Eastern Road

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Thursday 28th September

Today was Vienna to Budapest in Hungary. Border control was hilarious. Yankee Chris was so engrossed in his newspaper that he didn't see the guard board the bus and stand patiently in front of him waiting for his passport.

Checked into the Hotel Stadion, a marvel of Communist architecture in Budapest. It was on the outskirts of the city but at least there was a subway station next door.

Checked in and was time to get all dressed up again. This time for another night tour and also for a Danube Booze Cruise. Our guide again was pretty funny. I think she had all our attention once she had casually thrown the word 'fuck' into her spiel. Her lilting Euro accent complemented her dry, sarcastic humour well.

We went to Hero Square first where we got our group photo taken. The coppas also got a photo taken of themselves posing 'blue steel' style, something they had done at a few major tourist spots along the way.

Went up to the Fisherman's Bastion which was very pretty all lit up at night and had great views over to the Buda side of Budapest. One side of the river named Buda, the other Pest.

It was then time for the Booze Cruise. It was supposed to be a lovely buffet dinner and a few drinks while casually sailing down the Danube River, but we all knew it was about to turn into a trashy night as free bottles of wine were available on board.

It didn't take long for everyone to wolf down their dinner and head upstairs, many with bottles of wine in hand to view the beautiful illuminated sites of the city.

But it had descended into complete drunkeness by the time the boat had docked. We made our way down to the main drag where a few of us had a pit stop for some more beverages at a local pub. We then stumbled on to a club on the outskirts called the Buda Bar. I got all excited at first thinking maybe it was a Hungarian version of the famous Parisian club called the Buddha Bar of which I have nearly all their produced CD's. But alas, it was just a play on the city's name. Although inside had its Asian influences and I quite liked the place. It was pretty dead at first, but soon became packed. John was in a generous mood again and had bought everyone more tequila shots, plus some vodka and red bull.

Tequila, always the popular friend at a party, soon had everyone in a good mood and people started dancing away. I popped a few caffeine pills, they didn't take long to kick in and I was soon on my second buzz for the night.

It then became very entertaining. A few of the girls and I watched the soap opera unfold as people started flirting with other people, then moving onto other people, then going back, then trying another person, then going back to another and so on and so on. It was like watching a game of musical chairs. I had my own little fun which I will have to laugh quietly about. But well, we all remember the entertainment that night.

The club had become pretty hot but the buzz was still there. It was too hard to get drinks at the bar and I soon resorted to using the water in the ice bucket to cool down. Had a guy, Aussie of course, come chat me up, he had also been to Oktoberfest and was perfectly nice, but I wasn't really in the mood so I did him a favour...of some sorts.. and palmed him off to Naomi who later left with him.

Mindy and I left in the wee hours of the early morning and took a taxi back to the hotel. Passed out.

 

Friday 29th September

We didn't get up until 2.30pm. Caught a train into town and then a tram to the Sarvasasnok Markets. Bought a traditional Hungarian black embroidered blouse. Then realised I paid way to much for it, but oh well. Also bought a cute brown tote bag with a Hungarian pink motif on the front.

Walked down Vaci U, the main street in town and went to a cafe for lunch. We then caught a tram to St Stephens Cathedral which was absolutely gorgeous. Inside they were holding Mass so we had to be quiet. I fiddled around with some settings on my camera so I didn't have to use the flash, and by upping the ISO I was able to get some great photos.

Headed back to the hotel for a crappy dinner before some of us went downstairs to the main foyer where we took over the bar area and sat around having a few drinks.

 

Saturday 30th September

The bus ride today to Poland was spent getting SMS updates from my Mum on the AFL Grand Final scores. Each update was passed onto the bus to various cheers and boos, depending on who was winning at the time. The closeness of the game made the bus ride pretty interesting. Got the last update as we were at the border crossing at the Hungary/Slovakian border. The guard came on the bus collecting passports and stopped when he got to Dave.

