The Universe smiled when Bosnia was born...

...Man just had to go & fuck it up.

Those of you following my journey (if anyone out there is actually reading this) may have been a little perplexed by the fact that I dropped off the face of the planet for the period I was in Bosnia. It´s not because they don´t have internet there; they do. I was just enjoying myself too much to sit in front of a computer...

In a nutshell, I love Bosnia and would go back again and again and again - and hope to be able to do so later in life. The people are so friendly, the mixture of (and tolerance among) cultures is amazing, and the impact of war is still visible in building facades, large cemetaries, the tunnel museum, and the memories of people my age and younger. Take that, plus the fact that the natural environment (e.g. the drive between Sarajevo and Mostar) is simply breathtaking, and you might understand a bit of why I love it so much. The Universe smiled when Bosnia was born; I really believe that.

Yeah, so... I took the night train down from Budapest to Sarajevo. That was an ˝experience˝ I could´ve lived without. Only two train cars actually go to Bosnia; the others disconnect in Pecs, Hungary. The kicker is that, of course, those train cars left are Bosnian train cars - old, with windows that barely work and don´t stay down on their own, riddled with mosquitoes. I was in a car with three university students from Banja Luka who were very nice - and much impressed by that fact that an American in their general age group would come all the way to Bosnia to try to understand things; they wished more people would try to do the same. The interesting thing was that they were absolutely mystified by my American passport; it was as though they were looking at the Holy Grail (or equiv) because of the kind of freedom it represented to them. Their reaction really put me in my place, let me tell you. Anyway, after 4 passport checks and 3 ticket checks, I finally made it to Sarajevo. (No, it was not a train for sleeping...)

For the most part, Bosnia is something that has to be experienced; I don´t think words will do it justice, but Iĺl try...

I went for a walk the 2nd day I was in Sarajevo (since I was knackered the 1st day after no sleep) and stumbled on lots of bombed-out buildings and the Holiday Inn. I later realized that I´d taken a leisurely stroll through ˝sniper alley˝ without knowing it. Talk about crazy irony. I went back later and really looked - and saw the bomb footprints painted red and other things. No real words to describe it, though. I took a tour to the tunnel museum through another hostel; it was short, but useful to contextualize everything. I also also went to the Sarajevo Film Festival and saw two films - one Croatian (about human trafficking between Bosnia/Croatia) and one American (about the Moroccan Fez Music Festival).

I only had a day in Mostar, so only got to see the bridge and lots of bombed-out buildings - but still a rather profound experience once you get away from the tourist trap.

Today, I am in Dubrovnik - after quite the adventure getting here yesterday. Itś beautiful, but expensive...

EDIT (11/08/2006):
Someone in an online community recently asked a question regarding safety in Bosnia, which got me thinking. As I thought back to my trip, I remembered something noteworthy that I (perhaps intentionally?) left out at the time: Shortly before I arrived in Sarajevo, someone bombed the grave of President Izetbegovic (the first president of BiH) in Kovaci cemetery. According to the story I heard while in Sarajevo, a grenade was placed on the grave and later exploded. I believe no one was injured, but the act does illustrate that things remain in a delicate balance in the former-Yugoslavia.

Even still, I would return to BiH in a heartbeat...

Biding my time...

Well, I'm back in Budapest. I caught the night train from Brasov and met three interesting (and chatty) Venezuelan travellers. Two had some kind of dual EU citizenship; one had only Venezuelan citizenship and had a bit of a hard time at border crossings. The border police (both Romanian and Hungarian) required a secondary form of identification and the Romanian side pressed him hard to find out whether he was transporting cocaine, heroin, or guns across the border. (I wondered to cheekily to myself whether anyone's ever been dumb enough to answer "yes" to those kinds of questions... Hmm...)

Anyway, I'm exhausted and will be spending the day here before making my way to the Deli-pu rail station and taking the night train to Sarajevo. The ticket was more expensive than I anticipated, but still not too bad by U.S. standards. The kicker is that there are apparently no couchettes on the train, so it's just a 2nd class seat from 17:40-05:40ish. Oooh, fun. At least there are no train changes, though... (However, the more I ride the train, the more I realize I'm not a big fan; there's a level of convenience, yes, but I'd still rather not take the train if I have my choice.)

In the "file under strange" category, last night in Piata Sfatului (the main tourist square in old Brasov), there was a guy with a synthesizer set up playing ambient music reminescient of Hearts of Space. Across the square, however, there was an English-speaking Bible thumper yelling at the Romanians about the souls and about "being ready"--when I guaratee that most of the old Romanians hanging out in the square couldn't be a word of English. It's strange the lengths some people will go to; I just don't understand proselytism on an intimate level.

