Hungary 18/08/2011

Highlights

Wandering the city, travelling light.

[Note - my entry from Slovakia will come after Hungary, even though I entered Slovakia first I returned after being in Hungary]

Captivating City

The train station in Bratislava (Slovakia) is a hive of activity.  In front of me, the large information boards display the various departures and arrivals and to my left are the ticket windows.  Ahead under the information boards are the platforms and many excited travellers.  I purchase my ticket to Budapest and after a little confusion I am waiting expectantly on my platform, which is starting to fill with people.  I have an unreserved 2^nd class ticket which basically means it is pot luck whether I get a seat and looking at how many people are on the platform I know it will be marginal.  As he train pulls into the station there is a crush of people aiming for the carriage doors, who then impatiently wait for the disembarking passengers.  On board I am fortunate to find a free seat although many people did not and are left standing in the isles.

I am travelling light, having left my big pack at Justyna’s home.  There is a certain amount of freedom heading to a new country with only one change of clothes, my toothbrush, camera, laptop and thongs. 

 

Train rides are an interesting time in this part of Europe as there are very few, if any announcements and therefore it is very important to know which stop you need to get off at or you could easily miss it.  I know the time that the train is due to arrive at Budapest so I set my alarm just in case I fall asleep.  It seems the excitement of a new city keeps me awake and before long I am standing on the platform in Budapest.  The train station is a bit of a grand old thing that is covered with a very high arched roof.  There is always a certain amount of magic pulling into this type of station; platforms full of people, food stalls, money exchangers, people trying to get your attention to sell this or that, the hum of the train engines and clangs as carriages are hooked/unhooked.  Inevitably I also always find myself having just a slightly tighter grip on my bag!  I find the information office, obtain a city map and head out into the blazing sunshine of Budapest.

I do not have accommodation but I have decided that I am going to get a room so that I can leave some of my things (clothes/computer) in my room under the safety of a lock and key.  While I am debating my options I find out about some apartments that are available to stay in and I decide to check them out as they appear to be in an old style building and this appeals to me.  

Walking into the building, I am initially greeted by a grand entry door, the type that requires a push from two hands to open it.  I then walk into a central courtyard within the building and look up to the blue sky about 6 floors above.  The apartment that is available is on the first floor.  Walking up the stone stairs I notice that the middle of each step is worn from the many feet that have crossed them before me.   

After entering the apartment I know that I am going to splurge and get it.  Walking through the front door, the most striking thing is the high ceilings which must be at least 4 metres high.  Immediately after you enter there is a simple kitchen along the left hand wall, the toilet is to the right and the shower to left just past the kitchen.  Walking through another door brings me to the bedroom which is incredibly large, again with the very high ceilings.  There is a table with 4 chairs in the bedroom that fits with no trouble and some lovely pictures are hanging on the wall.  Light is spilling into the room from two windows which almost run from floor to ceiling.  It is strange, but having the apartment seemed to make me feel as though I am somewhat ‘more’ local.  Of cause I realise the ridiculousness of this notion but I suppose it is because I felt like I have a home, even if it was just temporary.  I should clarify that although I say that I am ‘splurging’ I am not paying much more than I would for a room in a hostel and it was less than a hotel room.

After getting the keys, unpacking my mediocre belongings and taking a shower I head off to explore the city.  Budapest is actually separate by the Danube River into Buda, which is a hilly section and Pest which is much flatter and where I am staying.  I spent quite a few hours walking around both sides of the Danube.  Generally within the Pest section the buildings are a fairly consistent height, I would say under 10 storeys and the roadways are fairly narrow and generally in a grid like pattern, once you get away from the main thoroughfares.  There is also a large section of road that has been closed off and is now only pedestrian access.  The buildings themselves are a mixture of some plain dull buildings, to ornate colourful buildings.  On the Buda side the buildings are generally a bit lower and the roads are very windy, much like they are following the contours of the hills and there are also lots and lots of stairs!  I found the real magic on the Buda side during the night as the streets are empty and with the soft light on the cobble stone streets it feels like I had been transported back 100 years.  Some would say that I walked those streets aimlessly; I would say that I walked them purposefully without a purpose.  

It is fair to say that Budapest has left an impression on me but it is a little difficult to define just why that was.  I think the best I can do is to say that the city still has a certain ‘rawness’ about it and for me, once I was one street away from the standard ‘tourist route’, I felt that the city had me.

