About an hour and a half it was over, and I (having only eaten green tea bread for dinner) went in search for food.  The next day brought good tidings, i slept for 12 hours and felt surprisingly refreshed, and continued to the Well-Wishing Tree Festival where all the worth-while performers from the parade performed again, and some new ones did as well (John Burroughs glee club from California performed).  I threw my wish to the top of the tree (it was the only one that high), then i left and had Eel fried rice for lunch.  That night was the firework ceremony, believed to scare away bad luck, and it was quite possible the best i had ever seen, lasting a full 30.  Afterwords, i grabbed some starbucks and strolled down the avenue of the stars (the harbor looked incredibly cool bc all the smog stayed from the fireworks) and called it a night.

Today, Sha Tian Racecourse for horse gambling!  I lost the only bet i made, but i’m not big on that sorta thing.  Every so often i have the realization that i need to put more effort into my life.  Which i try, but it lasts only a couple of weeks, but being in HK/China will hopefully help improve my resolve. Piece.

My time here in Prague is coming to an end, and its getting to that surreal point where everything seems like a dream (or its the fact i haven’t been eating much lately).  I leave in three days and then its two weeks until i go to China, where i will actually keep a daily/weekly updated blog.  Packing tomorrow, cashing my deposit and sending my transcripts to all the colleges i need them to go to are on Monday, then i leave Tuesday.

Some good music recently: Pendulum – Immersion(Instrumental) has good electronic music, Melody Fall – Into the Flesh is a good pop-punk album.  I’ve also been reading A Tale of Two Cities (unabridged version)by Charles Dickens, which leaves something to be desired, at least at the beginning.

My adventure with the entitled “2010 European Culture Capital” Istanbul starts in Budapest.  After meeting some students from Germany, offered speed (which i refused), I killed most of my time in Budapest by doing nothing but walking.  The Danube is beautiful at night.  For my flight, i had to be at the airport at five o’clock, which meant that i had to sleep at the airport until my flight.

When you first arrive in Istanbul, you have to get a Visa costing 20 USD or 15 Euros.  It’s important to note that those are the only currencies/form of payments accepted.  No plastic.  Out of the airport and onto the street, i began looking for my horse to ride in on.  This is were i learned that the trip my be more difficult than i thought, as i found a bus (Havas, 13 lira) to take to Taksim (a good destination for the European side, and where my hostel was) the driver told me “No English, This Istanbul,” when i asked where the bus was headed.  I got on the bus, where you pay for the ticket as a conductor of sorts walks along the aisle.  The ride took two hours, which was no problem because i couldn’t check into my hostel for a couple more hours, so i explored the Istiklal street (a major shopping area) which was nearby the hostel and off of Taksim.    I walked down this long street, staring at all the shops and restaurants and took out my guide book to see which were good.  This is one of the few cities i recommend buying a guidebook for, mine was Frommer’s Istanbul day By day but any would do.  There’s a tram from Taksim to Tunel which sometimes has a band on the back car at night (seen below, sorta).

My Hostel was called “The Chambers of the Boheme” costing 14 euro a night (also take the lira conversion which is cheaper) in off season and not on a weekend, whose owner is very accommodating.  The beds there are the best i have slept in for a hostel, located in a great area of the city and the owner let me have my own room (upgraded for free ) where i met an Indonesian traveler who was leaving the next day.  The only downside was that it was noisy, first, for the renovations, and second for the clubs nearby (yes, it was still loud during the week) but i had no trouble sleeping (i went to bed at 10 most nights for some reason, i don’t really know why).

My favorite things to see: Aya Sophia, Blue Mosque, Misir Carsisi (Egyptian Bazaar), Bosphorous Tour (highly recommended), the Suleymaniye Mosque and all the random stray cats.  There are more sights than to count, but those are my favorites.  For cooking fans, I took a cooking class at “Cooking A La Turca” which cost 120 lira, which included the class, the five course lunch you prepared and 2 drinks (from juice to wine).

The first two photos are of the Aya Sophia, the third is of the Blue Mosque and the last is a grape leaves dish from the cooking class.

My favorite thing about Turkey is the food, I loved the Kebabs, the Turkish Pizza was great and the Baklava  was great.  Don’t get me started on Turkish Delights!  Also, there are tons of vendors that sell freshly squeezed juice including pineapple, grapefruit and pomegranate.

Squeezed Fruits

Baklava

The weather in the winter is on par with Berlin cold and rainy (at least cold for Istanbul), at least i got lucky and had a sunny day when i visited the Aya Sophia and Blue Mosque.

