Trip to Vienna & Budapest Day 3&4

One thing I noticed while out and about in Vienna, was how few black people I saw. I didn't mind it since I wasn't being stared at, unlike my trip to Istanbul. Now that was an experience. My friend was an instant celebrity with her waist-long box braids, and everyone wanted to take pictures of her and me. One guy called her "Michelle Obama," while I was "Rihanna." The nerve of him. Anyway, after two days of sightseeing and one serious proposition to participate in a threesome (a guy from Kosovo seriously asked) I was ready to see what Budapest had to offer.

I caught the 10:48a.m. train out of Wiebanhof and about an hour into the trip, we had crossed into Hungary. I didn't realize just how close it was to Hungary. My three-hour trip felt anything but that. I caught a snooze sometime in between, but got some pictures and video of the scenery.

 

I arrived at the Budapest-Keleti train station at exactly 2 p.m. The train left Vienna at 11:09 so it was under three hours. Talk about utter chaos. I thought I'd be walking off to a well-organized station, but I wish I knew to prepare like I was in Nigeria. Taxi "mafia," as one conductor I'd asked for help called them, were everywhere. Hawkers, everyone selling everything and then some. Barely anyone spoke English and those who did had no clue where my hotel was or what I could do. No directions guiding you to places for help. One man stopped me to ask if I needed help only to point me toward the tourist information while telling me how pretty I am. Like I cared about hearing it at that moment. Of 'cos tourist information was closed. It had to be. It is at this point that my words will begin to read like rants while lacking proper writing technique. So beware!

Passengers coming off the train at Keleti station in Budapest

I found the station's info center and spoke to an English speaking rep. After telling her I wanted to catch the train, she gave me bus options, which I only found out later. Then I was told to go upstairs to buy my local ticket, which was actually right across from her. Let's just say I spent more than an hour at the station dragging my luggage up and down stairs a million times. Finally I figured out where I needed to be (on my own) and bought a three-day local transportation pass (trains, buses, trams all inclusive) for 4,150 Forinth (just under $17.) The English-speaking ticket agent also couldn't tell me anything on where and how I could get to my hotel area. Unbelievably, and out of sheer frustration, I figured out the system on my own. By the time I figured out where I was going, I realized I was directed to a bus. I have access to trains, buses, trams, trolleys and the entire public transportation system and she sends me to the bus? My hotel happened to have a Metro station within two minutes of it and was just off of the popular Andrassy Avenue. So I don't know how no one could help me out with what train to take.

Anyway I finally arrive at the Silver Hotel two hours after getting to Budapest and my nightmare continued. The hotel, which I booked last minute as well through Booking.com, was moving me and some 10 other rooms to another hotel apparently because a group of English tourists had rendered said rooms unusable. I was too tired to delve further for details. After 20 or more apologies and assuring me it was around the corner, I left with a voucher for two free cups of soup at a nearby restaurant, which I lost en route. The around-the-corner hotel turned out to be the Central Green Hotel another four blocks away, off Andrassy. I love working out and don't mind lifting suitcases, but by this time I was mentally exhausted, frustrated and upset that she lied. Thankfully the hotel I ended up with turned out to be nicer and about 100ft from Andrassy, with a subway (the M1 line) right on the corner of my hotel and Andrassy. Score! It wasn't anything fancy, but I wasn't looking for fancy and overpriced. My criteria was complimentary breakfast, WIFI and clean room. I ended up with a room with three single beds and much bigger space than my hotel in Vienna, but only after carrying my suitcase up two flights of steep and winding stairs because there were no elevators and no one offered to carry it up for me. I didn't even want to leave the room for the rest of the night. 

After cooling my head and a nice hot shower, an hour and a half later, I figured I could take a stroll to the Place of Heroes aka Heroes Square,which was about two miles from my hotel and turned out to be a pleasant surprise. It was about 7 p.m. when I ventured out for what I thought would be a quick trip to the square and back. I spent the next three hours walking around the square, which is surrounded by a few museums (Museums of Fine Arts and Agriculture, just to name a few.)

