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„Because I did not understand the Hungarian language, I tried with all my strength to feel it; I felt that it was full of power.” Jules Romains, french poet, 1927Following
After a weekend exploring western Hungary and the Danube bend, I’m left with the naive feeling that I could move right now and spend many many happy years in the Hungarian mountainside without ever looking back. When exactly was this country supposed to lose its charm?
Day 1: Left Thursday afternoon for a seven hour bus ride from Budapest to Praha. Arrived at night, check in at Chili hostel, late dinner at KFC (I know), pitcher of Sangria at a small Czech bar.
Day 2: Up for breakfast on the go, 11am tour with NewEurope (yes, this is becoming a trend). Such a beautiful city architecturally. Lunch at a tavern, followed by a trip to the Museum of Communism. The interrogation room gave me chills. Met up with other friends for dinner, moved on to another bar to experience my first taste of absinthe, ended the night at a “tourist trap” five story club (different atmosphere/music on each floor). Had a blast…but without such a big group of friends it would have been pretty sketch…
Day 3: Breakfast at a cafe near the river. Walked across the Charles Bridge and headed over to the castle with Emily and Pat. Lack of service/minutes for each of us led to a day of isolation for the three of us, which almost made the day more enjoyable. Walked through the castle area, (quite a workout on those hills), saw the John Lennon memorial wall, plus Prague’s toy museum. Dinner at a brewery, and on to the Clock Tower Bar crawl. As life would have it, I happened to reunite with two friends I made on a bar crawl in Dublin the weekend before.
Day 4: The day my body and brain ganged up on me to decide to ignore all alarms and roommate attempts to wake me up. Needless to say I was angry, obviously more so with myself than with anyone else. Emily and I were the last to check out and had a few hours to kill before we had to make our way to the bus station. I was most angry about getting myself into a situation where I was missing Czech mass, when we cam across an intersection with a large church perched down the street. The outside was unmarked, unadorned, but the entrance door was open. So we took a chance, walked in, and there you have it: halfway through Czech, Catholic Mass. The last pew was empty, obviously waiting for us. I actually shed a silent tear or two of joyful relief (I think this marked a new level of realization of just how much I love churches). After mass we grabbed lunch, headed over to Old Town Square to see the clock tower strike on the hour, bought a “Czech Me Out” tshirt (heh heh), visited the Pinkas Synagogue, (a memorial to the 80,000 Jewish victims of the Holocaust from Bohemia and Moravia), and then got back on the bus for another seven hour ride home to the BP.
Overall Prague was a lot of fun, but I think that statement should pertain specifically to our sightseeing adventures. The culture somehow felt heavier than Budapest or Dublin. If/when I figure out how to elaborate on that, I will..
The following posts will consist of quick summaries of the events of the past four weeks (since I’ve been so seriously slacking, I guess this is more for dry record than for any real cathartic enjoyment). I’m posting this disclaimer first because my need to retain some self-respect might actually hold me to my word…
Traveling is exhausting. It’s often a long, draining and sometimes even painful process. Airport security can especially take a toll on you emotionally. In most situations, sitting here running on a mere three hours of sleep and hacking up a lung after four days of running around in the rain would not be a very pleasing situation.
Yet somehow I still feel as if the price I paid for this weekend was a bargain. I never thought a spur of the moment ticket purchase two weeks ago would lead to an experience that I’m still trying to convince myself actually happened…
Nate, Beau and I left the dorm on Thursday afternoon, a little late and a little disheveled (and already a little sleep-deprived, in my case) but overall excited for our excursion. After some delays we met Michael at Dublin’s Terminal 2 and arrived at our hostel sometime after midnight. Check in, bags down, and then two steps (literally) later we were next door at Doyle’s Pub. My first pint of Guinness (ever!) went a bit slowly but was the perfect milestone to inaugurate the trip. By 2:30 we were out (everything closes “early” in Ireland; insert excessive Irish drinking joke here) and off to bed.
Friday morning we made our way to the Jameson Distillery and the Guinness Storehouse; learned the six-step process to pouring my own pint, but double samples weren’t such a great idea after only a light breakfast. Later that night we joined a pub crawl with a huge group of about 54 people. Fun crowd with mostly all foreigners and majority Americans, but we met a handful of awesome locals along the way. A small highlight; in one bar, the walls of all four floor were covered in glass encased beer bottles. By chance Nate noticed a needle in a haystack bottle of none other than the Hungarian beer, Arany Ászok. A taste of home even in Ireland. Overall awesome night.
Saturday morning Michael and I decided to take advantage of a free walking tour around the city. Stepping out of the hostel gave me a shock of sunlight, beautiful and liberating after expectations of a weekend drenched in rain. It was so gorgeous out that some people even stripped to tshirts by the middle of the tour. Our tour guide was great (endorsement: NewEurope tours, free/tips only tour guides that seem to do an amazing job all over the continent) and made it feel strangely okay to be a total tourist. Later, after having been tipped off about a Dublin v. Cork Gaelic Football match, we all headed down to Croke Park Stadium for a double match. First Hurling: (think cross between lacrosse, hockey, and field hockey?) fast and intense. Then an interesting Jedward concert… Finally, the football: (think cross between soccer and rugby) faster and even more intense. I feel guilty to admit it, but I think I enjoyed the football match better than I do regular soccer. The atmosphere was amazing. I could have stayed there forever.