Query to self: I wonder how many times I can nod off at the computer before I wind up face down in my keyboard... ;0

Black Church, Bach, and Goodbyes...

Last night, I went to an organ concert in the Black Church (which has a 4000-pipe organ). It only cost 4RON - less than $1.50 USD - for a 1hr concert. The acoustics were fantastic, and I thought a lot about how my father would probably love to be with me as I sat there listening to Bach's Fugue in C Major, amongst other things. For me, that was the highlight of my time in Romania. Simple, but meaningful.

Today, however, is my last day in Romania...and, though, I've enjoyed my time, I'm ready to go. I leave on the night train back to Budapest and then have to decide whether I'm spending a few hours in Budapest before heading down to Sarajevo on another night train, or whether I'm going to make a little day trip to Pecs and then take the night train from there. I think it'll just depend on how tired I am when I get into Budapest in the morning...

I've met several people in the last 2 days, though, who've recently been to Sarajevo and loved it; that's encouraging. I'm really looking forward to it.

Small Doses of Irony

Brasov has a sign like the Hollywood sign. Today, I took the tram up to see the sights (rather than hike up 1.5hrs of oddly marked Romanian trails - I was tired after being up until ~2:30am). The city panorama wasn't that exciting, but it did illustrate that Brasov is larger than I thought it was. On the back side of the hill, though, was beautiful scenary - just mountains and a small lake with the sun streaming through and lighting up the hillside. I also hiked about some trails that, again, reminded me very much of Oregon. (Yes, I found my obligatory path shot...)

The irony comes into play when I ran into a couple I recognized from the hostel while waiting from the tram. We chatted in the tram on the way down and decided to have lunch. At lunch, I discovered that both partners were Polish sociologists (i.e. Master's students studying political sociology). We had some very interesting conversations, regarding their personal experience and sociological perspective w.r.t. the fall of communism in Poland and the changes thereafter. For me, being interested in sociology of religion, I was most interested to learn that, during the communist era in Poland, religiosity was far greater than after the fall of communism because the Catholic church was at odds with the communist regime (and, apparently, 99% of Polish people are Catholic basically from birth); after the fall of communism, however, people (particularly young people) apparently feel less need or motiviation to maintain comparable levels of religiosity.

Food for thought, that little tidbit...

It was also interesting to learn that sociology is apparently a very common discipline in Poland... ;-)

A Day of Castles and Ruins...

Today was a bit of a whirlwind: Rasnov citadel (partial ruins), Bran castle (aka Dracula's castle, but not really), and Peles castle. Again, Romania has surprised me by being nothing like I expected....

We drove through forests sprinkled with debris from campers and general ramblers, saw gypsie caravans, buildings in all state of disarray (as I've seen all over Romania, thus far)...and then we encounter the amazingly ornate Peles castle. It really doesn't make sense. It's rather like some churches throughout Europe, where all the local wealth went to build something magnificent, while all the locals are struggling to survive...and I do mean survive.

I'm sure I could've done the same kind of trip by myself via bus/train, but it really was nice to sit back and have someone else lead the way for a bit.

I was absolutely stunned by a section of the Carpathian mountains near Sinaia. Breathtaking. Romania is beautiful, and full of contrast. I'm still not quite sure what to make of it. At times, it seems like I could be driving through Oregon or northern New Mexico (e.g. Angel Fire); at other times, it seems a world away.

First thoughts on Romania...

I took the night train from Budapest to Sighisoara on Friday night. We were supposed to arrive in Sighisoara at 9:20am, but that didn't happen... When I got on the train around 11:30pm, the car was completely full (save me) w/five other couchette passengers all in the dark having come in from Vienna. I had to make my way in the dark to the top bunk - with no ladder. Then, in the early morning, the train hit a car on the train tracks and we were delayed for several hours. (The car was decimated and strewn over ~1mi. I didn't feel anything, but shortly before we stopped, I saw another car at a crossing do a fast reverse (burning rubber), so I assume that the car that was hit had to be in from of it or something.) Regardless, I made it to Sighisoara safe and sound, thanks to some nice Romanian folks who helped me find the right station - since they don't call them out and, really, they all look the same anyway.

