Christmas Break: Part Two

I've been swept up in a whirlwind of activity since returning to Rome following Christmas break including a rather intensive one week project and a eight day visit by my parents. It is only now, after turning in my project and the departure of my parents that I finally have a good amount of free time to sit here and tell the tale concerning the second half of my Christmas break traversing many more far and distant European countries.

So, here it goes...

After spending three days back in Rome ringing in the New Year, watching Notre Dame win the Sun Bowl, and getting some much needed laundry done, I set out on the 2nd half of my Christmas Break travels. Instead of leaving Rome by train, I instead boarded a plane on heading to Brussels, the capital of Belgium.

My time in Belgium was much different than time spent elsewhere. I had specific sites, churches, and other places I wanted to visit in places like Germany, Hungary, and the Czech Republic, but in Belgium, along with other many places I would visit on the 2nd half my trip, I didn't have a real set itinerary. Instead, I decided to randomly explore whatever city I was in and see what my wanderings would turn up.

In the two days I spent exploring Brussels, I found it to be a charming city with a diverse array of winding streets, wide boulevards, tiny row houses, and ornate monumental buildings. Like many cities I had previously been to, there was a compact medieval center that had once been surrounded by the old city walls. Within this center was the vast majority of everything worth seeing: plenty of churches, a beautiful central square with a massive Gothic town hall, tons of Baroque rowhouses, and tons of chocolate shops.

I smell chocolate...

Luckily, the weather had warmed up from the previous week. Instead of trudging through snow drifts and frigid winds, Brussels was rather pleasant. I didn't even wear gloves most of the time, whereas that would have been a one way ticket to frostbite the week before. I had a great time enjoying french fries, waffles, and some Belgian chocolate in the comparatively mild temperatures of Belgium, but I knew it would be short lived. We would soon leave Belgium for the frozen tundra and ice of Scandinavia.

Everyone said the group of us going to the Great North was crazy. "The sun is only up for like and hour up there." "You're eyelids are going to freeze shut." "Beware of the yeti..." Stuff like that. We didn't care, though. We wanted to see the fjords of Norway and see a little bit of Sweden. So instead of flying somewhere warm like normal people, we headed north for an experience we would never forget.

From Belgium we flew to Olso, the capital of Norway with the intention of then taking a night train to the tiny hamlet of Myrdal where we would being our journey towards the famous and scenic Norwegian fjords. The flight from Brussels was rather uneventful and after two hours the plane touched down at snowy Oslo Rygge airport. Expecting a cold blast of Arctic air upon stepping out of the plane, we were instead welcomed by temperatures similar to what one might find back home in Indiana in early January. I felt right at home, other than the fact that I was in Norway where everyone is named something like Asbjørn or Gunnvor and a can of Coca-Cola cost three times what it does back home.

After an hour long bus ride from the airport into central Oslo, we made our way to the train station and boarded the night train that would take us into the heart of Norway and closer to the much talked about fjording adventure we would partake in the following morning. The train itself was much nicer than anything I had ridden on up to that point. The train cars had incredibly comfortable, reclining seats in a very spacious and quiet interior. They know how to travel in style in Norway. The ride went by fast and before we knew it the conductor told us we were at the Myrdal station and that it was time to get off the train. It was somewhere around 5:15am.

I knew from trip research that Myrdal was small, but I was surprised to find out how small it actually was when the train abandoned us (we were the only ones that got off the train) at the equally abandoned station in the cold early morning hours. I thought Myrdal would at least be a town. One could hardly call it that. The town was composed of three houses, the train station (which didn't have anybody actually working there during the winter months) and a gigantic mountain. The train to the fjords left at 9:40am so for the time being we were stuck. Luckily, the station had a heated waiting room, so we went inside and proceeded to fall asleep until it was time to catch the train once the sun finally came up.

The trip to the fjords was just as scenic as seeing the fjords themselves. The train that goes from Myrdal to the town of Flåm at the end of the Aurslandfjord is considered one of the most scenic rail lines in the world along with one of the steepest climbs of any railway anywhere. We hopped aboard and spent 40 minutes traversing some of the most beautiful scenery I have ever laid eyes on. Everywhere you looked there were tall, jagged mountains, deep valleys, frozen waterfalls, and lonely homesteads. The only thing that would pull your face away from the windows were the interment pitch black tunnels that came up ever so often along the way. After starting the journey at over 2000 feet above sea level, the train pulled into the town of Flåm just a meter or two above sea level. We had finally arrived at the fjords are would soon be greeted with some of the most breathtaking scenery one will ever witness.

