Prague

As noted in the previous post, we drove to Prague yesterday. Today we did a whirlwind tour of the city, walking somewhere between 5 and 10 miles (one of us estimated 5 miles, another 10...). The weather was chilly, but at least the sun peeked out for awhile. Here are some pictures (out of order) of some of the things we did and saw:

Mom and Dad on the Vltava River with the old town in the back:


At the Old Jewish Cemetery. I don't think you are supposed to take pictures here, but Dad was able to snap a few "under the jacket" type shots. I think that this is probably the most fascinating place in Prague--I remembered it well from my last visit 7 years ago. You can't get a ticket to just see the cemetery, but you have to buy the combination ticket to see all the synagogues and museums in the Jewish Quarter, but it is well worth it to be able to see the cemetery (and I'll note that the ticketing system is quite the smart and profitable business scheme, since most people just want to see the graves!). The cemetery is really old and the quintessential (I think that is the 2nd time I've used that word on my blog this week) idea of an "old and creepy cemetery." Apparently between the mid-1300s and the mid 1700s, this cemetery was the only land given to the Jews in Prague to bury their dead. Since they believe that the dead should not be moved from their resting place, they just kept burying people on top of the old graves until it became this overcrowded mound seen today.


With Mom in the main square in the old town. Behind us is the Tyn Church--I think it looks like it belongs in Gotham City:


Mom and Dad in Wenceslas Square:

This was a common site as Mom and I took turns throughout the day in reading the guide book out loud. We were working out of Mom and Dad's "Steve Ricks' Best of Eastern Europe" and my collosal "Let's Go Europe." Steve Ricks has proved to be pretty reliable, so we mostly used that.

With Dad on the Charles Bridge:

Hiking up the hill in the Castle District:

This is a picture from the top of the church tower on the Castle Hill--to get there you had to climb 287 narrow, poorly lit, winding steps with traffic going both ways, no handrail, and tons of people, at least half of whom where presumably suffering from fatigue, vertigo, clautrophobia, or some combination. I couldn't help but picture the domino effect that would be caused from one person slipping! I also wondered how the paramedics would ever get to some of the less fit people who were huffing after the first 50 steps! Anyway, the view was worth it and we got this really cool picture of a cloudy day in Prague :)

Driving to Prague

Here's an excerpt from an e-mail my Dad sent to Jeff that contains some highlights of our journey from Budapest to Prague:

"We got to Budapest, Hungary on Sunday afternoon. Ashley was at the eairport to meet us and we took a taxi to her apartment. After seeing the sights there on Monday we rented a small car and drove here to Prague. It was a true adventure. The language is a total barrier and we had to cross a few borders. Hungary-Slovakia-Czech Republic. At the first crossing I was trying to drive away from the booth where the guard checks your passports and I wasn't that familiar with the stick shift on the Skoda (never heard of it!) that we had rented. I accidently got it into reverse and started to go backward. Then I got it into 3rd and kind of lugged down. Then I finally got it into 1st and chirped as I laid a patch of rubber. This all took 2 seconds and it sounded kind of bad. Mom and Ashes were laughing so hard I thought they would pass out. Hey, at least I didn't stall! The day started out with Mom stepping in some dog doo and tracking it into the car. We hadn't even left yet. So, we had to use our ingenuity to get that all cleaned off so we could have a smell-free trip. So, here we are. Don't you wish you could be here with us?! Never a dull moment."

