Krakow

I skipped Olomouc and went to Krakow. On the train, I sat next to a nice American dad and daughter from Wyoming. We talked about the collapse of the US economy and Obama vs. McCain. Having just bought my plane tickets home, it was nice talking to them. It was comforting and familiar.

I got into Krakow at about 10pm. I had two hostel addresses. I went to the first and no one answered. After 10 minutes, a guy answered and told me that the hostel had closed. Shit. So I walked to the next. It was about a mile away and I had read that it has a midnight curfew. I made it in time and got a room for $10 per night. Great deal.

I walked into a 10-bed dorm, and I was the only one in it. Great. The beds were shitty, hard bunks with dirty pillows and sheets. Whatever.

In the morning, I walked into the old town. Pretty similar to Prague. Nice buildings with loads of currency exchanges, souvenir shops, and restaurants. I decided to get out of there and visit the concentration camp at Auschwitz-Birkenau.

That was a good choice. Auschwitz was one of the highlights of my trip. And it was free. Well-preserved, and free. It must get lots of donations. I had to pay to watch the official movie, and it sucked.

The sign above the gate said “Work Brings Freedom.”

There were descriptions and photos of the tortures. People being starved to death, hung on a post with arms behind their backs, executed against the “death wall,” and four people being put in a small cell where they only have enough room to stand.

The crematory.

Birkenau was a short bus ride away. It was a huge field of barns with railroad tracks coming in.

Sorry, I had to try to take some artistic shots with my shitty camera. Barbed wire!

I decided it would be a good idea to see the Tatra mountains, so from Krakow I went to Zakopane.

Coming Home

I’ve decided to come home. I’ll be back October 17.

I was thinking a lot about trying to get to Russia, do the trans-Mongolian rail, see Mongolia, and get into China. But a few things stood in my way. The Russian visa. Complicated. The Chinese visa. Just some more money. And the Winter. This was the breaking point.

Its already cold here in Central Europe. And I caught a cold too. Russia, Mongolia, and China would be much colder. And being a traveler, I would be more exposed to the elements. I decided I should save this for another time.

I bought the ticket the other day, only 300 dollars! In the meantime, I will be seeing Poland and Ukraine, and then making it back to Germany to fly from Berlin to Dublin, then Dublin to New York, and then China bus to Philadelphia.

By the way, Prague sucked. I think it has been my least favorite place so far. It is just a tourist town. Large tour groups getting in the way. Lots of shitty photographs. Every building is either a souvenir shop, an exchange office, or a restaurant. And I dont even like Pilsner Urquell. The buildings and main bridge are nice to look at, but the city is just an empty shell. Like Venice. Big disappointment.

Maybe January would be a good time for South America.

Kutna Hora

I took a day trip to Kutna Hora.  The main reason was to see the bone church I had heard about.

I liked seeing the town.  Small and charming.  It was a good change from Prague.

Beautiful countryside.  Great colors.

I took a local bus out to the bone church.  There was a tourist couple on the same bus.  I got help from them to find the church.  The guy told me they were from France.  I was wearing my French beret so I pointed to it, and we had a laugh.  He got frustrated with himself as he struggled to remember certain English words.  “It is difficult.”  Having studied French in high school for four years, I wanted to bridge the gap and show him I knew a little French.  “Il est difficile,” I said.  They smiled.  Then I realized I should have said “C’est difficile.”  I had said “He is difficult.”  I felt like an idiot.

Later, in the bone church, I realized I was even more French than I thought.  I shared my discovery with my French friends.  I lifted up my jacket to show them my red and white stripe shirt.  That and my beret.  I was really French!  They laughed.

The bone church was cool.  It was great too to get a student discount with my old buzzcard.

Bones were used to decorate everything.  A chandelier made out of bones and skulls.  Piles of bones and skulls.

A crest made out of bone and skull.  Skulls strung together to make streamers.

More and more skulls and bones.

I have seen a lot of churches on this trip.  I stopped going to the ones that would charge admission because it ended up being just another church.  Same sculptures and murals.  It got boring.  The bone church though.  That was pretty unique.

Prague

I have heard great things about Prague. Everyone I’ve talked to has raved about it. Beautiful place. Beer. Buildings well-preserved and never bombed. People who visit end up staying. I was excited to see Prague. Ready to fall in love.

