Holiday

Well, I'm back in Romania after a trip to Budapest and Krakow.

Click on the slideshows below to open the albums

In Budapest we stayed at a 'boat hotel' on the Danube, saw a show at the National Opera, viewed a great Medici/Renaissance art exhibit at the history museum, met up with some fellow PCVs, perused the huge market building, ate at the finest restaurants, swam in the famous baths and walked...A LOT.

Budapest:

We almost missed the train to Krakow because of a misunderstanding about the tickets. However, in the end, we resolved the issue and got off alright (with 20 minutes left before departure I sprinted to the ticket office, pleaded to cut in front of the throngs of impatient travelers, threw some money to the ticket lady, grabbed the corrected tickets--without waiting for change--and hustled back, arriving out of breath but happy to be able to board the train). After getting in early the next morning, we headed straight to the bus station and took a maxi taxi to Oswiecim (aka Auschwitz), which was a sobering experience. In Krakow itself we enjoyed the lively street scenes, visited Collegium Maius, walked to Nowa Huta (stopping on the way for an impromptu picnic consisting of a granola bar and yogurt), saw a chamber concert in Saints Peter and Paul church, ate potato pancakes at a milk bar, sampled pierogies that my father would die for, and toured nearly every square inch of the old city, with its castle and numerous old churches (Krakow has 142, which I believe is a higher concentration than anywhere outside Rome...though Nanticoke, PA is probably also pretty high on that list).

Krakow: