Zagreb - Croatia - The layover

Sweet jebus! I gots me a working USB port on this computer. It be picture time!

I took an early train from Budapest and arrived in Zagreb at around 2PM. This is me in the central square.



My hostel, The Fulir Hostel, is a block away from this square. Nice central location, very clean, very cool and helpful guy runs the place.

I'll be taking a bus tomorrow morning to Split and then immediately a ferry to the island of Hvar. Gonna use that as my homebase and will do daytrips to Dubrovnik and the othe island. I'll be at the Green Lizard hostel in Hvar for 4 nights. Then maybe Split, and then maybe the Crotian National Park which is supposed to be amazing, annd then I dunno. Gotta somehow make make my way to Vienna for the 13th so I can fly back home. Man... only about a week left. Then again, I am kinda looking forward to getting home.

So I've been fighting a cold for the last few days. I think the cold is winning. Advil does wonders though.

Alright. It's time to catch up with the pictures.

This is a picture, through a window, of the Gruyere production. Hmmm... Cheesy.



Best meal in Zurich. The outdoor terrase at Bellevue for Bratwurst, chicken, fries and beer. It was no Chalet BBQ, but it did the job.



Actually, 2nd best meal in Zurich. The Rösti and Pan fried veal with mushrooms in the white wine sauce was probably the best of the meal of the trip. Better have been for 30$ CDN.

Chalet BBQ - First place I hit when I get back to Montreal.

And then I start going back to gym.

This was a cool statue in front of a concert venue in Budapest. Creeeeeepy.



Me at Hösök tere, the central square, in Pest:



Széchenyi Fürdő, the thermal baths and swimming pools in the central square in Pest. 12$ well spent for 3 hours of rest and relaxation. Way too many guys in Speedos though.



There's a statue in the bottom right of that picture of a swam suckling a woman's breast. Did a double take on that one. Very odd.

Yesterday, wednesday, I finished up in Budapest by exploring Buda. Walked up Gellért Hill to the Citadella, and got a great view of the city.



Not sure if you see it in the picture, but I was literally dripping sweat by the time I got to the top of that hill. Was quite the hike.

Walked down the hill, and went to the Castle area. It was nice, but I preferred the one in Prague. To be honest, I'm a little tired of touristy stuff at the moment. Once you a church or two, or a castle or two, you're enthusiasm starts to wane a bit. I do want to see the Habsburg palace in Vienna if I have time.

I did get to watch an official governent visit from the President (or prime minister) of Slovenia (I think!). Full soldier march routine.



Got back to the hostel, went out for supper with an Aussie and Sascha from Laval (Pork stew, Hungarian style... with a very cheap 0.5L bottle of Stella), and just relaxed and watched the movie '16 Blocks' with Bruce Willis. I'm sorry I didn't get to experience Budapest's supposedely amaying night life, but I was just too tired, and trying to stave off this cold.

There was a woman, 70 years old, staying at the hostel in Budapest. Travelling alone through Eastern Europe for 2 months. If she can do it, anyone can.

Alright. That's it for now. Til next time.

On my way to Zagreb

Ok. Let me first get this out of the way - Habs win the season opener! WOO!

Killed me to miss the game last night.

(And RDS is now televising all the games in HD! Rocking!)

Alright, now that that's done with, this will be a real short update, as I have to shower, pack and head to the train station to catch my train to Zagreb Crotia.

It's 6:30 here. It's dark out. And no one is up. Very peaceful.

I'll update with the rest of the details of my visit here to Budapest later on.

'Til next time.

Budapest - Day 2

Szia!

(that's hello in Hungarian. I had to look it up in a book. I'm absolutely useless with this language...)

Somewhat relaxing day here exploring Pest. Walked from the hostel to the Varosliget city park. There is where I found the cure to my traveling aches: The Szechenyi Baths. Indoor and outdoor pools heated to 38 degrees Celsius. Spent about 3 hours there... bliss. Have pictures... but no way to upload them.

