Battersea, London
So what's new, got in to London to start saving for my next trip, in which it's gonna happen for definite next feb as i've already purchased the airticket. It's a Santiago-bound ticket so i will be visiting northern Spain, Portugal, and plan to do southern france en route to Germany. I guess it's back to traveling in western europe again...
In the midst of credit crunch, i still couldnt resist the urge for some Malaysian food. So the other day we went to this malaysian restaurant for Char Kuew Tiew and Curry and roti canai, among other local favourites and had to fork out £22 each just for hawker food! Talk about daylight robbery.
Moved in to Battersea and sharing the house with Portuguese and Brazillians, all seem pretty friendly and outgoing so im looking forward to spend the holidays with the portuguese-speaking folks, there will be a giant house party this friday and non-alcohol drinkers need not apply.
oh yeah, have i mentioned? Met Simon Cowell the other day and he seemed like a pretty nice guy! His alter-ego when acting as AI judge was non-existent. I wasnt that star-struck as this is London afterall, if you really fancy u can meet a celeb every other day, just check out the newspaper listing for their whereabouts.
A blizzard is forecasted tomorrow so im hoping to hangout in the snow, it's about time dont u think? oh time sure flies...
Saturday, November 22, 2008
Saturday, November 08, 2008
Krakow - Banska Bystryca - Budapest
Budapest, Hungary
So i hitchhiked to Banska with minimal difficulty, the people are very comfortable with hitchhikers and they have often done it themselves before they own a car, and as i understand later, the goverment encourages such mode of transportation and used to offer rewards to drivers who pick up hitchhikers in those days.
Slovakia is famous for its mountainous landscape with friendly and approachable people. I stayed with Katarina and Peter and they brought me out to savour cheap slovakian beers. As it is, the Slovakians are giving up their currency and will start using euro in two months' time, so im really lucky to visit the country before it gets expensive!
I then headed on to Budapest which is gonna be the highlight of my travel. Ive always wanted to visit the city and i know im gonna have a good time with szabi my ex-roomie bringing me around. We used to have great fun when we were sharing a flat in the hip area of Hackney and then he had to go back to hungary to kickstart his bachelor's degree in Uni (he's my age!). I like that we share the same philosophy in life and that there are so much in common between us.
so even though he's got exams going on, szabi was bringing me all over budapest to the best clubs and bars and the trendiest place in town. We met some of his friends and they are all as cool as I am... :p
I was really depressed on the last night because i was going on a london-bound flight back to the gloomy and stormy land, but u know what, good things dont last, so why not just get on with it and not look back. At the very least memories are there to stay...
im just happy that ive made some valuable friendships that are gonna last for a long long time to come...
and also because ive gotten lucky in budapest... :p
So i hitchhiked to Banska with minimal difficulty, the people are very comfortable with hitchhikers and they have often done it themselves before they own a car, and as i understand later, the goverment encourages such mode of transportation and used to offer rewards to drivers who pick up hitchhikers in those days.
Slovakia is famous for its mountainous landscape with friendly and approachable people. I stayed with Katarina and Peter and they brought me out to savour cheap slovakian beers. As it is, the Slovakians are giving up their currency and will start using euro in two months' time, so im really lucky to visit the country before it gets expensive!
I then headed on to Budapest which is gonna be the highlight of my travel. Ive always wanted to visit the city and i know im gonna have a good time with szabi my ex-roomie bringing me around. We used to have great fun when we were sharing a flat in the hip area of Hackney and then he had to go back to hungary to kickstart his bachelor's degree in Uni (he's my age!). I like that we share the same philosophy in life and that there are so much in common between us.
so even though he's got exams going on, szabi was bringing me all over budapest to the best clubs and bars and the trendiest place in town. We met some of his friends and they are all as cool as I am... :p
I was really depressed on the last night because i was going on a london-bound flight back to the gloomy and stormy land, but u know what, good things dont last, so why not just get on with it and not look back. At the very least memories are there to stay...
im just happy that ive made some valuable friendships that are gonna last for a long long time to come...
and also because ive gotten lucky in budapest... :p
Monday, November 03, 2008
Kaunas - Suwalki - Warsaw - Lodz - Tychy - Krakow
Krakow, Poland
Whoa it's gonna be another long post with minute details. My journey from Kaunas to Suwalki was not without drama, it took me three rides altogether and i was picked up by three police officers on the second (thank goodness it's not illegal to hitch here, i might have been incarcerated!). None of them spoke english so i kinda gestured that im heading to Poland, and that's exactly where they brought me to, the Lithuanian-polish border, and getting a ride from there was as easy as pie, i simply approached a truck driver who was only too glad to have me on board.
Got in to Suwalki and realized i would be gaining two hours that day, winter time is on. Mike and his parents were most hospitable, the table was laden with food that could feed an army! and everyone just sat there watching me eat, something about feeding a starving traveler that people find pleasing to eyes...
the usual drill ensued, mike brought me to the local bar and bought me local beers at the same time proclaiming them as the best in town. We also had a go at his Ukrainian wine collection, and damn, good wine dont necessarily have to come with a price.
the next day after a heavy breakfast, Mike's dad brought me to the best hitching spot just slightly out of town, and insisted that he waited with me while i hitched, and when i got one in about five minutes, he interviewed the driver and declared his approval. These two estonian dudes that gave me a ride were awesome, they were Munich-bound but they took me to warsaw anyway. Along the way non-stop offering me food and beer, do i really look like i need a good feedup? I had some really good texan beef jerky and estonian beers, just to be polite!