It ended up being the biggest disappointment of the trip.

I contacted a Adam, a Czech guy I met in Cappadocia, Turkey who lives in Prague. He met me at the train station and brought me to his place way out in a soviet-style block high-rise. I met his girlfriend, Zuzana.

The next morning, I went to the city and stopped first at the castle. It was nice. An ornate, old cathedral in the middle. Some other old buildings and spires. Whatever. Loads of tourists. Loads. I walked on towards the old town and across Charles Bridge. More tourists. More. Lots of strolling and wandering. Terrible photography. Interest in trinkets for sale. Convertible pants that zip away into shorts.

I came into old town. Souvenir shops. Currency exchanges. Tourist restaurants. Horse carriages. People dressed as sailors advertising boat rides. And then I hit the tour groups. This was the biggest pain in the ass. Standing in a mass, clogging up the narrow streets. The little space available to walk by was taken up by strolling tourists. Walking at their leisure. Taking it all in. Enjoying the show.

I got a feeling of emptiness in Prague. The entire old town was setup for tourists. There was no energy in the place. Only the slow bustle of tourists. It was a lot like Venice. The city is no longer functioning on its own. It’s an empty shell for vacations. Like one big hostel.

If you ever wondered what I look like naked, you can see it in bronze in Prague.

It was cold and windy. I wore my French beret and improvised a scarf from a t-shirt. I still caught a cold. This didn’t help my opinion of Prague. Asshole.

A statue in the main square of old town.

A couple of boring building shots. Not much else to do in Prague. Buildings!

I stayed a two days in Prague (with one day in Kutna Hora). At the end of each day, when I’d meet up with Adam and Zuzana, they would ask me what I did. I would have a pathetic response about how I walked around. I tried to show enthusiasm for the city, but there was nothing to do there.

One night, Adam and I went to a show. Overpriced. I had a few beers, which were pretty cheap. But I realized that I don’t even like Pilsner Urquell, the most highly regarded Czech beer. World famous. Nothing was working for me.

The food even. Pretty boring. Heavy gravy and dumplings. This was the specialty. Total shit.

Prague was a turning point for me. I wasn’t having fun, and I realized the cold would only get worse. I wanted to go to Russia to take the Trans-Mongolian through Mongolia to Beijing. I realized this was bad timing. You are more exposed to the elements when you travel. The cold in Prague was bad enough and this was only October. If I kept going, I would hit some extreme temperatures.

I decided to go home. I found some great deals on flights. ~30 euro from Berlin to Dublin, and then ~200 euro from Dublin to New York. Amazing. And this was only two weeks away. It was good timing because I still wanted to see some of Poland and Ukraine. It was a relief to buy these tickets, although I had a feeling of missed opportunity.

My stay with Adam and Zuzana was probably the best part. They lived in the outskirts in a Soviet high-rise. This is how most people live in Eastern Europe.

I left for Olomouc, Czech Republic towards Poland. The train stopped suddenly. I was told there was a suicide. A body was on the tracks. We were stuck there a couple of hours waiting for the police.

As I waited I took a MySpace self-portrait.

I got to Olomouc. I walked into the center and I had a meal. It was also a cold place and it was quiet. A weekend day. I got a bad feeling so I ran back to the train station to make the train to Krakow. I was in Olomouc for about an hour. The Czech Republic just didn’t work.

Vienna

The summary of Vienna. Grandeur. Green. Trust.

Marian had lived in Vienna for a year. He told me that I could get away with not paying for public transport. Apparently, controllers check about once per year. So I bought a ticket but I didn’t validate it. I held it, ready to use if a controller stepped in. I got it away with it. A “Three-Day Pass” for the price of one ticket.

Newspapers are distributed in bags attached to telephone poles. There’s a coin box attached where you can pay for the paper, but there’s no enforcement. It’s a system based on trust.

Possibly the greatest thing about Vienna is another system based on trust. I ate at a Pakistani restaurant. All you can eat. Pay as you wish. This was amazing. Great food. I stuffed myself and then paid 4 or 5 euros. A wiener on the street cost about 3.50. I ate here three times during my stay.

The Viennese people must be trustworthy. Public transport, newspapers, and food. All based on trust.

