Scoping out Skopje

Macedonia is incredibly close to Bulgaria. Both culturally and physically. So we decided to go there for a long weekend. It was a fantastic country.
BH and I left on Thursday morning and met up with our friend Diane at the bus station. It was a little cold in Sofia, and we hoped the weather would hold up. Buses leave five times a day from Sofia, and we jumped on the 9:30 bus. We crossed the border a little past noon, and the scenery was beautiful. After two more hours of the bus, we arrived in Skopje. We checked in at the Art Hostel and set out to explore the city.
Living in Sofia, it is hard not to compare new countries with what we are used to. The main stretch in Skopje is quite nice. It is wide and pedestrian only; it also has a bunch of statues ranging from the thought provoking to the bizarre.

The fish itself was cool, but why the weird legs?

Of course, our priority at the time was lunch. We had just spent five hours on a bus. We needed to eat! I thought there would be plenty of Macedonian restaurants to choose from in the center, but all we could find was Italian cafes and Irish pubs. We asked a couple of young Macedonians, and they directed us outside of the city. A short, and cheap, taxi drive later and we were enjoying a delicious Macedonian meal. I had some sort of meat BBQ with cheese grilled inside, while Diane had an amazing stew. The only downer was the beer; only order златен лав if you love watery brews. Regardless, if you go to Skopje, I definitely recommend the Pivnica Krigla. I would guess that most taxis know where it is as well. They finished off the meal with a free pancake stuffed with nutella. When I asked why it was free, they said they don't get foreigners much and want to show us a good time. It was delicious. 

 Dinner was followed by a walk next to the Kale Fortress. We were just wandering back to our hostel when we ran into the grand bazaar. Apparently, it is the largest in the Balkans. The market was great. Easy to walk through, well lit, and plenty of things to choose from. 

Since this was our first night, we decided to head back to the hostel and not spend all our money on the first night. The walk back to the hostel included seeing the old stone bridge (15th century) as well as a bunch of new things under construction. From what I have seen, this is an up-and-coming city. 

After a brief rest at the hostel, we met Kristin at the bus station. Like us, she was hungry. We went back to the city center for dinner. The first unpleasant thing, however, happened. A taxi cab called us over and, after a little haggling, told us he would use the meter. He did use the meter, and was very talkative and kind. When we got to the center, it was maybe 100 denar. However, when I turned to pay him, he tripled the price. I was going to leave him a good tip, but seriously? I hate getting ripped off just because we are foreigners ergo easy targets.

Taxi cabs aside, we finished out the night with a great dinner at a Mexican restaurant. I don't know why we ate Mexican in Macedonia, but it was the best Mexican I have had in a long time. BH and I enjoyed some gazpacho (actually Spanish) and quesadillas. As we were eating, it began to rain. We were a little dismayed, but at least we had good food and good company. The prospects of the next morning and moving on to Ohrid were bright as well.

Bulgarian Post

Four hours for a package. Seriously?
We finally got a slip for the package that BH's friend sent a month ago. Excited, we rush to the post office. Only to find out the package is in another post office. We set off, still in high hopes. When we give the post lady our slip, she has BH sign a bunch of things and then gives him a receipt. Saying the package is not there. Instead, we have to trek to the other side of the city, 40 minutes by taxi, to get to customs. When we finally get there, we head to the desk written on the slip. But its the wrong desk. After being corrected, we go to the correct window. The woman working there is awful. Doesn't say hi, doesn't help us a bit. When I ask her what we need to fill out on the form, she says, "I don't know. I don't know Chinese." Of course, BH is Korean, but I don't correct her. After struggling through the form (written in Bulgarian and the lady wouldn't help a bit) we finish it and hand it to her. After forking over four leva, she says go up. So we go up to the third floor. Only to be sent back down. Wandering around lost, finally a person helps us. I show her my slip, and she leads me to another window. We give the worker our card, and he says "my, this came a while ago". He searches through the boxes, asks for five more leva, and then finally hands over the package. They asked no custom type questions. Why they couldn't have just delivered it at the door, I have no idea. This is the first time I've been actually angry with Bulgaria. Seriously, that much bureaucracy for a box with underwear and electric cords?

