Budapesting

Autumn is raging in Europe like a plague, but a good plague that everybody wants and needs. Are you a good plague or a bad plague? That sort of thing. Today, on my flight from Budapest to Frankfurt Hahn, the plane came out of the higher, blue atmosphere, and as we passed through the final clouds, the German landscape appeared out of nowhere. Personal confession: I have never seen more red, gold, orange, yellow, marigold, crimson, and/or burgundy (of course the list of colors goes on) hues on a single landscape of earth in all my life. Add to it the drive from Frankfurt Hahn to Frankfurt Central Airport, and you might as well just say that I have seen Heaven because I don't think the world as we know it can get much more colorful and beautiful than that German landscape. I couldn't help but wonder how something so beautiful and precious as this could be so havocked by years of heartless destruction and cold murder.

The trek to Budapest was yet another example of why having a strict travel plan is vital in Europe. The group of us (Lauren, Scott, Michelle, Lily, and myself) left Well on Friday at around 5:30 PM. Our plan was as follows:

-Bus to Njimegan Train Station (1 hour)
-Train from Njimegan to Frankfurt (3 hours)
-Bus from Frankfurt to Frankfurt Hahn Airport (not in Frankfurt at all -- 1 hour, 30 minutes)
-Slight (all-night) layover in Frankfurt Hahn until 7 AMish flight to Budapest (2 hours)

Despite a misunderstanding of the bus schedule from Frankfurt to Hahn, everything went as according to plan. We were exhausted to say the least, had made a new friend "Canadian Cal (who was as drunk as an ex-priest when he came up to us and hung out with us for four hours or so), and really wanted to find our hostel. However, we made the decision that it would be best to plow through the day and go to bed early that Friday evening which we ended up doing. Our hostel was situated in the

Friday morning we explored a bit, with our ultimate destination being the Széchenyi Medicinal Bath, which is the largest medicinal bath in Europe. It is located in the Városliget (Budapest City Park where we saw the famed Heroes Square.) The experience at Széchenyi was a natural, natural high. Most are thermal springs that both exist indoor and outdoor; however, the most exciting one for me was a sulpheric-based bath that smelled really awful but that was very good for the skin. Afterwards, we felt like nothing mattered and wandered around the Városliget until night started creeping in without any hesitation. One of the quirky characteristics of Budapest and Hungary as a country is that the night sets in extremely early (4:30 PM sunset), so it was a definite way to get to bed earlier on both nights.

I was out like a bellybutton at 7:45 PM. It was magnificent, those 12 hours of sleep.

I can't help but mention something about the owner of our hostel, Joe. Joe is a Hungarian who speaks very good English. He is everything you'd expect of a Hungarian: gruff, looks like he's always hungry, thick accent, no emotion. He was great. And that is my kindly tribute to Joe.

The next day we planned to go to a flea market/outdoor market. The Nagyvasarcsarnok (Grande Market Hall) is an indoor market that sells food goods. We were unaware of this as all of the websites that would have explained its purpose were in Hungarain. Joe gave us a directions (although they were not clear or concise, at all), and we headed in the direction he told us to go. After about two hours of wandering aimlessly, we decided to get our bearings, check in an internet cafe, and then go from there. We never found it (at least, not until much after it had closed.) Plan B kicked into gear, and we crossed over the Danube River into Buda (I forgot to mention that Budapest is a combination of two separate cities: Buda and Pest. 1873 marks the anniversary of the Buda, Pest, and Óbuda unification into the now widely known "Budapest." There's your short history lesson.) After walking along the Danube, finding dead animals and an old Hungarian license plate (yeah, I took it), and almost dying on a highway, we discovered this beautifulllll building overlooking the river. Going inside was a trip. It was an empty college (I seem to remember College of Economics or Social Sciences?), and besides an old lady in an office, the huge place was deserted and extremely creepy. After looking around all of its secret, underground passageways, we left.