Otherwise, just walked around exploring. Interesting city, but I've gotta admit - after the cities and countryside I've seen so far, it's hard to get excited about Budapest. It's another European city (but honestly, a lot dirtier). As a result, I'm cutting my stay here by a day. Early Thursday morning I'm catching a train to Zagreb, Croatia. I've heard that Zagreb isn't really worth visiting, but I'll give it a day. Friday I'll catch a bus to Dubrovnik and then start working my way up (north) the Adriatic coast. Dubrovnik - Hvar - Split - and then I don't know. Depends how long it takes, and how much time I have left. I'd still like to try going to Slovenia before ending my trip in Vienna (where I'd like to spend at least one full day). We'll see what happens.

Tomorrow I'll explore Pest and Castle Hill. If I have time, I might go to Statue Park where they have a sizable collection of communist era statues from various eastern bloc countries (who obviously didn't need them anymore)

Hostel here in Budapest is great. So far, I've been very lucky with my accommodations. This place (The Goat Hostel) is basically a converted (very large) apartment. There are 3 rooms, and a great common area with a TV/DVD, a great selection of DVDs, a kitchen with food earmarked for anyone staying here, laundry. The manager, Gabriel, is incredibly helpful and personally makes individual specialty coffees for everyone. People staying here are great too. One guy here is from Laval, so I got to chat about the Habs, which was good. Food's good too (although the chinese food I went for tonight was a little sketch... I don't think this is the right country for good asian food...). Tomorrow I'll be going for some authentic Hungarian food (hmmm... goulash)

Weather has been amazing too. High 20s both yesterday and today. Shoulda brought shorts.

Speaking of the Habs, it was nice to see copies of EAs NHL 08 in Switzerland with Mark Streit on the cover. Made me proud.

Still a little confused about them keeping Price up and sending Lapierre down... but oh well. I can't believe I'm missing the beginning of the season. Bah.

Alright, I'm off. 'Til next time (hopefully with pictures)

Viszontlatasra.

Matt

Cracked out in Budapest

I'm safely in Budapest, at the hostel, after an oh-so-fun 13 hour overnight train from Zürich. Wasn't able to get a sleeper, so I was stuck in the "reclining" chair. I did manage to get 4-5 hours of intermittent sleep, but I'm pretty tired. Gonna get settled, shower and start exploring to try to get the lay of the land. Can already tell I'm going to like Budapest.

BTW. free internet here at the Goat Hostel so I'll probably be posting more often.

'Til next time.

Last day in Zurich - Budapest here I come

Grüezi! (pronounced grooetsi, means good day in swiss german)

It's my last night in Zurich and have been having a great time. Alas, it's time for me to move on to another country. Tonight I will have the pleasure of taking an overnight train to Budapest Hungary. All the sleeping compartments were full, so I get a reclining seat airplane style. Woo!

Gonna check at the last minute to see if there were any cancellations in the sleeping compartments... otherwise, I'm gonna be dead tomorrow in Budapest.

BTW, I'll be at the Goat Hostel in Budapest. Currently scheduled to arrive tomorrow and stay for 4 nights. Yes. It's called the goat hostel.

Yesterday's day trip to Gruyeres was amazing. I can't even begin to explain how awe inspiringly beautiful this country is, but there are so many times where I round a corner (be it on foot, or in the train) and gasp at what I see. Whether it's the rolling hills, or the looming alps, the lakes... this is the best country I've been to if you like the outdoors. The day trip wasn't without it's issues as I missed a very tight bus connection in Fribourg to Bulle and screwed up my whole itenerary. Luckilly, when you buy a ticket to a specific destination i atter what means you use to get there, so you can substitute a train for a bus or vice-versa. What this did give me was an hour to explore Fribourg which was an great little city. The town is built into a mountain and is 2-tiered with a large part of the city in a lower valley.



Random fact: you're daily tram/bus pass in Zurich can even get you on the river boats! Now you know.

So, a 2.5 hour journey to Gruyere ended up taking 4 hours, but it was so worth. Gruyere is like something out of a fantasy novel (think Tolkien). Here's a picture (but honestely, it doesn't do it justice)



That's the small town in the upper right.

This is the picturesque, admittedely very touristy, but no less charming, town:



There's a small fairy tale-esque chateau on the far end of the town, worth visiting. And smack dab in the middle the small town in the middle of south-west Switerland, where it has no business being, is the HR Giger Museum!



