A brief, yet triumphant intermission

The Middle East. 

When most Americans hear those words, many of us still associate it with war, terrorism, religious extremists and otherwise negative things. I think we still don't have an understanding of what life is like in this part of the world because of what we're fed by the media and we don't know any better. And sometimes I get the feeling that we don't want to know any better. And while I'd never been anywhere in this part of the world before two weeks ago*, I figured I owed it to myself to check it out eventually, because surely there's more to it than we're led to believe. And as luck would have it, my first opportunity to travel there fell right into my lap.

So let's flash back and pretend I wrote this as soon as I got back.

Coming home from work on Monday, I ran into my coworker on the way home from work. We were catching up for a bit and she mentioned that she was leaving on Friday for a quick trip to the United Arab Emirates, where Turner was holding a conference to showcase some of new technologies. I mentioned how I'd always wanted to visit the Dubai and Abu Dhabi, and I half-jokingly suggested that I should tag along. She thought about it for a second and said "Actually, sure, why not? I think you'd be helpful to us and could learn a lot". I agreed. Awesome. 

Now, flash forward a few days and there I found myself on a plane to Abu Dhabi with that Russian coworker, my English boss Glenn, and 6 of our Russian clients, all of whom couldn't (or at least refused to) really speak English but were just happy to be along for the ride. Me too guys, me too. 

So, a few short hours later, we touched down in Abu Dhabi. To some extent, my initial impression of the UAE was exactly what you or I would imagine. The airport is essentially in the middle of the desert-

The airport

-so my introduction to the Middle East was landing in the hot desert and being greeted by an Arab passport agent wearing a thobe. Welcome to the Middle East! In all seriousness though, he was probably the nicest passport agent I've ever encountered and he thought it was cool that I was American. After we all made it through customs, our drivers picked us up to head to our hotel. And by drivers, I mean they brought a car for each of of the three of us (our other Russian friends split off) because you know, it's the UAE and why the hell not? On the drive to our hotel, I chatted with my driver about how life was in the UAE. He was an Indian man who had been there for 7 years, and had no plans on leaving. Things were good here, and exciting. I got the sense that just by being there, you felt like you were part of something grand. During my time there I would come to find that people seem to genuinely enjoy living there, which might explain why over 3/4 of the country is expatriates. Ali insisted I take his email address, and assured me that we would party next time I came to Dubai (I mean, yeah). In any case, whether it was my excitement to be in an entirely new place or my friendly driver or even because the UAE is that damn cool, everything from the time I landed onward seemed awe-inspiring. Take for instance one of the first structures I saw there, a bridge designed by Zaha Hadid (of course) and dubbed "the most complicated bridge in the world". A fine introduction, and foreshadowing of more to come.

Sheikh Zayed Bridge

After getting to the hotel and dropping our things off, we drove around the town for a bit and grabbed some dinner and beers. Yes, they serve beer in the UAE, and that my friends is a beautiful, beautiful thing because a) it's the desert-- it was in the 90s while I was there and gets up to 120 in the summer-- and what better to drink and b) because beer. A successful first impression of the country, to be sure.

As our time in the country was limited, we started early the next day. The plan was to drive around Abu Dhabi and up to Dubai, visiting various Turner projects along the way (and there are many). So me, Glenn, the Russians and our Indian driver** set off to explore the United Arab Emirates a bit. For those who aren't as familiar, the cities of Abu Dhabi and Dubai essentially sprung up within the last 30 or so years. The government started pumping the oil money into new building and infrastructure and the result is the modern, ambitious cities you know of today. You can certainly feel the modernity looking around: when driving from Abu Dhabi to Dubai, look right and you'll see desert for miles and miles^, look left and you'll see massive new developments and buildings shooting out of the ground.

At one point, the UAE supposedly had a quarter of the tower cranes in the world. 

And yeah, they're still building.

Let's build a new city, who cares if it's in the middle of the desert?

Some of our stops along the way included: the Al Raha Beach development, a new coastal community stretching TEN KILOMETERS up the coast; the Saadiyat Island development, a planned cultural center consisting of a new Guggenheim museum (designed by Frank Gehry), a new Louvre museum (designed by Jean Nouvel) as well as other unique, eye-catching structures by world-renowned "starchitects" (Sir Norman Foster, Zaha Hadid); and the Emirates Palace and Hotel. Each of these projects was breathtaking in it's own way-- Al Raha in its size, scope and ambition; Saadiyat island in its cultural significance and rich architecture; Emirates Palace in its magnificence, craftsmanship and regality-- and though only a small sampling of the many, many incredible current and future architectural wonders in the UAE, I certainly got the feeling of just how big everything is here. 