I'll add a few of my own tidbits...the rental car is a little red Skoda Fabia. I rode in the back seat--where the leg room adds up to about 4 inches, I might add--on the 6 hour trip from Budapest to Prague. The lack of leg room wasn't really a problem since I could just spread out across the seat. Dad described some of the mishaps of the trip pretty well--I should also add that in the little check-point accidental reverse incident, he was also about 4 feet away from the curb, making it nearly impossible to hand the man our passports (although he waved us through without even looking at the passports)! Overall, though, Dad has done an excellent job driving, as usual. Everything went pretty well, after we got through the mishaps, until we got to Prague. The hotel should have been easy to find, but we missed a turn and had no map. I think we accentuated the problem by not stopping to get money out of the ATM, not buying a map, and having not yet eaten a real lunch or dinner although it was after 6 p.m. Since I was the one who reserved the hotel and got the directions, I felt responsible for the frustrations, but after about 30 or 45 minutes of a few wrong turns and stopping for directions twice, we eventually were directed to the right place through some effective charades. Can't have a family vacation without getting lost at least once, right?

Visit from Mom and Dad

Mom and Dad flew in on Sunday afternoon for a visit. It has been fun to have them here. I finished my last final on Monday morning, so I've been able to spend a good amount of time with them. My roommate was in Italy for the weekend, so they stayed at my apartment with me for the first two nights. I'm not used to tagging around Budapest with other people, so it's been fun for me (and possibly frustrating for them!). I've enjoyed their company and also not having to take all the pictures! So far the weather has somewhat cooperated, although rain threatens daily. I tried to make them think it was worse than it was (told them to bring hats, scarfs, gloves, etc.) so that they would be pleasantly surprised when it wasn't sub-freezing. (can something be sub-freezing, or is there just "not freezing" and "freezing"? I guess what I mean is sub-zero) Here are some pictures of Sunday and Monday in Budapest.

With Mom on Castle Hill:


Mom and Dad at Heroes' Square:


Mom and Dad at the indoor market:


With Mom at the City Park:

Londontown

Here's some pictures from my trip to London as I promised.

The obligatory picture in the London phone booth.


We went on a great walking tour of London that was really fun and informative. Best of all it was free and then you can just tip the tour guide at the end whatever you feel the tour was worth. I thought it was a great system. The same company/organization does similar tours in other major European cities and I would definitely recommend it...of course it would be easier to find out about if I could remember the name... [5 minutes later: okay, I took the initiative and went and found the site...it's called New Europe Tours]


Daniel, Adam, and Travis paying rapt attention to the tour guide :)


On the Thames:


The original temple of the Knights Templar...for Da Vinci Code fans:


I felt like I should be interested in the Royal Courts of Justice, so I took the token picture. However, in current events, this is where Paul McCartney is going through his divorce proceedings which may end in him shelling out around $100 million:

The Harry Potter Clock...for HP fans:


And Diagon Alley...if you don't know what this is then you're obviously not a fan. The couple on the right are living in London right now and we stayed with them. They were so great to share their apartment, show us around, etc. They made it a great time.


View from Buckingham Palace up the Mall:


Portobello Road. This is maybe one of my favorite neighborhoods in London, although there are so many great places that it's hard to choose:

Hyde Park/Kensington Gardens...another favorite place. I think I like this place so much because it is just really calm space and I used to come here every morning when I was studying abroad in London in 2002:

Sign that American sports are really taking over the world. This was in the middle of Trafalgar Square...I think the Dolphins are playing an exhibition game in London and they were trying to do some promotion:


This is one of my favorite pictures...this guy just started climbing up on the lion, got stuck and quite desperately reached out his hand for help:


The things people call art...this is one of the newest "exhibits" at the Tate Modern. Yes, it is a crack in the floor. But isn't that an artistic angle they put on that fork?:


And, last of all, the quintessential London:

Back from London

I've been a little absent lately, but I'm back for a while. Last week was the end of my Module II classes (basically a block of classes) and then I took off on Thursday afternoon for London, so I was pretty busy. I just got back yesterday afternoon and I had my first final this morning. I have 4 finals left--one Thursday, one Friday, one Saturday, and one Monday--then I start Module III.
I had a great time in London. Getting there and back was an adventure. Since I decided to go pretty last minute (about a week and a half before going), the flights out of Budapest were kind of expensive. I happened to find a flight out of Bratislava, however, that was less than 1/2 as much, so I decided to take it. Bratislava, Slovakia, is about a 2.5 hour train ride from Budapest. I took the train to Bratislava on Thursday afternoon, stayed in a hostel there and flew to London on Friday morning. It is only about a 2-2.5 hour flight. Coming back on Tuesday, I left London at 6 a.m. and planned on spending the day in Bratislava, but it was pouring rain and freezing cold when I arrived, so I just took the next train and got back to Budapest in the early afternoon. Anyway, I'll post some pictures of London later today.

