Day 15: On to Austria and the Opera

Leaving Budapest, we hop on the train again and make our way to Vienna, or Wien, Austria. Once again the train ride is a much needed rest or break, because we have done a very good job of hitting up each city and taking full advantage of our time there. Budapest seemed to exceed our expectations, at least it did for me. Not knowing much about the city, we did not know what we were getting into, but ended up we had an amazing time! The people are kind, the city beautiful, and the food exquisite!! We have heard good things about Vienna and are looking forward to what the city may hold.


The Austrian countryside and farmland on the train ride.





Good to see my friends like the bring icing to Europe.
Great way to start off the day. Good Lord those things are gross.
Thanks Phil!!







We arrive in Vienna a little later than we had planned due to a train delay of a couple of hours. A little upset and worn out, we get to the hostel, called Wombats, and get settled in. Luckily the four of us have a room to ourselves so we can relax a little easier. After a quick shower and changing of clothes, we push through and hit the town. Making our way to the Old Town of Vienna, we make it to the central square, which is the site of the old cathedral of the city. Luckily a free tour allowed us inside, where you can see from this picture just how beautiful it was.




An image of the sunset gleaming on the side of the Vienna Cathedral









A major experience we were told to partake in while in Vienna is its opera house, to go see a live opera. I'm not gonna lie, I was a little weary of this because one, I have never been to an opera, and two, it is not usually my cup of tea. Don't get me wrong, I love music and I love the power music has on people, but for reasons some of you may understand, opera music is not at the top of my list of concerts I want to see. But hey! When in Vienna right?? Trying to engulf ourselves in all types of culture on this trip, we gave it a shot, and let me tell you, it was great! We arrived right at intermission and got standing room tickets for only 3 euro a piece! Can't find a better deal. One thing that I really enjoyed during the concert was the building itself. Very large and very old that is a magnificent view. Here is a couple of videos within the opera house.

Video: opera intro

Video: opera live




A picture of the four of us outside of the opera house after the show.





After the concert we walked around the Old Town, getting to see how the city nightlife was. The buildings and their lighting was beautiful.







So far we are really enjoying Vienna as you can probably tell. Time to get some rest for a full day of sightseeing tomorrow.


Recent opera connoisseur,

Scott



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Location:Vienna, Austria

Day 14: Exploring Budapest

Author: Ketan



We spent most of the day walking around Buda then we hit up the other half, Pest. Brief history lesson Budapest wasn't always one city. As we walked around the city we searched for the highest parts of the city so we could get a good view of the divisions of the past.


In the morning for breakfast we found a market. The picture above is a hotdog that Phill got. All the stuff we got was about that size. Akin got a burger about the size of this head ( hair included haha)

At the top this hill we were able to see the division between the cities. The view from the top was definitely worth the climb up.









The two pictures directly above show us and the amazing view behind us from the highest point we climbed too.


Here is a picture of Daniel loading up to take a few pot shots at Buda from Pest.







The weather was not on our side most of the day. We had to take cover a few times to get out of the rain. As we walked away from hills we had climbed we looked back and say a few clouds open up. Scott was able to get a good shot of this statue of an eagle with the clouds opening up behind it.

After a fun night out we learned that capacity limits in elevators aren't just a recommendation.

Video: elevator

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Location:Budapest, Hungary

Day 13: Spa Day

Author: Ketan




The baths of Hungry. The picture above shows a shot of the famous baths we visited. We heard about this place from a few of the locals. After the biking in the Alps a day in the spa is just what we needed.

Video: intro to baths




We spent a good bit of time exploring different area's of the baths. The out side was pretty much a pool and place to sun bath. Which i think Ketan got the most use out of. The baths within the buildings were temperature controlled so we would leave a sauna that was around the boiling point and then jump into a pool just above freezing. After a few hours of jumping from bath to bath we all got massages.

Video: whirlpool









This was the walk to the baths.


This monument was located out side of the park leading to the bath.

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Location:Budapest, Hungary