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Friday, January 31, 2014

Berlin

Berlin at night
 
Vegetarian curry wurst



Transit is pretty boring, trains are best but bus is still best but bus is still better than plane (wifi!). Mostly I read, listen to music, watch movies try to connect to wifi and sometimes edit photos or write blog entries. It was night arriving into Germany so there wasn't much to look at and the police came in when we crossed the boarder to check passports.

Arriving at the station some kind person offered me a lift to the place i was staying, it was really out of his way and he sure paid a lot in taxi fare so i was super grateful. It's nice to be reminded that there are good people out there. My host was nice too and we went for a city walk after i arrived. It was a nice area and he pointed out where the Berlin wall was, supermarket etc.

The next morning i walked to the wall, there is some really beautiful art painted on it. There is a lot of street art in Berlin and i enjoyed just walking around the city and taking a few photos. Curry wurst is a popular fast food here and while i am open to trying new foods i was really excited to find vegetarian curry wurst (second picture). It's basically a vegetarian sausage with some curry sauce on it - nothing too extraordinary but a nice snack. Later i went into the main part of the city and saw the world clock and did some window shopping. On my way back i took some night shots of the city near the river (first picture).

My second day i had planned to visit some museums, it was a nice way to spend a cold day and Berlin has many interesting museums. One thing i find fascinating is the evolution of what is considered beautiful. It's a shame really, what constitutes beauty these days is actually not very natural. Oh well. After some shopping and playing with new makeup i went out for a drink at a local bar.

Tuesday, January 28, 2014

Prague round 2

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The second day of my Prague experience was also quite enjoyable, i walked up to castle hill where i saw the guards change and enjoyed the view (first pic). Slowly i walked down the famous bridge noticing all the local people were rubbing certain parts of the statues for whatever reason. not wanting to miss out on this luck i too rubbed the feet or other parts as if i knew what was going on. After this i walked around the city, looked at shops, saw some people shooting what looked to be a Sherlock Holms movie, saw many buskers including some people playing with giant bubbles, people dressed as American Indians  and many playing music. It was a nice day with lots of walking involved.

On my final day in Prague I met with someone from Couch Surfing who was also visiting the city. We couldn't find each other at first so I enjoyed McDonald's free wifi while i had a coffee. Eventually we met and decided to go to the Medieval torture museum. You know that feeling you get on the bottom of your feet when you're watching a movie and something violent and painful happens? Well that was basically the experience i had the whole time visiting this tourist-trap. It was an interesting look at the idiocy of people back then, I wont go into details of these devices but safe to say i am certainly glad i was born in this era. Next we decided to go to Petrin tower which involves walking up a large hill and then climbing a further 300 steps. But the view was nice - being able to see the whole city, river, "castle" and parks and we enjoyed some more hot wine and trdelnik (traditional pastry - second pic) on returning to the city. In the evening my host, myself and two other couch surfers went for a drink. Their story was a cute one, a couple - the girl Japanese and the boy French but since the girl spoke neither English nor French and the boy didn't know Japanese they communicated in Korean as that was the country they met. After a few drinks i yammered on for a good while in Japanese (poorly i'm sure) and we head back to the apartment. 

Sunday, January 26, 2014

Arrival in Prague


It's always hard to say goodbye and leaving Serbia at 6am was no different. Strahinja and I rushed to the station only to be told by ticket inspectors that my ticket had not been validated (it had) and I had to pay a fine of 1,000 Dinars ($13 AUD ). Feeling a bit annoyed we travelled on to the train station. For some reason we could not find a direct train or bus to Prague so ended up having to go back to Budapest, and then buy another ticket. This meant 14hrs or so on a train (yay).

Finally arriving in Prague i met my host at the train station and we went back to his house where i was able to try a traditional Czech potato soup he had made earlier. We chatted, had a drink and went to bed. The next day i started my investigations of Prague, a very beautiful city but quite touristic - with souvenir shops and money exchange at every corner (but nobody to change my Dinar into Euro!). I saw the famous Astronomical clock (first picture) in the town square, drank some hot mulled wine (second picture), bought some post cards, admired the local crafts at the Christmas stalls and took many photos. In the evening i got a city view from up the tower and then walked by the river to admire the bridges that were lit up.

How to make a Serbian crêpe

With Nutella, Plasma (cookie crumbs) and kikiriki (peanuts). It was so big I only ate around half of it. Delicious though...