Incredible reflections on the water

The few hours we spent in Flåm were like a step into some other world. The water was crystal clear and calm offering incredible reflections. It was also extremely quiet. Flåm itself only has a couple hundred residents and during the winter very few tourists come to visit. Beyond the occasional car passing by or baaing sheep , it was totally silent. It's difficult to describe what a trip to the fjords is like. The combination of the calm waters, steep peaks of mountains rising in every direction, and church-like quiet is something I had never experienced before. It is truly unlike anything else out there. The trip to the fjords has to be one of the most unique things I've ever done in my life.

The Aurslandfjord

The rest of my Scandinavian adventure went by in a flash of light. Literally. By the time we left the fjords around 3pm the sun was already beginning the set. We took a train from Myrdal to Bergen, Norway's second largest city, where we planned on spending the night before traveling to Stockholm, Sweden. We arrive in rainy (yes, rainy) Bergen a little after 5pm. It had already been dark for well over an hour. We got a nice seafood dinner, and then went to bed. The next morning, still in the dark we head to the Bergen airport, caught a plane to Oslo and then a connecting flight to Stockholm. By the time we reached Stockholm, it was already after noon and would only had about 3 hours of sunlight to explore Sweden's capital before night set in once again.

Stockholm was another beautiful city. Although I only got to see it during the day for a couple of hours, I still found it to be a wonderful place. It was incredible how much water was everywhere. Channels and inlets dotted the landscape in every direction. The central, historic part of the city was actually on an island. We made good use of those three hours of sunlight, traversing a good portion of the central city and took some time to walk up one of the hills to get a good very of the city from above. Before long, the sun set and thus ended my time in Scandinavia. I was off to Germany for a second time in the morning.

A view of snowy Stockholm

Even after spending a week in Germany during the first half of the break, I was excited to go back because I was going to have a totally new experience. I was going to spend a weekend with Germans and stay in a German household. In a long story made short, my friend Andy and I had met a group of Germans students staying at the same hotel as us on their class trip to Rome during the Fall Semester and they invited us to come visit during Christmas Break. We took them up on the offer and made plans to visit them in their hometown of Augsburg, an hour or so northwest of Munich.

I flew from Stockholm to London and from there to the town of Memmingen, which has one of the smallest airport terminals I have ever seen. It made South Bend Regional Airport look more like O'Hare. I've been in a Walgreen's that was bigger than the Memmingen terminal building. I took a bus from Memmingen to Augsburg and met up with Andy and the Germans outside the main train station. Thus began an epic weekend that would see me ride a bike since the first time since the summer, experience the life of a normal German teenager, eat some good food, and see some pretty cool stuff.

After seeing the sights in Augsburg, we spent our final day with the Germans by taking a day trip to Schloss Neuschwanstein. I had already visited the famous Bavarian castle on the first leg of my Christmas Break, but I was very glad to go back because this would be a very different experience that before. It was a clear, cool day this time around, whereas when I visited a few weeks earlier everything was covered in a foot of snow, visibility was poor, and it was freezing cold. We decided to forgo going inside the castle, deciding to be daring, ignored a sign reading"trail closed" and made our way up to the Marienbrücke, a bridge overlooking the castle that offers the best view of the castle. The path leading up to the bridge is usually closed during the winter but there was no one around to enforce it so went anyway. Sure it was icy but it wasn't anything hazardous or life threatening. The hike was well worth it. The picture below proves it.

Worth it.

We then went down another closed path that followed the stream that flowed through the valley beneath the castle. It was a little more difficult to traverse but the beauty was something we couldn't pass up.

