11.23.2008
Krakow!
So I haven't updated this with my most recent travels.
First off it is snowing like its December in Massachusetts here, last night we got almost 5 or 6 inches in about 25 minutes. I need new shoes. My study abroad group includes a weekend in Krakow, Poland and then an off trip to Auschwitz I and Auschwitz II (Birkenau). The trip started off with what seemed like a 12 hour bus ride, which is strange because it only took us 15 hours to get to Zagreb, Croatia. We stopped at a few gas stations along the way, which meant it was beer buying time.
Krakow, Poland
We finally made it to Krakow at 8 PM or so, one of the guys in our program named 'Z' walked us through the city center. Scratch, my roommate Tim, and Tanner and I all ate dinner at this traditional Polish resturant. Being a vegetarian, everything was basically pork so I opted for the mushroom soup, which I thought had meat in it. With much deliberation, the waiter finally told me there was no meat in the soup. After we ate dinner, us four met up with Will, Justin, Ben and my suitemate Kevin. We headed to one pub, had a few beers and watched soccer. There was a 15 year old kid buying beers here. We met these old Norwegian dudes who kept naming off really awful American pop-rock bands from the 80's. We then left the first pub and tried to find another one, we did not find just any old pub, but we found a Polish karkoke bar. It was like a scene of an awful movie. We walked in and everyone was looking at us, we proceeded to buy beers and stayed for a few hours. We ended up singing Bohemian Rhapsody, and basically sang I Believe I Can Fly with a Polish girl. We left, and then headed to a bar/club named Prozac which is like the distant cousin to the Cross Club here in Prague. We stayed for a while and met a lot of cool people. Ryan and I met a Polish girl named Anna, who just randomly sat down next to us. Shes from a village outside of Poland and was telling us all kinds of things in Polish. For example, "Ahoj" means Dick. Also, she told me how to say "fuck" and "Nice, Wanna fuck?" It was quite the culturual experience. We left Prozac and proceeded to try and find our hotel but first we wanted more beer. On the way to a non-stop we ran into our long lost friend Will. He was with a bunch of drunk Polskis and was quite a funny time. Ryan was buying a Gyro, when we saw some of the only people we talk to from our program. They warned us not to go into this bar or club or whatever so we didn't, at the same time we met a bunch of Polish guys that kept calling us American brothers or something. We soon left and found that non-stop, and called it a night.
The view from our Hotel.
Polsky Art.
First off it is snowing like its December in Massachusetts here, last night we got almost 5 or 6 inches in about 25 minutes. I need new shoes. My study abroad group includes a weekend in Krakow, Poland and then an off trip to Auschwitz I and Auschwitz II (Birkenau). The trip started off with what seemed like a 12 hour bus ride, which is strange because it only took us 15 hours to get to Zagreb, Croatia. We stopped at a few gas stations along the way, which meant it was beer buying time.
Krakow, Poland
We finally made it to Krakow at 8 PM or so, one of the guys in our program named 'Z' walked us through the city center. Scratch, my roommate Tim, and Tanner and I all ate dinner at this traditional Polish resturant. Being a vegetarian, everything was basically pork so I opted for the mushroom soup, which I thought had meat in it. With much deliberation, the waiter finally told me there was no meat in the soup. After we ate dinner, us four met up with Will, Justin, Ben and my suitemate Kevin. We headed to one pub, had a few beers and watched soccer. There was a 15 year old kid buying beers here. We met these old Norwegian dudes who kept naming off really awful American pop-rock bands from the 80's. We then left the first pub and tried to find another one, we did not find just any old pub, but we found a Polish karkoke bar. It was like a scene of an awful movie. We walked in and everyone was looking at us, we proceeded to buy beers and stayed for a few hours. We ended up singing Bohemian Rhapsody, and basically sang I Believe I Can Fly with a Polish girl. We left, and then headed to a bar/club named Prozac which is like the distant cousin to the Cross Club here in Prague. We stayed for a while and met a lot of cool people. Ryan and I met a Polish girl named Anna, who just randomly sat down next to us. Shes from a village outside of Poland and was telling us all kinds of things in Polish. For example, "Ahoj" means Dick. Also, she told me how to say "fuck" and "Nice, Wanna fuck?" It was quite the culturual experience. We left Prozac and proceeded to try and find our hotel but first we wanted more beer. On the way to a non-stop we ran into our long lost friend Will. He was with a bunch of drunk Polskis and was quite a funny time. Ryan was buying a Gyro, when we saw some of the only people we talk to from our program. They warned us not to go into this bar or club or whatever so we didn't, at the same time we met a bunch of Polish guys that kept calling us American brothers or something. We soon left and found that non-stop, and called it a night.