Heroes Square at night

Panels with statues of some of Hungary's biggest heroes

Museum of Fine Arts featuring a Rembrandt exhibition

The outside of the Museum of Agriculture (left and right.) I have more pictures of the castle on my Picasa page if you'd like to see more of Europe's largest agricultural museum.

It was really cold that night, some 39F, and I kept saying I'd leave soon, especially since I was alone and there weren't that many people walking the streets. But I couldn't bring myself too. That should tell you how I felt in Budapest. Safe, safe and more safe. I don't think I'd have walked around this museum, with so many trees and paths leading somewhere else that it'd be easy to do just about anything, alone if it was in the U.S. Yet I never felt threatened.

I worked up an appetite by the time I headed back to my hotel and thought I would be feasting on Cheetos and plantain chips for the night because the concierge had told me there wasn't any restaurant around. But I spotted this fancy one on the bank of a pond across the Museum of Agriculture and next to Heroes Square.

Cosy ambiance, but with a tourist appeal

My Barany Sulok was amazing!

 Robinson Timeless Kitchen was a fine dining kind of restaurant and the food was amazing. I ordered the Barany Sulok, which was a knuckle (shank) of lamb with tomatoes, onions, green beans, bacon and potato balls. It was 4900F ($20) and also had a Mojito. It seemed like a mostly tourist kind of crowd, which is probably why my concierge never mentioned it. It has the look of an expensive dining option, that even I was scared to go in (my hunger was gripping that I was gonna eat there no matter what,) but it isn't too expensive for the Dollar, Pound or Euro currency traveler. Plus it accepted American Express, my preferred traveling credit card, which isn't widely accepted around Budapest except in major tourist spots.

After a complimentary breakfast in the morning, I started my second day in a much happier mood. I was supposed to walk to an ATM to get local currency, but by the time I found one, I was halfway toward my first stop: the St. Stephen's Basilica. Thanks to Bencé, the overnight concierge at my hotel, who was a delight in helping me identify my tour sites on a non-English map I was given, I knew what trains, trams or walking routes I needed to take. It was somewhat of a long walk to St. Stephen's, but since it's such a busy shopping and tourist-friendly street, you hardly notice how long as you walk past attractions like this:

The Hungarian State Opera House on Andrassy Avenue

Half an hour after I left my hotel, I walked into St. Stephen's Basilica. It was 200 Forinth to walk in, or 1€, but I left my wallet with my € at the hotel and my smallest bill was 5000F. So the kind gentleman let me in for free. So grateful. A service was in progress so we weren't allowed to wander around certain parts of the church even after the service concluded. The church is truly glamorous.

St. Stephen's Basilica

It's the largest church in Budapest

The church was named after Hungary's first king, St. Stephen

St. Stephen's can accommodate up to 8,500 at the same time

For 400F ($1.63) you can climb up to the top for a panoramic view of Budapest. I missed out on climbing up at its namesake in Vienna. This time, I had to. It was worth it. It was a very long climb, but once I walked out, the first thing I said was 'wow.' It was that breathtaking. I suggest anyone visiting Budapest should climb up the tower. Think climbing up the Eiffel, only it's not as high, but way less cheaper. And oh, there's an elevator option, but why do that?

From the top, I had views of the Parliament and even Gellért Hill, which I also climbed.

As the daughter of an airline pilot who has flown all over the world, you'd think I'd have had fair my share of seeing the world. Unfortunately my mom wasn't keen on tagging six kids along on her vacations so only my three oldest siblings got to travel with her. And travel they did. Multiple times and to multiple places. I never flew out of Nigeria until the day I relocated to the U.S. It was another six years before I flew out of the U.S. when I gave myself a graduation gift to London and Paris. So anyone who's been a part of any of my trips will tell you that I'm big on maximizing my travel experiences visiting as many sites possible in the shortest time. I'd rather snack on something on the go, than sit at some gourmet restaurant chowing down on an expensive meal. I'm pretty slow at eating so I save my sit downs for the end of the day.