Giving Thanks in Sofia

Thanksgiving is one of the few times a year I want to be cuddled up safely at home. It just is such a family-oriented holiday, it seems a shame not to celebrate with your loved ones. A like-minded Fulbrighter in Sofia felt the same way, and organized an orphan's Thanksgiving on Saturday.
I said I'd bring a pie and the cranberry sauce. That meant, of course, that I needed to make a practice pie. BH and I enjoyed said pie throughout the week. Friday morning, I went to the grocery store to buy some cranberries, but, alas, they were sold out! In a last minute decision I bought this bag of dried cranberries mixed with nuts and some dried figs, thinking I could figure out something.
Laura came up Friday night, and we went to the Deaf club, and afterward out for beer. Laura wanted some Starbucks, and when she came back she brought cranberries! Apparently, the street markets sell them. What a life-saver. We spent a long time at the restaurant, just chatting and learning some Bulgarian sign language.

After our beers, we hit the town. Milk Bar and Club ID. At one point, we realized that we were just bobbing our heads to the music and not really paying attention to what was going on. That meant we needed to get home. So we did!
Saturday morning (well, early afternoon) I baked an apple pie, Laura made apple cider, BH made Korean pancakes, and I prepared the cranberry sauce. We finished our cooking and headed over to Katie and Keith's place. A bunch of Fulbright fellows were there, and the meal was fantastic. All sorts of dishes, and all well prepared. I forgot my cranberry sauce, but c'est la vie.

 

BH and Sophia grabbing their food

After dinner, we played a huge round of rock, paper, scissors, went to a hookah bar (without hookah) and then headed to Milk Club again. It was a very successful Thanksgiving.
The next morning, Sunday, BH and I went to Starbucks and met up with Connor and Sophia. We invited them over for dinner, and BH made one of my favorite dishes: tuna mixed rice. One of the eggs he cracked open was a twin. Does that mean good luck?

Deaf Club Vienna

Friday was a little more low-key. We met up with BH’s friend, David, and he led us on a tour of the city, supplying similar details that Rick Steve’s gave me, but in a way that both BH and I could understand. He explained more about Stephansdom, which is truly a remarkable cathedral. It was originally built in the 12th century, and, with a couple of restoration projects here and there, survives to this day. Germany spared the building during World War II, but the roof did catch fire when neighboring houses were set aflame by the Nazis. However, as is evident in the picture, the reconstruction of the roof is quite impressive.

The tour continued with views of the parliament building, the main university, and other churches in the city. David also taught me the words for Roman, Baroque, and Gothic architecture, which will come in useful throughout our travels in Europe.
Friday night and we were at the Deaf club for University students in Vienna. The system here seems better than Eastern Europe. For one, they have a lot of translators for students. I don’t think that happens in Bulgaria… After a somewhat boring election of new members to the board, we chatted and celebrated a random girl’s birthday. BH’s friends were great, and we spent our last night with them, drinking vodka and telling stories.

I must say Vienna was a tad boring. It was beautiful and opulent, but it didn’t seem like much was going on. When I told this to my friend, NI, she told me that I needed to come back and experience it with her. I might just have to do that.
On our bus back to Prague, we watched the Sound of Music. Driving through the Viennese countryside and listening to the Von Tropps. Wonderful. 

Saying Hi to the Hapsburgs

Our expensive train from Krakow brought us to Vienna early in the morning. After wandering around for a bit, BH had the bright idea to get a map to get our bearings. After walking a half an hour in the wrong direction, we figured it out, and headed to our hostel. Unfortunately, we weren’t allowed to check in till around 10:30, so we had to go to Starbucks to wait. Oh, such a shame.

After our typical iced Americanos, we went back to the hostel, checked in, and started our tour of Austria. Rick Steve’s led us on this tour again, and we started out at the opera house and followed his walking tour. He brought us to the Hotel Sacher, Stephansplatz cathedral, and, my favorite, the Holy Trinity plague column, which depicts the end of the 1670 bubonic epidemic. The plague hag is being thrown out by an adorable cupid and the king himself. Nice.

A quick lunch at Nordsee was followed by a tour of the Hofburg palace. While buying our tickets, I asked if there was a discount for Deaf individuals. She gave Byeong-Hun a student discount, and then I received a free ticket for translating. Now, that is a first! Hofburg palace was really interesting, especially the Sisi museum. I actually did not know anything about this apparently famous queen, but the museum was well laid out and very informative. If anyone has seen any movies about Empress Elisabeth, I’d like some recommendations. We also took a tour of the royalty’s dinnerware. They had a remarkable amount of ornate flatware that any housewife would love to decorate with (heaven forbid to eat off of!).