It was in this moment that I finally took a moment to realize where I was. You hear the word Budapest sometimes in high school classroom situations, and it seems like something so exotic, so avant garde. On the contrary, I was noticing the sadness of the place. It was empty, like an African stomach or the Grinch or the last pen I threw away -- the people had nothing to tell me with their eyes. It was hard to compare my expectations of Budapest from daydreaming to that of its almost harsh reality.

I digress.

Onwards to the Citadelle we marched. The Citadelle is a very large hill overlooking the entire city. The river was still cleansing itself in the last bits of sunlight as we approached the first hilltop overlook. In front of the hill was a street vendor selling hot wine. I had remembered that the Sound of Music tour guide had said something about trying hot wine, so I decided to try it. Delicious, absolutely delicious, and only delicious when hot.

We climbed and climbed, making pitstops at various locations, including a marvelous park that had all sorts of colorful slides going partially down the hillside. Creeping kids and their parents out, we played for a bit. The sun was going down, so we continued. Reaching the top felt like something of an accomplishment simply because it took three times as long to climb as it should have. The night had crept over and kicked me from behind. The city looked ephemeral. The soul-searching had happened. I purchased gifts. Nothing was wrong in my head.

Later, after finding the Szent István-bazilika (Saint Stephen's Basilica) and the Magyar Állami Operaház (Hungarian State Opera House), we booked it back to this tiny little art movie theatre right below our hostel and watched an American art film with Hungarian subtitles. Very raunchy and disturbing, kind of funny, but extremely poetic. The Hungarians in the audience (everyone but us) lovvvvvved it. That was the best part.

I have nothing else to say. I found something different in Budapest than any place else I've been. A sense of belonging to my country, I feel. A sense of myself -- ? I suppose.

You won't believe it 'til you see it...

Jacki and Blake:

Together at last... in the Netherlands.October 1, 2007

She looks thrilled to be standing next to me.

The president of my college in the Netherlands for the first time in... 15 years.

I totally gave her a tour of my room. She thought it was (and I quote), "GOR-GEOUS!"

Not a shabby start of the autumn in Holland.

A Weekend in the Belgian-Arab Ghetto

When I say there are too many churches in Colorado Springs, I say it because 95% of them are architecturally gross. When I say there are too many churches in Europe, I say it with a smile and a feeling of serenity. I'm writing this little note about my weekend on a train out of Brussels, right in the heart of Belgium.

It's nice that I can add the country of Belgium to my list -- I can't say I would have ever gone otherwise. I really liked it. It had a great deal to do with the fact that I was able to speak with people in their native tongue (French), and THEY UNDERSTOOD ME! :-) How relieving not to feel awkward when trying to communicate with a fellow human being.

This particular travel group included: Me, Lauren, Mere Jones, John Roth, David, Sam, Chris, Scott, and Jessica Naimy. Also along for the ride at some point (if not more so than the travel group) were Michelle, Caroline, Lily, and Jessa. That's 13 Emerson kids in Belgium. Woah... We arrived in Belgium in the late morning and had to ask many people where our hotel was located because the directions were bad. As we're walking, the buildings start getting uglier and uglier, and the sketch level became increasingly high, but I was in such a good mood it didn't matter. Our hotel (not hostel... hotel) was located in the Arab ghetto of Brussels, about 15 minutes walk from the Grand Centre (main point of interest in Brussels.)

Most of the trip was spent exploring, looking at all the amazing architecture, eating free samples of Belgian chocolate, eating Belgian waffles, etc. The highlights include:

- Getting yelled at in a Swarovski store for trying to pet the owner's dog
- Free chocolate
- The architecture in and around Grand Centre (amazing!!!)
- a veggie sandwich I scarfed down
- the flea/antique/craft markets
- the random, open palace overlooking the city of Brussels
- lighting a candle in one of the cathedrals for someone
- Harry Potter perfume at one of the markets
- going to see a comedy at the Royal Theatre about plastic surgery and trying to keep up with what was going on
- the nighttime lazer light show in Grand Centre
- Mannekin Pis (Brussels' famous statue of a little boy peeing)
- the final night and the restaurant and the awesome waiter
- Delirium (a very popular nightclub with a killer live Samba band)
- drunk men peeing in public
- the train conductor to Belgium and his weird sense of humor ("Boys, look out the window... girls, avert your eyes") -- telling us to look at all the porn shops from the train window
- WWI/II monument next to the Palais Royale
- hot chocolate in this cute little cafe
- fake Notre Dame
- the shopping district of Brussels
- Frites
- the music museum we couldn't go in because it was closing
- Edmont Palace and the gardens
- our photoshoot on the rooftops of Brussles (so illegal...)

