Amazing is Spelled Z-A-K-O-P-A-N-E

The title is a bit presumptuous as I have now been in this small city for not even 7 hours, yet I can tell it's one of the most beautiful places I have been. Zakopane is a small city in the southern part of Poland, which used to be little more than a village, situated within the Tatra Mountain area. It's a popular place among Polish people, and now at least one American. There is skiing, hiking, biking, horse rides and much more available. And plenty of beautiful scenary.

Most of the buildings which are original date to 1900 and have an original style as they were all mainly designed by one man (so I've been informed).

The houses and buildings are beautiful, the atmosphere relaxed, and the scenary is amazing. I am supposed to meet someone I met while traveling in her hometown of Bratislava, Slovakia in a couple days and I am seriously considering passing up that offer - or at least post-poning it because of the beautiful city I am now in.

To backtrack a bit, I spent 3 days on the coast of the Baltic Sea, in Gdansk, Poland. It was a lovely city with innumerable historical buildings and remnants of buildings. Bombed heavily during WWII, the devastated remains of some buildings are constant reminders of the rough past that Gdansk (formerly Danzig) endured. I ended up staying an extra day purely because of the charm of the lovely receptionist, Kamisia - and it was worth it as I enjoyed walking the city streets and met a couple of German guys and got into some intense international and political debate - which we managed to not turn into an argument!

So perhaps Zakopane for a few more days - some hiking, nature, etc. - then perhaps Slovakia.. or maybe back to Slovenia to do what I missed out on? Or maybe a wild card - a jump into Germany!

Polska Kielbasa and Kebabs Galore!

So after a fun weekend in Budapest, I ventured further north to Poland. Krakow, specifically - which is supposed to be "The New Prague", and while I have yet to visit Prague, I can safely say that Krakow has been my favorite city now, topping the capital of Slovenia - Ljubljana.

My first two days in Poland I took day trips outside of the city of Krakow. My first day in Poland I visited the Auschwitz and Birkenau concentration camps. It literally takes your breath away, being in these places, looking around, hearing the tour guide talk about all the things that happened - how many people died, how they shared a small bunk with 7 people, how they couldn't go to the bathroom, how they...

It was one of the more impressive locations I've been on this trip in 7 weeks now, and yet much of it lies within the mind, as with the Birkenau camp, much of it was destroyed by the Nazis before the end of the war in an attempt to cover up their attrocities - as if that were possible.

After that moving day, I visited the town of Wieliczka, where they have one of the oldest Salt Mines in the world. It was really impressive, and I actually found out that the miners were extremely religious people, to such an extent that they built physical churches within the mines themselves!

The people here have been extremely hospitable, and the hostel I am staying in is great! Except for what I assume are some bed bug bites? But they're a non-issue. Met up with the Polish guy I met on my train ride in here the other night, and his friend Magda, who happened to work at a tourist information center, so she had me visit her the next day there and gave me TONS of information on places to see, when to go, and how much it would cost me. Wicked helpful, and wicked cute. ;)

Other places I visited include, but were not limited to, Pope John Paul II's original church (in Krakow); Wawel Castle (where every king of Poland has lived, there's a fun myth about a virgin eating dragon that goes with the castle too...); and also went to a classical music concert in a church built in the 17th century last night as well which was amazing; plus many more places.. Krakow's been a blast, and I'm sad to leave. But in the morning I head to the coast of the Baltic Sea, a city called Gdansk (which used to be Danzig, in Germany).

Hungry in Budapest

So, the last minute plan to meet up with Julie in Budapest came to fruition as I arrived at 12:30 and she arrived later that afternoon with a bunch of her friends from her study abroad program in Salzburg, Austria. The weekend was filled with a little bit of everything as we experienced a wide array of things within the city.

Our first night in was relegated to getting things sorted out, and walking around to get some food - then we dove into the nightlife headfirst. With an interesting evening under our belts we took off (not so) bright and early the next morning for our first full day within the city. We walked around and saw plenty of sights, loads of beautiful architecture, and met some crazy Albanian guys who were wearing soccer jerseys while we were passing the stadium section of the city and wound up talking to them and discovered that there was a national soccer game going on that evening right there! Albania and Hungary were playing in the semifinal qualifying stage for the 2010 World Cup! Believe it or not, I wasn't even the one who insisted that we go. But what a great decision it was! With a national victory under our belts, us weekend-Hungarians decided to celebrate as the rest of the city did.

Sunday we strolled through the other side of the city (which is split in two parts, Buda, and Pest) and saw their Parliament building, crossed the Danube and stumbled upon a wine, pretzel and sausage tasting event taking place within the Royal Palace! It cost us 1700 HUF (about 6 euro) to get in, and was it ever worth it!

