I'm baaaaaack!!!!
I’m back! And I’m alive! And the trip went really well. Things have been interesting since I returned (my sister did $2400 worth of damage to her car the other night, which required me to drive out to the other side of the river right as I was about to collapse, and so I’m her ride until next Tuesday) and I have a bit of a cold, so coming back’s been a bit of a hazy blur. But I missed everybody while I was away! How’s tricks, my lovely f-list?
Anyway, I guess I should talk about my trip, which was wonderful. We did Prague, Vienna, Budapest, and Croatia (bouncing around for the second week like nothing else, lemme tell you). Our flights all went well, nothing was ever late and there wasn’t any waiting involved in airports beyond the normal bits.
In Prague, my awesome friend Crumby came over from France to stay with us and we wandered around the city, usually missing seeing the astronomical clock go off by about five minutes (we finally made it)! Highlights there were touring the Strahov Monastery, home of a scene from quistie’s awesome Chuck vs. the Sound of Music II, getting to watch the sunset from the top of Petrin Tower, the John Lennon Wall, and the Kafka Museum. Hilariously, none of the people I’d traveled with really knew about Kafka all too much, and the museum is very, very themed in his honor, including the “two men pissing on the Czech Republic” fountain in front of it.
So it’s possibly I scared a few of them.
Vienna was amazing and I need to go back and spend more than three days there because it all felt very rushed. The best part was getting to meet AlphaFlyer who gave us a tour of a great building and then took us out for the best Wienerschnitzel we had on the entire trip. And that’s the first time I’ve ever liked wine. I just need to be in a very specific area of Vienna to enjoy it, apparently! We went to a restaurant that made its own wine and the service was a little strange-you had to go up to the counter and order and pick up your food, but they don’t tell you this, so I’m glad Alpha was there to navigate. Plus, she had THE BEST stories. My friends were a little starstruck by her, I think.
There was also an amusing encounter with a very friendly accordion player.
On the way to Budapest, we had our only snag in the travel (and we did not find out what really happened there). Travel woes seemed to be the theme of our compartment, as we had a sleeping Australian who missed her stop in Vienna, and the train conductor wouldn’t accept our tickets (and we didn’t have enough Euros to cover the cost of new tickets, though thankfully a woman in our compartment helped us out). There was also a heavy police presence in Budapest. Even though it was gorgeous and fun to explore, between our train fiasco and the police, we were okay not staying more than a few hours.
Croatia was amazing. After walking our feet off in the other places, Lucky and I decided to take it easier in Croatia, so we just saw a couple of things in Zagreb, namely the Museum of Broken Relationships and more importantly anuna-81, who gave me an awesome mug and some chocolate that I'm eating right now. We had pizza and talked fic and she was twenty times more delightful in person than she is in online, which I didn’t think was possible, but there you go. She showed us around the neighborhood, and we definitely didn’t have enough time together AT ALL.
Oh, well, an excuse to go back to Zagreb! By the way, you two, you should raise your matching Clint and Natasha cups in a toast to each other sometime. ;)
Dubrovnik was gorgeous and probably our favorite place on the trip just because the weather was perfect, with crystal-blue skies and warm, breezy days. Plus, as you can see from the picture below, our view from the terrace at the place we were staying was AWFUL. JUST AWFUL.
Split was great, too. We were a little uncertain when the bus first pulled in, but we found some great things to do and we sat in a square beneath ancient columns in Diocletian’s palace and listened to live music both nights, and you really can’t ask for something better than that.
I’m happy to be back, even though I’m exhausted and there were several sick people sitting around us on the flight to Dubrovnik. It was a great trip, and I’m really excited because it’s mostly paid off already.
- Frea
Anyway, I guess I should talk about my trip, which was wonderful. We did Prague, Vienna, Budapest, and Croatia (bouncing around for the second week like nothing else, lemme tell you). Our flights all went well, nothing was ever late and there wasn’t any waiting involved in airports beyond the normal bits.
In Prague, my awesome friend Crumby came over from France to stay with us and we wandered around the city, usually missing seeing the astronomical clock go off by about five minutes (we finally made it)! Highlights there were touring the Strahov Monastery, home of a scene from quistie’s awesome Chuck vs. the Sound of Music II, getting to watch the sunset from the top of Petrin Tower, the John Lennon Wall, and the Kafka Museum. Hilariously, none of the people I’d traveled with really knew about Kafka all too much, and the museum is very, very themed in his honor, including the “two men pissing on the Czech Republic” fountain in front of it.
So it’s possibly I scared a few of them.
Vienna was amazing and I need to go back and spend more than three days there because it all felt very rushed. The best part was getting to meet AlphaFlyer who gave us a tour of a great building and then took us out for the best Wienerschnitzel we had on the entire trip. And that’s the first time I’ve ever liked wine. I just need to be in a very specific area of Vienna to enjoy it, apparently! We went to a restaurant that made its own wine and the service was a little strange-you had to go up to the counter and order and pick up your food, but they don’t tell you this, so I’m glad Alpha was there to navigate. Plus, she had THE BEST stories. My friends were a little starstruck by her, I think.
There was also an amusing encounter with a very friendly accordion player.
On the way to Budapest, we had our only snag in the travel (and we did not find out what really happened there). Travel woes seemed to be the theme of our compartment, as we had a sleeping Australian who missed her stop in Vienna, and the train conductor wouldn’t accept our tickets (and we didn’t have enough Euros to cover the cost of new tickets, though thankfully a woman in our compartment helped us out). There was also a heavy police presence in Budapest. Even though it was gorgeous and fun to explore, between our train fiasco and the police, we were okay not staying more than a few hours.
Croatia was amazing. After walking our feet off in the other places, Lucky and I decided to take it easier in Croatia, so we just saw a couple of things in Zagreb, namely the Museum of Broken Relationships and more importantly anuna-81, who gave me an awesome mug and some chocolate that I'm eating right now. We had pizza and talked fic and she was twenty times more delightful in person than she is in online, which I didn’t think was possible, but there you go. She showed us around the neighborhood, and we definitely didn’t have enough time together AT ALL.
Oh, well, an excuse to go back to Zagreb! By the way, you two, you should raise your matching Clint and Natasha cups in a toast to each other sometime. ;)
Dubrovnik was gorgeous and probably our favorite place on the trip just because the weather was perfect, with crystal-blue skies and warm, breezy days. Plus, as you can see from the picture below, our view from the terrace at the place we were staying was AWFUL. JUST AWFUL.
Split was great, too. We were a little uncertain when the bus first pulled in, but we found some great things to do and we sat in a square beneath ancient columns in Diocletian’s palace and listened to live music both nights, and you really can’t ask for something better than that.
I’m happy to be back, even though I’m exhausted and there were several sick people sitting around us on the flight to Dubrovnik. It was a great trip, and I’m really excited because it’s mostly paid off already.
- Frea