CynicalGabe's Travellogue

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
21

Yay! My card was not stolen! It had not worked at the McDonald’s and 2 Bankomats that I tried, but then I found one that worked, and told me I still have 9.5 million Romanian Lei to my name!

I have just seen Bucharest’s Arc De Triumph and Charles De Gualle Square, which were almost an hour’s walk one-way. I am now at a very nice internet cafe, which is aimed towards the gaming crowd (WarCraft II murals on the walls and framed WC3 screenshots) and pumping some nice rave/techno beats.

I am going to try and see Ceachescu’s (sic) grave tomorrow, which should be interesting. Then my train for Sofia leaves around 7PM.

BTW, if anyone cares, the trip by train here from Budapest was 16 hours.

Only another 45 minutes walk or so and I can make it back to the hostel!

BTW, anyone have any idea why the Iraqi embassy seems very quiet and abandoned looking? :eek:

22

Um…I think you got ripped off. No currency (well, not the dollar vs the forint at least) drops from 183 to 145 overnight. I just checked, and it’s at 181.395 right this second. It depends where you traded in Budapest. There are still a few rip-off joints out there that will pay up to 50 forints under the fair exchange rate. The easiest way to check while traveling whether you’re getting a fair rate is to compare the buy and sell prices. If the difference is within 5%, you’ve got a very good rate. 10% decent. Anything much more than that, you’re being ripped off. (For example, if the they’re selling dollars at 200 ft, they should be buying them at 190, typically. 180 ft is not terribly good, but it’s not a total rip-off. Anything worse. forget about it.) And a lot of those train stations have two different exchange rates depending on how much money you exchange. Change less than a few hundred dollars and they give you a crap rate like 140.

But you’re right. The dollar sucks. I was just in Budapest for three weeks in November and I couldn’t believe the dollar was at 185. When I moved to Budapest in '98, the dollar was at 210. In 2000 it peaked at around 320]!!! It’s lost almost half its value since then. Isn’t that crazy? I had to move back to the US last year because it wasn’t worth working there (dollarwise) anymore.

Beware the hungry packs of roving strays dogs in Bucharest. :wink:

23

You are right, that exchange rate was from the Western Union in Keleti station (other places were closed for Christmas). Walking on the street, I saw that the regular exchanges that were closed had rates closer to 180 (which is the rate I had anticipated). I did not think the station exchanges would rip me off so much, as the alst time I was there, they were giving rates only 10-15 foring under the usual rates. Next time I will walk a few more blocks.

BTW: Budapest’s dogs are nothing next to Bucharest’s. :slight_smile:

24

are you really 4 days in Sofia?? If you get bored, a day trip to Veliko Turnova (3hrs) might be nice - take the bus. 2nd choice is Kopristitsa (sp?). 1-2 hrs??

Nevski Church is nice with the yellow brick road around it, and the crafts around the church there are nice-but talk them way down. there’s two big streets for 'sightseeing/shopping, can’t remember the name though, one of them looks really nice with the mountain as a the backdrop. The ‘changing of the guard’ is pretty cool. Don’t change any money with anyone on the street. The good beer is the one with the green logo, can’t remember the name. Enjoy the shopska salad, it’s everywhere!

Wouldn’t you get a better rate with a cash card, if you have one rather than waiting for and looking for good rates from a exchange bureau?

25

Arrgh. browser problems once again caused me to lose a full page of text I was about to post. Here goes again.

One of the porters at Gara De Nord station in Bucharest tried to pull the (“I know the driver, I can get you a good price” routine on the train, but once he had lifted my bag up into the car and into my compartment I played the dumb American when he asked for a “commission” for helping me get a reservation (he was no help, all you do is talk to the conductor anyway). After haggling a few minutes I had had my fun and told him I was not going to pay him US$5-7 (what he asked for) for lifting my bag onto the train and he left in disgust (In fairness, I did offer him all of my remaining Romanian Lei, which amounted to about US$.75).

Crossed the Bulgarian border between 9-11PM yesterday. I actually took 2 hours to cross. Interesting time. Some Romanians got kicked off the train on that side of the border. I can’t understand spoken Romanian very well, but it was something about needing to have their identity documents legally translated and notarized. Very bitter and emotional scene as the family (i think - group of 3, an elderly man, younger woman, and a child) was arguing with the border guards.

I got off quite easy, I just had to open my luggage for the Bulgarian guards and answer a brief “Where you going? Tourist?” line of questioning. My guidebook said there was a US$20 tax for crossing the border, even if you do not need a visa. I assume this has been done away with; I did not have to pay. Just a stamp from each guard and I was through.

