Vienna

I had some confusion this morning with Europe switching to summer time, and me not realizing even though I reminded Nilani the very day before that it was happening. Something just didnt quite click in my brain, so I got to the train station an hour late for a train I wanted to catch to Vienna.

I waited around the Budapest station for a couple hours and then got on the next train... these inter-rail passes are a god send, they make catching trains so easy.

Arriving in Vienna was a surprising relief of sorts. Im not exactly sure what it was, maybe just being back on the Euro (no more counting and converting money into hundreds and thousands), maybe it was the refreshing cool air after it had rained just before getting off the train... or maybe its just that it felt good to leave Budapest where I felt groggy and sick, and get into the part of my trip which is going to be very slow paced and very much the home stretch of my travels.

Vienna is beautiful, I didnt get into 4, but with the time change it was Sunny well past 7 pm, so I walked around for ever and just took in the beautiful city. Its a surprsing contrast of old and new Austria, but it all seems to work fine... where in other places, like Budapest and especially Naples it seemed that new and old were constantly clashing.

I remember thinking that Budapest was a surprisingly modern and well organized city while I was there, but I think that was just relevant to my travels through Naples, Croatia and Slovenia... coming into Vienna I think I am back in touch with what modern and urban really are.

I had a really good time in Budapest despite feeling a bit ill most of the time. It was really interesting to take in a place that was once so controlled by communism. I went to a place caled Szobor Park, which is basically a place where all the major Soviet propaganda statues that once ruled the streets of Budapest have been moved to as a reminder of the past. It was very eerie to see giant statues of Lenin looking out over his cohorts and colleagues... very strange place, I will post some photos as soon as I get the chance.

Also in Budapest I had a chance to go to the theatre (cinema) because I wasnt really feeling up to a night out... I saw a film called The Secret Life of Words which the man who was selling tickets tried to convince me was in Spanish with Hungarian subtitles, because it was made by a Spanish writer and director... but I knew otherwise because I was fairly sure that Sarah Polley (or road to avonlea fame) and Tim Robbins did not speak fluent spanish.

It was an amazing film, though very heavy and in hindsight not the type of film you would want to go to a theatre and see alone... definitely the kind of film you want to have someone to talk to about afterwards. It was very hopeful and sad at the same time, and without ruining anything, it touched on some very serious subjects regarding violence, and the way that we forget about the suffering of innocent people once wars are over and are behind us. A very good film if anyone gets the chance to see it... but please, take a friend!

thats all for now, my internet time is slowly running out... Im really looking forward to going to bed because I have arrived in what is the cleanest hostel I have ever stayed in... they give you sheets at the front desk and when you get to your bed you realize its actually a duvet cover for a nice fluffy feather duvet! Such LUXURY!

- Chris