Waterfall beneath the Marienbrücke

Like all good things, our weekend in Augsburg had to come to an end and on Monday morning we caught a train to Salzburg to begin a short forray in Austria. Salzburg, famously known for being the home of Mozart among other things, was a little bit disappointing mainly because we got unlucky with the weather. Salzburg is a beautiful city but a lot of its beauty can only be experienced in the summer. All of the gorgeous baroque fountains in its various squares were covered up to protect them from the rain and snow. The trees on the hillsides were bare and everything seemed gray. It was rainy and foggy the entire time I was in Salzburg proving that even beautiful architecture can't brighten up a gray and rainy day.

After Salzburg, spending a couple days in Vienna was a pleasant change. The weather improved a great deal and the sun finally decided to come out for a change. Exploring the architectural treasure trove of Vienna and appreicating all there is to offer takes way more than the two days we spent there. I was surprised by the sheer amount of architectural gems Vienna had to offer. Every corner of the city had something to offer. The cathedral, the town hall, the opera house, and plenty of other churches spread through the city we all gorgeous. Vienna was one of the cities I would have really enjoyed spending more time in, mainly because there was so much to see, but it my blitz trip around Europe there was always something else to see. After two good days in Vienna, I hopped on a bus and continued on my way, this time going towards the Czech Republic.

I found myself back in Prague yet again, but even though I had been there only a week or so earlier I still had quite a bit to see. It had been a really cold Christmas Day when I was in Prague for the first time. A lot of the sights were closed and it was not a whole lot of fun being outside in the cold and wind. This time around, the weather was much nicer and everything that I hadn't seen yet was open to visit. The main thing that I hadn't explored in Prague was the Castle that sits upon the top of the hill on the far side of the river. I had certainly seen it (it dominates the city) during my first visit but I hadn't actually gone up the hill to see the Cathedral and various palaces that make up the entire complex.

The Prague Cathedral was one of the most expansive churches I had been in so far. I had been in bigger ones, but other that St. Peter's and some of the larger churches in Rome, it had the most stuff worth seeing inside of it. There were well over a dozen side chapels full of beautiful paintings, sculptures, and various other pieces of artwork. The uses of stained glass was extensive and the panes were some of the largest I had seen yet. I also enjoyed exploring the various palaces surrounding the Cathedral, especially the highly elaborate reception and banquet halls decked out in all sorts of tapestries and other gorgeous decorative elements.

The nave of Prague Cathedral

After Prague came one of the more emotionally difficult experiences I've ever had in my life. We decided as part of spending the final weekend of our break in Poland to take a trip the the infamous concentration camp at Auschwitz. We originally arrived in Krakow and then took a minibus out to Auschwitz. People will tell you that a trip to Auschwitz is a very difficult and even painful experience, but it is well worth it just to experience and get a first hand look at what atrocities mankind is sadly capable of and remember those who lost their lives because of it.

We spent a good five hours walking around the grounds of two of the three parts of the camp. The first part, the original camp built at the beginning of the war, contained the museum full of many shocking exhibits while the second part was the semi-preserved remains of the Auschwitz-Birkenau camp that was built a few years later and contained a vast majority of the housing and the horrible gas chambers. It was a eye opening experience to walk the same upon the same ground that some one million Jews walked for the last time before being systemically exterminated. It was incredible to think how mankind has the ability to be so cruel. The feeling you get on those hallowed grounds is something you can only experience through a visit. All I can say is that I will never think about the Holocaust in the same light ever again.

Somethings cannot be described by words

I then spent the next day and a half back in Krakow exploring its many churches and other beautiful architectural sites. Krakow has a historical center, like many of the other cities, contained within the old walls along with a pretty amazing castle on a hill that overlooks the city. Supposedly, there are dragon's bones stowed away in a cave system beneath the castle. You can go into the caves, but unfortunately for us they are closed during the winter months. It would have been interesting to go spelunking but just getting to see the castle was a treat enough. It had diverse architectural styles ranging from Gothic, to Renaissance, to Baroque throughout its many different buildings including the Cathedral where John Paul II served as a bishop before eventually becoming Pope.

Krakow was another city I could have spent a couple of more days in but the first day of classes of the second semester was looming closer and I still had one more city to check off my list before heading back to Rome.

Warsaw, Poland was probably the biggest surprise for me on my various travels. I really didn't know what to expect when I went to Warsaw. I didn't know much about its architecture other than that fact it was home to the Palace of Culture and Science, a Cold War era skyscraper I had seen a few times in books and such. I could only speculate and hope it would be a city worth visiting.

