Frankfurt
We flew into Frankfurt and stayed there a bit and were greeted with snow...finally, a white Christmas! Germany is such an efficient and cool country and even if you cannot speak the language well it is easy to get around. When I tried my German on them, they were nice enough to reply back in German. We stayed in a cool little hotel that was full on white in every room..very modern. We did some sightseeing and ate some wurst. If you think Mercedes are cool cars, remember that even their taxis are usually a Benz. Of course the dollar was crap, but it was interesting seeing how different parts of Europe are getting used to the Euro. Unfortunately I think that will hurt the dollar even more as the Euro becomes the world currency. While we extolled the virtues of European living, a bartender reminded us that their system sometimes rewards you too much for NOT working (ie getting paid little more than someone who is on the "dole") We stayed a block from the Westbanhof station and took the train to Vienna the next morning. The train ride was great and was just another reminder that the US needs to fully get on board with that. It is truly the most relaxing and beautiful way to travel, given the time and cost, and I would pick a train over an airplane any day.
Vienna
The ride to Vienna was about 7 hours and the German trains were nice, clean and fast. When we arrived in Vienna we chose to stay in a very central location just two blocks from the Stephansdom, the central cathedral there. We arrived on Christmas eve and were greeted with lights, old world charm and a Christmas mass in one of the most beautiful and oldest churches I have been in. It was undergoing renovations but they had literally photoshop-ed life size black and white picture of the church onto itself. We did a lot of sightseeing in Vienna and saw lots of palaces, art, cafes and some really cool historical stuff. We realized just how pricey it can be when a very nice bartender named Sasha presented us with a tab of 150 euros after a night of patying..ouch! We headed to the cafes for breakfast and planned our agendas the next day. So much to do and see, I would love to go back again and totally recommend Vienna if you have the chance.
Hungary
After a few days in Vienna we took a train to Budapest where we had rented an apartment for the week. The train ride was a lot different than coming into Vienna. The Hungarian railway was not quite as new or modern as the Germain rail. Still, the fare was cheap and for a bit extra you can upgrade to a private compartment where nice Hungarian girls sell you beer for 2 euros a can. You can certainly feel the different between new and old Europe as you head into Hungary. The houses, cars, business, language and even demeanor of the people seemed different. We arrived in Budapest and quickly converted some Euros into Forint to ride the subway. Budapest was COLD. We settled into a little apartment near the city center close to Deak station. A guy named Csaba that rented apartments gave us the lay of the land. When he greeted us carrying an electrical heater I got a bit worried. The apartment was clean but small and had NO HEAT!!! Luckily, the two space heaters worked fine else we would have checked into the hotel down the street. Greg was not as convinced, but I totally dug the gritty Hungarian culture. We were warned that young women might approach us and ask us if we knew where any bars were. Sure enough, on 2 occasions these very pretty young ladies asked us if we knew where any bars or pubs were. The way it works is they find tourists and take them to bars for over priced drinks. Boy did they peg the wrong marks! When they asked us for bars we suggested a place we knew of called "Action" bar, but they did not seem to be interested in drinks in our type of bars...wonder why? ;-)
Saw lots of churches, took a river cruise, explored the Pest side, had some really good food and even checked out one of their famous baths from warm springs that Budapest is famous for. I was not impressed. It was gross and smelled like sulfur. Budapest was quite affordable I thought and I had always wanted to go there. We rang in the new year at a big club with dancing and drinking until wee hours of the morning. We spent the day after recovering and using our GSM cellphone we got for cheap to wish friends and family a happy new year. I highly recommend doing this if you go..in fact I can give you a European cell phone if you want one.
All in all, we had a great time and our only regret is that we did not have more time and money to spend there...SIGH! Back to work~
There is a link below for the pics if you are interested. After going to India and Europe the past few months, I am confident in saying that our travels are over for awhile. Those loong flights are...how do you say in German..SCHEISS!
We are happy to be back safe and sound and highly recommend this trip if you have the chance. I am TOTALLY looking forward to starting back at Countrywide with my old team soon and Greg is already up to his eyes in work.
Here is wishing you and those you love much happiness, health, success in 2008!
Warm regards,
Brent & Greg
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| Frankfurt, Vienna & Budapest 1/3/08 8:30 PM |
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