History, Happenstance, and Hipsters

If I had to pick three words to sum up my weekend in Budapest, these would be it.  Here is a little bit about how I experienced each:

History:

I think the most interesting parts of the city were some of the memorials.  The first one we encountered was outside of the Parliament building and was dedicated to rebels who had been killed by a Soviet firing squad.  A plaque near the memorial declared the following:

“The system of communism has failed in every sense.  However, it will be very hard to get rid of communists, for there is nobody as dangerous as the usurper of a failed system, who abandons the system, but guards his loot and power position.”

We walked quietly for a while pondering that thought.  Another memorial that struck us was a row of bronze shoes along the Danube River commemorating Jews who were lined up and shot into the river by the Nazis.  Some of the shoes had little tea lights in them, and I can only imagine how haunting they would be lit up at night. 

In addition to these memorials, we got to enjoy Castle Hill, Heroes Square, Andrassy Avenue, the Parliament Building, St. Matthias Church, Fisherman’s Bastion, and more.

 

 

Hipsters:

Someone told me just before I left for Budapest that the city has a very big underground scene.  I would never have guessed that, but they were right.  Probably the biggest example of this underground “hipster” scene is the network of ruins bars scattered around the Pest side of the city.  The bars are nestled in the ruins of communist buildings, with lights winding up railings, writing all over the walls, and all sorts of mismatched furniture and odds and ends.  Very different, very hipster.

 

 

 

 

Happenstance:

One of the challenges I am discovering about travel is trying to make plans.  So little time, so many opinions, so much to see.  While we got to go to most of the major sights I was hoping to see, some of my favorite things we did were the ones that were very random or by accident.  The first of these was a Sunday bazaar we stumbled upon right across from our hostel.  There were booths everywhere with spices, art, jewelry, and random antiques.  Very different from the Grand Market Hall, which was an impressive building, but a tourist trap of knick-knacks and souvenirs. 

Another random thing we did was a river cruise.  This was not completely random, because my family, who had been to Budapest before, recommended it, but it felt a little odd when we realized we were definitely the youngest people on the boat.  But we got an absolutely beautiful view of some of the landmarks lit up at night, and it turns out that even though we went with the cheapest “one drink, no dinner” option, they really don’t seem to notice if you swipe some strudel or grab an extra glass of champagne…

All in all, the weekend was a success.  We covered the sightseeing, the nightlife, and learned a little bit about flexibility and travel.  We also called Prague “home” for the first time, and I am happy to be back.  I spent the day exploring the Kafka Museum and enjoying some cool fall weather, just appreciating what a cool city I currently live in.  Next adventure on the list: a day trip to Czech Switzerland to see where Narnia was filmed!

 

Here are some more pictures from Budapest:

 

At the Baths

 

St. Stephen's Basilica

 

Lights at night

 

In front of Parliament

 

 

 

Dem Bones

A gothic church.  A pitch black trip through a tunnel.  A room full of 40,000 human skeletons. 

A horror movie?  A gothic novel?  Nope, just a day in Kutna Hora. 

This Saturday my program bused us all to the Czech town of Kutna Hora to see St. Barbara’s church, the silver mines, and the Ossuary, popularly called the “Bone Church.”  Here is a little breakdown of the day:

St. Barbara’s

I don’t think I will ever be able to get enough of gothic cathedrals.  This one was filled with little altars around the sides with frescos painted up to the ceilings and painted windows—a combination of religious scenes and stories of the town and the country.  The best part was the balcony.  The balcony was not part of our official tour, but my friend Andy figured out a way to get up there—for a small price.  Our broke, college student selves paused for a second at that.  But then the thought hit us that we were in Europe, in the second biggest gothic cathedral in the Czech Republic, getting to go on a balcony overlooking the organ while a little organ concert was going on—of course we were going to do it.  And it was only 10 crowns (about 50 cents). 

So we headed up and just stared down at the church, the windows, the organ.  I stopped taking pictures after a while because I wanted to just be there all day, or every day if I could.  It would be nice to know what it would feel like to not be a tourist in a church like that, to be able to just go there and not feel like you have to take a picture of every square inch of the place before your tour is over.  Maybe I’ll be back here someday and do that.