All in all, a killer experience. London in three days... this is all happening so fast.

You need someone older and wiser telling you what to do. (Yeah, right.)

Before we begin, I'd like to suggest that you use the bathroom and grab a bite to eat -- maybe a glass of water or chardonnay. This might take you a little while to read, but I promise it will be entirely worth it.

I'd like to start off by saying this: I still have moments where I find it hard to believe I'm in Europe, even though I spent my time this weekend crossing two countries entirely. Even so, the past 85-some hours have been so quickly-paced that I feel as if I'd never left my little Well in the first place. Then, I have moments where Well feels completely foreign to me, much like Colorado Springs did the first time I ventured home this past Christmas Day.

My best guess is that these train rides account for a great deal of this subconscious confusion -- particularly through the Alps of Austrian edleweiss and fields of German corn. It is definitely autumn, at least in Vienna ("Wien" to all real Europeans), for my last moments before heading back to Holland were spent on a decaying sidewalk bench covered in chipping steel-blue paint and peace-rally stickers in front of the Staatsoper (Vienna and Austrian State Opera House.) As I was sitting there quietly, taking notes for this epic entry, an excited wind came up behind me and tapped my shoulder politely. All at once I was covered in tiny yellow leaves from a tree high above me. And there I was, actually content, a big step up frmo the beginning of my weekend travel, and a true pinnacle just before coming crashing down again out of Heaven's hands.

Right before my stressful trek to Austria, my World Drama (in its Context) teacher, who doesn't speak English very well (at times) explained to us that a character in Ajax "suicided himself." This put me in a good mood which I feel gave me enough stamina during the more high-stress moments from this past weekend -- that and Sam Sihmak: "Toot, toot! Next stop, Kasteel Well! Everybody off..."

My original plan with Scott was to take an overnight "sleeper train" to Munich (Munchen with the two little dots over the "u" that I don't know how to do on this PC) and then transfer to another train in Munich that would take us to Sulzburg. This train would have arrived promptly at 9 AM had we been allowed on it. We had not made reservations as a member of the castle staff assured us it was pointless to make one on a work week, that we'd be just fine, all trains will be virtually empty due to the work week -- and she would've been right had she remembered Oktoberfest actually means Sept(k)emberfest in Germany. Scott and I arrived in Dusseldorf from Venlo to catch our non-reserved overnight train, but we were informed without much help that there was absolutely no room. We didn't panic, but it was obvious from the stern demeanor of the train conductor that it was going to be interesting figuring out a plan B to Salzburg.

Welcome to Dusseldorf!

Sieg-Heil?

Yes, folks, they have them in Germany too.

We stood in front of the large timetable and mapped out our only possible route to Salzburg which would end up taking all night. We hopped on an 11:15-ish train to Koln (pronounced "cologne," again with the double-dots over the "o") where we arrived a quarter to 12 AM. From there we planned to sit around until 4:15 AM, taking sleep shifts, until we would catch the next train to Munich (we reserved it at a machine in Koln) and then another (also reserved) 8-9ish AM train to Salzburg which would get us there just after 10 AM.

As we were pulling into Koln, ready to take turns sleeping, Scott noticed a very large, very gothic-looking structure that towered over the train station. We thought its presence might fill time, so we exited the train staiton and standing before us was one of the most beautiful cathedrals I had ever seen (which I would later discover on Wikipedia had been the world's tallest structure from 1880 to 1884): the Koln Cathedral.

