Went through some of the old pics from my 6 month venture to Europe and China. After China I hit up Kiev for 10 days and than Prague for a week. It was my second time back at Kiev visiting family so it was a special trip for me. It was so great to see some family and friends that I normally don’t have the chance to. I was also able to make it out to Odessa for 2 days to visit my roommates from Beijing (Anastasia and Lena- Holla!). My mom would tell me stories of her going to Odessa when she was young so I was really excited to see it. Although it wasn’t the best time to sight-see (being winter and all) I still really enjoyed it and thought it was beautiful. After a week and a half in Ukraine I took off to Prague, Czech Republic. I LOVE PRAGUE. Pretty much fell in love with the city instantly.The architecture, the arts, the atmosphere, the food, their beer- so great! My buddy Nick and his roommate Mike flew down from England to party it up with me for the weekend for Nick’s birthday (looks like this is gonna be an annual celebration). Totally tore it up. Could definitely see myself living in a city such as Prague. Went to a few museums, saw a concerto with a girlfriend, took a day tour of prague and did some shopping (mostly for mama, got her several bohemian crystal glass sets).
I had to get back to Hungary for my flight home so that was a mission. Train with my 2 luggages and several carry-ons and taxi to the Budapest airport, this is followed by a night of sleeping at the airport and than almost not being able to board my flight cause there was a complication with my return-ticket. This WOULD be happening to me, never a dull moment. All and all, after 6 months I made it home in one piece…relatively.

Back in Toronto!! Feels good to be back.

What a mission making it home to Toronto has it been. Started my last day in Europe by catching the fantastic exhibition of Alphonsa Mucha in his self-proclaimed museum in the Old Town of Prague. After heading back to the hotel I had a taxi driver take me to the train station where I needed to catch the 15:38 train from Prague to Budapest. Seeing as I came to Europe as part of the JDC’s volunteer initiative I had to take the same route back. After franticly searching for my station, a somewhat homeless looking yet well-spoken man offered to help me caryy all my luggage on-board (keep in mind that I had one rather large suitcase, a small carry-on, two shopping bags, a laptop and a purse…yes, I needed all the help I could get). Once getting on-board I tipped the dude and crashed in my seat. It was quite comfortable for economy class and I had a rather nice Czech fella sitting next to me. Once getting to Budapest, the thought of how I am going to exit the train with all my luggage terrorized me. Just as I was about to step off the train a taxi driver appeared and asked me “where to?”- Brilliant! He carried both my luggages to the cab and later unloaded it to a cart at the airport. Piece of advice to those who are taking a train and needing to get to the airport or a hotel..there are certain cab companies who give you a fixed rate which is WAY cheaper than just catching a cab from the train station or airport- you can call and arrange ahead of time and have them meet you at your arrival. Anyways, I arrived at the Buda airport at about 23:30 P.M and my flight was scheduled to be at 9:38 A.M the following morning. Unfortunately this was the best alternative I could find as any available flights from Prague were to arrive too late in the day and any potentintial later train rides would be cutting it too close to my departure time. So what did I do for 8 hours in the airport over-night?…the usual my friends; watched movies, skyped, read a bit, passed out for about an hour, etc. It was a pretty painful night because I was exhausted as there was no place to leave my luggage; so I had to keep one eye on my things at all times. 7:30 A.M rolled around and I was ready to check in and get this show on the road. As the stewardess was checking me in at the counter she gave me a funny look and asked for my e-ticket number. “Uhhh..my reference number?”..”No.” she replied, ” I need the e-ticket for your return”. Oh-uh…talk about Murphy’s Law…the day wasn’t looking that bright to begin with I wasn’t surprised if things took turn for the worse.
As it turns out, the system at LOT Polish Airlines offices has been down all day at the Budapest airport so access to certain services has been limited. I started to panic and franticlly look on-line for some e-ticket number, luckily though it was all worked out and they were able to find it. Because of all the trouble I guess the check-in girl felt bad for me and didn’t charge me for the over-weight of my luggage. I got through security and boarded the airplane shortly on my way to Warsaw, Poland. The flight was short but sweet; 2 glasses of wine, a walnut muffin and an hour later I arrived. The Warsaw airport is not bad- I had a 4 hour layover and I was dead tired. I hung out at the airport bar, watched another movie, shopped around at duty free and kicked it.
Boarding the flight to Toronto was a nightmare- there was literally a MOB of people. It was like a scene from a movie of immigrants getting on a boat on their way to America- the land of opportunities. The aircraft was huge and it was filled bags, screaming babies and polish ranting. My body wasn’t having it and so I was able to pass out for half the flight. The journey was long but necessary, the food on the aircraft (LOT Airlines) was descent.
After an 11 hour flight I finally touched down in Toronto. After going through customs and picking-up my luggage I was greeted by my parents with a dozen of rosses - I’ma home mama.