(I have separated the photos into the Buda side and the Pest side.  However, there is a little bit of overlap as some photos were taken from one side looking at the other.)

The following photos are from the Pest side

The following photos were taken from the Buda side

Lithuania Part 2 13/08/2011

Watching Joy

CRACK, with no more warning then the jolt from the thunder a storm had enveloped the old town of Vilnius; the black clouds descending, the rain marching through the streets.  I only had enough time to find a doorway which would become my refuge in the deluge.  I stood as if peering through a curtain at the old town, periodically seeing lightening find its target in the city.

As quickly as the storm had started, the curtain was pulled back as the storm rolled past and rays of light first tentatively and then confidently returned.  I was one of the first on the streets again and the town seemed cleansed and refreshed.  I found a position at the top of a cobble stone street which gave me a good vantage point across the city.  The black clouds of the storm an ominous presence just past the city, the old town now as if a painted canvas the colours so bright compared to the backdrop of the storm.  My vantage point also gave me a good position from which to observe all the people who were now emerging from their various refuges. 

Amongst all of the people it was a little girl that caught my eye.  She was perched over the gutter watching with such joy, such happiness, the water flowing past and down into a drain.  She was simply glowing with delight and so excited about her discovery.  Her joy was so evident that her little brother looked back from his pram with envy.  When his mum lifted him out of the pram, he ran to his sister and shared in the delight.  They stood across from each other laughing and completely captured by the scene and then content, they continued to look for the next joyful discovery.

Witnessing this really reminded me of the simple pleasures I have so often overlooked, not anymore I promised myself. 

Lithuania Part 1 - 12/08/2011

Highlights

Meeting an old friend for the first time, exploring all the little alleyways and abandoned buildings, visiting a republic with an amazing constitution (one of which is everyone has the right to die but it is not compulsory), having a very positive couchsurfing host, having my plans change and then things just work out, giving direction to tourists (and yes the direction were correct!), a day spent around some beautiful lakes.

To expand a little further on plans changing, I had been trying to get back into the swing of travel but part of me was still trying to control everything.  It was really great for me to have a change in plans (basically a complete change within a country) but see just how easy things can be solved.  One more step towards the ‘backpacker spirit’.

An Old Friend Who I Only Met for the First Time Today

I had organised to meet with Elze through couchsurfing.  It is actually an interesting story as I had contacted her during my trip in 2006 because I had intended to get up into the Baltic States but my plans changed at that time and I ended up in Western Europe.  Before I left Brisbane for this trip, I had been cleaning out my emails and came across those that we sent each other.  On the off chance that she would remember me I sent her a message.  To my delight she did remember me and the timing could not have been better as 1 week after my arrival in Lithuania, she was moving to Holland to live.  It seemed fate was conspiring for us to meet.

We had agreed to meet on the stairs of the town hall and as this was my second day in the city, and my first in the old town, I was curious to see whether I was able to find it.  I gave myself some extra time just in case I was not able to find it however, despite one detour because I thought an alleyway looked interesting I went straight to our meeting place.  I arrived early and as I sat on those stairs I started to get a little nervous because I did not know whether I would recognise her from the photos on couchsurfing.  It did not take long for my question to be answered because I saw someone walk around the corner and despite us never actually meeting it seemed that there was an immediate recognition there.

During the first few moments there was some slight awkwardness as we were searching for things to start the conversation flowing.  But with relative ease it seemed as though we were simply catching up after not seeing each other for a while.  We went and had some traditional Lithuanian food for lunch and then decided to head off into the old town.

Our first stop was the Independent Republic of Uzupis, which as the Lonely Planet describes it was declared a breakaway republic ‘by artists, squatters and drunks’.  This little island held a lot of magic for me.  Elze and I explored all around the island, easily chatting as we went.  We would walk down little alleyways just to see where they went and poked our nose through closed doorways which in most cases would reveal a lovely garden area.  There were abandoned buildings to explore and overgrown tracks that demanded our attention.  The whole time I was amazed at the comfort I was feeling with this person that I had only met a few hours early.

We progressed into the old city and simply walked those cobbled streets that would have no doubt been walked thousands of times before.  However, it did feel that we were discovering something just for ourselves.  As the day progressed, we began to share more things about life and why it was that I was travelling and she was moving to Holland.  There were numerous times that I said to Elze that the words that just came out from her mouth could have come from mine.  It seemed that we had been destined to meet and have this conversation. 

