For one reason or another my first trip outside of Spain didn't take place until winter break, but my first trip sure was a dozy. Working in Spain has its privileges and one such was a nice 2 week break for the winter holidays. So for 1.5 weeks my friend Amber and I decided to trek throughout central Europe. We booked one way flights from Madrid to Budapest, Hungary and Berlin, Germany back to Madrid, and sort of found cities and transport along the way. I think our trip turned out pretty good.
We spent the first three days of our trip in Budapest. Included in this time was New Year's Eve, which ended up being the wildest New Year's Eve that I have ever experienced. Besides enjoying the generous currency conversion and lower cost of living, we really enjoyed the food and drinks that Hungary provided. Among our favorite things we did was a trip to a small town, famous for housing artists under the Soviet regime. In this city, we visited the marzipan (frosting) museum, which I recommend visiting if you ever find yourself in Szentendre, Hungary.
After Budapest, we took a bus to Prague in the Czech Republic. My favorite part of Prague was all of the art that has spread throughout the city after the revolution. To this day, my favorite picture of my adventure is the faceless babies that are climbing on the Soviet radio tower.
While in Prague, I decided to make a solo trek to visit the former concentration camp that is Terezin. I studied a bit about Terezin in university, but I didn't know what to expect. What I found most striking about the city is the stillness and emptiness. Terezin is not a tourist destination, and I never felt comfortable there, but that is exactly what I wanted to feel there.
Berlin was the final destination of our winter adventure, thus completing our inadvertent tour of Soviet strongholds. I think the pictures do a better job of talking about Berlin, than I can.
I strongly recommend a visit to all of these cities if you have a chance. Though I might recommend a visit during the warmer months as opposed to when we went.
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