Wednesday, June 27, 2012 | Budapest, Hungary

Two days in Vienna make Prague feel like a dream that I just woke up from and can't quite remember the details of. And now that we've made it to Budapest, I better write down everything before I forget it.

We met Alex, an unstable, intransiet yet incredibly sophisticated 24-year-old Australian girl in our room. We also met Catherine, a 25-year-old girl who graduated Harvard, has traveled most continents, works as a strategy developer for Teach for America, and actually planned--in advance--to go to the opera every night she stayed in Vienna. She came with us to the Imperial Treasury today to look at the unbearable amount of wealth the emperor used to wear, physically, on his body, made out of every precious stone and material imaginable. In terms of tourist sites, Aurite and I also made it to the Kunts...er, Museum of Fine Art today and the Belvedere Palace yesterday. The architecture in Vienna is unbelievably gorgeous, well-planned and clearly intended for royalty. Not to mention the art inside those buildings, which is world renowned.

But the highlight was unquestionably the opera. Six hours of standing--two in line, four at our standing-room-only seats at the back of the opera house--were worth it. We saw Don Carlo, an Italian opera written by Giuseppe Verdi. It was brilliant. The storyline partially resembled a Shakespearean tragedy. The music was beautiful, really extraordinary and intensified each charscter's personality so that a soliloquy, for example, was more than just acting or introducing a scene or a conflict. These offered such personality, such emotion--I've never seen theater like this before in my life. I realize I'm so lucky to have been to the opera in Vienna, the city of music! And afterward, we enjoyed a glass of wine and a chocolate torte at Cafe Museum, a famous cafe for artists and intellectuals two blocks away from the Opera House. So there, I got my (seems to be newly acquired) desire for food culture in Vienna.

I would be remiss not to mention Memo, our new friend from the Naschmarkt who made us delicious falafel sandwiches (twice), especially with his curry hummus. The falafel itself could have been better, but he basically saved us A LOT of money in a city we thought would really bite our wallets.

Actually, so far Budapest is doing a pretty great job of biting my wallet. I got pretty ripped off in the train station and dinner was pricey, but at least we got some free beer and relaxation. I can already tell Budapest is my kind of place. Mostly because it was a pretty gloomy arrival to the train station, no hope for directions or English-speaking people. But I figured out how to read the map and find the names of the streets in different districts and change money (rffffffff) and we made it after awhile. I hope to give serious tourism a break here. So does Aurite. I think we deserve it.

Oh, but Budapest being my city. Here is why: It is complicated. It is hospitable. It is full of people dressed in some alternative style. It has a dirty subway. And everyone seems to love Budapest, drink outdoors while watching the Euro Cup. So far, so good.

I find myself starting to appreciate the company of friends more and more. I do wish I could bring certain people on this trip (my mom to Prague, dad to Vienna, Maddie to Budapest, Wajida everywhere) and have them appreciate these parts of the world and watch them experience life transformations like I am. But that's the point of keeping a journal (because I am keeping a handwritten journal, primarily, of course)--to remind myself that I need to let them know I'm thinking of them and that in my heart I really would love to be with them in this part of the world!

Now it seems like everything is going to work out. Time is passing quickly, but in a very different way than I'm used to. Today is June 27. In a week and a half, we will be, G-d willing, in the Julian Alps, in Bled, Slovenia. Before that, we will take a very complicated trip to Krakow on a very dubious bus route called Orange Ways. It is really a unique feeling to be able to Just Go Places. Because anybody can just go places, but to rid yourself of all restraint and realize that, yes, the world is indeed within your reach, especially if you have a computer and a book and YOU KNOW IT'S POSSIBLE. This feels really, really good. This must be what they mean by "tripping."

Monday, June 25, 2012 | Vienna, Austria

I definitely love being a traveler today. Maybe it's because I love cities, or maybe I'm just starved for some international personality. But today I discovered how well I enjoy the "backpacker," who usually seems to

• be generous (e.g. the random American in Prague's main train station who gave me all his leftover Czech crows for a baguette)
• be easygoing. Everybody has a plan, but plans aren't stressful. Plans are exciting. Also, places do not define the backpacker--especially the solo travelers. Each has his/her own life and means of self-definition. And everyone is naturally curious about everyone else.
• be excited in the short-term. It's hard not to be!

Vienna is a place of power. Its architecture is like a hidden secret from everyone in America. I don't know what turns people off--the German language, the nonwestern-European location--but all the preconceptions of "there's nothing to do here!" are wrong. I am fairly certain I will wake up tomorrow and continue to look at our city in amazement.

We met two Irish travelers on the train from Prague. They are blond 19-year-olds, a boy and a girl and they are dating. They seem to be spending almost as much time in transit as they are visiting cities. It's actually been wonderful to understand traveling and Europe through their perspective, since they are more excited to be spending time with each other than anything else, and these cities are almost silly/fun/thrilling backdrops for their time together. Their names are Kathy and Graham. They never heard of falafel until today.

