Budapest - Finale

Budapest's Chain Bridge. I believe it is the oldest of the bridges crossing the Danube, and the most important. I think also that it may have been built in 1896...

Another sunset shot of the Chain Bridge

Ahhh, Budapest at sunset... beautiful

A view of the Castle and the Danube

Adam and I sharing a hookah at Inverzium after my last gig in Budapest. Adam, you are the man, thanks for good times!

Budapest Pt. 3

If there is ONE thing you do when you visit Budapest, you have to visit one of the thermal baths. I'll admit, it was a bit intimidating at first to think of hurdling the language barrier involved in buying the entry ticket and swimming with a bunch of Hungarians, but once I got in it was pure relaxation. Budapest is all about the good life!

Performing at iF Kavezo. It was a really fun concert, and thanks to all of the couchsurfers that made it out!

Adam and his home recording studio. We recorded four songs one morning, and he is going to "eastern europ-ize" the tunes for me.

Laying down some vocals.

The Parliament building again, this time from across the Danube. This shot gives you a better scale of how massive this building is.

Budapest Pt. 2

"John, a picture of a McDonald's? Seriously?" Well folks, this isn't just any McDonald's, this is the FIRST McDonald's east of the Iron Curtain. The first to exist in any of the Soviet Union's satellite states during the Cold War. That makes it a historical McDonald's, so take that!

During World War II Hungary allied itself with Germany hoping to keep its independence. Later on in the war Hungary was taken over by its own brand of Nazis, the Arrow Cross regime, who made up for lost time by immediately executing Jews here on the banks of the Danube River. The bodies were then simply pushed into the river. These bronze-cast shoes are a monument to the victims of the Arrow Cross regime, who died on this spot during the war. It lies right between the river and...

Parliament. Hungary's massive Parliament building is bigger than the country needs. It was built in, wait for it... 1896, when Hungary ruled half of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Back then, it made sense for Budapest to have such a massive building to run the far reaches of the empire. Now, its just too darn big, and I believe that the current Parliament only uses one half of the building.

This is the Terror Museum, where you can learn all about the oppressive Arrow Cross and Soviet regimes. Unfortunately, it was closed on the day I walked by, but I think that the building looks pretty cool.

Heroe's Square. Also built in 1896 to show off all of the heroic leaders in Hungarian history. At the time it was made, Hungary was a part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire still, so to the right there were many Austrian "heroes". Those have all been replaced by Hungarian faces since the end of World War I and the dissolution of the empire.

Budapest Pt. 1

Adam was my awesome awesome couchsurfing host in Budapest. He met me at the train station with this sign reading "Simon & Garfunkel". Adam was not only cool enough to set me up with a couple of gigs while in Budapest, but he also has a recording studio in his home, and we recorded FOUR new songs!

The subway in Budapest, built in 1896. Nearly every other building in the city was built around that time because it was the millennial celebration of the nomadic Magyars (Hungarians) settling down in Europe. They threw a huge party in 1896 and built the European continent's first subways system, along with the Parliamentary building and many others you'll see later...

Budapest's castle. It looks really impressive from far away and across the river, but when you walk up to it, its really pretty bland.

The market, built in, wait, guess... 1896! I bought some delicious pastries here.

The pedestrian shopping boulevard in the center of the city. Pretty quiet on a Monday morning.

Last Day in Prague

Woke up my last morning in Prague to a beautiful, light snow fall. It didn't stay on the ground for long after it warmed up, but the city sure looked pretty with a bit of snow, if only for a short time.

Rolf and the John Lennon wall. After Lennon was killed in 1980 people began to paint this wall in dedication to him. The Soviets weren't a big fan of this sort of expression, so they would cover it up, and then people would just paint it again. Today it is more of a free-graffiti area, but the John Lennon theme is still prevalent.

This building is known as the "Dancing House", and was designed by architect Frank Gehry, who also did the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain.

A memorial to two young Czechs who gave their lives in protest against the Soviet Union in 1969. On January 16th of that year, Jan Palach lit himself on fire in this spot in Wenceslas Square to protest the Soviet crackdown on earlier protests. Within a few weeks, the other youth memorialized here follow Jan's example. Both were only 18 or 19 years old.

Wenceslas Square

Rolf's Party/House Concert!

Rolf, my host in Prague, was kind enough to throw a party and house concert in my honor! He invited friends and other couchsurfing hosts from around Prague, and I believe we counted 11 different nationalities in attendance: Czech Republic, Great Britain, Sweden, USA, France, Italy, Russia, Venezuela, Portugal, Kazakhstan, and Canada. It was a really wonderful night, and a treat to have such a mix of nationalities in one room. Below are a few pictures of my performance and the rest of the party as well. Thanks again so much, Rolf, for the wonderful stay in Prague!

Danny (UK) teaching Lazzat (Kazakhstan) the C chord I believe.

Danny is showing the proper way to prepare absinthe. Yes, absinthe is perfectly legal in the Czech Republic, and I picked up a small bottle of the strongest stuff you can get!

Rolf and I. You wont find a kinder human being, hope to see you soon, friend!

Prague Castle

Prague Castle, one of the largest in Europe. The large church is Prague's National Cathedral, and was started in the 1300's and not finished until the 1920's.

The entrance to Prague Castle, complete with Buckingham Palace-style guards.

The Church

Inside. Sorry its a little fuzzy, I'm still working on my low light camera technique. I think you'll see improvement later in the trip...