Alex's Travels

The Travel Begins

We left Prague this Saturday on our way to Moldova. The trip will take us through Vienna and Bucharest, on trains and planes and buses.

The last few days in Prague went well. Alyssa and I whittled away our days reading and walking around the city. We spent one day on a hike and swim at a lake out in Pruhonice and another on a day trip to Kutna Hura. We also enjoyed the wonderful Prague nightlife. Wednesday was the indie/brit pop night at M1, a lounge in Old Town Square. Thursday was my favorite night in Prague: alternative dancing at Nebe. And Friday was an 80's dance party at Lucerna, a huge club near Wencelas Square. We also managed to spend some time on Saturday with Ray, who we had barely seen during our week with him owing to his intense work schedule. We got lunch at Bohemia Bagel, a great American-style place popular with expats.

We've had a great time in Vienna. When we arrived - nearly two hours late - on Saturday, we were met at the train station by Stephan, who agreed to host us during our stay. He's a 24-year-old IT assistant who has lived on the same floor of the same apartment house in the same district of the same city for his whole life - and he loves Vienna. We dropped off our bags his small and dirty apartment in the 10th district, an area many Viennese consider the ghetto because of the large Turkish and Middle Eastern population. Alyssa and I think its a great area, though, with lots of people and a bustling promenade that streteches for blocks and blocks. After throwing down our bags, Stephan led the way to a great restaurant in the city centre where they specialize in fillings wrapped in pancakes. We then met up with two other CouchSurfing hosts and three guests at a pub in the Bermuda Triangle bar district and finished the evening off at an outdoor sand bar on the Danube River.

The next day, Stephan took Alyssa and I back to Stephanplatz for a tour of the centre. We saw the churches, the university, city hall, Imperial Palace and other sites that attract tourists before settling at a jet ski competition on the Danube. We got a call from other couchsurfing guests Stephan hosted this week and met up with them. Kameron and Caroline are a married couple transitioning to LA after six years in Tuson, where he just finished up his doctorate in optics. The recently enlarged group continued the city tour and stopped by a cafe for some espresso. We headed back for showers and then went out to dinner and a club for the evening.

Alyssa and I were left to ourselves on Monday as Stephan went to work and Kameron and Caroline had their own agenda. We spent our free time at the laundry mat and an internet cafe. In the evening, we went to dine at Susi's, a girl Alyssa hooked up with on couchsurfers. Susi's a 22-year-old Austrian who has lived in Vienna for the past four years during her studies. We were joined by her friend Max, a 23-year-old who just finished his business degree and plans to attend graduate school in the fall. It was a wonderful evening, with great food and even better conversation ranging from music to Turkish ascension to the EU (the big topic of the night). After the traditional Austrian dinner, we met up with some of their friends for drinks. Unfortunately, it was such a good time that Alyssa and I missed the last metro train back to Stephan's and ended up waiting for the night bus, an ordeal that lasted nearly two hours.

Vienna has been good to us. Tonight, we plan to go out to dinner with Stephan and then meet up with Susi and Max for some drinks. Then tomorrow we'll catch our plane out of Bratislava and be on our way to Bucharest, leaving behind the cosmopolitan West as we know it.

Post Script

Alyssa has her own blog. Owing to the fact that I spend my time in internet cafes catching up with the newspapers, Alyssa's is far more extensive. Check it out at Euro Alyssa.

posted by The League: Reassembled @ 7:40 AM