The magnificent Emirates Palace

The even more magnificent Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque

The Emirati certainly are a proud and dignified people, and it shows in the country they are building. Their ambition to literally create the next great global cities is only contained by their seemingly endless resources. Domestically, we build for need. Here, they build for want. 

I unfortunately only had a day or so to really look explore, but even that was enough to blow my mind with the sheer magnitude of what's happening here, in the deserts of the Arabian Peninsula nonetheless. And of course, this was all just the build up to the crowning jewel: the Burj Khalifa, the tallest building in the world. You first notice the Burj when you're still about 20 or 30 minutes outside of the city. Once you see it, it's hard to take your eyes off of it because whether you care for the architecture or not, it is iconic. And yeah, it's big. It looks like the Earth reach it's hands up towards the skies. Like a still lightning bolt shooting out of the ground. It's hard to ever conceptualize just how enormous it actually is, and it seems to never stop growing. For reference, I'm a reasonably tall guy at 6'2", and I am 0.2% of the height of the Burj. It's 439 times taller than me, or almost twice the height of the Empire State Building. It's pretty goddamn big. Walking around the Dubai Mall (the biggest mall in the world, which leads to the underground base of the Burj), you can see that this building isn't just massive, but it is extremely well built. The quality of the finishes is outrageous. If you see something that looks like gold, it's gold. If you see something like looks like marble, it's high grade, solid, imported marble. From a construction and architectural standpoint, this impressed me almost as much as the structure itself. It further shows that the decadence and greatness of the architecture in the UAE truly knows no bounds. 

One of my first glimpses of the Burj

The view from the top

The viewing platform near the top of the tower is surreal and still, with a constant warm desert breeze. Standing up here, you can feel the sense of accomplishment of what you're standing on. It's like climbing a Mt. Everest of steel and concrete. Though it's bound to be surpassed eventually, it's still an extremely impressive accomplishment that will surely stand the test of time.

The rest of the time here was dedicated to work, since that was technically the purpose of this trip. Not to say that this was boring by any means, as the conference itself was interesting and I was able to meet some really interesting people from around the world, both from Turner and from other companies. And I actually got to meet a Sheikh of the royal family and hear him speak (he was excellent). Though brief, I think this trip was both an excellent career and life opportunity. I'll never complain with getting to travel and experiencing first-hand a new global destination, especially one as foreign and unknown to me as the ominous "Middle East". Given the short time I was here, I couldn't really get too intimate with the culture of this country (outside of the architecture), but from my observations, it's a very peaceful, likable and livable place. And I admit that the UAE, particularly Abu Dhabi and Dubai, isn't the most tumultuous, dangerous or even foreign place in the Middle East, but it is still a predominantly Arab and Muslim nation. Visiting here was a great stepping stone towards understanding a people that I've been essentially been led to fear and question, and as always, I was grateful for the experience and perspective.

Recommended listening
The Magnetic Fields- 69 Love Songs
The Range- Nonfiction
Flying Lotus- Until The Quiet Comes

 *So it takes me a while to write and edit my pictures. You can't force creativity and inspiration, people.
^Ahem, kilometers and kilometers
** Different Indian, not as interested in partying. Also, I feel weird saying "our driver" but, like Moscow, this is normal. And not in snooty, privileged way; everyone just drives here.

Şerefe!

Original post: October 26th, 2013

(I'm headed to Abu Dhabi/Dubai for a few days so I figured I better get this published because I owe ya one. I'll post something else after the UAE.)

The past few times I've been traveling around, I've personally enjoyed learning how to say "cheers" in as many languages as possible. The title of this post means cheers in Turkish, and it's one of my favorites I've learned yet. It literally* means "to honor", but it's used specifically for when you're drinking and in the context that anything you say at the table, stays at the table. Thus, feel free to drink up and speak your mind. I like that.

Anyway, I claimed in my last post that this post would be a follow-up/part 2. It still is to some extent but with everything that's happened between now and then, it's really more of it's own post. Plus I've been busy/preoccupied/outside/blahblahblah and it's been a little while. Don't worry, I didn't forget about you. Not that any of that matters anyway, the content is the same. And I know this is a common feeling for people traveling/living abroad but in 4 days I will have been here for a month, and that is unbelievable. 

