Budapest, Slovakia, Krakow, and Warsaw

Budapest was one of the best places we went. It's a really cool city seeing as there are actually 3 parts to it: Buda, Pest, and Obuda. Together, they comprise the city of Budapest. We arrived late afternoon and had a rest. That evening, we went for a tour on the bus with a guide and then we were all dropped off at the river for a riverboat cruise, dinner and loads of wine. The dinner was surprisingly good with Hungarian dishes such as stuffed cabage and Goulash soup. We each had 2 bottles of wine per table. Each table held 4 people and seeing as a lot of the people didn't drink very much on the trip, it actually turned into quite a party on the boat for me and my friends. I landed up having a few bottles to myself and talking with a girl from Birmingham, England. She had so much, she landed up puking on the bus all over my roommate (he was sitting next to her) so she missed the club. After the riverboat, the bus took us to the largest open-air club in Europe...supposedly. It was really cool but like everywhere in eastern europe, they try to rip tourists off. We had to be extremely vigilant about the costs of drinks. Overall, it was probably the best night of the trip. The following day, we went for a walk around Pest and saw the famous hand of King Stephen who was canonized and is now a saint. His hand is mumified in his cathedral. Now when I say he...I mean me because naturally, I am perfect and thus a Saint...soon to be Doctor Saint. wow, how full of $%"& am I?! haha. anyway, later that day, one of the australian guys (dave) and I went to one of 2 Hungarian bathhouses/spas where the water is naturally heated. they had indoor pools but we went outdoors and there were hundreds of people there. We played chess, admired the women and were baffled at how such awful looking men could land such talent. Even had a swim race, USA vs. Australia. Of course, USA won.
Pictures:http://www2.snapfish.co.uk/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=477483021/a=159650618_159650618/otsc=SHR/otsi=SALBlink/COBRAND_NAME=snapfishuk

Slovakia was just a lunch stop but still worth noting because whenever I thought of Slovakia, I thought os Bratislava, the capital, and the movie Eurotrip where it shows Slovakia being a complete dump. The city we went to, Banska Bystrica, was actually extremely nice and cheap too. Slovakia is on the Euro which means it's actually more advanced than it's former partner the Czech Republic. I had another schnitzel (i think my spelling might be off) and then left.
Pictures:http://www2.snapfish.co.uk/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=479361021/a=159650618_159650618/otsc=SHR/otsi=SALBlink/COBRAND_NAME=snapfishuk

Krakow was one of the better places we went. We arrived in the evening, ate dinner, and then went to an undergound club. When I say underground, I literally mean it was under the ground in like caves. it was really cool and the beer was 7 szloty (about $1.60US) for .5L. Once again, I thought I was actually earning money so had a lot of Polish beer. that was another fun night. The following day, we went on a city tour, then ate Pierogis (dumplings filled with cheese and potatoes). very Polish and had more beer. That afternoon, we went to the famous salt mines that were about 100metres below the surface. very cool but not as cool as the underground caves I've been to in Texas and Curacao. After that, we went back to the hotel and got to bed at a reasonable hour because we were going to Auschwitz-Birkenau the following morning early. I took just a couple pictures to show you guys but honestly, i don't really want to go back there again. Auschwitz was actually 3 camps in 1. they called the first one Auschwitz and that was a concentration camp. Birkenau (Auschwitz 2) was where 1.1-1.5 million people were killed. And Auschwitz 3 was a work camp where they worked you day and night until you died. One of my friends told me that around one of the gas chambers there was a sign showing where the ashes of the people still lay. he said you could see the ground was a different color. Luckily I didn't see that as I would not have wanted to. that's all I'll say about that. onto Warsaw which was a lot happier.
Pictures:http://www2.snapfish.co.uk/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=479363021/a=159650618_159650618/otsc=SHR/otsi=SALBlink/COBRAND_NAME=snapfishuk

Warsaw was our last stop on the trip. we arrived in the evening, ate dinner at the hotel and then went to a sky bar at the top of the Marriot hotel. Very swanky and the drinks were a lot more expensive. Now when I say expensive, this is compared to what we were paying earlier in the trip. At this bar, a mixed drink like a vodka orange (screwdriver) was about $4US. for the type of bar it was, this was ridiculously cheap by American standards. Anyway, we had fun and laughed at all the middle-aged single women who were sitting by themselves. There were about 6 of them all in different locations...if you hadn't guessed by now, they were female escorts, at least they looked female but who knows nowadays with these crazy europeans. The following day, we did a city tour, had more Pierogis in a beer hall, went into the hot tub at the hotel and then went back out. We started the evening at 4pm with a private concert of Chopin. I have played some of the pieces the pianist played and although she was excellent, I preferred my interpretation to the playing. I asked and apparently, she plays with a very Polish attitude which means very aggressive and rough. After that, we had a farewell dinner at a restaurant, then went to another swanky bar and then a club after that. The club was a lot of fun. At 2 points in the night, there appeared this polish guy with long blonde hair trying to be like Fabio. All of a sudden, the music went slow, like Bryan Adams crap, and he started doing a strip tease. He always got down to his thong and then walked off right as he showed his ass. of course, the girls loved it and the guys were laughing their asses off. The following morning, we said goodbye to eachother and that was the trip.
Pictures:http://www2.snapfish.co.uk/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=479366021/a=159650618_159650618/otsc=SHR/otsi=SALBlink/COBRAND_NAME=snapfishuk

I am now back in England staying at my grandmother's place. We are going to Ireland together to see some family and the country. We start in Galway, then work our way down the west/southwest coast until we fly out of Cork in the South. Should be a good trip. We leave on Sunday and come back Friday so I'll post again then.