Upon arrival, I half expected to find a depressed, ramshackle shell of a city that had suffered through years of hardship, war, and charging political ties. Instead, I found a city on the move with plenty of new development along with the rebirth of its former historic center. Surrounding the Palace of Culture and Science were half a dozen modern skyscrapers in what had become a very properous looking business district, including the incredible Złote Tarasy mall, one of the first ultra-modern buildings that I have really found architecturally pleasing. It was one of the more innovative and interesting buildings I have been in and added to the many pleasant surprises I kept finding all over Warsaw.

Złote Tarasy Mall

Something else I wasn't expecting to find was a well preserved and redeveloped old town. Most people see Warsaw as a very stereotypical Eastern Bloc city with tall, plain concrete apartment blocks along expansive boulevards. There are certain parts of the city that definitely fit the stereotype but as I discovered there is a part of the city that has been painstaking preserved and restored to the way it originally was, a sort of time capsule to see the city as it looked prior to World War II and the era of Socialism. The Old Town, including the Cathedral, opera house, royal palace, and other traditionally styled buildings, totally contrasted with the rest of the city. Whereas most districts redeveloped in the late 1940s and 1950s contain huge apartment blocks and heavy traffic, the Old Town was much more compact, pedestrian friendly, along with a high diversity in both housing, businesses, and various public buildings. I enjoyed myself immensely as I walk through this wonderful section of Warsaw.

By this point I was throughly tired of traveling and was excited to get back to Rome. After living out of a backpack for the better part of a month, I was finally heading back to Italy for yet another semester of study. I thoroughly enjoyed my travels throughout Europe and saw plenty of places I never thought I would find myself in. The architecture was incredible, the food was exceptional, and the experiences will stay with me for a life time. There is so much out there for one to see, and it is amazing to think that I saw such a great deal of it during my Christmas Break.

Chirstmas Break: Part One

In a flurry of activity I finished up my finals, packed my bags, and set off on a two week free-for-all that saw me travel through parts of six different countries, change languages five times, and switch currencies three times. I slept in a different place almost every night and took a lot of train journeys, even by European standards. It was an incredible experience, and I enjoyed getting to see a lot of different places, eat incredible food, and meet some pretty interesting people along the way. The best part about it, though, is the fact this was only the first half of my journey. Part two is coming up next...

December 15 - December 19: Munich, Germany

I didn't wait long to start my journey. On the 15th, I finished my last final at noon and was on a night train from Rome to Munich by 7pm. What an experience it is to fall asleep on a train in Italy and wake up the next morning in Germany, even if it isn't the most comfortable ride ever. After a long night on the train, we arrived in Munich early on the morning of the 16th, dropped our bags off at our hostel and went out to explore a place I've been waiting to see for many years.

Munich is a beautiful city to visit, even in the dead of winter. Known for its shady beer gardens and parks, the rustic charm of its historic city center, and the many entertaining beer halls, Munich had a wide variety of things to see and do that for the most part can be experienced year round. Of course, the beer gardens were all under a foot of snow, but that didn't stop us from having a good time.

The major streets and squares, as we would find in many of the cities in Germany, had been turned into vibrant and expansive Christmas Markets selling everything from the standard yet delicious bratwurst to little handmade trinkets for the kids. We spent hours wandering the markets, sampling the different food, and just enjoying the general atmosphere. It was great to mingle amongst the locals and see what great German culture and wares were right before our eyes.

Munich's town hall and the Chirstmas market below

The architecture of Munich was equally enjoyable, especially the churches. There was a spattering of architectural styles ranging from Gothic, vernacular wooden structures, to the breathtaking Baroque. I particularly enjoyed the many Baroque churches in the city center. The exterior of these churches were nowhere near as ornate as some of the facades that exist in places like Rome but the interior decoration is something rather different and extraordinary. The ceilings were painted with incredible frescoes and had the most detailed plasterwork you've ever seen. White and bright pastels reign supreme and the altars were accented with lots of gold leaf and beautiful sculpture. It was incredible to see just how much went into creating such beautiful structures.