Earlier that morning the Concierge at the Hotel had to be called to let Alex into the room as Dave had passed out and would/could not open the door. He had since dozed off into an alcohol induced coma on the bus making intermittent gurgling noises to confirm he was still alive. But now at the border crossing he was woken up for his passport. However, he did not have it on him. The next 5 minutes were spent in a frantic pace as a confused and dazed Dave tried to find his passport. A few of us even went through his backpack for him to try and find it. Eventually he went through his luggage under the bus and finally retrieved it! A night in an unforgiving Eastern Europe prison cell with a big hairy cellmate called Boris, thankfully averted.

We had lunch in Slovakia at a town called Banská Bystrica. It was a cute little town with pretty squares and laneways. We were advised to order lunch as quickly as possible as the place was known for its slow service. Mindy and I picked a restaurant with the least amount of people as possible. The others went to places that had quite a few people. So therefore we received our chicken caesar salads pretty quickly. With time to spare we had a look around and found a great jewellery place. I bought two necklaces, some earrings and a few hair clips.

Got into Krakow about 5pm. Border crossing into Poland was surprisingly quick. Had another crappy meal at the hotel consisting of some sort of sweet and sour kebab on rice.

Time to dress up again as we all caught taxis into town to go to a little underground club called Fusion. It was an ok place. Had a few drinks and then watched the continuation of the soap opera. A few twists came into the plot which Lauren and I found ever so entertaining.

Caught a taxi home about 3am and crashed.

 

Sunday 1st October

Next day we had another driving tour followed by a walking tour. This local guide however was extremely dull and coupled with everyone's hangover, the tour wasn't a great success. We wandered around like zombies through the Jewish Ghetto area and up around Wawel Castle. We did however get to see Oskar Schindlers factory which I thought was very interesting.

Made our way to the Old Town Square where a few of us checked our net and then had lunch. By this stage I was pretty sick of heavy European food so I ordered a Calimari Salad. What came out looked more like a pizza. But it turned out to be reaaally good. It was a pizza base, with the salad heaped on top with a few pieces of calimari and aoili drizzled all over it. It was awesome haha.

Afterwards Amy and I went and checked out the markets nearby. We came to the realisation that Poland must be famous for its amber. We visited about 20 different amber stalls before I finally settled on a necklace and then went and found some matching earrings. Necklace was 49 ZLoty (about $20AU) and the earrings were 28ZL ($12)

In the arvo we went to the salt mines. I had forgotten to take something warm as we were told it gets quite cold underground, but luckily Alex let me borrow his leather jacket, as he wasn't going to the mines.

We went down about 150m via the stairs and then got to walk around the mining tunnels. There were carvings and sculptures all throughout and everything was made out of salt. At the end was a massive Cathedral area, with big chandeliers that hung from the roof, and various art around the sides. To take photos here you were supposed to pay 10Zl. I didn't pay but Mindy did. I took a few sneaky photos while no one was looking and then when Mindy was done she gave me her sticker and I took a few more photos freely.

We then had a group photo taken before we made our way to the exit. Luckily we didn't have the stairs to take us to the top but lifts. I had heard that the ride up resembled a rollercoaster so I was quietly excited as we jammed 9 people into the dark, tiny lift. Sadly it wasn't that thrilling.

Back at the bus we had to wait for a bit as Erick had gone missing again. Jane soon found him and we headed back into town for dinner.

As we walked towards the Town Square, Mindy mentioned that she felt like nachos. The next minute I spotted a Mexican restaurant so Lauren, Sharon, Naomi, Mindy and I went there. The meal was ok, nothing on my calimari salad but it was cheap and there were cocktails.

Mingled around the Square for awhile and took some night pics of the buildings. There were some fire performers nearby and so I got some cool shots of them before we headed back to the coach.

At the hotel we hung around in the bar for a bit. Broke out some cherry vodka I had bought at a supermarket in the Czech Republic, it was only $5AU!!! But only had a bit of it before heading to bed.

