Seeing the Same Light-The Last Vacation-Within-a-Vacation; Finland!

Helsinki from up high. 

The Final Vacation on This Vacation - Helsinki

Truly, I live a charmed life. I make sure to remind myself of that every day that I am one of the luckiest people alive. Over this past weekend, I set off for Helsinki, Finland, on the last "mini-vacation" on what is, all joking aside, a once-in-a-lifetime adventure...with studying on the side. Don't get me wrong, I take my studies seriously, but being here is about getting an experience. And I've certainly gotten one.  

So on Friday, I set out for my final vacation on this study abroad semester to Budapest, meeting Cousin Cini at Kalvin Ter to go to Budapest International Aiport and head for Helsinki. Before I continue this blog post, I must interrupt this blog post to bring everyone a very important list. I bring this list to you because of the person I met at the airport on Friday, and because, having traveled to 13 countries in the span of five months, with one more to come in December, I feel my word on this now carries some weight. 

How to be a Good Traveler - Do's and Don'ts. 

DO:

• Be patient, friendly, and accommodating to other fellow travelers
• Remember that you are in a hurry, and so is everyone else
• Understand that sometimes your personal space is going to be invaded, especially in Europe or Asia. 
• Not expect others to comply with your boundaries, standards of decency, and moral values. 

DON'T:

• Run over people to get in line for the plane or train. 
• Expect people to give you your personal space and clear your "bubble"
• Yell at others and be unkind and aggressive without provocation.
• Provoke people (Kinda goes with #3...)
• Be anal about being uncomfortable, or having the back of your seat nudged if on a plane, train, or bus. (We had this on our flight back to Arizona from London in June; This pompous British family, reclining all the way practically into our laps, squirmed and moaned every time we accidentally brushed the backs of their seats.)
• Expect others to make you comfortable, especially when not in first class.
• (This may offend some people) Bring unruly children onto a train or plane and then not at least attempt to quell them. 
• For lack of a better term, be an insufferable, pompous asshole. 

Seriously, especially on that last one. Don't walk around like your shit doesn't stink. Because, believe me, it does, in spite of what you might tell yourself. Why do I write about this? Because of the complete tool I had the displeasure of meeting in line for the Finnair flight to Helsinki on Friday. 

I was standing in line, minding my own business, checking my boarding pass and making sure I had my bases covered in case they told me I had to do something else to ensure boarding for the flight. There was this Finnish-American couple in front of me sucking face. And I don't mean, like, the little face sucking. I mean, they were sucking face hardcore. Like, just snogging away in front of me in line. And no, this isn't what my gripe is about. I really could care less. If you're happy with your loved one, show it to the world! More power to you! You're some of the lucky ones, you've found love! Although, in the case of this couple, they probably found love because no one else would want them, but I'm getting ahead of myself. I was just standing in line, I stepped forward a little bit as I was checking my boarding pass, and the man, with his rather large suitcase, took a break from inhaling his wife's lipstick, looked at me, and said, "Excuse me, are we friends?" A bit taken aback, I naturally replied, "No, I don't know you." Rather crassly, he then replies to me with "Then please, keep your distance. Personal space!" Okay. Whatever. Now, I could understand him having a gripe with me "invading his bubble" or whatever the hell you want to call it, but I wasn't doing that. I mean, it's not like I was sticking my face in between the snogging couple wanting to get a look at how much tongue they were inserting into the other's mouths. Believe me, they can flatter themselves all they want, but they aren't that relevant. But whatever. Fine, I'll give him a bit more space.

Now, for the record, my foot wasn't even touching his suitcase, which he was trailing behind him. So there was at least half an arms' length between him and I. But, whatever, I felt he was being a little ridiculous, but being a nice person, I said, "Okay, sorry," and tried to put some more space between us. I got a little "too close" again, and once again was not touching his briefcase and there was at least half an arms' length between us, and I lost it. No, he didn't say anything, but he shot one of those reproachful, trying-to-be-subtle looks of disgust that you give someone when you detest them. I wasn't having it. Expecting me to apologize again, he got the opposite. I literally, after about a second and after he turned around, said "Look, we're in a fucking line. Your personal space is going to be invaded. I'm just trying to check my shit for this flight. I'm not doing anything to you. I'm not talking to you. I'm just trying to make sure I can get on this flight. Get over yourself!" He just sat there bewildered. Apparently, he's used to people groveling at his feet when they invade his "bubble".

