Hungary-Austria-Czech Republic (3 countries, 6 days)

Budapest, Hungary

The road (train tracks) to Budapest were long… 9+ hours actually. I met a Hungarian, Jimmy, who shared the cabin… I would soon tell him that I was ravenous and that I hadn’t prepared for such a long treacherous journey. The train that we were in should have retired 40 years ago, the heat from outside maintained a constant simmer in the cabin. I was thankful that my sweat glands were over producing for once.

Jimmy is in his twenties and after getting to know me; revealed that he had bought two sandwiches (I called them sandwiches; they were actually hot dogs, tucked inside some fancy pastry). I told him that he shouldn’t have told me, and that I was going to knock him out and take them both. He laughed and ended up sharing his lunch with me… something that I had done earlier that day with someone else (great meeting you Proffa). I threw my last bottle of Santorini wine in the mix… it tasted a little less than stellar… but the buzz made the constant train stops and delays bearable.

Budapest was very enjoyable to see… Jimmy was nice enough to show me a fun night out, which included the local hangouts and a bit of site seeing. We walked into a club at some point that evening and I was ready to visit the toilet… I asked someone where the bathroom was as soon as we walked in… I got a finger point… Jimmy led… we walked into a dimly lit room and saw four stalls with doors semi open. Confused as Jimmy walked into one… I said where is the toilet? He was confused as well, then he started laughing, the expression he made was that of a person that was just caught with their “hand” in the cookie jar. He said, “I don’t think this is the toilet!”

“What?” I said. I walked in as he passed… there were oval shaped holes on both walls. Lol!! For shizzle. Ummm… that’s a first. I slowly walked towards the exit, imagining what kind of mischief hanky-panky went on in a room like that… people were laughing as we came out. “The toilet is over there” they said. Silly rabbits.

The next day I spent walking through the cities of Buda and Pest which are separated by the Danube river. I saw something that looked like a castle built into a cliff. I discovered that it was actually a church that was built into a cave (not like the bat cave)… pretty stunning actually… no photos allowed inside.

I really enjoyed seeing all the monuments and colossal churches. I hiked through a park, thinking I was just going to cut across it to reach a bridge that I had seen from a distance… but no… these dumb trails lead me higher and higher up a mountain… being stubborn, I didn’t want to turn around and back track… the sun was beating down… only igniting my anger and stubbornness… I was determined to win. Less than half an hour later I would land the most spectacular views of the city and what would be a major tourist spot. Who knew?

Lastly, I met someone that had gone to a bar and started making out with a cute girl… he had a button style closure on his pants back pocket. After the not so brief make out session… he realized the button had come loose…. or had it? Miss cutie ended up walking away with 150 Euros ($197)… not bad for a few meaningless kisses. Maybe I’m in the wrong business?

Budapest… where tiny little kisses cost big money.

Vienna, Austria

What an amazingly clean city… right away the city seemed very similar to London. I like the trams… they remind me of the old movie “Robocop.” The crosswalks have sensors on them like at the base of a garage door… if you break the laser beam… it triggers. So sophisticated. My only complaint…. The city blocks are like Las Vegas city blocks. ENORMOUS. I was looking at a map… like in every city… thinking, oh I can just walk, it’s a short distance… apparently the map that I was looking at was not to scale. Haha. Three blocks took 15+ minutes!! Eff that noise.

Saw a few museums at the Museum Quarter (MQ)… walked around a bit and was over it. I saw something quite interesting… bike rentals… you walk up to a kiosk… throw in your card and the bike is released… you can leave it at another rental location… it’s all automated… brilliant. Why didn’t I see this before I covered the city with my footprints?  I didn’t have anymore hoodspa in me for a bike rental… I was only in Vienna one day… Prague was calling.

Vienna… rent a bike.

