robmarc's blog

About people, places, cultures, languages, life, adventures... in real life

2011. október 28., péntek

Prague: the crossroad between east and west

I was waiting with big excitement to move to the historical city of Prague. But hearing so much about it and visiting a couple of times isn’t the same thing as actually living here. But it feels like home after only one month, thanks to the people and the amazing adventures.

Prague, Charles bridge and the castle in the background

Home
I was surprised by the fact that Europeans know quite a lot about Prague: amazing beer and good times, wonderful sites, historical monuments, and beautiful Czech girls. For me, all these things were obvious after the first few days. Although the first week I felt quite strange about several things: new country, new city, new room, new school, new people, new semester, new courses. I guess people never get used to moving, at least I couldn’t. Personally, I think you can find a home everywhere as long as you can integrate and accept the people.

Languages
During shopping, on the bus, in the climbing hall or simply on the street you bump into the Czech language continuously. As a foreigner, and not knowing any Slavonic language, the first days are a shock. How to differentiate the words from a flowing stream of jangle? A simple solution is to start to listen carefully, and take a language course. I was surprised to see how many common or very similar words we share (in both Hungarian and Romanian). Many people think that their English is horrible, although I think most of them are just shy. Maybe having not enough self confidence. But reality is the complete opposite! Most of the young people after the first few sentences are getting better and better! Especially after a few beers: language barriers are dismissed.

Prague's nightlife
I was amazed and sometimes shocked by the number of pubs in the city of stunning buildings and lovely old squares. The atmosphere is really amazing, especially if you’re a student and you are willing to have some dreamless nights. Visiting the “touristic” pubs and discos is a must, but you’ll know the real deal when you have a Czech friend who is willing to take you to some “normal” places. Being part of the Erasmus family is another possibility to have great adventures: partying at 100 m high above Prague - in the TV tower or in a bunker built during the cold war, meeting people from all over the world or just getting out from the city for some climbing and mountaineering. The possibilities are endless.

Never-ending story
Prague is on the To Do lists of many foreigners taking their holidays in Europe. Although getting around for just a few weeks or months is simply not enough. I guess a lifetime is too short to get around, be familiar and know every corner or pub in Prague. But it’s a good start to love, feel, experience this amazing city!




About the author:
Eng. Róbert Marc is pursuing his double MSc. at Czech Technical University Prague, studying space science and technology. He is a Hungarian from Romania, who lived and studied in five European countries so far. Being at the age of 24, he tries to experience as much as possible abroad.

(hopefully my article will be published somewhere, somehow :-) )

2011. október 17., hétfő

EUro-t(r)ipp - 1.rész

Mna végre akadt egy kis szabadidőm. De tényleg. Az elmúlt másfél hónap alatt rengeteg minden történt: befejeztem a németországi nyári-praktikámat, szabit vettem ki, voltam otthon (Erdélyben) 10 kerek napig, utána haverokkal körüljártuk kicsit az EU-t, mindeközben költöztem (ezúttal Prágába), s na persze a szokásos beilleszkedés stb.

So, I've got some free time. But really. So many things happened in the last one month: I've finished my internship in Munich, Germany, I was visiting my family and friends at home in Transylvania, then we went for a Euro-trip, and I moved again, this time to Prague.

Szóval térjünk vissza a lényeghez: hogyan nézzünk meg minél több országot, várost, ismerjünk meg embereket rövid időn belül, lehetőleg nem elköltve egy vagyont?
Válaszolnék is rá rögtön: végy két havert, egy németet és egy nepálit, na meg egy járművet (lehetőleg egy nagyobbacska autót) és irány!!!

But let's get back to the original plan of mine, I'll write a few words about this very special journey of ours: 6 countries, 8 cities, more than 2500 km. So the question was, how should we do it without spending a fortune... I've got a German and a Nepalese friend who were willing to take me with them for this epic journey. So here we start!

Matthias haverom facebookon rám szólt hogy akkor jövő héten indulnak, kérdi hogy mennék-e? Mondom persze, ha olcsón megússzuk... S akkor adva volt hogy Suraj-al ők már elindulnak Prágából, megállnak Bécsben, majd Pozsonyban, és akkor Budapesten találkozunk. Sikerült minden ügyes-bajos dolgomat elintéznem otthon, s 3-4 csomag motyómmal már úton is voltam Nagybányáról Budapestre a szokásos szatmári mikrobusszal. Kellett a sok cucc, hiszen költöztem... amit erősen unok néha.

My friend, Matthias, wrote me on Facebook a few days ago, and asked me if I wanted to join them. Sure, why not... if we'll see much and spend less. So they started already from Prague, then stopped in Wien, and Bratislava. The meeting point was Budapest. Thank god, I've solved all my problems back home, so I packed my things - not only for this journey, also for Prague - and met them in the beautiful capital of Hungary. Sometimes I really feel that moving is not my kind of thing. But every time it's worth!

Na de minden jól indult, megtaláltak a keleti pályaudvarnál, összecuccoltunk, s még aznap elindultunk délnek: Horvátországba. Akit érdekel egy részletesebb útvonal az kattintson ide. Úti célunk Zágráb volt: a csodás lányok s kedves emberek hazája. Az autópálya kihalt volt, a német haverom szóvá is tette. Mondtam hogy a szezon már elmúlt... s a pancsikálás ideje lejárt.
Fat Freddys szólt a kocsiban, s élveztük a tájat. Jó dolog megjegyezni, hogy annak ellenére hogy Horvátország nem EU tag, turistáknak öltözött egyéneket átengednek a határon mindössze a román személyi felmutatása után. Na mondjuk hogy akkor ott is vagyunk. Na ott, Zágrábba. Sejhaj! A hostelben ez fogad:

So everything went well, they found me at the railway station, and on the same day we started a few hundred km trip to Zagreb. You can find our journey on Google Maps. Croatia, the land of amazing landscape, and beaches, and girls. Can't wait! The highway was completely empty on the way, cause of the off season. We've listened to Fat Freddys and enjoyed our ride. It's worth to mention that I got to Croatia with my Romanian ID, although they are not EU member state. This is just for attracting more tourists. So here it is, Zagreb. In the hostel we hit our heads into this sign :) :
Azaz "loc de dat cu capul" / Stress reduction method

Hostelünk 15 méterre volt a központtól aránylag jutányos áron. 20 eurócskáért. Ha valakit érdekel a neve jelezze. Jó fej emberekkel körülvéve. Ráadásként aznap estére egy kocsmatúrát hirdetett egy plakát.

Our hostel was situated exactly 15 m from the main square. What an awesome spot, and only for 20eu for a night! Awesome people with awesome Pub Crawl offer. We didn't miss this one! ;)Kocsmatúra plakát/Pub Crawl infos
Megvacsiztunk, s körbenéztünk a városban, s a nevezetesebb helyeken: vendéglátó egységekben. Íme pár fotó.
We ate something, watched a few attractions, then started to see some famous croation bars. Have a look at the photos!
Kút: ide bezzeg nem jár a korsó.../ Nice atmosphere in the middle of the city

Valami híres szobor gondolom / Some random statue



Egyik megállónk / Plan B, not the artist


Tuti templom: zágrábi katedrális / A huge cathedral in the heart of Zagreb

to be continued

2011. október 14., péntek

két nyelven/in two languages

Halihó!
Úgy döntöttem hogy ezentúl két nyelven fogom közzétenni blogbejegyzéseimet: magyarul és angolul. Remélem örülni fogtok!

Hey there!
I've decided to write my blog bilingual: English and Hungarian. I hope some people will enjoy it!