Prague, end of semester stuff, birthday etc.

Life in 20 Hegedus Gyula ut. has become a tragic countdown. I cannot get it out of my mind that I’m leaving Budapest in 12 days, and it has become very difficult to focus on my daily tasks because really all I want to do is roam in the city for hours without purpose and act like Garfield basically. Instead, I’m stuck with Finals week. Pass-fail, pass-fail, pass-fail ……

Visited Prague this weekend, and it is as good as advertised. Sure the tourist hordes have taken over the entire city, but honestly, they are there for a reason. NYT Travel put it beautifully when it said that the next Prague is Prague. No other city in the world, I’m sure, can provide such an enticing mixture of astounding architecture (both in quality and quantity), cheep beer, great pubs and competitive hostels. The public transport is fast and efficient, similar to that of Budapest’s, and it seemed like a very tourist friendly place. Special note: Budapest is much more expensive than Prague. Many people think otherwise, but it is just not true. Also more people speak English, which is not a problem for me in Budapest at all because of my oh-so fantastic command of Hungarian.

The Charles Bridge, Prague Castle, and the Old Town Square were definitely some of the highlights of the city. The beer, of course, is amazing, my personal favorites being Pilsner Urquell and Staroprammen. Also, I had an amazing vegetarian meal at this restaurant/club called Radost, which I’d strongly recommend to anybody going to Prague. Visited all the sites with Andrew, a fantastic traveller, and his brother, Graham, showed us some really cool pubs. Hung out with Dustin and Adrienne on the second day, and it was Adrienne’s birthday too, so we had a nice relaxing time.

While we were in Prague, my roommate Chris ran into some serious trouble here in Budapest. He got really trashed at a club, got into a cab, but was kidnapped, handcuffed and severely beaten up by a bunch of men who wanted to rob him. Luckily he didn’t have any money on him, and they called the police, who dragged him to a station, made him sign a bunch of papers and literally threw him into a cab and sent him home. He’s lucky to be alive and only has some minor bruises. Welcome to Eastern Europe.

On a happier note, my 21st birthday was an excellent celebration. Of course, we went out to Morrison’s 2 for possibly the last Morrison’s Monday, but nearly everyone showed up, including Andrew’s brother and Claire and her friend Dan, even though they had a ton of work. I went up and performed Summer Lovin’ twice as well as Africa at the karaoke room, and even though I’m pretty sure I belched out utter nonsense, it was still a fantastic time.

Okay, I really have to finish Attila’s 10 page  paper. Cannot believe I’m actually working.