Fun in Budapest

Despite our train adventures, we had a great time in Budapest.  After arriving Saturday afternoon, we walked around and enjoyed the city at night.  The Buda side, lying above Pest with it's hills, looks spectacular at night.  The chain bridge connects the two sides and adds to the great atmosphere.

On Sunday, we set out to see the city and make up for lost time.  We started with a tour of the second largest synagogue in the world.  The Dohány Street Synagogue was a place of refuge for many eastern European Jews.  The Nazis used it as a horse stable and radio command post during WWII.  It suffered a lot of damage from the war and the Jewish community in Hungary was one of the most affected by the Nazis.  Men entering the synagogue, which seats around 3,000, are required to wear a Kippah regardless of weather you are Jewish or not.

We then headed off to tour the Hungarian parliament building which is the second largest in Europe and is very interesting architecturally.  Although our tours were all in English, we struggled to understand our guides.  Our fellow German and Spanish tourists seemed completely lost.  They might as well have spoken Hungarian.  Near the parliament is St. Stephen's Basilica.  The church is somewhat reminiscent of St. Paul's in London.  We hiked up to the top of the dome which provided us a spectacular view of the city.

We then headed to the Buda side to explore the Citadel and other various places up on the hill overlooking the Danube.  With the sun setting and darkness setting in, we were provide gorgeous views of the city.  A long walk back and dinner capped of the night.

Before battling the trains on Monday afternoon, we headed off to a Hungarian bath for some relaxation and a fun experience.  There were countless pools indoors and outdoors at different temperatures ranging from Lake Superior cold to as warm as a hot tub.  We tried them all out.  Some contained special natural chemicals that are said to cleanse and heal the body.  At least that's what we thought and told ourselves, but our Hungarian is less than stellar.  We ventured into the sauna but only the coolest one.  The others were made for those with lots of experience.  By noon, we were relaxed as could be and had even gotten a free snack from a self-proclaimed millionaire Hungarian businessman.  The spas are definitely a great experience that I could get used to doing...we'll have to bring them back to Minnesota.

We then headed off to the train station and the rest is history...

Budapest??

Our first adventure out of the country since arriving in Austria sure was an adventure.  So far, I've had 3 day weekends (Mondays off) which has been great for travelling.  This last weekend, we decided to venture to Budapest, Hungary.  Just 3 hours east of Vienna and 4.5 hours from our apartment in Pöchlarn, Budapest is close and easy to get to, or at least we thought so.

We went to Vienna on Friday night to catch an early morning train to Budapest on Saturday.  One problem occurred to me on Saturday morning, we had no passports with us.  Sure, Hungary is a member of the EU so it shouldn't be a problem, right?  That's what I thought originally, but thinking back to my last trip there a couple years ago made me think differently.  I distinctly remember the intimidating Hungarian police with their ushanka hats and tattoos stamping our passports and scoping us out as if we were smuggling drugs.  An employee at the train station also believed we were required to have them.

So, we decided to be safe and head back to Pöchlarn to grab our passports.  An hour and fifteen minutes each way, it's not next door to Vienna.  In making our decision we thought back to several movies we had seen recently in which travelers had been taken by police to a dark unknown locations, where they were interrogated and tortured.  We didn't want our year in Austria to end with this trip to Hungary ;).

Back in Vienna for the second time, we met an older American couple travelling to Budapest who had missed their previous train and needed to contact their hotel.  We came to the rescue providing a cell phone, country code of Hungary and some knowledge of the confusing phone numbering system in which numbers have a + or a 0 and all sorts of other things in front of them.  They thanked us by giving us an expensive bottle of champagne from their previous hotel.  We refused but they didn't want it.  Although we were running several hours late and had purchased several extra train tickets, at least we could celebrate in style if we ever made it to Budapest.

We lucked out and got to take the Railjet from Vienna to Budpest.  The Railjet is the fancy Austrian high speed train, which is like travelling in first class.  We arrived in Budapest later in the afternoon and walked to our "boutique Hostel" just a half mile from the train station.  Our reservation had us arriving at noon, but I never thought anything of it that we were a little late until we rang the bell to get in and there was no answer.  Hmmmm, we thought.  We made it but now have no place to stay.  Yooopi! (read about it on Angela's blog) came to the rescue.  We called the hostel number and help was on the way.

From then on, until we departed for Vienna, everything went smoothly and we had a great time.  I'll tell you more about that in my next blog entry though.