The view from our Hotel.
Polsky Art.Krakow, Poland (Day II)
The second day I woke up around 11. Ryan and I shared a room in our hotel and we were both pissed off because we missed the first walking tour. So we decided to head out by ourselves, and the first priroity just like anyone who is hung over was cigarettes and food. We ended up getting Gyros, which are fair inferior to the Gyros in Budapest. While getting food, we saw Marketa (who runs my program), Jana (she works in the office, and can kick your ass) and Z. They gave us awkward looks like the knew we just woke up. We walked all around the city center and ran into some interesting shit.
We ended up meeting up with the second group at the castle in Krakow, it was perfect because we were looking for Will to see if he was still alive from the night before. We ended up swapping stories with other people in AIFS and Jana, because shes awesome.
The second day I woke up around 11. Ryan and I shared a room in our hotel and we were both pissed off because we missed the first walking tour. So we decided to head out by ourselves, and the first priroity just like anyone who is hung over was cigarettes and food. We ended up getting Gyros, which are fair inferior to the Gyros in Budapest. While getting food, we saw Marketa (who runs my program), Jana (she works in the office, and can kick your ass) and Z. They gave us awkward looks like the knew we just woke up. We walked all around the city center and ran into some interesting shit.
We ended up meeting up with the second group at the castle in Krakow, it was perfect because we were looking for Will to see if he was still alive from the night before. We ended up swapping stories with other people in AIFS and Jana, because shes awesome.
After the end of the of the second tour, we headed to a Georgian restaurant. Some of the nicest people and best food I have ever eaten. Will, Tim, Scratch and I discussed plans for the evening and decided that it would be best to stay in because of Auschwitz in the morning. We went to a non-stop and stocked up on beer and other stuff. Went back to the hotel and played card games until around 9 PM. We decided to go back to the non-stop so I could purchase some Polish vodka. (This is what Poland is known for, at least one of them) and more beers. We went back to the hotel room and had intense political debates after way to many beers. Typical frat party status. After a lot of that Polish vodka made out of honey, Will and I decided it would be good to visit one more pub before we left Krakow. There is video evidence of this next, and the best part of our trip in Krakow. Will was taking a swig of the vodka, looked to his left, and then face planted right on the ground. I never thought I would see something that funny in my entire life. I walked out of the room and when I came back Will is standing in the windowsill of our hotel room. Now the best part of this that our window is adjacent to a very busy square in Krakow. He was very sure there was a stepping-stone ledge to stand on and there was not. So, I pulled him out of the window because he was being dumb. We ended up going to one pub and I met a lot of Polish people while Will went off dancing. I left around what seemed 1 AM, but it was actually 4 AM.
Auschwitz I / II
Scratch and I ended up checking out of our hotel at about 7:30, we got food and then headed towards the bus. Auschwitz is about 25 minutes outside of Krakow and we arrived to the first camp soon after we left the hotel. I really do not feel like getting into all the details so I will post some pictures from it. It was the most surreal experience of my entire life.
Auschwitz I / II
Scratch and I ended up checking out of our hotel at about 7:30, we got food and then headed towards the bus. Auschwitz is about 25 minutes outside of Krakow and we arrived to the first camp soon after we left the hotel. I really do not feel like getting into all the details so I will post some pictures from it. It was the most surreal experience of my entire life.
And that was my hesky polski vikend.