Arrived in Sofia on time at 6AM. Walked about a mile to the hostel (I refuse to take cabs). Was a bit of a shock getting here, as all the signs and whatnot are in Cyrillic (except advertising). I speak Russian, so reading the signs is not a problem, it was just strange to all of a sudden be surrounded by them, especially after deciphering Romanian was comparatively easy (latin-based and all).

Upon arriving to my hostel, I had a short (oh crap, another shithole) moment when I saw the darkened stairwell leading above the Chinese restaraunt. But a minute with my trusty flashlight allowed me to find the light switch behind the door amongst some electrical panels.

After a few light knocks (still only 7am), and elderly man answered the door and in a flurry of activity put new sheet on the bed for me and served me breakfast. Very nice hostel, clean, pleasant, ill take pictures, etc.

I will be here 3 full days, as my flight leaves the morning of the 31st. I want to definitely see Vitosha Nat’l Park and maybe Rila Monastery, but I’ll try to go to Veliko Turnova if I have time. I’m going to try and get most of the “in town” sightseeing done today, but I’ll have to call it a short day as I am pretty worn out from the train ride here.

Summary: Bucharest
Nice place, I recommend the Villa Helga Hostel and advise against the Funky Chicken guesthouse. Depending on your interests, I can see getting bored there quickly after a few days if you are really only sightseeing, but definitely give it a look-see for a few days.

26

Actually, I did mean Bucharest (not Budapest) at the end of my post, anticipating your next stop. The Romanian roving wild dogs are kind of legendary in Eastern Europe. :slight_smile: I did, however, completely lack a segue in post from Budapest to Bucharest.

(Geographically challenged citizen to me at a bar: “Oh, you lived in Hungary? I’ve been to Bucharest before.” Me: “You mean Budapest.” Him: “Oh, I’ve heard it pronounced both ways.”)

27

Hey, if you want a quick day trip on Jan 8-9th, check out Cesky Krumlov in the Czech Republic. To be honest, I’ve never been there, but I’ve always been meaning to go, and everybody I’ve spoken with says it’s a picture-perfect medieval castle town (and its city centre is a UNESCO monument of world significance.)

Seriously, if you have the time, it’s not far. Every single person I’ve spoken to has seems to have a raging hard-on for this town.

28

I’ve been to the Rila Monastery too, forgot about that. It’s real nice and peaceful up there. Another day trip I’d suggest, but you can stay there for about $10, I did over Easter and it was nice. You can walk the 45-60 minute long hike to where Ivan Rilski used to live about 900 and walk thru his cave. Interesting if you have time-great view from up there. Closer than Veiliko, but there’s no real town there.

29

Went to Rila today unexpectedly, one of the other guys at the hostel was on his way out the door to the tram to head there and i said “wait a sec, ill tag along”. I could not stay very long, as I was not equipped to spend the night in one of the cells, so i had to catch the next bus back to Sofia and I could only poke around the place for about an hour. it is raining here now, so unless the weather clears up I may not be able to make it to Mount Vitosha as I had hoped.

I have a strong objection to using taxis. I hate them. Subsequently, if i cant take the metro/tram/bus anywhere in my travels, i walk. I have been walking an obscene (not obscene, but more than at home) amount on my trip so far. My other pair of pants I brought I need to wear a belt with, and I’ve noticed I have lost almost 2 inches off my waist so far on my trip. This makes for a precise 1:1 ratio of blisters on my feet to inches lost. Acceptable collateral damage. At home in CA, I walk about a mile a day and ride my bike a few miles a day (anyone who has been to Davis knows what I’m talking about). I recall a scene in “Fight Club”, which I here modify for personal non-for profit use:

Tyler Durden:
When you first arrive at [Eastern Europe], your [legs] are a wad of cookie dough. After two [weeks], you’re carved out of wood.

Maybe this belongs in the “CynicalGabe: Hot or not?” thread. :wink:

I crack myself up.

30

I agree with your take on taxis (despite my username).

I’m really enjoying your travelogue so keep it coming!

31

Gabe, try composing your posts offline (in Notepad or something); then, copy and paste when you’re ready to add formatting and go “live.”

32

Saw most of the Churches, Cathedrals, Mosque and Synagogue (yes, those are singular) today. There was a statue of Aleksandr Sergeevich Pushkin by the St. Nicholas Russian Church. I was amused by this since Pushkin never made it farther west than Kishinev (Moldova) to my knowledge. If anyone cares or knows what I’m talking about, Yuri Druzhnikov is one of my professors at the University, and I just took his course on Pushkin.

It has been raining all day, so photo opportunities were limited by my desire to avoid killing my camera, but I got some decent shots.

