Friends

Budapest with Friends!

Posted on October 3, 2012 by Brooke

Of all the legs of our trip, this is the one we have had planned furthest in advance.  Five full days in beautiful Budapest, Hungary.  Because our friends and travel partners, Gina and Tom, were meeting us here, we planned an arrival date and hotel long before anything else.  We have been looking forward to this for a long time and so far it is exceeding all our expectations.

We knew this city would be a successful stop when we found ourselves with a list a mile long of things to see and do.  From castles to communist history, there is something here to please everyone.  In order to better know the city and its layout, we began the day with a hop-on/hop-off bus tour.  These have proven to be a great way to get an overview when first visiting a city, and this one did not disappoint.  It includes three different rides, one on a river boat tour, and is good for two days.  Today we cruised through the Pest section of town, admiring the architecture reminiscent of Paris.  Wide boulevards lined with trees and buildings dating back to the 1880’s make Budapest immediately more visually stunning than any city we’ve been to in a while.  While we haven’t toured any of these places yet, we drove past the Parliament Building, the Royal Palace, the Opera House, Hero’s Square, and Budapest’s famed baths.  We crossed the Danube over to Buda, the side of the city situated among beautiful rolling hills.  Here we stopped at the Citadel for a drink and amazing views.  Even on a cloudy day, the sweeping landscape down the river and over the city was spectacular.  Tourists were clamoring to take pictures, and Tom even proposed that this may be the best city view he has ever seen.  It really is pretty impressive.  The other Eastern European cities we’ve visited are not even in the same league with Budapest.  A comparison isn’t even fair.

Anticipating the impending rain, we jumped off the bus, headed for lunch, and did what we do best:  enjoyed time with some of our closest friends.  It is amazing how different it is to spend time as a group of four people for the entire day after being so long with just the two of us.  We feel so lucky that Gina and Tom were willing to leave their son at home (which wasn’t the original plan) and come join us on our trip.  They both have such a wonderful energy and spirit that being with them makes us feel like we are on vacation.  A vacation from our travels.  I know that sounds a bit strange, but its true.  To top it off, due to Tom’s bazillion hotel points and endless generosity, we are staying at Le Meridien, one of the nicest hotels in Budapest and certainly some of the best accommodations we will see on this trip.

As the night grew, so did the rain with the addition of lightning.  Beautiful weather is forecast for the rest of our time here, so we spent the evening catching up with our friends and planning the next few days in order to maximize our time here.  We all agree it is a pretty good problem when there is so much we wish to do and not enough time.  We’d much rather it be that way than the other way around!  A late lunch meant we weren’t terribly hungry, so we paid a visit to the local casino.  We all found it a bit strange that the table minimum is 500 HUF.  It sounds like so much, and losing 500 or 1000 HUF feels so painful, but in reality it is only $2.25 and $4.50 respectively.  That’s actually pretty cheap blackjack by most casino standards, which is why we were surprised when the drink Phil ordered (a White Russian) cost him 3100 HUF.  I’ll let you do the math yourself.  It’s ridiculous!  In fact, I think that drink brought bad mojo to the table because my luck immediately turned bad afterward.  Always gluttons for punishment, we played for a bit longer.  After chatting up some very friendly dealers and being creeped out by one overly friendly Danish guy, our hunger got the best of us and we called it quits to head to dinner.

Because we are planning a delicious Hungarian dinner for Thursday night, we settled for a cute Italian restaurant with a beautiful view of the Basilica of St. Stephen. We’ve been doing our best to eat the local cuisine in each city recently, so it felt good to dine at an Italian joint. They served up some tasty cocktails and homemade pasta that made us all happily full.  Tomorrow we plan to take a tour of Parliament and then visit the Memento Sculpture Park–the resting place of communist era statues.  In addition, we hope to make a visit to the thermal baths which we believe will be perfect after a long  day of sightseeing.  As we reflect on our day and the rest of our time yet to come in Budapest, Phil and I keep saying to one another, “I’m so glad we’re here with Gina and Tom.”  We love having these experiences, and they are made so much sweeter when shared with friends.

–Brooke

We arrived at the exact same time into the Budapest train station, making for a very happy, but old-timey reunion of friends!

Gina tries the local fruit brandy, palinka. It was worse than the rakia from Bulgaria and could probably fuel a 747 airplane.

A view of the Royal Palace across the river in Buda.

Our wonderful friends, Gina and Tom.

Categories: At Night, Casino, City Visits, Destinations, Diversions, Eastern Europe, Friends, Hungary, Tours, Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Goodbye Belgrade

Posted on October 1, 2012 by Brooke

Sadly, our time in Belgrade has come to a close.  Tomorrow morning we board a north-bound train for Budapest, Hungry and leave Serbia behind.  Today was filled mainly with strolling through the city, taking in some last sights, and reflecting on our time in this region of the world. Though we enjoyed previous Eastern European cities, we think that Belgrade is a city we would eagerly visit again.  In fact, we believe this would make a wonderful destination with a group of friends, and we are sure our crew could have an amazing time spending a week here together.

After having a delicious coffee at one of the numerous street cafes this morning, we found ourselves walking toward the riverfront.  We spotted an old building which looked as though some event was happening inside.  Upon closer inspection, we discovered it was an art museum.  Kind of.  This grand building originally housed the Belgrade Shareholder’s Society.  It hasn’t exactly been preserved, but enough detailed remnants of its architecture remain which makes imagining its original beauty fairly easy.  Currently, “Good Life” a modern art exhibition is featured within the myriad of rooms.  The entrance fee was nominal, so we walked through the exhibits, realizing for the umpteenth time that we are not fans of this type of existential modern art.  I try to appreciate what lies before me, but I find I’m often left scratching my head and saying, “Huh?” Like the photographs of gold fillings which the artist bought at an online auction.  Or the room with paper pigs hanging from the ceiling.  This was way over my head.  It didn’t take long for us to give each other the high sign and head for the door.

The sign confused us at first–it is way too similar to the “No Smoking” signs we are used to.

We continued wandering and refocused on one of our priorities for the day–finding the perfect souvenir for our time in Belgrade.  We walked among stands which sell the traditional wares feeling completely uninspired.  It is important for us to find souvenirs that closely link with our experience in a city.  We want mementos, not just chatchkis to place on a shelf.  So, we thought about what would really speak to our time here.  As strange as it sounds, we settled on an ash tray!  We don’t smoke, nor do any of our friends, but smoking is everywhere here.  The first thing you get at a restaurant is not water or a menu or even a “hello”, it’s an ashtray.  Businesses don’t just have “No Smoking” signs, they also have “Smoking” signs which we found quite confusing early on.  In fact, cafes often sell cigarettes to their patrons who alternate eating their croissant with a puff of their cigarette.  For all of these reasons, an ashtray seemed like the perfect memento.

Laughing at our purchase we continued walking.  One aspect of Belgrade which has consistently entertained us is the amount of crazy small and ridiculously old cars which still cruise the streets.  I didn’t even know they still made the Yugo, but they are everywhere here!  And they are tiny.  We realize that Europeans drive small cars, especially when compared to Americans, but these are some of the smallest we’ve seen.  And really, it is the age that keeps surprising us.  Some of these must be 30 years old.  How they are not rusted out and falling apart is completely beyond us.  Phil thought these relics would be a great subject for a photo journalism project.

I’m not sure Phil would even fit in this thing!

After saying our farewells to Belgrade, it was time to head back to the apartment for the moment we have been waiting for since we arrived:  Sunday Football on ESPN America.  When we learned we would be able to watch live American professional football, we were ecstatic.  Although ESPN does not broadcast NFL games on Sundays in the U.S., they must have some agreement with Fox to show games abroad.  Our excitement in anticipation of watching football and eating a home cooked meal has been brimming all week.  After the requisite 2 hours of pre-game coverage, we watched the San Francisco 49ers embarrass the New York Jets by beating them 34-0.  At half-time of the game we went to the grocery store to be met with great disappointment–it was closed.  Closed?  It was only 8:15 pm, but we did not dismay.  We walked to another grocery down the street and it had closed at 3pm today!  Sometimes we forget that we aren’t in New York and stores close early, especially on Sundays.  Somewhat disappointed, we settled for a couple of sandwiches.  Seeing the score of the game when we arrived home immediately soothed our sadness.  We are now watching one of the late games–the Saints vs. the Packers, and if we can stay up until 2:30am, we can even catch the Sunday night game.

Late night football is likely not in the cards for me since we will be leaving for the train station at 6am.  We have been so surprised by Belgrade and would encourage travelers to include this as a “must” during any trip to Eastern Europe.  Tomorrow we head to Budapest, Hungary, the leg of the trip I have been most looking forward to because we will be meeting up with two of our closest friends, Gina and Tom.  We haven’t seen a familiar face (besides one another) in about 2 months and the thought of being with close friends is almost overwhelming.  I can’t wait!

