Firenze

Florence was amazing... top 5 for me. We had alotted 2 nights for our stay but soon realized that we would need at least one more, and if my time in Europe hadn't been running out then maybe we would have stayed longer. The main reason for that involved a girl (more on that next post). Anyway, we saw some pretty cool stuff in Florence.

The Duomo (dome) was super sweet to look at on the outside, on the inside, and to look out from the top...

 

We went to the palace gardens and walked all over looking for this...

We watched  the beautiful sunset from Piazzale Michelangelo...



I just really liked this bridge...

And the incredible David...



Dead Ends

Venice is an amazing city, a unique city, a beautiful city. With that said, it is also a very touristy and expensive city and I was content with only spending the day there. The city layout and canals and old architecture are so different from anything in the States and even Europe. We arrived in Venice around 6:00 in the morning and had to kill some time before anything was open, and the station's luggage lockers were out of order so we were forced to carry our packs with us all around the city. In addition, it was an overcast day with some showers (1 of 2 rainy days on the trip). We walked and walked all day... back tracking and seeing the same things over and over. The craziest part of it, are the dead ends... some with walls or buildings at the end but even more with water. I guess the water access points aren't always considered dead ends, as there are many boats cruising the canals, but for us they were always dead ends. It started to become comical as we were trying to get from point A to point B but were constantly trumped by the unpredictable maze that is Venice. You might say a map would help and it did but it show everything that is really there (at least the one we had didn't).  We checked out St. Marks and saw the city from the top of the bell tower, an incredible view to say the least. We got pizzas and wine a hole-in-the-whole place and got ripped off for internet usage. It was another great day in Europe!

Fairytale Castles

When we decided to go to Füssen to see the castles we had about 30 min until the train would leave so we grabbed some food for the ride and Corey went to his locker to grab something... we went from walking to the platform to a slight jog to a sprint, only to watch the train pull away and roll down the tracks. If you haven't watched train leave just as you arrive and miss it, that is a good thing, as it is very discouraging and frustrating. Fortunately, the trains out to Füssen leave every hour, so the plan was not abandoned, only delayed. At this point, I think we had 6 or 7 hours until our train to Venice, 4 of which would be spent on the train to and from Füssen. Still, we felt it would be worth it... and it was. Just look at the pictures:

Hohenschwangau (yellow) & Neuschwanstein (white)

München

Joe headed straight to Venice from Budapest with his unlimited pass, but it was going to take me two days to get there so I thought I might as well see another place on the way. That place was Munich (München). As I was leaving the hostel in Budapest, I shared my idea with a fellow American who was planning on seeing Venice too. Corey jumped on board and we set out for Munich. Another night on the train and another mediocre night's rest. We spent the first part of the ride getting to know each other and some time talking to the other passengers before we tried to get some rest. We were successful in finding a place to stretch out and actually sleep.

We started our day in Munich around 7:00 am (too early) and walked all over the city before lunch time, at which point the city center was becoming more and more crowded with locals and tourists alike, all ready for Oktoberfest to begin the next day. Corey and I got a beer and talked about what we would do until our train left for Venice that night. Joe had gone to see the "fairytale castles" outside of Munich earlier in the week and showed me some very beautiful pictures... so Corey and I decided to follow suit and get outside the city.

Széchenyi Gyógyfürdő

I don't know how to pronounce the title, but I can tell you what it is. Széchenyi Gyógyfürdő is the name of the bathhouse that I visited during my last day in Budapest. A bathhouse is pretty much a relaxation theme park full of thermal pools, saunas and steemrooms, and massage parlours. It is a very different kind of place, but not uncommon in the area, especially in Budapest ("the city of spas"). I enjoyed my time in the bathhouse, although it would have been nice to have had some company while relaxing, but I could not pass on the chance to experience the much talked about Budapest bathhouse, and the experience was worth it.