In the past few weeks, I've been exploring Moscow. I feel less likely a tourist gawking at the sites and more like an outsider trying to assimilate. I've sort of plugged myself into the life here, part of the reason why it seems time has passed by so quickly. After all, I think the goal of anyone living or traveling abroad should be to immerse yourself into the local culture and see how you can learn and grow from that. If you want to really expand your world view, try living like a Muscovite, or a Congolese, or a Chilean, or a Laotian. That's how you can really gain a real global perspective, I think.  

Luckily, there is no shortage of things to do here to let you experience the culture. There are two things that have really stuck out to me as I've been wandering about the city. The first, of course, is the food.
The foods here certainly are a great reflection of the foreign people in Moscow. While Russia has a reputation of being somewhat adverse to cultural diffusion ( ~92% of people in Moscow are native Russian), people come from nearby countries for work, a new life, or simply to be in a major city (as much of the world is doing), and their presence is certainly felt. I'm personally always interested in new foods and cuisines, and the food here has been almost entirely new to me and very satisfying. I've found food from the Caucasus region  in particular to be some of my favorite I've had anywhere. Now the Caucasus region encompasses a few different countries and many different cuisines, but from what I've observed they are all basically linked by the same style and elements- very meat-centric (particularly lamb), lots of eggplant, savory spices and plenty of bread.

A typical Georgian spread

It's very rustic food with seemingly simple ingredients, yet it's still complex and very new to me. Georgian dumplings are particularly amazing, and if you've never had khachapuri then you are really missing out. Outside of this I've also enjoyed Ukranian food, Turkish food and the occasional pop up shwarma/kebab place, and although Russian food is kinda weird (as I mentioned before), it's still pretty good too. New York is a wonderful city to try new foods and I didn't know what to expect moving here to Moscow after having so many great options at home, but so far I haven't been let down. 

The second aspect of the city that I've really come to love are the parks. I have always sort of had an affinity for parks and luckily, so have the Russians. Parks have been an important part of Russian culture for some time. In the Communist days, they were one of the only open and free parts of life, and they played a large role in shaping life here. There are dozens of beautiful parks around the city and I've made a point of visiting a new one every free day I have. They are spacious, clean, and popular, and they offer a great opportunity to escape the sprawl and urbanism of the city. And even more luckily for me, autumn is a truly beautiful time to walk around here. 

Sokolnicki Park

Patriarchy Prudy ("Patriarch's Ponds")

Tverskoy Blvd.

Gorky Park

Ethereal and arboreal

Loafin' around at the Ponds 

As you can see, there is great beauty in these parks. There is no better place for a bit of tranquility, solitude and self reflection. Some of the highlights of my stay here so far have been reading my book beneath the falling Autumn leaves, stumbling on a little tea house tucked away in Gorky Park and taking a nap by the Patriachs Ponds. Most people would agree that regardless of where you are in the world, a taste of the outside air and a little mother nature are a must. Even though I haven't left yet, and there is plemty more for me to see, I'm certain I will remember the fall chill and the smell of the parks in Moscow. 

On top of these things, I've discovered and rediscovered plenty more about the city.

The architecture and layout of the city seems to take on a new definition at night and for some reason, it almost makes more sense. Like New York, Moscow has a vibrant night life. Something about the darkness drowns out the somberness and dreariness of the cloud cover, and people feel more free to less loose. Whether it be driving around, walking home after dinner, grabbing a few pints with my coworkers or going out for a night on the town, there's a liveliness and atmosphere that I don't feel during the day. More on this to come.

Here are some other collected photos I've taken since I've been here. I never really focused too much on the look of my pictures before but I've given some new care to photography since I've been here, and I'm pretty pleased with the results. 

