Sorry this will be quick but the Euro Cup is on behind me and I bought Angus a German souvenir when we were in Vienna - so now I really need Germany to win!
Anyways, Vienna is incredible (best city we have seen so far). We started off our second day at a HI Hostel (thanks for the tip Lucy, you were right the strawberry yogurt makes it all worthwhile) which was in Huttledorf on the outskirts of the city but it was clean and safe and our roommates were very nice (everyone has been wondering about the hostel situation so I thought I would take a second to fill you in). Our first stop was the Belvedere Palace which was amazing! The gardens were incredible and completely surpassed all of my Palace fantasies. When they finally dragged me away, we went to see the Catacombs under Stephansdom where we had the worlds best tour guide who repeated everything in three languages and had no idea what he was saying when reciting the English version. But we saw Bishops innards and bones from the black plague so it was definitely a success. Next we tried some of Viennas famous Sachertorte (as per Mitchels recommendation) which also exceeded expectations. Our favourite part of Vienna though was Am Hof square which houses the Church of 9 Angels where Mozart held his first performance. The whole square was surrounded by adorable old building and used to be a jousting square - giving it a rather exciting history. It also had these tiny little fire engines that are housed in a old stable (or something) and we had a lot of fun watching them come and go. Finally, we went to a castle, only to find that it had been invaded by the EuroCup (and the worlds largest shoebox which is simply too cool to describe here). So we spent a good half hour listening to Austrians cover American songs that they did not know the lyrics to.
Spain just scored so I have to go pay attention now but I will get Gina to desribe our epic night train ride.
Megan
Sunday, June 29, 2008
Day 4: First train ride!
Internet! We've arrived in Venice and our hostel has internet, and as we have three days to write about we're each going to write one. So, starting out with our trip to Vienna. We had to get up very early in Budapest and had an epic march to the train station in hot sun with heavy backpacks. But we prevailed, and got there in plenty of time. While waiting on the steps for the train we met a girl from Australia (named, funnily enough, Grace), who we chatted to for a while and ended up sitting with on the train. (I am trying to type really fast because the Euro cup final is on behind me, so sorry if I miss something)
The train ride was smooth, and we arrived in Vienna around two (maybe?), then went out to our hostel, which was a bit hard to find but very nice. Then we went into Vienna for the evening. We discovered that it is the most amazing city- around every corner we saw a beautiful building that wasn't even on a map because there are just too many beautiful buildings. We climbed St Stephen's basilica to get a view of the city, and soaked in the crazy atmosphere in Stephensplatz, with tons of football fans walking around with 'I need tickets' signs. We saw so much in one night that I can hardly remember most of it- we saw the Hofburg palace as the sun was setting, which was gorgeous, and wandered around side streets to find a proper dinner at a small cafe. I'm pretty sure we did a lot of other stuff too, but it kind of blurred together. We sat outside the Opera house for a while, which was gorgeous. We just loved walking around a city so packed with very energetic people, and gorgeous buildings. We headed back to the hostel for an early-ish night, very much looking forward to another full day in Vienna.
And more on that soon, from Megan!
-Gina
The train ride was smooth, and we arrived in Vienna around two (maybe?), then went out to our hostel, which was a bit hard to find but very nice. Then we went into Vienna for the evening. We discovered that it is the most amazing city- around every corner we saw a beautiful building that wasn't even on a map because there are just too many beautiful buildings. We climbed St Stephen's basilica to get a view of the city, and soaked in the crazy atmosphere in Stephensplatz, with tons of football fans walking around with 'I need tickets' signs. We saw so much in one night that I can hardly remember most of it- we saw the Hofburg palace as the sun was setting, which was gorgeous, and wandered around side streets to find a proper dinner at a small cafe. I'm pretty sure we did a lot of other stuff too, but it kind of blurred together. We sat outside the Opera house for a while, which was gorgeous. We just loved walking around a city so packed with very energetic people, and gorgeous buildings. We headed back to the hostel for an early-ish night, very much looking forward to another full day in Vienna.
And more on that soon, from Megan!
-Gina
Thursday, June 26, 2008
Budapest
It's the end of our second day in Budapest! We've seen sooo much stuff here, but I'll try to give you a good summary.