Sighisoara...wasn't what I expected. I'm not really sure what I expected, but, not what I found. I stayed in an old hostel in the citadel (Burg Hostel), saw the clocktower, saw the house where Vlad Tepes lived in his youth, saw a funky old cemetary - but it really wasn't all that impressive.

That said, the hostel was nice (w/an awesome bathroom) and it had a cheap restaurant attached, so I decided to be a bum and stay for 2 nights. (Believe it or not, I could get a tasty vegetarian pizza, like the amount of 2-3 slices, and a good beer for less than the equivalent of $3.)

Today, I am in Brasov. (Again, thankfully, some nice Romanian folks helped me find the right stop - and Brasov actually has a station, compared to the little "nothing" that Sighisoara has...) I lucked out and got the last bed in the hostel - so, yea me! I took a bus from the train station, and managed to find the hostel and not get pick-pocketed - which is supposedly quite a feat. Tomorrow, I'm going on a guided tour w/the hostel to some local castles. It's 60RON for gas, plus ~21RON for entrance fees - but it'll be worth it not to have to figure out all the transport, etc.

I've booked a train back to Budapest for Friday night, and will then try to make my way down to Sarajevo via Pecs.

More later...

A Magyar Mass

Well, today is my last day in Budapest. I'm sad to leave it behind because it's really grown on me; however, I'm also looking forward to the next part of this adventure. I just hope that the night train to Sighisoara isn't too much of a hassle. At least my hostel is holding my backpack for free until tonight, so I don't have to lug it around all day before I catch my train. That's definitely a good thing...

Yesterday, I spent a good part of the day just relaxing before making my way back to the cave church for another look. As it turns out, I arrived right before the start of Mass. So, I stayed for Mass and listened to the Magyar prayers, songs and sermon echo against the contours of the cave. Very powerful. What also interested me was that the perishioners were all women - so you had the voice of the (male) priest and the prayers of women floating up to Christ on the cross in the half light of the cave. Interesting. Other than "Christos" and "Hallelujah", I didn't understand a word of what was said - and, yet, I did.

I really didn't know how I would be received, as I was an obvious outsider, but the women welcomed me since I was there at the beginning and stayed quietly and respectfully. (Of course, I had to politely excuse myself from receiving the sacrament, but I think they understood that as well.) For me, it's things like this that will encapsulate Budapest in my memory...as well as some things that come across quite nicely without translation:

"Oh my god, I thought I lost my keys!"
"There's no toilet paper. Here, I have a tissue in my purse - would you like it?"

Next stop: Romania

Universality, and Past Meeting Future

Yesterday was the first day of full sun since I arrived. I went to the local Hungarian marketplace - which was quite interesting. It's in a huge, old, colorful building and dedicates the main floor of the building to assorted meats and veggies, and the second floor of the build to textiles and souvenirs of assorted types. I took a photo of an interesting animal skull hung on a wall that reminded me distinctly of growing up in New Mexico. Perhaps it shouldn't, but finding all the similarities between places I've lived and Budapest really surprises me. We really aren't as different as we sometimes think.

I also went to an old cave church perched on a cliff overlooking the Danube. I sat in the chapel for a good long while just soaking it in, and looking at Jesus on the cross and the Sacred Heart of Mary. I think, personally, this was probably the most "real" church I've ever been in. Period. Very powerful, and very much a feeling of universality. I think the nature lovers and devout Christians would both have to agree on that point. It was a beautiful mixture of both sentiments.

I finally got to visit the baths, as well - at least the Gellert baths that are touted as "like bathing in a cathedral". It was an interesting experience, not altogether without confusion as I tried to figure out where to go, where to change and store my bag, etc. There was a swimming pool, a hot tub type pool, a wave pool outside, and a thermal bath outside. It was nice and very relaxing, but I didn't think it as fabulous as all the guide books make it out to be. (Then again, guide books are frequently crap.) I also had to laugh at the wave pool; everyone thought it was fantastic but, for me, it was a sad excuse for real ocean waves. Oh well - all in the eye of the beholder, I suppose.

While roaming about the Citadel at sunset, I took a photo of some children playing on old Soviet-era stationary machine guns. It was a very bizarre juxtaposition of past and future that I couldn't resist. It also reminded me a bit of when I used to climb on the cannons in the park when I was growing up, myself.

Today is the first day of Sziget and the vibe of the city has changed somewhat since so many people have recently arrived in town for it. I haven't decided definitively whether I'll try going tomorrow or not (Ministry is playing - 1day ticket is ~26EUR). It sounds like fun but, at the same time, I'm not sure that I want to deal with throng of crazy young people. I've been have a thoroughly enjoyable time without that kind of thing...

