Photo--Sunset over Budapest, Hungary
Saturday, July 03, 2004
Eger, Hungary--Budapest, Hungary—Day 154
Today Sarah and I had breakfast and walked around Eger for a bit before getting a taxi back to the train station. The train ride to Budapest was fine (less interruptions than our night train!) and we made it back to the main train station and got a taxi to the hotel.
After checking in, we got on the Budapest Metro (their subway station) and headed straight to the zoo. We found the zoo (one of the oldest in the world!), bought our tickets and then realized that we have absolutely NO clue how to say “hippo” in Hungarian, let alone ANYTHING in Hungarian, come to think of it. We went to the information desk but they couldn’t help us, so we figured that we would get lunch before finding the hippos.
After having lunch at the zoo’s cafeteria, we went in search of the hippos. We decided that the “African Savanna” area would be a good place to start. We couldn’t find them there, but did find a hippo’s skull on display, so we were able to find out that “hippo” in Hungarian is “víziló.” So we went in search of the “víziló” and finally found a sign for them in the elephant house.
The elephant house was huge and seemed like a pretty fantastic place to live for a hippo, compared to some of the other zoos I’ve seen. We found the hippos (two of them) and I started taking pictures. The two hippos kept swimming back and forth, and back and forth, and so we watched them for quite a while. It seems to be the trend lately—watching hippos swim in circles while we wait. Over the next, oh, three hours we stood there and watched them swim and occasionally get up and out of the water. It was really funny, the first time that they finally got out of the water they both climbed out, walked to the door that connected their outside pen to their inside pen, and then walked back into the water. It all happened really fast (ok, as fast as hippos walk) but the exact moment that they got out I was changing my memory sticks on my camera, so I totally missed it. It was so funny—but also so frustrating because after watching them so long they FINALLY got out and I missed it because I was switching things on my camera. Of course.
But luckily they got out two other times while we watched and I was able to find a zookeeper who helped me with their names: Justina (the daughter) and Tūcjōk (the mother). Once it started to get late we headed out of the zoo and went back on the subway. We got off farther away from our hotel and walked back through the Pest side of Budapest (for all who don’t know, Budapest is divided into Buda on one side of the Danube River and Pest is on the other) towards our hotel. We then got dinner at a nice restaurant along the river, watched the sun go down, and headed back to the hotel.
(c) 2004 Sarah Galbraith. All Rights Reserved.
After checking in, we got on the Budapest Metro (their subway station) and headed straight to the zoo. We found the zoo (one of the oldest in the world!), bought our tickets and then realized that we have absolutely NO clue how to say “hippo” in Hungarian, let alone ANYTHING in Hungarian, come to think of it. We went to the information desk but they couldn’t help us, so we figured that we would get lunch before finding the hippos.
After having lunch at the zoo’s cafeteria, we went in search of the hippos. We decided that the “African Savanna” area would be a good place to start. We couldn’t find them there, but did find a hippo’s skull on display, so we were able to find out that “hippo” in Hungarian is “víziló.” So we went in search of the “víziló” and finally found a sign for them in the elephant house.
The elephant house was huge and seemed like a pretty fantastic place to live for a hippo, compared to some of the other zoos I’ve seen. We found the hippos (two of them) and I started taking pictures. The two hippos kept swimming back and forth, and back and forth, and so we watched them for quite a while. It seems to be the trend lately—watching hippos swim in circles while we wait. Over the next, oh, three hours we stood there and watched them swim and occasionally get up and out of the water. It was really funny, the first time that they finally got out of the water they both climbed out, walked to the door that connected their outside pen to their inside pen, and then walked back into the water. It all happened really fast (ok, as fast as hippos walk) but the exact moment that they got out I was changing my memory sticks on my camera, so I totally missed it. It was so funny—but also so frustrating because after watching them so long they FINALLY got out and I missed it because I was switching things on my camera. Of course.
But luckily they got out two other times while we watched and I was able to find a zookeeper who helped me with their names: Justina (the daughter) and Tūcjōk (the mother). Once it started to get late we headed out of the zoo and went back on the subway. We got off farther away from our hotel and walked back through the Pest side of Budapest (for all who don’t know, Budapest is divided into Buda on one side of the Danube River and Pest is on the other) towards our hotel. We then got dinner at a nice restaurant along the river, watched the sun go down, and headed back to the hotel.
(c) 2004 Sarah Galbraith. All Rights Reserved.
Friday, July 02, 2004
Katowice, Poland--Budapest, Hungary--Eger, Hungary—Day 153
Before heading to Budapest, Sarah and I decided on taking a slight detour to Eger, which is about 2 hours by train. Our train ride from Katowice to Budapest left at 11:45pm and arrived in Budapest at 9:30am. We then had about an hour before we caught our 4th train (in a 24 hour time frame!) on to Eger.
The overnight train was very luxurious—there were three sleeper beds in each cabin and not only did you get a full bed and sheets, but a hand towel AND a croissant for breakfast! There was a girl in the room when Sarah and I showed up who was on the top bunk of the three, and Sarah and I had the middle and bottom bunks. We settled in and before I knew it, I was asleep.
Then all I remember is waking up and trying to open the door. I was shaking it and trying to unlock the lock. Sarah was telling me to open it, so I was trying to but because of how it was deadbolted and then locked with a chain, I couldn’t do it. I woke up mid-attempt and wondered what the heck I was doing! Then the passport patrol people knocked louder and tried opening the door. I couldn’t open it, so the girl on top had to jump down.