 

Monday 2nd September

Today we headed to the capital of Poland, Warsaw. There were a few stops along the way however and after about an hour we had made it to one of the most infamous Nazi Concentration Camps, Auschwitz and its lesser known but more lethal death camp, Birkenau.

We watched a film at Auschwitz first. We had been warned that it was quite an emotional film with lots of gruesome and uncomfortable scenes. Though I must say, I've seen worse/better WWII doco's on SBS. We were then led around the camp which was deceivingly pretty with all the nice green trees and went into different buildings which had lots of displays in them. The most poignant I found was one of the last buildings where they had piles of human hair, suitcases, eye glasses and shoes. Knowing that every piece there belonged to someone who went through hell in that place hit home. We were also shown the death wall outside the 'courthouse', although I'm sure no justice was ever served in that place. Our last stop was to one of the remaining gas chambers.

We then took the bus a few 100 metres to Birkenau. The first thing we saw was part of the train station there that transported people from all over Europe to their deaths. Our guide then showed us the living quarters of the prisoners which I thought were the worst out of Auschwitz and Dachau (another Concentration Camp I went to in Munich).

It was then a quiet bus ride to our next stop, a little town called Częstochowa. Here we visited its famous religious relic, the Black Madonna. Housed in the Jasna Góra Monastery since 1382, the Black Madonna is a painting which according to legend, was painted by St Luke the Evangelist. The painting is credited to have performed many miracles, including saving the Monastery from fire and even saving the country from Swedish invaders, There is one legend concerning the two scars on the Black Madonnna's right cheek. It is thought that a Hussite robber drew his sword upon the image and inflicted two deep strikes. When the robber tried to inflict a third strike, he fell to the ground and squirmed in agony until his death. Despite past attempts to repair these scars, they had always reappeared.

I made my way into the Church and suddenly found myself in the middle of a Mass. I tried to remain respectful and only took a few photos, but it was hard to get out, especially when everyone started kneeling and praying. So while they prayed I kneeled and tried to figure how I would get out. A collection plate soon came around and I found my chance and went to check out some other areas. Blasphemous maybe, but I'm not religious.

Grabbed some lunch and then it was back on the bus headed in a straight line to Warsaw.

On the way, we got bored. Matt (I can't remember which one, it just says Matt in my diary) and I came up with the idea of playing that game where you name a subject and go around a group with everyone naming things until someone can't give an answer or doubles up. I decided to make it interesting and brought out my cherry vodka bottle as I couldn't be bothered carrying it around anymore. It was a great way to pass the time, although a few people were either really dense or just really liked my vodka. Unfortunately someone left the empty bottle on the bus and we got busted for it, but it was worth it.

Got to the hotel and it was another hotel meal. At 10.30pm most of us took taxi's to a club called The Underground. Inside I found some brochures that had a huge picture of some nice cleavage and we were soon shoving them down our tops and taking photos. We are like, so mature.

Started drinking some Tequila beer called Desperados with Lauren and Sharon and decided that I would go all out and have a big night. This would require some more Zloty though so Lauren and I went to find an ATM. Slightly tipsy we ran across the the multi-lane streets in the rain and tried to figure out where an ATM would be. I spotted a Metro station and downstairs I found my ATM. Cashed up, we ran back to the club.

Had an awesome night, except when I dropped my little camera and it broke, but at least this was after lots of good photos had been taken. Danced heaps on the stage and will always associate Bob Sinclairs song, World Hold On, with this place.

At this point Lauren was pissed and horny. She had found a Polish guy and had planned to take him back to the hotel where she knew her roomie would not be. But she kind of lost him. I was ready to leave about this time and as Lauren was completely obliterated I told her she was coming home with me. I had to drag her out of the club.....no literally! I dragged her out. She was holding onto the wall for dear life as the bouncers watched on in amusement. They were laughing and I told them that she just really liked their club. She was not very happy about leaving and the whole time was yelling "I lost my Polish guy!!/I was going to get laid!!/ I have a free room tonight!!" I finally got her outside where she proceeded to scream to the world "Fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuccccccccckkkkkk!!!!"

