Markus and I are hopping on a train this afternoon to head to the foreign lands of Budapest, Hungary. We're expecting a healthy dose of culture shock. Should be good for us isolated Canadians living in a world of french fries and resealable Cheeze-String bags -- we'll get to see what those things are called in a completely foreign language.
Anyway, I will regale you with a quick description on hostels. Hostels rock. They're essentially a cross between a cabin-filled summer camp and crashing at your friend's place because you've drunk too much. You generally stay in giant rooms filled with bunk beds, usually between 6 to 30 beds in a room, sometimes with mixed sexes. Everyone leaves their backpacks on or beside their beds (concern for theft is relatively low once you're inside the hostel). Sinks, washrooms, and showers are usually down the hall.
You pay roughly $20-25 Canadian a night, and get, outside your room, an extremely casual environment packed with other people your age, all looking to meet people and see the sites in whatever city you're in. There's usually a chill-out area where people meet, eat, read, whatever, and the more interesting hostels have bars to make the area even more social.
Here's what to look for in a really fantastic hostel:
* No curfew (that is, you don't get locked out of the hostel after 12:30am, making it very difficult to have a good time out on the town)
* Free, hot showers (some places will charge you for hot water)
* Central to the city (it's a serious pain to have to hike all the way to and from the edge of town)
* Free breakfast (almost always standard, but usually it's just bread, jam and coffee)
* Movies, chill out area, pool table, foosball table, giant novelty chess board patios, etc (for relaxing and meeting people)
* Book exchanges (leave a book, then take a book)
* Events organized by the hostel staff (generally means the staff is extremely friendly and wants to help you find fun stuff to do in town)
* Clean (there have been some rather old, dingy hostels, but have made up for it with a great atmosphere)
Only downside is that sometimes it's quite noisy in the room until everyone finally settles down to bed. Earplugs have been a lifesaver.
Any questions? You will be quizzed tomorrow!
Posted by Brian at June 21, 2003 01:32 PMHey Brian!
how are you? we're fine here in Germany. The weather is very windy, but sunny.
We always look the film from Jacob, in the wheel chair, and Markus. It's so funny.
Have viel Spaß in Budapest.
Sushi&Tina
Hi Sushi and Tina! It's good to hear from you. It's great here in Hungary. It's viel Spaß to be in a very, very different country. :) It's hard to understand sometimes, and now Markus can't translate!
Markus and I are looking forward to spending time at the beaches in Greece. I think Sushi's pool made us want to spend more time in water!
I'm glad you like the movie. Maybe I can make movies of Markus dreaming and talking about Justin Timberlake in his sleep!
Hope you enjoy the summer in Germany!
-Brian
Posted by: Brian at June 23, 2003 01:20 AMHey Brian,
Good news I finally did some work on the site ... check it out ... I am having a wicked time and am loving Europe. I am also glad to hear your are having a wicked time as well. Oh and I put a link to your site on mine.
Loving life .... Jason from the Algarve.
Posted by: Jason at June 25, 2003 12:16 AMMan, Serge, you're impatient! :) It's hard to find cafes where we can upload pictures, plus it takes a while to do. (Plus, when we do get to cafes, time's at a premium and we're usually either writing up posting or doing emails.) I'm going to be really really happy if I can manage to post pictures once every two weeks.
Yo Jason! I just went to your site and posted a comment before I saw yours. Glad Europe kicks ass for you too. :D
Later,
-Brian
Posted by: Brian at June 26, 2003 06:43 PMAllright, that's understandable, but I won't take any excuses when you come back ;) There better be lots of pics available.
Looked at Jason's sight as well. He definitely looks like he's enjoying himself.
lates dude
Serge
rF1lgW ktuaukublfpw, [url=http://kaqovcmmhokz.com/]kaqovcmmhokz[/url], [link=http://czzyexurrwnt.com/]czzyexurrwnt[/link], http://fctboibvhyvc.com/
Posted by: ylaimv at September 26, 2011 09:16 AMWhat you have here it is an interesting piece of information. But first of all I must salute all the visitors. Bounjour. And second I must say that I will post http://www.brianblog.com/europe/archives/000032.html on my Twitter profile. And this because finally I found what I was looking for. What you share here is really good sharing. When I saw this tittle, Markus and Brian's Excellent European Adventure: On Hostels, in my google search I was very happy. Maybe I found something with the same ideea here http://www.toplevel-traduceri.ro , I'm not sure but I thing it was the same. All the best
Posted by: traduceri romana engleza at January 5, 2012 04:03 PMWhat is here it is a great piece of information. But first of all I must salute all the visitors. . After this I must say that I have post http://www.brianblog.com/europe/archives/000032.html on my Twitter profile. I will do this because in the end I found what I was looking for. What you share here is really respectable sharing. In the second I saw this tittle, Markus and Brian's Excellent European Adventure: On Hostels, in my google search I was very happy. It is possible I found something that have the same ideea here www.runescapeforever.com , I'm not sure but I thing it was the same. Thank you
Posted by: 1 at January 9, 2012 04:43 PMWhat you have here it is an interesting article. But first of all I must say all the visitors. Salve. And now I must say that I m thinking to post http://www.brianblog.com/europe/archives/000032.html on my Hi5 profile. I will do this because finally I found what I was looking for. What you say here is really nice post. In the minute I saw this tittle, Markus and Brian's Excellent European Adventure: On Hostels, in my google search I was very glad. Maybe I found something like this here http://www.amazonkindlecovers.org , I'm not sure but I thing it was the same. My regrds
Posted by: kindle leather covers at January 14, 2012 03:05 PMWhat you have here it is an interesting article. But first of all I must salute all every one. Hello there. And now I must say that I m going to post http://www.brianblog.com/europe/archives/000032.html on my Hi5 profile. And this because at last I found what I was looking for. What you share here is really good sharing. In the minute I saw this tittle, Markus and Brian's Excellent European Adventure: On Hostels, in my google search I was very glad. Maybe I found something like this here http://www.vast9.com/blogging/affiliate-marketing-start , I'm not sure but I thing it was the same. My regrds
Posted by: affiliate marketing at January 19, 2012 11:11 AMThis it is an interesting article. But first of all I must say all every one. Hello. And second I must say that I have post http://www.brianblog.com/europe/archives/000032.html on my Digg profile. And this because at long last I found what I was looking for. What you post here is really respectable sharing. When I saw this tittle, Markus and Brian's Excellent European Adventure: On Hostels, on google search I was very happy. I think I found something like this here http://www.touchtextbooks.com , I'm not sure but I thing it was the same. All the best
Posted by: ipad textbooks at January 24, 2012 11:50 AMThis it is a great piece of information. But first of all I must salute all every one. Hello. And second I must say that I will post http://www.brianblog.com/europe/archives/000032.html on my Hi5 profile. And this because at last I found what I was looking for. What you share here is really good sharing. When I saw this tittle, Markus and Brian's Excellent European Adventure: On Hostels, in my google search I was very happy. I think I found something with the same ideea here http://prkg.info/index.php?q=www.toplevel-proxy.com , I'm not sure but I thing it was the same. All the best
Posted by: web proxy sites at January 29, 2012 05:48 AM