Friday, May 30, 2008

A first

Leaving Bled was tough. Not just because I had to wake up at five am to do it, but because it is a truly beautiful, restful place. Yesterday I had some strength back and I walked around the lake and to a gorge that is just magnificent. I decided that if I ever have a job that allows me a sabbatical, Bled is on the short list of places I'd like to spend it.

There was a lot I didn't get to do in Bled but I have more of Europe I want to see in the second half of this marathon journey. So today I took a nine hour train from Ljubljana, Slovenia to Budapest, Hungary. That was after a one hour bus ride from Bled to Ljubljana. I slept most of the way except for when this oversized Ukrainian woman started playing music from her phone AND she sung along. That goes on the list of things I just don't experience back home.

I arrived in Budapest around four in the afternoon and with surprising speed got a map, a Budapest card (covers museum entries and metro fares), and got the largest denomination of money out of the bank ever. Going from one currency to the next and back again is taxing on my brain! I don't yet have the Forint sorted out. When you see that your drink costs 800 anything, it gives you pause.

The exciting thing about being in Hungary is that it is the first country of my ancestry I have ever visited. While I don't feel any great affinity for Hungary, I am excited to learn more about this country in a way I haven't been about the others.

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