So I finally split up from Asshole and Wife Who Doesn't Give Good Enough Sex to Him after getting my tickets. I saw he was an American citizen, so as he got his ticket, I audibly said "Geez, I'm so embarrassed that asshole is an American!" But went on my merry way, and a few hours later, I touched ground in Helsinki! 

The country was beautiful. That's the only way to put it. I arrived at 2:30 PM and it was already twilight. I have to give a shout-out to my Mom by the way here. When I got to my hotel room, I called her on FaceTime and the sun was setting as she watched it rise halfway across the world in Phoenix. Now that, my friends, was a surreal moment. I mean, here Mom and I were, separated by a good 5,000 miles, an ocean, and probably a quite fair amount of degrees latitude, and yet, we were seeing the same light at the same time. She was seeing the beginning of it, I was seeing the twilit sky simultaneously. That's only somewhat amazing that technology can grant us these type of experiences now, and for free, too! After that I had some Finnish meatballs, which you can see HERE:

Finnish meatballs with beetroot and mashed potatoes.

The night was still young even though it had been dark for four hours. So after dinner I set out for the City Center and found a nice bar to grab a cocktail, because the Finns are known for their cocktails. Sitting at this bar with this blonde woman playing absentmindedly on her phone, waiting for something or someone. I was shy, so I didn't go up to her. She was a bit older than me, in her 30s, but I figured I was alone in Finland, might as well make a friend. I drank my cocktail, and then she broke the ice for me, asking me where I was from. 

Her name was Rika, and I will never forget her for as long as I live. She just turned around, and said "Hey, where are you from?" to which I explained Arizona, and that I was in Budapest. She asked me what brought me to Helsinki, and why I was alone, to which I answered I just wanted to explore a Scandinavian city on my own, and some of the other Americans went to Stockholm earlier in the year, so I wanted to be different. I mentioned how beautiful I thought the city was, and we swapped life stories. She told me about her past, her kids, and her new flame she's crazy about. I told her about my own life history, and that I love traveling, and that I have insatiable wanderlust. She told me she was waiting for a friend, who was having a business dinner with some colleagues from England. They were meeting up with her. Without hesitation, 37-year old Rika invited me, 21-year old Peter from Arizona, out with her group for drinks. I was flattered and immediately said yes. Rika and her friends were absolute dolls, and we went to this club where the people tend to be older than me. They're mostly business executives, and most of the guys and gals  there were over 40. But whatever, I was in Finland alone, I wasn't gonna care, and because I was the young guy, I got a couple of second looks from all the Finnish women. I was "young meat!" for one night for the cougars on the prowl. In seriousness, though, I was for once the best looking guy at the bar! I'll take it, even under those circumstances. It was funny, though, because these were older people, the music playing was a lot of Michael Jackson, Whitney Houston, and Jon Bon Jovi. And it didn't matter. I knew the words and danced like a fool. At one point, "Lady Marmalade" came on, and I shamelessly danced and sang the entire song. The Finns got a kick out of it, that's for sure! I stayed at this club until about 2 AM before hugging Rika goodbye. It's too bad that I didn't get her Facebook, she was definitely a sweetheart and someone I will always remember as my Finnish friend who gave me company and made a rather quiet night memorable! 

PS...The cocktail was truly fabulous, take a gander!

Raspberry and vodka cocktail made with Finlandia Vodka. :)

The next day, I did a lot less than I was expecting to. When I go to a city, I try to get a cultural experience, and really see the history of that city by day, and hit their clubs by night. That...never happened. I went to this Russian Church up on a hill, and as it was an Orthodox Church, it was rather pretty. Here was the exterior and interior...

The exterior and interior, and a side of the Church which overlooks some of Helsinki...Truly breathtaking and mesmerizing.

After I went back into the City Center from here, I was greeted with more stunning beauty. Even though I wound up only seeing one truly cultural building (Above), my favorite thing about Finland was simply its beauty...Here are some pictures as I walked around seeing City Hall, and the rest of the center of the city. My favorite is the last one...I'm pretty sure that was Estonia off in the distance over there!

I'm in Finland! It's all mine!

Oh, and that little sliver of what is probably Estonia (Way in the back, almost not seen), THAT'S mine, too.

If this day wasn't amazing enough, before I found a Stockmann (The Mall of Finland, basically), and got lost in there, I realized that Europe, but Finland especially, does Christmas right. Like, this is what Christmas is supposed to look like!

I kind of love this picture.

Then, if that wasn't Christmas-y enough... They topped it off with this in the mall...

Yeah. That's hanging from the ceiling. Why can't America do Christmas this way? 

