Fancy a cup of tea?

That's the question that pops up around the house every 45-60 minutes.  Who ever asks prepares all the cups to everyone's personal specifications and calls tea time.  I know what your thinking but yes work does get accomplished, quite a bit actually;).  Everyone seems to work harder knowing tea time is almost there.   So the second weekend of my CR (Czech Republic) stay was 3 day holiday weekend which I did not take properly into account when I decided to go away for the weekend to see 3 cities in one go.   Bratislava, Vienna, and Budapest I thought looked rather close together on a map so figured why not! I was planning on going to Bratislava for Friday night and staying there since it is cheaper in Slovakia then off to Vienna for the day on Saturday then on to Budapest for Saturday night and then come home late Sunday to CR.  In theory it was a fantastic plan...but in reality proved ridiculous. All I can say is make sure you have your bus ticket purchased in advance on holiday weekends in the CR.  Holiday weekend equals everyone in the CR goes somewhere on a bus!  I was completely relaxed about the whole thing thinking of course this Eastern Europe we will just buy tickets from the driver and everything will work out, (Caroline from Texas went with me) boy did we realize our mistake a little late, more like 5 hours late.
So the journey begins...
We started our trip earlier then expected on Friday around 13:00 hrs (1pm) due to a ride that was available to us from John ( the contractor for the house) who not only gave us a ride but treated Caroline and me to a coffee and cake in Tabor before we left.  He also left us his number in case of emergencies;).  THANKS JOHN!! We caught the bus in Tabor bought our tickets from the driver to Bratislava as easy as getting a second beer at a Czech establishment.  People in the CR don't wait in lines they mob to the front and push and shove their way in.  I am a line person by years of training of "wait your turn"--damn public school education!;)--but I finally got into the mind set of ramming our way onto the bus otherwise we would have had to stand for about an hour of our 3 1/2 hr leg to Brno before we got a seat on our way to our next bus connection to Bratislava.  We got to Brno and went to our bus platform number to wait.  And wait we did.  After the time our bus should have arrived and we were all still waiting we heard an announcement that mentioned our bus, it had been delayed an hour-luckily we were standing next to a university student from Slovakia who spoke a little English who translated for us.  Our bus finally arrived but since we did not have a ticket and it was already full we could not board. The next bus would not come till after 11pm and it was already after 8pm.  We tried asking the information person but she kept telling us the platform number not when the bus would come or how to get a ticket...we could not find the ticket window.  But we did find an internet cafe just off of the bus platform run by brothers who mostly spoke I think Thai...had some Czech and even less English... but they were so nice they insisted on walking us to the ticket window once they figured out what we wanted since we could not figure out how to buy bus tickets on line.  Caroline went off with one brother while I tried to pay for our internet time.  I found them when they were walking back with the news that the ticket office closed at 7pm.  One of the brothers was so concerned he kept asking people for us and checking bus schedules to make sure we were at the right platform and to tell us what time the bus would come.  We were having a hard time understanding each other and he would hand us his cell phone so we could text in Czech or English what we wanted so our accents and mispronunciations wouldn't get in the way!
We had some time to kill while we waited for our bus so we ventured off into Brno and right near the bus terminal there was a huge mall so we walked through the shops and went to an Interspar market to get food for dinner to bring back to the bus terminal.  We ate our sandwich and chips and waited and waited the whole time a drunk old Slovakian man tried to communicate with us, he knew no English but tried every other language including Russian and a little Spanish, we kept saying no we don't understand and look straight ahead or close our eyes and try to sleep through it but he would tap our shoulder just to make sure we were listening to him.  It was like he had a 5 min memory, every 5 mins or so he would seem ignorant to the fact that we did not understand.  After awhile I would make up words to go with his dialogue in my head.  AHHHH!! he just kept talking!  Finally the couple next to us told us that the bus we were waiting for was probably full as well and we should try the train station since it was close by and even gave us a map.  So off we went to find the train station.  On the departure board at the train station the next train leaving to Bratislava was at 3:30am--crap! So we walked back to the bus station to just see if we could squeeze on the last bus...which we couldn't so we walked back again to the train station which had closed the main doors for the night.  At that point the only thing I had been looking forward to was sleeping in a well lit train station without a chatterbox drunk Slovakian next to me.  It took us awhile but we found the late night ticket agent thank God, below ground near the subway entrance and bought our tickets for the 3:30 am train and promptly went out side to a "non-stop" store with a window and bought the cheapest box wine we could find around $3 US and split it between ourselves--and mind you it was still only Friday!