-Jim
-Jim
11.18.2008
11.17.2008
11.10.2008
11.06.2008
400 years in the making, coughing up blood, and multivitamin juice
The last few days since my return from the Balkans have been interesting. First and foremost, Obama was elected President, "the first black President" in American history. I think this is a great step, seeing as I voted for him to win anyway...but its time to officially stop seeing the world in white and black. We watched the election at The Globe, which is a book store run by Expats here in Prague. It was full of beer-drinking Americans who every time Obama won a state everyone would errupt into this chilling appaulse. I loved it, although at one point I did take a quick nap, because if you don't understand it was not until 6:30 Wednesday morning that we found out the best news in the last 8 Years. After returning from The Globe, I had began to cough up blood. I contracted a viral infection, and it was making my cough so deep and hard that it was breaking blood vessels in my lungs and throat. Basically, I am not dying but it sucks. I went to the doctors and he gave me a bunch of antibotics. I took some of them and slept from 9:00 PM until 7:00 AM this morning, its now quarter to 10 and I somehow need to get myself ready for my class today. I have a note to miss, but I think I am just going to trudge it out because I was missing last week due to my Balkans adventure.
11.02.2008
11.01.2008
Croatia, Bosnia, and Serbia
I just got back from my 8-day trip through the Balkans. I don't have enough energy or cigarettes to really type out what happened, so here is my half-witted attempt to write all of this stuff down. I took notes on the most ridiculous things, so some of this will probably be sloppy.
Zagreb, Croatia
We headed for a bus to get to Zagreb, our first stop in Croatia. There were 9 or 10 of us that would be on the trek to Zagreb, but would be splitting up and going in different places. We eventually met up with all of the people we left with during the last day. The bus ride was long and made little or no stops along the way. When it did, myself, Ryan, Kyle and Mickey would awake from a really awful sleep to pound as many cigarettes as possible until we got to the next stop. The coldest and funniest part of this trip was at this gas station in who-the-fuck-knows-where Slovenia, he went to buy food and smokes but only had three dollars American. The cashier looks at him, then at his friend, says "Three dollars," "Three dollars? GET OUT OF HERE!" We got back on the bus after joking about blowing the gas station up and quoting the Joker from The Dark Knight, "SOME PEOPLE JUST WANNA WATCH THE WORLD BURN." We got back on the bus and it finally stopped at our destination. Ben, Ryan and I got the opportunity to CouchSurf, while everyone else was going to be shacked up in this hotel in the middle of nowhere. We went to find this place, which we thought was really far away because we walked around what seemed to be industrial hell. Finally, we found this hotel which looked like a sign of Imperialism. It was a huge glass building in the middle of all of these beaten down factories which were covered in graffiti. Everyone who was staying in the hotel got their situation all settled and then we headed for lunch in the center of the city. We ate, and while we were eating we say a protest against live-animal transport, Rory and I were stoked being the only vegetarians on the trip. We regrouped and then Ben and Scratch and I all went to our place to stay. We stayed with this girl named Ana, at her new apartment which she lent to us for the night. We bought beer at this small stand and went to meet Ana and her friend Nina. They show us the place and then took off for the rest of the day. So, we started drinking and playing cards for several hours then went and walked around Zagreb which was awesome. We found this street lined with pubs and bars, we eventually stopped at a microbrewery and ate dinner and went back to the hotel to meet up with everyone else. Everyone was confused, so we went and bought more beer. One of the kinds of beer they have all around the Balkans is called Pan, which has a pull-tab top and it looks like a hand grenade. We made jokes about blowing stuff up and yelling PANNNNN-GRENNNNADDDEEE! Right in the grocery store, but it wasn't funny because there was a bombing in the city the day before. We decided to split up, Ben, Ryan, Rory, Kyle and I went back to our place and then we continued to drink and wait for Ana and Nina to come back because they invited us to the Zagreb film festival. They eventually showed up around 11:30 and we bought them beers for letting us crash their place. We eventually left in this small car, going way to fast through these trash ridden streets. We drove around the place about 20 times looking for parking and I have never seen someone drive so aggressively in my entire life. We eventually stopped and walked over to the place. It was in this movie theater, but we drank these 2, two-liter bottles of beer out front. Eventually we met this guy from London who owns a resturant that Oliver Stone eats ate and he hangs out with him regularly. He called us yanks and we made jokes about winning the Revolutionary War. A girl approached Ana, it was her cousin and she told us to come into this VIP After-Party which was going on in the courtyard of this trashy theater. She gave us passes and we went in and drank 2 dollar beers, and met people. Eventually Scratch left us and Ben and I just met people. He eventually was dancing, not with, but at girls and it was hilarious. I met a lot of nice people who were excited that a bunch of Americans went through their tiny little town. I even met a girl who likes Joy Division as much as I do. We left because we had to catch a bus in the morning, we returned to the apartment and called it a night.