Sadly the weekend came to a close though and they left last night - surprisingly, of all the people I've traveled around with for 2-3 or more days, they were the only few people I was not happy to part ways with. Almost slightly disappointed they've left - but I know that more fun and interesting people await down the line... Perhaps in Poland... or maybe Slovakia... I'm not quite sure yet, maybe I'll flip a coin and see where I end up...

It's the Economy, Stupid

On a sidenote - I checked my bank account for the first time since leaving (and was a bit nervous before doing so...) but was pleasantly surprised to notice that I am comfortably under budget so far. It pretty much made my day.

sLOVEnia

After a couple of days in Belgrade I moved on to another unintended destination: Slovenia!

On my train ride out, I had one other passenger in my cabin - a 25 year old Serbian guy; at first I didn't have a great feeling about this. We got to talking and by the end of the train ride were laughing and joking together. We exchanged email addresses and he emailed me last night to see if I wanted to go out to a bar since we were both in Slovenia - unfortunately I didn't get the email. Though it's nice to be building an international network.

The capital of Slovenia is Ljubljana (Lu-bli-ana) and it's fantastic. It is definitely my favorite city so far within the past 5 weeks of travel. I only ended up coming here because I will be in Budapest for the weekend to meet up with my friend Julie, and didn't want to spend a full week in Belgrade - even though the most attractive European women by far have been Serbian women - so I had to find a new destination for 3 days. Slovenia is also the only country I hope to return to during this trip, once leaving it.

Last night I was out at a local Slovenian bar and met a small group of locals who were all finishing their studies just as I had, and spent the evening with them, talking and listening to a Slovenian rock band (who played a number of classic American rock songs!). They pay about $2,000 (USD) to go to graduate school here, and regular University... is free.

The photos on this page are of a small river that cut through the city in the first photo, and of a dragon flanking one side of a bridge in another area of the city. Ljubliana is the supposed location of where Jason, "ancient Greek mythological figure, famous as the leader of the Argonauts and their quest for the Golden Fleece." founded his city as well. Thus the dragons are a representation of his heroism in his quest.

Burek in Belgrade

So I woke up Friday morning (at least I think it was Friday, I no longer keep track of which day of the week it is anymore..) and decided that after talking to about 30 people and having 29 say only negative things about Romania, that I would bypass it; for now at least. Where did I chose to go instead? Belgrade, Serbia. Probably not among the top tourist destinations for Americans, especially after the 1999 NATO bombings - which are still evident in some locations of the city - but a new and interesting destination nonetheless.

I've been here for just over a day now and have already had two interesting encounters. The first of which occurred on the train into the country from Bulgaria - where, at the border, I was nearly deported, and then while walking in the city with my two British roommates and talking, 2 guys just said hi and asked where we were from and struck up conversation. Quite friendly people here in Belgrade actually. However, when it came out that I was American, the man who was doing much of the talking, let out a big "UGH", turned his head up in disgust, and ignored me for the rest of the time we walked and talked.

The photo here is of me in front of an old Serbian castle, overlooking the Danube River - and the title refers to an absolutely delicious pastry dish called "burek" which can either be served with meat or cheese.

28 Days Later

The beauty of Bulgaria is hidden outside of the capital of Sofia. Such is the case with the Rila Monastery, which I visited 2 days ago. It was so beautiful and peaceful there. This monastery actually began as a hermitage by one monk who was tired of all the other monks and how things were being done more or less, and he actually lived in a cave nearby while the monastery was built by his students. The cathedral, which I couldn't take pictures inside of, was beyond impressive.

And since I've officially been in Europe for 4 weeks now, I decided to celebrate by getting on the last night train out of the city of Sofia, getting to the train station at the last minute, nearly missing my train (partly because I can't understand a lick of Bulgarian writing) and arriving in a new city at 1:00am with no definite means to get to the hostel I booked!

Before I left, a girl I had met, Julie from New Zealand, posed the question which I would later ask myself... "Why not just wait till the morning?"

I got off the train, got a taxi with no problem, was going to pay quite a fair price, and was happy as a clam; I would be sleeping soon. This was not to be the case...

I arrived at 4 Rilski Metoh Street just after 1:30am, and was all set to let them know how I made online reservations, and that's when I saw this:

Enter, the lovely and picturesque, Plovdiv Hostel! They offer free internet access, cable TV, DVDs, air conditioning, luggage storage, linen is included, free coffee, free tea and free water, and are centrally located just by the old town and the new town so you're close to everything! What a deal right?!

