Hugary and Austria

So I finished going through the pictures from my trip. And now is when I try to recap. Unfortunately, there was no problems, and thus no exciting adventures to tell. So I'll try to keep it short and as unboring as possible.

I started in Budapest, and had one night at a great little hostel with cool people. Its a beautiful city. What I liked most about Hungary was the mix of history - Roman ruins, Turkish ruins and mosques, and huge cathedrals and baroque palaces. In Budapest I spent a day just wandering, and returned on another day to visit the zoo and sit in a Turkish bath (kind of like a spa). The zoo wasn't so bad, as European zoos go. Of course no where near anything in San Diego, yet many of the exhibits gave alot of room for the animals. But while the part were you go in the cage with the monkey is cool (like a bird cage), I'm not sure if its the best thing for the animals. Others (Pam & Jim) would know more then I.

I spent some time in the country side, which was fantastically nice after all the city traveling I have been doing. One night was in Pécs, which was a really nice little town. Maybe not so little, but it felt so. Anyway its been selected to be a European Capital of Culture in 2010, so there was much effort underway towards that end. One neat new addition is where the ground is made of glass and below you can see some roman ruins which are illuminated at night. My friend lives in Győr which I used as a base to visit some fort ruins in Tata and take a tour of the Pannonhalma monastery (in Hungarian). Actually, I was on the English tour, but got a little lost and ended with the Hungarians. But it was all good.

I had one day in Vienna, Austria. And I'll need to go back. Some interesting history and museums there, and I have heard that some of the country side is gorgeous. I only had time to walk some of the sites. Nothing really interesting to add here....

It was nice attempting to speak full English with the folks at the hostel. As many have noted, my English as deteriorated to the point that I now speak like a Fin learning English. A friend was telling me of a fellow from Japan who after working for Nokia here for 4 years went home, excited to demonstrate his new 'English' abilities. Only to realize that no one could understand a word.