Warsaw being the polish capital immediately means loads of people and traffic, and having lived in London with a population of more than 10 million and counting i wasnt overwhelmed. I quickly befriended a polish tram ticket-inspector who was quite eager to get me to my destination and to let everyone around him knows that he speaks that word or two of english, the dude was practically talking to me in polish the entire time! So i got on the tram without a ticket and soon arrived at Filip and Martha's place.
we spent a good weekend together going sightseeing and meeting friends amd having vegetarian meals. The good thing about traveling in poland is, you never seemed to need tickets for public transports, and as martha pointed out, just pretend to be a stupid tourist when asked to produce a ticket by the conductor, it's not like they speak english anyway! well thankfully i never have to practise that, yet.
i then headed on to Lodz to visit Marek and Rafal, of whom i spent Easter with earlier this year. Since running into them in Venice in february, ive been seeing them like every few months or so, in london and in poland, that has gotta tell you how small europe actually is. We had a good party celebrating Marek's bday in which i dont recall much of the second half of the party, i kinda passed out after like a gazillion shots of vodka. well it happens.
It was good times but i have a schedule to follow, so i left Lodz for Tychy after three nights for an intense history lesson. and Jozef did a brilliant job educating me at the German concentration camps- Auschwitz. I remembered seeing the exact same place on Oprah's once and the memory is still vivid, it felt surreal walking down that same path as ive seen a sobbing Oprah did. It was an oppressive place, i will tell you that right now, and definitely not for someone not emotionally prepared.
The Nazis killed some one million jews and tortured thousands there. I stood at the exact same barracks where the people were kept prison and looked at the same wall where they were murdered. Let's not forget the gas chamber. And all this happened on Halloween's day. Eerie...
over the weekend the poles were commemorating the deads and visiting graves of loved ones, one would mistaken it as lantern festival when the entire cemetery lit up at night from the candles. Totally enchanting.
We made pizza again yesterday, i think im really getting good at this! Krakow's brilliant and prettier than Warsaw, well the latter was wiped out completely during WWII so i dont think it's fair to make a comparison, but the constant rivalry between the two cities are obvious and intense.
Will be going to Slovakia next...
View Larger Map
Whoa it's gonna be another long post with minute details. My journey from Kaunas to Suwalki was not without drama, it took me three rides altogether and i was picked up by three police officers on the second (thank goodness it's not illegal to hitch here, i might have been incarcerated!). None of them spoke english so i kinda gestured that im heading to Poland, and that's exactly where they brought me to, the Lithuanian-polish border, and getting a ride from there was as easy as pie, i simply approached a truck driver who was only too glad to have me on board.
Got in to Suwalki and realized i would be gaining two hours that day, winter time is on. Mike and his parents were most hospitable, the table was laden with food that could feed an army! and everyone just sat there watching me eat, something about feeding a starving traveler that people find pleasing to eyes...
the usual drill ensued, mike brought me to the local bar and bought me local beers at the same time proclaiming them as the best in town. We also had a go at his Ukrainian wine collection, and damn, good wine dont necessarily have to come with a price.
the next day after a heavy breakfast, Mike's dad brought me to the best hitching spot just slightly out of town, and insisted that he waited with me while i hitched, and when i got one in about five minutes, he interviewed the driver and declared his approval. These two estonian dudes that gave me a ride were awesome, they were Munich-bound but they took me to warsaw anyway. Along the way non-stop offering me food and beer, do i really look like i need a good feedup? I had some really good texan beef jerky and estonian beers, just to be polite!
Warsaw being the polish capital immediately means loads of people and traffic, and having lived in London with a population of more than 10 million and counting i wasnt overwhelmed. I quickly befriended a polish tram ticket-inspector who was quite eager to get me to my destination and to let everyone around him knows that he speaks that word or two of english, the dude was practically talking to me in polish the entire time! So i got on the tram without a ticket and soon arrived at Filip and Martha's place.
we spent a good weekend together going sightseeing and meeting friends amd having vegetarian meals. The good thing about traveling in poland is, you never seemed to need tickets for public transports, and as martha pointed out, just pretend to be a stupid tourist when asked to produce a ticket by the conductor, it's not like they speak english anyway! well thankfully i never have to practise that, yet.
i then headed on to Lodz to visit Marek and Rafal, of whom i spent Easter with earlier this year. Since running into them in Venice in february, ive been seeing them like every few months or so, in london and in poland, that has gotta tell you how small europe actually is. We had a good party celebrating Marek's bday in which i dont recall much of the second half of the party, i kinda passed out after like a gazillion shots of vodka. well it happens.
It was good times but i have a schedule to follow, so i left Lodz for Tychy after three nights for an intense history lesson. and Jozef did a brilliant job educating me at the German concentration camps- Auschwitz. I remembered seeing the exact same place on Oprah's once and the memory is still vivid, it felt surreal walking down that same path as ive seen a sobbing Oprah did. It was an oppressive place, i will tell you that right now, and definitely not for someone not emotionally prepared.
The Nazis killed some one million jews and tortured thousands there. I stood at the exact same barracks where the people were kept prison and looked at the same wall where they were murdered. Let's not forget the gas chamber. And all this happened on Halloween's day. Eerie...
over the weekend the poles were commemorating the deads and visiting graves of loved ones, one would mistaken it as lantern festival when the entire cemetery lit up at night from the candles. Totally enchanting.
We made pizza again yesterday, i think im really getting good at this! Krakow's brilliant and prettier than Warsaw, well the latter was wiped out completely during WWII so i dont think it's fair to make a comparison, but the constant rivalry between the two cities are obvious and intense.
Will be going to Slovakia next...
View Larger Map
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