Living Life To Its Fullest!: Just Be Thankful

My Eurail Pass expired a few days ago, which meant I had to use up the last few trips on it. I ordered one for Austria, Germany and Switzerland and since I am living in Germany and have already been to Switzerland, I booked a few days in Vienna. I stayed in this crazy hostel that reminded me very much of a Freshman college dorm. As the picture, I am sure suggests, a Freshman in college was how everyone was acting.

The bar in the basement of the hostel offered 6 Jager Bombs for 10 Euros so everyone had a field day with that. (And when I say everyone, I always book a 6 room dorm at hostels in order to meet people, so I am referring to my roommates and anyone else the cat dragged in.) This trip brought out a side of me that typically makes a resurgence at my birthday. I wasn't sure I even had it in me anymore either! I really value sleep and hangovers typically take-away from that, but the party girl I thought was dead along with the idea of me ever being 18, 19 or 20 again, (an age that allows you to post pictures like the one above without embarrassment) was brought back to life in Vienna. It was nice to know I still had it in me. Now when I turn 23 in a month, let's hope that my back doesn't give out or I decide to move to a Floridian retirement community!

But moving onto much more fulfilling topics, Budapest was only a 2 hour train ride from Vienna so I spent a night there. There I met a friend of a professor I had who took me all around his beautiful city and told me fascinating stories of the country and city he grew up in.

Lately I have become enthralled with the history of WWII and its effects on Europe. So of course that was one of the first questions I asked Mr. Biro, my personal tour guide. When the Nazi regime's end was imminent, the Germans fighting in Hungary holed themselves up in the Buda Castle. The Russian military came in and took the hundreds of troops out with zero mercy. Out of all the troops only 5 soldiers came out alive. As we drove up to the Buda Castle Mr. Biro said that the very road we were on was dripping with blood as it trickled down the hill.

The map above shows you how devastated Hungary was by the war. The thick, bold, red outline shows you how big Hungary was pre-WWII. The thin, red line towards the Western border is the territory that makes up Hungary as we know it today. They lost all of that land when the war came to a close. Castles, history, language, forests and culture, was seized and absorbed into the countries that we recognize as Romania, Serbia, Slovenia etc.

One thing that did work to Hungary's advantage was the fact that a large part of the country is surrounded by hills and forest, making it difficult to maneuver tanks into it.

Hero Square, honoring those that founded Hungary back in the 9th century and other prominent Hungarian leaders.

Mr. Biro also told me that when the Russians were pushing the German's out they bombed the hell out of the city leaving craters 5 feet deep in the city. Not to mention obliterating many of the beautiful buildings Budapest is known for. When the war was over, children would play in the craters left by the bombs. At the same time Russians would take any child of working age (12 and above) and ship them off to Siberia to work in order to build their own economy.

Mr. Biro's childhood friend was playing in the streets one day and saw the Russians coming to collect more children to work and he jumped into one of the craters and hid, sparing him from being shipped away from his home to Siberia. Isn't it ironic that the holes the Russian's created, saved him? Fascinating too.

Studies in later years also have shown that the bombing and damage to the cities and grounds of Budapest have shifted the ground so much that it has raised 5 feet since the war.

This statue is commemorative of the author who wrote the early history of Hungary under King Bela's rule. The identity of the author is unknown and in all historical accounts of this author and in stories he is referred to as "Anonymous." I wonder if he is responsible for all of those inspirational quotes you can read on the internet that says "author unknown!"

St. Stephen's Church built in honor of King Stephen whose fist is mummified and buried in a tomb within the church. The people of Hungary take this as a sign seeing as no measures were really taken to preserve the fist in the first place. It's preservation is considered a miracle and inspires the Basilica's followers to live the way that Stephen led when he was still alive.

The day we went in, a competition or ceremony if you will, between different choirs from around the region was being held. The church was beautiful. One of the most beautiful pieces of architecture I have EVER seen ANYWHERE, but it was even more special to be able to hear the music from the different church groups.

Look at the detail of the ceiling! That is love and dedication right there. The pictures in the center of the domes weren't painted either. They were all done through mosaic!

My tour guide told me that everyone in Budapest gets to celebrate their birthday twice. Once on the actual day that they were born and then again on their saints day. Most everyone in Hungary is named after a saint and they get to celebrate their "name" day.

A very posh Hilton hotel was built on the ground of an old nunnery. Instead of building over all of that history they incorporated the nunnery into their building. To the left you can see the ruins and on your right you see the new part of the Hilton.