Behind the former iron curtain HUF 3

Well i know that my Hungarian post has taken a lot of time here but i will try to finish it in this post.

Let me first apologise for not posting much over the last month.Work and general life has taken a lot out of me .2008 was a great year in terms of Travelling and my professional progress but in terms of life in general It seems like something is missing.If i get that missing thing or not only 09 can tell.

Back to my travels which y u are here . Next day left Satako after an early start headed of to see the Gellert Hill,Castel hill(Buda castel) among other attraction .As i have said in my earlier posts I do stress Budapest is a very underrated city which is rapidly turning into a stag party destination .So see it before the It get taken over by drunk people.

views from the Castle are absolutely breath taking and the view of the city with the Danube dividing is really magnificent.Rite out of a bond movie , really

Back to the streets i wanted to get to a eat as much as u like restaurant .My sweet friend from France had mentioned about this restaurant where form about £12 u could have all the food u want plus Wine .That sounded like an offer that i couldn't refuse .

There was a problem all i knew was this restaurant was near Margret Island .This Island is in between sort of Buda and pest part of town divided by the Danube. All kinds of Motorised transport are banned . Very calm and serene atmosphere were i could see Joggers go about Used this time to have a bit of U time . And catch up with my diary on all the travelling that i had done. Had to get it up to date ehh and got my stomach ready for the feast without even knowing where the restaurant was .

After a bit of walking and just lazing around in the Sun .These are the moment when u fell bad about travelling alone!!! I headed out to find the restaurant .Nevertheless at the end of the bridge i could see a place

Went in and i was not served becs they taught i was waiting for somebody!!!!!! then it started from Wine and Goulash to shark ,Deer,Goat,Cat fish etc etc .I am not joking ate there for nearly 2.hours. The food was brilliant and the Wine was good .What more can u ask for ehhhhh....

Andressy station which is one of the oldest metro lines in Hungary .A change in this cute station




Szechenyi bath
This Bath has a lot of pools at different temp so u get in the warm bath and switch to a warmer one and then the warmest of them all and then cold bath at our 12 C and head out to the Sauna.

Want to know how i know this well after chatting with some Hungarians ofcourse, Made it to the hostel and headed out to see Gellerts hill in all its glory under lights and I was blown away .Its one of the best cities under light after meeting some americans and a couple of drinks later it was time to go to bed

Bhu- dha-Pessth under lights

Buda Parliment

Behind the former Iron Curtain - HUF

Szia (hi in Hungarian)

But to say that i had to be Hungary First i came to the Westbhanhoff station with 15 mins to spare before the train took off.As usual prayed that there was no one at the counter, it took me 5 mins and i ran to the Platform saying to myself as always that i wouldn't do it again.This time i had secreatly fulfilled my wish of travelling to another country without even having a ticket 5 mins before departure.

Ran into the train with my Donar kebab in hand tried to have it .Before i knew the train took off .I just tried to make some small talk with the gentleman in front me .Turned out he was a super friendly guy who when asked some questions in how to speak Hungarian, he filled me in on a lot of Hungarian history.

Next thing i know i could speak basic Hungarian and for the next 2 hrs courtesy Gabor .His travel mate listening our conversation appreciated that i tried to learn the language of the country i was travelling to he joined in too , Correction my pronunciation's.

We all had a drink together in the pantry car and approximately 3hrs passed on the blink of an eye .The train stopped momentarily which when these guys told me was tat i had officially entered the former iron curtain.

Around 10:30 the train pulled into the kelati station and i had to make my way to the hostel without any sort of map. I got some basic directions from Gabor who was kind enough to come to Blaha station just to make sure i was ok and the other guy bought me a ticket because i didn't have any Hungarian forients - can i expect a better welcome to this country .

