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Photos: Budapest, Hungary

alisonbraidwood — Mon, 28 Feb 2011 04:29:00 GMT

Photo's from my three day trip to Budapest.

Budapest, Hungary

alisonbraidwood — Mon, 28 Feb 2011 04:08:00 GMT

So aside from the AMAZING Kodaly Course, not a lot was going well for me in Hungary. I got back to Budapest and got to my hostel, which lets just say I will NEVER be visiting again and hit a mega low. I missed home, Lawrence, friends, english speaking people and food that didn't taste too much like paprika and vegeta flavouring.

After a bout of homesickness I was taken in by some very friendly Spanish people to explore the city with them for the day. The dad only spoke spanish and couldn't understand that I didn't so all day I needed a translator and Manuel (the dad) couldn't understand that I just had no idea what he was saying!!! It was actually pretty funny. Anyway the spanish folk led me around Budapest and were so kind when I needed it most!! We saw the Jewish Synagog (But couldn't go in because it was closing), St Stephens Bascilica (Where we got on the tail end of a spanish tour, eaves dropped and then it was all translated for me), the opera house and walked all the way down Andrassy to the Heroes Square. On the way I got a little taken by a small music store, where I purchased some classic 333 Kodaly Exercises books :) After that we walked around to the Szecheny Furdo, where apparently the 40 degree waters are thermal and have healing properties. I didnt have any ailments but I still wanted to experience it so after hiring a towel (actually a sheet) and some very daggy bathers I was in the 40 degree water and it was amazing. But then it hit me... it is negative 2 out of the water and to get to any of the other baths I needed to run between them, wet in the cold. That was the worst part about it. But otherwise this is an amazing thing to do in Hungary!!

The following day I woke up eager to explore the Buda side to the city. I got across one of the many bridges and noticed the liberty monument on top of a huge cliff looking hill. I thought 'yeah I can climb that!' and I did. About half way I needed to stop for some serious deep breathing but I made it all the way to the top (with a lot of phone encouragement from Lawrence). Once up there the views were awesome plus the great feeling that I had made it :) Then I climbed back down and found a little church in the side of the cliff. It was the cave church, fascinating. Apparently it was closed off during the communist years and re opened not that long ago in recent history. Then I walked down past the Castle District and t be honest was not in the least impressed. The castle looked like it was falling apart and had not been maintained at all and was just ugly, dirty and gross. So I continued on to the Royal Palace that had some nice parts but mostly I was just a little over it. You can only see so many 'apparently nice' buildings in one day if you know what I mean. Then I walked through the I distrct, the very first one in Budpest. I stopped at a little restaurant and had a three course hungarian meal:

1. Goulash Soup

2. Chicken Paprika

3. Apple Strudle

Yum yum yum!!!!

The following day I headed back through Pest to see the left overs on my list. Again not a lot worked for me on this day :(

I went to the Szecheni Baths to get a massage but couldnt get one unless I visited the baths again but the ticket was going to be way to expensive so I missed out, went to the opera house for one of their daily tours but found a note saying 'closed today only' and then went to the Liszt museum. Only three rooms were open but what I did see was beautiful. It was in the old residence of Liszt that he had later turned into the first location of the Academy of Music in Budapest. There were bookcases full of his collection of music scores and piano's and artifacts galore. It was so interesting to see and to get that feeling of standing in the footsteps of greatness!! After a little souvenier shopping I was done for the day.

The next morning was flying time, time to leave the city for this visit. Overall I was generally unimpressed with Budapest. It was dirty, people were not typically friendly or helpful, most of the buildings were old and falling apart and my hostel was just WEIRD. That said there were some things that I loved about Budapest. The thermal baths, the lookouts from Buda, the interesting history and St Stephens Bascilica.

I'm determined to try Budapest again in the summer so I will have to let you all know how it goes :)

Photos: Kecskemet, Hungary

alisonbraidwood — Fri, 25 Feb 2011 03:59:00 GMT

Photo's from my study trip to the Kodaly Institute

The Kodaly Institute - Kecskemet, Hungary

alisonbraidwood — Fri, 25 Feb 2011 03:33:00 GMT

After much anticipation I found out a few weeks back that I actually got in to the Visitors Course at the Kodaly Institute in Kecskemet, Hungary. So I booked everything and all I then had to do was make my way into the Great Plains of Hungary.

Thats where it all starts! In true Braidwood fashion it wouldn't be fair to allow me one disaster free journey now would it. It all begins at 5:00am catching the BUS to Heathrow because I overlooked

a) Tube engineering works and

b) that the first tube to Heathrow leaves after I needed to be past security for my Sunday morning flight.