4 hours after these pictures were taken, I actually found a place to sleep! In retrospect, I've made better decisions. : )

ATAKA: National Attack Coalition

Bulgaria does have it's beautiful parts. It also shows it's Russian influences and corruption around every corner as well though.

Walking through the city with two young British lads I met in the hostel, we came across a number of these items. A small weekday protest, with propaganda that we couldn't really read. Old communist style buildings and architecture. It was exactly the type of thing I hoped to see in this area of the world. Though I saw much less than what I figured I would to be honest.

The first picture is one of the many drawings posted by the protest we witnessed; showing the bad apple with heads of state which was seemingly being fumigated by the Bulgarian Nationalist party. I think it needs little more notation for you to understand the jist.

The second photo is of an old Russian Orthodox church which was in the center of the city.

(Edited later)
On my train ride out of Sofia, Bulgaria - I shared a train with a young Bulgarian student, Petco. When I asked him how he liked living in Bulgaria, and his new location of Sofia (for school) he said he hated it and wished he could leave or just travel like I was. He said that "many [Bulgarians] felt that the government was [screwing] them over, and laughing in their face while they did it."

Burnt Out in Bulgaria

So, too much travel in the last few days, coupled with a lack of sleep and minimal food consumption over that period, finally caught up with me. Since getting off of the train in Bulgaria my sore throat has gotten worse and I went to bed quite early last night (10:45, much earlier than most nights), as I was achy and felt feverish. Hopefully a day or two of rest will get me back on my feet and back on the road to Romania and beyond.

Spent some of the late morning today in the "Lady's Market" though, where for about 4 blocks there are heaps of street vendors selling clothes, food, toys, and plenty of other useless items. I got a Nautica jacket for 24 lev, which is about 12 euro, which is about $17 US. I've been told it's a good deal as far as bartering and prices go here, yet another thing I wish there was more of back home!

Another interesting thing is all the fresh food, fruits, and meats they sell on the streets here. It seems quite unsanitary compared to the standards I'm used to back home in the United States, but no one seems to mind here. It is how it is. And people don't seem to be petrified of the flies gathering around some of the meats.

I was told of a story by someone I met in Greece, of markets in some areas in Southeast Asia, where they place frogs on top of the fish they are selling in similar type markets, to catch the flies landing on the fish. The frog seems to be an acceptable method of cleanliness in these markets.

This Is Spartaaa!

You bet I was going to use that as a title! And for those of you who haven't seen the film, 300, go see it!

Current day Sparta was unimpressive to be honest, but ancient Sparta was so cool. Even just imagining the history there was intense. Sadly it poured the entire time I was in the city (all of 3 hours, due to crazy bus schedules). It was however the first time I made use of my rain jacket I've been toting around for 3 weeks, so I didn't mind so much -- plus, I'm in GREECE! Who cares if it rains a bit.

I was horribly prepared for Sparta -- only 3 hours for the whole city, no map, no sense of direction, and hadn't had breakfast -- but it worked out in the end! I found a book store and bought a map for 6 euro, went to a museum which had been closed for the last 6 months and met these two lovely Bulgarian girls who spoke very little English and "talked" with them for almost an hour!

It also turns out that firefighters in Sparta, are just like firefighters back home in Peabody... always taking it easy, on the phone, and just hanging around. ; )

Roots

Getting back to the good ole family history, I'm presently in the Peloponesse city of Kalamata, where some of my family came from many moons ago. I didn't get to go to the exact village they came from, but I've seen a few small villages nearby while taking a bus on a day trip to the small coastal village of Methoni. Methoni was nice, but was all but shut down as it's mainly a summer spot now, the castle which I visited there, dates to the late 12th century, Venetian and Ottoman periods, and I got some really beautiful pictures in there (which I will post later).

Tomorrow I head to Sparta in the morning, come back to Kalamata in the afternoon, and then go back to Athens in the evening - which, historically speaking, is a hell of a day in Greece. In addition, I've learned that Kalamata, in 1821, was the official location of the start of the Greek War of Independance, no big deal...

I've been couch-surfing while here in Kalamata with a wonderful young lady, Dora. Her and her parents have been extremely hospitable and I've gone out with her each evening and met her friends and seen different things within the city on her advice. I also owe her for suggesting the day trip to Methoni (even though she put me on the wrong bus! haha), which was really nice!

The first picture is of me and Spiros, who was one of Dora's many great friends. The second picture is of me and Dora, my lovely hostess, and the third picture is of me and Nancy, who is another one of Dora's many wonderful friends. These were taken on my final night in Kalamata. Happy yet sad.

Santorini Sunsets

After an abysmal 16 hour overnight ferry ride, stopping at almost every island on the way, Jesse (my buddy from Canada) and I made it to lovely Santorini.