Szentendre

On Saturday I wanted to get up and go to this little town called Holloko where they still live old-fashioned, etc., but you have to take a bus there and there is only one bus/day, which I missed. So I opted to go, instead, to this town about 20 miles or so north of Budapest called Szentendre. It is a really old town with quaint cobblestone streets, etc. A few hundred years ago a lot of Serbian refugees went there (I'm not guaranteeing the accuracy of that fact), so a lot of the stuff there is Serbian Orthodox. The weather was beautiful and I had a great time exploring for a few hours. I noticed when I got back that I hadn't taken too many interesting photos, but here are a few:

View of the Danube from the town:














The main square:



















Dead wreath on a church gate...














The graffiti tunnel that inevitably greets you at bus stations in eastern Europe:














Serbian Orthodox Church...there was no one here and I walked around the back and found a kid smoking pot--scared him pretty bad.



















A lot of the walls and buildings seemed in need of a makeover:














The only picture I took of myself there (don't be jealous of my cool outfit, Kristen!):

Gone With the Wind

Saturday night I went with my roommate and two wonderful Hungarian friends to see the ballet Gone With the Wind at the State Opera House. Yes, ballet. We had great seats in the 5th row and I enjoyed seeing inside the Opera House for the first time.

Gone With the Wind used to be one of my favorite books. I haven't read it in a really long time. Anyway, I like the story. As for the ballet, other than the one harlequin-novel-esque divert-your-eyes scene, the ballet itself was pretty good. The great thing was that the male dancers were wearing very tasteful suits rather than tights, which I greatly appreciated. I think the tights are generally my biggest hang up with ballet. Other than saying I liked the costumes and the set, I feel really unqualified to make any further judgments about the ballet (sorry your money seems to have been wasted on those ballet lessons, mom and dad!).

I will say that my appreciation for more cultured things has come along way in the last 8 years or so. I even watched an opera on video yesterday afternoon. Would I rather go to a ballet than a sports game? Absolutely not. Would I rather see an opera than go to a movie? Probably not. Would I rather go to a museum than go for a bike ride? In most circumstances, no. However, I can at least appreciate the talent and art and enjoy the occasional venturing.

Five Minutes Alone

Here's what happens to my roommate if she's alone for 5 minutes!

Just kidding...she is really really wonderful (but I do find her asleep in not-so-comfy-looking positions sometimes)!

Missionaries are Great

I don't really have any news to report, but I have had a great week. I also wanted to acknowledge the hardworking missionaries that are all over the world. My youngest brother is currently a missionary in Montana, and I look forward to getting his e-mails each week because they are so inspiring to me.

Yesterday afternoon I got a call from the sister missionaries here in Budapest. They needed someone to meet with a male investigator with them that night at 6:00 and asked if I could come. They were really sorry for calling me so late, but they had no reason to be because I was so happy that they called me and that I was to be able to meet someone studying the gospel, listen to the wonderful message the missionaries shared about having faith and receiving answers, and to share some of my own thoughts and testimony about it. Although I had a pretty busy day, it was a great way to end and I hope to have more of these opportunities over the next few months.

General Conference

Two of my favorite times of year are the first weekend in April and the first weekend in October when the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has its semi-annual general conference. Since sessions are broadcast from Salt Lake City on Saturday and Sunday at 10 a.m. and 2 p.m., I watched it here at 6 p.m. and 10 p.m. and was so grateful for modern technology that made it so easy to watch on the internet. I love the way that conference always leaves me with a renewed desire to be better, and this time was no exception.