Koln Cathedral




We wandered around it, snapping pictures here and there, and continued wandering around the area for about an hour. We then explored the train station until we discovered the only open seating area -- a German McDonalds where all the employees had pants with the McDonalds logo stamped on the butt. It was our safest bet, so there we sat for the next two hours, watching creeper after creeper come in and out. (There was this really gross older couple that kept sticking their tongues down each other's throast and a homeless man who I believe was having an argument with himself.) After reading Prague Tales or trying to sleep or talking or avoiding getting into the homeless man's confrontation with himself, we were kicked out because they were closing. We sat another hour or so, playing cards, watching people clean, and avoiding the dark stares of the German youth who clearly knew we were Americans not interested in getting high with them.



Our trains (above) from Dusseldorf to Koln and Koln to Munich were these phallic-looking, high-tech trains complete with sliding glass doors identical to those on the Star Trek Voyager (they even made the "woosh" air compression noise when they opened or closed.) We finally arrived in Salzburg just past 10 AM where we grabbed a cheap bite to eat and made train reservations from Salzburg to Vienna as well as from Vienna back to Dusseldorf for the journey home. At that point we caught the train that would take us to our hostel, just a little under three minutes outside Salzburg, overlooking the town. The photos below don't do the beauty of the hostel (and its views from our room) justice, but there they are, the pictures of Haus Chrstine. The owners of this tiny traveler's B&B were extremely awkward and one yelled at me when her kid starting talking to me and I responded in English, hurrying her kids inside and shutting the blinds to her house. Allllllll right.

Haus Christine's Sister Haus where our room was.

Hill to the train station into Salzburg.

The view.

Clean.

BATHROOM IN THE BEDROOM.

We walked back down the hill to take the train from Salzburg (Kasern) into the city where we wandered all day. We expected to see most of THE SOUND OF MUSIC filming sights on the tour the next day; however, the incredible time I had in Salzburg started when Scott noticed these steps leading up to the Nonnberg Abbey (the one you see a lot in the film -- the opening, the gates when Maria leaves for the first time to go see the children, the gates when Maria comes looking for the children, etc.) and the Fortress. We had seen the river, crossed over it, heard a dance remix of "I Wanna Dance with Somebody," and purchased postcards at a very adorable little shop with an adorable little lady who was very sweet -- but our midday-into-the-late-evening adventure starting when Scott noticed these 140 steps.

The setup of Salzburg is based on its two major landmarks: the river running through it and the Fortress on the hill towards the south side of town (which is much like the idea of the Prudential Center in Boston: if you're lost and can find it, you're going to be okay.) The fortress is next to the Nonnberg Abbey, where Scott figured out in an instant, was where they filmed all those scenes I previously mentioned. You can see the entire City of Salzburg and its background, the majestic Austrian Alps from this high point. It was truly breath-taking.

From there we wandered down through a very rich neighborhood, the Park Avenue of Salzburg, back to the outskirts of town where I bought the best candy I've ever had at this tiny little shop. We wandered back into Old Town and found this place called Balthazar for dinner and a beer. Our waiter was so funny and would repeat everything I said to him in a joking manner... I know it doesn't make sense, but you'd get it if you had been there. We met a couple of Americans, chatted with them, and people watched.

As we were finishing up, a huge husky and his owner came around the corner. The dog bounded right up to our table, and we ended up watching him for a few minutes while his owner went inside his apartment to get some things. Suddenly, an older gentleman in his 60s came up to our table and starting petting the dog, assuming it belonged to Scott or me. He spoke English without an sort of foreign accent to an American, so I assumed he was American, which he was.

Herein lies the story of R. Lyman Bliss. If you need to take a break from the story thus far, I suggest you do it now because this is the best part and the longest part of the story. This is important to me that you read this part more than any other, so do what you must do in order to focus.

Come to find out through initial conversation that R. Lyman Bliss, (who has just sat down with us and will be referred to as Lyman from this point forward), has a very interesting, beautiful, touching, etc... life story... and outlook on life itself. Although unaware of it when I first met him, this man would slowly but surely change my life in ways I can't explain except for through this blog and my actions from this point forward. We talked about our schooling, why we were here in Europe, what we were studying, the usual bore with Americans you meet elsewhere than the United States. As we continue chatting, Lyman explains that he has lived in Austria for 24 years with his wife and daughter. Lyman, himself a graduate of UCLA, has taught all over the world and continues to teach in Salzburg here and there.