The Interior of Alter Peter, a beautiful church right in the center of Munich

In the four days I spent in Munich, I got a chance to explore a lot of the city, seeing many of the outlying architecturally interesting structures including Allianz Arena, built for the 2006 World Cup and now home to the Bayern München soccer team, and the groundbreaking Olympic Park and Stadium that were built to host the 1972 Summer Olympics. Both were fairly revolutionary when they were built, especially the Olympic Park. Even 40 years after its construction, its radical cable-stayed acrylic roofing stuctures was something worth seeing.

We also took a day trip to see the ever famous Schloss Neuschwanstein, one of the worlds most recognizable castles. After a two hour train ride, we arrived at the foot of the Alps in the town of Füssen and after a short bus ride and a walk up a hill we found ourselves right below the castle. The castle, built by King Ludwig II in the latter half of the 19th century, sits on top of a low mountain overlooking the sweeping valley below. It truly was a fairy tale castle in every sense, and was built to be just that, majestically set in some of the world's most beautiful scenery. The inside was equally amazing, but unfortunately I couldn't take any pictures because every view inside the castle is copyrighted by the Bavarian government. We were especially luckily because we got to see the castle and surrounding mountains covered by the fresh snow that continued to fall throughout the day.

It was simply breathtaking to see in the snow

Munich was a great first place to go on my travels. I got to see a lot of great architecture, famous sights, and experience what makes Germany such a fascinating and interesting country to visit.

December 20-21: Cologne, Germany

After another night train journey, I found myself in Cologne in the industrial northwest of Germany. At 7:00am, groggy and tired from a rather uncomfortable night on the train I emerged from the train station to see this right in front of my eyes:

Welcome to Cologne!

The sight of the Cologne Cathedral immediately woke me up and threw me into full fledged architecture mode. I wanted to go see the cathedral and go explore the rest of the city right then and there, but it was still too early in the morning. It was only 7:00am. So, we instead checked in at the hostel, got in a quick nap, and then set off to see what architecture Cologne had in store for us.

The cathedral is obviously the most well known architectural feature of the city, dominating the skyline at 516 feet tall. We spent a good two hours exploring it from top to bottom, seeing everything from the crypt underneath, the main church, the various side chapels, and finally the top of the bell tower. The interior of the church simple soars upwards, making one feel rather insignificant against the massive columns and gigantic stained glass panels.

Climbing the tower was an experience within itself. Like the Duomo in Florence or the bell tower of the city hall in Siena, one has to climb up a winding spiral staircase deep within the structure. It seemed to go upwards forever, but eventually it came out onto what I assumed was the highest level, but it wasn't even close. At that point, we had to climb up a set of metal stairs another 80 feet or so to reach the final level just below when the towers start to taper inwards towards the final spire. The views from the top were incredible. You could see for miles in every direction.

I can see the Netherlands from here!

We spent the rest of our time in Cologne exploring the many beautiful Romanesque churches and multiple Christmas markets spread throughout the city. Many of the churches had been bombed during World War II and had been either partially or completely reconstructed within the last few decades. Some of the renovations were rather crude, but most did a good job to preserve and imitate the original prewar structures.

December 22-23: Berlin, Germany

Getting to Berlin was just as much of an experience as the time spent in the city. We took yet another night train to Berlin from Cologne; however, to the dismay of us and about 40 other people, the car we were supposed to be in was for some reason not on the train. They flat out forgot to put our car on the train. So, after about 90 minutes of standing around in a corridor of a sleeper car the conductors figured things out and sent us down to the other end of the train were there were luckily a couple of open seats in some of the cars.

After the interesting transportation mishap and another long train ride through the night we arrived at Berlin's central station and ended up sitting around in the station's Burger King waiting for the sun to come up. Once it got light outside, we left the station, caught a bus to our hostel, and then went out to explore Berlin.

Berlin was much different than the other cities we had been to so far. It didn't have the old world charm of the inner districts of Cologne or Munich. It certain felt much more eastern European, which makes sense since the Berlin, apart from its western half, was under the Soviet sphere of influence during the Cold War years, creating a lot of very gray and dull architecture that even after the fall of Communism still exists throughout much of the city.