Smolenskaya, the gateway to the city.
(my metro stop)

The Cathedral of the Protection of Most Holy Theotokos on the Moat

 Pushkinsky Pedestrian Bridge

These are some of the things I love most about living here, and I've enjoyed spending my time wandering about Moscow and discovering for myself the beauty of the city. After being here for some time, my view of Moscow has changed significantly. When I first came here I saw an industrialized, commercialized sprawl with a sea of stern faces and a language that I could barely write or prounounce, let alone speak or understand. But there is more depth here than at first or second glimpse: centuries-old historic buildings, trees and trees and trees, the tastes of unique and unfamiliar cultures, beautiful and complex people, a clash of preserved nature and the ever-growing built environment, little children babbling in a language I may never really understand, a universal feeling of pride and individualism and the constant reminder that we can always change. Twenty three years ago the people of Russia were forced to change their government, their world view and their culture. While, like many people in the world, they still struggle to steady their ship and continue to discover their new identity, there is immense depth at each turn of the narrow, crowded streets. And if an entire people can change, who's to say there aren't a few new things for me to learn? Russia is more than just cold weather and vodka, it's a beautiful city and most importantly, it's my home, for now.

Signing off,

Eric

Recommended listening

Arcade Fire- Reflektor (was released as I was writing this!)

Bill Callahan- Dream River

Dan Deacon- America

*In case you didn't know, most cheers don't actually translate to "cheers" but something else valuable to that culture ("to honor" or "to health" or "to life").

**I've been noticing there are a lot of similarities between here and New York. Fashion, range of food, woman, parks. The atmosphere is pretty different but the heavy metropolitan aspect of each of them bear a lot of similarities. 

I have arrived. I am home.

In a strange way, I feel very settled here, as if I've been here for months. Yet Moscow is still incredibly unfamiliar.

Having spent so much time in Europe and in a range of different parts, I didn't think I would experience any remarkable culture shock coming back to Europe. Sure, there plenty of places here I hadn't yet seen (notably Eastern Europe or any former Soviet state), but I assumed the culture and people would be at least identifiable. And yet, while the city and people did initially appear familiar, Moscow is very a new experience for me and in a word, foreign. To a lot of people (and to myself, to a certain extent), that's an intimidating thought. But it's also as much as I could ask for. In my life (and at the risk of sounding cliche), I've found stepping out of your comfort zone into something completely fresh and new, even alien, reveals more to you about the world and yourself than any other experience.

Disclaimer: I love Western Europe. I think it has immense beauty, culture and depth, and I can personally attest to having some amazing life experiences in some of the countries there. But I wonder, how different is the culture than the United States really? In the scheme of things, not much I'd say. As Americans, look at where our ancestors come from (scroll about 2/3 of the way down to the "Ancestry" section). Not any surprises in that top 15, right? Western Europe is fun for us to visit (no more links, promise) because it feels familiar. It's where we come from. We can relate to it, our history is entrenched in it, and it is recognizable and native to us. Obviously that's a big attraction to many Americans, but for me, I've been around the block a few times. I thought it time to try something new. To challenge myself.

And thus I find myself, in Moscow, Russia. Perhaps not as distant as the Orient or Africa, but it is still the furthest from home I've ever been. The places I'd moved to before (San Diego, San Luis Obispo, Graz, back to New York) had all felt very new at first, but never took too long for me to acclimate to. These places revealed many great new things to me, but in retrospect were hardly too outside "ordinary" for me. For the week and a half I've been in Moscow, I've been expecting to gain that quick sense of familiarity and warmth* and comfort, but it's been fleeting and elusive. Part of this has been my inability to explore as much during the week because of my busy work schedule as well as the fact that I only know a handful of people here. But I'm beginning to realize a major reason for this semi-isolated and uneasy feeling is that moving here was a bigger step into the unknown than I thought. And that is incredibly exciting to me. 

The concept of starting over for a few months scares and exhilarates me. At this point in my life, I fully embrace change and I would hate to stagnate or plateau. I am now in a place where I think I can learn something that I wouldn't have before, staying in my happy Brooklyn box. Russia is an enormous and complex country, and Moscow is a direct microcosm of that. I've gotten my footing here and I am anxious, motivated, intimidated, energized and ultimately excited to continue exploring here. Outside of work, I have no direction and I'm perfectly OK** with that. 

