Whatcha gonna do?

So sorry friends out there. I know I am a total clod not to write that often and I apologize. Please accept my apology :)

Last weekend I traveled to Bratislava and Budapest with another Erasmus group (study away group) and had an awesome time. Well, besides the crazy bus driver, the 'Armpit of Europe' and the 'Male Version of Prauge' were wonderful.

First off, I'll describe the trip. Well, you must know that with a group 0f 38 American students, you will never leave on time. One guy forgot his passport and had to catch a tram to go back to his flat and get it and another overslept (we shall call him Frank). When we finally left, we were 45 minutes late. Factor in the fact that the bus driver had to have a 45 minute break every 2 hours and that there were detours near Brno, we were over 3 hours late arriving in Bratislava.

Now, Bratislava was not as disgusting as it is portrayed in Eurotrip. We stayed in a hotel on the outskirts of Brati and ventured into the city center around 9. Oh, the tram that we took from our hotel broke down midway so we had to wait outside for a bus. That was a bit of trashy Brati coming out. My friend Ashley and I along with Ben and Mike ventured into streets unknown to rustle up some grub before a waling tour at 10:30. We found an amazing Pizzaria for so CHEAP! Slavakia is a country where the US has an awesome exchange rate. About 40=$1! My dinner was 120 and that included a whole pizza and a delicious beer. I am going back to Brati for sure.

Our walking tour wasn't so great. We walked to the Bratislava Castle (you need to realize that every city/town in Europe has a castle of some kind that is a tourist must. The castle was nice,not as large as Prague Castle nor as decorated but it was really interesting. It is located above the river on top of a high hill and is surrounded by high walls constructed of river rock.

Oh, did I mention that the tour group became split up and my tour guide did not know what he was doing? That's right, at midnight I was wondering the mean streets of Brati searching for anyplace that would be located on the little maps the the hotle copied and gave to us. We finally found our way back to the city center but our tour guide left us to go out to a club. So basically it was up to me to get my roommates Katie and Nikki back to the hotel. We ventured with a couple other students armed with only a map to trek back the 3+ miles to the hotel. Needless to say we made it but we had to walk on a highway and cross some hevy traffic to get there. But, it was an adventure and I will always remember Bratislava as the hike that could have killed me.

Well I'm out. I have class tomorrow and I have to finish a presentation for East Central European Politics. I am also going to watch the biggest Fotball game of the year in Praha tomorrow night! It's Praha Sparta vs Praha Slavia. I will be wearing black so no one will accuse me of cheering for the wrong team. It will be pretty amazing!