–Brooke

A snafu with our tram ticket was cause for great concern. Ever since seeing the ticket checkers in Sofia, Phil is terrified of them!

When inflation was at its worst, Serbia had bills with a 50 billion dinar denomination! It is a Guinness World Record.

A final beer at ? Cafe. After arguments over its name, people now just refer to it as Question Mark Cafe.

Categories: Bars, City Visits, Diversions, Eastern Europe, Friends, Landmarks, Museums, Serbia, Uncategorized, Unusual Experiences | Tags: , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Wellington, New Zealand

Posted on August 10, 2012 by Brooke

On the Cable CarDuring our time in New Zealand, we’ve slowly made our way south on the North Island. We started in Auckland, the largest city in the country, and now we are exploring Wellington, the nation’s capital. After one full day we can say with great confidence, Wellington is a wonderful city and probably the first city we’ve visited where we could imagine ourselves living. Unlike Auckland, Wellington has character and personality. It has a vibrant pulse and a livelihood that Auckland really lacks. We can’t get enough!

Wellington is a big city, with a very urban vibe, but it doesn’t feel overwhelming or intimidating. Situated on the coast of the Cook Strait and in the hills of the Rimutaka Mountain Range, its winding roads and steep hills are remniscent of San Francisco. Not only that, but the independent shops, restaurants and bars give it a very cool feeling that reminds us of the best parts of the Lower East Side in New York City.

So sleepy!We began our day at Te Papa, the National Museum of New Zealand. The new building and modern exhibits immediately impressed us. We were especially amazed by the holographic explanation of life on the boats of the Maori people when they first arrived in New Zealand. Another fascinating exhibit taught us about the fight for equality regardless of race, sexuality or gender. Their struggles are strikingly similar to those in America, though in many ways we are finding New Zealand’s ideals far more progressive. For example, they are an anti-nuclear country which caused a split in alliance with the U.S. in the early 80’s. Also, they have a member of parliament who is openly transsexual. Fascinating.

Grip Car 2After the museum, we wound our way through the city centre to Wellington’s famous cable car. Because this is such a hilly town, the government decided at the turn of the 19th century to build a cable car to help open up some of the neighborhoods in the hills to the shopping district downtown. It still gets used today by both residents who are heading home or to university and also by tourists like us who want to get a great view of the city. It has a rich history, and visiting the museum at the top was really interesting. The ride was a little freaky because the hills are quite steep, but it was totally worth it. The views from the top are amazing and if you are interested, you can also visit the nearby botanical garden and observatory.

Wellington

After such a busy day, we navigated our way back home using the city’s extensive bus system. When I say “home” of course I mean the home where we are staying. Our stop in Wellington is our first time using Air BnB. This method of finding accomodation lies somewhere between couch surfing and staying in hostels. People who have a room available in their homes post it on Air BnB, and then people can book it like a hotel room (though often for a much more affordable rate). We are staying with Sara and Danny, who have a beautiful home in the hills above Wellington. The views are amazing and they have been super welcoming. Danny and Phil spent much of last night testing each other’s trivia knowledge over a few glasses of wine. There is something really nice about staying at someone’s house, especially when it is as nice as this one is! Plus they’ve ensured us that it is safe to be here in an earthquake because it is a wooden home, therefore it will bend with the motion of the Earth. By the way, did you know Wellington is on a major fault line and regularly experiences earthquakes? We didn’t either!Awesome house!

After our lovely day in Wellington, we’ve decided that we need a little more time here. Phil found an amazing vintage/record shop called Vanishing Point and I know he wants to go back. We feel like we’ve only just begun exploring all the cute shops and interesting bars and cafes. Because of this, we are extending our time here for one more day. That is what is so wonderful about this trip. If we hate a place, we leave. If we love it, we stay a little longer. We really can’t go wrong!

-Brooke

Categories: City Visits, Destinations, Diversions, Exploring, Friends, Hotels, Museums, New Zealand, Random Thoughts, Self Guided Tours, Transportation, Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , | 10 Comments

Raglan, Waitomo Caves and Hamilton, New Zealand

Posted on August 5, 2012 by Brooke

Even though we’re only a few days in, our time in New Zealand continues to be as wonderful as the sites have been breathtaking. We’re quickly learning that this is a country of boundless natural beauty. Without hyperbole, this land is simply stunning. We had an opportunity to see a good portion of it first hand today. Our third full day here was made up of a trip to scenic falls, a windy drive, a guided tour through the spectacular and legendary Waitomo glow worm caves and an evening with the most hospitable and welcoming couple in New Zealand, if not the Southern Hemisphere.