This afternoon I was near the Palace of Culture, and I came across a bowling alley that had a “no guns” (pistol crossed out) sign on the door. I have seen these a few places in Sofia, but I was amused by the one there because The Big Lebowsk is of of my favorite films. If you’ve seen the film, think “Walter”.

The mistake I made was in being too amused by this and not noticing that the bowling alley was underneath a bank, and I was surrounded by armed guards. Me=Stupid American Tourist. They were not amused that I was taking pictures. Two of them came up to me and asked (perhaps “instructed” is a better word) that I not take pictures, and through gestures told me that I should show them the shots I had taken (digital camera), which I did, and they were satisfied I was not scoping the place out. Good thing I had a digital camera or Og knows what would have transpired. After showing them my passport, I decided (wisely I think) to remove myself from the area.

Tomorrow (weather permitting) I shall conquer Mount Vitosha!

In related news, who knows where the New Year’s party will be in Prague?

33

The aloof answer would be: Yes.

It is not so much you finding the party, grasshopper, as it is the party finding you. Over a 100,000 of your closest friends will be partying on Old Town Square (Stare Mestke Namesti) and the other 50,000+ will be on Wenceslas square. Then they all will switch with each other. Then back again. And then they will go to Charles Bridge.

Recommended survival tactics:
You will not get to bed until 8am. Plan for that.

Where glasses. Seriously. Buy those raver yellow/blue/red lightly tinted sunglasses. Fireworks are sold by the truckload at EVERY corner. And we’re not talking sparklers, we are talking m-80’s and roman candles. After a few bottles of champagne people think it is fun to light them and throw into crowds. I have had a few go off right near my head.

You can buy a ticket or pay cover to go into one place solely to have somewhere to hang your hat. But from your posts I assume you want the “experience”, so dress warm and save the dancing until after 1am when people start to go inside (and you will just pay a little cover charge - tickets get you dinner, champagne, etc.). Unless you just can’t seem to hook up with a group of like-minded souls, staying outside is great. But, that said, you can try to buy a Prague Post when you arrive and see what they have to say about the clubs. Roxy, Radost FX, Nebe (aka Iron Door), La Fabrique and Akropolis will all have some great fun, wild parties and hot women dancing on tables (and those will probably just be the clientele after a few bottles).

Look for people to hook up with at the restaurants and tea rooms of the Roxy (also the Traveler’s Hostel is there) or near to that Bohemia Bagel.

Czech Champagne is great and cheap- and powerful. Enjoy but drink lots of water.

I will be near Old Town with a group of friends- we have tickets but will venture out occasionally. Email me if you want my phone number or to hook up some other time.

Gotta run-
-Tcat

34

Tcat: Maybe later, but I doubt we’d be able to find each other in the mob new year’s eve. I’ll be in Prague for about a week and a half, so plenty of time. Prague Dopefest, anyone? :slight_smile:

In today’s news:

I just got back from Mount Vitosha. Not having room in my suitcase for my hiking boots, I wisely decided to take the chairlift up the mountain. Wow. A half hour’s worth of chairlifts. It can get pretty chilly up there!

Once I got to the top of the lifts, I set off hiking (trudging is more like it). There was 2 feet of snow, and I was proud of myself to have made it almost a mile. Then I decided to stop for two reasons.

  1. I had no idea how far it was to the peak, and it was snowing pretty heavily, so visibility was maybe 40 meters.
  2. I thought that it was better to avoid snowblindness and (hopefully) subsequent rescue by the Mountain Rescue guys than to be “manly” and tough it out all the way to the peak.

I think I did pretty well. I stopped, set up the camera and took a photo of myself in my Russian rabbit-fur hat and WWI-era Soviet wool coat, and returned. Good thing I turned back, because it was getting colder and the chairlift down was a little cold.

In typical fashion, I had missed the last bus down (most recent, not the last of the day), so I cinched up the pack and hiked about 2 miles down through the village at the base of the mountain to the bus station, where I caught the No. 9 tram and came back to downtown Sofia. Stopped for lunch at a nice PECTOPAHT (I crack myself up) on the way down. They had a radiator and a WC, both of which I was craving by then.

As soon as it reaches an acceptable hour on the US West coast time zone, I am going to attempt to make an international call from the telephone office. Wish me luck everyone! Calls from Europe are such as Pain in the Arse, IMHO.

Ahhh. Tomorrow I take my flight back to Prague, territory which is much more familiar to me.

Now if only I can figure out how to get to the airport without taking a cab…

35

New Year’s Morning.

Ugh. Ow.

Got to Prague yesterday morning, got to the hostel. met a bunch of people here, we all went out partying last night. I think.