And as I got lost for three hours shopping for Christmas gifts in Stockmann, it got dark outside, but before I show you the stunning photos of Finland at night, let me show you why I got "trapped" in there for three hours...

Yeah, I was pretty distracted, okay? 

Seriously, I'm pretty sure I've eaten more chocolate since the day I landed in London on the 29th of August than I have in my first 20 years of life combined. I'm not even messing around. My sweet tooth is insatiable when it comes to fruity candies, sweet rose wines, and European Chocolates of any type. Europe knows how to do chocolate, okay? No disrespect to the chocolatiers of America, but you just aren't European. It's a good thing I don't live in Europe though. I'd be helplessly obese by now. It would be a classic, textbook case of #deathbychocolate.

So after three hours gift shopping, it was about 4 PM, and naturally that meant it was dark. With my child, I mean, my cell phone (and what I take pictures with) dangerously hovering at 8% battery, I trek back to the hotel to charge it and trek back out into the cold  Helsinki night...But I wasn't complaining. Here's what I was greeted with. 

Stunning, right? Seriously. Helsinki was probably the prettiest city I'd ever been in. Just absolutely stunning in every way. I then heard of this really good Russian restaurant, so I got to try some Russian cuisine on this trip as well. And, evidently...in Russia, they eat...bear. Yeah. That's not a misprint, they eat bear. So naturally, wanting an experience, I ordered it, along with the Stragonoff and Russian apple fritters. 

Bear sausage (top), Stragonoff (middle), and Babushka's Apple Fritters (Bottom) pictured.

The bear was...interesting. It tasted like a mix of pork and chicken. My meal cost me 50 Euros (About $75 USD) and that was with a 10% discount and the cute waitress named Lisa giving me the appetizer for free because it "took too long", although, she was so cute and sweet I'm gonna convince myself that it was because SHE thought I was cute, too. *Blushes* 

And just when I thought my day was capped off, I chose to go clubbing. Just like the night before, I met someone super sweet who made a mark on my life for the millisecond they were in it. This time, it was a red-headed girl named Annina who sat down by me at the club I was having drinks at. She asked me where I was from. Ironically I started a conversation with her talking about how disappointed I was that I didn't have the courage to approach a different girl at the club, but anyhow, she asked me the typical questions, and I told her about my experience, and she told me she had done something similar, living in New York. She wound up hugging me about five times, telling me she thinks I'm super sweet and special and that she hopes I enjoy Helsinki and the rest of my time in Europe. Seriously, Scandinavian people are so sweet. I love them. They were so kind to me and made me feel like I was at home in spite of being in a foreign country, not speaking the native language, and not knowing anybody. 

The last day there I did some last minute walking, took in the scenery, and prepared to head for the airport, but not before I got one last picture...

I then headed for the airport. On the bus I met some friendly British girls, and at the airport I met a girl named Chloe who is also a Washington Redskins fan, who went up to Finland for a weekend retreat herself, and is traveling back to Copenhagen where she is studying abroad for the semester. We engaged in a great conversation, shared our study abroad stories, and went on our separate ways. But seriously, I have learned one thing about myself on these treks outside of Budapest, which is amazing in itself...I have insatiable wanderlust. Every time I go anywhere, as I'm leaving I wonder where my next adventure will take me. I've found a true love in traveling and meeting complete strangers and sharing intimate, personal experiences with them that I will never share with anyone else. You really connect with someone in a very short time that way, and it's very refreshing and wonderful. 

As my time in Europe, and in Budapest winds down, I realize how blessed I truly am. I will have another blog soon, as I spent THIS weekend exploring some must-see sights in Budapest I have not yet gone to. (I will also blog about Margaret Island, since I have been there too), and prepare to go home.

I must confess, however, that Budapest is home now. And Europe feels more like home than the USA does. This experience has changed my life, and I'm so glad you guys have been following me on it. 

A Blog About Prague!

Into Prague and getting in touch with my inter Bohemian.

Better late than never, right? I can't believe Thanksgiving is right around the corner. Where has the time gone? First of all, I sincerely apologize for not being more proactive in updating this, but every week it's something, so why don't I get back to the point I last left y'all off...Midterms week.

The entire week was a blur, as it began October the 28th and went through the 31st of October; Five exams. Four days. To further complicate matters for me, my train to Prague took off from Budapest Keleti (East) Railway Station only one hour after my last final was to be completed. To complicate matters further, I wasn't going to Prague alone. I was going with two of my truly great friends, Rozi and Zsofi, two sisters here in Hungary. We were all going as a gift to ourselves. Rozi had just finished her thesis, Zsofi for her birthday, and me for finishing my exams. 