12 Swiss Francs to get in, and well worth it. Most Giger's key works are housed here, as well as a large section devoted to his designs for the Alien movies (natch!). They were missing a few of the ones that I know (like the one they used for Danzig III), but beggars can't be choosers. Next door to the Museum is the Giger Bar were I enjoyed a fine swiss beer. Very cool place based on his designs. On one wall was a ceramic version of the baby face landscape. I was very happy they didn't have a ceramic version of his "Penis Landscape", which was at the museum BTW, but behind a curtained red-light area for adults only. Very sick man. I loved it! (which I guess makes me a sick man too... oh well)



Had myself a tastii croque monsieur made with Gruyere cheese and bought myself a small bottle of authentic Absynthe from the distillers who claim to have invented it. This is the real stuff, made with wormwood. Absynthe party at my place when I get back. Now I need to lug the bottle for 2 weeks in my backpack.

By the way, I can't explain how nice it was to be in the French speaking area of Switzerland, and to be able to actually converse!

I got back to the hostel at around 9PM, changed, and joined Dave, Anita, Dalia and the rest of Swiss based Huber clan at Huberfest 2007. I got there just in time for desert and the hired band, and had a great time.

Speaking of which, a special thanks to Berny and Ariane for their hospitality and for making me feel welcome. I'll never forget that.

Random bits (including some stuff I forgot to post before):
- When in Zurich, go to Sprüngli for quite possibly the best swiss chocolate and pattiseries. I warn you, it's pricy, but worth the visits. Try their Luxemburgerli's.
- Dave and I went to Lucerne on Friday. Had a great time in a picturesque small town. I think I've used the word picturesque too much, but you can't help it here in Switzerland.
- I love the fact that you can drink anywhere you want in most of these countries. For example, before a train ride, you can grab beers at the grocery store and drink them on the train. Last night, there were kids drinking beers on the public tram. Not sure that would work so well in Montreal...
- I spent a long time trying to figure out how to say 'sorry/excuse me' in german as I arrived in switzerland. Had a good laugh when it turns out that the word in Swiss German is "Sorry". Swiss German is an interesting variation of regular german (or high german as it's referred too). Much less agressive sounding.

There's probably other stuff I've forgotten to mention, but I'll cover it later. This entry is long enough as it is.

Next post will be from Budapest. Til next time.


(from the top of the chateau in Gruyere)

Zurich Day 3 (I think.. time flies when yr having fun)

A real quick update...

All's well in Zurich. Having a blast. Berny and Ariane (Anita's brother and girlfriend) have been amazing hosts, and it's great to be able to spend time with friends during this European trips. Dalia is cute as a button (she's sitting right in front of me as I type this).

The food and beer here is amazing... but way too expensive. Me and Dave went to a beer hall a couple of nights ago and had a somewhat traditional Swiss meal. Dave had the Veal Schnitzel and I had this amazing dish of sauteed veal with mushrooms in a white wine sauce. Both served on a massive rosti (shredded potato, like hash browns, fried in a massive amount of butter). So rich and so good... just keep the defribulator close by. Just the mains were 30 swiss francs. Mind you, this was an expensive restaurant but looking at other menus around town, this is about average.

So... yes, you pay a lot here. But the quality and the service is outstanding. I think it's a good tradeoff.

The swiss chocolate is as good as always. As is the cheese. Did you know that your average person is Switzerland eats over 11 kilos of chocolate a year... the highest per capita in the world. awesome.

Whenever Dave wakes up from him wine induced coma, we're supposed to head over to Lucerne for the day.

Tomorrow, I'm planning a solo day trip to Gruyere (as in, where they make that cheese). Main reason: The H.R Giger Musuem!!! I can't wait.

A couple of pictures:

Me and Dave went for Bratwurst and beer at a outdoor terrase called Bellevue. Amazing.



Dalia in her pillow fort:



That's it for now. Til next time.

Me, Mom & Morgentaller Reunion!

A quick post on a completely different topic. Me, Mom and Morgentaller are reuniting for 2 shows in November. If yr interested,`I'm going to the thursday show.