Rocking that *International* Paradise

We spent four days in Budapest, Hungary.  Here are my first and last impressions of the city that straddles the Danube. First Impression: Budapest is…not what I was expecting.  And the truth is, I’m not sure what I was expecting.  Budapest is a beautiful European city with culture and history.  I think in my head, I pictured something just a bit more…different.  After having been in Berlin and Prague so far, I feel that Budapest is in some ways a combination of the two.  It has a similar layout to Prague, with the river dividing the city and the castle up on the hill offering superb views of the rooftops.  And in a similar fashion to Berlin, much of the oldest architecture was destroyed in the War and has since been rebuilt in a variety of styles.  So while Prague boasts breathtaking buildings around each corner and some buildings dating back to the 15 th century and beyond, St. Stephen’s Basilica in Budapest was built in 1905 in a style t...

“Where are you from?” “Where have you been?” “Where are you going next?” They’re the three most common questions when meeting people while traveling.  Over the last 2 days, I feel like we’ve asked and answered them innumerable times as we met people on our first hostel stay of the trip in Prague.  After a while, the questions get a bit tedious, but everyone has their own story, and you do have to get through the basics before you can get to the fun stuff—the reason for the travels, what life is like back home, and start getting to know the actual person.  In Prague, we’ve met tons of interesting people.  A gaggle of Canadians who didn’t know each other at the beginning of the night, but were part of one big group by the end, a guy from Singapore who’s studying in Germany, Swedes on summer holiday, Brits celebrating university graduation, and two highly entertaining Americans who work for Chevron in Iraq and were on an all-expense paid trip in order t...

Before we left for our adventure, I expressed nervousness about the first leg of our journey.  Just the first bit.  Our plan was this:  Fly to Amsterdam, take a train from the airport (after validating our eurail passes) to Berlin.  In Berlin (it would be about 9pm by this point), use the metro to arrive at the flat where our friend Heidi is letting us stay for a few days.  That seemed like a lot of steps.  Oh, how little I knew. Our flights went well, and we arrived in Amsterdam on schedule.  When we validated our eurail passes and asked for the train to Berlin, we were informed that due to water levels, high speed trains were not running to Berlin, so we’d have to take a train to Hannover and then take regional trains from there—adding about 2 hours to our journey.  The woman at the ticket counter also couldn’t give us more specifics than that; we’d simply have to find out in Hannover.  So, we got on the first train, to Hilversum, ...

Today begins the story of 2 twenty-something sisters, equipped only with a backpack and a purse each, heading off to Europe for 30 days.  Our flight leaves at 7:30pm tonight, and I'm trying to keep my nerves as calm as possible. We have our hostels booked, arrangements made with friends and couchsurfers, and therefore have accommodations in place for all but 2 nights of our journey.  Our international SIM card arrived in the mail today (in the nick of time!), and we've got our eurail passes and information on the cities we'll be visiting. Our trip will take us to Berlin, Prague, Budapest, Rome, Trento (Italy), Verona, Venice, Geneva (Switzerland), Nancy (France), Paris, and Amsterdam.  It will be a whirlwind.  There will be adventures, probably a good share of mishaps, and definitively a heap of good stories. I'll keep the blog updated as I can.  You can expect more detail and photos after I return from the trip, though. Here we go!

Life is in transit at the moment.  I’m done with Puerto Rico, about to embark on a month-long adventure in Europe, and Guatemala is just around the corner.  My life, and this blog, will undergo some changes. As for the blog, the changes will be minimal.  In fact, you may have already noticed the change in the title from Rocking that Tropical Paradise to Rocking that *International* Paradise .  While it could be argued that some or all of Guatemala is also tropical, I wanted to tip my hat to the fact that it’s a new experience, and also leave the possibility open to other international travels.  I’ve opted to leave the url the same to minimize confusion.  (So it will remain sueinpuertorico.blogspot.com, even though I’m no longer in PR).  As for the life changes…those are a little bit more monumental.  But it’s all good.  I had a really amazing last week in Puerto Rico.  Rachel arrived on Tuesday night, and we had 2 days...

Last Sunday morning in Vieques, I realized why it’s so difficult for some people to find the black sand beach there.  If I had not had the knowledge that the path was coming up at Km 7 of Rte 201, I never would have guessed to stop at the gate or seen the spray-painted arrows.  But knowing what to look for, finding the beach couldn’t have been simpler.  After parking, my parents and Rachel and I embarked down the path.  Right away we noticed there was a lot of horse manure scattered about.  And sure enough, a few minutes down the path, 4 horses came walking up from the direction of the beach.  We stepped to the side and let them pass, and 3 of them did, but the 4 th was so scared by us that he doubled back and tried to find an alternate route around the path.  He didn’t have luck, and his buds were waiting for him, so he ended up running past us on the opposite side of path from us.  It was a little endearing, but also makes you wonder...

**Written a week ago...being posted now.** Luck brought Rachel and Heisha and I to Cerro Gordo, a balneario (public beach) in Vega Alta.  We were looking for a beach we hadn't been to, on the north coast, preferably close to San Juan.  We found an article about Cerro Gordo, and it sounded great.  And it was! It’s too bad I’m leaving PR in 5 days, really, because Cerro Gordo could easily become my favorite beach on the island. Why? This beach has everything. What do you want when you think of a good beach? Soft sand?  Check. Clear water?  Go ahead and study your toenails. A bit of shade for when the sun gets too hot?  It’s got just enough.  Picnic tables?  Plenty. A lifeguard on duty?  He’s right there waving his green flag to let you know it’s safe. Bathrooms?  Got ‘em!  Just have to bring your own toilet paper, or buy some there for $0.50 for a roll. Showers?  They had some, though we didn’t ...