OOH by the way Budapest is pronunced Bhu - Dha -Psst in Hungarian

And thus the journey began came into Aboriginal hostel - http://www.aboriginalhostel.com/
A small but OK hostel but the great thing was the people who ran it .Extremely helpful and would go out of the way to help us .Oh yeh and a great place to meet like minded travellers whats more free Internet and umbrella rental

Fresh day to start .Some facts - I know u can get more from google but here they are ,
Budapest is a combination of Buda and pest which is divided by river Danube and i was living with the Pest side . I was about to leave when i met a Japanese girl and we both decided to go to see the city together first stop Hungarian Parliament which was uber cool its a gloriously archietature.

parliment on the buda side i think

Opera Theater - Another glorious structure which i would have never gone if not for Satoko,Nevertheless it was wonderful inside seeing inside archieture done by using real gold leaf everyone including me could notice what gold can do and y people go crazy becs of it

After this it Terror Hoze .Most guide books miss this as its a museum where most of the details are in Hungarian but Gabor told me to visit it and its in my view a must see museum in Hungary becs it was a former headquaters of the Secret police in the Communist era and before that it was a part of the secret police in the hands of the Nazis.

Terror Hoze

Very brutal but real , its reality that's wht happened right .Its a shame its not in many tourists must visit but it should be

Chain bridge

Came home after a quick nap i went down to see the Danube in all its delight , well people say Paris is romantic and but this city has magic, Ok now it might not have the charm of Paris but this city is the dark house when it comes to the most well lit cities in the night.Seeing the chain bridge and the Danube in the night was something else but the Parliament under lights it was like icing on the cake.

Central europe - Austria

Was on a train back to the developed world .Heading to Wien (Vienna) needless to say the train arrived exact at 22:03 .Caught the tram and headed to Westbhanhoff station hostel west end which was a short 10 min walk from here.

Well the hostel was nice and clean plus a decent breakfast .But to my misfortune there was a large group of school children staying there as a part of their school trip but nevertheless. Woke up in them morning to take the sights and sounds of the city .

Beleverder garden
Spanish riding school
National museum

All very grand and very beautiful and clean.Vienna was beautiful to the core but somehow i preferred Prague well too organised too clean may be doest do for me on top of that every thing was really expensive so no more drinking games for me .

One thing i observed in Wien is the Glorious long legs,blue eyes and blond haired beautiful women .Talked to quiet few of them in the pretext of asking directions even tough clearly i was not lost :)

Well if u come here u shouldn't miss all the magnificent buildings and the National museum .For a guy who doesn't like visiting museums it was very impressive and spent a best part of half a day there.After more walk and some doner kebab later i ended up in Bar Chelsea

Next day quick breakfast i met a Austrian lady who had a done an epic journey from alaska trough Russia all the way to Ukraine well just using Trains .That's impressive just with a 50 liter backpack and a sleeping bag.

Got a lot of good tips from her and hopefully heading that way in some years .

This last day in Austria was the high lite of my time here .I was seeing the 2 classics of Austria

Schloss belvedere
Schönbrunn Palace

one of Wien's simple gardens and palaces

Both these palaces and gardens where impressive beyond my imagination.This place just ozzes with money and it shows in the kind of building they had .Grand huge and the garden looked out of this world .

Well pictures do more justice than words so have a look urself

From here i went on a trip on the personal front .I had heard about a place where the recycle waste in vienna which is apparently a hugely artistic .Went there out of my interest which was good but nothing worth mentioning i think .

ohh did i tell u i was travelling with a ticket that expired 6 hrs ago all this time !!! sorry didn't realise.Well my last journey i didn't want to take a chance so got a single ticket and a doner kebab
and headed out into the westbhanhoff back to my favorite part - the developing world

Hungary here i come

Behind the former Iron curtain - CZ

WOKE UP AT AROUND 6 30

Had to drag myself out of the bed to see the Sunrise at the Charles Bridge .Tough it was a bit of a disappointment becs of the cloudy weather the old town square and the Karluv most had very few people in it so it was a bit of a treat to have the place to myself.

Kutna Hora

Only Ossuary probably in the world to have the interior of the church decorated entirely of human bones .30,000 Human skull to honour the dead .Getting there meant me catching a train but i taught i could see the pissing statue and then get to the station , But in the process got lost terribly.So in the end travelled ticketless on 2 trams to Malostraska quick change at Muzeum arrived at Hlavni Nadazi (prounce it however u want)

Long Escalators on Prague Metro

10 :47 Am still running in the station to catch the train .I was praying that there would be no one at the counter ,by luck there was no one 171 Kc return and dashed of to the platform like a sprinter. Well all the jogging practice has come in handy now.


10:52 am on the train which i think is going there and 10:54 train departs Just in time again !!!!!