After the games we headed back to the hostel (cider in tow) and spent a while talking to Leah, possibly the greatest hostel staff member (and it doesn’t matter that I haven’t met very many). Some time after midnight we joined some new friends and decided to head to The Palace. Pretty worthy night club. Beautiful building. Especially beautiful Irishmen. What more could I ask for?
…well, sleep maybe? Nah. 4:30am to bed, 7:30am to rise. Headed to Saint Mary’s Pro Cathedral for mass and then wandered around Dublin by myself for a few hours. Five minutes to noon I was waiting at the doors of the Trinity College Old Library. The Book of Kells exhibit wasn’t opening until 12, and our taxi was getting us at 12:30. I had to see two of the most beautiful manifestations of literary mastery in under 30 minutes. The Book of Kells was tremendous (hand written and illustrated copy of the four Gospels, written by monks in about 800AD), still in full, vibrant color and practically engraved with its detail. Then the Long Room. Indescribably the greatest library I’ve ever seen. I think I died a little. Taking pictures was so illegal which was so heartbreaking. Google it. Or look for the Jedi Library in Star Wars: Attack of Clones…
Sadly, we didn’t get out to the countryside, but I don’t think a few hours would have done it justice anyway. Besides, I needed to walk away from this trip with an excuse to return in the future. Never have I experienced an atmosphere so friendly and welcoming. Ireland and its people have quickly and easily grabbed a piece of my heart.
So to fittingly sum up the way separation anxiety that I’m feeling right now:
“When I woke up I was all alone
With a broken heart and a ticket home
And I ask you friend, what would you do?
If her hair was black and her eyes were blue”-Galway Girl
StudyAbroad Tip #10: Don’t be afraid to take chances on experiences you may not have been planning.
The past three weeks have been amazing to the point of being almost overwhelming. This city is beautiful. The city’s people are especially beautiful. Somehow even its language has become more beautiful. It’s been hard to take time to just sit down and process it all, though I’m trying really hard not to leave it all behind in a blur. Details will follow (this is a promise to myself).
But for now, it’s off to Dublin for a beautifully rainy weekend. Viszlát!
StudyAbroad Tip #9: Keep writing!
The “before” picture. Not including shoes.
A winter, spring, and summer’s worth of clothes….into one suitcase? Is it possible?? Stay tuned for the “after” photo…
StudyAbroad Tip #8: Sometimes you just have to redefine “packing light.”
“Remember: if you want to make progress on the path and ascend to the places you have longed for, the important thing is not to think much but to love much, and so to do whatever best awakens you to love.”
During a very early shower yesterday morning, it finally hit my still-slumbering consciousness that I am really going to Europe. To live in a capital city. For a whole semester. After months of planning, and paperwork, and so much going wrong, the only things standing in my way of ditching this town are:
The best part of it all is to have nothing holding me back. The people that matter will still love me from across the ocean, and will still love me when I return. I have absolutely nothing to lose, and so so much to gain. I can hardly contain myself.
StudyAbroad Tip #6: GET EXCITED.
StudyAbroad Tip #7: Start early mental preparation for “packing light.”
Reading makes immigrants of us all. It takes us away from home, but more important, it finds homes for us everywhere. ~Jean Rhys
“The Hungarian language goes far back. It developed in a very peculiar manner and its structure reaches back to times when most of the now spoken European languages did not even exist. It is a language which developed steadily and firmly in itself, and in which there are logic and mathematics with the adaptability and malleability of strength and chords. The Englishman should be proud that his language indicates an epic of human history. One can show forth its origin; and all layers can be distinguished in it, which gathered together during contacts with different nations. Whereas the Hungarian language is like a rubble-stone, consisting of only one piece, on which the storms of time left not a scratch. It’s not a calendar that adjusts to the changes of the ages. It needs no one, it doesn’t borrow, does no huckstering, and doesn’t give or take from anyone. This language is the oldest and most glorious monument of national sovereignty and mental independence. What scholars cannot solve, they ignore. In philology it’s the same way as in archeology. The floors of the old Egyptian temples, which were made out of only one rock, can’t be explained. No one knows where they came from, or from which mountain the wondrous mass was taken. How they were transported and lifted to the top of the temples. The genuineness of the Hungarian language is a phenomenon much more wondrous than this.” - Sir John Bowring (English traveler and writer, 1830)
I can’t wait to witness firsthand how this, in turn, reflects on the people of Hungary.
It’s all coming together now, after many some bumps in TCNJ’s Global Programs office the road. — Remember kids: it’s important to make sure your school actually sends your complete application to your program! — But that would be a whole other blog…
I’ll be arriving in Budapest on January 31st at noon!!
StudyAbroad Tip #5: Beware of incompetent study abroad offices!
