Week 4: A European Adventure, Part 1

I dreamed for many years of traveling through Europe and experienced a semester of excitement waiting for this opportunity.  Now that I actually live in close proximity to all these opportunities, the feelings of excitement waned slightly amid the academic and cultural realities of studying abroad.  I also learned that while excitement for opportunities exist, you must work hard to plan travel well and take advantage of available opportunities.  During my break in Europe, my adventures took me through Bratislava, Budapest, Prague, Innsbruck, and even Tychy, Poland!

1 February

I decided this past week that I would regularly attend church at the Evangelikale Gemeinde Wien-Meidling, a church where several of the students from ÖSM also go.  After the morning service, I was invited to lunch at the house of someone named Lisa.  When we settled in at Lisa´s house, I began asking her a few questions about her background to get to know her.  She began mentioning several circumstances in her life including her university and the time she studied there, all of which sounded quite similar to the area where my sister spent time in Austria.  I decided to ask Lisa if she knew my sister and before I even finished my sentence, she knew who I mentioned!  Lisa pulled out a scrapbook page and on the top was pasted a picture of my sister from 13 years ago.  I was kind of in shock that we randomly ended up meeting each other...Austria´s a small world.

After lunch in the afternoon, I went back to my apartment to Skype my friend Daniel from back home.  I then proceeded to spend 3 hours Skyping with my friend, Laura, so we could book hostels and bus/train tickets for our trip to Prague and Innsbruck.

2 February

Yummy frappé in Bratislava

I got up bright and early on Monday morning to head to Bratislava, the capital of Slovakia.  I had booked the bus ticket awhile before, but did not exactly know what I would see during the day.  The bus dropped me off at a station beside the old city center in Bratislava.  I could not immediately find a map to find my way around the city, so I decided to get a small lunch at a cafe beside the bus stop and then start walking.  I pulled a map up on my computer in the cafe and managed to create a potential itinerary for the day, including Bratislava Castle, St. Michael´s Gate, and churches within the city.

Church in Bratislava

Bratislava Castle

As I embarked on my adventure through the snowy streets, I quickly found that all the museums are unfortunately closed in Bratislava on Monday.  Nevertheless, absorbing the beauty and history of Bratislava from the outside created an incredible day during which I enjoyed several sites in the city from the outside.  My quiet walk through the winding streets brought beautiful surprises around every corner and introduced me to the characteristics of old European cities, which I would further discover in Budapest, Innsbruck, and Prague.  Several churches fortunately remained open in Bratislava, so I could observe the architecture and paintings inside.  Bratislava´s churches struck me with their simplistic architecture and paintings.  I found Bratislava´s churches less ornate in comparison to other European cathedrals, but the more simplistic backgrounds create a setting which allows the churches´ beautiful paintings to shine.

Liberty Bridge

Gellért Hill Fortress

3 February

I headed to Budapest late Tuesday morning and arrived in the early afternoon, but it took me quite awhile to find my hostel due to its obscure location.  After getting settled in, I decided to take a walk around Budapest to begin discovering the city.  My adventure led me across Liberty Bridge and up Gellért Hill, a landmark in Budapest with a large fort at the top.  I scrambled up the steep steps as the day waned into evening, approaching a large cross and finally the fortress at the top.  The views from the top nearly took my breath away with their dazzling beauty, showing the Parliament, St. Stephen´s Basilica, and the sprawl of Budapest, old and new.  After coming down from Gellért Hill, I met up with friends from the Kelley Consulting Workshop in Budapest, with whom I went out that evening.  We enjoyed a traditional Hungarian dinner and then went out to a ruin bar, an example of the many bombed buildings in Budapest which artists turned into locations for markets, bars, and performances.  Of course, I tried a shot of the traditional Hungarian fruit-flavored palinka!

View from St. Stephen's Dome

4 February

My friend Laura had class most of the day on Wednesday, so I headed out for a day full of sightseeing in Budapest.  I kicked off the day with a visit to St. Stephen´s Basilica and a climb to the top of the cathedral´s dome for another fantastic look at Budapest.  Being alone inside the dome with its scaffolding and stairs gave me a slightly creepy feeling, so I hopped out on the viewing deck quickly and made my way back down hastily.  After the basilica, I went on a 2.5 hour long walking tour of Budapest which gave me a thorough history of the city and passed many of the main landmarks.

Stove in Hungarian National Museum

The contrast between Communist-style and neo-classical/baroque architecture struck me as we walked through this city, since it showed the deep imprint which both these periods made in Hungary´s history.  I also appreciated our guide´s explanation of Hungary´s history, which she split into two 500-year periods.  The first begun with Hungary´s development from its Asian roots to its growth as a European power, while the second primarily consisted of Hungary´s occupation by other nations.  This explanation helped when I visited the Hungarian National Museum in the afternoon, where I learned significantly more about the development of Hungary through its various kings and saints.  I experienced more modern Hungarian history by visiting an emergency hospital, which was utilized during World War II and later as a nuclear attack bunker during the Cold War.  After meeting up
with Laura at her dorm, we spent a quiet evening planning the rest of our trip.

Dessert at Cafe Ruszwurm