Yesterday we got here at about noon. We took our taxi directly to the Hostel (courtesy of Mr. Ford...thanks!!), so that made it easy. We spent the rest of the afternoon exploring the sites of Pest, which is the eastern side of the Danube. We started off at the National Museum to brush up on some Hungarian history...we were glad to know a few things before touring around. We ended up taking a brief nap in a movie theater in the museum, though, as the jet lag set in. After the museum, we went to St. Stephen's Basilica where we climbed 10000000000000000000000000 stairs (or so) to the top, where we had a panoramic view of Budapest. After taking a ton of pictures, we went to the bottom of the basilica and explored the inside for a little while. Finally, we bought gelato outside St. Stephens and enjoyed a break before continuing on our trek to City Park. The walk to City Park gave us a good tour of Pest but we were happy to finally get there. Megan got to see a castle (making all of her dreams come true)...and there was a moat! Awesome. We played cards in the park for a while before leaving to find some dinner. On the way to dinner, we took a detour to see the Great Synagogue...its the largest in Europe and the second largest in the world!! This was very exciting, but by this point we were absolutely starving. It took us about 40 minutes to find some legitimate dinner, but eventually we triumphed. We went back to the Hostel pretty early and slept off our jetlag.
Today we went across the Danube to see Buda. We picked up breakfast at the Central Market before going over 1 of three different bridges we crossed today. We spent the morning exploring Castle Hill (where Buda Palace is located) and the surrounding neighborhood. Afterwards, we planned to go on a tour of the Parliament building but - no our great chagrin - the last English tour left 20 minutes before we got there. We took this catastrophe in stride and turned it into an opportunity to pick up Gina's sleeping bag from the airport (it was lost there the day before). This took about 300000000000 hours. When we got back, we headed for the Turkish baths...this was perfect after 2 days of sightseeing in the heat.
So...tomorrow, to Vienna! Don't expect so much detail next time, this took ages to write.
Yesterday we got here at about noon. We took our taxi directly to the Hostel (courtesy of Mr. Ford...thanks!!), so that made it easy. We spent the rest of the afternoon exploring the sites of Pest, which is the eastern side of the Danube. We started off at the National Museum to brush up on some Hungarian history...we were glad to know a few things before touring around. We ended up taking a brief nap in a movie theater in the museum, though, as the jet lag set in. After the museum, we went to St. Stephen's Basilica where we climbed 10000000000000000000000000 stairs (or so) to the top, where we had a panoramic view of Budapest. After taking a ton of pictures, we went to the bottom of the basilica and explored the inside for a little while. Finally, we bought gelato outside St. Stephens and enjoyed a break before continuing on our trek to City Park. The walk to City Park gave us a good tour of Pest but we were happy to finally get there. Megan got to see a castle (making all of her dreams come true)...and there was a moat! Awesome. We played cards in the park for a while before leaving to find some dinner. On the way to dinner, we took a detour to see the Great Synagogue...its the largest in Europe and the second largest in the world!! This was very exciting, but by this point we were absolutely starving. It took us about 40 minutes to find some legitimate dinner, but eventually we triumphed. We went back to the Hostel pretty early and slept off our jetlag.
Today we went across the Danube to see Buda. We picked up breakfast at the Central Market before going over 1 of three different bridges we crossed today. We spent the morning exploring Castle Hill (where Buda Palace is located) and the surrounding neighborhood. Afterwards, we planned to go on a tour of the Parliament building but - no our great chagrin - the last English tour left 20 minutes before we got there. We took this catastrophe in stride and turned it into an opportunity to pick up Gina's sleeping bag from the airport (it was lost there the day before). This took about 300000000000 hours. When we got back, we headed for the Turkish baths...this was perfect after 2 days of sightseeing in the heat.
So...tomorrow, to Vienna! Don't expect so much detail next time, this took ages to write.
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
In need of a nap
Hello everyone! Well we've arrived in Vienna, and are waiting for our flight to budapest. Megan loves the bathrooms in Vienna. I love the meat stands. Emma loves the tiny yodelling outfits and the "no kangaroos in Austria" shirts. The flight was fine, though there was an abundance of loud children. (60 kids on a small plane, apparently)We can't wait for our first day in Budapest, where megan will finally see a real castle.
sleepily yours,
gina (and megan and emma)
sleepily yours,
gina (and megan and emma)
Monday, June 23, 2008
And we're off!
Hi everyone!
Believe it or not (I can't, really), we're leaving for Budapest tomorrow! This day definitely came way too fast. Between my mom going to the mall to change my cellphone over to AT&T and Megan rushing off to EMS to buy socks, its fair to say we left a few too many things to the last minute. But in 24 hours all of this craziness will be over because we'll be boarding our plane to Budapest!!
Megan, Gina and I decided to start this blog to keep in touch with our friends and family while we're in Europe. We won't be sending any mail and phone calls will be pretty limited, but we're hoping this will be a good way for you to follow our travels and write us messages every now and then! We'll be updating it from internet cafes along the way.
So, I hope everyone has an awesome month. Check back every so often!!!
XOXOXOXO
Emma
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