I meet Rozi and Zsofi at Keleti, we exchange some coins, and of course, buy booze for the train trip to Prague. The train was rather dingy, so if we didn't do that, the trip would've been rather rough. Originally, Rozi and I were going to buy Zsofi and ourselves a first-class sleeper car for Zsofi's birthday, but the Hungarian train company didn't allow it for some reason, so we found ourselves in a second-class cabin on the overnight train to Prague. That didn't quell our excitement, though!!

Rozi and Zsofi drinking to a good time before we take off from Keleti.

While on the train, this guy named John from New York came into our car, as he was traveling to Prague alone and meeting a friend there in the evening. We arrived into Prague in the wee hours of the morning, me with my 30 pound (Literally 30 pound) bag on my back, and Rozi and Zsofi with their food. WE couldn't check in the hostel to put our bags down, so I had nine hours of time to explore Prague with said bag on my back.

And I was fine with it, because Prague was as stunning and gorgeous as advertised by everyone. Here are some pictures from that morning...

Scenes from Prague...A melting pot of Old and New...Including their famous Medieval Clock in Old Town Square. 

Upon our arrival into Prague, John and us went our separate ways. But later in the day after breakfast, we wound up reuniting with him, as we both were doing the same walking tour. I don't remember her name, but our Czech tour guide was a tall blonde...and rather cute. I definitely had fun talking to her as she took us all over the beautiful city of Prague. The walking tour went through about 10 kilometers of the city, and on top of that, made a stop at the Medieval Clock in Old Town Square, and then she told the story of it. The clock has 24 hours on it instead of 12, with the day starting at the last sunset. There's also a Zodiac Circle in the clock, and Babylonian time in there as well, not that anyone really understands that Babylonians anymore. 

I'll tell you, though, carrying a 30 pound bag on my back through Prague for almost six miles was no picnic. Even after I put my bag down at the Hostel (HAPPY DAY!!), my legs and back were rather sore and I was exhausted. However, the experience was amazing, especially with Rozi and Zsofi there with me, and meeting a new friend named John, who we've all kept in contact with since this day. He's here in Budapest now teaching high schoolers math. 

We also got to see a Czech changing of the guard, and see the President's house...And get a picture together. 

John (To my right), Rozi (Below me in the gray jacket), and Zsofi (Black jacket) posing together at the Czech President's palace. 

The only down side of our entire day in Prague was that my phone was dead by 10AM, so I didn't have a lot of pictures, but our tour guide took us all through Prague, Old Town Square, the Jewish District, and of course, the picturesque and gorgeous Charles Bridge with all of its statues. 

After the tour was over, we went back to Old Town Square, and went up above the Medieval Clock for a panoramic view of Prague from up on high... Yeah, be jealous. 

A selfie of Rozi, Zsofi, and I. 

As night fell, we met John's friend and began attempting to pub-crawl, with little success.

In the Czech Republic, evidently, you cannot stay in a pub if there is not a place to sit, and all pubs close by 11PM, so we went all around trying to find a place to try some of that truly amazing Czech beer (And it was great, and that's coming from a non-beer drinker). At around 9PM, in spite of Zsofi wanting to stay out, Rozi and I were dead tired, due to 15 straight hours of basically doing a speed tour of Prague and seeing everything, we chose to turn in. 

The next day, we didn't reunite with John. However, we all exchanged Facebooks and have actually met up since our meeting in Prague. That just goes to show everyone out there reading this blog, you never know who you're going to meet while traveling. You simply never know. 

Rozi, Zsofi, and I had a blast for our day-and-a-half in Prague, and returned to Budapest. Since then, I haven't trekked outside of the city limits and have been enjoying myself in Budapest, spending time with my loved ones here and introducing my friend Kristin to my cousins Cini and Zsuzsi. 

That was on purpose, because I really don't want to leave Budapest. Budapest really feels like home now, and Europe feels very much like home now. I love Europe and the ability to travel to numerous countries, hear different languages, sample different fare, meet different people, and see all the beauty and history of Europe. Oh, and meet fellow young travelers. I've grown super close to my family here, and I'm so glad after a hectic month of October (Transylvania, Vienna, Midterms, and Prague), that I've spent November within Hungary. 

As my time rapidly reaches its end here, I try to make plans to return here. Budapest is home now. 

I head for Finland this weekend. See you soon! 