Some national park in Croatia
The next morning, we woke up and headed for the bus station. Zagreb was a success, everyone in our group met together and shared stories of their evenings over coffee and cigarettes. Three people were heading right to Sarajevo, where we would eventually run into them again. I was heading to a national park in-between Zagreb and Split. It was really fucking cold but it was quite fun. We walked through this awesome water-fall on these old wooden planks that kind of looked like they were built by cavemen because every time you moved, they either bended a bit or started to rock back and forth. We only had about 2 hours at this park and we had to catch a bus to Split. We ended up leaving the park, only not going to Split anymore but instead we were going to Zadar on this taxi. It was something else, because the taxi was weaving in and out of the snowy cold mountains of Croatia. He played awful music, but we saw some really awesome things that were direct effects of NATO, American, and internal-conflict. We finally made it to Zadar, about two hours later.
Zadar, Croatia
In equivalance to Zagreb, Zadar is probably the rich older brother to Zagreb. We arrived at night, and because of its Southern-Europe location it was very warm for 10 PM at night. We spent a lot of time looking for a hostel. We found one, it had a lot of trendy graffiti to make it appear like it was a cooler place, but it really wasnt. We were so over-tired from the night before not much really happened. We walked around the city, saw all kinds of ruins that were left by the Romans. We weaved in and out of small city streets, laughing and joking. The weather was beautiful and we spent time by this sea-organ that would play tones when the waves would crash into them. We left and began to drink by the sea because we were on our way to Bosnia. Originally we were going to go to Mostar, then Split but we found out we missed the only bus of the day to Mostar. We were told to go directly to Split, and then to go to Bosnia. We took off for Split, and the bus ride was great. Zadar was such a different experience than Zagreb, it felt like going from Providence to somewhere in California.
Split, Croatia
We arrived in Split kind of late again, so we went searching for a hostel some of our friends were staying at. After walking around forever, we finally found the place and it was a great experience. It was run by this Art-Historian named Maria who opened up a bottom floor apartment and the bottom of a buidling with a patio on top for travelers. This is their third year of business and were great to us. We arrived, and met this Canadian guy who told us there were three American girls staying there an extra night. It ended up being friends of ours so we immediately were stoked. They arrived and then we went out to this very small bar and it was extremely cheap. I don't really remember going back to the hostel but I know I had to sleep on a couch because all of the beds were taking. I woke up and breakfast was waiting for me, and that was awesome. We went around the city and left our stuff behind so I lack some photographical evidence of actually being there. This was my third day in Croatia, and I was VERY tired. We saw more Roman ruins and walked along the coast of the city. It was very nice out there too, so I got to wear shorts for like four days in a row. We ended up buying bus tickets for Sarajevo at one point. We walked around Split all day, and walked through this strange market that I am pretty sure sold guns. We arrived at the bus station and ate some awful food. Next thing I knew I was sitting on a bus three albums into Tom Waits' discography and slept a little bit.
