A wild ride to Cluj-Napoca

I followed through with my trip to the bath house in Budapest. I suppose I really had no expectations but was awe-struck by how many only people were there. Also, I felt ill-prepared because I forgot to bring flip flops and shampoo with me. The baths were pleasant, and fun - at least the one that's jets sent me cruising around a circular pool. It was a little overwhelming because of the numerous pools and saunas. Instructions or better signage would have been a godsend. Speaking of godsend, I had my first massage. It was only 15 minutes but it did wonders for my back that has grown tired of lugging around a heavy pack.

A day after the riots, everything seemed relatively peaceful, and the city did an amazing job cleaning and hiding any evidence of what had occured the day before. I have found that like clockwork, after about 2 weeks of travel, my body hits a wall. I hit that wall in Budapest, or maybe the bath/massage made me too relaxed. Either way, I needed a few days to relax. I spent the next two days in Buda overlooking Pest, and hanging out with folks from the hostel.

For some reason it totally slipped my mind to buy a ticket from Budapest to Transylvania the day before and I only rolled up to the station 30 minutes before my train was scheduled to leave. The international ticket window was a zoo and it was clear I was not going to be able to buy a ticket in time. The next train was 2 hours later. It turned out the girl in front of me was Romanian and needed to
catch the same train. She said she would take her chances on the train with the conductors... I didn't feel like hanging out at the stations and decided to stick with her.

She had to work real hard to negotiate and pay off three different conductors along the journey and was even nice enough to front the cash for me because I had planned on charging my train ticket and did not have much leftover Hungarian money. When we converted how much I owed her in Romanian money it turned out that we got from Budapest to Transylvania for about half the price of buying a regular ticket would
have been. Next time, I will certainly buy ahead of time because there is no way I could have done that without her doing all the talking for me!

Today was a gorgeous day in Transylvania. The Gothic architecture is neat, but unfortunately the treks that the hostel organizes are not running this month... bummer because there is not a ton to do in the city. I went to the graveyard right around sunset today which was awesome! The atmosphere was exactly what a cemetery in Transylvania should feel like. I think I will find a good cafe and read my book
tomorrow and explore a few new corners of the city that I didn't make it to today, and then leave early Sunday morning for the city a few hours south where I will be meeting up with Danny at the hostel later that evening.

Riots in Budapest

So I last left you as I was about to embark on a night out on the town in Belgrade. I met up with Danica, my Serbian friend, and a few of her classmates and went to some fun pubs. Serbians really love their house/techno music because it was blaring through the speakers anywhere we went. We were ready for some dancing so we crossed town to a disco and were waiting in line when suddenly 5 guys came out of nowhere and wanted to fight Danica's boyfriend. I turned my head away for only a moment, and when I turned back I saw these guys chasing my friend down the street and shoving him down. Of course the girls and I got out of line to check on him while avoiding the thugs who looked as though they wanted to fight more. The strange thing is that one of the thugs was the main security guy from the disco. What started off as a great night turned sour as no one was in the mood to party any more. I think Danica was embarassed that something like this had happened in front of me and everyone was extremely upset that the police had done nothing. Actually, the police did make an appearance. While we were in a nearby park regrouping and making sure everyone was alright, two armed police officers came over and demanded to see everyone's identification. I was worried because they did not seem to like my California drivers license and I had left my passport at the hostel. After calling into the authorities, they returned my ID and moved on. Danica later explained that the disco owner had paid the cops to ignore the fight earlier, and then find us in order to write down our addresses so we would be worried of retaliating. Crazy night. Danica took me site-seeing the next day and we ate the most delicious Serbian pizza with salad on top.