As soon as I left the Basilica, I hopped on the train and headed for my next attraction, which was the Gellért Hill. Oh menn! Even more breathtaking than I expected. The hill is a 140m high dolomite rock overlooking the Danube River on the Buda side of the city. It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site named after Bishop Gellért Sagredo, a missionary who came to the city from Italy to convert locals to Christianity. The story goes that some non-believers put him in a barrel and rolled him down the hill into the River.

The bridge I walked across from Pest

Foot of the hill with a statue of Gellért atop the picture and a waterfall at the bottom

Monument depicting Gellért on the path up the climb

It's a bit of a climb, but considering I wasn't working out the entire trip, I was happy to hike, though I was literally breathless by the time I got there. If you don't want feel like the hike, there's a road path that takes you up to the top, with bike, bus and car access.

Finally made it to the top

The Statue of Liberty commemorates Hungary's liberation from Nazi rule

I loved being up here. Was amazing!

Behind the statue is the Citadel, which is essentially a small city at the top of the hill. You can read about it by clicking here.

There were too many paths to walk through, but didn't want to spend my whole day here so I walked the main road only. Here I finally spotted three black people. It was the first time I spotted a black person since I left the train station. There was an older black couple and another black guy. Though I didn't have to, I thought I could make a bathroom stop and was asked to pay  €.70 or 180F. For what? On my way down I met another black family of four (parents with their presumably college-aged children.) It may seem weird that I'm documenting every sighting of a black person, but it's indicative of how few they seem to be in Budapest. Keep in mind that those I met were probably tourists like me.

I walked back across the bridge to Pest and caught the train to the Parliament. With the view I saw from St. Stephen's I had to see this castle up close. And for free, I got to use a very clean restroom at the visitors center, where I met some ladies who couldn't believe there was a free restroom in this city. I really hadn't tried to use a public bathroom until the Gellért. So I didn't realize there may be many more places charging tourists to use restrooms. I cannot confirm this as fact, but I suppose be mindful of it while visiting. I didn't pay to tour the Parliament, but visited the free underground exhibit dedicated to the Oct. 25, 1956 massacre that took place in Kossuth Square, also called the Hungarian Revolution. and took a nice rest in the warm visitors cafe.

Hungarian Parliament

Great view of the river with benches to relax

Finally, I took the train and then a tram to get to Buda Castle, which, depending on who you talk to is this single castle...

Or the collection of structures around it, including the President's Office, which I happened to stop by during the change of guards...

The Fisherman's Bastion and Matthias Church are also within walking distance and worth the walk through. I've also heard it referred to as part of the Buda Castle. By the time I got there it was after 5 p.m. and a medium fog had enveloped the city, leaving a less than spectacular night view. It was still pretty enough for me to take a few pics before heading back to my hotel.

The Fisherman's Bastion

Matthias Church

The weather was getting increasingly colder and foggier so I was looking forward to my trip to a bath house, but it was closed. Back at the hotel, I booked a city cruise only to get dolled up, head out to the river bank and find out all cruises were closed because of too much fog. Definitely disappointed, but I was OK with it knowing I had lots of time to get one or both of them done before heading back to Vienna at night the following day.

Trip to Vienna & Budapest Day 1&2

As some of my friends know, I recently took a week-long trip to Europe with stops in Vienna, Austria, and Budapest, Hungary. It was my first solo trip (not counting my three-month trip to South Africa last year for work,) and unlike in Johannesburg, I knew no one and was completely dependent on myself. So I agreed to detail my experience on this platform especially since a few friends have been urging me to document my travel experiences. Those who are extremely close can contact me to view more pictures and videos via Picasa.

I love traveling, but would prefer to have a travel companion. Not because I'm scared of the safety of a female traveling alone, but because I think it's terrible visiting many breathtaking venues with no one to share them with in real time. I will say that this experience is probably the biggest reason I was able to take notes down for my blog since it felt like I was talking to myself.