 

 

The Silver Mines

I think we should have caught on that this was going to be terrifying when they asked us repeatedly who wanted to stay above ground and seemed shocked when everyone wanted to go into the mines.  They kept saying, “Are you sure?  Not good for claustrophobia, very dark.”  But of course we just skipped right down under tons and tons of rock and didn’t realize what real mine darkness was like until we were in it.  We had flashlights and walked single file through wet, drippy, narrow passages.  We had learned a lot about the history of this town, which had been a major silver mining town, and the tough labor of the miners and their families.  When we got to a relatively big part of the passage in the mine, we stood around talking about how the wooden posts scattered throughout the little cavern were used by the miners to keep the rock from collapsing (um, what?  Please tell me those aren’t the originals).  Then our guide instructed us to turn off all of our flashlights to experience what the miners would have dealt with if their lanterns went off.  Absolute, unnerving darkness.  I think that cured us of any romantic, nostalgic ideas we had about Medieval European villages. 

 

 

The Ossuary

Shockingly, this was less scary than the mines—probably because none of us could seem to process the fact that we were in a room full of human skeletons.  And they were so beautiful.  This wasn’t just some creep cobbling together household items out of human bones, this was an artist.  The chandelier was probably one of the most impressive chandeliers I have ever seen—bones or no bones.  The walls were decorated, the ceiling was decorated, and behind wire fences stood pyramids of bones.  People wanted to be buried there so badly that they ran out of room in the graveyard, so the monks began digging up bodies and using old bones as to decorate the small church (there are a few different stories on the exact origins of this practice, ranging from insane monks to blind monks).  A lot of these people were victims of war, and a special case held the fragmented skulls of some of the people who had been killed by war wounds.  The feeling of the Ossuary is a strange mixture of a war memorial, a Body Worlds exhibit, and a Halloween store.  But overall, probably everyone’s favorite part of the trip. 

 

Headed to Budapest this weekend after the opera on Friday!  More posts to follow soon!        

Welcome to Praha

It is a tough battle to stay awake on a stomach full of Cesnacka polevka, but I fighting that fight in order update everyone on life in Prague…which is incredibly busy, for one thing.  I have been here a little less than a week, and I already absolutely love this city, and even though I know there will be a lot of frustrating moments, I think I am going to always want to come back here after I leave.  Here are a few main points about my daily life in Praha (Prague), before I get into any more detailed stories:

The Apartment.  I live at Kostnicke namesti 1 in Praha 3 (namesti means square).  It is pronounced kost-nee-ss-kay nah-mess-tee (excuse my complete ignorance to phonetically spell something).  It is not in the middle of town, but is an absolutely beautiful apartment.  We have two bedrooms, a foyer, a bathroom, a little laundry room, and a big living area with a couch, kitchen counter and table, and three giant windows that you can open like doors (I am sitting in one of them right now) and see the colorful buildings across the street. 

The Roommates.  I asked for loud, outgoing night owls on my questionnaire and I got them—and I love them!  They could not be any nicer and they are all about getting the most out of our time in Prague.  Brinda is from California and goes to St. Luis Obispo (it took me forever to learn how to say that), and Monica is from Chicago and goes to University of Denver.  We have already had a lot of Prague adventures and are starting to plan some trips. 

 

The Schedule.  Right now I have mostly just been trying to get to know the city and adjust to the time difference.  I am currently in my two week intensive Czech class, which is…intense.  We go there every morning at 9:30 and usually get out around 2:30.  Today we got out early so that we could go with our teacher to a Czech restaurant to try to order in Czech.  After classes we sometimes have a scheduled activity or tour, like registering at the police station or seeing the Prague castle grounds.  In the evenings we sometimes meet up with other people in our program and from other programs and hang out at different bars and pubs in the center of the city, either Wenceslas Square or Old Town Square (they weren’t kidding that beer is cheaper than water here…Czechs LOVE their pivo).