We left Raglan bright and early after completing our recent routine of “Breakfast and Wi-fi” at a local cafe. The locals were celebrating The Chiefs big rugby win last night. We’re also picking up on the friendly rivalry between New Zealanders and their nearest neighbors in Australia who are just “across the ditch” (the span of ocean separating the two countries). Every Kiwi we’ve spoken with has beamed with pride when they remark that New Zealand is 14th overall in the 2012 Olympic medal count while those Aussies only have a single gold medal to their name. Funny.

One note on internet access: Every single business we’ve encountered so far is a bit peculiar about their Wi-Fi. No one has true “free” Wi-Fi. With any purchase, you receive a code that gets you online for a set amount of data (50 mb) or time (1 hour). This is a bit hard to get used to.

From Raglan, we drove a short distance to the scenic Bridal Veil Falls. After a short voyage down a windy road (oh, have we driven on some windy roads far) and an easy 10 minute hike, we were greeted with the amazing site of water streaming 150 feet to the small limestone pool below. Quite the way to start a day of travel and siteseeing. Amazing. Less amazing was the twisting, slow-going gravel road that we then had to drive on for about 45 minutes. Were we lost? Did we take the wrong road? No, that’s just the way the path goes. White knuckle, can’t-see-around-the-next-corner driving indeed. A challenging, but interesting drive. And as bonus, there were picturesque sheep and friendly cows alongside the road to greet us. And we had the enjoyably music coming from New Zealand radio. Worth mentioning that the “Pop Hits of Today” in New Zealand are pretty much the same as the “Pop Hits of Today” in the United States. Maroon 5, Gotye, Katy Perry, and Fun. have all graced the spaceship’s radio to say hello.Our spaceship wound its way up and down hills and around small mountains as part of an incredibly scenic drive. Around each corner was another bucolic, green and sensational view. I’ve really never seen anything like it.

The Waitomo caves, the highlight of our day, was another experience all together. We paid for a combo ticket to visit two caves- Rakauri and Glowworm Caves. The Rakauri cave was a long tour through a twisting, beautiful set of caverns full of stalagmites (coming from the ground that “mite” touch the ceiling), stalagtites, columns, curtains, and more. We had an exceptional tour guide who made the experience outstanding. The magnificent underground beauty was stunning and we learned about the Maori history, background on the caves and just some stunning insight. They even showcase a big chunk of limestone rock that had been carved like a sculpture by just seven years of water drips. But the best part were the glowworms. Native only to New Zealand, these caves are inhabited by glowworms – tiny creatures no longer than four centimeters long that cling to the ceiling and light up the pitch-dark caves like some type of underground constellation. Just…wow. The boat ride at the end of the Glowworm cave through an underground lake was simply amazing and made our day. I could gush for pages about these two caves and the remarkable site of the glowworms.

No room for Phil in the cave

Planning future trips with FelicityOur evening, spent in Hamilton, was a completely different experience. Against all odds, we managed to meet and befriend possibly the nicest, most generous couple in the country. We met Ken and Marinota during our layover in Guagzhou where they had invited us to their place for tea (dinner) one night. Man, are we glad we took them up on that invitation! What followed was an evening of conversation, meals and never-ending hospitality from this enthusiastic, sincerely friendly,well-traveled duo. They helped us outline some future stops in New Zealand (each place was more of a “can’t miss’ than the one before!), talked travel, gave us insight into New Zealand culture (Ken calls the remote “the zonker”) and we even chatted it up with the neighbors – Jason and Felicity – who stopped by. Jason and Felicity are planning a trip to Van Wert, Ohio in December. Where? I thought I knew all the towns in Ohio! I’ve come 7,500 miles just to learn about a town in my own backyard I’ve never heard of. We had an amazingly fun night that left us exhausted (but that might have been the many glasses of wine.) Ken and Marinota, being the wonderful people that they are, even opened up their home to us and invited us to spend the night in the guestroom. As we said, exceptionally generous and absurdly gracious. Hooray for making new friends in New Zealand.

Next, we had west to the town of Rotorua and onward!

