with the bill! What a way to keep customers coming back!

I was so happy to have friends to go to Gaudí's Parc Güell with me. He designed this fabulous park and we got there a little late after a day at the beach. We thought it was going to close in 20 minutes, but we went in anyway and it just stayed open! The jugglers juggled, hooped, and spun poi to music while I watched, chatted, and drank homemade sangria. It was so beautiful and relaxing!

Always such great metal work on his buildings - I love it!  So inspiring!

You walk in and up to this wild place with gigantic columns. There was a guy in there playing live music, such a dreamy atmosphere!

Above and behind that structure the park extends.  There was this big platform to hang out on, or you could walk around the trails up the hill behind it and get some nature. Such great views, especially when the sun set.

Looking down to the entrance and the Gaudí House Museum (didn't go in, heard it wasn't worth it).

Adam's juggling friends were fun to watch. Great company too  =]

On my last day I finally got to go in Sagrada Família, which became my favorite of Gaudí's buildings... or maybe even my favorite building ever. It's simply unbelievable - huge and impressive, creative and beautiful. The forms are taken directly from nature and so much of the design is symbolic of the bible. The spires, for example, represent the 12 apostles, Mary, and Jesus (who is represented by the tallest one). The three entrances represent the three virtues: faith, hope and love.

The Passion Façade

Before we were allowed to enter, we could go downstairs where a mass was going on in Spanish or Catalan, I'm not sure which, but it sounded neat and a bit creepy.

The downstairs crypt.

Finally we were able to go inside and we all were astounded by the beauty waiting for us inside.

I want so badly to be in here with nobody else and just lay on the floor between columns, looking up and taking it in silently. How eerie it would be!

Tree inspired columns that actually change shape as they go up. They start at the base with 8 sides, change to 16 sides, and then round at the top before branching off to support the weight. Original Gaudí design. I thought they also looked like fireworks when you look at the way they go into the crazy star shapes in the ceiling. The columns are also slightly tinted, some reddish and some more blue or green, a subtle detail that adds depth and richness to the space.

Tallest spiral staircase I've ever seen!  Like someone stuck a corkscrew in the building.

Huge organs reflecting the colored light let in from many stained glass windows. The colored light inside was reflected and bounced everywhere and it was really fun to take photos of it.

The lighting inside is just perfect. No surface is flat and the light hits everywhere so dramatically without flooding it. There were some lights on and some of the windows are not yet tinted, but it still worked really well. I'd love to see it totally done though. It has been in construction since 1882 and is supposed to be done in 2026 - 100 years after Gaudí's death! He spent more than half of his life working on it and it wasn't even close to done when he passed.

We took an elevator up one of the towers and got to see some of the building details up close, as well as great views of Barcelona.

A bridge connects the towers very high up. This is Blu, a super sweet chica from San Francisco who joined us this day. I really liked her  =]

Jen and Noel on the bridge.

The tops of the spires are inspired by plants.

Inside the staircase of one tower, looking down to other folks lower than us. It's a bit maze-like.

Looking up to where we couldn't go. Might not be safe up there. They even close the towers to visitors in extreme weather conditions...I wonder if you can feel them sway in the wind.

The coolest spiral staircase ever! You can see people's hands and heads when you look down, it's freaky!

I could not get over the lighting!

Night view.  The exterior is a bit busy for my taste, but still impressive.

And on that note, see ya later Barcelona. Actually, I probably won't see ya later. Beautiful city, but there were just too many occurrences of theft and random rudeness for my taste. Note to travelers: when you go to Spain and pay for things - count your change! And keep a close eye on your belongings. Well, do that anywhere you go.

Off to Vienna!