|
|
I was supposed to meet my friend Chris at the
Frankfurt airport, but due to delays, I had to
wait around for almost 12 hours.
During my wait, I saw many interesting things,
including this Bavarian brass band welcoming home
one of their long lost brethren.
|
|
|
Many major car rental companies will not
allow you to drive into Eastern Europe.
We rented our car through Europcar - who
have a cooperative agreement with Avis.
Our car was a station wagon called an
Opel Vectra.
|
|
|
Our first stop was the famous Black Forest
in southern Germany. Unfortunately, the
Schwartzwald has suffered recently from
acid rain, logging, and 'hurricane' damage.
Chris and I were surprised at the extent of
the damage.
|
|
|
In Vienna we took a tour of the famous
opera house. If you are a big fan of opera,
Vienna is the place for you. They put on a
DIFFERENT opera EVERY night of the week!
We were not big opera fans, so we just took
the tour and skipped town.
|
|
|
Next stop Budapest! One of the best cities of the trip
The capital of Hungary used to be two cities, one
called Buda and one called Pest. This is the Pest
side of the city. There seemed to be a lot of
America expatriates in this city, probably because
of all the cheap but excellent bars, clubs, and
restaurants.
|
|
|
We stayed in a hotel/hostel called the Citadel
that used to be a fortress. The walls were almost
2 meters thick (6.5 ft). This was a one star
hotel and was only about $30 a night.
|
|
|
We soon found out why the walls were so thick
and the rooms so cheap. The disco downstairs
was pumping bass until 4 am! The guy at the front
desk gave us earplugs that worked really great.
|
|
|
Meals on our trip were incredibly cheap. This
pizza and beer lunch in Hungary was less than $3.
The pizza comes with a bottle of ketchup, don't
ask me why.
Food was even less expensive in Romania.
|
|
|
These are real eggs, with hand-carved
lace-like patterns. The most intricate
ones were only about $4. Happy Easter!
|
|
|