Sarajevo, Bosnia
The bus ride to Sarajevo was awfully long, but we finally made it to the city. We drove through Mostar and you could see the horrible effects of NATO. We knew of a hostel some of our friends stayed at so we tried to find it. It was located in their version of Old Town, but everything was old here. We finally walked passed this place called Pigeon Square where we found this Canadian and Slovakian who could speak great English. They pointed us somewhere to go within a few minutes we were checking in our bags and then off for a night on the town. We got food, this thing called Burek which is essentially just bread and cheese. There are literally no options for Vegetarians other than this stuff, salads, and pizza. We went off to this noisey art bar, where the beer was execellent. We saw the guy who gave us directions, he invited a group of his to his friends apartment to finish liquor he needed to get rid of. The answer was immediately yes, so we took taxis to this place and we went right to work. All I was really told was that I fell down and said stupid things. On the other hand, someone else had a better experience than I did. We woke up and ate our free breakfast, which was canned lentil soup but it was really good. We left our stuff at the hostel again and we were going to meet that guy who gave us directions. He walked us around most of the city because it is pretty small, and we ended our tour in this awesome market. He pointed us in the direction of the bus station where I would eventually do some really stupid things. We arrived at this station after missing our bus to Belgrade by literally one minute. The next one was not coming for 5 hours, so we decided to play cards at a bar. Six hours or so later, Kyle and I were quite drunk and we got on the bus. About 30 minutes into our trek to Serbia, I decided it would be a good idea when the bus pulled over to go into this field to piss. The biggest problem was that we were warned not to walk on ground that wasn't solid, clearly I wasn't think so I kind of gunned it, stopped and was looking at a bunch of crosses with dates. Every single step I took into that field I took the same way just backwards. This is how I almost got blown up in Bosnia. The bus kept going and we eventually crossed the border into Serbia. In Serbia, they use cyrillic and it is EXTREMELY hard to even begin to understand. This is the only time I have really felt out of place in European culture. It wasn't culture shock persay but it was definitely a new experience.
Belgrade, Serbia
We arrived in Belgrade very early in the morning, around 5:30 AM and nothing was open. We tried to find a way to get home because this was the last day of our trip. We were meeting up with more people and then heading back to Praha. Tired, hungover, and hungry we decided to find food but we walked around the city for quite sometime before we ate. We chose this larger coffee place that did not take to well to us. I had caprise or whatever its called but it wasn't a sandwhich which kind of sucked. We went back towards the center of the city to find bus tickets and we were so tired we decided to just sleep in this park. Kyle, Ryan, and I all slept on park benches while two people stayed up to watch our stuff. This was probably the best sleep I have gotten in all of Europe. The beds in my dorm were sub-par to the comfort of this bench. We woke up a few hours later and headed towards this fortress. It was built in the 1400's and had a beautiful view of New Belgrade, which I believe is an island and is extremely different archetecurally than the side we arrived on. We spent about three hours at the top and then made our way towards the largest Orthodox church in all of Europe. This was the first church I actually enjoyed being in, because it was awesome and did not follow the same formal that most churches usually do. We left the church and decided to meet friend at the fortress. We went back and hung out in the same spot for so long and then we wanted to all get dinner together so we headed towards their hostel. We ate at this small sandwhich place, where an Anti-EU and Anti-NATO protest was going on. I wanted nothing to do with it because the potential of there being anti-American sentiment made my head hurt. After eatting it began to downpour, and this gust of wind almost knocked me over. Ash trays and glasses flew off the table and this fountain poured sideways for a solid 3 minutes. We were heading towards the train station and we all got seperated from each other. Kyle eventually found me and we asked directions from almost everyone and went back to the train station. We started drinking beer again at a bar, at a station, which was a large reoccuring theme of this trip. This was one of my favorite nights of the entire trip, because we met this guy named Milos who use to live in Northern-Serbia. According to him he was a fuck up and needed to get out so he went to London. He left to take a train, but returned because he missed it and then started talking about American Hardcore. We talked about Black Flag, The Misfits, Ignite, Bad Brains, Dead Kennedys and the list just went on. That was really cool, and I told him about more recent stuff. I have his email address somewhere. He is in Serbia to visit his parents, and seemed generally nervous about returning. He has a two year old son and is raising him bilingual. He ended up leaving, and as soon as he left my roommate Tim told me he had to puke. We needed to buy beer for the train ride to Budapest, so as we did, he went to the bathroom and Ryan and I bought about 8-two liters of beer for the ride home. We all boarded the train and the Budapest Special began. We drank on that damn train for so many hours, playing cards, and generally just being fuck ups. Eventually we realized it was time to sleep and everyone started going down one by one. Rory and I were the last to fall asleep, we sat there with our iPods just drinking. I think I fell asleep with a cigarette in my mouth, I really don't remember. We ended up making it to Budapest and a Hungarian guy who one of the girls met took us to the bus station. We made it buy the skin of our teeth and got to get back to Prague. After 8 days of constant moving, I needed a break. I am so glad to be back.