Paint Club Battle Tour

Joe and I went to get a beer at a bar in the old Jewish quarter before he had to catch his train and found this sweet place:

It had an interior courtyard and and lots of indoor rooms with varying atmospheres, but there was a rustic/grungy feel to whole place that I thought was very unique and comfortable. I wish all the other dougs were there with Joe and I, I think it was our kind of place. Anyway, Joe and I drank some beer but had to rush out so that Joe could make his train. As we were leaving, I noticed a flyer describing an "urban art battle" to be held that very night... I would return.

For those of you that don't know, I really like/appreciate/enjoy urban art, such as graffiti. Anyway, I went back to the bar for the battle later that night still not completely sure what it would be like. It started slow but turned out to be a very unique and cool experience. In short, there is a group of young adults from Germany touring Europe and organizing "battles" between local urban artists for each town they visit. It varies a bit for each location, but for Budapest it was two teams of two (the Post-Popular-Painters Vs. the Three-Headed Giraffe). They had 90 minutes to interpret the topic of "Hospital," choosen at random by yours truly. I got to know most of the crew and even helped a couple of them with their English. It was a great night. Here are some pictures:

 

BUDA...........................................PEST

Budapest has a very rich and recent history. Joe and I learned a lot on a walking tour, including the fact that Budapest comes from the combination of Buda and Pest, once two separate entities divided by the mighty Danube River. Its cool because Buda ("life") and Pest ("city") are noticeably different, as seen in the above pictures looking to each side from the middle of the river. It is also a city that has relatively recently (~40 years ago) ended comminist control, and the pain and suffering can still be daily part of life, but now there is also HOPE.

This was pretty heavy:
Bronzed shoes of executed Jews on the river bank
(the shoes were kept because they were valuable)



The Hungarian Parliment... Massive
Largest building in Hungary, largest parliment in Europe

Anyway, Budapest is definitely in my top 5!

Wien

Wien is Austrian for Vienna... not sure how we (the English language) got Vienna from Wien. I only spent the day in Wein as I was on my way to Budapest to meet Joe. The EuRail pass that I had allowed me to travel on 15 days within 2 months and as much as I want on those days. So I left Prague a half past midnight and slept on the train to Wien, hung out all day, and then took a train to Budapest that evening...only using one travel day. A day was just enough time for me, as I wasn't set on visiting at all, but why not, especially when people keep recommending it. It was a very relaxing day, starting with pastries and coffee and long walk to the city center. I went on a self-guided walking tour and saw some sites before lunch.

St. Stephens (the roof is amazing)

some museum and garden

Then I was very tired and needed a nap... the city park was just the right spot. I set my sleeping bag out, put my valuable at the bottom, got out a book, read a couple pages, and was asleep in no time. After the nap and with renewed energy, I explored more of the city and the Danube river.

City Park

a very cool lookin castle thing on the Danube

Prague

It was a very pleasant surprise to find that the cost of living in Prague was much less than anywhere else we had been. When I arrived at my hostel (I was alone at this point as Joe was planning on arriving the following day), I found a note telling me that the receptionist would be back around 10 pm... it was then only 8 pm. "What am I going to do for two hours, with all my stuff, and really no idea of where I am?"

I found this place just a couple doors down the street...



 I walked in and down the stairs and into the restaurant. I walked to the back room, stashed my bags in the corner, and sat down to relax. I drank some beer, the first good beer of the trip and cheap too, and ordered some food. I got the spinach and chicken gnocchi...it was so good, to the point where I was full but I had to finish it. After gorging myself, I stayed in the cellar-like restaurant and wrote in my journal to pass the time. It proved to be a much needed and very valuable time to be alone.

I walked around the city the following day and met Joe at the hostel that night. Great to be reunited! The next day we got after it. Seeing the city from all kinds of viewpoints, such as this one:

a view from the Powder Tower, the palace in the distance

During our time in Prague, we ate great meals (and desserts cuz they now fit within the budget), we saw the palace along with the changing of the guard (quite the production), we took self-guided walking tours, we saw the jewish cemetary (literally gravestones on top and leaning onto other gravestones), we saw the Charles Bridge, we walked through some parks, we saw the Lennon Wall... and much more. 

When John Lennon died someone created a mural on this wall to honor him and the ideas of peace and love, now everyone tags it and it changes its appearance weekly. It had a very cool vibe to it.