Got off met some random tourists who turned out to be really nice Americans on their year out.The Ossuary is called The Church of Bones

This is perfect example of when thy say Don't judge the book by its cover!!!.It looks like a perfectly Quent little church just as any but BUT the devil is certainly in the details .

Human bones can be used for decorations


Crest

This town was virtually wiped out because of plague which had about 30000 human bodies .When a half blind priest came up with the idea of decorating this church with Human bones joined together only with human bones!!!

Impressed is the least degree of adjective i can use to describe this place .I was amazed as to what a human bones can do when they are stacked up together!!

After this amazing tour walked around for a bit with some polish girls i found and saw some more beautiful church . Had to sadly leave the company of these lovely girls to catch the next train.This was another JIT story but i wont bore u with details but here is the brief run down

It happened becs i went to the Kutna hora city station rather than the main one where no one could speak english .But managed to get the ticket to get there so no problem

Dekuvee

Came back to Prague and Dashed of towards the Dancing building to meet my American travellers to do some Drinking .

Drinking Absinth and washing it with some Brown Budvar beer Well nothing can beat a good drink night ehhhh

Dancing Building

Absinth

Let me tell u this Absinth well i have never tasted such a vile stuff in my like .Ever with 2 Sachets of sugar it felt like i was burning my entire Intestine!!!!.Its banned every where in europe but legal in CZ (well the LSD content decides that) have to check this claim tough !!

Next day i woke early after the guy who was sleeping in the lower dorm was snoring like an elephant.

Visited the Tyn church , Astronomical clock went on top of the tower to get superb views of this wonderful city .All this time i am wondering all these years of communism there is one good thing that has come out of it .

They have preserved their unique artchieture , Quent houses and excellent hospitality to welcome people with open arms .

Altough now run down from large scale capitalism and Mac's its still a beautiful place to visit.
Next stop was the Castle hill and a St Vitnus Church which again was like a jewel in the crown very impressive sphires and the hills give u a great view of the city below

Looks like disney land (very magical and very nice)

My Time in Czech Republic was coming to an end

I had been in this country only few days but it had given me a taste of Eastern europe which i might or might not visit in the future.And certainly make me want to go there !!!!

Got on a Metro without tickets to get to my hostel to get on the train to Vienna(Wien).Dont ask me y i didnt buy a ticket call this stupidity or anything else i had laid my hands on 50 kronas and thats all i had so didnt want to waste on buying ticket on my last journey !!!!

Behind the former iron curtain - CZ

Ok here it goes

NO funny story with this one .It was lunch time and my manager came up to me and asked me if i had taken any holidays last 5months turns out i have not had a single day out !!!! How surprising lunch time i am on google .

A week later i have a cheap ticket to Prague (bmi baby) and flying out of Bratislava !! wht route could i possibly take .My complex mind evaluated all the possibilities faster than a P4 processor and told me this

Go to Prague - Budapest - Vienna - Bratislava ( fly out )

This was decided much before i had a look at the train schedules and journey time between them. Well chaos rules !!!!

As my wise uncle would put it "Get in the water only then will u learn to swim"

Ok rite let bring in some order , I am not that unorganised did check some train times and the travel plan changed slightly.

Prague - Kutna hora-Vienna-Budapest- Schentendre- Bratislava

11 days 3 major cities cant be that bad to catch in some local action as well i taught. So made a special emphasis to stay in Hungary for 4 days.

Whts more Hungary and Czech are cheap.

K packed up the night before i left .Only the first nights accomodation sorted 6 hrs before I flew.u guys must note that i am using this trip to measure my reaction reaction to compleatly unplanned trip to make my self ready for bigger things :) .
Tu as commence LA

Excitement kicked in so couldn't sleep a lot finally when i eventually dozed of to sleep it was time to get up . Ok Tea toast and run at 6:30 in the morning to catch a bus to the airport

As always Just in time Running and panting !!!!! Turns out the bus is late so i am saved .Made it to Prague without any major issues .Came out to take some sort of Bus to the city

Issue No 1 . All i had with me was around 2oo Krone note and the machine would only accept coins .32 Cz Krona for a single ticket!!