I had subconsciously responded to Sarah’s requests for me opening the door without hearing the knocking that had woken the other two up. I was definitely disorientated and realized that it was 2:30 in the morning, so I had every right to be. We had to get out our passports since we were traveling through the Slovak Republic. Once we finally got the door open, I couldn’t for the life of me get my bag open (which I had locked to keep it safe while I was sleeping) and it took what seemed like hours for me to get the combination to work. For some reason, the stupid thing just wouldn’t open and of course that would happen to me with two huge passport official looming over me.
I finally got it open and handed it to them and they left. This happened again later on in the morning when we reached the Hungarian border, although I was more prepared this time. All in all, the train ride was fine and we pulled into Budapest feeling pretty good.
The train to Eger was fine too but Sarah and I were worried that we were on the wrong train (as always). The girl next to me spoke English and assured us that we were on the right train.
We were. Hopping off in Eger, we got a taxi to our cute little bed and breakfast in the town square that we had arranged. It was so cute and homey and we took quick showers before heading out to have lunch and then explore the Eger Castle which overlooks Eger and is the sight where the Ottomans were defeated in 1553 (a big deal in Hungarian history!).
After walking around the castle grounds and visiting several exhibits on its history, we made our way through town and headed to the Valley of Beautiful Women. (No joke, that is what it is called!) We first stopped off at the Eger Cathedral which was designed to be the largest Cathedral in Hungary, according to our guidebook. We then headed on to the Valley of Beautiful Women, which was about a 25 minute walk from the Cathedral.
The Valley is known for its numerous wine cellars that started up after WWII in the volcanic hillside near Eger. There are over 25 cellars there now, and you can really just spend a whole day walking around from each little small cellar to the next tasting all of the different wines that they produce. Sarah and I didn’t hit all 25, but made it to quite a few and had a blast—at one point we were being serenaded by several Hungarian men and their instruments (ok, it was just a quartet playing Hungarian music, but still!) and we had to take a taxi home quite a few cellars (and drinks, ahem) later.
We dropped off some stuff at the hotel and went and got dinner before heading back out on the town to explore a little bit more of Eger. We finally ended up at the hotel exhausted from two long days of traveling.
(c) 2004 Sarah Galbraith. All Rights Reserved.
The overnight train was very luxurious—there were three sleeper beds in each cabin and not only did you get a full bed and sheets, but a hand towel AND a croissant for breakfast! There was a girl in the room when Sarah and I showed up who was on the top bunk of the three, and Sarah and I had the middle and bottom bunks. We settled in and before I knew it, I was asleep.
Then all I remember is waking up and trying to open the door. I was shaking it and trying to unlock the lock. Sarah was telling me to open it, so I was trying to but because of how it was deadbolted and then locked with a chain, I couldn’t do it. I woke up mid-attempt and wondered what the heck I was doing! Then the passport patrol people knocked louder and tried opening the door. I couldn’t open it, so the girl on top had to jump down.
I had subconsciously responded to Sarah’s requests for me opening the door without hearing the knocking that had woken the other two up. I was definitely disorientated and realized that it was 2:30 in the morning, so I had every right to be. We had to get out our passports since we were traveling through the Slovak Republic. Once we finally got the door open, I couldn’t for the life of me get my bag open (which I had locked to keep it safe while I was sleeping) and it took what seemed like hours for me to get the combination to work. For some reason, the stupid thing just wouldn’t open and of course that would happen to me with two huge passport official looming over me.
I finally got it open and handed it to them and they left. This happened again later on in the morning when we reached the Hungarian border, although I was more prepared this time. All in all, the train ride was fine and we pulled into Budapest feeling pretty good.
The train to Eger was fine too but Sarah and I were worried that we were on the wrong train (as always). The girl next to me spoke English and assured us that we were on the right train.
We were. Hopping off in Eger, we got a taxi to our cute little bed and breakfast in the town square that we had arranged. It was so cute and homey and we took quick showers before heading out to have lunch and then explore the Eger Castle which overlooks Eger and is the sight where the Ottomans were defeated in 1553 (a big deal in Hungarian history!).
After walking around the castle grounds and visiting several exhibits on its history, we made our way through town and headed to the Valley of Beautiful Women. (No joke, that is what it is called!) We first stopped off at the Eger Cathedral which was designed to be the largest Cathedral in Hungary, according to our guidebook. We then headed on to the Valley of Beautiful Women, which was about a 25 minute walk from the Cathedral.
The Valley is known for its numerous wine cellars that started up after WWII in the volcanic hillside near Eger. There are over 25 cellars there now, and you can really just spend a whole day walking around from each little small cellar to the next tasting all of the different wines that they produce. Sarah and I didn’t hit all 25, but made it to quite a few and had a blast—at one point we were being serenaded by several Hungarian men and their instruments (ok, it was just a quartet playing Hungarian music, but still!) and we had to take a taxi home quite a few cellars (and drinks, ahem) later.
We dropped off some stuff at the hotel and went and got dinner before heading back out on the town to explore a little bit more of Eger. We finally ended up at the hotel exhausted from two long days of traveling.
(c) 2004 Sarah Galbraith. All Rights Reserved.
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