Charlotte and Zaina Are In Europe?

Buda and Pest. Also known as Budapest.

We got to Budapest late Friday night following an adventure with the Polish train station and the confusion that it possesses. ‘Nuff said.

On our first full day here, Saturday, we walked up Andressy Utca (Street) and saw the Terror House (but did not go inside), Oktogon (an intersection literally shaped like an octogon), and a bunch of statues. Andressy Ut. ends at Heroes Square which holds the Millenium Monument, commissioned by the Hapsburgs and comprised of really super cool statues of the leaders throughout history, the Museum of Modern Art, and the Museum of Fine Arts. Heroes Square is also the official entrance into the City Park which holds a really cool castle (the biggest and best we have seen so far), an amusement park, a zoo, and some pretty AMAZING Roman Baths, where we chose to spend our day. We started out in a bunch of different temperature steam baths, including one that is a whirpool that literally whirls you around the edge, and then made our way outside to the large swimming area, which has a hot pool, a normal pool, and a medium temperature pool with another whirlpool inside of it. We stayed there for about 6 1/2 hours, until closing. While there, we made friends with a set of brothers from Australia, Mike and Josh. We hung with them throughout the day, and then following our adventure getting out of the baths (apparently you can go in but they NEVER want you to leave- we got locked inside), we went out with them and a bunch of people from their hostel later that night. We went to 2 really amazing HUGE bars full of nooks and crannies, crazy decorations, rooftop bars, and dance floors. It was a good night. We got back to the hostel as the sun was coming up, following an incredibly satisfying McDonald’s hamburger and french fries (Zaina is legitemately eating burgers now, what the hell?).

Today, our second official day here, was pretty laid back due to our tired states from laying in the sun all day yesterday and partying all last night. We slept until 2:30ish. Once we finally rolled out of bed, we got dressed and went and ate some Hungarian food at a cool restaurant where we got to sit on the floor. The Hungarians seriously understand that whole meat and cheese concept. We had cheese stuffed pork in a cheese sauce with french fries. We also had this cottage cheese spread (mixed with onions, paprika, and other herbs) on toast. SO GOOD. We then walked over the Margit Bridge across the Danube River. We then walked south, along the Buda side of the river, to the Chain Bridge (it is so pretty and it looks sort of like the Brooklyn Bridge). Along the way, we passed Mathias’s Church, the super rad Parliament Building (on the Pest side of the river), the Buda Castle, and St. Anne’s church. While crossing back over to Pest, we walked through a market that was on the Chain Bridge and bought some yummy candy and pretty postcards (which some of you lucky people will be receiving). Then, we walked back to our hostel, passing St. Steven’s Basilica and the Opera House.

We aren’t sure of our plans for tonight. A little rainy so who knows? But tomorrow, we plan to spend the day at the baths again. We are going to the Gellert Baths, on the Buda side of the Danube, to check out some Turkish Baths. We can’t wait. The baths are SO relaxing.

Off to Vienna on Tuesday.

I think that is all for now. We love all and miss all. Hope everyone had a lovely 4th of July!!!

-Charlotte and Zaina

Krakow… or should we say KrakWOW!

Hello from Poland!

Currently, we are staying at the Atlantis Hostel in Krakow, Poland, a lovely little city in Southern Poland with a lot to do.

We got here late Monday evening/ early Tuesday morning (depending on how you want to think about it) by train. On our first real day here (Tuesday), we did the following: created our own walking route up to the top of the Royal Road, passing by the Dominican Church, Maly Rynek Square, and a big pretty theater that we still don’t know the name of. We then made our way to the top of the Royal Road, starting at the Florian Church. We walked down through Matejki Square, past the Barbican, through the Florian Gate (the start of Old Town), through Stare Miesto (the main market square), St. Mary’s Church, Cloth Hall, the Town Hall Tower (and the sculpture of the severed head at its base), Grodzka St., the Church of St. Peter and Paul, St. Martin’s Church, and St. Andrew’s Church. We then made our way up Wawel Hill to look at the castle and to create our own fairy princess story (about ourselves of course). We stopped at an authentic Polish restaurant for some lunch and ordered some random things off the menu- ended up with cheese pierogis, pork goulash with dumplings, and french fries (which later made Zaina sick, but, alas, she survived). Later that night, for some din din, we found these delicious pizza bread thingies that the Polish seem to love. They are large toasted half-baguettes, covered in a mushroom sauce with cheese on top. Then, on top of that, they put whatever your little heart desires. Charlotte had some sausage and pickles with ketchup on hers. Zaina had ham with ketchup and mayo. Then, we had a beer at Alchemia, a super cool sorta famous bar in Nowy Square. Then, as part of the Jewish Culture Festival currently taking place here in Krakow, we went and saw an AMAZING kezmer/ punk/ yiddish folk band (chock full of accordian, brass instruments, and an upright bass), called Daniel Kahn and The Painted Bird, play at the Temple Synagogue. Whew! Busy day.