Was trying to figure out how to get change when i talked to a CZ guy and he paid for my ticket Whooooo ho wht at welcome made it to the metro station and then took a metro travelling ticket less and no with a luggage supplement (God knows wht would have happened if i was caught). Got of at a station called Muzeum walk to the hostel

Checked in a quick nap after i meet Gasper , more of him later.We talked a bit he told me he is working in Slovenia and here to visit his brother who is studying .I took this opportunity to invite him for a couple of drinks .... oh my brother knows a lot of places was his response, well rendezvous point confirmed i head into town.

Prague has a archieture unique to itself although now attacked by tourists hungry and hung over from the endless Stag parties what they probably miss is in my view one of the most unique ,Quint city in this world.Beauty as a word has its own definition here. The archieture is uniquely and impressively Gothic .

I was bowled over ,What an impressive city .Once the sun sets a unique Prague comes to life Step into the Mala Strana u are transformed in time to 16th century .The small cobbled street ,Quent little cafes and the Gas lights take u to a different era all together

Whts more Pilsner Urequelle - For those who don't know Pilsners taste awesome in CZ infact this is where it is from . Taught about having a proper CZ meal so pub ,Pilsner and pork it was

Roasted Pork neck and a Pivo sorted me out.
Back to the hostel where Mr Gasper was waiting with his brother and a friend .Quick round of intros and off we go for a nite out in town.

Sittiing in a Pub ordering pilsner where they are glad to come to your table and ask if u want more as soon as u finish a pint . Made me wonder how much i could have :) plus it was cheap about 60 P a pint

Plus these people where teaching me Czech as we were drinking !!! Bonus lol

Aparrently I had 5 and these guys had more and still as hard as a rock !! Man these guys knew how to drink.Next after a couple of fotographes we staggered off to another pub and another and i don't know

In the end peeed in full view of other people next to the Bus stop and headed of to another pub( i remember this)felt like i left a bit of myself in Prague lol .After this ,the details are a bit Hazy(becs i dont know) made it to the hostel allrite and slept like a log.

Woke up with a hang over headache (how surprising) off to see the sights again .Booked into to do an adventure activity and then off i went .The high risk adventure activity finished i came bak

Again out to see the Karluv Most,Namesti Republisky etc.

Got lost seeing all the local sights and music .

Next day it was time to go to Kutna Hora the place of a very interesting ossuary . Sad bye to my Slovenian friends and I headed out to catch the train

Pace of life

I go to London quiet a few time on average once a month lets say

Always i have observed the transition of a normal pace of life to a hyper one once we step out of the train.Don't know if its the aura of London or the people or the environment .
Something happens when u just step out of that cross country train in St Pancers reach the barriers, Cross over loads of french tourists for whom everything is on the wrong side now :) and try to get into the famous London Tube.

A few weeks ago i happened to go to St Pancers .Was walking in trough the passage when a child stated to imitate my busy walking style .I hadn't realised that my pace had changed Until He overtook me turned back and smiled .I smiled and realised that i was in no hurry to get to the meeting i had 1 hour but this city or the cities made me change my pace.

OR

I was just in sync with the city .

LONDON MAKES U RUN

Health and Hygene Part 1

Well this is off the topic of travel

A couple of days ago i went back on a trip trough the memory Lane .Part of the reason was becoming so health and safety consious working in Europe .

Just taught were are not so safety conceious in India and i was always proud that we were allowed to do what ever i wanted to do and allowed to take a lot of Risks.

Well I was right up there among all the high risk kids.Once upon a time when i was young

• Switching up some equipment in high speed in my uncles dentist chair and ran away


• Another high speed switch activated in my uncles press room and ran away when it started making strange noise.
  

For all those sorry sad asses who think that health and hygiene is not a part of our life in India here is a small jhalak(or incident) which explains all about it.

When I was a kid in the very early nineties on the way to school .Suppose u or ur blood friend (a very close friend) stepped on a puddle of mud,Dog shit ,Cow dung or on a rare occasion Elephant poo .We would all run away from him saying " Green pinch ".

He had to immediately touch something GREEN a leaf or if he couldnt find anything he would touch his Green Vein in ur arm and say Green touch . That's it !!

An invisible Gamma Rays would emerge from nowhere and completely and utterly sterilise him.He would be clean as a crystal to touch that's it we where not bothered about getting him cleaned .

Well tell me u people from the West do u have this concept or may be its unique to India where we find lots of cow and dung and we come up with a excuse to be close to ur blood friends even when they are literally in deep shit!!!!