I flew out from Philadelphia International Airport on Oct. 28 and made a stop in Barcelona before flying to Vienna. I wonder if my being checked there had something to do with not passing through passport control in Vienna, but I found it strange that I just walked right out after picking up my luggage. Apparently only those who had something to declare would voluntarily walk toward that area. I opted to take the two-day CAT pass €32 ($40) which gives unlimited train rides on the City Airport Train Express (16 minutes from airport to the city center) and local public transportation network, plus a return trip on the train back to the airport. Though a Trip Advisor review suggests using the local train network (Ubahn) is cheaper, I opted for this because of my 7 a.m. return flight and my reluctance to commute a longer distance so early in the morning. My sometimes practical self wondered if it was worth spending that much on, but after leaving my hotel at 5 a.m., I'd say it was worth it to get to the airport at 5:45 (the train from my hotel to the CAT station was about 7 minutes, but the earliest CAT was 5:29. Some may want to get the Vienna card, which at €19 ($24) for two days at time of visit, gives you discounts to some 210 tourist sites and shops. Again Trip Advisor suggests that other discounts (senior, disabled or student) offer better than the 10% the card gets you. With 2 days I didn't plan on visiting that many places to warrant using one.

Vienna's CAT express from airport to City Center

I booked a room last minute at the Time Out City boutique hotel, which is right off the famous Mariahilfer Strasse, the longest shopping street in Europe, and is quite close to the Museums Quartier—a string of small museums grouped together. If you love shopping this is the place to stay, especially with lots of cafes, restaurants and street performers. I didnt plan on coming here to shop at H&M (there was seemingly one at every corner,) Zara or United Colors of Benetton. I chose to save my money for any local finds I could score.

Christopher the concierge was really nice in giving me directions to the Museums Quartier and the Austrian Parliament. Vienna is the capital of Austria, and its Parliament, along with the Rathaus (Municipal or City Hall,) which is right next to it, are two of the city's iconic tourist attractions and are situated along the popular Ringstraße (aka Ringstrasse) route. I chose to walk to both places, which was less than two miles from my hotel, passing by the MQ and the Museum of Natural History. At night, it made for some amazing views. Since most places closed by 6:30 p.m. I didn't go in, but planned to return to the Parliament and the MONH on my last day. I wasn't up for dining in since I was tired, so got a beef kebab €5 (about $6) and ate in my room.

The Austrian Parliament located in Vienna

The next day (Oct. 30) I took the train to Westbanhof to buy my ticket to Budapest after spending the night worrying that I had waited too late to buy it, and with no tickets available to purchase online for my trip the following day. I got a return ticket for €82 ($103.) Then I set out for my tour which began with a trip to Schönbrunn Palace (AKA Schoenbrunn,) which is one of the most toured and iconic attractions in the country. It was once the home of Emperor Franz Joseph, the longest serving emperor in Austrian history. There's a lot more history behind the 1,441-room palace, which you can read more about here and here.

Entrance to Schönbrunn Palace

The palace offers spectacular views of Vienna from this terrace

Ticket for the Grand tour of 40 rooms was €14.50 ($18,) but no pictures are allowed, though you get an audio guide through each room. You can also opt to take a shorter tour of 21 or 23 rooms for a reduced price. There are some amazing rooms inside the palace, but the tour wasn't anything spectacular, especially without the pictures to remind you of them. The grounds, however, is breathtaking. So expansive and opulent. So many roads like this one:

 And this, leading to God knows where that I didn't have time to explore.

For a historical context you can take a tour inside. But if you're only interested in scenic views and pictures, save your money and walk the grounds for free making your way up to the Gloriette erection at the top of the back of the palace. You can see a view of Vienna from the top.

A garden located at the side of the palace

The rear of the palace with a clear view of the Gloriette

I met Gergo Adam, a Hungarian, while taking selfies on the terrace at the rear of the palace. He is a student in France and thought I was French because of my sweater It was a welcome delight having someone to talk to because I hadn't had an extensive conversation with anyone to that point, and he gave me some recommendations for my Budapest trip.