Checking the train times on Sunday night revealed a strike by the Hungarian railroad employees beginning at midnight.  Apparently this was not unheard of but worried us nonetheless.  I needed to make it back to teach on Tuesday.  All we could do was wait and see what happened though.

We had already purchased tickets for a Hungarian bath spa on Monday and we weren't about to skip that or worry too much about the trains while relaxing there.  Good news came later when we heard the strike had ended later Monday morning.  But, trains were running late and there seemed to be chaos.  Arriving at the station showed no signs of a train headed for Vienna.  Eventually, an Austrian train arrived and we thought all was fine.  The signs changed on the train saying it was headed back to Vienna and we got ready to board.  Employees were cleaning the cars out so we waited patiently.  Suddenly, the train departed with no one on it but the employees.  Hmmm, we thought.  I guess it's good we didn't get on that train but where is ours then.  Another train was waiting and said it was headed for Vienna so we headed towards it.  There were only 3 cars though and no engine to pull the train.  30 minutes passed, then 60 and no one had any idea when we'd leave if ever.  Finally, after 90 minutes a rickety old train engine arrived to pull the tiny train of 3 cars.  Typically, a train travelling between Budapest and Vienna would have at least 10 cars.  We were off!  Two hours later, a sudden stop and 15 more minutes of waiting revealed our train had engine had died.  Luckily, an Austrian one was nearby and came to the rescue.  It pulled us the remaining distance to Vienna.

In Vienna, we got on the next train towards our town.  Unfortunately, it was a regional train which means it stops at every station.  Never take a regional train for an extended trip!  The trip was already taking a long time when the conductor came on and announced that a strip of track was under construction.  That meant we had to stop and transfer to a bus for this stretch and then get back on another train!  This only affected the regional trains because all others can bypass these stations.  The 8 of us left on the train (all others were smarter and avoided this train) got off with the train conductor and he guided us to the bus like a teacher leading a class.  We took the bus and then another train.  You'd think at this point we'd be home, but no, we still had one more train to take and are only choice was another regional one.  Finally, at 10pm, 7 hours after our train was scheduled to leave Budapest, we arrived in Pöchlarn.  The icing on the cake occurred on our walk to our apartment when our shortcut walking path was also under construction forcing us to take a longer route.  At last we were home!

By the way...just to make matters worse, our passports were never stamped nor checked crossing into Hungary!

Teaching Begins

Last week, I began teaching at the "Höhere Bundeslehr- und Forschungsanstalt für Landwirtschaft, Landtechnik und Lebensmitteltechnologie," or in other words, I teach at an agricultural school. Students come from all over Austria and even Germany to study at this school, known as Francisco Josephinum. The students are between 14 and about 19 years old and typically spend 5 years at the school studying agriculture, food technology or agricultural engineering. The school is located in the small town of Wieselburg and is a boarding school since most students aren't from the area.

My job is to assist the six English teachers with their classes. The ask me to teach lessons on various topics ranging from agriculture in Minnesota to the US political system. I have the freedom to choose topics which interest me as well. Last week, I just introduced myself and Minnesota to the classes and this week began discussing agriculture in Minnesota. I basically get the best parts of teaching without having to grade homework and give tests. The school seems to have a great community feel and I am really looking forward to the rest of my time there.

The first weeks

The first two weeks in Austria have been packed with all sorts adventures. We obtained cell phones and internet to stay connected to the world and then headed off to the mountains where neither would work. Matthias' friends graciously invited two naive Americans along for ahike in the Alps. We gathered on Saturday to grill out and relax on Traunsee, a lake sandwhiched between picuresque mountains. Standing 3,750 ft. above us was Erlakogel, also know as "the sleeping greek." The mountain peak was our challenge for the following morning.

We awoke to the crowing rooster, strapped up our laces and marched ahead. Neither Angela nor I knew what was in store for us. In America, elevators and escalators make the art of climbing unnecessary. Here in Austria, it's inherited at birth. The Austrians passed us by as we struggled for 3 hours up the mountainside before reaching thepeak high above Traunsee. We were rewarded with a delicious lunch and a spectacular view. It took over 2 hours of knee crunching hiking to get back to Ebensee. The hike pushed us to our limits but was a fun and rewarding experience and a perfect way to begin our stay in Austria.

I spent the following week in Graz for orientation while Angela settled into the apartment in Pöchlarn. The orientation was a great opportunity to meet the other teaching assistants and learn more about teaching. We capped the week off with teaching a lesson at a local school in Graz. I felt much better heading back to Pöchlarn and getting ready for my first day of teaching.