Saturday early our train pulled into the station and a bunch of rowdy hockey fans unloaded off the train and we fought to get on and get a seat and no our train ticket did not come with a seat and I still have yet to buy one that does.  The train was packed and we were stuck in the walkway sitting on the ground. Imagine the Harry Potter train but communistic and the floor of the walk way like a frat house bathroom and you'll get a feel for our situation.  We made it to Bratislava feeling like and looking well you can guess what.  We did have reservations at a hostel for Friday night and we hoped we could get our remaining 4hrs of sleep left before checkout.  We caught a tram which you had to pay for by the amount of minutes your ride would take?! We found the hostile closer to 8am and they were nice and said why don't we just sleep on the couches in the lounge which we did until 11 then staggered out to Tesco to get some breakfast and a bathroom ( we could't find one at the hostel).  We went back to the train station and bought tickets for the late afternoon train to Budapest, we were definitely over Bratislava and wanted to just get out of there.  We felt so much better with a ticket in our hands we then went off to explore the city.  Or maybe our 3hr nap and some food perked us up a bit. But I am glad we did, I really enjoyed Bratislava. Beautiful city, tiny I think we walked the entire thing with our luggage in about 5hrs.  The Danube was impressive to see.  As we walked around we stumbled upon the Royal Palace and the back gardens which a lot of people were out playing Bocce on.  The sun was out it was in the upper 60s and everywhere we went we say people who were taking their wedding photos.  We saw somewhere between 15-20 brides and grooms.  We stopped at a cafe for a late lunch and had a great beer which was reccomended to us by John, the Zlaty' Bazant (Golden Phesant) Slovakia's main beer.  It was wonderful and so were the pizza rolls ( they were out of most everything else on the menu).  The food and drink will probably never taste as good again under different circumstances and I hope not to be in those circumstances again:).
We made it to Budapest just at sunset. It was beautiful the countryside and our first glimpses of the city.  We located our hostel and finally got a shower and went out to a cafe for drinks.  Caroline had a cacique which was a bit wonky tasting and I fought with the waitress to bring me mojito with whiskey instead of rum which was extremely difficult to understand she just kept telling me no rum is in the drink not whiskey...but in the end I got my drink.  Latin American style drinks and food are big in Eastern Europe but all it does is make me dream of home with more authentic tasting food.  We ended the night at a Burger King since nothing else was open that late where some drunk guy ordering at the counter ate some of my fries while my tray waited for the burger.  And no it does not taste like Burger King at home.
The next day we were hoping to get some cheap shopping in and some sights before we caught the bus back-we stupidly were going to try busses again.

I love Budapest! It was so nice to be in a city with cars and things to do.  The old bulidings and views down each street were awesome.  The feel of the city improved both of our moods we were glad we had made the journey and at least our end destination.  I wanted to go to a local coffee shop for breakfast more than anything and as we walked we kept noticing most everything was closed.  We ended up at a Costa's Coffee (Italian chain-still good).  As we were scouting the map for our destinations the realization hits me that it is Sunday and most everything will be closed.  No shopping at street markets, hardly any restaurants open, crapbags!! Still determined not to have this trip be a bust or at least ignoring the fact we spent most of our time in transport we set out.  We walked to the river Danube and across a stone lion guarded bridge to the Buda side of the city, we had spent the night in the Pest side. We went up so many stairs and paths winding through trees to get high up the hill to where the Buda castle was.  All along the way were statues and churches and cobblestone streets. 

I found one of the castles 2 labrinths and went down to check it out.  I paid my $9 bucks and got to wander in the dark of the rooms and halways dug under Buda castle.  There were some lights but not that often, I actually ran my face into a castiron fence as I was looking at a stone cross with a distant light on it trying to get closer so I could see what it was just missing my eyeball.  In one room they had a wine fountain with according to the sign fine Hungarian wine being pumped through it to represent the power of the Hungarian Empire during the Renaisaince but with a disclamer saying they do not reccomend one drinking it.
We ended the day at a Hungarian pub and since we ate at Burger King the night before we ordered the Gulash.  Bit of advice, if the server scoffs at your selection you should change it before it is too late.  We had overpriced boiled meat of some kind in a watered down broth that might have been tomato in a past life.  I did try an Hungarian schnapps though, after reading the discription I just had to try it.  " Quince Schnapps (Birs Pa'linka) Do you still remember your grandmother's Quince jelly? Through a mouthful of livener made of a downy fruit you may find your way to the past..." So I tryed 2 centiliters and it was packed full of memories that I did not have!  It was late afternoon so we went back to the hostel to get our stuff and headed to the bus station to buy our ticket, we thought we would be early this time not to miss the ticket agent, and for some braindead reason we thought we would walk the 4 miles or so to the bus terminal instead of the subway all in the name of saving money.  The walk was bad and the neighborhoods we went through even worse and it was getting dark.  Speed walking took on a whole new meaning.  We get to the bus station and find only one window open and we try to buy a ticket for the bus that the internet told us was running and it turns out that bus only runs Tuesday through Friday and it does not definitely run on Sunday's.  No busses run to Prague on Sunday.  We just walked for nothing.  Stinking internet! This time we take the subway to the train station.  We go up to the counter to buy a ticket, everyone we have come accross so far in Hungary has been able to speak English, the ticket agent however does not.  She shows us, me a ticket.  I read it it says 230ft. This is my Zoolander moment.   I think ok one ticket takes me 230 feet.  Hungary must do this instead of minutes spent on the train.   I am trying to show the lady on a map where I want to go beacuse I can't figure out how many feet that is and I don't know how many tickets I will need for my trip.  For a good 2 minutes I am discussing in hand movements this concept.  It finally dawns on me that the abbrviation of ft stands for Forints the Hungarian currency and I only need to pay her the amount and get on the subway.  Ahhh the joys of traveling and realizing how much brain power you lose along the way.  We go to the train station in lightning speed and all the while we are asking eachother why did we not think to take the subway before this?  Get to train station and the first train out of there to CR leaves at 5:30am Monday morning.  We find an internet cafe get directions to a hostel a very nice hostel behind the Astoria hotel which we take the subway to, try to decompress and sleep for 4hours and get up and do it all again.  Train from Budapest to Prague then Prague to Tabor where we are met by Mike our host who picks us up on his way to get groceries for the house.  When we get back first thing we here is "Fancy a cup of tea?  It was so nice to be back!