When Will You Realize...Vienna Waits for You?

Me on the Viennese Ferris Wheel.

Self-Discovery in Vienna. 

This may sound rather cliched, but it's rather true. Last weekend (October 18th-20th), I took a solo trip to Vienna, and it almost didn't happen. I cannot even begin to put into words how glad I am that it did happen now. The reason that I mention that this was a self-discovery trip is because that's really what it turned out to be. I learned a lot of important things about myself on this trip... And also a lot about making assumptions about things before trying them, and being a "Debbie Downer."

At first, I asked a few of the other CIEE American students if they wanted to go to Vienna. Many said yes, but already had plans, had gone in the past, or some other reason. I had made good friends with two Scottish girls while here, their names are Fiona and Ayla, respectively. Both of them are awesome and I just get along really well with both. Shout out to you two, by the way! ^_^ Originally, I was going to go to Vienna with both of them. However, both had to back out for reasons beyond either of their control, so suddenly, five days before my desired departure date for Vienna, I found myself without a travel partner, and not finding any of my fellow Americans to go with, I was feeling rather down in the dumps, and I began having upon returning from Transylvania what one could certainly classify as a mini-meltdown.

Now, before any of you start giving me puzzled looks, allow me to defend myself. I am a major extrovert, like, majorly, okay? I mean, I'm not the stereotypical extrovert (Cue tumblr: PARTY PARTY PARTY PARTY PARTY), but I thrive in environments with lots of people and big cities. I'm not a fan of doing things alone. When I was younger, I did, but things changed because of some personal events in my life and I really honestly detest spending lots of time alone in solitude and doing things on my own. I enjoy being in the company of people. Due to not living on campus for the first 2 years at ASU and going to a rather cliquey high school, a lot of that company was online, but I still desired company and spoke to people online to fill the void I felt (And still feel at times) in real life. You'll almost never see me curled up with a book, collecting my thoughts. I love a good book, but really it's not my thing. And I sure as hell had never heard of anyone traveling alone by choice. Well, except those loners who have no friends, that is.

Now, I apologize to anyone I offended. I do NOT think people traveling alone are  loners. However, at the time of this mini-meltdown, that was the rhetoric I was unabashedly spouting to the choir.  As my roommates and a couple of the other Americans walk in on me swearing up a storm in my room with the door open, they ask me what's bothering me, and I explain what's bothering me, and that I had never heard of anyone traveling alone, except for losers and people with no friends, so it must mean I'm a loser and have no friends. Well, that's not exactly what was said, but that was the general message I was preaching off my never-traveled-alone-before soapbox. This perplexes those in my room, and for good reason. My roommate  then explains to me that he's traveled alone before and loved it, and that people do that all the time and it's not uncommon at all. I'm simultaneously messaging Ayla profusely on Facebook writing out my frustrations, and she's telling me the same thing. After continued talks with the other guys in the dorm, I kind of slowly realize how absolutely ridiculous and irrational I was sounding, took a few deep breaths, and calmed down, but I still wasn't sure if I would book my train ticket to Vienna or not.

The next day, I continue to vacillate endlessly on going to Vienna or not, and relay the events to my friend, Kristin. She replies by saying "You're seriously, seriously an extrovert, aren't you?" half giggling. The answer is yes. As she puts it, I thrive on people. I continued vacillating, but after a great, head-clearing conversation with Gaby, who is another friend of mine here in this group, along with a conversation minutes later with my best friend, Ashley, over Facebook, convinced me to grab the bull by the horns and go to Vienna.  Because they both made me realize something: I would regret not going to Vienna more than going and hating it, because then I'd wonder forever and ever what could've been on that trip and how fun/not fun it may have been if I did  go. So, still with some reservations, I bit my lip and booked my tickets for Vienna, Austria.

I want to once again thank everyone who I spoke to over those 24 hours who helped me calm down, refocus, and realize that I needed to put things in perspective and grab the bull by the horns and, basically, for lack of a better word, "do me", and do what I want, and not wait for others. If someone comes along for the ride, great. But really...I'm here to go to school and also to have my own adventure. What adventure is it if I just wait for others to follow? If I want something, I need to go for it. When I took off for Budapest August the 28th...There were two destinations on my "Must-see-them" list...Vienna and Prague. I only have a finite amount of time here, so I seized the opportunity.

