Peoples Peoples Peoples, where does one begin?
I’ve been traveling for over a week now, and I find myself in one of the coolest, homiest and fun filled places I’ve been to–Budapest, Hungary. The hostel, the people, the town, the the the well everything is quite the shiznite, but let’s start from the beginning and then save talking about me running around Hungary in just a sock for the end.
Prague:
After sleeping all Tuesday in Gatwick, I met Reece in the afternoon and we booked it to Prague for a few nights of long sightseeing walks, pub crawls and cool museums. Let me say this about Prague–for weeks and weeks I had been anticipating looking at “beautiful European hot shit super models” walking the streets offering to buy me meals and putting me up in their swanky downtown lofts and telling me how awesome I am. However, upon spending some time there, all I saw were throngs of tourists, overweight frumpy Czechs and not a single supermodel in sight. WTF? I would say to myself, aloud and to anyone in earshot. But alas, the town is beautiful, if packed with people and their constantly snapping cameras. At times it felt like we were in these very pretty, but pre planned tourist traps that were completely devoid of any real Czechs. I mean, the astronomical clock and the huge castle complex were quite cool, but sights alone don’t make a town, it’s the whole je no se qoi of the hostel, the people, the atmosphere and the vibe of the city (which, again, is why Budapest is so money).
So, I met a fellow Texan and teacher, Wren, from Austin, at our hostel and her Reece and I decided to train it to Berlin on the advice of our mental and insane and totally righteous Aussie pals we met in Prague. We wanted a cool weekend in the German capital, and we got that, and then some.
Berlin:
Berlin is big. Right off the bat you can feel the urban, foward-thinking mentality of this very modern and bustling city. We arrived in a 4 tiered subway station and arrived at our hostel in the afternoon, set our shit down and walked around East Berlin for a while, seeing Brandenberger Tor and the Reichstag, the Berlin parliment building. Had this bad ass all you can eat Chinese buffet that I made my bitch, and then went back, had some drinks with the cute Bulgarian girl at the front desk, and we all crashed out.
Saturday in Berlin was ridiculous. Lots of sights, saw the wonderful amazing museumisel, which is this island that has these 5 or 6 museums filled with all the priceless treasures of the globe from the last two thousand years. Saw the Gate of Ishtar from Babylon, Cezanes, Manets, Monets and Rodin’s The Thinker. Just so sweet it was.
But let me pause to reflect on the Saturday night we had in Berlin. It was off the hook. Here’s the hook, ladies and gents, Saturday night was OOOOOOFFFFFFF the HOOOOK. We were on our way out, the three of us, and met these three Canucks in the subway dressed for success and on their way out as well. Two guys and a girl, one’s sister and the other’s girlfriend, all from somewheres in Canadia, although the siblings were of German descent and the dude lived there. We fell in with this big group of giggly German girls and were rolling up to the club when I felt this log on my chest, and when I looked up it was connected to a big, fat, angry silver back Gorilla of a bouncer. He looked at me and said “NO FACKING DUDES. GO ‘VAY”. I looked about at the others as the chicks we were with were walking in , heads down not wanting to anger the already froth-mouthed primate denying me and my male friends access. Addy, the live wire German-speaking Canuck I mentioned before, did not take kindly to this, no, not at all. He walked away and must have dug deep into his knowledge of German put downs because after a minute the bouncer leaped from his perch of the rail and chased our loud mouthed friend down, and slapped the shit out of him twice like Addy had thrown the bouncer’s last bushel of bananas away. Man, Addy I must say took those bitch slaps like a man, they just left two red marks and a quizzical expression on his face. Then the bouncer turned as we all snapped to attention after the two or three seconds we spent, frozen from the Ape’s actions. Me and Addy’s friend started to walk to the bouncer and ask him to calm down, but he turned on us looking like an extra from 28 Days Later and we did our best not to get decked ourselves.
“I VILL FACKING KEEL ALL OV YOO! GET OOOUUT NAAAOOOW!” We am-scrayed real quick like and decided we would try another night out destination, which seemed fine with everyone, including ol’ hairy knuckles, who had by this point put on some leather Ill Beat Your Ass Gloves and went back to his post by the entrance.
We went to this big sprawling Eurotrash nightclub next called The Matrix, three dance floors, all playing hi-beat crap for the faux mullet, man capri pants wearing, heavily pierced Berliners to awkwardly shake their rumps to while we all sat back and patted ourselves on the back for not getting flattened. We eventually all fell in with the Germans, danced, drank and hung out. Me and Reece caught the same “I want to pass out now” feelings around 4 and booked it home, while the sun came up around the same time, which was mildly weird, but what-evs as my travel friends like to say. Crashed out, woke up, saw the Berlin wall, yada yada, caught a 6 am plane to Budapest the next morning.
Budapest:
As I sit here, in the same board shorts ive worn since getting here, unwashed, reddened and tanned from my afternoons in the bathhouses chilling, full from good French-Canadian cooking, I can only think about how little I care that I have yet to see one sight in the two and a half days I’ve been here. Not one. And it’s been awesome. This hostel is in a loft at the top of this old rickity apartment in Pest, the side of town east of the Danube River (Buda is on the west, duh). I feel so great after really only just have hung out here at the hostel, being a soux chef to the master of the kitchen, Luc, who is talented as hell with the ol’ food stuffs. We made crepes this morning, had porkchops and mixed greens salad two nights ago, wonderful breakfast croissants yesterday for breakfast, so so so good. Feli my Brazillian friend and another Brazil girl cooked some meat rice dish last night that was the BOOOMB diggity. So much that after it was all said and done, I took a bet from the Kiwi working here to walk around in nothing but Reece’s walking sock the rest of the night. I did, it was Hi LARIOUS. I look good in a sock. We went out after the sock incident to some bombed out local bar/club thing in this abandoned building and there we met some lovely Aussie/Hungarians with whom we got a chance to discuss politics, and art, and other things that are escaping my memory. I am working out where to go next, America, I extended my trip for another 8 days, I might just push it back more. Daddy has got a lot of love to give to Eastern Europe, so we shall see.
stay fly
bbb