Since my last update, I've gotten a broader perspective of the city. Here are some extensions of my previous observations:

• I mentioned before that commercialism and consumerism were rampant here. The more I thought about it, the more I think this comes back to the fall of Communism here (of course). When the Soviet Union fell, the carpet was essentially pulled out from underneath the people in a very real way. Wanting to distance themselves from their past, Russians clung to anything different and new. With the freedom to buy whatever they wanted, people made up for lost time and started spending freely and thus, an intimate attitude towards consumerism was born. In a way, Russia is now a very young country, still finding it's identity and culture. Now everybody wants a slice of the pie, hence the overwhelming focus on shopping/fashion, technology and driving (everybody drives here). That's the modern way, and it is rooted in the rebirth of the country.‡ 

• I also mentioned that people (particularly older people) have a way of not looking you in the eye and simply looking straight ahead at all times. This has to do with the old ways of Communism as well. Cultural exploration was dissuaded, so people minded their own business and kept to themselves. This tendency of older people to stick to their old traditions actually revealed a really fascinating juxtaposition between the old and new generations here. When young people notice you here-- whether it be because you are ravishingly handsome, speaking English loudly or simply because you caught their eye-- they will burn a goddamn hole in you with their eyes.They don't play that subtle eye game that people play on the subway in New York when you pretend like you're not looking at someone but you're totally checkin' 'em out. They let you know they're interested in some way. And I think this difference is representative of the city as a whole and the clash between the old and new cultures is something to behold. One of my favorite observations so far.

• The food. Right. So I would say I'm fairly open-minded when it comes to food, even a "foodie" at some points. I expected to dive right into the local cuisine and eat like a Russian while I was here. The thing is, Russian people don't really eat traditional Russian food. I've seen more McD's and English-style pubs here than I have Russian restaurants. Most people I've talked to rarely eat the stuff. I think it's because Russian food is kinda, well, weird (I lied about the links. Just click it, it's relevant. Even if it is a BuzzFeed article). It has a very old fashioned feel to it, like these dishes have truly been around for centuries. But I can actually say with a straight face that I enjoy it. It's very reminiscent of the culture, and I like that. Disappointingly, they don't really drink that much vodka either. I'm gonna still act like they do, though.  

At the risk of boring or overwhelming you, I will write a second part to this post about some of the things I've been up to. I want to take some time to edit the pictures I've taken as well. Plus, I'm tired˟. I will share with you my favorite picture I've taken thus far.

Hopefully you can get a sense of what it's like living here, from my perspective and in general. As you can tell, I'm still figuring this place out and it mystifies me in a great way. Understandably, it gets lonely venturing in the unknown by oneself but the sense of adventure mostly drowns that out. And besides, I have you guys to share my experience with. 

From Russia, with love,

Eric

§ Recommended listening:
Yo La Tengo- Fade
Darkside- Psychic
Future Islands- On The Water
 

*Not talking about the weather. It's actually been mostly pleasant since I've been here.
**A Russian person told me that the world "okay" came from a Russian phrase or something. Seems relevant. I have no idea if that's true.
‡ Just my thoughts, not necessarily true. Remember that.
˟ I'm 8 hours ahead of the East Coast, which means a full 11 hours ahead of you West Coasters. 

§ Music has definitely already contributed immensely to my experience here, so I'm gonna feature a few relevant albums on each post. Feel free to give 'em a listen. 

The title and subsequent picture in this post comes from a publication by Thich Nhat Hanh. I'm not familiar with his work nor am I Buddhist, I just think it's cool.

First impressions of Москва

It's hard to believe that the last time I was outside the United States was just under three years ago, when I was studying abroad in Austria. It certainly doesn't feel like Graz was so long ago, and I'm sorta disappointed I haven't traveled outside the country since then, considering what a profound experience that was. Gotta feed the wanderlust. I have traveled around inside the country though (and I did move back across the country), so at least there's that.

In any case, I now find myself smack dab in the center of Moscow, a city I admittedly knew little about before coming here. Regardless of what you know about their past or present, this is a complex culture and people, something you can't really begin to understand until you have the chance to experience it personally. And while I came here for work, I plan on making the most out of this trip as possible. I should have some time to travel (Sweden, I'm coming for for ya) and even just being outside of the US for a little while will be a welcomed break. Without further ado, my first blog post (in a while):