Last thing I remember was midnight on the Charles Bridge, plenty of fireworks. I remember making out with one of the girls from the hostel. Then, suddenly, it was 10am this morning. Woke up, mine and the girl’s clothes are everywhere (she went back to her room). My socks are gone, and my watch, I’m not sure what happened to those. I’m not sure how we got back to the hostel, I still have cash in my pocket, so we must not have taken a taxi.

My head hurts.

KFC for breakfast, the only thing I’d eaten in the last 24 hours was a terrible hotdog in Old Town Square. However, I did go to a concert of Motzart’s Requiem, which was spectacular, and well worth the money (700kc).

I got ripped off by a taxi last night. Bastard wanted 600kc for a pretty short trip back to the hostel. I yelled at him for a few minutes and gave him 400. Arrgh. Never taking a taxi again.

Happy 2005 everybody!

36

I second that ugh and oww…

Sounds like you had a pretty good time though…Ain’t New Year’s in Prague grand?

We were at one spot for 95% of the night and amazingly managed to get home by 5am. But why did I have to drink champagne? Why? :smack:

While you are still here, ONLY use AAA taxi, its what us locals use. 350Kc from downtown to the airport. You can flag them down or call their english speaking operators: 233 11 33 11 or 14014 (or is it 14041?) Never heard of anyone getting ripped off by them and I’ve been here 7 years.

There will be a large fireworks display tonight at 19:00 at Letna park, just get up high or go to the park itself- it is the one on the hill north of downtown. If on Charles Bridge you can see the big metronome on the hill- thats it.

Which hostel are you at?

-Tcat

37

Staying at Hostel Advantage on Sokolska. I made the same mistake of drinking champagne, splitting headache is gone, but I’ve still got the queasies.

Things have gotton curiouser and curiouser since this morning. Found my watch - the guy at the front desk had it (no clue). I am still missing the socks I was wearing last night. My sweater was in the hallway on the floor and soaking wet (water). It seems there may have been 2 girls involved in the debauchery last night, details are still sketchy. I found a metro ticket on the floor. I’ve been told I was running about the metro station wildly.

The front desk guy had a depressing night. He didn’t want to come and party because he dislikes “organized happiness”. When the rest of the guys came back to the hostel, they said he was passed out drunk with a documentary on “The Darkness” on MTV. I guess there was a line of about 15 people at the front desk needing service, and they had to roust him. Someone could have easily looted the lobby’s refridgerator full of beer and the cash register.

I’ll try to make it to the fireworks at the park later. Hopegully my roomates will be awake by then.

38

Cool, you are about 100m from me. I am at the office and will watch the fireworks from the buildings cafe on the top floor. I might be able to get 1 or 2 people in past security if you want.

I’ll email you some details.

-Tcat

39

Sunday, January 2.

New Year’s Eve: Reloaded.

We all got pissed again last night. Had a riotous time at Joe’s Bar, Al Capone’s, and a few other places I can’t remember made it back to the hostel, took a shower, did some laundry in the bathroom sink, got to sleep around 3-4ish. Woke up when some of the other guys made it back at 5 and were singing in the room. Said “No more beer for me, thanks, well get pissed again tonight”.

Sorry I missed your email Tom, I’ll give you a call later and maybe we can meet up tonight. The hostel computer was being monopolized last night by some Germans desperate to find a train to Berlin, after having missed theirs.

Once again, I slept past the free breakfast at the hostel. So as soon as I can roust some people I think we’ll head to KFC for some greasy chicken. Maybe its time for a mega bucket.

I still can’t find the socks I was wearing New Year’s Eve.

40

IYLC conference is going and in full swing. Its UN simulations and seminars by day and parties by night. Today we went to the PriceWaterhouseCoopers in Prague for a seminar on human traffiking.

TomCat, I was going to try and see if you were in the building today, but we had a reception in the 7th floor cafe and there was free wine, and everybody was getting pretty pissed. Still 6 days in Prague to go.

I am now staying at the Crowne Plaze Hotel, near the Podbaba tram stop. Nice place. Much ncier than my hostel, I must say. Last night was another few rounds of fun at Al Capone’s Speakeasy near Old Town Square. Absinthe, Aplpe Pie shooters, White Russians, Czech Orgazms, and a couple of otehr drinks I can’t pronouce. Last night a couple of us walked from there all the way back to the hotel, arriving at 430AM (I’m too cheap to take cabs). Nice walk, and I didn’t get lost once, even drunk. Made it to the 8AM breakfast even.

I am about 5 mintues from the International Criminal Court simulation, in which I have the role of judge.

Tonight promises to be another night of fun. I believe some of us are heading to Karlovy Lazny for drinks and dancing. Will probably wind up at Al Capone’s again.