Live: From Budapest

Where to begin? First off, I'm enamoured w/Budapest, but more on that later... Also, apologies for any disconnect; I'm just trying to type this quickly in an internet cafe that I found for the bargain price of 100HUF/hr (i.e. $0.50/hr)...

In Transit
On the plane to Frankfurt, I sat next to a Serbian woman named Mira who fed me giant cherries from her home in Kansas. Mira and her husband have been living in Kansas for ~20yrs, but they honeymooned in Croatia (near Split) ~26yrs ago and she was very excited that I was going there. The interesting part of our "single-serving friendship" was that she referred to herself as Yugoslavian, rather than Serbian, because when she left the country it still was Yugoslavia--whereas today "Yugoslavian" is somewhat of a put down. Fascinating how times, perspectives and politic change.

Arrival and Exploration
Everyone has always asked me "Why Budapest?", but it's just someplace I've always wanted to come. I was writing poetry about the Danube 15yrs ago, so it seemed natural and expected (to me) that I'd wind up here one day. And...I was right. Budapest really is amazing. It's actually two cities (Buda and Pest) that have combined to form one and has everything you could possibly imagine (a city of ~2million people, plenty of greenery, and a river running through town), but with a lovely dash of Eastern flavor. My first thoughts upon arriving from the airport were that Budapest could easily be someplace in Oregon, or someplace in Indiana; it's that green.

I've decided to take my time and spend my week in Hungary only in Budapest so that I really get a taste of it, and don't run myself ragged. So far, I've had no need to make use of the subway, trams, or buses; my hostel is centrally located within a few miles of most everywhere, so I've just been walking. The weather has been questionable (i.e. periodically rainy and chilly), but it's been a welcome change from the heat wave in California...and I did live in Oregon once upon a time, so it really hasn't bothered me.

The Danube is, for me, spectacular. Yes, it's dirty and you certainly wouldn't want to touch it (i.e. no Waters of the World from here), but there's still something about it. The current is so strong that it actually has small waves crash off the bridge pylons. I've been able to cross three on the bridges on foot thus far (including a wknd where the Chain Bridge was completely closed to traffic for a pedestrian street fair). I've gotten to see fireworks over the Danube, rainbows over the Parliament, and all kinds of interesting things. (Yes, I'm taking pictures, but I don't plant to upload anything until I get back home and have the time.)

I bought my train ticket to Transylvania (Sighisoara, to be specific). It leaves Friday night at 23:10, and I reserved a couchette so I could get a least a little rest; I just didn't want to spring for the addt'l cost of a sleeper car. Interestingly, the lady was nice and booked me a return ticket because it was cheaper than a one-way ticket. At least that's what she said ;) I still need to figure out how to read the ticket, but I've got a few days yet to work that out.. (Hungarian, a Finno-Ugric language, is difficult not only to speak but to read--and they do all kinds of things, like train tickets, by hand to a certain degree.) Now I just need to book a hostel for a couple nights...or maybe wait until I arrive, not sure.

There's been an interesting mix of cultures, too. I've heard a live cover of the Red Hot Chili Peppers "Under the Bridge", and even hung out and listened to some Native American flute musicians playing in a park the other night while looking out at the Danube and Castle Hill all lit up and spectacular. It's small things like this that make me smile and know that I'm doing what I need to be doing.

Two noteworthy items: Hungarians love carbonated water. (I didn't get the tip about the pink-topped bottles being the more American spring water for a few days. Interesting.) Traffic in Budapest is insane. Lots of screeching brakes; being a pedestrian is sometimes dangerous.

It's funny that's it's been only a week since I left California, but all my worries back home seem soooo far away. That's a good thing.

Until the next time I'm able to sign on...

Next Stop: Budapest

Today is my last day of work for the next two months. Mmmm, two months. That really has a nice ring to it if I do say so, myself. I'm almost not able to mentally process having so much free time on my hands, though. It's strange, but in our resoundingly capitalist, progress-oriented society, giving ourselves permission to do things completely against the grain (e.g. taking personal time when you need it) can be a really non-trivial thing.

It is the beginning of the harvest season, though. I suppose there is no small irony that my new journey begins now...

EDIT: There's also no small irony that today I received my 5yr anniversary award at work - a globe-shaped "crystal" candy dish, with the world (i.e. all the continents) and my name etched into it.

"Wheel's Up" @ 8:30am tomorrow.