Now, that that is out of the way...Maybe I should get to actually going to Vienna. I took off in the early hours of October 18th from Budapest Keleti Railway Station on a Railjet train to Vienna. It took only a matter of minutes for me to relish traveling alone. I got to the train station that morning, and suddenly realized that I had three days in a foreign country to do whatever I wanted, when I wanted. And a chance to meet new people is  never a bad thing. This was the first time I had ever traveled alone. Suddenly, it felt empowering. I was going to a country where I knew no one and barely spoke the language, and I was going alone. Instead of nervous, I was ecstatic.

The excursion into Vienna started on a high note and never looked back. At first there was some confusion with my train ticket, but my ticket was good for any train for three days, so I was off to Vienna. I sat in an unreserved seat as the train was two hours before my reserved seat, and I wanted to get to Vienna ASAP, and I got a seat next to a fellow Hungarian-speaking American named Julia. She fled Hungary in '56 during the Revolution and carved a decent life for herself working in the oil business. We had a very long conversation, sharing some of our travel stories and our pasts. She even was nice enough to take a mom-like role on the train and bought me a bottle of mineral water and said it was on her. We spoke almost the entire three hour train ride into Vienna, and I told her I was traveling alone for the first time. We both mentioned that it was a pleasure to meet the other, and a realization dawned on me. Traveling alone, if anything, is amazing because you get to make bonds with people, sometimes really close bonds with people, and get to really know someone, with full knowledge that you are never going to see this person again. It is extremely bittersweet, but it is also really cool to get to know someone super well in a microsecond of time like that. That person is a part of your life for the few hours you're in close proximity, and then they're gone, gone, gone. But those people leave a mark on your life, and you never forget that person.

Immediately upon arriving into Vienna I was greeted with an absolutely stunning city. And I just felt like I was in a dream. Here I was, an American alone on the streets of beautiful Vienna. The weather was perfect, and I was free to do whatever I wanted for three days. No holds bars, no one to pull me in another direction. Vienna was my stomping grounds for three days. I still had two hours before I could check into my Hostel...And I had a very heavy backpack on my bag, so what was I going to do? Treat myself to a Viennese lunch, of course.

Sachertorte. Need I say more? No. I don't. ^__^

The meal was fabulous and hit the spot after that morning of train food and black pepper chips. I checked into my hostel at precisely 2PM after walking around the beautiful streets of Vienna, just soaking in the fact that I was in Vienna, Austria and taking in its breathtaking scenery. I wasn't able to really do anything, however, since it was already near evening, and so I simply went to Schonbrunn and looked around...And naturally I was mesmerized.

I didn't go in until the next day...But the view of the beautiful palace, with the clouds in the background, in the cold Viennese evening, were well worth the picturesque 20-minute walk and subsequent getting lost three times and mistaking the technological museum for it well worth it.

That night there was a party at the Wombats City Hostel I was staying at, and I got to really get to know my Hostel-Mates, two British guys from the UK who wasn't even aware that the US government shut down. Naturally, pre-party I went on a long, one-hour profanity laced rant against the incompetency of the Tea Party faction of the US Government. The UK guys were rather happy to hear my views. It was a nice intellectual conversation to have, then we went down to the bar, found a group of girls from New Zealand, and went and chatted with them. And, I got rather drunk. Three cocktails and three shots. I slept like a rock that night, despite sleeping on a bunk bed not even remotely long enough for 6-foot-5 me. I bid my British Hostel-mates adieu and safe travels in the morning, and went on my way. I only remember one of their names, but the conversations we had that night I will take with me for a long time.

Then the next day truly capped my entire experience. Although it was forbidden to take pictures inside Schonbrunn (This time I bought my ticket for 17 Euros and spent a good two hours there), it was absolutely stunning to view the riches the Habsburgs once lived in. And the views of the city from Schonbrunn weren't exactly shabby, either. I basically spent a day there, took the walk back (instead of the tram), and sat back down in my Hostel bedroom, hoping to greet my new Hostel-mates. They weren't there, however, having just come in themselves, they were probably out exploring all Vienna had to offer, themselves. Realizing the night was young, I heard about this Ferris Wheel in Vienna where you could get a stunning view of Vienna while riding in a cabin to the top. It was something I couldn't pass up, and took about a 1-hour train ride from Wien-Westbanhof to the end of the suburban railway line (S-Bahn) to go to the Viennese Ferris Wheel. Known in German as the Wiener Reisenrad. The view was stunning, even under the shroud of night. I could only imagine what it looked like in the daylight...