With such ease about 8 hours had passed and we found ourselves in the last location for the day, a small forest just outside of town.  There in the quiet surrounds of the forest, with the sound of a stream in the background, seemed the perfect place to end a day where I had met on old friend for the first time.

The following photos were taken in Vilnius

The following photos were taken from Uzupis

The following photos were taken from Trakai

Latvia 08/08/2011

Highlights

Meeting an amazing couchsurfing with a brilliant smile (Dace), preparing dinner as a group (with all the chatter in the kitchen), looking across a beautiful valley and just having a chat, walking in the forest and getting caught in the rain, having dinner with Dace, her friend and her friends young daughter and ending up playing with the daughter (it is so great to talk with each other in our own language and not understand but somehow carry a conversation).

View Across the Valley

As the bus from Tallinn starts to wind its way through the streets of Riga, I start my usual scan of the city to try to begin to obtain some sort of orientation.  As I look across the new city, a certain amount of interests builds as I will also be staying with a new couchsurfing host (Dace) that I have not met before.  I will actually not be staying in Riga, but rather a small town about 1 hour away called Sigulda.  However, I have organised to meet my host in Riga and we will travel together to Sigulda but not until the afternoon.  After the bus arrives I collect my bags and head for some local markets that I saw from the bus window on the way in. 

The markets are a buzz.  As I first enter the open air section there is a huge selection of fresh fruits and of cause berries which I have now become accustomed to see everywhere.  The berries are always such a bright addition to any stall and every time they seem to catch my eye.  I find a little perching place among the stalls where I simply people watch.  The interactions, the expressions, simply the faces both fascinate me and keep me captivated.  Finally I pull myself away to explore the markets a little further.  I enter a covered section, which quickly becomes evident that it is the meat hall as a full carcass is whisked past me.  Being inside the sounds seems to be magnified and there is an excited chatter that fills the hall.  I slowly pass the display cases trying to guess what all the different cuts are.  Occasional a man with a butchers apron passes me with what I can only describe as an axe that looks like it has come from the time of knights.  As I walk further through the hall, a loud thud beckons my attention and I get to witness the medieval axe skilfully crafting the various cuts of meat.

I begin to contemplate heading into the old city which is about a 10 minute walk away when I receive a message on my phone and Dace asks whether I am able to meet her at the bus station immediately as she needs to head back to Sigulda somewhat unexpectedly.  I reply that that is not a problem and I head to the entrance of the bus station where we have agreed to meet.  As I stand on the curb of a city that I do not know, in a country I arrived in about 2 hours earlier, waiting for a ‘red car’ to pick me up with the drive named Dace, I smile and think to myself when people ask why I couchsurf, this would certainly be one of the reasons.  There are 1000s of possibilities that could result in the next five minutes, regardless of what they are, one thing is certain, I am about to make a local friend.

Dace finds me without any trouble and she is also accompanied by a friend of hers.  She says that we are also off to pick up another couchsurfer that will be staying with her before we head to Sigulda.  While we are on the way to pick up the second couchsurfer, a Frenchman by the name of Henry-David, the three of us have a really nice conversation and immediately I feel that this is going to be a positive experience for me.

After arriving to Dace’s place we drop off our bags and then head out to do a little exploration of Sigulda.  One of the stops that we make is the old castle of Sigulda, which has views across a lush green valley.  We walk along a short track and over a newly constructed boardwalk, the smell of newly cut timber still lingering.  When I had first arrived in Latvia, the weather had not been so nice as it was raining and overcast.  However, as we reach the lookout platform, the sun is breaking through the clouds and the valley before us is bathed in sunshine.  In the distance there is a second castle which sits proudly among the trees, the deep maroon of the bricks adding variation to the deep green of the trees.  Behind me is a ruined castle, basically only one large wall remains which had originally been construction using large rocks.  There area in front of the wall has been converted into a stage and there are about 30 rows of seats waiting patiently for the next show so that they may be filled. 

We decide to sit for a while on the platform and just enjoy the scene.  The sun is now setting and we are facing it, allowing our whole bodies to be blanketed in the warmth of the moment.  We start to chat about all manner of things and in that moment, watching over the valley, listen to the stories of my new host, I realise that my mind is free.

The following photos are taken from in and around Sigulda 



It is a little hard to pick up but there was 'graffiti' (I saw some from early 1800s) carved into the rocks that looked like official seals



The following photos are taken in Riga