Weekend 5 was a long weekend and my last weekend abroad. Despite running low on steam because of all the nonstop traveling, the girls and I booked a full weekend of Budapest, Hungary and Kraków, Poland via FlixBus - my favorite. *insert eye roll here*
After the group lunch on Thursday we picked up our luggage and were free for the weekend. Rachel, Arianna, Sydney, Nancy, Elyssa and I headed for the bus station to catch our first FlixBus, which was only a 3 or 4 hour ride from Vienna to Budapest. When waiting for the bus we had a minute to sit down and reflect on the week, and that was when we noticed that Arianna’s ankle, which she had very casually mentioned was hurting, was extremely swollen. Of course being a group of pre-med students, we were very concerned and made her sit on the floor and elevate it on her suitcase while icing it, but she was bound and determined that it was not going to effect our weekend. So, we sent a quick “by the way…” text to Alexa (Dr. Wasser’s minion) and caught our bus to Budapest.
Now coming into this trip I wasn’t planning on seeing much of eastern Europe. The main thing on my list was Prague, which unfortunately didn’t happen but that’s just another reason to come back. That being said, I think the real reason these places weren’t initially on my list was due to some highly mistaken idea that they would be less safe than western Europe (a very western idealist perspective that I am ashamed to have had). Granted I don’t know much about Hungary or Poland aside from what I experienced while there, but it was far from what I expected. For instance, when driving into Budapest I noted just how modern everything looked in comparison to Vienna, which still had much of the older architecture throughout. In fact, Budapest felt much more like the big cities from back home in the states.
We ended up staying in the old Jewish quarter in a super cute AirBnB that we got for like 12 US dollars per person. It wasn’t much to look at from the outside but the inside was very modern with lofts and comfortable beds, and it was one block away from what would become our favorite street in town - Kazinczy utca. After meeting with Catherine (who took a train) and dropping off our bags at the AirBnB, we went looking for food and stumbled across Kazinczy utca and its food truck park. We all got some food and sat down at the picnic tables to enjoy our evening together. The best part, however, was the dessert - a traditional Hungarian treat called a chimney cake. From there we went to check out a ruin bar that another traveler in Vienna had recommended to us. We mapped it out and realized it was right next door so we walked over and were amazed by what we saw. I had initially thought it was going to be a bar in the midst of some old Roman ruins, but instead it was several bars in the midst of a rundown apartment all operating as one. Fascinated we walked around and explored, running into Cassidy, Kylie, Maddie, and Madison from our study abroad, before going back to the AirBnB to rest up for our full day in Budapest.
On Friday we woke up, packed up our things, and went to the central train station to store our luggage for the day. Arianna’s ankle did not look any better but she insisted she was fine, so naturally we just continued to make our diagnostic guesses but just slightly quieter and insisted that we use public transportation to get around. We ate some quick breakfast, searching out a place with eggs instead of the typical European carbs, and then went to St. Stephen’s Basilica. The inside of the basilica was extremely ornate and covered in gold detailing, but unlike many of the other churches we had seen it appeared more modern having been built in the late 19th century. From there we hopped on a bus and went across the Danube river from Pest to Buda (the two cities that were combined to form Budapest) to visit the Buda Castle and Fisherman’s Bastion, while getting a good view of the Hungarian Parliament Building. Our next stop was to see the Dohány Street Synagogue, after which we got another round of chimney cakes and headed to the Széchenyi thermal bath for the rest of the afternoon. After spending hours in the baths, rotating between hot and cold pools and finally laying out to soak up some vitamin D, we went back to our favorite street to enjoy some of the best pulled pork sandwiches from a Star Wars themed restaurant called Bars GasztroBar. We also tried their Nutella soup, which looked like melted Nutella with cookies in it but tasted like hot chocolate that had gotten cold (would not recommend). The rest of the day was then spent hanging out and keeping Arianna off of her feet until it was time to catch our overnight bus to Kraków.
I cannot stress how much I hate overnight buses. Despite all of my efforts to sleep I think I only got 30-45 minutes of shut eye that night, waking up to a complete stranger sitting next to me and crowding my space. Every time I was about to fall back asleep, the driver would slam on his break or take the fastest turn possible. I couldn’t tell if I was just being dramatic or if I was seriously about to fly out of my seat, but when we showed up in Kraków an hour earlier than our predicted time I knew for a fact our driver was going too fast. Nevertheless, we made it. We freshened up in the bus station bathroom, changing into whatever warm clothes we had because the temperature, which was predicted to be in the 70’s, was now in the 50’s. Catherine’s train got in an hour later (around the time we were supposed to get in) so we went next door to the train station to meet with her and then stored our luggage. After a quick Google search we found a restaurant that opened at 8 a.m. and taxied to it, walking around to the numerous small churches around it to pass the time until it opened. The breakfast was excellent and the walk had allowed us to orient ourselves, so we ate and then headed to the main square to see St. Mary’s Basilica. By that time the shops were beginning to open and I needed some warm clothes if I was going to be a happy camper. I went to Zara and basically bought a whole outfit for a few thousand zloty (aka very little US dollars) and was ready to take on the day. We spent the next few hours walking around Old Town, checking out Wawel Cathedral, Wawel Castle, Planty Park, Kraków Barbican, St. Florian’s Gate, and many other places. Arianna, who was still struggling from her swollen ankle, finally listened to us and stopped by a pharmacy to get an ace bandage, letting us wrap her ankle while insisting that she would not slow us down. The rest of us were fine with slowing down though, so we went and grabbed pierogis for a late lunch. By that time we needed to go check into our AirBnB so Arianna and Catherine walked the short distance to it and the rest of us went back to the train station to get all of the luggage. Finally able to rest a bit, I took a quick and very cold shower and laid down on my bed, passing out before I could even set an alarm. Fortunately, the girls woke me up when it was time for dinner and we went to a nice Italian food place and then ended the night at the Piano Bar where we listened to a lady sing songs like Somewhere Over the Rainbow more beautifully than I think I have ever heard them sung. It was a slow and relaxing night ending with a quick discussion about our plans for Sunday and a load of laundry to take advantage of the AirBnB’s appliances.
Sunday morning I woke up early and went to mass at St. Mary’s Basilica with some of the girls. The entire mass was in Polish, as one would expect, but the familiarity of the service and its order was comforting. We stopped at Starbucks on our way back to the AirBnB and then packed up and headed for yet another bus. This bus took us about an hour and a half outside of Kraków to Auschwitz, where we spent the remainder of the day before taxing to the airport and flying back to Germany. In all it was a very difficult day. There were many times I found myself either tearing up or feeling as if I was going to be sick due to the sheer horror of the atrocities that took place on that very site. Most of our time was spent at Auschwitz I, the concentration camp, but the most chilling was Auschwitz II - Birkenau as it was a death camp and the location of much of the gas chamber murders. I could sit here and write out all of the blood-chilling facts that our tour guide shared with us. I could describe the heartbreaking rooms full of piles of things collected from the prisoners. But I don’t think I could do justice to just how abhorrent such a place could be. Just being there was an experience that I hope I never forget and that I hope everyone experiences at some point in their life. Not because of some touristy bucket-list but because people need to see that nightmares such as this are capable of becoming a reality if we don’t learn to treat all people with dignity and respect. It was a somber way to end the weekend, but it was one of the most powerful experiences on this trip.
Sarah Bohac
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