(BH is asking if this china is from China)

The tours were followed by a little trek through Vienna’s Christmas markets. I thought the ones in Prague were nice, but a Viennese Christmas is adorable! Since Austria is on the Euro, I refused to buy anything, but the window shopping was fun nevertheless.

Our last stop of the day was the Kunsthistorisches Museum. What a mouthful. The museum had such a huge collection of European masterpieces, that it almost got boring. Those Italian painters and their religious symbols… However, half of the main floor was Northern Renaissance art. Wonderful. It also made me hungry. Look at these fish.

Since we were trying to make our Euros stretch, we had some street meat, and finished the night watching the Pianist. One great thing about travelling around Europe is being able to visit a country and then see a movie that takes place in said country. Since we had just left Poland, the Pianist was even more moving and fascinating.

Seriously, Go to Krakow

After Auschwitz, we got back to Krakow and I tried to find my iPod. Alas, some lucky Pole has a new gadget. At least it was free when I bought my computer...
We got back home and met up with the Fulbrighters to celebrate Rachel's birthday. They ended up going to a Mexican restaurant, but since we had eaten just a little bit of Polish food so far, BH and I ended up going to another milk bar. For their price, these little restaurants are wonderful!
Following dinner, we met up with the group and went to another Mexican restaurant for margaritas. There were some weird group dynamics going on at the table, but I hope Rachel had a blast.

After dinner, BH and I went with some of the Slovakia ETAs to a club. We weren't really excited about the first place, but Katrina, BH and I split off to go to Kitsch Club. This was a mixed club, and a very young crowd. I wasn't in a huge dancing mood, but I had a blast watching all the kids dancing and after an hour or two, joined in. The bar's interior lived up to its name:

The next morning, we woke up early to tour the Jewish quarter. As I mentioned earlier, Kazimierz was once the Jewish ghetto, but recently has become kind of a modern and fun area. However, there are still a number of synagogues, and a delicious bagel restaurant (BH's first!). After walking around for a bit, we ran into the old cemetery. I was a little creeped out. Especially after seeing the remnants of Auschwitz, this vandalism at the cemetery was awful.

We continued our walk through Kazimierz to the new cemetery. After donning a kippah, we walked through the cemetery. What a difference a natural cemetery is. Instead of the horror and disgust I felt at Auschwitz, I was filled with peace and reverence.

We then moved on to the Deaf center on Saint Jana street. We didn't have any sort of plan, but just wanted to check it out. We met the director, and learned that the Deaf community here has an especially large art community. We were given a tour, which involved three levels of interpretation. First, the Polish Deaf would use sign language which was then translated to Polish. The director would speak Polish to an art student, who then translated to English. Afterward, I would translate to ASL. With all these different translations, I'm sure some things were lost. However, we were able to communicate. 

More Christmas shopping, hot chocolate, dinner, and then it was back on the train. A word of warning: do not take the sleeper from Krakow to Vienna. It is ridiculously expensive. Besides this one annoying aspect, Krakow was amazing. If you haven't been yet, go.

Auschwitz

After a wonderful day in beautiful Krakow, Auschwitz was, unsurprisingly, very depressing. However, I felt that it was a very important trip, and I'm glad BH and I made it.
The first thing that happened on this day trip was ridiculous of me: I left my iPod on the van. There are a number of vans that leave regularly from Krakow to Auschwitz and it must have fallen out of my pocket as I dozed on the van. Either way, it was gone when I left the bus. However, I couldn't really mope about an iPod when on hallowed ground, so I decided to forget about it and try to learn what I could in the death camp turned museum. We were immediately surprised by the fact that people still lived around this area. I guess you are born where you are born, but I don't know if I could stand to live next to such a grief-stricken land. Ben said that people continue to live next to the site of the World Trade Center, but that is different. At least you are in Manhattan. Auschwitz didn't really have anything going for it.
I'll just let some pictures do the talking, both of Auschwitz and Birkenau. I was sick to my stomach by all the horror that had taken place.