How to travel:
1. Bus = cheapest way. Train = fastest and most comfortable way. Minibus with Emese and Gyuri = best way, but may lead to carsickness in some individuals.
2. Couchsurfing is amazing. Use it to find bed space and new friends... and learn things about the city you're in.
3. Train tickets are cheaper if you buy 2-way tickets. Sometimes 2-way tickets are cheaper than 1-way! Wow!
4. Ask questions. If you make it obvious that you don't know what you're doing, a lot of conductors and customer service reps will be nice to you and won't make you stand around second guessing yourself.
5. Plan ahead. Lots of trains have cheap tickets if you plan far enough in advance.
6. Overnight trains save time and let you get your much needed sleep before you arrive at your destination. They're also not as dangerous as people say, just be smart. Sleep with you money under your head and your bags under your feet/on your bunk between you and the wall.
Packing:
1. Wear outfits more than once - at LEAST two days per outfit.
2. Pack an extra pair of underwear and socks - you never know when you might extend your stay for another night somewhere.
3. Pack an extra t-shirt instead of a towel. It's lighter and dries faster.
4. Comfort over beauty. You may WANT to wear your cute street shoes, but you'll be much more comfortable city-hiking in your tennis shoes.
5. Pack a snack for the ride. You WILL get bored. You will also get hungry. You will be very very thirsty, but only drink a lot of water if you're traveling by train.
6. Get your maps and information beforehand. Look up what you want to see. Learn the history. Have backup plans in case your host fall through, weather sucks or transportation fails. Don't forget your PASSPORT and INSURANCE CARD!
Just in case you're ever in Europe looking for travel tips.
*~*~*
I love giving you a bunch of randoms :)
"Jesus Loves You" in Slovak
The Radnoti Miklos theater - This was the source of the most amount of red in one place that I've ever seen... and a really funny play in Hungarian. Every other Thursday, the office organizing some type of cultural event for those of us in the city, realizing that by us being in the city, we are in a place "lacking" culture. It's not really a lack, but more of a "hard-to-find." Anyway, it was a story I didn't know called "Wolves and Sheep." Not knowing the plot made it a little hard to follow, although Emese did do some prep-work and gave us the lowdown so that we knew the gist of it. However, plays are good because there are actions to follow. While everyone else was laughing at what the guy on the stage said and did, I'm laughing at what he did and pretending that he just said "I want to be an astronaut when I grow up" or "I pick my nose in my sleep while I dream of playing guitar on an island in the middle of the sea." (don't ask, those are just my favorite lines when someone needs translation and I have no idea what was said myself). My roommate, Andrea, walked away STILL laughing, so I highly recommend seeing this play if you get a chance :) Maybe you'll even understand more of it!
Gas Prices in Hungary...
350.9 forint per liter - 3.78 liters to the gallon - 1326.4 forint per gallon - 204 forint per dollar...
$6.49 PER GALLON = ouch!
I'm so glad I know enough Hungarian to enjoy this sign: "Jesus is calling you, but not on your telephone."
Andrea, my roommate, left this last week and returned to Romania. Before she left, we had a proper birthday party for her 30th birthday and combined it with a send-off. So, after dinner, everyone here posed on her bed for a group picture. So, I present...
---top row--- Isabel (German serving in Miskolc, Hungary)...
---second row--- Silke (German serving Budapest), János (Hungarian/Ukrainian serving in Budapest), Andrea (Hungarian/Romanian), János (Hungarian/Ukrainian serving in Budapest), Evelyn (German serving in Budapest)...
---bottom row--- Timothée (French serving in Budapest), Zoltán (Hungarian/Ukrainian serving in Budapest), Zoltán (Hungarian/Romanian studying in Budapest), Silvia (Italian serving in Budapest) and Matt (American serving in Budapest)
No comments:
Post a Comment