I stayed with Levent, a Turkish guy working in Vienna. He was great company and very generous. The Turks seem to have hospitality in their blood.

Levent had his friend, Marcel, over for dinner the first night. We talked about their idea for a website, crHappy.com. Basically, they would get vague input on what might make a specific person happy, and they would think of a creative gift and send it to that person. It was interesting for me coming from Badical Industries whose mission was to increase student happiness at Georgia Tech.

Levent showed me the CityBike system in Vienna. Another amazing system. Bike stations all over the city. If you rent a bike and return it within an hour, it’s free, and 1 euro per hour after that. Amazing. We went for a ride.

We went into the center. Beautiful place. Grandeur. Lots of tourists. To be expected.

I got a wiener from Wien. Oh, and it was grand.

The buildings and statues. Very grand. Royal and gold. Most exalted.

Ornate spires. And green space. Lots of parks everywhere. Apparently Vienna has ranked high for quality of living. I think it’s all the green space, the cleanliness, the trust, and the grandeur.

And it probably has something to do with the cycling setup in the city. Bike lanes everywhere, and even traffic lights specifically for bikes.

Another beautiful royal garden. And the Danube. That completed the set of four capital cities through which the Danube flows. Vienna, Bratislava, Budapest, and Belgrade. I was thinking I would great at answering that trivia question.

A big palace thing. And a royal garden to accompany it.

As I was on the metro to get a train out of Vienna, I sat across from two middle-aged American female singles.  Their voices were horrible.  They were talking about their high school days.  “Do you remember when Ben put sun-in in his hair!?  And it turned ORANGE!?!” “Hahah.  He looked like Ronald McDonald!” “He’s so cute.  I love him.”  “He makes me happy.”  I was attracted to their conversation.  It sounded so odd.  I was almost embarrassed listening to it.  It was so loud and their voices so stupid.  I was just being a snob, wanting to keep distance from my roots.

Bratislava

I made it to Bratislava on time to meet my CouchSurfing host, Marian. Really nice guy. Met me at the train station. And he came with two Germans, Marco and Nadine, who stayed with him the night before. I liked their energy. We walked around the city a little and visited the castle.

Bratislava’s “New Bridge” looks like a UFO.

A really small car.

Bratislava is a pretty small city. Some nice architecture, but that gets boring. Buildings. Big deal. A big attraction for tourists were the statues set up around the city. Especially this one. The Watcher.

I found an Andy Warhol, who was born in Slovakia, and this Napoleonic soldier.

On the bus, they have a strict policy against ice cream.

Marian and I went to Devin castle, which is at the junction of the Danube and the Morava rivers. Across the river is Austria. It was great getting out of the city.

The most interesting thing was an artifact we saw in the museum. A loaf of bread about 1000 years old. Carbonized and black. I wish I took a picture.

Staying with Marian was great. We celebrated on September 26, the date that marked 3 months for me on the road. He gave me a cell phone since I had been complaining about the inconvenience of not having one. Really generous. I liked his pet rat, Lola.

I had read that Slovakia was famous for beautiful women.  I was disappointed.  Beautiful women seemed rare, from what I saw.  Serbia still #1.

It was a short stay in Slovakia, and I only got to see the capital city.  It probably would have been better to see the Tatras.  If it wasn’t for Marian, my stay in Bratislava probably would have been unmemorable.

Hungary-Slovakia Border Crossing

I decided that two domestic trains would probably be cheaper than one international train.  Especially from Budapest.  Leaving Budapest is expensive.

I wanted to get to Bratislava, Slovakia.  According to some person on some forum, it cost 16 euro to go direct.  I decided I would go to Esztergom, and then cross the Danube to Sturovo, Slovakia.

I got up at 6am and took a bus and the metro to get to the train station.  That cost me 500 forints because I had to take two metro lines (Budapest is retarded in this way — if you transfer from one metro line to another, you have to pay extra).  But I didn’t pay for the bus.  Attila told me bus travel is free.  He doesn’t have a pass but he takes the bus all the time.  Controllers don’t monitor buses often in Budapest.  Only the metro, and maybe trams.  So, during my stay in Budapest, I kept a ticket in my pocket ready to validate if I saw a controller.  I was always on the look-out and ready to jump off the bus.

The train to Esztergom cost 900 forints.  Really good.  But the train station was well away from the center, so I had to get a city bus.  140 forints.  Not bad either.