I am seriously starting to wonder if violence in following me because yesterday I spent eight hours on the train from Belgrade to Budapest and upon my arrival learned that the city transport was shut down due to demonstrations. I hiked 30 minutes from the train station to my hostel and saw lots of protesters and police. Check out the link below for exactly what happened:

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/24/world/europe/24hungary.html?_r=1&ref=world&oref=slogin

After dropping off my things, a few people from the hostel wanted to grab a bite to eat and see what was happening outside. We were just walking to a street filled with restaurants and turned a corner when all of a sudden we heard explosions and noticed our eyes were collectively starting to water. It was surreal because prior to turning that corner everything was silent which is why we thought we were in a safe part of town. We stumbled upon the front line where the police were using tear gas, guns (with rubber bullets) and a massive water cannon/tank. A tear gas canister was launched and rolled right up within a meter of our feet. With teary eyes, it took a second to register what it was, and then animal instinct, adrenaline and the whole lot took over and we ran to get the hell out of there. Ended up back at the hostel and watched the proceeding riots on the television. I'm curious to walk around the city today and see how much things are damaged.

After a couple action-packed days, I think it is appropriate to go lounch in a Hungarian bath for a few hours. I might even treat myself to a massage.

From Bosnia to Serbia

I woke up early and caught a ride to the bus station. It just so happened that two Aussie sisters who were staying at the same hostel as me were taking the bus to Sarajevo also. It was great having them to chat with during the longer than expected ride through Bosnia. At times the scenery from the bus was gorgious as the roads curved through dramatic gorges and grassy hillsides, but also humbling as I saw buildings with bullet holes and hotels that had been struck by missles during the most recent war. The Aussies had made reservations at a hotel in Sarajevo so I decided to follow them and see if there was also room for me. For some reason their reservation was lost and the majority of other hotels were booked. Ended up at a hotel which cost 50 euro/night. Wasn't pleased withe price but felt relieved to have a place to stay. Went out for dinner but then found a few hostels in town that were only 20 euro/night. Went back to the hotel and did my best to convincingly (I don't have a good poker face) tell the man working in the lobby that I had miraculously met a friend at dinner living in Sarajevo who invited me to stay at his place. The hotel worker was somewhat sympathetic and let me leave after paying him 10 euro. All in all not a bad deal.

The next day I saw the city with the Aussies. Sarajevo was particularly interesting because it was the first country I have been in with a significant Muslim population (about 50%). It was a little startling at first to hear the prayers over the mosques' loudspeakers but I got used to it.

This morning I woke up at 4am to shower, pack and then catch the bus to Belgrade. Arrived in Belgrade this afternoon and met up with a couple Serbians who I met through the couchsurfing website. They were incredibly nice and showed me around the city and then actually brought me back to to their apartment where one girl's mother cooked us a typical Serbian meal which was followed by Turkish coffee. Later I am meeting up with them and their friends for a night out on the town...apparently Belgrade is known for its nightlife. I'll let you know how it goes. Cheers!

The Adriatic Sea

My connection from train to night bus all went quite smoothly and the nice owner of the guesthouse in Dubrovnik was waiting for me at the bus station when I arrived. I spent the day walking through the old town admiring the well preserved buildings and admiring how well the city had managed to repair itself since the most recent bombings. Around sunset, I had a fantastic view of the Adriatic sea and the old town from the top of the cities walls. The walls took me more than hour to complete as I stopped to take lots of photos and met a fun Australian couple.

Today I took 15 minute ferry ride to a nearby island and found the perfect spot along the stone beach, to read and write between quick dips into the sea which felt colder than I expected it to. Still way warmer than the California coast but I fear my time swimming in the warm Brazillian waters may have turned me soft.

I have spending a lot of time trying to figure out the best route to head back north through Croatia. Due to the country's geography, it's not quick and easy to get anywhere. This plus the fact that so many places are starting to close or reduce hours for the winter led to a slight change of plans for the next few days. Tomorrow I will catch a bus to Sarajevo, Bosnia and then after that, move on to Belgrade, Serbia on the way to my eventual destination: Budapest, Hungary. I am excited to visit new places rather than be frustrated by a Croatia that is winding down most operations until next May. I will certainly be back in Croatia but it is now time move on elsewhere.

Onward to Croatia

I gotta jet but wanted to update this quickly. It has been a wonderful couple days in the Slovenian Alps. Weather has been spectacular, as have the sites, hiking trails and scenery. The one downer was the elderly man snoring in my hostel room. I have heard plenty of people snore, but this guy was the worst! My alarm was set for 7 this morning and magically the man stopped snoring at 6:30. Anyways, I am running on short rest and have decided to catch the train to Zagreb Croatia this evening and then save time/money by taking the night bus to Dubrovnik for a few days.