What better place to start than A summary of my short time here thus far:
Sunday
I landed on Sunday and got to my apartment around noon or so. I've got to admit, my company hooked me up with a sweet place. Very spacious, fairly modern and clean, furnished and just all around home-y. And in an odd way, it does seem like a home for me already (or at least a home base), though it could use some personal touches. For the rest of the day Sunday, I mostly slept (9.5 hour flight with minimal sleep + 8 hour time change) and settled into my apartment, to the sweet sounds of football (of the American variety).
Side note: Whenever I'm traveling, I vow to stay out of my apartment/hotel as much as possible, and now that I'm settling in here, I plan to make good on that (however difficult that may be once the weather turns).
Monday
Yesterday, since I am technically here on work, I headed to my project site for the day (an oddly similar commute from what I'm used to in NY-- a ~35 minute door-to-door subway commute).  First impressions of this project are mostly positive. My boss (Cecil), a transplanted Texan, has been in Moscow for around 12 years or so and has much useful advice to share with a newcomer to the city. While his personality and mine aren't too similar, we get along well enough and there's certainly much I can learn from him. The other members of the Turner team are a younger local engineer (Sasha) as well as a Turkish engineer (Emrah), both extremely friendly and accommodating. I'll get more into this later but all in all, I think working here will actually be pretty cool. Afterwards,  I was able to explore my neighborhood a bit, buy myself some groceries (always an adventure), watch the finale of Breaking Bad :( and break in some of the pots and pans in my apartment before turning in (still getting over that jet lag a bit).

This is my apartment. If you look closely, you can see this fella parading around in his boxers.

Tuesday
Much of the same as yesterday, but today I was able to explore some of the sites a bit. I took a quick trip to the Red Square with my real estate agent (hehehe...) and took a quick peek at one of the most famous sites in all of Russia. I wasn't able to spend any significant time here but it was nice being able to explore a bit and see some of the city after being somewhat confined before. For starters, St. Basil's Cathedral and the Kazan Cathedral are some of the most unique buildings I've ever seen. They look more like something out of a toy box than an actual structure. Once you wrap your mind around the fact that these are real structures, you realize how truly beautiful they are. Ridiculously complex and ornate, Ivan the Terrible supposedly had the architects rip out their own eyes after building St. Basil's so that they could never design something so beautiful again (hmmm... so maybe Russians are a bit crazy). This is one of those sites that gives you an  insight into what the 16th century felt like. You can feel the history around you.
 I wish I could have stuck around longer because St. Basil's really is hard to take your eyes off of. I will certainly be back here again.

The Northern entrance to Red Square

Yes, St. Basil's is a real place.

I can't be serious, especially not for tourist pictures. C'mon.

St. Basil's and Spasskaya Tower

While I've only been here a few days, I can at least comment on the biggest stereotypes and FAQs I've personally been asked:
1. Yes, it's cold here. It's been in the high 30s to mid 40s since I've been here, which is obviously isn't bad (even though fall technically just started), but the temperature is dropping. And judging by the way the Muscovites talk about the winter, it's going to  drop. Luckily, it's been mostly dry with little wind since I've been here, so the weather has been more than bearable.
Here's to hoping for a mild winter (or at least while I'm here).
UPDATE: Since writing this, I was informed that this is supposed to be one of the coldest winters...ever. Like -50 F (-45 C) cold. Uhhhh maybe I'll leave around Christmas time after all.
2. From what I can tell, Russian people are indeed a bit crazy (look at their president for chrissakes), but not to the extent that everyone believes. I did see a guy try to walk across 8 lanes of a busy freeway (to which our driver shrugged and said "eh, it's Moscow"), but that's about it so far. Though there is something about those high cheekbones that makes everyone look a bit too serious/suspicious all the time.

Some dangling Russian window washers (from a 35+ story building, mind you). OK fine, Russians are crazy.

3. Yes, the women are beautiful. Even the average ones. It sorta took me by surprise. It has something to do with how everyone always looks their best in public and again, something about those high cheekbones... I promise to revisit this again later.

Oh yeah, the Olympics are going to be here in February. Maybe I'll stay past Christmas after all.

From my first few days here, I can certainly say Moscow is unlike any city I've been to before. It has the the sprawl and size of LA, with more architectural styles that I could count on both hands. While Communism still has its fingerprints all over the city, it seems that Moscow has over-Capitalized to make up for lost time. There is no shortage of shopping malls or advertisements, and the locals readily recognize the impact of commercialism and consumerism on the city. It's not a bad thing necessarily (though almost everything is absurdly expensive here), it's just an interesting contrast to what people normally think about Russia. Given the size, extremely foreign language*, and less-than-welcoming people**, it's a city that I will need some time to figure out. It doesn't have the upfront charm of Paris or New York (or even Graz) but people seem to genuinely love it here and I look forward to understanding why.