Istanbul was a stretch on my wallet, so much that one day all i ate was a kebab and some turkish delights, the following day was 4 snickers some bread and a lot of soda/water.  This was solely because i am a poor college student, Istanbul can be very cheap if you know your way around.

After sleeping in the most uncomfortable bed yet, i checked out and roamed around the city until i could check into the hostal i had reservations for.  That’s when i learned how different italian cafes are, its like a bar, no  seats and you pay for what you get then take it to the workers for them to make it for you.  Coffee is the cheapest thing in Italy, everything else is pretty expensive, i sent 6 dollars on a cup of fruit!  Probably the worst thing about my visit was that i couldn’t see any museums, because there was a strike.

So my stay in Florence wasn’t too eventful, it was better when i left for Rome.  Which was dreadful at first, because i lost my ticket on the train, but luckily i wasn’t charged for a second.  I walked to my hostel, The Yellow, close to the train station, dropped my shit off and went out and explored the city at night.  Rome was fantastic though, it was my favorite city from Italy, given Florence could have been better, but still.  I ate out for dinner twice at La Scala, reasonable priced (2 course meal and wine for around 25 euro) but both times i went i got lost and wandered around for an hour or two, which was fun because i love exploring.

My favorite part of Rome was the city at night.

The weirdest thing was at night i was approached by a couple of gay guys wondering if i was homosexual.  They were very nice, but i told then i didn’t swing that way, and one of them was bi because he would occasionally kiss the girl that was with them.  We talked about random things for a while, then i left for my hostel.  Sadly this kind of thing happens to me a lot when i travel.  Anyway, the next day i went to the vatican which was very impressive.

The Gelato at Il Caprino was great, and i would recommend it.  The parks were very stunning.  After my allotted time there i went back to milan for the night, i didn’t go out because i wanted some rest, but i didn’t get any because of the noisy front desk person and their friends. Look out for my last trip before i return to the US XD

I then found myself near a Christmas market i wanted to visit, so i stopped by and got some gummy candy.  I needed to find Christmas fair that only lasted for the first day i was there.  In the end i was unsuccessful, s i went back to finding a hostel.  I walked around more and found out that it would be impossible to find any that would be reasonably priced (the lowest i found was a hotel at 121 pounds) so i made plans to stay up all night.  I bought an Imax ticket for the latest Harry Potter Showing and would watch that before i walked around the city.  That night was long, but i saw most of the sights and, unlike most cities i have been to, it keep it’s lights on for the entire night.  At around 4 i decided to walk to Kings Cross station to see Platform 9 3/4.  To my disappointment they had construction over the entire station making the platform impossible to see.  The night was finally over and i bought an entire day ticket for “The Underground” (the subway) and rode it until 8 o’clock.  When i emerged, it was the same temperature that it had been the entire night which tipped me off that the next night would be cold.  In preparation, the next time i ate (the Mcdonalds Spicy chicken sandwich was the meal of the trip, costing 2 pounds) i donned a more clothes.  What i wore for the remainder of the trip was 3 long leave shirts, 2 pairs of socks, my scarf, gloves, hat, and coat. (along with boxers and jeans)

Day 2:  It’s a saturday after Thanksgiving, what do you expect?  You should expect nothing since they don’t celebrate the holiday here, but it was a day of incredible shopping rushes, promotions and street activities.  At Piccadus Circus (the equivalence of Time Square) and Oxford Circus are the high end fashion stores which didn’t have any sales, but gave out alcohol to the shoppers.  Other chain stores actually had sales.  The entire time i was there i wanted a shirt with the vertical british flag, but when the only one i found cost 40 pounds i decided to buy a 40 pound cologne instead.   After seeing the sights i went and bought another late night Harry Potter ticket and greeted the even colder night with care.  After the movie got out, I rode the the red bus for a couple of hours.  It was cool because of the wide front window you can see out of.

After a long night i rode the subway around, again, when it opened at 5.  When i was finally 2, i checked into the only hostel i reserved.  I slept there until my plane, where i headed home.  Oh! i almost forgot.  The second night i was there, there was a group of girls (completely drunk) who were riding around on the bike transport vehicles and one dropped her bag in the middle of the rode.  I ran out and got it, but not before a couple of cars almost ran it over.  When the vehicle turned around, they came to me and i gave it to them.  They repeatedly said how i was a decent honest guy and tired to give me money for saving the purse.  I refused and one, there were three total, backed me up.  I eventually gave in, and the girl who backed me up got mad at me because she wanted the money for herself.  Luckily i got it too, it was just enough to last me the rest of the trip.