Strength and honor.

Venice to Ljubljana

First off I have to admit that I feel like much more of a hardcore traveler having spent a night in the Stansted Airport along with a thousand other travelers. It was impressive to witness the regulars who showed up with sleeping mat, bag and pillows stake out the best spots where floor sweepers and airport workers would be least likely to disturb them.

I am proud of myself for resisting the urge to nap after arriving at my hostel in Venice. Instead, I spent the better part of the day hopping on and off water busses, walking down narrow alleys and avoiding pigeon poop bombs. The city is spectacular - just like in all of the movies! After seeing several cities that have canals (Amsterdam, Copenhagen, Ljublijana etc...) it was neat to see how Venice gets the most utility out of theirs. I elected to leave Venice after only one day because I could sense a rush of tourists who would be settling in for the weekend, and their were just too many couples! Seriously, the feeling a single traveler gets in Venice is comparable to the feeling of sitting on the couch during Valentines Day with a tub of Ben and Jerry's and watching re-runs of Seinfeld.

I have been in the capital city of Slovenia for the past two days. I have spent the better part of that time walking around the city and lounging in this great park that turns into a series of hiking trails. Autumn in in the air and I love it! Tomorrow I am going to a place called Bled which is in the Slovenian Alps for a few days of hiking and fresh air. Later.

New Photographs posted

I just sent out an e-mail with a link to my latest photographs. If you are not on my list but would like to be, just let me know. Enjoy!

Where the sea meets the sea

The soccer game was peaceful compared to last weeks game. Everyone walked away unscathed, although the Danish fans were not nearly as excited about a 0-0 draw as the Northern Ireland fans were. We went to the city hall or "green" square 4 hours before the game where all the N. Irish fans were decked out in green. All the Irish fans were super friendly and quite festive with their drinks and constant sining. My personal favorite song went a little something like this: "We're not Brazil, we're Northern Ireland...." We actually ended up walking to the stadium with the Irish fans because they all marched as a group through the city. My friend Henrik said that they were the best opposing crowd that had ever traveled to Copenhagen for a national match. After the game, every pub in the city was filled with drunk N. Irish fans doing hillarious things that most of them probably didn't remember the next morning.

Sunday I took the train with my friend Tina to a city in northern Jutland called Fredrikshavn. Her parents were kind enough to let us borrow the car yesterday and she drove me to the very northern tip of Denmark called Skagen. We walked out along the beach to the exact point where the Baltic and North seas meet. It was impressive to see the waves from each sea come crashing into the waves from the other. Swimming is forbidden in this area, but one can imagine the strength of the competing tides. Last night, Tina's family invited me to have dinner at their house.

Today I am exploring the university town of Aalborg and will later take the train further south to Arhus where I am meeting up with another friend. Tomorrow night I will be leaving Denmark. I fly to Venie via London and then plan to move on to eastern Europe through Slovenia.

Denmark v Northern Ireland

There is not a ton to report on the past few days. I have been perfectly content to check in on a few of my favorite places be it bars, shops, bakeries etc... For anyone reading from the Øresunds crew, Jacob's bakery is still serving up the delicious goodies, Mexi Bar still mixes a darn good margarita, and Heidi's still has its cheap ice-cold jaegger.

When I was studying here, the cost of the program included a metro/bus pass so I didn't get the opportunity to fully experience Danish culture by bike. This week I borrowed Henrik's bike for an excursion once, and yesterday I comendeared a city bike for the day. It's slightly intimidating to be biking in an urban environment with so many other cars, pedestrians and fellow bikers, but the city is well equipped with special bike lanes and bike traffic signals.

Via a special program on Henrik's computer, I was able to watch the first two games A's playoff games live on ESPN. I am thrilled to hear about their success in game 3 as well, and am looking forward to following them as they play the Tigers or Yankees in the next round.