If you didn't get a chance to see it, go here to see the video and audio archives.

A Few Seconds Short

I forgot to post this picture taken yesterday at Martonvasar. If you've taken many pictures with the camera timer, you understand exactly what is going on in this picture.

I saw this great spot to take a picture--the thing I'm climbing on is a big log fallen across an empty stream bed--and found the perfect place position my camera....except I guess the place wasn't so perfect, because I obviously couldn't make it where I needed to be in 10 seconds (embarrassingly, I even tried several times)! This has become a fairly common scenario in the last month!

Least Favorite Billboard

I hope I'm not offending any eyes by posting this picture, but I cannot stand this billboard. It is probably my least favorite billboard in Budapest (and there are plenty of sick billboards to choose from). I saw it for the first time when I was jogging, and I think I ended up jogging extra far that day....some kind of subconscious message was received, I guess!

Anyway, this billboard is obviously advertising a TV show, but as for what the TV show is about, your guess is as good as mine...feel free to post your guess in the comments. I think it is a fat camp show where they are going to take 8 weeks or whatever and help these people lose 100 pounds. In any case, where do they find people who agree to look like that on a billboard?

Martonvasar

I woke up this morning and it was a beautiful day, so I decided to take advantage of it rather than sitting inside doing my homework. I flipped through my guidebook and decided to go to Martonvasar, a 40 minute train ride south of Budapest. There really is nothing in the town--the train station almost seems abandoned.

The one point of interest is the Brunswick Palace and the grounds. You can't actually go in the Palace, but the grounds were really neat. I wouldn't go back, but it was fun for an afternoon. Here are some pictures with the highlights.

Sitting in the leaves with the Palace in the back:


Apparently Beethoven was a regular visitor to the original palace and gave music lessons to the daughters of the guy who lived there. There's even a story that he fell in love with one of the daughters. I'm naming this statue "Beethoven meets Stalin" or "Beethoven: Communist Style":


I don't know what kind of tree this is, but it was really cool--I think all those little stump-like things are roots or something:


Another bit of tree fun...I'm not sure what is going on with this tree here:


Totem Pole:

An Ordinary Week

Judging from my failure to report anything in the last week, you can probably guess that nothing too exciting has happened. Last week I was in class for 32 hours and this week I was in class for 34 hours, and it's starting to drain the life out of me. Luckily the work load drops off significantly from here (only 18 hours of class next week and only 14 the week after that), so you can expect much more interesting happenings in the weeks to come.

Despite the grueling class schedule of the past 2 weeks, I'm happy to report that I have started a somewhat regular running schedule again. I consider an exercise schedule to be "regular" if exercise is happening at least 4 days a week, and I've now logged 2 weeks of exercising for 4 days. If I run tomorrow then that makes 5 days this week. I like to imagine that this counterbalances my terrible diet of the past month.

Tonight I went to dinner at a friend's house with a few other people from school. Those in attendance were from Poland, Serbia, Croatia, Slovenia, Romania, and India. We had a great time. A few of my many favorite moments of the night include:

• Trying to explain what a George Foreman grill was.
• Learning about Rachel, Nevada.
  
• The Croatian attempting to insult the Serbian (in good fun) by telling him that he was complex, when what he meant was that he had a complex.
• Making banana bread with no baking soda.
• Grating a whole huge wedge of parmesan.
  
• Cramming way too many people in one of the Barbie-sized elevators here.

People here are so accepting and great. In the 2 weeks I've been in school, I've realized how many pre-conceived notions I had about different places and people, and I think it is great to meet new people, learn lots of new things, and realize how ignorant I am. I'm learning more from other students than I am from actual lectures.

More exciting news to come...

(that last sentence can be read in two ways...both are applicable!)