The Trips.  We have a lot of scheduled trips through the ISA program, the biggest ones being Berlin and Vienna.  Our first trip is this Saturday to Kutna Hora, which is a small town in the Czech Republic with a famous Ossuary, or “Bone Church,” which incorporates actual human bones into its architecture.  I am also planning to go on my own trips with roommates, people from the program and other programs, and my friend and former roommate Sam, who is studying in Florence.  We are trying to book Croatia, Budapest, and Ireland right now.  I would also love to go to Paris, Rome, Florence, and a few others.  A semester sounds like a long time, but are weekends are filling up fast!

Czech Life.  People here are very different than in the U.S.  They are extremely quiet and polite, but not very friendly.  They do not smile at you in stores, and absolutely no one talks on the public transportation, which—like all things Czech—is extremely punctual and well-run.  Even Czech dogs are polite, walking around with no leashes or sitting quietly on the tram.  The language is difficult.  There is a sound that is like a mixture of an r and a j that none of us can seem to get, and of course it is in the phrase “how do you say ___ in Czech?” (Jak se rekne ____ cesky?…it’s the ‘r’ and it normally has a symbol over it).  Apparently Czech is one of two languages with this sound—the other being a small and obscure African tribe.  Figures. 

This is barely skimming the surface of life here, but hopefully it will give you some framework for all the other stories I have to tell!

 

 

My cute window and exploring Old Town Square with the roommates...still can't get pictures off of my phone, but once I do, there will be a ton!

 

Kutna Hora Bone Church - http://www.outsideprague.com/kutna_hora/bone_church.html

 

Prague or Bust

Dobry Den from above the Atlantic. (I am just now putting this up...obviously no longer above the Atlantic.)

I am composing this post on a plane to London, which is significant because it means I am not doing a number of other things.  Like refusing to let go of my mother in the airport or hiding under a chair in Chicago O’Hare.  All of these dangers were avoided, though Mom and I did make a bit of a scene in front of the security line. 

Instead, I am headed to Prague.  I knew next to nothing about the city before I fell in love with the pictures in the ISA guidebook and decided to spend a semester there.  The funny thing was, once I decided on Prague, everyone and their mother actually had something to say about it.  My dad’s coworker sent me a guidebook and the name of a tour guide I MUST track down, my sister’s doctor swore it was the coldest and most beautiful city she had ever visited, and my Nana taped the Bachelorette Prague episode for me.  I still don’t really know what to expect, but here are a few things I’m hoping to accomplish:

1.      See art.  I am going to wander every museum and gallery I find.  Originally, this was just for my own interest, but now I have an added incentive: when I get back I am going to curate a hypothetical art show as an independent study with the head of the Rockhurst art department.  She suggested I lay the groundwork now by seeing as much art as possible, collecting pictures and postcards, and researching art blogs and curatorial essays.  Cool, right?

2.      Make friends and travel the continent.  I have been Facebook messaging one of my future roommates, and it turns out that she seasoned traveler and an adventurous spirit.  We have already planned to go to Oktoberfest in Germany and to make our way to Ireland for a weekend.  I am excited to meet new people and to see the world.  I know I sound like an overplayed Fun song, but there is something about being 21 and travelling to Europe that just makes you feel like you have a pulse.

3.      Take some “me time.”  I love to read—hence why I majored in English.  But the ironic thing is that I hardly ever have time to read for me because I am always reading for class.  Luckily, I’m that girl who likes most of what we read in class, but every now and then I want to indulge in the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo books or make some progress on the long list of things I always plan to read.  So I have a vision of myself perpetually parked outside some café, idly reading whatever I feel like reading.

 

To Mom and Dad – I hope someday I will be able to fully articulate how grateful I am for this opportunity.  To Sammy and Andrea – I am so proud of both my baby siblings and I miss you guys.  To my Rockhurst family – I can’t even list the good times I will miss with you all.  Try not to burn the place down while I am gone.

 

To everyone else – thanks for putting up with a long post, and saddle up for some Praha adventures! 
 

My roommates and I on the Charles Bridge