After arriving at the hostel soaked, i had to wait for this douchebag to log out of the system.  Anyway, there were two people at the front desk, and the one i went up to was having computer problems.  So he told me to sit down, it will just be a few minutes, so i waited.  He ended up leaving the computer (not telling me that i should just go to the other guy, which i was about to do) and i waited 15 minutes until he came out from the back and asked the other guy to help me.  I went up to my room, where my roommates were already asleep (it was only 11) and i set my stuff down and went to the Brandenburger.

Sorry for the blurry shots, it was too dark.  I went to sleep after that.  The next day was still cloudy, but much, much colder.  I ran over to the East Side gallery in an attempt to see it before a tour to a concentration camp started.  But i missed the beginning of the tour and i decided to take my time before i would go to a tour of the city later that day.

The East Side Gallery is the remnants of the Berlin wall.  Anyway, i continued my way back to the hostel when i stumbled upon the fact i lost my map.  Taking into account my good sense of direction i managed to direct myself to the Judisches Museum where i saw an interesting exhibition over the forced laborers for the Nazis.  Not only the jews, but people from eastern Europe as well as members of the Italian army.  After the exhibition i noticed a Phoenix poster on a decrepit pole and decided that would be my evenings entertainment.  I continued towards my hostel, unsuccessfully at first, but arrived there and tried to get directions to where the concert was.  I was getting nowhere with the less than knowledgeable staff and headed out to the tour meeting point early so i wouldn’t miss it.  It’s safe to say that the guide didn’t show up so i just walked aroudn the other half of Berlin for 4 hours.

I did this while searching for the phoenix concert.  I was late and i arrived back at the hostel and asked the person again if he could find anything.  He gave me a map and circled where he thought it was, and i was off.  I arrived at the circled building on the only to find out that you could not buy the tickets at the door.  I was distressed, i talked to a couple people until i found someone who could speak English and asked him how i could get in.  He said to wait until 8 and they will let people in if they have the room.  So i waited, and Got In!  It was the highlight of my trip.  I had a great time watching Phoenix and The Ting Tings perform.  After which i headed to the hostel to sleep.  The next morning i headed to Sachsenhausen concentration camp.  It was a picturesque morning, as i approached it was foggy and crows were Ka-ing annoyingly.

The “Arbeit Macht Frei” is German for “work will set you free.”  After the concentration camp i headed to the train station and departed.  Yet, this is not the end.   Like most of my luck, the only time i meet beautiful girls is when i’m on a tram or train or metro, and it is incredibly random.  I found myself in a train car with 5 German girls who i would later find out were either my age to two years younger than me.  At first we didn’t talk, they talked in German and knew that i had no idea what they were saying, i thought the book in my hand was a dead give away that i spoke English but i guess it wasn’t obvious.  After some left it was just me and one other girl who was surprisingly trusting in the fact that she we were the only two in there and she could sleep.  I didn’t mind, i was starring out the window the entire time listening to my music.  Anyway she was my favorite of the group, but when everyone returned and wanted the lights turned off they turned to me spoke some German and pointed at the ceiling.  I had no idea what they were saying and no English expressions would demonstrate my confusion without causing more in return so i just deduced what they wanted and said “oh, the lights” as they flipped them off.  At that, i discovered two people in the group could speak at least some English, so we conversed and it was a very weird conversation because they would ask what music i liked and if i was single an so on.  Anyway i exchanged numbers with my favorite girl, Ellie.  There here till the end of the week.   I was surprised to find out how much Ellie reminds me of Sonya, they’re incredibly similar.  Luckily the past is to learn from, eh?

As a whole, Budapest is a very safe city, and is especially beautiful at night (well, before 2 a.m.).  The bridge is illuminated with lights, as well as Heroes Square.  Budapest was a wonderful city, getting in on a Thursday afternoon, i meandered towards the city and found a cheap hostel (the Central City Hostel) located at the city center next to fashion street.  The next day i enjoyed taking pictures of various buildings, like the Institute of Applied Arts.

After an extensive look at Pest, i called it a day and relaxed at a club that night. Saturday, the day before National Day, i went and saw the National Gallery and Hrad hill.  On my way back, i ran into a procession honoring the fallen heroes of Hungary.

I  then crossed the now decorated bridge (with Magyar flags) and went to the Hostel.  There i found i had a roommate who look of Asian. We didn’t talk.  I left for a second club and called it a night.  The next morning, deciding not to go the thermal baths (supposedly a Budapest hit), i took a show and talked to my roommate.  I found out that he is from a city where one of my HS friends goes to college, Tulsa, OK.  We decided to hangout together after i bought my ticket to Zagreb.  He was meeting up with a friend of his sisters, and we all met at Heroes Square.  Going to lunch at a bakery, all this cost about 3 dollars.

