Starting with Rome, it seems as if Italians are very fast paced. Everything was go, go, go. We never stopped during our days, but then at night it felt as is life was in slow motion. We didn't eat dinner until 9pm or 10pm everyday, had a glass of wine, and then stayed up until midnight or so. Then we would get up and do it all again. Every shop and restaurant that we passed by always had people in them and the owners would stand outside and want you to come in. The currency in Italy is the euro, which is approximately 1.14 dollars. It was very easy for us to convert quickly in our heads and figure out how much we were spending for our lunch. Food in Italy was always carbs. If we didn't have a giant linguine dish, we were eating pizza. And we always had to top it off with good Italian wine.
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| Colosseum in Rome...it was raining. |
From wine country, I went to the Czech Republic (duh). Life in Olomouc seems much simpler. As everyone has told me, Olomouc is most definitely a college town. The weekends are pretty quiet, but during the week, you can see almost every pub and cafe full of people studying or drinking (or both). Something that I've noticed here is that nobody seems happy when just walking down the street. Everything is black and white and there's really no spontaneity or joy during the day. However, if you put a pivo (beer) in a Czech's hand, they instantly light up and the problems fade and the smiles appear. Currency in the Czech Republic is the koruna (pronounced /crown/). The math is pretty easy here too (25 korunas is equal to 1 dollar). So we have bigger denominations of bills and it felt weird handing over a 50 koruna coin for a glass of wine, but we have gotten used to it. Food in the Czech is always very heavy. It seems as if everything is fried or soaked in grease. Schnitzel or fried cheese (or both) are both popular dishes. Wash it down with a beer, and you have a traditional Czech meal.
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| Olomouc with traditional food. Courtesy of Kassidy |
And, finally, this weekend, we ventured to Budapest for a little getaway. We had some problems getting there with our train tickets, but nevertheless we made it! Throughout the trip, it seemed as if our group was not having any fun and just hated everything about the "City of Senses", but I really enjoyed my time there. Our hostel was very....different. But we powered through. It was called a party hostel, and I can see why. Lots of drinking and smoking, but I thought it was a unique experience that I will probably never get to do again. Budapest is most definitely a party town. If you don't want to sleep, this is the city for you. We got up and went to all the big attractions, and then the city lit up at night (both with lights and with drunk people). Everything in Hungary was centered around when you were going to eat next or when you were going to drink next. Food in Hungary was exquisite. We ate in the markets and had street food most of the time, but it was so good. I can see why Hungary is the third most obese nation now that I have had the chance to taste their cuisine. However, paying for our meal gave us a bit of a hassle sometimes. We changed currency, again, to the Hungarian forint. One dollar is equivalent to about 280 forints. We never really knew what was happening when we handed over 10,000 forints for a meal. However, we made it through, and I had a phenomenal time exploring Budapest.
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| Hungarian street food. It was essentially a savory doughnut with cheese and onions. |
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| Panorama of Budapest, from Fisherman's Bastion |
So, from Italy, to the Czech Republic, to Hungary, life can change drastically. I noticed it in the people, the currency, the food, and more. I love that I get to see all of these beautiful things and see how people really live on the other side of the world.
~Be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid or discouraged. For the LORD your god is with you wherever you go~ Joshua 1:9
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