The Balkans trip really was an insane time and I really wish I could explain in more detail how beautiful it really was. Even the destruction was a step back for me. Okay, heres a bunch of random pictures.
Zagreb, Croatia
We headed for a bus to get to Zagreb, our first stop in Croatia. There were 9 or 10 of us that would be on the trek to Zagreb, but would be splitting up and going in different places. We eventually met up with all of the people we left with during the last day. The bus ride was long and made little or no stops along the way. When it did, myself, Ryan, Kyle and Mickey would awake from a really awful sleep to pound as many cigarettes as possible until we got to the next stop. The coldest and funniest part of this trip was at this gas station in who-the-fuck-knows-where Slovenia, he went to buy food and smokes but only had three dollars American. The cashier looks at him, then at his friend, says "Three dollars," "Three dollars? GET OUT OF HERE!" We got back on the bus after joking about blowing the gas station up and quoting the Joker from The Dark Knight, "SOME PEOPLE JUST WANNA WATCH THE WORLD BURN." We got back on the bus and it finally stopped at our destination. Ben, Ryan and I got the opportunity to CouchSurf, while everyone else was going to be shacked up in this hotel in the middle of nowhere. We went to find this place, which we thought was really far away because we walked around what seemed to be industrial hell. Finally, we found this hotel which looked like a sign of Imperialism. It was a huge glass building in the middle of all of these beaten down factories which were covered in graffiti. Everyone who was staying in the hotel got their situation all settled and then we headed for lunch in the center of the city. We ate, and while we were eating we say a protest against live-animal transport, Rory and I were stoked being the only vegetarians on the trip. We regrouped and then Ben and Scratch and I all went to our place to stay. We stayed with this girl named Ana, at her new apartment which she lent to us for the night. We bought beer at this small stand and went to meet Ana and her friend Nina. They show us the place and then took off for the rest of the day. So, we started drinking and playing cards for several hours then went and walked around Zagreb which was awesome. We found this street lined with pubs and bars, we eventually stopped at a microbrewery and ate dinner and went back to the hotel to meet up with everyone else. Everyone was confused, so we went and bought more beer. One of the kinds of beer they have all around the Balkans is called Pan, which has a pull-tab top and it looks like a hand grenade. We made jokes about blowing stuff up and yelling PANNNNN-GRENNNNADDDEEE! Right in the grocery store, but it wasn't funny because there was a bombing in the city the day before. We decided to split up, Ben, Ryan, Rory, Kyle and I went back to our place and then we continued to drink and wait for Ana and Nina to come back because they invited us to the Zagreb film festival. They eventually showed up around 11:30 and we bought them beers for letting us crash their place. We eventually left in this small car, going way to fast through these trash ridden streets. We drove around the place about 20 times looking for parking and I have never seen someone drive so aggressively in my entire life. We eventually stopped and walked over to the place. It was in this movie theater, but we drank these 2, two-liter bottles of beer out front. Eventually we met this guy from London who owns a resturant that Oliver Stone eats ate and he hangs out with him regularly. He called us yanks and we made jokes about winning the Revolutionary War. A girl approached Ana, it was her cousin and she told us to come into this VIP After-Party which was going on in the courtyard of this trashy theater. She gave us passes and we went in and drank 2 dollar beers, and met people. Eventually Scratch left us and Ben and I just met people. He eventually was dancing, not with, but at girls and it was hilarious. I met a lot of nice people who were excited that a bunch of Americans went through their tiny little town. I even met a girl who likes Joy Division as much as I do. We left because we had to catch a bus in the morning, we returned to the apartment and called it a night.
