The Places I Visited Along The Way
My trip was a sobering experience, in more ways than one.
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The Places I Visited Along The Way |
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| On my travels to and from Yugoslavia, I was required to land, wait, and stop over in Hungary and Germany. The following are a collection of my memories of these places. I wasn't awake or physically there long enough to take photos. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| View an educational mini unit on Yugoslavia | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| My baggage claim tag from our arrival in Dusseldorf. Ah, Dusseldorf, the epitome of all that is efficient and sterile. Miles upon miles of metal, modern terminal, free coffee and tea in the waiting areas (courtesy of Lufthansa), and stylishly-dressed Europeans. While in transit to Hungary our baggage was checked by a friendly, but non-English speaking, customs man. It appears that the "Club" we were bringing as a gift for my host's father so his car would not be stolen in Belgrade looked like a weapon (a harpoon?) Interesting side-note: the aforementioned "Club" was on the steering wheel of the car from which the radio was stolen in Belgrade. Maybe it does work... | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| A ticket for the cool gondola ride we took during our seven and half hour wait in Budapest on our way back to Canada. It was very scary when I looked down, but the view was superb. We saw the Danube, a famous old bridge, the beautiful Parliament buildings, and loads of old architecture. Budapest is a lovely city and serves as proof that Hungary has recovered well from the fall of Communism. Budapest is actually made up of two parts that are separated by the Danube: "Budim" and "Peshta". The woman running the gondola was very crabby. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| The bill from the outdoor cafe we ordered drinks at in Budapest. We got into the city so early (around 7:30am) that nothing was open, not even McDonald's. Budapest's beauty, I soon learned, comes at a price. They thrive on tourism. Our pops were close to four dollars. Each. I remember very little of Budapest as we were only there for a few hours and I was tired as a dog - the bus ride from Belgrade took 9 hours. The most confusing thing for me was the money. There are about 126 florins to the DEM. After Yugoslavia, I was used to coverting everything twice, but this was too much. I could not get over the cost of everything. I reckon we spent $45 in the few short hours we were there, and we didn't even eat! | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| The sweeties to your right were on the pillows in our 435DEM room in the "Arabella Sheraton" hotel in Dusseldorf Airport. We stayed there during our stopover on the way back home. I kept the packet as they were the only thing we got for free while in this extremely expensive country. I spent more money in Germany just to sleep and eat for one night than I did my entire time in Yugoslavia. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| The receipt from "Burgair World" in Dusseldorf Airport. Our two hamburgers, large fries, and pop cost $15! The fries were served in a bowl, which I found odd. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| A final gripe: With my Canadian passport, I sailed throught every customs booth with nary a problem. My host, bearing his Yugoslav passport, however, was detained everywhere. We waited almost an hour in Dusseldorf on the way home. They are doing their jobs, I realize, but it made me sad that he is treated this way just because of where he was born. My trip was a sobering experience, in more ways than one. |
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| Find Hungary & Germany on a Map of Europe | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sign Guestbook View Guestbook | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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