the beginning of the trip probably set the tone of the trip though. good thing it didn't ruin it. the day i had to fly out, i had to run my way to the train station for me not to miss my train to Bologna. i even had no time to buy a ticket. good thing i had a spare 30km ticket which i got from the couple i met during my trip to Stockholm. the30 km was not sufficient until Bologna. but i was lucky that they checked only once and it was before the 30km mark.
so...
Bologna to Bratislava, Slovakia
Bratislava was just really boring. the only thing i think it has it going for it is that its cheap. then again, i was there for only half a day. my bus ride from the airport through the town to the train station was enough for me to decide that i wanted that train to Budapest as soon as possible. the underdevelopment of the city plus the rude people i en
countered did not help with the image. but as i always say, it is only my account. i may just have been unlucky. i also had the movie, Hostel, in my head. a lot of shady looking people were walking around. even the meat i had on my sandwich i had to doubt. paranoia. haha. i was just scaring myself.
Bratislava to Budapest, Hungary
the train ride was cool. the carriage itself was very beautiful and clean. took a little longer than i expected but it was really no hassle. i had only two nights in Budapest but i had two hosts. i guess it wasn't enough to get to know my hosts with that amount of time. they were both very nice though.
Budapest! the city is very beautiful. it was sad that i couldn't go to a bath though. supposedly the first thing one should do. it was a bit rainy and the pictures did not come out as i wanted them to be but well, what can you do. oh yeah, travel tip insert: luggage lockers can be found in West End. 50 hungarian koronas for the whole day. way cheaper than the ones in the train station. this also happened in Amsterdam. so, malls are a good place to seek luggage lockers!Budapest to Vienna, Austria
for this one, i had to take the train to Bratislava first then take another train to Vienna. i could've gotten one straight but with what i did it was cheaper. although, my plan was to get the bus from the airport which would have been cheaper but i was too tired. anyway, i arrived and it was really windy and cold! the packing i did was not enough! took the metros and trams correctly to Katharina's place and spent two nights at her place! her place was beautiful and is well connected with the transportation systems. walked around and explored the next day. the city is very beautfiul! too beautiful for me. it seemed very touristy in a way that it is very clean and well-kept. a nice place to visit.Vienna to Prague, Czech Republic
took the train from Vienna to Prague with a special price ticket i bought months before. it was way cheaper and im glad i took advantage of the promo. i still dont get how they make money with all the fee seats. the price of a ride must really be nothing if that is the case and all the prices they have is already a big profit. anyway, Prague is a fairytale city! the spires and all that jutting out of the skyline. the castles, towers and all those things were just so much like the ones from Disney movies. down factor was, since it was Easter weekend, i had to be pushing my way through the streets with all the tourists plaguing the city. did the sandeman's tour yet again. and for me, it really is worth the time. you get to learn so much that you normally wouldn't learn getting lost on your own.another thing i learned is to have a ready excuse for ticket inspectors when they suddenly get off their lazy asses and hassle tons of passengers who travel black! or be ready to pay the fine. needless to say, i got fined here in prague. 30 effin euros! and honestly, i really didn't care much in buying a ticket before that but for that specific one, i thought i should but heard the train coming and thought it might be the last trip and decided to make a run for it instead of buying a ticket! and boom, fined! i begged and pretended i dropped it but the checker was ruthless. oh well. the next day, i bought my ticket for the 24 hours i had left in prague and lo and behold, no one checked me when i had it.
Prague to Berlin, Germany
Brandenburg Gate
Jewish Memorial
TV tower in Alexanderplatz
Berlin wall..East Side Gallery
DZ Bank
Street Performer
the train was 5 hours late that the next scheduled train to Berlin came before the one i was planning to take. lost a few hours because of that. but its okay. i had 6 days of Berlin ahead of me anyway. But no. For Berlin, it's not enough. Berlin is already my second best city. First of course is my beloved, Stockholm. There's no particular thing about it but the vibe of the place itself just won me over. It's the 'new' New York. the place was so artsy with all the young people who breathed of style and artistic energies. the only thing is that there constantly were not so friendly Germans but i guess they were mostly the older generation ones. for this one, i'm not alone in this observation. no matter what though, i love the city nonetheless.
did another set of sandeman's tour here. learned a lot again. the topic of the holocaust enraged me yet again. i have not shared within this blog how since ive gone to europe, and watched so many movies about it, the historical events in this part of the world during the second world war became known to me more. i don't know with other students back home but i always just knew about the Japanese and all that during the 2nd world war. i guess we were too far and that in history classes, this part of the world was not really focused on as much. anyway, all these horrific events during the WW2 and then the Iron curtain was pretty much concentrated on the areas of Berlin. to me, it is amazing how the city rose up, how the country recovered from the blows it took. i see why Gio is always on about Germany though i am not sure if we have the same reasons but im guessing it is. here is what i would say the biggest difference between NY and Berlin. Berlin has all these things behind it. All the history makes it all the more impressive.though New York is New York.
if there are only so many cities you can visit in Europe, make sure one of them is Berlin. fyi, my best cities are based on if i can live in them and if i would love living in it. i.e. Vienna is beautiful but living in it would be too much for me, i suppose. then again, can't really say for sure til i try yeah.it was pretty easy to get to Schonefeld Airport in Berlin. it just took so long when i arrived in Milan when i had to wait 6 hours for my train back to Padova. i met two of the Harlem Globetrotters though plus their manager. though, it wasnt really much of a big deal since i'm really no fan.
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i feel bad for the other cities i still haven't written about here! need to get off this laaazyy phase.
just heard of some people who have been on this blog. sorry for the mess! buuuut it'd be cool if you can comment! hehe.
til next time! im still glad i did not book any trips for the end of april because the Icelandic Volcano eruption is just stressing the travellers! the plane riders have now opted to be train riders and have booked so many of these trains out (Eyjafjallajokull is the name of the volcano, say it with me now...)
Couchsurfing for the win! yet again! i was so sure i was going to be paying a lot for hostels during this trip but no! for budapest, someone answered my emergency request. before leaving for vienna, i left an emergency request for Prague and got an answer once i arrived in vienna. and in Prague, sent an emergency request as well for Berlin and got a reply instantly! the site really is a big help. it restores my faith in humanity. to some extent. haha.
goes and wanders
