In Munich

Innsbruck

In Vienna.

Budapest Last Post

Today, I went to the Baths in Budapest. They have a variety of baths of different temperature and mineral content. It was an interesting experience, something quite different. I don't think I would go to the bath on a regular basis, though.

Vas and I went to a restaurant near Vas's place in the evening. It was quite westernized but still good. It was interesting in that they give you a huge basket of peanuts and you throw the shells on the ground.

Yesterday, I went to the Train station to get my train ticket. I thought I could get a euro rail pass here in Budapest, but no one said they sold them here, which was annoying. I just got a ticket to Vienna. The railroad station was overall very non-modernized. For example, In Prague, they would print off a timetable for you and could even get information for connections between other cities. However, not so in Budapest. They only could get information for Keleti Pu station.

Budapest part 2

I've seen much in Budapest. Today I went to see the Citadel and Margarit island and Nyugati Pu. I walked probably 4-5 miles. Yesterday I saw St. Stephen's Basilica, Church of Our Lady at Buda, and Budapest Historical museum. Basically, I've seen a decent amount of hte major sights in Budapest. Tommorrow I will see City Park and Andassy avenue. Not much else is new with me otherwise.

Budapest

Vas has internet in his flat, which is very nice. Vas is working full time on his chess engine, Rybka (Rybka website). We talked a bit about Rybka and he showed me where he is running tests on some Rybka improvements.

So far, Budapest has been great. Haven't done any sightseeing, but I have walked around the center of town. I walked along the river, the Duna, last night and took pictures. I will go see Budai castle later today.

Budapest is less modern looking than Prague. The housing and buildings look less up to date. However, it seems that there are many more cars. This may be because the roads are better or the public transportation worse. The trams are very old looking as if they're from the '40s or something.

I exchanged money today and it was different than exchanging in Prague. In Prague, I asked every exchange office what exact amount I would get for the US currency I wanted to exchange. I never got the advertised rate because of commissions and whatnot. In Prague, the advertised rate is not really what you will get but more an upper bound (you won't get better than the advertised rate). However, in Budapest, every place I asked, I got exactly what they advertise and most of the exchange offices have the same rate. I noticed in both Prague and Budapest that you get a slightly better rate at the small exchange offices rather than at a major bank.

Right now I am figuring out how to use Vas's washing machine. I have promised to explain its usage to Vas if I manage to get clean clothes out of the process. I am also very happy Vas has a regular American keyboard and not some insane Czech setup... z y ( ) ' ? : are all much easier to type now.

In Budapest

Last significant post for a while

This will be my last significant post, for reasons described later. I went to the State opera last night with my mom and we saw `The Magic Flute` opera by Mozart. If I am correct it was the last opera he wrote.

My mom and I managed to cover the whole National Gallery, seeing 3 art galleries in Prague. We also went to the Loreto,¨http://www.loreta.cz/en/index.htm, which is a major place of pilgrimmage and worship in Czech Republic. It has the absolutely magnificent Diamond Monstrance.

I have decided to somewhat change my plans for my travel in Europe. Today is going to be the last day I spend in Prague. I am going to Budapest tommorrow. From there, I will buy a EuroRailPass, which allows you unlimited travel for a certain number of days. Who knows where I`ll go from there, but I figure I can ride the train overnight and get off whenever I feel or whenever I encounter a particular city of locale of interest. I am still hoping to spend a day in Innsbruck and ski Stubai Glacier. Whenever I go to internet Cafe to tell my parents I`m still alive I`ll at least make a quick post here as to where I am. Right now, I need to find hostels!

Czech Philharmony, Prague Restaurants, Beer, Chocolate

Last evening, I went to the Czech Philharmony at the Rudolfinum, home of the Czech Philharmony, with my mom. They played Beethoven`s Third Symphony, ´Eroica`. They also played two shorter pieces, I dont remember which though. The tickets were really cheap, 220 kc, or almost $10 US. I want to go again to see the Philharmony. They are playing a Mozart symphony at Rudolfinum sometime in the near future.

Picture of me in front of Rudolfinum...


The restaurants I´ve tried so far, 2 of them, have been only ok. The dinners were less than $8 including beer, but nothing all too special. I think mainly its because they`re too close to the heavily touristy part of town. I`ve found out that restaurants charge a seating fee, annoying, but something I think I have to deal with.

In grocery stores, beer is typically sold as individual bottles. There are sometimes 6 packs, but I still haven`t seen anyone selling beer by the case. The bottles are half liter, almost a pint, instead of the US 12oz. The beer is cheap, usually between 10 and 15kc for a bottle, or 40 to 70 cents US. Pilsner Urquell is typically a little more expensive, like 20 kc per bottle. I`ve been trying Czech beers as much as I can. Today I had Czech Budweiser. I`ve also had two types of Gambrinus light beer. Apparently there is a really good Gambrinus dark beer but I haven`t found it yet.

The chocolate is awesome. Much of it is sold by bars in a similar form as Hersheys bars. However, there is a great variety with the types of chocolate.

Sightseeing so far

So far, I have been mostly sightseeing with my Mom, we have seen the Prague Castle... including all the sights inside the castle such as St. Vitus Cathedral, St. George Basilica, Royal Palace. We also saw st. George convent which stores part of the National Gallery. There is a new exhibition in the Royal Palace which details the story of Prague Castle from 2000 BC to present day. It was very interesting as it had many original artifacts and relics from Czech history, such as the chain mail suit of St. Wenceslas.

My mom and I are planning on seeing the rest of the National Gallery, probably today, and going to the major theatres in Prague to see performances. Tickets are quite cheap if you get the upper balcony seats. My mom paid less than $4 US for each ticket.

I have in excess of 1000 pictures now.I have to majorly thank my Uncle Jan for letting me store the pictures on his computer. I will burn them to CD before I leave.

The second day I was here, Uncle Jan took me to Cesky Budevejice... sp?.. There I met my uncle Petr and my cousin Magda for the first time. Cesky Budevejice is the home of the original Budweiser beer of Czech origin. I had one in the pub. It tasted absolutely great. Here is a picture of Petr, Magda, and myself.


A picture of me from Charles Bridge in front of Prague Castle..


A picture of me in front of the door to St. Vitus Cathedral...


A picture of me with a Prague castle guard.. I have a movie of the changing of the Guard...


A picture of my mom in front of Prague castle from near the Statue of Smetana...

In Prague

I have finally gotten to Prague. My uncle Jan picked me up from the airport and took me back to the Monastary. I was very impressed with his ability to navigate Old Town in a car. All the streets are narrow, 1 way, and not laid out in any sort of logical fashion. My cell is actually quite nice and large, not very cell-like. I am right in the middle of the old town. I can step outside and I am like in the middle of a city frozen in the 16th century. Below is a picture looking down Husova street, right outside the door to the monastary.



I did a little sightseeing so far. Ive been mainly walking around the center of prague. It took me 5 minutes to get lost yesterday. I decided to walk to the Vltava and back, it seemed like an easy thing to do. However, I ended up walking around Old Town for about 20 minutes on the way back because I couldnt navigate.

Below is the famous charles Bridge, which I went to early this morning, before any tourists get up. It was really neat being out in the middle of Prague before all the tourists...


This is the Old-New synagogue, which is the oldest synagogue in Europe.


I am well connected to the internet, the only problem is figuring out this keyboard.