Zak had meanwhile come out and the three of us got a taxi back to the hotel. Only 12Zl....a far cry from the 30Zl we knew some other people had paid.

 

Tuesday 3rd October

Another guided tour whilst hungover. Went to Lazienki Park and saw the Chopin monument. Were then dropped off in town where we did a mini walking tour in the old area and watched a film which I remember nothing about as it was a great chance to sleep off the hangover, but according to my diary, it was about Warsaw during WWII. Some of us then went and got some Perrogies, a Polish dumpling sort of thing. I got mine with cheddar, mozzarella and broccoli in garlic sauce and it was sooooo good.

Afterwards we caught a bus to the main shopping area. I bought two tops, some shampoo and some nail clippers heh. At 3.45pm I took the bus back to the Old Town, spent the whole time worrying that I was going to get caught for not having a bus ticket, but made it without any drama. Then got the Contiki bus back to Lazienki Park to watch a Chopin recital. Had a domestic with Yankee Matt about him being rude the night before. Looking back now and remembering Kelly's reaction as she watched, it was pretty funny haha.

Recital was good. Was done by a little old lady who clearly loved playing the piano. I wish I had more time to explore the park there as it was one of the things I had wanted to check out in Warsaw.

Got dropped back off at Old Town afterwards but all the people I had been hanging around with weren't there as they had not come to the recital. Walked around on my lonesome for a bit thinking how crappy it was to be by myself when something made me look up and into the window of a restaurant. There were my friends!! Yaaaay! I was so happy hehehe. Grabbed some dinner with them before walking around randomly waiting for the bus to pick us up.

That night we went up the road to the Ice Bar. It was cool.....of course. We got to wear huuuge silver jackets for the actual iced up area. It was quite a novelty, especially when I figured out how the Ice sculptures worked and that you could actually take shots from them. You tipped your shot into the head and then took it from err the other end haha.

Stayed in the main bar for a bit and had a few quiet drinks before going back to the hotel around midnight.

 

Wednesday 4th October

Early start as we left at 7.30am on our last bus trip back to Berlin. Had a lunch stop at McDonalds before we joined one of the biggest traffic jams I have ever seen just before the Polish/German border.

Decided that sitting on the bus was boring so stood in the aisle. Everyone became chatty and moved around the bus. Grabbed Yankee Matt's camera while he was asleep and took random photos of things including stuff I'd written on a piece of paper that was an 'in' joke that only he got. Actually I don't remember how that saying came about but we talked a lot of random stuff on the bus, mostly stuff that we had to keep quiet as we realised not many people agreed with our sense of humour hehe.

Once we'd passed the border crossing which was relatively quick, we headed to Berlin and had made it back by 7pm. Probably would have been 4pm if it hadn't been for the traffic jam. Had a dinner at the hotel and then a group of us headed out to go see the Reichstag. Got on a tram that said it was going to Alexanderplatz, but it stopped in the middle of no where saying End of Line. Found another tram and got into the city but missed last entry to the Reichstag by 10 minutes. I felt bad since it was my idea (and Matts by the way!) to catch the tram. The constant joking of it kinda got to me after awhile and I became quite snappy.

Went and looked at the Brandenburg Gate. I decided to take a short cut through a dark, dimly lit, city park. That was fun! Went back to the hotel while a few others went out to Hackeschermarkt.

 

Thursday 5th October

Had a walking tour with a guy called Gabrielle. He was British which seemed odd in Germany, but he was hilarious all the same. Apparently a few of the North Americans didn't appreciate his jokes about Iraq though.

Got to see Hilters bunker in an apartment block car park and then ended up at Checkpoint Charlie. Checked out the Museum there and afterwards a few of us went to the Zoolischer Gartens for a wander. Paid a ridiculous amount for lunch at this snooty department store.