Friday, January 24, 2014

My time in Serbia



My time in Serbia started with a train ride from Budapest. While uneventful it was my first experience going to a new country via train which was kinda fun. I was greeted by an old friend whom i met in Japan on my exchange time in 2011-2012. (This blog will feature several people i met during that time.) I was fortunate enough to be able to stay with my friend who showed me around Belgrade and introduced me to many new foods including Kajmak (similar to clotted cream which we put on toast), Ajvar (paprika spread), Alva (a sweet nutty desert), Cevapcici (described on the menu as "meat fingers") and several sweets including the second photo above and a previous video i posted with a huge crepe.

I visited several things in Belgrade including the Belgrade fortress (first photo), Military museum, an interesting cafe where i drank "Gypsy coffee" and bar where i was exposed to Serbian music. The most unique experience i had in Serbia was probably the Orthodox Christmas eve celebrations, if you happen to be curious check out the video i posted earlier with the bonfire.

I am really quite slow with updating this blog and for that i apologize, i'm too busy having an awesome time! If you want to see more of my adventure click on one of the above links to my other frequently used social networking sites (deviantart, flickr, tumblr, youtube etc).

Hope everyone in Australia is enjoying the summer - i'm rather cold :p




Monday, January 20, 2014

Another Serbian video

Another video i made -  a typical Serbian Christmas eve celebration - In Serbia they use the Orthodox calender which means Christmas eve in 2014 was on 7 January. As it says in the description:
"On Christmas eve in Serbia, many go to the church where branches from an Oak tree are placed. The more embers that rise into the air the more money you will have that year. The bells tolled at the stroke of midnight."


Sunday, January 19, 2014

A taste of Belgrade

Sorry for my lack of updates, I've been busy having adventures! Here's a short video of Belgrade, Serbia. I'll post another soon and write a real entry. Ciao for now,

-Alicia

Tuesday, January 7, 2014

Budapest market, Hungary




On the first day of the year not much happened. There is a belief in Hungary though, that if your first meal of the day is lentil soup you will have riches for the year. Naturally that is what i wanted to do. My host Robert asked his mother how to cook it and we went to the store to get the ingredients. I helped by chopping onion but the recipe was quite simple Lentil soup recipe. Not much else happened this day, it was relaxing and preparing for the next country.
The next day i decided to go to the market and get my souvenirs, Hungary is famous for a few things including paprika, embroidery and painted eggs. It was a nice day so i decided to walk across the Danube river. There is a church inside a cave so i decided to check it out and from on top it is quite a nice view. After this i went to Margaret Island and walked around before heading back to the main part of the city. By this point i was quite hungry and got some Hungarian Goulash which was quite nice. Evening fell and the city lit up once again, and i finally took the opportunity to take some photos of the Christmas lights before i left. 
My final day in Budapest was super foggy, i didn't manage much before my train to Serbia so i decided to take some photos of the chain bridge in the fog. Every time i leave a country i feel like there were things i didn't get the chance to do, but that can't be helped. I enjoyed my time in Hungary and it was the perfect beginning to this trip.

Wednesday, January 1, 2014

Spa party, Budapest



So if you look down to my very first post on this blog you'll see that I planned to come to Hungary to go to this Sparty (Spa-party). It was called a New Years party but in fact it was on the 30th December - but that just meant extra partying :) 

On the day i decided to walk to the Spa area because there is a famous monument (hero's square) and a large park with an ice-skating rink. Unfortunately the ice skating rink was closed :( but i walked around and took some photos of the park and had a fried pancake (Lángos) with some hot mulled wine - perfect for a cold day. 

I went back to the apartment and rested for a while, it was quite a long walk and i had a long night ahead. Later in the evening i met with another Couch Surfer from the US who was also going to the event. I tried some Hungarian alcohol that was sweetened with honey and herbs and then we had some more mulled wine before leaving.

We got there late and realized that there was a massive line! But luckily Stephanie was able to get us right in somehow, so i was very lucky. We quickly got undressed and jumped into the pool, it was freezing outside so we were keen to warm up. The water was amazing and the whole place was so beautiful with the steam from the pools and the lasers. There was a DJ and two massive baths outside, the first had a jet spa thing which was fun and the second was slightly deeper and warmer. Both were nice but i think i preferred the warmer one, it was a bit less crowded (and closer to the bar). We danced, drank and took many videos with my GoPro (sadly most photos didn't really turn out but that was to be expected). Later i will make a video and upload it, probably in a few days when i am on the train). 

Overall it was a great night, we stayed until closing (3am) and then caught the tram home. I was exhausted but it was worth it, i ended up sleeping in until 4pm the next day!