Vienna at night. ~

I felt so elated and so happy getting to just take in that view. But what really put the cap on Vienna was what happened after I returned to my hotel room that night. I went back down to the Wombar (The bar at the Hostel), and there were these British friends just having drinks. I go sit down by them, and one of the girls in the group, her name was Becky, beautiful, blonde, and friendly, struck up a two-hour conversation with me. It felt really nice to meet someone and just talk to them about life and share stories. I will never see her again, of course, but two hours talking to a pretty girl in Vienna is a pretty good cap off to the weekend, no? 

The next day I prepared to head home and checked out of my Hostel, but had a few more hours to explore Vienna, so I took a one-hour Hop-on-Hop-Off tour and also took a guided tour of the world-famous Viennese Operahouse. (Must see this! I won't post pictures, simply because you need to see this for yourself.)

I came home to Budapest feeling on absolute cloud nine. I had an absolute blast and my entire outlook on traveling solo and what that means has changed. Traveling solo does not mean you're a loner, or reclusive, or antisocial, it in fact oftentimes means you're the opposite! It means you want to see the world, you're tired of waiting for someone else to take the leap for you, and you want to meet fellow travelers backpacking like you. All these things I did on this trip, and this will truly be a highlight of my life for years to come. I entered Vienna unsure of myself and lonely, and I left it completely fulfilled and overjoyed. Sometimes you must truly seize life by the horns and grab it. 

I know I'll never forget that I did, if only for four months out of my life. Or maybe even only for an unforgettable Viennese weekend.

Teaching a Fish to Play Basketball - The Romania Story

Johanna, Jesse, and I in the salt mine's lake. I rowed badly. 

A Weekend Back in Time - Transylvania and All it Has to Offer

When I say going to Romania is kind of like jumping into a time machine, I'm not pulling your leg. That's the complete truth. It's both good and bad, but this blog is going to focus on the GOOD of that! And some of the crazy up and down adventures we as a group (And I especially, of course) had in Transylvania. Which, for those of you unaware, is in fact a real place. And no, the people aren't all deahtly pale, and there aren't vampires in every town, and people do NOT nail garlic to the door to ward off vampires. Although I'm sure they'd have valid reason to. Transylvania is in the Carpathian Mountains, and so there are lots of peaks and valleys, and I'm not surprised the vampire legends originated from his region. And yes, I still have a pulse, and I don't suck blood. So you can actually get out of Transylvania alive.

Last Thursday, we took off for Transylvania at the crack of dawn. Like, literally. The bus fired up at 6 AM and took off at 6:30 AM for a day long trip into Transylvania. Immediately upon crossing the Romanian border, it feels like you traveled back in time about twenty to thirty years. There are some positives of that (An Old World Charm) and some negatives (It is clear these people do not live very well. But nonetheless they manage). The small Hungarian communities are small, everyone knows everyone's name, and many people are self-sufficient. They have to be, because they have no true way to get into the main hubs of the cities without a long commute (Sometimes five or six hours). The Carpathians in fall are breathtaking, by the way. Take a look! 

Scenery of Transylvania

Before we reached our final destination, we stopped in the market village. There is a large week-long open air market where the Romanians can simply buy everything they need basically for the next year. There was, quite literally, everything under the sun at this market. Take a look for yourself:

Plates, furniture, nonperishable food, golden clocks, and many trinkets of all shapes, sizes, and qualities were on sale at this outdoor Romanian market. We made two trips to it. 

We then arrived into Kalotaszentkiraly, the village in Romania we were doing homestays at. The house mother I got assigned to was named Kati. She was extremely kind, and I really enjoyed the homestays because the families only spoke Hungarian, so it was an opportunity to really speak Hungarian and not be able to use my English. They fed us substantial meals, and also got us rather drunk. They had their own home made Palinka, which I drank healthily the first night. I had six shots, and it was twice as strong as normal Palinka, so it was like drinking twelve shots. With the amount of food I ate...Big mistake.

The next day, we got treated to another large meal, this time a breakfast. The breakfast was a lot of typical stuff. Eggs, sausage, etc. But one thing that WAS special was this jam. It was, I kid you not, pig's blood jam. Yeah. That's right. Pig's blood. I had some on my bread. Big mistake. It actually tasted surprisingly good. But with my heavy drinking night, and the ingestion of a completely foreign substance, my body started to react adversely. I didn't feel right at all from the second I finished trying the jam. I knew things would go south at some point on this Friday. But I wanted to go to Torda and see the salt mine, and also hike with the group, so I forced myself to soldier on.