Lyman continually mentions his wife in the present tense, but I noticed no wedding ring. He informs us that THE SOUND OF MUSIC tour for which we have reservations is a total scam and wouldn't mind showing us the sights. He says, however, that he has to go change his shoes in his apartment and would like to show it to us. At this point, I'm completely sketched out, but because Scott is with me and I'm very trusting, I say suer, fully trusting that beneath all of this oddness lies an incredibly honest and innocent man.

We go upstairs and I continue to inquire about his wife as he changes his shoes. All at one moment, his voice chokes up when I ask what his wife does "now," to which he replies, "My wife was a painter and a designer, and she died two years ago."

Definite mood killer, but everything made sense all of a sudden. He had pictures of his wife and their daughter up everywhere, and I feel terrible... but Lyman, whose last name apropriately is Bliss, doesn't let his story affect the upcoming evening, so he continues to chat without much effort about his daughter, wife, etc. We make our way down to the streets and on the journey to our first stop, Lyman tells us he does things like this all the time with American tourists.

It would be difficult to explain any more of Lyman. The things he said were some of the simplest, honest, and true proverbs I've ever heard, and I will carry them with me for so long. He took us to the following places:
- Where Maria sings "I Have Confidence" in the bus, runs down the edge of that yellow wall, skipping and jumping until she sees...
-... the front of the house with the gate. She trips going up, it's where the Captain rips down the Nazi flag, where they try to escape and are instead escorted to the Salzburg Festival.
-The back of the house, but only the view of it. The actual courtyard was over by another lake (where the boat tips over and they all fall in) he showed us where the gate the children come up to meet the Captain, etc. He took us inside the house (now an academic center strictly off-grounds) because he is a fellow of this society... it was all so wonderful.

The next day the tour took us to the church Maria and the Captain were married in, the Gazebo where Liesel and Rolph, the trees where the children are when the captain comes home from Vienna, the view of the mountain where they filmed the beginning of "Do-Re-Mi," and the Mirabelle Gardens where the end of "Do-Re-Mi" was filmed (marching on the fountain, hopping up the steps, the random gnome Gretl touches, and the ivy tunnel where they bike through.) Scott and I also found the spot overlooking the city on the steps where they sing "Do-Re-Mi" as well.

We met Lyman later in the afternoon for a drink, and then had to go. He left us with a quote: "It is love that knows the biggest secret; that in giving, you shall always receive." And chocolate. Here's to you, Lyman.

Leaving was sad, but we were off to Vienna. At this point, it was all sort of downhill chill time to reflect on our time with Lyman. It was our first experience with a real hostel (two Minnesotean roommates, two Australian roommates, two Albanian roommates), and it was in a sketchy, sketchy part of town. The next day, we explored and found Old Vienna, which was so beautiful. The Haasoper (State Opera House), St. Stephen's Cathedral, the Imperial Palace... it was crazy. I'll post pictures soon.

The trip home was a mess as well. We got stuck in Dusseldorf, went to a trashy hostel, and got home at 8:15 AM. It was a long night.

Everything was worth those moments in Salzburg. I can't tell you.

Ask me about Lyman in person sometime. I'll always make time for telling that story, in much better detail than a blog can handle.

I missed home for the first time in Vienna -- both Colorado (as always), and strangely, Boston.

If every weekend is like this, my blog might explode with sentimentality.

NOTE: When I finish uploading the pictures into Photobucket (it takes a while), I will post the more important ones into the blog.

I hope you don't have to pee too bad.

Three days-worth

Sorry for the delay -- but unfortunately, it's not all fun and games here. I'm actually studying and stuff... weird.

BUT. I do have updates, and I will be telling them all in this post.

This past Saturday I went to Venlo with Scott and David Packman. We had a great time. Most of the time was spent wandering, taking pictures of totally awkward Dutch things, or eating good Dutch food. Venlo is great.