On our second day here, Wednesday, we took another homemade walking tour through Kazimierz, the old Jewish neighborhood. We saw a bunch of synagogues, the Old Synagogue, the Remuh Synagogue, and the Old Jewish Cemetary. In the Cemetary, there is a wailing wall, a wall comprised of a mosaic of bits of tombstones found in the cemetary following the Nazi evacuation. The Nazis used the cemetary as a garbage dump during WWII. It was incredibly sad, but a beautiful space. Following this, we went over to Bagel Mama’s for some tuna melt/ BLT bagels (Poland is the home of the bagel, of course). We then made our way back up to Wawel Castle to look at the different stuff there (since we got there too late the day before). We saw the Dragon’s Den, complete with a statue of a dragon at the end that breathes fire every so often. It took Zaina a few tries to get a photo of it breathing fire, but she got it eventually. We also toured the Cathedral and climbed the bell tower to have a look at Sygmund’s Bell and at Krakow from way above. This was the cathedral that Pope John Paul II presided at prior to becoming the Pope (we think, don’t hold us to that). We got to take a look at the crypts within the cathedral as well; they contained the tombs of much of the Polish royalty from years ago, as well as some poets and writers. Ate more Polish pizza bread for dinner, Charlotte had chicken, bacon, tomatoes, and chives, with Amerikanski sauce (kind of like Thousand Island Dressing), Zaina had a mexican one with corn, olives, cheese, red peppers, ketchup, and mexikanski sauce (sort of a hot sauce). Sat in Nowy Square with some ice cream and people watched for a LONG time, headed over to Funky Music Bar for a drink, then came home to do laundry and hit the sack. WHEW! Another, long day.Side note: We also met our new hostel roomie, a 74 year old man, originally from India, but currently residing in London. He is a courier between London and Poland. He speaks 8 languages, has lived in 8 or 9 countries, and has visited 67 countries. He was incredibly interesting. Too bad he’s a bigot (hates young people, Polish people, dirty people, all people).

Today, we woke up early this morning to go out to Auschwitz/ Birkenau. Incredibly moving experience, but you have to see it for yourself to understand. Came back to Krakow and grabbed some pretty gross hot dog/ kebab lunch, checked on trains for Budapest (as we are heading there tomorrow morning), and came home. Tonight, we are doing a pub/ club crawl, as we’ve yet to do one and we figure that this is a good place to do it because it only costs about $8.

Backtrack: The last few days in Prague, we continued to do pretty much nothing. We did go to the TV tower. We did go by the Old Jewish Cemetary. We did go to the John Lennon Memorial Wall. We did not do any of the other things we said we would do. We were too tied up sleeping and drinking. Oops. That’s ok, because we made up for it with busy Krakow days. We miss Prague like crazy, and have therefore started planning a trip there for either Zaina’s spring break or in June of next year. Also, Zaina will move to Prague. So be ready for it. She fell head over heals in love. It may have shoved New York aside for her. Zaina will be dragging Charlotte to Prague when she moves there.

Housekeeping: Requests for photos? Currently no method of uploading, but we will do it ASAP. Also, you can leave comments now!!! Thank you, Mr. Kevin.

I think that’s all for now. But, let us leave you with this piece of advice: It is recommended that you visit Zurich (if only for a day or 2), Amsterdam, PRAGUE (but hold off your visit until Charlotte and Zaina move there), and Krakow. You will not be disappointed.