Although, there was a lot more bloc architecture in Berlin than in other places, it still had a lot of beautiful buildings within the historic Mitte district including some beautiful churches, museums, and other civic buildings. The most striking was the Berliner Dom, a very beautiful church capped with a soaring dome. The detailing and tectonics of it were just incredible. Any architecture major like me would have a field day just trying to take all of it in. Inside and out, it was extremely ornate, and I think it was probably my favorite church, architecturally speaking, that I saw in Germany.

The beautifully articulated Berliner Dom

Berlin was a yet another great city to visit. It was rather different than Cologne and Munich but still had the expansive Christmas markets, beautiful churches, and great food that I seemed to find all over Germany.

December 24: Dresden, Germany

The last stop I made in Germany was the city of Dresden, a couple of hours south of Berlin near the border between Germany and the Czech Republic. Dresden was home the Royal Palaces of Saxony, but is most famously known nowadays for being nearly completely destroyed by Allied bombing during WWII. After considerable reconstruction that is still on going throughout the city today, many of the damaged structures have been returned to their former glory and have once again have made Dresden an architectural gem worth seeing.

I was unfortunate, as I very quickly discovered, to visit Dresden on the one day where everything closes early, Christmas Eve. I can understand stores and restaurants closing around 6 or 7pm like they do back home, but I wasn't expecting the entire town to shut down by 2pm. The Christmas markets, all the stores, and all the museums and monuments worth visiting, and even the McDonalds all shut down right in the middle of the afternoon. So, I ended up spending my Christmas Eve walking to and fro looking at all the architecture in the cold and snowy twilight.

My only real relief from the snow and the wind was attending Midnight Mass at Dresden's cathedral, the Hofkirche. It was originally built as the main church for the Saxon royals who lived in the palace right next door. It has a beautiful stone Baroque facade and is covered with dozens of small statues and other interesting elements. The inside of the church was equally as impressive and had a lot of similarites with many of the Baroque churches that I saw while in Munich. The Mass was celebrated by the Bishop of Dresden, and concluded with the singing of Silent Night, of course, in German.

The Hofkirche on Chirstmas Eve

I had a long day of walking here and there and everywhere while in Dresden but really enjoyed getting to see a lot of beautiful architecture. I especially enjoyed the fact that many of the architectural wonders, such as the Frauenkirche and the Semperoper, both of which were piles of rubble after the bombings, were completely rebuilt only a decade or two ago. I'd love to go back to Dresden at some point, not only to see more of the architecture, but also to see what it is like when everything isn't shut down.

December 25-26: Prague, Czech Republic

While the rest of the Europe opened presents on Christmas morning, I took a train from Dresden to Prague. The transition between Prague and Dresden was much more dramatic than the other legs of my journey, even it was the shortest distance I had traveled so far. I went from Italy, where I understand some of the language, to Germany, where I understand most of the language, to the Czech Republic where I understand none of the language. I definitely knew I wasn't in Kansas anymore when I got off the train and saw advertisements on the walls and couldn't understand a single word. Luckily, all the people I had to interact with spoke at least a little English and I was able to get by.

Prague itself is a very beautiful city and has plenty of architecture to see, much of it related to the town's position as a capital both now and in past times. Castles, beautiful Gothic churches, along with a bunch of Baroque, Renaissance, and Greek Neoclassical are spread throughout the city. I spent a day and a half walking around Prague, even though the wind chills fell into the single digits while I was there. Even with my fingers and ears numb with cold, I enjoyed the countless hours I spent on Chirstmas Day seeing all that Prague had to offer.

I was saddened to find Prague a lot more touristy than the other cities I had been in thus far. Many of the churches I would have liked to go see were closed down for the day in order to sell tickets starting around $20 for hour long evening concerts. I didn't go to any restaurants because most seemed like those in Rome that try to coerce people to coming inside for a meal with "specials" that probably aren't all that special. I ended up just buying food at a supermarket and having a relaxing meal back at the warm hostel.

I'm heading back to Prague during the second part of my Christmas Break. Hopefully, the weather cooperates a bit more while I am there and I can see even more of a city that I feel I barely scratched the surface.