I feel like when I studied abroad, I could have updated my blog a bit more, so I'm going to try to write a bit more regularly this time. I plan on writing less about my small, day-to-day activities and more about any particularly profound experiences and observations, as they are what's truly interesting. This post ended up being a bit longer than I envisioned, but Moscow has somewhat of an overwhelming first impression. In any case, I enjoy sharing my thoughts and experiences, I hope you enjoy reading them.

UPDATE: I'm writing this after an uneventful Wednesday (I know, I know). I am about to go out for a few rounds with some of my new friends and coworkers. I am the only American and I suspect real Russian vodka will be involved. The way I see it, you'll never really understand a city unless you get drunk there first. I blame any decline in quality on this. Cheers! За ваше здоровье!

*Since I'll be here for a similar amount of time, I am determined to leave here at least as fluent in Russian as I was in German when I left Austria. It is a wildly complex and intimidating language, but I do already have the alphabet down and you'd be surprised how quickly you can pick a language up when you are immersed in it everyday.
**Pretty much all of the people I've met so far are welcoming, accommodating and friendly. The people you see walking around though are suspicious of any foreign people or behaviors, and the police have a reputation for harassing anyone they want. Everyone sort of minds their own business, and people rarely even look at one another. It's somewhat off-putting. 

Egészségére! Na zdravie! Prost!

With yet another easy schedule for last week, I was able to travel again! This seems to be a recurring theme for this trip...

Anyway, me and a few of my American pals decide to embark on a little adventure to some of the lesser known/lesser travels countries in Europe. Seeing as I've already been to some of the biggest cities here like London, Paris and Florence, I thought it would be cool to check out some of the smaller cities. Austria sits right in the middle of Europe so this made it pretty easy for me to accomplish that. In fact, I didn't even have to travel very far at all.

On a dreary Sunday morning, Jacob, Adam, Spencer and I headed out on our next journey. First stop: Budapest, Hungary. The train took only about 4 hours or so and we were all pretty tired, so the ride went by in a flash. This took us right to the heart of Budapest (a pretty sweet train station too, I might add) to an equally dreary day. The weather didn't bring us down though, as we are American travelers on a mission to have some fun! We ventured on to the tram system to find our hostel. It was a bit tough finding our way because even though Hungarian uses the same alphabet, it is a COMPLETELY different language. We found our way though, and checked into our hostel, a nice little place called Good Morning Budapest. This actually turned out to be one of the nicer hostels I'd stayed in up to this point. After checking in, we ventured out to poke around a bit. We hadn't eaten all day and we were running on the beer from the night before still, so we were all a bit delirious and we NEEDED food. We found a nice restaurant and got a nice big dinner to settle our stomachs. After walking around a bit more, we decided to call it a night because we were all beyond exhausted.

My first view of Budapest

IT MAKES NO SENSE

A beautiful synagogue

Some of the typical architecture

Chillin by the Danube

After catching a good nights sleep, we woke up the next day well rested and eager to check out Budapest. The wonderful thing about a lot of the cities in Europe is that a lot of them have free city tours, which are perfect for students and travelers with lower budgets (us, in this case). So we decided it would be interesting to check out the Communist tour, seeing as Hungary has a rich history of it. Our tour guide was extremely friendly, spoke English very well and of course was very well versed in Hungarian history. I found that all the buildings here had a very unique style, unlike any I had seen yet. The buildings were taller and darker and certainly felt more imposing. The tour lasted about 2 and a half hours and we were able to see a lot of the sights of Hungary and learn loads of stuff. Afterwards, we hung out at a cool pub for a bit before grabbing some food. Then we did a little bar hopping (to get a taste of the local culture, of course) before turning in for the night.

One of the largest and oldest churches in Budapest

Our tour guide, by a Communist landmark

Standing next to the man who freed Hungary

Budapest at night

Shenanigans, of course

The next day was another travel day. We spent the afternoon in Budapest and walked around a bit more before taking off again. This time we took another short train up to Bratislava, Slovakia. We had heard mixed reviews about Bratislava so we weren't really sure what to expect. However, once our train dropped us off and we had a chance to check out the city a bit, all our fears were put to rest. Bratislava was just as beautiful and safe as any other city we'd been to, plus we found that it had a lot more to offer than just the typical sights. After checking into our next hostel (also very nice) we decided to do what we do best as American travelers: drink beer and eat food. We happen to stumble upon the perfect place about a half mile from our hostel. It looked like a quaint little restaurant on the outside but turned out to be a multi-level, renaissance themed brew house that was packed with people our age. Good choice. The food was incredible and the beer was (cheap) some of the best I've had yet.