Lots o’ love,

Zaina and Charlotte

Prrrrrraha

We are starting to be huge wastes. Much of our time in Prague has been spent sleeping and drinking. They aren’t lying when they say that the beer is cheaper than the water. Because it is. It really is. We got here on Monday. It’s now Friday. We were supposed to leave today, but instead we decided to stay until Monday. Oops. We have managed to see a few sights, such as the Prague Castle, The Charles Bridge, The Dancing House, Old Town Square, and many of Charlotte’s old haunts (which have now become Zaina’s haunts). Charlotte is a little afraid that Zaina is going to stay here and she is going to have to finish the Europe trip alone. Zaina would never leave her Charlotte, but she has considered it. Charlotte would be fine, she would just be lonely. Itinerary Update: No more Turkey. Too expensive to get there, hence the extended stay in Prague and what will be an extended stay in Krakow (our next stop). Food. Food here is good. Food food food. Fried cheese. Goulash. Dumplings. Potato Pancakes. Sausage. Mexican Food. We have gotten through this leg of our trip spending very little money, yet eating more than the other locations. It helps that Charlotte has friends that make us steak and potatoes and omelets. Cool things about Prague: It’s disgustingly beautiful and gaudy. The architecture is so mismatched and intricate and unlike anything anywhere else. This is such an Eastern European looking city. It’s kind of crazy actually. It’s gloomy. It is Kafka’s Prague. Until yesterday, anyway, when the sun peeked out for a little bit. But then it stormed and got gloomy again. Zaina loves the gloom, Charlotte- not so much. What we hope to do before leaving: The Old Jewish Cemetary, the John Lennon Memorial, the TV Tower, the Prague Zoo, a bike ride around the city and maybe a trip to the Pilsener Urquell Brewery. We’ll see if this actually happens. In other news: Michael Jackson. Charlotte and Zaina were sitting in a bar when Michal, our Czech friend and favorite bartender, came up and said, “I have the latest news. Michael Jackson is dead.” We refused to believe this. We thought he was playing a cruel cruel joke. Then, other people started coming in and saying the same thing. And we thought, “Is all of Prague in on the same joke?” But alas, it was not a joke. We are very very distraught. Blog housekeeping- we don’t know how to enable comments. People have been asking and we just don’t know. If you know (ahem, our follower, Mr. McClellan), the information would be greatly appreciated. Zaina finished Gone With the Wind. She then threw the book across the room. 1448 pages for a depressing ending. Ugh. Anyways, this is all we’ve got for now. Lots of love. We miss everyone bunches! -ZC

Double Post: Zurich AND Amsterdam. Hold on to your hats…

Flying into Zurich was uneventful, except for when Charlotte turned to Zaina and said “Yo, we’re in Europe!” Zaina responded with an enthusiastic slurp.

Day 1: Running around in Old Town in the pouring rain, trying to find food because we hadn’t eaten all day. Found currywurst, best food EVER!

Day 2: Walked along lake Zurich. Rented bikes (free bike rental!) and rode through the city. Found riverside graffiti spot/local loungers at cafe. Hung out at lake’s edge. Met Gunther the bird and Bermuda Jeff/Geoff who checked to see if the bird was injured. The bird pooped down his front. But wasn’t injured. Tried, and failed, to go out. Tuesday night is not Zurich’s party night, apparently. Missed the last night bus home due to pretty English distraction. Took an expensive cab home :(. But got a free glass of wine from Felix, the nice hostel man, after he heard about our troubles and declared that we were helping Zurich’s economy.

Day 3: Walking tour of Zurich, with extended lakeside napping. Zaina got REALLY sunburnt. Watched capoeira in a park near the train station. Overnight train to Amsterdam, we slept 13 hours.

Day 4: Woke up in Amsterdam, found our way to the Hans Brinker hostel. Went to the HEINEKEN BREWERY, it was amazing. Zaina almost peed her pants. After the brewery, we came back to our hostel to find our sweet, innocent, baby English boy roommates ralphing in the trashcan. “Too many hashcakes” was all they could say. Except for when Charlotte gave the cute one some water and he briefly looked up with a half smile and quietly murmured “oh you’re so very kind”. It brought a tear to our eyes.

Day 5: Zaina woke up with some nasty mosquito bites. They’re swelling horribly. She has a bad case of sausage fingers. Rented bikes and rode through the city. Found a cool market. Bought bad-ass sunglasses and shirts. Made friends with people who worked in the Hostel and ended up at a lovely birthday party. Had a (free) blast!

Agenda for today: Sexmuseum and a self-made walking tour. Leaving for Prague tomorrow on a night train. May party with locals again tonight. Sausage fingers and swelling persisting.

Safe and sound, managing our money, eating lots of cheese sandwiches.

Until the next one…

Charlotte and Zaina

Today is the day…

Yup, we’re really leaving. In moments.

We’ll be in Zurich tomorrow afternoon! If you want us to send you postcards, send us your address and we’ll see what we can do.

Much love,

C and Z

The blog has been created.

Here, on this blog, you will know where we have been, what we have done, where we are, what we’re doing, where we will go, and what we will do. Get the picture?

This is easier than calling everyone at every stop. If we did that we’d never get anything done.

We promise details. We promise to upload a ton of pictures upon our return. We promise to call our parents every so often. We promise to update at least once in every country. We promise whatever else you want us to promise.

Welcome to our blog. Charlotte and Zaina will start the whole “doing Europe” thing on June 14. Start checking then, k?

Lots o’ love,

Zaina and Charlotte