December 27: Bratislava, Slovakia

For anyone who has even seen the movie EuroTrip, Bratislava has a bad wrap among a lot of people. The movie portrays Bratislava as a dumpy remnant of the Eastern Bloc, full of derelict buildings and lots of poverty. Nothing could be no farther from the truth. Sure, there were the random abandon buildings here and there, but Bratislava was a beautiful, thriving city with a pleasant mixture of old and new that made for an overall pleasant stop over between Prague and Budapest.

My favorite thing in the city was Bratislava Castle, perched high above on a hill along the Danube. It affords beautiful views of the city below, the river, and the surrounding hills and countryside. The castle itself wasn't anything over the top but had quite a bit of historical significance. It was said to the be the childhood home of St. Elizabeth of Hungary.

A statue of St. Elizabeth of Hungary in front of Bratislava Castle

The rest of the city was dotted with plenty of churches and other important civic buildings including a couple of beautiful theaters and the ornate presidental palace (Bratislava is the capital of Slovakia). There was also a mix of modern architecture, including a very interesting cable-stayed bridge that had a restaurant on top of its one tower that has a striking resemblance to a UFO.

I was really glad I decided to go to Bratislava. It was a beautiful city off the beaten path that had all the architectural stuff I like to see with a little bit of a Slovakian twist. I can also be the first kid on my block to say I've been to Slovakia.

December 28-29: Budapest, Hungary

The final stop on my first round of travel was Budapest. I switched things up and took a bus to Budapest instead of a train. Budapest is only about two and half hours from Bratislava so it wasn't too bad of a bus ride at all.

My time in Hungary got off to a rough start. It all started when I couldn't get any money out of the ATM at the bus station. Hungary unlike most the places I went to isn't on the Euro, so I had to get some Hungarian Forints before I could do anything. To my dismay the ATM at the bus station either wasn't working right or didn't have any currency in it so for the time being I was stuck on the outskirts 5 miles from the city center without the right currency. I ended up walking about half a mile towards Budapest before I came upon the next ATM. Luckily, I was able to get some money out of this one. I got 15,000 forints. It seems like a lot of money but when the conversion rate is about 210 forints per US dollar that puts things in perspective.

My troubles didn't stop there. After taking the subway the rest of the way into the city, I had some difficulty finding my hostel. First I walked in the wrong direction and ended up having to back track. Eventually, I found the street my hostel was on but couldn't find it anywhere along the street. That was when my luck turned around completely. The guy running the hostel I was staying in just happened to be passing by on his bike, directed me in the right direction (the entrance was actually on a side street), and got me all checked in right then and there. I was then free to explore Budapest for the next two days.

Budapest really is a tale of two cities. Buda and Pest used to be two separate cities on opposite sides of the Danube before unifying as one city in the 1870s. Buda is very hilly while Pest is flat. Each side of the city had different things to offer and over the course of my time there I got to see quite a bit of both sides.

The beautiful Chain Bridge that connects Buda and Pest

The architecture of Budapest was a lot more beautiful and diverse than I expected it would have been. I had heard of a couple of its more famous buildings such as the Hungarian Parliament before, but there were many I had not heard of that blew me away. The Buda side had some incredible structures that I was not familiar with including the Matthias Church and the nearby Fishermen's Bastion.

The Matthias Church is a gorgeous Gothic church with a bit of Byzantine mixed in. A lot of the buildings in Budapest had a mix between Eastern and Western styles due to its geographic position. This mix created a lot of very interesting buildings. The exterior of the Matthais church was very Gothic while the interior could have belonged to a church in Greece or something in Turkey dating from the Byzantine Empire. The mixing of styles made for some beautiful architecture unlike anything I'd seen yet. The Fishermen's Bastion is a castle like "fortification" at the base of the Matthias Church that runs along the edge of the hill. The Bastion itself is beautifully articulated with towers and arched openings but the views over the rooftops of Buda look towards the river and Pest are what really put the icing on the cake.

A view of the Matthias Church from the Fishermen's Bastion


The Hungarian Parliament from the Fishermen's Bastion

Budapest was probably my favorite city I visited on this round of travel. The main reason being that I was surprised to find a lot more architectural beauty there than I was anticipating. It seemed everywhere I went there was a different beautiful building to look at. A pleasant surprise to end a great two weeks of traveling, for sure.

I headed back to Rome late on the night of the 29th to rest up and get ready for round two...