That night we had dinner at a German restaurant before going out on a pub crawl, Our pub guide was Bridgette, and Australian who was a bit of a ditzy fairy.

First pub/bar was a cool retro place and after my wine at dinner, a shot of apple schnapps out on the street, another in the bar and then a vodka and red bull, I was buzzing pretty nicely.

Next place was also good. Got there and raced Lauren to a couch on the far wall (in a room full of empty couches). I cleared an armchair hurdle style but failed to see the step just before the couch and stacked it spectacularly, then flipped myself around and landed on the couch as intended. I maintain though, that I never fell to the floor. Everyone saw though, and cheered. Went to the bar, and took two free shots, then got another red bull and vodka at some stage.

Sorted some things out with someone, then got used to show some local girls the he had 'moved on' because he got rejected, danced a bit then continued on...

Next place was a dark little red bar. Pretty pissed by this stage, two members of the group had passed out in arm chairs nearby and were instantly attacked by the paparazzi. Another free shot, another bull and vodka.

Walked to the last club with Yankee Matt who was so drunk he was only capable of getting the words "I'm so drunk right now" out of his mouth. I'd picked up a box of matches at some point and were flicking match angels into the air. The last place was down a little alley and we were reminded to not act drunk otherwise we wouldn't be allowed in as the place apparently had standards.

Inside there were a few more people than at the previous places. My turn to shout, and another bull and vodka was in my hand.

Watched one of the last episodes of the soap opera. But at this point it just didn't seem as entertaining. This was going to be the last time most people saw each other so was kind of a downer.

Had a moment of ecstasy as Sexy Back was played and we rushed for the dancefloor. I promise I have good taste in music, but I just can't help liking that song hah.

A few of us left shortly afterwards.

 

Friday 6th October

At breakfast it was time to say a few more goodbyes. Lauren had surprisingly turned up as she had missed her flight, so we got her for another night yay!

Ended up going to Englischer Gartens again, although with some more 'End of Line' dramas. Got some pics burnt to CD, bought a shoulder bag, then went back to the hotel. Checked into the Generator Hostel next door. Goodbye luxury, hello slum. Then met up with the others and went out for dinner at Hackeschermarkt. Ordered Curried Sausages, they sucked. Ordered a Berliner Weisse which was a beer with raspberry syrup in it. Was actually quite nice. Went looking for a bar afterwards and ended up taking everyone to Am-Pm. Ordered a Baileys with milk and the waiter looked at me funny and said "You sure?" Obviously not a well known drink in Germany. What came back was Baileys on Ice with a Cappuccino froth on top. Interesting...but it surprisingly worked. Piked shortly after with half the group. Felt a bit bad because it was Coppa Matts last night, he was flying out at 5am the next morning and wanted a big night so he could go straight to the airport. But a few stayed so least he wasn't deserted.

 

Saturday 7th October

Checked into a triple room at the Generator with Amy and Joy. Then Amy and I went and purchased train tickets at the Hauptbahnhof station. Later that night, the three of us met up with Ange and Fi and we went out for dinner. Told them about a Thai place I had seen at Hackeschermarkt so we went there. We were all starving and ordered heaps. It was damn good Thai food and the start of my mission to try Thai food in every country I go to.

After that we went to Rocco a few restaurants down for desert. Got an apple strudel and hot chocolate, both were awesome. Rolled back to the hotel and crashed.

 

Sunday 8th October

Bummed around till Amy & I's train left in the arvo. Spent most of the time on the net. Rang Mum and my best friend Kirsty and got to speak to my friends Matt & Brad to wish them Happy Birthday. Tried to ring Mark, a guy I had met at Oktoberfest, but he didn't answer.

Dragged bags to Hauptbahnhof and caught our ICE train to Frankfurt. Had reserved seats in a compartment and shared with an old guy from Jordan who was nice and chatty.

 

  ONTO POST TOUR - SWITZERLAND TO PARIS......