Then I started walking to cross the border.  It started raining.  I saw a road sign and it seemed I was going the wrong direction.  I asked directions and happend to ask a a Hungarian-born Californian.  He walked me to the bridge as we talked about the US economy collapsing.

It started raining hard.  I picked a great day to cross the border on foot.  I got out my tarp poncho and draped it over me and the bag.  And then I crossed the mighty Dan.

I’m posting all the photos of this experience because I think they’re great.  Really funny.  Look at my face, recoiling from the rain.  Look at the hump on my back.  Great photos, capturing the struggle.

I got to Slovakia after a long walk over the bridge.  No border control because of the Schengen Agreement.

Time was running out.  I only had 40 minutes to get to the train station.  I asked someone and he told me the train station was far away, at least an hour’s walk.  He pointed me to the bus station.  No one at the bus station could speak english, and one guy who seemed to understand me, shook his head when I asked for a bus to the train station.

Now I was panicking.  I had arranged with my CouchSurfing host in Bratislava that I would get this train and he would meet me as I arrived.  If I missed this train, I would have to find a phone or internet cafe to call him.

I ran into a bank and asked if anyone spoke english.  A girl helped me.  She told me that a bus would come by in 20 minutes.  My train left in 20 minutes.  She called for a taxi.  The taxi came in 5 minutes.  I had two big bills in Slovakian currency and some Hungarian forint.  The driver said he could take forint.  I took out 1000 forint (~$6.50).  He said that was okay.  Yeah, well, what the hell do you require?  He didn’t give change, of course.  This was a panic situation and he helped out.  Oh well, I screwed that one up.  It was a 5 minute ride.

I got the train ticket, which was ~$11, and got on the train.

Then I added up all my expenses.  About $25, which is about the same as the cost of the direct train from Budapest.  I didn’t save anything, might have lost some, and definitely lost time.  But I gained in experience.  And I got a story out of it.  That must be worth something.

OBI: Home Depot of Hungary

Hungary has a Home Depot.  It’s called OBI.  It’s orange too.  There was one near Attila’s so I had to stop by to say hello and collect some data.  I knew my homies back at The Home Depot corporate office would appreciate this.

It’s a huge store and sells a lot of the same stuff as a Home Depot.  It even has a garden section.  Most things are the same.  The carts are orange, there’s a customer service center at the front, a lot of products are out of stock … but there’s a key difference.  Everything is in Hungarian.

There are other differences like its got two levels and it sells bikes.

I ran into a pricing issue at OBI, and experienced Hungarian customer service.  I wanted to buy some AA batteries for my camera.  I’ve found out that batteries are pretty expensive in Europe.  I paid about $7 in  Greece for 4 AA.  OBI had some decent prices, but there were a few options.  A Duracell AA 4-pack was 645 forints ($4).  But I also saw a 4+2 AA combo pack.  It said that 2 were free.  It was in the same bin, but there wasn’t a price for it.  So I looked at the Duracell AAA batteries and saw a similar deal.  A 4-pack of AAA batteries was 845 forint, and the 4+2 pack was the same price, 845.  So, I assumed that the AA 4+2 pack was the same price as the AA 4-pack, 645 forint.

I went to check out and it rang up as 1500 forint.  That’s $10!  No one at the customer service desk spoke english, but I gestured and wrote my way through it.  They understood and sent me back to meet with a guy that could help me.  I met the guy coming off the escalator.  He coldly flipped the battery pack over and pointed to the price tag which showed 1500.  Idiot.  He didn’t speak english either but I told him I wanted to show him the issue.

I gestured and pointed out the problem.  There was no explicit price mentioned on the bin underneath the AA 4+2 pack, but I had used the precedent set by the Duracell AAA batteries to determine the price of the AAs.  Since the price of the AAA 4-pack and 4+2 pack were identical, I assumed the pricing scheme of the AAs would be the same.

No.  He kept pointing to the 1500 price tag.  So I pointed to the side of my head, showing him it didn’t make any sense.  I could buy two AA 4-packs, 645 each, and get 8 batteries for 1300 forint.  But with the 4+2 pack, I would pay 1500 for 6 batteries.  The promo pack was way more expensive per battery.  Didn’t make sense.  This still makes me mad.  And the packaging said “2 free.”  Bullshit.  In the Hungarian system, you pay a huge premium to get 2 more batteries in one package.  Maybe it’s the convenience.