Arriving into Torda, we were given a tour of their vast salt mine. There was enough salt in this mine to supply the rest of the world with salt. And I'm not just saying that because they claimed it. The validity of that was immedaitely questionable because why wouldn't they claim that? But no. They were serious. Dead. Fucking. Serious. I've never seen so much of any substance just lining every wall, lining even the crevices in the walls, and so on. It was nuts. The coolest thing, though, awaited us at the bottom of the mine.

A 92-Meter salt waterfall.

No. The 92-meter waterfall-looking thing of salt was NOT the coolest thing. At the bottom of this mine, was a lake.

Yeah. A lake.

Yeah. A lake. With boats. This looks like Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, does it not? You get those vibes, too? GOOD.

Naturally, every single one of us wanted to take a pleasure cruise on this Romanian lake at the bottom of the salt mine. I was no exception. The boats costs 10 Lei (The Romanian currency) to rent out. I wound up finding close friends Johanna and Jesse, who wanted to ride but had no Lei, and so I paid for them. It's a good thing I did, because if I didn't, I'm pretty sure I'd still be stuck out there in Romania, never to return.

The boats were not motorized, they were simple rowboats. Now, for those of you who DON'T know. I live in Arizona. There's like, no water there, okay? I added it up...Prior to this experience, I had been in a non-motorized boat twice in my life. I had been in a boat that needed to be rowed once. And that wasn't even a boat. It was a piece of cardboard that my dad and I basically duct-taped together, gave me an oar, and was told "DON'T DROWN!" for a science project in eight grade. Jesse and Johanna, my rowboat mates, were a former boat crew member and a former camp counselor, who knew all rowing positions, respectively. 

My first thought was, "I cannot row this boat. One of them needs to." However, upon sitting in the back of the boat, and Johanna getting in the middle, the boat nearly sunk. The Romanian boat master person, speaking limited English, basically yelled at me to get my oversized ass into the middle of the boat before I sunk as all. I did as instructed. Jesse and Jo got in on either side of me. And off we went, ever so slowly.

Now, this is where the title of my blog post comes into play. I explain to Jesse and Jo, apologetically, that I don't know the first thing about rowing. They start trying to explain it to me, but I still can't do it right. I nearly hit a few other boats, sometimes move us back towards the dock, then this way, then sideways, while trying to go forward. It was bad. Half the time, I'd start rowing with the technique Jesse showed me, only to have one oar in the water, and one rowing air. I'm sure that internally, Jo and Jesse were simultaneously rolling on the floor in laughter as the poor desert boy had to row, while also wanting to facepalm multiple times over as I steered us on a crash course with disaster. 

This photo was taken by Paige a few minutes after we got away from the dock. I already posted it, but please take a look at it again, and pay attention mainly to Johnana's expression. It is timeless and priceless (She is the girl in the blue jacket.)

I could only imagine the things going through my friend Johanna's mind as this was snapped.

Seriously. I want to pause this entire blog post for a second and just analyze her expression.

Seriously, her face is a wonderful mix between the following emotions:

"Oh my God! I'm in Romania!"

"But holy shit! The desert boy is rowing! I'm in Romania and this is probably where I'll stay!"

"YAY! We're NOT wet!"

"We're still afloat. I consider this a victory."

"YAY! We're not dead!" 

"The fish is playing basketball! It's a miracle!" 

"Not wet!"

"GO US WOOT!"

"LOL"
"YAY! We're going...nowhere. If only Peter could row!"

"WOOT! Thumbs up! My phone still works!"

And I'm sure some other emotions along the lines of "Is this real life?" and "TROLOLO" mixed in.

We continued to flirt with disaster as I hit the wall a few times, and nearly got us stuck in a shallow pot of water. Eventually, poor Jesse had to take over because I was going to lead us straight to our deaths if things continued as they were! Things worked out okay, though. And this is something I will remember for the rest of my life. I mean, who else can say they got to row a boat? Sure, lots of people. But who else can say they got to row a boat in a salt mine? In Romania? Yeah, thought so, bitches! ^_^

Unfortunately, things went downhill fast from this high point, as my stomach caught up with the rest of my body, and I spend the last day and a half of the excursion rather ill and unable to participate in the traditional Hungarian dance on Saturday night or the hike up to a castle. But we saw many gorgeous Churches and got to meet some wonderful people and have some wonderful experiences. But nothing will top the salt mine. Nothing.

The fish played basketball. It wasn't pretty, but he did it.

Now this weekend I take a solo trip to Vienna. Things are coming up roses here in the final chapter of the greatest year of my life.

Molly, Gaby, and I in one of my rare out-of-bed appearances after the salt mine.