Europe, the Last Days and Final Thoughts

As I write I’m sitting on the train from Vienna to Frankfurt. This is my last taste of the European railway system as in 24 hours I will be flying enroute to Tokyo. Before I offer up any closing remarks about my overall time in Europe though, I suppose I better get you caught up on my past ten days or so on the road.

I left Brasov, Romania on a rainy night and took my first and last night train. I won’t go into details but let’s just say I’d rather not know about the stains on my sheets or why we were two and half hours late getting into our final destination, Budapest. I’d like to say that great things about Budapest as it seems to enjoy a mystical quality whenever people talk about Europe these days. Unfortunately for me, and for Budapest, it appears to be a city of second bests. Although there are plenty of enjoyable churches, museums and theatres, every place I visited seemed like I had been there before. I did enjoy a night with the Budapest Philharmonic. It will forever stick in my mind as an orchestra made up of familiar faces as there appeared to be look-alikes of not only Kern Holoman and my Genetics academic advisor but also celebrity figures such as Hurley from the TV show lost (he happened to be the violin soloist) and Martha Stewart. As I walked through a mall on a rainy afternoon I also got a laugh at a “Niagra Falls”-esque waterfall built as a millennial gift from our northern neighbors to the Hungarian people…way to go Canada.

I stopped in Vienna for a night on my way to Prague. Eva was a great host as always! I then made my way to Prague, the new capital of culture in Europe these days it seems. Prague is a city that I would love to go back to. I was there for four days and saw only a piece of what the city had to offer. The palace and old town are incredible and there is no end to the impressive architecture. Unfortunately Prague was the first place that I really experienced my worst enemy. Prague was packed wall to wall with tourists. I hate them. I realize that technically I’m one of them but I like to think that I’m slightly more conscientious and slightly less stupid. I’ve decided on a rule of thumb. If it takes me more than 20 minutes just to cross the main square, I leave and come back another day. But, like I was saying before, Prague seems like a great city and I would love to go back at a different time of year.

I had a slight change in plans after leaving Prague. Initially I had intended to go north to Dresden in Germany and then head to Frankfurt. Excitingly though, Nick, the cousin who has given me such great contacts throughout Europe, was in Vienna! He got a job and he was there for a few days meeting his coworkers. I hadn’t seen Nick in about ten years and needless to say, we both had changed slightly. Although we only had about 24 hours to hang out, it was great to catch up and I already can’t wait to go back to visit him in my favorite Austrian city!

One of the questions I’m asked frequently now by my hosts is my favorite place visited. I’m notoriously bad at choosing a favorite anything though. Some of the highlights have been Berlin, Austria, Croatia and Greece. Even as I write that, I feel a pang of regret at all of the other amazing places that I left out. The one common denominator of all the places though is the people. You can only really get to know a city through the people that live there. The excitement of an individual for their home can do wonders, especially to a lone traveler. I also find that these places acted like a temporary home for me. If any of my hosts are reading this, I appreciate every conversation!

My next message will be another third of the way around the globe! Auf Wiedersehen to Europe and Konnichiwa to Japan!