My argument attracted a crowd.  Three other OBI employees came over.  None spoke english.  Then some customers hung out to watch also.  One old guy was interested, and wanted to help me.  He asked if I spoke Deutsch.  Then another customer came to help me.  He spoke english and offered to translate for me.  He listened to my argument and understood it.  He explained it to the OBI guy, and same thing; the OBI stuck to the bullshit 1500 price.  My translator laughed and told me “Welcome to Hungary.”

Job Interview

I got my suit from my CouchSurfing friend in Budapest, Andras, and some shoes that were Attila’s brothers. I posted on the Budapest CouchSurfing group about borrowing a dress shirt. I got a few replies, and picked one up from a CS friend, but it wasn’t quite right. So, I went to a second-hand shop and found a great-looking gold shirt for 3 bucks. And it matched the tie!!

I got up early and made it over to the Buda side by 3 forms of public transportation. I was 45 minutes early so I waited. The office was right on the Danube with the castle in the back. Great location.

My pants were a little short and a little wide, my shirt was a little big and a little long, and my jacket was a little short. So I had to sag my pants a little, and try to keep my cuffs tucked into my jacket. I felt a little billowy, but I was confident.

Look at my cuffs.

I walked in at 9am, greeted, and given a logic test. First thing I did was take off my small jacket. The logic test was about a parking lot with vehicles with certain characteristics: either big or small, cars or trucks, heavy engine or light engine, slow or fast, etc. Then I was given four rules, like all cars have light engines, or something, and had to answer true/false questions about this. It wasn’t too difficult as I was given an hour to complete it, but it tried to be tricky as you had to combine some of these rules together to answer certain questions. I finished well before time and got them all right. Great.

Then I had to wait for my interviewer. The interview room was not a private room either. It was basically a corridor between the reception and the office. People passed through every few minutes. So I was picturing having to answer some embarrassing interview question with someone else in the room. “I’m a team player and self-starter … ” as someone walks through and then tells the rest of the office. Embarrassing.

The interviewer came and was a really friendly guy. He asked me to tell him about myself. I did in not so many words, he was pleased with that, and then told me about the company. This took most of the time. When I saw the opportunity, I thew in something about how I have experience doing this or that. He finished up and asked if I was interested. I told him I was with enthusiasm. Then he went to make a phone call and then started arranging a flight for me to go to Belgium. It was that simple.  And really quick.

I would get in Wednesday, see the two CEOs on Thursday, and then leave Friday.  They arranged a hotel for me too, but it was in a nearby city.  I asked if they would provide a means for me to get to the office from my hotel.  I was told to use public transportation.

They didn’t cover any of these other transportation costs.  I was flow into out-of-the-way Charleroi, and had to take a train to Tienan with a connection in Brussels.  Then staying in Tienan, I had to take a train to Leuven to check out the city, and to get to my interview.  All these extras but no reimbursement.

So after I got off the train, I got on a bus to go to the industrial park where the office was located.  In my billowy suit, and my shoes that didn’t fit so well.  As I was anticipating meeting them, I was constantly pushing my long cuffs up into my short jacket, and making sure the bottom of my pant legs touched my shoes.  I made it on time and was brought in to meet the two guys.

Right after I gave each of them a firm handshake and a big smile, I took off my short jacket, folded it, and draped it on the back of the seat next to me.  I made the appearance, so that was good enough.

They asked me a little about myself.  Then they talked about the company.  Since it was the day that AIG collapsed, I asked them what they thought of the future of the company during this unstable economy.  This got them talking.  It was great.  Then we steered back towards the position was I was interviewing for and the company, and I gave some details about my experience.  I was enthusiastic and likable.  And that worked.

They told me that they would get back to me about the outcome, and the salary.  But then as I was leaving, they told me to wait a few minutes; they wanted to talk to me again.  So about 30 minutes later, they brought me back in, and gave me a salary offer.  800 euro in Budapest, and 1600 euro while I would be working in Leuven for the first 6 months.  I was disappointed and looked it.  They talked about how the US and European systems are totally different, social benefits, etc, so that this was a good salary.  I told them I would have to think about it, and I left.  Kind of pissed off.