Sunday, June 24, 2012 | Prague, Czech Republic

I have considered the following concepts over the past few days:

1. I am going to be a religious woman. No more denying this one. It's important and it's who I am.
2. Accidentally stumbling upon beauty (the Rose Garden, especially) reminds me of my mom.
3. I truly am terrified of going to Poland. (No more denying that one, either.)
4. Whether I am making mistakes by denying any of the three aforementioned concepts. It begins to hurt more and more when I do because I know myself so well now. 22 wasn't supposed to feel this old, man. Maybe this is what maturity really represents: not coming to terms with who you are, but allowing yourself to decide, think, and express to others the honest truths of your mind and self.

Anyway, we booked our hostel in Krakow about 30 minutes ago, so now I have to deal with THAT reality. I am going to Poland. Again.

Time to pray.

Here is the list of things we did:
Friday:

• Old New Synagogue. This is one of the holiest places I've ever been to. The Golem's upstairs, technically. The women have to watch through holes in the wall, but that's not what makes it holy...
• Pinkas Synagogue (a memorial to Czech Jews who died in the Holocaust) and the cemetery. The Mahar'al was buried there. It felt very close to the foundations of spirituality and mysticism.
• Klausen and Meisel Synagogues
• Spanish Synagogue. We went to kabbalat shabbat here. It was exactly what I needed, but it left me wanting so much more. I need to go to more synagogues in Eastern Europe, as many as I can. It is, after all, a half-continent of holiness. (Holiness caused by death, perhaps, but a place exuding the strength of pure souls nonetheless.)
• We also saw the Church of Our Lady Before Tyn and the Bethlehem Church.
• Watched a wedding photo shoot by the Charles Bridge.
• Amazing vegetarian dinner (Maitrea - thank you Ilana Sidorsky)
• Karlovy Lazne. This was Pachanga. At least I can say I went.

Saturday:

• Mala Strana, the lesser town. It's a park, mostly.
• We walked up to Petrin Tower and saw the whole city.
• Then we walked back down the hill and discovered the United Islands international music festival on Kampa Island in the middle of the Vlatva River. We saw O Children (a band from England?) and a dubstep duo that made use of a trombone and one band that did a decent job imitating 80s music. Best part of Prague, hands down.
• At night we went to Chapeau Rouge and met a Czech guy and a Russian guy. They were very nice, and they walked us home. They made good company, but as we see, meeting good company while traveling doesn't necessarily mean friends forever. We never saw them again.

Sunday:

• We had breakfast at Bohemian Bagels.
• We saw St. Vitus' Cathedral, the old royal palace--in which we saw up close and personal the ACTUAL WINDOW of the DEFENSTRATION (i.e., what really made Prague famous)--St. George's Basilica and the Golden Lane. We saw some house Franz Kafka lived in, but it was rather anti-climactic and fixed for tourists.
• We also saw the TGM statue of Prague's first president!
• Rented a boat on the Vlatva. I looked for my grandpa's socks, but could not find them. The water is not the cleanest...
• The John Lennon wall was pretty cool. Anytime everybody feels a right to a single public space, the result seems to be so colorful. I guess that's because everyone is entitled to a favorite color.

Thursday, June 21, 2012 | Prague, Czech Republic

I am finding it tremendously difficult to process this city, mostly because I am gaping in awe most of the time I'm walking around. What would we do if we never came here, if we spent our summer in New York instead? Beauty is a full-body experience. It's not just that you have to see it to believe it; you have to be in it.

Today was also the first time I almost missed a flight. I guess Geneva had a lot of missed experiences: boarding the plane to Prague in the middle of a huge, lush forest, flying through the Alps, turkey and cucumber sandwiches. Oh well, I was sleeping. But after seeing much of this city today, I don't really care too much.

Here is Aurite's list of what we did today:

• Fred and Ginger! (the dancing buildings from the Wall Street Journal) Thanks, Grandmother!
• Charles Bridge
• Another Bridge (NOT the Most Legii, the other one before that)
• Ate pasta at a caffe in Nove Mestro (New Town)
• Weceslas Square
• Watched Czech Republic vs. Portugal soccer game - a Eurocup semifinal qualifying match (maybe?) - at an English pub
• Old Town Square. That was crazy though because it was packed with sad, drunk Czechs who just watched their soccer team lose on a huge screen in the middle of the city. Also, we got to see the Astronomical Clock Tower lit up at night, which made a wonderful contrast with the wild under-30 crowd.

After spending so much time trying to plan and organize six weeks' worth of travel, I am finding it impossibly overwhelming to think about anything except tomorrow. We have so much to absorb here.