A Gergo and me selfie

After breaking away from Gergo, I walked up to the Gloriette, which is a must do if you visit the palace. I didn't pay the €2 or so to climb up to the top because I didn't think it was worth it, but it's good enough to just walk up the sometimes steep walkway to catch a glimpse of the palace and Vienna from an elevated view.

The Gloriette

The view of the palace from the Gloriette is worth the walk up

When I made my way back down to exit the palace, I spotted a small phone booth-like structure right next to the wall of the palace, with tons of signatures from visitors from all over the world. So I had to put mine as well.

Twice.

I also visited St. Stephen's Cathedral, the seat of the Archbishop of Vienna, though I didn't climb to the top or get great images of the interior, and the Vienna State Opera House, which I only visited the cafe with all the famous celebs sightings on the wall. Then I retired back to my hotel ready to leave for Budapest the following day.

St. Stephen's Cathedral

Vienna's State Opera House

Heisman hopeful suspended indefinitely for NCAA violation

The doors to an invite to the Heisman Trophy presentation may have closed on one of college football's best running backs, who was an early favorite to be nominated for college football's top award.

Georgia running back Todd Gurley has been suspended indefinitely pending an investigation into alleged improper payments for use of likeness, autograph and memorabilia signage, an NCAA violation.

Todd Gurley is being investigated for an NCAA violation

 An ESPN story cited a source within the autograph industry as saying that Gurley had sought between $8 and $25 per signature. The story also reports that James Spence Authentication, an autograph authentication company provided certificates of authenticity for more than 250 signed jerseys belonging to Gurley.

Current NCAA rules prohibit players, considered amateur student athletes, from profiting or earning money by virtue of their position on teams. Scholarship student athletes earn a stipend or Per Diem, in addition to a full or partial scholarship to earn an education. Players are allowed to earn supplemental income by working jobs in which they actually document and prove hours worked.

Star players like Reggie Bush, whose 2005 Heisman Trophy was stripped from him after it was discovered he had received benefits while playing at USC, and former NBA forward and Michigan Wolverine Chris Webber, are just two of many college players who have been investigated and sometimes proven to have received illegal benefits during their playing days.

A growing number of athletes and sports media analysts are calling for a change in the NCAA's policies that will allow players benefit more from the billion-dollar college sports industry, driven by the blood, sweat and tears of the athletes. While colleges and universities earn millions of dollars from the success of athletic programs, primarily football and basketball teams, players make little to nothing in what some have termed a slave-master relationship reminiscent of the slave trade period.

One argument the NCAA makes is that the students are compensated through a full scholarship to earn a college degree, but there have been more than enough examples of college programs graduating very few athletes particularly on football and basketball teams.

A number of athletes have joined to sue the NCAA's licensing division and game manufacturers, as well as media broadcasters including ESPN, ABC, NBC, CBS, Fox, among others, for improper use of their likenesses without compensation.

It's too soon to tell what the outcome of the investigation on Gurley would be, but Gurley can look to the investigation involving another Heisman Trophy winner for optimism. In 2011, Auburn quarterback Cam Newton was investigated and cleared of any violation regarding his recruitment to play at Auburn.

It's possible that Gurley could return to the field this season, but with each game he misses, he makes less case for a nomination. What appears more certain is that this case is bound to impact his draft status. Meanwhile the University of Georgia and NCAA will continue making money of the sale of his jerseys.

Former NFL player Larry Johnson arrested in Miami club brawl

Former NFL player Larry Johnson was arrested Tuesday following a fight inside a popular Miami club. The ex-running back is accused of punching a club patron and attacking him with a broken bottle for taking drinks from his table at the Delano Hotel in Miami Beach. TMZ broke the story, including video of Johnson's arrest.

Ex-NFL running back Larry Johnson after his arrest

Johnson, who was a star tailback for the Penn State Littany Lions, played eight years in the league, ending his career in 2011 with the Miami Dolphins. He has previously been accused and arrested for a number of domestic violence incidents in the past.

For more on the story and to watch the video footage of the arrest, click here.