-Phil

Categories: City Visits, Destinations, Driving, Exploring, Friends, New Zealand, Oympics, Transportation, Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 8 Comments

Los Angeles

Posted on July 31, 2012 by Brooke

We know that when you think of a trip around the world, you don’t think of Los Angeles.  However, our good friends at the Delta Skyteam think differently.  So, in order to embark on our journey to Auckland, New Zealand, we have found ourselves spending the first day of our journey in LA.  And let me tell you, we have had such a great day.  We are fortunate enough to have some good friends who live here, so we were able to spend our last day in the U.S. with them.

Santa Monica Pier

We started out spending time with Paula, a friend of Phil’s from back in Atlanta.  She and her 3 year old daughter gave up their day and drove all over showing us some of the great things about the city.  We first went to the beach in Santa Monica, famous for its beautiful white sand, “muscle beach” workout area, and of course, The Pier.  We walked along, spying different people trying to one-up each other in all kinds of feats of strength.  Phil tried his hand at rope-climbing, but it just wasn’t the same as it was in 5th grade P.E. class.  Sadly, a 10 year old girl quickly put him to shame.  I certainly would not have done any better and give him credit for trying. 

A Smoggy View

After the beach, we journeyed to the other side of LA, through the notorious LA traffic, up into the Hollywood hills to the Griffith Observatory.  Situated in the shadow of the Hollywood sign, the observatory is a lovely spot to get an amazing view of the whole city.  True, much of it is blurred by smog, but it is still really beautiful and I can imagine it is a great place to go to get away from the crowds below.  It is surrounded by winding hiking trails of varying difficulty which look like they would be a lot of fun if we were here for more time.

After our time with Paula, we met up with Murph (Mike Murphy), our friend who works on the NBC sitcom Whitney.  Since they are not yet in production, he had the time to show us around the lot where they write and shoot the show, as well as many other shows.  This kind of thing is old hat for Murph, but Phil and I got a real kick out of seeing the studio where they shot Seinfeld, Christina Applegate’s parking spot and the outside walls of the Big Brother house.  We even got a little homesick walking down “New York Street,” the place on the lot they use for outside shots on shows which are set in New York.

Finally, we were joined by two more friends, Frank and Jaclyn, for a delicious sushi dinner at Katsuya–Murph and Frank’s favorite sushi restaurant. We spent our last few hours before heading to the airport with good food, good friends, and great conversation.  All in all, today has been the perfect start for our trip!

-Brooke

Categories: Diversions, Driving, Friends, LA | Tags: , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Hardest Part about Leaving New York

Posted on July 11, 2012 by Brooke

It is official.  We no longer live in New York City.  Actually, we no longer live anywhere—we are homeless. As we drove the 11 hours to Cincinnati today, we had a lot of time to reflect on our time in New York and where our future will take us, both with the trip and beyond it.  Here is what I have realized.

The most difficult thing about making the decision to go on a trip around the world and leave New York is not quitting our jobs or giving up our apartment.  That was actually pretty easy.  The hardest part was leaving our friends.  Last night, we spent what has to be the perfect final evening in New York City.  Phil and I went to Moran’s to celebrate our 1 year wedding anniversary (this was the spot where we had our wedding reception).  Then we went to meet up with our friends for one more beer (or 3) before heading out of town in this morning.

Final Friends Farewell

As an adult, I know that friends are precious.  Good friends are surprisingly hard to make…it isn’t like it was when we were kids and you became friends with the kid next door because they were there.  We’ve always found that in a city as large as New York, it is really easy to meet people, but it is a whole lot harder to find people with whom you make a lasting and meaningful connection.  We have been so lucky.  We have made friends here in the last few years that I can’t imagine not seeing on a weekly basis.  When you live in a city like New York, with little to no family to spend special occasions with, your friends become your family.  Our friends are our family and saying goodbye to them was so much harder than I anticipated.

Here’s the thing—I know last night was not really goodbye.  Friendships are always changing.  Of course, things will be different.  They have to be.  However, I am sure some of the friends who I’ve gotten to know during my time in New York will be friends for the rest of my life.  I am so glad for that.  I will miss them so much…more than I even realized.  Last night was wonderful, but also incredibly hard, only because I love them deeply.  I know we will see them soon and we are already anxious to catch up with them, tell them all our new stories and hear all of theirs.  Honestly, that day can’t get here soon enough!

-Brooke

Categories: Friends, Leaving, Trip Prep | Tags: , , | 2 Comments

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