Jan 4th, 2009
The Last of the ‘Pest and on to the ‘Rest.
Two Flickr sets for this entry. The last for Budapest and one for Bucharest.
I’m in Bucharest, Romania now. Spent the last week in Budapest hanging out with Kata, Gregor, and a gaggle of gay Hungarians. Then I took a 23 hour bus/train journey to Bucharest.
Let’s do a photo (and video) essay!
Kata insisted on giving me my first pedicure that I’ve had in my life. It was funny:
It made me feel like this:
We went to a friend’s party that was held at a bar he rented out:
It made me feel like this:
We bought ingredients at a local market and Kata cooked some Hungarian concoction of potatoes, onions, sausage, eggs, cheese, and cream. Delicious:
We went to the Big Gay New Years party:
We played games including a version of Uno called “Solo” and the below-pictured quiz game, which had to be translated to me:
Curious to hear the rules of such a game explained? Want to hear the gibberish that Hungarian sound like? Here’s video:
The Quiz Game is explained in Hungarian from Nathan Shipley on Vimeo.
Then I left for Bucharest, Romania. This is the trusty steed that would carry me halfway, which stopped at wild-west themed “Convoy City”:
This is my favorite picture from the bus:
After a 9 hour bus ride and a three hour wait in Cluj, Romania at the train station, I got on the night train to Bucharest. The train bathroom took things to a new level and looked like this (featuring frozen urine on the floor!):
The train cabin and all of my worldly possessions in my two bags:
I arrived in Bucharest at 7:30 in the morning, walked to my hostel, slept, then had a walk around. Observations:
- I am again the only (natural) blondie.
- Spoken Romanian sounds kinda like Italian or Spanish.
- Romanian people are nice.
- Bucharest has more grit, graffiti, and stray dogs than Budapest. I like it.
This is the river:
This is the graffiti:
I found ice skating:
… and shot a very short video of it:
Ice Skating in Bucharest, Romania from Nathan Shipley on Vimeo.
Here’s a panorama of the square that had the ice-skating rink and some other assorted Bucharest stuff:
That’s all she wrote, people. I’m only going to be here for a day or two more, then it’s on to Istanbul.
Here’s the last Budapest Flickr set, and here’s the Bucharest Flickr set.
Strangely, the rules to the trivia game seem quite straightfoward.
Can’t wait for Turkey!! Happy New Year!!
Nothing like a forced pedi to run a guy out of town.
i love your haircut! also, the panoramas are beautiful.
The pedicure and the bus photos are priceless. I found myself laughing hysterically. What with the event with your toes your junior (?) year, and my recent 17-hour train debacle, you can understand, right?
Gotta love me!! ^_^
What a beautiful blog, the pictures are extraordinary! I will keep checking back to see where you are next as I live vicariously through you. No travel for me until summer.
Diggin the rhymes. Allow me to continue… Best Pest Rest Zest Fest Quest Chest Lest Incest Request Conquest Detest West Test Nest … Ok I’m done now. Have fun while you’re there. I’m sure there are some beautiful surprises waiting to be found.
These photos might be my faves. Toilet and all. Em
@ Stiles: Actually, yeah. The only thing I never got was the white/black chips.
@ Gillian: Thanks! You, too!
@ Dan: It felt strange to walk around for a day or so afterward. It really was the last straw.
@ V: Thanks!
@ Mom: Yeah, I think I’ve finally gotten over my foot shame. They may not be pretty, but who cares.
@ Rick: Thanks! I appreciate it.
@ Ms. Veach: Maybe I shouldn’t be leaving so soon. What with all the rhymes to be strewn.
Nathan, nathan, nathan. The feet are something to be covered, ignored, and MOST importantly to be ashamed of. I’m sure as far as feet go, yours are breathtaking, but to me they are more offensive than a set of salty genitals. It’s also possible that I might be a little too neurotic. The non feet pictures are pretty impressive.
In other news, you should be proud to know that your name is in google’s auto fill tech. Do you know how many hits your blog has gotten?