We then headed on a 6 hour (should have taken 1 hour) journey to Momento Park.  After missing our bus stop and waiting for a couple hours, we got on another bus and arrived at the park.  Luckily, we were the last they allowed in.  The park closes at sunset because Hungary does give enough shit about it to install lighting.  It’s commonly joked about as the place the new government threw away the communist propaganda, then put everything upright and started charging tourists to see it.

Then we got drinks and i went to Symbol, probably the best club i have been to yet.  Free first drink, massages and chocolate fountain, all accompanied by a live band.  The next day i left for Zagreb, Croatia, and, after staying a day, i returned to Budapest.  Spending an entire night wandering the city in the rain, i waited until i could buy a bus ticket back.  Why did this happen? First, i needed a receipt to board the bus, which i didn’t have a printed copy (this was at midnight).  Then i had to wait until the local internet bar opened to print, because this retarded one at the train station lied to me and told me their printer worked and charged me for a full 15 minute session after using the computer for 1 minute and finding out their printer doesn’t work.  Anyway, i have my health (haha, irony) and i just started to plan my last 3 trips.

Fancy, right?  The price was a little upscale at the Sheraton (i.e. 150 euro), so i decided to continue on my blind journey to find some place to sleep.  As i continued into the city, it start to look nice and friendly, and it was relatively unpopulated.  I passed a club, the Nu Spirit club, that i was wanting to visit.  I never actually went there.  I found the street that had the “Slovak Pub” the only restaurant on my list i actually went to and had pork schnitzel and bacon.  It wasn’t bad, and i had a good Slovakian beer with it.  The pub was packed, it was definitely a popular place amongst the locals and tourists alike.  Then my search for lodging continued, at this point about 2 hours had passed, and i managed to find 2 that were nearby each other.  Both hostels, i was faced with the common “Do i want a private or 8 person room?” decision.  Well, it goes with out saying i choose the cheaper, 8 person room that cost me 14 euro (very nice!, i heard this phrase way too much this trip).  Backpack safe, and now much more eager to see the city i set out.  At night it was pretty nice, especially at some of the fountains.

The second is of the Apollo bridge, it spans the Danube, the river that divides the city.  The clubs that are of interest, including Nu Spirit, are Channels, Subclub and Sparx.  The first night i went to Channels, trying the B52(rum, amaretto and absinthe) shooter.  Upon arriving at 11, the club was small and empty, but like all clubs in Europe, it picked up at 12.  This is where i stumbled upon the 0 dollar bill, with, you guessed it, George W. Bush as the portraiture.  The serial number was b4uvtethnk, it was very creative and was more or less the only English i encountered on my visit.  Nobody ever spoke English to me except for Martin, the creepy friend i made, throughout my visit.  At about 2:00 i returned to the hostel and had the worse hostel experience of my life.  I slept for 2 hours, woke up to Americans talking, waited twenty minutes until they went to sleep, tried to sleep, was interrupted be noisy Spaniards who spoke for another twenty minutes, tried to sleep again, one of the Spaniards snored like a wildebeest and i couldn’t fall to sleep, listened to my ipod for an hour, the snoring stopped, tried to sleep, slept for 3 hours until breakfast.  The beginning of the weirdest day i have had so far.     Let’s break for some pictures.

As i got breakfast, i forcibly was exposed to Martin.  He asked me where i was from and as i responded, “the U.S.” (i don’t like saying America) he brightened and invited me to sit down with him.  Try new things, right?  We talked, he explained how it’s his dream to visit America and how he wants to practice his English with me over coffee.  I accepted.  He lead me aimlessly through the the street, and asked where i was rooming for the night.  I pointed to the second hostel i found and said i was going to get a private.  He ushered me along and said we should split a double to save money.  I agreed, i saved 9 euro this way, and we dropped our stuff off in our room.  Try new things, right?  Continuing to a cafe, he talked about why he was in Bratislava and where he lived.  I mainly listened all day, and luckily saw everything i wanted to.  A quick overview of the day, i spent it with him showing me a church and a seminary (my life is cursed with catholic emphasis) and we ate at a food kitchen.  That night, we saw a Czech play about a saint with his friends from the seminary.  Not my idea of fun, but try new things, right?  We returned to the hostel *akward part* and i went out to the Subclub by myself.

Subclub is an “alternative” club, meaning it plays breakbeat and hard techno.  It has been my favorite club so far.  It’s located underneath the castle (Bratislava Hrad), resembling an abandoned subway tunnel.  I didn’t want to return to the hostel and stayed at the club till 3 (i couldn’t keep myself awake).  I left the next day at 11:30, and on the bus i met Claire, a girl from Sion.  Small world, huh?  My next post will be a week from today, after my trip to Budapest and Zagreb.