Can I just say that "The Fault in Our Stars" is an extremely painful movie to watch?? Painful in the way that the touch of a hot stove, the scratch of a claw, the burn of an iron - each demanding to be felt and endured long after the encounter - is painful. Sometimes, the best way to sooth such pain is to introduce a calming balm. Luckily for me, I have been surrounded by such a balm for the past three hours. I have had the privilege of busing through the unapologetically powerful, all-consuming Alps Mountains, in all of its rolling, mighty glory, while watching this heart-wrenching movie. As a daughter of the Appalachian Mountains, I considered myself a true connoisseur of Earth's rocky giants. I chuckle now at such a foolish thought and accept that the mountains of this world exist solely to humble all who presume to understand and lessen them with boxes and categories.... even daughters of Appalachia.
Well... my first weekend in Europe was certainly eventful (Did I mention I spent 26 hours on a bus?) My roommates and I booked a three day trip to Budapest, Vienna, and Salzburg, driving twelve hours through the night to Budapest first. (I have discovered that being nearly 6 ft. tall and trying to sleep on a bus is NOT possible AT ALL- I have the bruises and eye-bags to prove it).
There is so much I could say about all three cities, but my personal favorite location was Budapest, so I'll tell you about that. We began our day with a walking tour of the city, guided by a hilarious woman who reminded me of a pixie in a neon pink cap. She was full of clever stories and facts that I found amusing. Now I can give you a Budapest for Dummies Crash Course!
1.) When the Hungarian people were governed by the USSR after World War II (I believe that's correct..? ) they were gifted a giant statue of a laurel-bearing little girl from the Communists as a symbol of peace that loomed over the city of Budapest. After the liberation of the area from Communism, the people of Budapest put a giant tarp over the statue, symbolizing their freedom from the regime. Well... unfortunately... that symbol lost all its solemnity when the people realized that it now looked like a massive.. condom.... Needless to say, they removed that tarp soon thereafter.
2.) The people of Budapest can't seem to remember how exactly they ended up settling there, as their ancestors were nomads directly from Asian and Mongolia and didn't keep may records. So they made up their own version of history. Legend has it that one day a massive, fat, ugly bird stole an extremely important sword from their ancestors and flew off with it. Frantic to get the weapon back, the nomadic peoples packed everything up and followed the bird halfway across the world until it eventually dropped the sword in Hungary, causing the people to settle in that region.
4.) They are a wickedly sharp people, producing 14 Nobel Prize winners, all of them being from Hungary's Jewish population. "So", concluded our guide, "if you want to be a genius here, you only need two things: to speak Hungarian and be Jewish!"
5.) The people of Budapest are fervent food lovers, specifically of everything fatty and greasy. To gain good fortune in hunting for the best grub, they erected a statue in the middle of the city square of a rotund police officer whose copper stomach, should you rub it, will grant you such luck. (You best bet I rubbed that belly). Apparently, they love their food so much that the people of Hungary are the fourth largest in the world! (Can you guess who is the largest..? )
6.) The final, and most important fact our guide told us was this: NEVER EVER join whatever side Hungary is on in a war, because you will lose. Every national holiday the people celebrate is either religious or a day of mourning for the lives lost during some failed revolution or battle or war. They have not been on the winning side of any conflict in the past 500 years apparently. Yikes!
After our walking tour, we had the chance to visit the Thermal Baths of Budapest and it was woonnndeerrrffuulll. Giant, steaming pools filled with hundreds of scantily clad people in the middle of winter is a lot more fun that one would expect. We ended up staying long enough to relax and get super pruny.
Below are some photos from our visits to Budapest, Vienna, and Salzburg, as well as the drive through the Alps. (Sorry if they are super poor quality, my brother is the photographer, not me). While freezing cold and bone tired most of the time, I had a pretty decent time and saw some truly inspiring structures and places. However, Florence still stands as the favorite city.
~ Leah
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