Well. I'm in Budapest. Going to Romania tomorrow. I'm a bit scared. But excited.

I just spent a long time attempting to upload photos, but it didn't work. Damn.

I'm stressed and lonely and tired and hungry.

Off I go.

Those Slovak Kids Know How To Party

My first night in Bratislava the "baby brits" (two hilarious, public-school groomed British boys I first encountered in Krakow and have run into in almost every town since), another Brit, a Canadian girl, and I went to a big party in a club that used to be a Soviet bunker. The place was great--long hallways with rounded ceilings, exposed brick, lots of little rooms and a sharp, musty smell that will probably never completely disappear. Maybe I'm just romanticising things, but dancing to music created by guys with Apple Powerbooks in an underground bunker across the river from rows and rows of Soviet Era high-rises was a pretty cool experience. Evidence of the Soviet Era is everywhere in this part of the world, but it seems like the younger generation is taking these places over, making them their own, and creating something completely new.

Oh, Confusion

It's funny how the thing you most want to do can also be the thing you least want to do. I woke up this morning simultaneously wishing I could jump on the next flight to Victoria and wishing I didn't have to go home.

Off to Bratislava I go.

I'm in Vienna now. I spent a very relaxing three days in Cesky Krumlov, a small town in the south of the Czech Republic. On Friday I'm heading to Bratislava, Slovakia. I was hoping to take a boat that goes along the Danube, but no one seems to know anything about it, so we'll see.

I'm probably not giving Vienna the time it deserves, but there's a nagging little voice in my ear telling me to keep moving, so I am. (I'm trying to trust my instincts more and think through every little detail less. Both have their merits I think.)

I had a great day today. Wandered by the river, went to Kunst Haus Wien and Hundertwasser-Krawinahaus. Look them up on the web...pretty cool stuff.

Anyhoo. Internet is expensive. I'm out.

Was that my train?

There's nothing like sitting outside a tiny train station somewhere in the middle of the Czech Republic really hoping that your train will show up.

Prague

Prague is like an enchanted vine. It slowly wraps its tendrils around you, so softly you don't notice how tightly entangled you are until you try to leave. You can't leave, and at two in the morning you find yourself sitting in a beautiful, dusk-lit apartment listening to a girl sing Czech folk songs in a voice that, at that moment, seems like the most wonderful voice you've ever heard. She leaves, and then it's three-thirty in the morning and it becomes apparent that you connect with your friend, who was playing music at the bar downstairs and is the reason you are in an apartment listening to Czech folk songs, on another level. And you feel the city tighten its grip on you and the temporary nature of everything becomes obvious and all you want is one more day. So you take one more day but eventually you break free and leave feeling bruised, but happy you let yourself get pulled in.

"I've Been Gone For a Month..."

Frankfurt. Trier. Munich. Nuremburg. Dusseldorf. Berlin. Krakow. Prague.

Some Highlights.

Bavarian Food and Beer Tasting Tour in Munich
Staying at Anna's apartment in Dusseldorf. (Although getting sick was lame.)
BERLIN
Polish beer, flaming vodka shots taken with a straw, and swimming in Krakow.
Prague and the funny way it sucks you in and the strange things that start to happen.

The Best Day Ever

Late Breakfast. Sun. 6 Aussies, 3 Canadians, an American, and a Brit and a lake twenty minutes outside of Krakow.

May 3d = Free Cake and Floor Candy in Krakow

May third is Poland's version of Canada Day. It's their constitution day; they have the oldest constitution in Europe according to my incredibly patriotic tour guide today. And apparently this fact warrants night clubs giving away lots and lots of cake.
I'm in Krakow at the moment. I came here on a whim. Mostly because Erin, a friend from high school cross-country was going to be here, but I'm so glad I did. This city is amazing. It's incredibly beautiful and there's a tonne to do. Tonight we went to some random, cheesy club. Actually the only redeeming quality was that it was multiple rooms in the basement of a really old building. That, and the cake, and the candy scattered across the floor.

Tomorrow, weather permitting we're going to a lake about twenty minutes out of town to bask in the sun.