Some national park in Croatia
The next morning, we woke up and headed for the bus station. Zagreb was a success, everyone in our group met together and shared stories of their evenings over coffee and cigarettes. Three people were heading right to Sarajevo, where we would eventually run into them again. I was heading to a national park in-between Zagreb and Split. It was really fucking cold but it was quite fun. We walked through this awesome water-fall on these old wooden planks that kind of looked like they were built by cavemen because every time you moved, they either bended a bit or started to rock back and forth. We only had about 2 hours at this park and we had to catch a bus to Split. We ended up leaving the park, only not going to Split anymore but instead we were going to Zadar on this taxi. It was something else, because the taxi was weaving in and out of the snowy cold mountains of Croatia. He played awful music, but we saw some really awesome things that were direct effects of NATO, American, and internal-conflict. We finally made it to Zadar, about two hours later.
Zadar, Croatia
In equivalance to Zagreb, Zadar is probably the rich older brother to Zagreb. We arrived at night, and because of its Southern-Europe location it was very warm for 10 PM at night. We spent a lot of time looking for a hostel. We found one, it had a lot of trendy graffiti to make it appear like it was a cooler place, but it really wasnt. We were so over-tired from the night before not much really happened. We walked around the city, saw all kinds of ruins that were left by the Romans. We weaved in and out of small city streets, laughing and joking. The weather was beautiful and we spent time by this sea-organ that would play tones when the waves would crash into them. We left and began to drink by the sea because we were on our way to Bosnia. Originally we were going to go to Mostar, then Split but we found out we missed the only bus of the day to Mostar. We were told to go directly to Split, and then to go to Bosnia. We took off for Split, and the bus ride was great. Zadar was such a different experience than Zagreb, it felt like going from Providence to somewhere in California.
Split, Croatia
We arrived in Split kind of late again, so we went searching for a hostel some of our friends were staying at. After walking around forever, we finally found the place and it was a great experience. It was run by this Art-Historian named Maria who opened up a bottom floor apartment and the bottom of a buidling with a patio on top for travelers. This is their third year of business and were great to us. We arrived, and met this Canadian guy who told us there were three American girls staying there an extra night. It ended up being friends of ours so we immediately were stoked. They arrived and then we went out to this very small bar and it was extremely cheap. I don't really remember going back to the hostel but I know I had to sleep on a couch because all of the beds were taking. I woke up and breakfast was waiting for me, and that was awesome. We went around the city and left our stuff behind so I lack some photographical evidence of actually being there. This was my third day in Croatia, and I was VERY tired. We saw more Roman ruins and walked along the coast of the city. It was very nice out there too, so I got to wear shorts for like four days in a row. We ended up buying bus tickets for Sarajevo at one point. We walked around Split all day, and walked through this strange market that I am pretty sure sold guns. We arrived at the bus station and ate some awful food. Next thing I knew I was sitting on a bus three albums into Tom Waits' discography and slept a little bit.
Sarajevo, Bosnia
The bus ride to Sarajevo was awfully long, but we finally made it to the city. We drove through Mostar and you could see the horrible effects of NATO. We knew of a hostel some of our friends stayed at so we tried to find it. It was located in their version of Old Town, but everything was old here. We finally walked passed this place called Pigeon Square where we found this Canadian and Slovakian who could speak great English. They pointed us somewhere to go within a few minutes we were checking in our bags and then off for a night on the town. We got food, this thing called Burek which is essentially just bread and cheese. There are literally no options for Vegetarians other than this stuff, salads, and pizza. We went off to this noisey art bar, where the beer was execellent. We saw the guy who gave us directions, he invited a group of his to his friends apartment to finish liquor he needed to get rid of. The answer was immediately yes, so we took taxis to this place and we went right to work. All I was really told was that I fell down and said stupid things. On the other hand, someone else had a better experience than I did. We woke up and ate our free breakfast, which was canned lentil soup but it was really good. We left our stuff at the hostel again and we were going to meet that guy who gave us directions. He walked us around most of the city because it is pretty small, and we ended our tour in this awesome market. He pointed us in the direction of the bus station where I would eventually do some really stupid things. We arrived at this station after missing our bus to Belgrade by literally one minute. The next one was not coming for 5 hours, so we decided to play cards at a bar. Six hours or so later, Kyle and I were quite drunk and we got on the bus. About 30 minutes into our trek to Serbia, I decided it would be a good idea when the bus pulled over to go into this field to piss. The biggest problem was that we were warned not to walk on ground that wasn't solid, clearly I wasn't think so I kind of gunned it, stopped and was looking at a bunch of crosses with dates. Every single step I took into that field I took the same way just backwards. This is how I almost got blown up in Bosnia. The bus kept going and we eventually crossed the border into Serbia. In Serbia, they use cyrillic and it is EXTREMELY hard to even begin to understand. This is the only time I have really felt out of place in European culture. It wasn't culture shock persay but it was definitely a new experience.