I digress... last night a bunch of went out to celebrate Monica's 24th birthday. Monica studied at the UO last fall along with Henrik and two other Danes. It was excellent to have a little Eugene reunion in Copenhagen.

Now it is time to dress in red and white in preparation for another (hopefully more peaceful) soccer match between Denmark and Northern Ireland. They match is a qualifier for the 2008 Euro Cup.

Pictures from an embedded reporter

Danny, me and Henrik at the game:

Henrik the hero:

A little trip to the Danish ER

So my last post mentioned that we were going to attempt to score some tickets to the big soccer game. We showed up at my school and I quickly located my former Danish teacher and she gave us two extra tickets that two students had forgotten to pick up. We were expecting to have to pay the 200 kroner face value but she insisted that they were a gift from the students who decided not to attend. Excellent! The game ended up a 1-0 victory for Copenhagen and we met up with a few of Henrik's friends for a celebrity beer afterwards amid a ton of fighting fans. A few hours later, after all the opposing fans had left, we decided to head home. It began pouring down rain so we huddled underneith the roof awaiting the storm to pass when a new fight broke out right in front of us. A guy was on the ground being kicked by three other guys who showed no sign of quitting. Henrik went over to pursuade the guys to stop, and surprisingly the guys doing the kicking seemed to agree and started to back off. Then out of nowhere, someone came behind and clocked Henrik in the face. Henrik's nose transformed into a red waterfall of blood. Meanwhile, my friend Danny was approached by someone speaking Danish. He shrugged and said he didn't speak Danish as the guy pulled him forward and head-butted him (just like Zidane did in the World Cup). We got ice and napkins for Henirk and went to the ER where we waited for a few hours (some things are the same as in the US). Intially his nose looked crooked but I think he must have reset it because by the time we got to the hospital it was straight except for a little swelling. His nose is going to be alright but he has developed a handsome black eye over the past 48 hours.

I have been relaxing and meeting up with friends over the past two days. Dropped my passport off at the US embassy to get some more pages inserted and then attended a Danish class with my old prof. It was great fun, as what I have retained from a full semester of Danish is right about the same level as the current students who have been studying for a month. Had coffee with my prof afterwards. Tonight Michelle and I may try to find a bar that is showing the Oakland A's first playoff game against Minnesota. Go A's!!!!

Feels great to be back! The flight was rather uneventful but upon landing in Copenhagen and walking to the baggage claim, something didn't seem quite right. There were literally thousands of people in the baggage area. It was a Friday evening and Copenhagen is an attractive place to visit but I had never seen the baggage claim even 1/4 as full during all of my past comings and goings via the airport here. As it turned out, the airports entire conveyer belt system had broken down that afternoon and there were people who had been waiting 4+ hours for their bags. I sat next to a fun young Dutch couple on the flight so we thought about trying to get a few beers while we waited but were extremely disappointed to discover that the duty free shop's supply of alcohol had already been picked over by the other passengers. Seeing how it was a Friday night, I decided not to risk wasting the entire night in the airport, and just caught the bus back to my old kollegium where my Danish friends still live. Met up with Henrik and as promised, he had some cold Carlsbergs waiting for me in the fridge. We hung out and chatted for a bit before going out to meet up with other people. Went to a few bars where I saw my friends Michelle, Danny, Jordan and Alana all from the Oregon. It was comforting to see so many familiar faces! Went to a few bars and then it was back to the kollegium to get some rest. Of course I couldn't resist buying a hotdog from one of the stands set up around town.

The next day we slept in, and then I went to get a transportation to use during the next week before collecting my bag at the airport. Went grocery shopping with Henrik and then some friends came over to watch a soccer game. After the game, more people came over and we had a pretty descent party going. Michelle knew one of the big soccer stars from the game, so he got us all on the "VIP" list at a club in town. Nothing quite compares to the thrill of getting to cut a big line!

Being back in Copenhagen has been a delight. I had such an incredible time studying here, and so many fond memories that I was slightly worried this place had only existed in a dream. It was relief to discover that everything is still here more or less the same as I left it. Now it is off to my old school to see if we can snag some extra tickets to this evenings soccer game between the cross-town rivals!