Then I started thinking that it would be really great to have an experience working in Leuven and Budapest.  Even if I had to take a cut in salary.  A rare opportunity for a great life experience.  And I got a lot of support from friends and family.  Unanimously in support of taking the job.

So I wrote them a negotiation email asking for some more money and details on the benefits.  They got back to me and told me they would get me a salary overview soon.  I waited in Budapest for an answer, but no further communication.

I got tired of waiting and I left for Bratislava after a few days.  Once I got on the road again, I got some new energy for the trip.  It is only going to get colder, but I am excited to keep traveling, maybe even to Russia and doing the Trans-Mongolian railway across Siberia.  Siberia in winter!  That would be a real experience.

So now I dont know what I will decide about the job, if they get back to me.  The job deal will probably have to be pretty good for me to want to do it.

Budapest: Attila, Part 2

After the weekend in Eger, I went to the job interview, hung out with some CouchSurfers, and then flew to Belgium for a few days. When I returned for the weekend, Attila had gone home to Eger, and Kata was working, so she wasn’t around. They let me stay at their place, which was cool.

I was feeling like I was probably overstaying my welcome. I had stayed with them for about one week, so it was good that they got a break from me for a few days. I decided I should probably get moving soon. The problem was that it was really comfortable staying with them. After traveling for a while, it’s really nice to be able to stay in one place. And the dorm has a computer room with free use of the internet.

I had a lot of low key days going into the city for a while to look for second-hand books, eat something, maybe meet up with a CouchSurfing friend, use the internet, catch up on my blog, etc. It was nice, but I was aware of the overstaying issue, and these low-key days get boring after a while.

I had sent an email to the two CEOs of this company where I interviewed asking for more money. They responded and told me they would get back with me “soon.” I never heard another word. Here’s the email I sent:

Thank you for your time on Thursday to talk to me about your company. I am very impressed by PEC and its potential for future growth.

I am looking for a company, and a position, where I can grow professionally. Since PEC is a small company, there is considerable challenge and responsibility. The Supply Chain Manager position, for which I have applied, is very desirable for this reason. In my career so far, I have accepted roles of increased and varied responsibility as opportunities to “stretch” myself. As a quick-learner and a creative problem-solver, I have been successful in meeting any challenge.

I am also looking for a good fit. PEC seems to have a culture of “doing it right the first time” as opposed to “quick and dirty.” Similarly, I take pride in the quality of my work and always strive to deliver the right solution the first time. This cultural element, along with my previous experience in supply chain, makes this a good fit for both of us.

As you already know, my concern is the salary. From my experience, entry salary is very important to get right, as it becomes a permanent index from which all future salary increases are made. I want to be happy working at PEC, and to feel that I am getting paid what I am worth. After doing research, I believe with my qualifications and experience, I am worth at least €1200 per month (net) in Budapest, and €2000 per month (net) in Leuven.

I have been strongly considering this opportunity since Thursday. I would be excited to join the team at PEC, and I am looking at this as a career opportunity. I want to make sure that I have all the necessary information to make this decision, so I have some additional questions about the company benefits. Please let me know if PEC provides a 13th month salary, paid holidays during the first year of employment, “maaltijd cheques,” hospital insurance, a pension, or any other additional benefits.

Thank you for this opportunity. I hope to hear from you soon.

Sincerely,
Eoin Grosch

There was a freshman welcome party in Attila’s dorm. We went to that. They had games like eating whipped cream off people, and egg fights. There was a lot of flirting between the freshmen. There was also a sad, nerd, fat guy who had whipped cream on him. He gave a desperate look around, but no one wanted to eat it off him, so he removed it with his hand. There was dancing later. That was cool, but the DJ played the same shitty drum n’ bass all the time.

I told Attila that I would be leaving the next day.  But I really didn’t know where I was going to go.  So instead, I spent time the next day figuring that out, and when Attila returned from class, he saw me again.  “I figured you’d still be here.”  Sorry dude.  I’m still here.  He didn’t mind.  It was really nice of him how he wasn’t pushing me out.  I promised him I would be leaving the next morning.  And I did.

Seeing Attila again in Budapest was one of the highlights of my trip.  Neither of us would have ever imagined that we would see each other again, and definitely not in Budapest.