Much of my first day consisted of aimless wandering (they typically do) and a whole lot of amazement in the amount of beauty and history this city has to offer. Within the past 15 years Budapest has become a more popular destination among tourists. In previous years the city had been occupied (first by the Nazi Germans and after by the Communist Soviets) and as a result of wars, uprisings and revolutions, much of the city had been destroyed. When the Hungarians regained their freedom, they started to rebuild and are now sharing their history and culture with the world.
After 4 full days in Budapest I can confidently say there was never a dull moment. There were so many different areas to explore, so many beautiful buildings to see and a lot of history to take in. My first 3 days were more centered around checking off the popular tourist sights (ie Chain Bridge, St. Stephan’s Cathedral, Heroes Square, Parliament, etc), experiencing life like a local (ie Easter markets, ruin pubs, etc.) and simply enjoying life (ie sitting in the parks soaking up the sunshine, watching the sunset along the Danube, etc). Since I'd spent so much of my time relaxing I figured it was time to put my brain to work. First with a walking tour of the city, centered around the communist past of Budapest, and then with a visit to the House of Terror museum. The building that houses the museum today once served as the headquarters for the Nazi government as well as the fascist Arrow Cross Party. It not only educates visitors about the double occupation, but also commemorates the victims of these atrocities. With the ousting of the communist regime being a part of Hungary's recent history, many of its residents still have a vivid memory of such times. The betrayal that took place between neighbors, friends and even family still haunts many Hungarians and is especially apparent between generations. My generation is the first to grow up in a liberated nation but unfortunately their government is still struggling to rid itself of corruption. I ended my trip with a stop at the famous baths of Budapest before continuing my relaxation in another history rich city. Time to go back in time...about 2000 years...Athens, Greece!
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The cheapest way to get from Kraków to Maribor (my next planned stop) was with a bus to Vienna, a bus to Graz and finally a car ride with an awesome friend who offered to pick me up in Graz. I don't want to get too ahead of myself though and potentially miss out on talking about one of my favorite countries, even if I was only there for 36 hours. The downside to taking the cheapest route...sleeping on an overnight bus from Kraków to Vienna. I got in at 5 am but luckily made a friend and decided to get some coffee in my blood stream before wandering the city. Turns out he actually studied abroad at CU for a semester when I was there! Once again, small world.
After starting my day like an Austrian, I met up with my fellow American traveler for some Vienna adventures. He and I met earlier in Geneva and both have different travel itineraries but they just so happen to overlap in 2 cities...Vienna and one of my later stops, Budapest. I sure won't say no to a good travel partner. We hit up most of the same sights I saw during Christmas but added in one I didn't have the chance to see: Schönbrunn Palace. We didn't have the time to go in (nor did we want to spend the money since once you've seen one palace, you've kind of seen them all) but we did wander the gardens and get a pretty spectacular free view of the city. Before I knew it, it was time to catch my second bus to Graz and meet up with ANOTHER American, my teammate from last season, Sarah! She's playing this season in Slovenia and with Graz only being a hop, skip and a jump away from Maribor we decided to meet up before heading across the border. I had already fallen in love with Austria but Graz solidified it for me. Gorgeous mountains, awesome architecture and best of all, sunshine! After about 2 weeks of cold, rainy weather a sunny day was definitely in order. We caught up over coffee and then enjoyed the sunshine from a mountain top view over the city. When we got to Maribor I got a good meal in me (aka giant bowl of veggies), did some laundry and crawled into bed for good nights sleep. Since Sarah is still in season she had practices and other team obligations but we were able to hang out between commitments. I even got to watch her team play (right now they're playing for the championship and going for their 3rd gold medal. Yep, my friend's a badass). Then we spent the entire Sunday (Easter!) just hanging out, drinking mimosas and eating fresh, home cooked meals. Good food, a beautiful city and some awesome company, I'd have to call this stop a success. And I can now tell you that I will be back to explore more of Slovenia (rail pass for Austria, Slovenia and Croatia next summer?). After recharging my batteries it was time to hit the road and head east....Budapest here I come! Lately I'm starting to realize how small this world is and while in Hamburg it got a little smaller. Coming home on Friday night (well Saturday morning), we got to talking with a guy on the metro--turns out he's from Poland (convenient)... more specifically he's from Kraków (super convenient) and is heading back there on Sunday (small world)...evening (getting smaller)...via easy jet (so small!). We were on the same flight! And that's how I got my tour guide for 2 days in Kraków :-D. After visiting Schindler's Factory for a history lesson (more like history overload), we met up for some lunch (zapikanka is probably my favorite polish food...bread baked with cheese and mushrooms topped with whatever you'd like) and a little tour around old town. Unfortunately the weather wasn't all that great (either raining or absolutely freezing the entire time I was there) but it was sure nice having a local take me around and share some facts about the city (legends about the dragon of Wawel and stories about what happened to the brother who built the taller tower on the church...spoiler alert, his other brother murdered him). He then offered to join me the following day on my trip to Auschwitz and boy was I glad to have the company. As I'm sure you can imagine it was quite an emotionally taxing experience.
Several of these camps remain across Europe as a memorial for those who fell victim as well as a reminder to future generations that history is not to repeat itself. Auschwitz was a merciless place of murder where hundreds of thousands of people were brought to die. No words can come close to explaining the feeling you get in the pit of your stomach when you see rooms filled with personal possessions (suitcases, combs, shoes, etc), walls lined with photos of victims and rows of barracks where people were once held prisoner under atrocious conditions. Seeing Dachau last year was definitely an eye opening experience but seeing Auschwitz with its size and well-known history was completely mind blowing. With it being so well know it obviously attracts far more tourists and in my opinion loses some of its impact. With tour group after tour group and a bookstore full of postcards, it feels a little less like a memorial and more like a tourist attraction. Auschwitz expanded during the war in order to accommodate the influx of deported Jews so you actually have to take a bus to see the entire camp. Unfortunately, the weather was still working against us. Shortly after arriving we booked it back to the bus stop only spending a maximum of 10 minutes on a site that should take at least an hour. Ideally I would have spent more time there paying proper respect, but the feeling in my feet had been gone for the past 2 hours and it was so windy I couldn't even look up. To lighten the mood I got together with another American I met during my earlier travels in Vienna over Christmas. We got some dinner, had a couple beers and shared travel stories and experiences abroad. The next day I checked off the rest of my Kraków to do list and enjoyed my last polish meal before heading off to Austria...next up Vienna round 2. I guess this is the trip of second round visits... |
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