Off we go...

One of the coolest restaurants I've been to

Kickin' it

Bearded.

The next day we had another chance to check out one of the free tours. The tour took us around most of the city (it's not too big) and we got a good taste of the culture and history. For whatever reason, whether it was the nice weather, small home-town feel of Bratislava or I was just having a generally good day, Bratislava just made me happy. I was in a great mood and the "vibes" I got from the city were amazing. I really enjoyed walking around and despite some the negative reviews I'd heard, I loved Bratislava. The old town area was simply beautiful and the bigger city area had plenty to offer as well. After the tour, we checked out some of the local shops and got some nice Slovakia schwag ( for those who don't know, schwag= souvenirs, apparel, etc). We dropped by our hostel to drop off our goodies and then we headed out for another night on the town (and what a night it was). We grabbed a few drinks at a nearby bar and then headed back to the same restaurant as the night before (it was that good). After drinking far too much beer and eating an absurd amount of food, it was time for.... bar hopping! It really is the best way to assimilate into a new city, I swear. The night took many unexpected turns, including some new bartender friends, absurdly full stomachs, broken/stolen bottles, being harrassed in the streets by prostitutes (don't worry, we managed to resist their charm), kebap from the smallest building in Europe, among other things that need not be mentioned in a public forum.

What's not to love about this?

Some of the old town area

Our tour guide

The Blue Cathedral

The gang

Our new friends

Eating kebab from the smallest building in Europe

Following our routine, the next day was a traveling day. We grabbed a little pick me up in the form of sushi (my first in Europe. It wasn't too bad) and we were on our way. The trip from Bratislava to Vienna is extremely short, so we figured we'd end our excursion back in Austria. While I had already been to Vienna, I had really liked it the first time around and was more than willing to make another trip. Another short train and another short tram ride later and we were yet again checked into a nice hostel. Because the Austrians are such versed drinkers, both the hostels we stayed in here were equipped with bars. Simply wonderful. The night of arrival, we were in the mood for some good Italian food (forgivable eating Italian food while traveling in Austria, considering we live here.) Good Italian food is what we got. We devoured a full course meal and checked out some of the stores on the main street. Vienna is one of the bigger, more modern cities around so there are plenty of good stores. We all ended up buying sweet new jackets and headed in for the night after another slow but successful evening. 

Plenty of these in Vienna-never gets old...

Gotta love Vienna

St. Stephens

1.5 Liters each (a great idea, I know)

Last image of the night... fitting.

Friday was our last full day, so we tried to make the most of it. We wandered around the city more and saw some of the big sites. The buildings have a bit more of a modern feel, though true to European style, all contain years of history. There are countless (literally) towering cathedrals, plenty of nice parks and tons of historic sites and buildings. We did our best to see as many as possible, but honestly, walking around with good friends on a great day in beautiful city in Europe is more than enough for me. Shortly later, we met up with some friends of Spencer's who had been living in the city. They showed us a few of the little coffee shops and we ducked into one of them to grab a coffee and of course, some beer. We then headed back to our hostel where we felt it was necessary to each drink 1.5 liters of beer (in the same glass, mind you) before heading out to a club. After defeating these beasts, it was time to check out the club scene in Austria. Turns out the club we went to was having some sort of rock night (lame) so, not wanting to spend more money, we went to kick it at the hostel bar again. No complaints here.

Finally, after about a week or so of heavy travelling/drinking/eating, it was time to head back home to Graz. Our trip certainly treated us well, and we all came back with big smiles on our face. It's a pretty amazing experience to be able to seamlessly and easily hop from country to country with no plans or problems. Each city has such an entirely different and uniquely wonderful feel to it. Traveling with good friends who have similar interests certainly helps to make the travel more fun, but just moving from place to place and trying all the different foods and beers and seeing all the sites is a truly inexplicably incredible experience. It's been unlike anything I've ever done and the first part of my European adventure has been simply amazing. It's hard to believe I've been here for over two months. I have seven weeks left and while I am getting a bit homesick, I plan on savoring my last bit of time here and getting as much from this trip as possible. 

Yours truly,

Eric.