Bratislava and the last of Vienna

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I took a lovely day trip to Bratislava, only an hour away by bus. The town was dead quiet when I arrived, but picked up a little more as the day wore one. It was one of those days where I walked and walked. There is a lovely old town, an area by the Danube with lots of people sunning and a gorgeous castle.

As I sit here in my apartment in Bucharest, I think about the friends that I made at that great hostel- Ruthensteiner. It has a lovely garden, a lounge, a bar and lots of friendly people from all over the world. I met a young guy from Norway who blew my socks off with his guitar playing. (The hostel also had two guitars for use by the patrons.) We jammed quite a bit. Then he tells me that he is coming to UC Berkeley to study- in a year. He will contact me then.

Also the group with whom I shared a room were wonderful. On my last night we shared pizza and drank wine and just talked. A clothes designer from Bucharest. He gave me many tips on visiting Bucharest and I will see him at his shop on Saturday. Two young women from Calgary, a gentleman from India, two Americans and one Korean girl who traveled alone but spoke very little English or German. We discussed politics, religion and world events. It was the kind of night that every traveler should have and the kind of bond that I will keep for a lifetime.