I am eagerly awaiting this Friday -- Austria. It should be a heckuva time. Salzburg, then Vienna. Yeah, baby.

This past Sunday I spent chilling in the castle, doing homework, reading, studying. Outside. Two ducks almost attacked me. The animals at the castle are not exactly the friendliest critters. There are these three black geese/swan/bird creatures that can stretch their necks out to inappropriate lengths and make death-threat noises that just make human beings physically angry. They swim around the moat in the mucky green water looking for trouble. They make me very anxious.

First week of classes went well. There is a ton of reading to be done, but I've made good progress. It is nice to have Mondays in such a relaxing state because while others are off in class, I have time to focus and do work. I plan on keeping this up because it will give me peace of mind when traveling on the weekends.

ALSO: Exciting news. You can see my PhotoBucket album now. Photobucket.com
Username: blakepfeileurope
Password: usamericans

Good night,
sleep tight,
don't let the bedbugs bite.
(Wake up in the morning bright.)
Sweet dreams.

Two-days worth... with you in mind.

It's an inconvenience to those of you who are actually reading this blog everyday for me to forget to post, so I'm sorry. Last night's booking extravaganza was, to say the least, tiring. Let's catch up.

I finally had my first acting class of the semester. The teacher (a Belgian waffle who reminds me very much of my 5th grade French teacher Mme. Glidewell) is definitely her own person. Let me explain: the first two hours of class we spent doing Tai Chi. All right, really cool, but not what I had expected at all. So we move inside and do lots of action/reaction exercises. All-in-all, not including the two hour dinner break, the class is six hours long.

Really?

The following was booked yesterday: trip to Belgium (Fri., Sept. 28-Sun., Sept. 30), tix to Parade at the Donmar Warehouse in London, extra overnight stay in London, flight from London to Dublin, overnight stay in Dublin (which we'll discuss momentarily), flight from Dublin to Edinburgh (yes, Scotland), and three-nights-stay in Edinburgh. Today we'll figure out getting home from there...

Now. Scott and I will be meeting Lily and Michelle in Dublin on October 10th. The four of us will be staying overnight in a hostel called... are you ready for this?

PADDY'S PALACE!!!

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! I love it!!!

Please do yourself a favor and click HERE to look pictures of Paddy's Palace. We are filled with excitement.

Today is my last class of the week (World Drama in its Context) -- however, Friday is a make-up class day due to our first travel excursion to London.

I woke up this morning to two Dutch construction men right outside my window. I cocked my head in confusion at them and they both looked up and waved frantically, smiling, like I was some zoo animal.

An open letter to the Dutch Authority on Construction:

Waving to American students through a window of their bedroom is very creepy.

Love,
Blake

Jesus Was Not a Communist, Contrary to the Belief of My European Lit Teacher

To be brief, I'll quote:

"Yeah, Jesus was probably a Communist."

You don't make any sense, sir.

Today I had my first experience in Ethics/Value Theory. The teacher has a voice that's soothing like Anthony Hopkins. He has never taught American students before, and he was very nervous about it. I thought he did very well. Of course the class is obnoxious in the way that only Emerson could be, but it will be easy to pass if I can pay attention for four-hours each week.

THEN... I had European Lit again. And he said it. He said that Jesus was a Communist. I am confused.

Scott and I booked our entire trip to Austria. We're thrilled with the outcome. We reserved tickets for both the Original Sound of Music Tour and an overnight stay in Salzburg, Austria, the location of both the real-life-events and the film. The four is four hours. From that tour we will run to the train station to catch a train to Vienna for two days, and then we will hightail it back to the Netherlands. It should be beautiful. The hotel we booked in Salzburg overlooks the city. You can see pictures and descriptions of it here. We booked the last private double-bed room. All right.

(Vienna -- we will mosey through the city the whole day and leave mid-afternoon to arrive in the Netherlands early morning the day of classes. Welcome to train-sleeping.)

I'm so excited.

Good night, NYC. Safest of dreams.