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Well the next week of Eastern Europe was a bit of a whirlwind tour throughout the various countries. I later realized when my body started rebelling and I started feeling sick that by the time I met up with the guys again in Barcelona I would officially have been in 8 countries in 14 days!! No wonder I wasn't feeling well.. But I'll get to that later!
The first stop on the next leg of the journey was Budapest, Hungary. I had heard so much from people along the way so far about Budapest that I knew I had to try and make the stop even if it wasn't for very long, which was exactly true since I only had about 36 hours allotted to the city. It didn't help matters that my bus from Kraków was 3 hours late, getting me into the city at 12:30am!! Thankfully Uber saved the day and got me to my hostel at the early hour when all the transit was long closed down. While in the city, I packed in two walking tours in the day, first one being a general walking tour of the city which explained their many superstitions, including the "good luck" rubbing of nearly every statue in the city. Then the second tour was a really interesting one that explained the time of Soviet occupation in Hungary. The guide even had her own personal stories of the time since it wasn't really that long ago, in 1989. It just so happened that during this tour we experienced a somewhat live update on people's opinions of that time as a presumably Russian couple walked by us with matching t-shirts that read "KGB-still watching you Hungary." Needless to say our guide was not impressed, and we were surprised at the fact that someone would actually have the insensitivity to do that.
After Hungary I headed to Austria where I would have a few nights with an added day trip to Bratislava, Slovakia which is only an hour away by bus. While in Vienna I was really disappointed with the difficulty I had in finding the walking tour company and ended up never having a chance to partake because I literally couldn't find them despite seemingly clear directions. Nonetheless I made the most of my time exploring the city, using my map as a guide to see all the sights. It was also interesting to see all the men in the blazing heat dressed up like Mozart with long jacket and fancy hair included. They were all on the street outside the various cathedrals and concert halls trying to sell tickets to the opera and musical events. This was definitely a different vibe to the people selling stuff on the street in many of the other cities I've been in so far which mostly included selfie sticks and other stolen goods!
The one major hiccup that occurred due to what I'll call "sickness brain" happened on my intended day trip to Bratislava. I woke up with a fever, runny nose, sore throat, and an ear infection to top it off, and all I wanted to do was stay in bed all day. But I had already purchased my bus tickets and far be it from me to waste 13 euro, so I set out on my way to the bus station. I arrived with 30 mins to spare and headed over to where my bus should be leaving from ("should" being the operative word). I was quick to realize after a check of my ticket that I was at the station for my train the following day... NOT the station of my bus for TODAY! After looking at my watch and realizing I had 26 minutes to go 7 metro stops with a change in between, I took off running. Sprinting between stations I made it with 2 minutes to spare only to be sent in the wrong direction by a few helpful people and ultimately turned the corner to see my bus doing the same about 2 blocks ahead. Needless to say, that completely drained the life out of me, and after debating whether to just pack it in for the day, I decided to wait and hope I could use my ticket for the next bus in an hour. Luckily the driver didn't even blink an eye at the wrong time on the ticket and I ended up getting a shortened down version of my day trip after all.
After Vienna came Geneva, Switzerland, but first was the journey in between these two cities. Due to not wanting to waste a day of travel, I opted for an overnight train to the city. Saves a night of accommodation and at this point I can sleep almost anywhere so I wasn't too concerned about the journey. I ended up being in a compartment with a mother and daughter from Korea. We found a way to fold down the seats so we all had a bed to sleep on, me being closest to the window and the mother in the middle. Being a super paranoid person, I decided to use my back pack with my valuables inside as a pillow. Granted, it gave me a little twinge in my neck, but proved to be well worth it when I was startled awake at 1:30am. As it turns out, the mother had left her bag at her feet while sleeping, and someone had came in and robbed her! Luckily they didn't get everything, only a credit card and some cash, but was still way too close for comfort considering her bag was less than a foot from my head when it happened! The rest of the journey and my time in Geneva was smooth sailings for the most part. The only issue was the prices of everything in the city! I always knew Switzerland was expensive but this was crazy! Average price for a restaurant dinner was around 25 euros ... $35 Canadian!! And that's not even a fancy night out! Even a McDonald's meal could ring in at around $20 Canadian! Once again it was back to peanut butter sandwiches for Sara!
Luckily for my budget the rest of the cities I ventured to over the past couple weeks were super cheap and it wasn't hard to stay below. Which worked out pretty well because once again it was time to meet up with the resident foodies themselves, Justin and Tracy.
Next stop: Barcelona!
Love,
Sara
- comments
Grandma Another interesting read!