Missed me?

Evenin’, y’all! No, I did not fall off a train or get stabbed in a hostel back entrance, in case anyone was wondering. I got back a couple of weeks ago, but I’ve been sort of busy studying (ha-haaa, I crack myself up…) for this exam that people tell me is a big deal. But of course, I won’t bore you with the way my newly discovered masochistic streak drove me to enroll in another two years of college, because hey, I want a Master’s degree. Suffice it to say I’ve been in a highly celebratory mood for the past two days. Jello shots all ’round!

Anyway, moving on to the part you people might actually be interested in, the Eurotrip was a huge success, probably my most awesome holiday ever, and dare I say, quite revealing as far as my bohemian-unrestrained-uncivilized-rugged-traveler side is concerned. The complete route was Bucharest – Budapest – Krakow – Gdansk – Berlin – Dresden – Prague – Vienna – Bratislava – Budapest – Bucharest, over two weeks, so yes, there’s quite a number of photos. I might consider a couple of double features even, seeing how I’d rather not be posting photos of the same things till next holiday.

Either way, I’ll get started with an evening view of the Danube, as seen in Budapest…

As far as Budapest is concerned, I found it to be a stunningly beautiful city, especially at night (which actually seems to go for most of the cities I’ve seen), and one thing in particular that I found impressive is the almost obsessive attention to recreational space. Basically, within an hour or so of leaving the hostel, I’d lost count of all the parks I’d passed by. And you can actually see the effect of all that on people’s state of mind. Where I’m from, people are always in a hurry, always stressed, edgy, and there was just no such thing over there.

Interestingly enough, Budapest wasn’t even my favorite of all the cities I’ve seen. It did, however, produce most of my favorite photos of the whole trip, so you’ll get to see quite a lot of it here. And wouldn’t you know it, we were there just as the Red Bull Air Race was taking place…