Prague,Czech Republic

I met some people from Southern England that arrived at the same time as me. Two young lads that seemed to be over traveling together… I thought, at least I don’t have to deal with somebody that wants to act up… but perhaps I’d rather be playing off someone while traveling, then experiencing the adventure alone… safer and cheaper… so much cheaper when you are a 1+1,2,3,4.

“Why are you traveling alone?” they asked. In every country that question comes up… so I’m asking YOU PEOPLE…. WHY AM I TRAVELING ALONE? I’m tired of making up excuses. I tell people, my friends are broke, they hate to travel, couldn’t get time off cause they love their jobs, they are busy with families and functions, or are hermit crabs, or because I don’t have any friends, cause I am really shy, and I have a dead personality. Bah.

It’s all good. Trust. I am meeting really great people and when we vibe… the hours and activities are countless together. It’s an intense meeting of energies, all elevated due to the new surroundings. We are blended, shaken, and stirred with the passion for travel, enjoying one’s life, and most importantly having as much fun in the moment as possible. I have finally found my new hobby. I want to be surrounded by wanderlusts… and currently, I’m submerged.

Prague, or Praha, as everyone calls it, was a little gloomy the second day I was there to site see… it made for some interesting pictures. I had received an email from Cartier that mentioned that the Prague Castle was holding and exhibit of Cartier treasures. My heart began to vibrate at the thought of being at the right place in the world at the right time… I suppose this is why I’m here… to work. This is perfect to give me ideas for the future of this website.

Louis Cartier created (Christmas music is suddenly coming through my Ipod – I’m dreaming of a White Christmas… you know… it’s the little things that really make the moments in life.) as I was saying, while I’m floating through the country side of France, en route to Paris for the weekend, in my empty first class train sectional. Why isn’t someone here enjoying all the worlds’ silly beauty with me? Come on people… you got to dream and believe in yourself. You CAN have EVERYTHING you want. We are taught through schooling to think linearly… A-to-B. Enough with the… you have to work hard your whole life in order to get what you want and to be happy. I have never gotten anything I wanted by following those rules. Work hard to be on 4 different soap operas/countless shows? Work hard to land reality TV?… to  mingle with billionaires… private planes… exotic destinations…to build some amazing friendships… to have so many incredible experiences… to travel. You create your reality… mine caresses chaos at times… but, I’m never bored… and never stressed. I *ucking love my life. I hope that you can say the same. Break the box and make your own shape.

I could go on with excitement… but let’s get back to all the Cartier diamonds… I didn’t expect my eyes to feast on such a collection. Case after case of jewelry created beginning in the early 1900’s. Mostly made up of pieces that were created by special request that adorned Kings, Queens, the Rothchilds, the Vanderbuilts, and countless socialites and movie stars. Of course Elizabeth Taylor had a few pieces in the collection, she is quoted saying, “Money is not the only thing in life, there are furs and jewelry too.” Good girl… she gets it.

Two of my favorite pieces in the collection were inspired by the Mexican actress Maria Felix. She was always covered in expensive jewelry, but never Cartier. Being very well known for her extravagance, Cartier wanted her to wear his jewelry. Felix commissioned Cartier to create a necklace that looked like a snake, and if it looked worthy, she would wear it. The design was created and thousands of diamonds were added to create the snakes’ body. Felix was so impressed; she had Cartier create another necklace in the form of two crocodiles. These pieces are said to look like they come alive when they are held in your hand… we love Cartier crocodiles.

“There isn’t a bigger victory than when I bought a jewel for myself,” Maria Felix.

I should end there… but there was another occurrence of “When Gypsies Attack.” One of the Southern boys that I had met was walking with two girls… three gypsies approach him… “you talk English? It sounds so nice… say something, say something in English.”

“Go away,” he said.

Gypsy #1 plunges her hand down his back pocket… he throws her arm away and begins yells obscenities too good to write here. Gypsies #2 & #3 lunge for a girls purse… they all defend each other and the gypsies scurry back into the night.

Prague… Go to the Cartier exhibit and pretend to not speak the English.