As I think the theme will be for the duration of the trip, it was quite an adventure the whole way getting there. Initially Jesse and I planned to catch the 8A.M. ferry out of Piraeus to Santorini. Neither of us had a working cell phone. And we were staying in different hostels. We agreed to meet in the Metro station at Omonia Square, and head down together. I barely made it there at 7A.M. - the agreed meeting time.

I waited.

And waited.

And waited some more.

At 7:35, I knew I couldn't catch the ferry myself at this point, and decided to just go back to my hostel, and check back in and go back to bed. Luck would have it that in the half hour I was gone, my bed was rented out to someone else so I had to sit around and stay awake hoping someone would check out.

Around noon time, I heard from Jesse via email and we met up in downtown Athens. We discussed things, and he apologized for sleeping through his alarm - we had been out drinking the night before until 3A.M. or so, so I was accepting of this oversight. He had felt so bad though that he woke up and did some research, and found us another ferry leaving in the afternoon, and had accommodation information as well! Kudos to him!

We went to get tickets from the travel agency nearby. The dodgy travel agent tried scamming us 10 extra euro on each ticket, talking quickly, speaking of taxes and surcharges - after previously quoting us a lower price which we agreed upon. I spoke up and straightened him out. He seemed rather embarrassed that he had been caught trying to scam us and was most apologetic about the "honest mistake."

We left and tried to get a taxi to the port, to make it on time for our ferry. Knowing what a taxi should cost is a great idea I was informed, before going to Europe. The first taxi we hailed said it cost 40 euro for a trip to the port. The second taxi we hailed shook his head and drove away. The third taxi we hailed said 12 euro. We gladly accepted this proposal and even got a few lessons in crude and lewd Greek words on the way.

The ferry was half empty, despite our lovely travel agent telling us there were only airline seats available at 27 euro, not deck seats at 15 euro - though we found this was much to the contrary. 16 uncomfortable hours later though, we were in paradise. And it was all well worth it.

Athens and Santorini

Here are a few pictures from my first two weeks:

Me in front of the old Olympic Stadium in Athens. I met a couple from Poland and they took my picture and gave me loads of advice about where to go and what to eat in Poland - they were also really impressed that someone from North America was visiting Eastern Europe and not just Western Europe. I wish I had gotten a picture with them as they were really cool.

This is a shot in front of a building in downtown Athens, I was taking pictures and I met Sergei, from Russia obviously, and we both took a picture for each other in front of this building which had beautiful architecture. We got to talking and agreed that even if our countries can't get along, there's hope for the average man!

The Parthenon on top of The Acropolis, in Athens. The reconstruction and preservation can be seen minimally in this shot, but it's a big project and was a bit of a bummer to have all the work going on while viewing it - but it was still remarkable and impressive and I would definitely love to go back!

This is one of my favorite shots, me on the island of Santorini, which I loved and never wanted to leave. This is in the picturesque traditional section of Oia (pronounced E-ah). It was so beautiful there. Met some Canadian guy there who took this shot for me and we ended up talking soccer - big surprise right?

This is one of many shots of the sunset at Oia I took 2 nights ago, my final night on that island before leaving for the island of Naxos. I thought this was a real nice shot, and came out better than most of my shots since my camera is less than impressive. It's still been one of the few sunsets I've seen while in Europe, but I'm hoping to have some nicer ones when I hit Austria and Switzerland as well. : )

Unbelievable

That's about the only word to describe this right now. Unbelievable. To think that my friends are back at school, or working away at jobs - and I'm going to stroll around in Greece today just blows my mind.

This picture is from the highest point in Athens, where you can look out over the city. It was an exhausting hike up to the top, but well worth it. I made the hike up Lycabetus Hill with my German roommate, Arne. He was out in Greece on holiday and was also looking to see more of the world and learn about some of Greece's history firsthand.

First Night

So I spent my first night ever in Europe, on a rooftop bar, looking up at the illuminated Acropolis in Athens, Greece while talking with people from Canada, Australia, Brazil, England, and a girl from California to boot! It was absolutely unreal. This picture came out so messed up that I found it pretty cool and opted to use it on the blog instead of a shot of scenery.

All my shots ended up coming out blurry that evening as well. Perhaps it was a testament to what was going on, but it certainly gave an accurate representation of what I was seeing. So perhaps it's for the best.

Bon Voyage

In two days, I leave the comforts of home and the USA behind indefinitely, for the simple pleasures of the road. With a one-way ticket, a backpack, and a thirst for knowledge and adventure I will confidently board that plane at 5:25 P.M. and head off to Europe, without looking back. Free to roam the continent as I please.