Hi Dad, we checked up on the flooding again today and, as it turns out, there is flooding not only in the Czech. Republic, but in Hungary and Austria as well, the next two countries we are going to before Prague. From what I’ve read, however, floodwaters are receding in the Czech. Republic and they plan to start dismantling precautionary flood barriers in Prague today. In the articles about Austria, there is no mention of Vienna, so it seems the floods are not threatening that city. In Hungary, the Danube is very high in Budapest, but still at an acceptable level and has started receding. Brian also spoke to a friend of his that is visiting there right now and she says everything is fine. So far, then, it seems we’ve lucked out and can continue our trip as planned.
I’m currently in Bucharest at the moment, having arrived yesterday afternoon. Our day in Venice was kind of a wash-out, as it drizzled all day and downright poured the morning we left. Still, it was cool to see the canals; I’ve certainly never seen a city like it. The hostel was also by far the best of our trip — it was actually a three-star hotel on Lido that only cost us 20 euros each for a three-bed room (so 60 euros a night in total). Piazza San Marco and the Basilica di San Marco were nice to see as well, but other than that Venice didn’t impress me a great deal, perhaps because of the abysmal weather.
On a side note, I’m really pleased with how much Italian I’ve picked up and could understand. I learned the few key phrases in Kody’s guidebook and that, combined with Italian’s similarity to Spanish, allowed me to check into the hotel in Venice with a receptionist that spoke only Italian. In Romania the story is different, although Romanian is surprisingly similar to other Romance languages. It sounds Slavik when I hear it spoken, but it has strong Latin roots. Actually, I don’t know if I mentioned this yet, but I’m thinking of picking up a degree in Spanish, as I’ve discovered that I only need three semesters to complete it (and I’ll be mostly done with my theatre degree by the end of the next school year). One of the components is two semesters of Portuguese — or Romanian.
Anyway, we haven’t gotten to see much of Bucharest yet, but so far it certainly lives up to the image of a post-communist Eastern European state — grey block buildings, old beat-up cars, and a 1:3 exchange rate. Today we’ll go see the infamous gigantic parliament building and some other sights and tonight possibly go see the opera, a concert, or the Ballet de Madrid, as it is in town and tickets for everything are incredibly cheap in terms of dollars. Tomorrow we may take a trip out to the countryside to Transylvania or somewhere thereabouts.
Love,
Michael
Tags: Heavy Things, Life