Another week has past by, and I realise that within three more I will be back at home. The last night I was in the Czech Republic I went to a soccer match. It took a 40-minute hike to get to the stadium, and Prague 2 local professional teams, Sparta Praha and Slavia Praha, were playing each other, which, I was later told, does not happen often. Nevertheless, the ticket was not expensive. Indeed, with the student rate, I got in for only 100 crowns (less than 6 CAD). And I was not too far from the action either. I enjoyed it. I was seated quite near to Sparta's cheer squad, and more than a few times a flare was lit in the stands. They had a guy with a microphone at the bottom telling everyone what to cheer. Sparta ended up winning 1 nothin. Then I returned to the hostel, ate, and drank some wine with some other people staying there: a Spaniard, a Frenchman, a German girl, as well as the receptionist and his friend. We talked about Argentina, Quebec, nature, the cost of living in central Europe, and other things. The next morning I walked to the river one last time, passing by a pretty park and an old chapel, the second oldest building in the city. Then I walked to the bus station and my bus departed, with me on it, around 1 pm. I got into Bratislava 4 hours later. I stayed there for 3 nights. The first night, after getting to the hostel, all I did was get some groceries, go back to the hostel, eat, read, and sleep. I roomed with a Czech man named Jacob. He was a salesman. There were also 2 Spaniards sharing the room, but they arrived late, and I did not meet them until the following night. On Wednesday, I went for a long walk along the Danube, saw the castle (all these central European cities have their own castles it seems), and stopped by an information place. I realised that I was in one European country where hockey is popular, so I inquired whether there would be any big games while I was in Bratislava. The guy at the info place didn't seem to know much about Slovak hockey, but he searched it online, and found that there were 2 games in the national league's championship series--Wednesday and Thursday--my two remaining nights there, what luck! I tried to get to the stadium that night for the 5 pm game, but was unable to find it as the local transit users gave me the wrong directions I think. So I returned to the hostel, not sure whether I would try again the following night. There, after eating supper, I met the Spaniards, who had just returned from the hockey game! They said it was good (it was their first time), and told me exactly how to get there, and where to buy a ticket beforehand. That night I went out with them to a small pub in the centre where I live rock band was playing. It was fun. By the end of the concert, almost everyone was dancing. The next day, I visited more of the old centre of the city, but there wasn't much to see. I got my ticket and went to the game. It was good too. The stadium was quite small by NHL standards, but the crowd was very lively. I bought a kolbasa sausage and beer and sat down to watch the game. The visiting team won, as they had the previous match. On Friday, I took a bus to Budapest, the Hungarian capital. I quite like it here. It has been my favourite stop since Berlin I think. The first night I ate at a restaurant the hostel receptionist had recommended to me. I ordered garlic soup and goulash, a Hungarian specialty. I also found an English book store, where I stocked up on some new reading material. I had recently finished Pride and Prejudice. I bought Fiesta by Hemingway and On the Road by Kerouac. I've nearly finished the former already; it is a good read, set in Paris and Spain, so a good book to read while traveling. So will Kerouac I am sure. Budapest is actually the union of two older municipalities: the western Buda and the eastern Pest. Yesterday I visited Buda, climbed up to the "Fisherman's bastion," which gives you a great view of the city, saw some of the National art gallery, which is actually within the Buda castle, and then went to some baths. Budapest is known as a city of baths, a tradition preserved since Roman and Turkish times. It was my first time at such a place. There was a number of baths of varying temperatures, from ice cold to super hot: 42 degrees. The latter was definitely the hottest water I have every been in, and the former was similar to the water I had ran into in the Bay of Naples. There were also saunas, a dry one and a steam one. I met some young ladies from Quebec and talked to them a bit. I got back to the hostel, went out for a bit to buy a razor and see the town at night, and came back. Today, I washed some clothes (which I have to do about every second day) then headed out to see more of Pest. I saw the Parliament, a Jewish memorial (a line of metal shoes along the river bank), stopped at a church for mass in the old Latin rite, stopped by the synagogue, the operahouse, took the subway to the central park. It is very pretty there. I rested for a bit there, then saw a castle in the park, the "heroes" square, and walked back to the hostel. I phoned home once, ate, phoned again to catch my mom. Tomorrow I will take a bus to Vienna where I plan to meet my friend Taylor on Tuesday or Wednesday. I am now beginning my return to Rome, from whence I will fly to London on the 27th.
mc
No comments:
Post a Comment