Castle? Where?

Everyone keeps telling me that there are castles and lakes everywhere in the Czech Republic and I am completely stoked because I love castles and lakes or really any cool remotely old stone structure and any body of water to go swimming in.  My first week here and I had yet to see a castle or recognize one...It was now becoming a mission to see one.  My hosts have an old red VW Polo and as I was the only one who could drive a stick I was given the car for Sunday afternoon to go drive to 3 castles that were nearby with Caroline the girl from Texas.  Oh yeah we were also given a map with lots of different colored roads which I will come back to later.  So off we went driving around the Bohemian countryside with our headlights on because that is the law looking for castles and lakes.  First off driving around in a foreign country with not really the slightest clue if you are going the right way let alone what the speed limit is and feeling like you are going way too fast because your speedometer is in kms--freakin fantastic!!!  It turns out some of those roads on the map are just trails or dirt paths. I ended up on some farmers fields a couple times. We kept driving around this one town the size of a four way stop sign eventually taking every road possible trying to find the 'Pink Castle' (hey at least I had a color to look for;))-while doing this great driving feat we kept buzzing a family loading up a tractor-the first time they looked a little curious after the 4th time they were laughing at us... we stopped to ask for directions and the Grandpa, older daughter and grandkids all pushed there heads in the window on top of Caroline looking at the map and then pointing in about 3 different directions and speaking in Czech which neither of us could understand--we nodded and smiled and then drove off to find a ligitimate road and we agreed to give up the castle search.  Instead we went to a cave and found it without incident!!! We bought our tickets and walked into the earth with our English translation paper of the tour guides' talk.  The cave has been kept in its original condition since the 1800's with all its decorations-which were 'hey I think that rock looks like a devil or hey that would really look like a dragon if we put red glass eyes onto it, and my favorite -this rock looks like a witch especially if we bring in some quartz rocks and put a light underneath it!'  It was so dark in the cave we could not really read our translation so we just bumped into things and tried not to fall down steep slippery stairs.  My favorite part was when they lead us into a cavern turned all the lights off and played organ Dracula music for no apparent reason other than to give the tour guide a laugh.  We made it home with out getting lost but all in all a great day for finding zippo castles!!

Mind the Ovaries

So apparently it is a widely held belief in the Czech Republic that if you are a person with ovaries you should not do any hard labor or lift things that are a bit heavy so as not to damage your baby making ability. This whole concept gets a little awkward especially when you are a workawayer and that is precisely your job that is when you are not mushroom hunting, cooking or cleaning. So I have spent my time at the old mill making wood piles, using a table saw until it was tired but the supply of wood was not and making sure dessert appears after dinner-lots of brownies and flourless chocolate cake making!

Where I am at is a house that used to be next to barns and a mill but the mill is not functioning and some of the barns are falling down. Mike and Nicola are a lovely British couple that bought the place and are renovating it. We have one working hot/cold water tap in the bathroom and a shower (yay!) The house is over 100 years old and is beautiful but right now it is still a work in progress. There are 8 of us all together, a girl from Texas, 2 Australian guys, and 2 girls from the UK along with our hosts.

The house is situated right on the road between 2 small towns. Last week it was Esther's 24th birthday so we walked the 3k into Cernovice to go to a bar. It was a great walk right in the road with all the stars out. The bar was super tiny and as we walked in Nirvana's 'Smells like teen spirit' was blaring out of the jukebox. Beers were 18 Czech crowns, that is about a $1-so it was a very economical night:). It was also my 1 year anniversary of my ankle surgery!!!

The first weekend I was here we were taken into Tabor the closest big city (not that big-but there is a castle) for dinner out. I had a huge plate sized potato pancake with chunks of ham and a pile of sauerkraut on top-yummy. The next day for lunch we ate at a Cuban Vampire themed restaurant.... and I had pork ribs with a sweet and sour glaze...totally bizarre!