Belgrade, Serbia
We arrived in Belgrade very early in the morning, around 5:30 AM and nothing was open. We tried to find a way to get home because this was the last day of our trip. We were meeting up with more people and then heading back to Praha. Tired, hungover, and hungry we decided to find food but we walked around the city for quite sometime before we ate. We chose this larger coffee place that did not take to well to us. I had caprise or whatever its called but it wasn't a sandwhich which kind of sucked. We went back towards the center of the city to find bus tickets and we were so tired we decided to just sleep in this park. Kyle, Ryan, and I all slept on park benches while two people stayed up to watch our stuff. This was probably the best sleep I have gotten in all of Europe. The beds in my dorm were sub-par to the comfort of this bench. We woke up a few hours later and headed towards this fortress. It was built in the 1400's and had a beautiful view of New Belgrade, which I believe is an island and is extremely different archetecurally than the side we arrived on. We spent about three hours at the top and then made our way towards the largest Orthodox church in all of Europe. This was the first church I actually enjoyed being in, because it was awesome and did not follow the same formal that most churches usually do. We left the church and decided to meet friend at the fortress. We went back and hung out in the same spot for so long and then we wanted to all get dinner together so we headed towards their hostel. We ate at this small sandwhich place, where an Anti-EU and Anti-NATO protest was going on. I wanted nothing to do with it because the potential of there being anti-American sentiment made my head hurt. After eatting it began to downpour, and this gust of wind almost knocked me over. Ash trays and glasses flew off the table and this fountain poured sideways for a solid 3 minutes. We were heading towards the train station and we all got seperated from each other. Kyle eventually found me and we asked directions from almost everyone and went back to the train station. We started drinking beer again at a bar, at a station, which was a large reoccuring theme of this trip. This was one of my favorite nights of the entire trip, because we met this guy named Milos who use to live in Northern-Serbia. According to him he was a fuck up and needed to get out so he went to London. He left to take a train, but returned because he missed it and then started talking about American Hardcore. We talked about Black Flag, The Misfits, Ignite, Bad Brains, Dead Kennedys and the list just went on. That was really cool, and I told him about more recent stuff. I have his email address somewhere. He is in Serbia to visit his parents, and seemed generally nervous about returning. He has a two year old son and is raising him bilingual. He ended up leaving, and as soon as he left my roommate Tim told me he had to puke. We needed to buy beer for the train ride to Budapest, so as we did, he went to the bathroom and Ryan and I bought about 8-two liters of beer for the ride home. We all boarded the train and the Budapest Special began. We drank on that damn train for so many hours, playing cards, and generally just being fuck ups. Eventually we realized it was time to sleep and everyone started going down one by one. Rory and I were the last to fall asleep, we sat there with our iPods just drinking. I think I fell asleep with a cigarette in my mouth, I really don't remember. We ended up making it to Budapest and a Hungarian guy who one of the girls met took us to the bus station. We made it buy the skin of our teeth and got to get back to Prague. After 8 days of constant moving, I needed a break. I am so glad to be back.
The Balkans trip really was an insane time and I really wish I could explain in more detail how beautiful it really was. Even the destruction was a step back for me. Okay, heres a bunch of random pictures.
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