Budapest and Istanbul

I very obviously have stopped the Daily Blogging that I had hoped to keep up. Budapest was absolutely amazing... I had no expectations going into the city and was so pleased to find great architecture, interesting museums and a skyline that blew me away. I can honestly say it rivaled Paris for one of the most beautiful night scenes I’ve ever seen.

Just doesn't do it justice...

I stayed at the Home Made Hostel which was tucked in a great area of town. The owners were fantastic and made every effort to make us feel welcome to the hostel and Budapest. My friend Chris was there already so I threw my stuff in my room and headed to a bar around the corner to meet him and grab a bite to eat. From then on Budapest was an awesome blur... we met some cool people in the hostel and had some crazy nights. We went to the House of Terror Museum, spent four hours in the Hungarian baths (heated outdoor swimming pools that ROCK), took a trolly car up to a castle, ate traditional Hungarian meals, drank traditional Hungarian liquor, ate not-so traditional meals (all you can eat sushi train of awesomeness), saw Figaro’s Wedding at the Opera, went clubbing, made bets (and lost bets...haha Guido) and just had an all around amazing time. We formed a little family of sorts and it was very sad to say goodbye to everyone, especially Chris.

On Friday I headed to the much warmer Istanbul! Cagatay met me at the airport and it was as if not a day had passed since I’ve seen him. For the last week we’ve been getting up late, spending a LOT of time at the local tea house and having a great time catching up and spending time with other friends. I desperately wanted to go fishing...

which didn’t result in me catching anything except other fisherman’s lines. We went to the movies and saw the 3D kid’s animation film Alexander’s Adventures, and although I can’t understand Turkish and had the language capacity equivalent to a 3 year old, it helped that the movie is indeed for children! I could understand what was going on! :)

I’m leaving Turkey tomorrow, and I will miss it. There are things I love about this place and things I still have yet to understand.

I love...
the tea.
the slow pace of living.
the communal meals.
spending an afternoon smoking hookah and playing backgammon.
the pride of the people.
the food!
and of course my friends...


Cagatay


Demet

I’m still not sure why they ever thought it was a good idea to serve a scalding hot beverage in a glass without a handle, and I cannot get used to peeing in a hole in the ground. (On the same subject... Cagatay and I had a long conversation debating the importance of the bidet... another invention that I will not use. My point? I would rather my ass be dirty than my hand, because I use my hand for many things other than shitting.)

Next stop? Copenhagen. I’m simultaneously excited and apprehensive. Excited because it’s where my dad’s family is from! Apprehensive because it will be cold and rainy and I have yet to buy those gloves...

Day 3,4,5

Day 3 & 4

I spent the next couple days enjoying Vienna... sort of. It got VERY cold and on Sunday it started to rain. Saturday was a rough start due to party times with my new Australian friends on Friday night. Aussies always seem to be everywhere and hang out in groups, and they LOVE to party... I should have known it was a bad idea from the start...

The Aussies
Saturday morning Chris (one of the Aussies) and I went to a nice bakery for a chocolate croissant and some coffee to refuel for the day. We also attempted to get some orange juice and instead got this sweet, murky liquid that was in fact orange but tasted little like orange juice. We met up with Matt and Nate (more Aussies) and headed to the museum quarter. They went to the Leopold while I went to the MOMUK (Modern Art). I wasn’t terribly impressed with the MOMUK... the exhibition space itself is a bit lacking and I wasn’t too enthralled with the subject matter. Cubism never revs me up much... So I only stayed for an hour before heading over to the Leopold to find the guys. I’m glad I went because the museum is so grand that I didn’t get a chance to go to the basement exhibition. The exhibition was by an Austrian artist named Otto Meuhl and was one of the most disturbing things I’ve seen. Here is one of his paintings...

Now the paintings were not the issue. I’m okay (and quite like) when artists seek a reaction from their viewers and sometimes do so in odd disgusting ways. What was disturbing was the story of the artist himself. Meuhl started his life in a youth Nazi group and after the war ended up teaching mentally challenged children art. In the 60s he began to live in a commune and also began filming their activities, which included group sex, bestiality and sexual abuse of minors. Some of these films are on display in the exhibition. Meuhl was arrested and served time for abusing minors but was released and did not show any remorse for the victims. It wasn’t until this year that he apologized for his behavior. Needless to say, the initially unharmful paintings turned into disgusting representations of a lifestyle that those in the commune led, and were for the most part literal representations. It was quite disgusting. All of us left the exhibit in a weird funk, feeling like we needed a shower.

We took Saturday night easy and got up nice and early on Sunday. Chris and I hit up the little bakery again and had a proper Austrian breakfast. Soft-boiled egg, fresh baked bread, cottage cheese, tomato, cucumber, coffee, juice, yum. He took off for Budapest and I stayed in Vienna and tried to cope with the rain. It was not only crazy cold outside but rainy... and I went out with every intention of buying proper gloves and winter weather accessories, and then walking to check out another museum I didn’t get a chance to before. However it wasn’t long before I was reminded that it was Sunday... everything was closed. Cold, wet and defeated, I wandered back to the hostel and spent the day inside doing some much needed research.

That evening I had a beer with one of my room mates, Luke from England. We hung out at the hostel bar with Harlan from New Zealand and Greg from Arizona. We chatted about relationships and politics, museums and beer. It was a nice chill night. After a few I headed to bed. It is officially Day 5 and I am on my way to Budapest. More updates to come...