So all was well on the N9 bus until an hour into the trip when the bus broke down!!!! The bus was full of early morning passengers and we all had to get off in the middle of nowhere and wait for another bus. Each bus that passed was like a Connex scramble for seats and I was just lucky enough to be one of the sardines in the third bus. Unlucky that this bus wasnt going all the way to terminal five but I figured I could work it out. Lucky I am good at talking to strangers because I found out there is a free shuttle train between terminals so I managed to get onto one of those and made it to Heathrow T5 only forty minutes later than the bus would have had me there.

Once in Budapest I waited for what felt like a lifetime for my bags and was almost the last woman standing (horrible feeling) and managed to get a mini bus to Nyugati station where I needed to find a train to Kecskemet. The ticket machine translated to english so I managed to get my ticket easy enought but then couldnt find my train anywhere! There were no signs and I couldnt speak hungarian so I was at a total loss. After a while I got on a train that I thought might be going through Kecskemet because it was going to a town further south (Lucky I studied the map). I got yelled at by a ticket inspector for being in first class without a ticket (I thought it was nice) and was ushered into cattle class and aside for not having any announcements to help with what stop was what I managed to get off at the right one (with a little help from the previously assumed angry ticket inspector) and started walking the streets of Kecskemet. I was tired and completely worn out from all the disasters I had already faced in the day and all I wanted was to go to my hotel and shower the day away... but NO. When I got to the hotel there was no one there, no one answered the bell (and I rang it for a good 30mins) and no one would answer the door. The streets were dead and it was a total zombie town. After a crying episode in a museum I was helped with my Hungarian and the lovely people helped me call the hotel and ask where they were. so after all I made it safely to my hotel. What a Day!!!!

The next day was my first day at the Kodaly Institute where I would spend the next three days studying the Kodaly Method with some amazing students and lecturers. Our typical day was: (Rough combination of days)

8-10am Solfege and Musicianship with Dr. Laszlo Nemes

10 - 10:30am a very hasty walk to get to the Kodaly School in time for our observations

10:30 - 12:20 Observing different classes including year 1, 3, 5, 8, 9 and Choir

12:20 - 1pm Debrief and consultation on observations

1:30 - 2pm After a quick walk back to the Institute we were granted usually about an hour lunch

2-4:00pm Methodology with Klara Nemes

4-6:00pm Lecture with Dr Mihaly Ittzes

After six there was either a concert or we made our way to dinner.

Every single day was amazing!! I cannot explain enough how magical this place was. The kids in the Kodaly School were fantastic, practiced their singing and music every day for at least an hour and then had to do a choir also. The year one group could sing in unison better than some choirs I know of :) The whole school was musical; from the decorations around the school to the entire essence of the place. The other people studying at this course were also worth a mention:

- A head teacher interested in using "wasted time(that is my term)" (eg. in the morning after register and at the end of tasks) to inspire children through singing. She is planning on implementing a whole school Kodaly approach where every class with learn Kodaly for at least ten minutes a day. She believes the practical, simple and fun nature of Kodaly will improve discipline, student engagement, focus and much more. She has the complete backing of her full staff (if only all schools in the UK could have this type of vision).

- The woman who is going to help her implement this (I will be visiting now also)

- A bunch of people from the Netherlands there in an attempt to change the way music is taught. They think that they are way behind when it comes to music education and they were there learning how to translate the Kodaly message into their Dutch education curriculum.

- A girl who is working as a music teacher in Hungary for free because the school couldnt afford to pay her!! She is from the US and hearing her story was just incredible!!!

Everything about the course was amazing!!!

After that I got on a train and headed to Budapest... TBC

Photos: Berlin to bring in the new year!!!

alisonbraidwood — Wed, 5 Jan 2011 10:06:00 GMT

Berlin Germany

Berlin to bring in the new year!!!

alisonbraidwood — Wed, 5 Jan 2011 09:50:00 GMT

Who thought it was a good idea to go to bed on the 30th and set our alarms for 0100 hours on the 31st to travel in the dark to get to the airport hours early??? Not mineBut I guess I did want to get there on time so I have to be grateful that Tim came up with our master plan.

Once Jemma, Tim and I landed in Berlin and worked out the D-Bahn to get us to Friedrichstrasse we managed to find our hostel. After checking in we all hit the hay for a well deserved nap after our grueling overnighter. Our plan was to wake up and walk down to the Brandenburg Gates street party but as we walked down there we were told that the party area was closed because it was too full. So instead we had the most amazing time partying on the actual street "Unter der Linten" to be exact. It was so much fun. Wine for sale everywhere and all the people on the street were there for an amazing new years. The moment midnight struck fireworks started. I'm not talking your 'Sydney Opera House' type display, I'm talking 'every man and his dog letting off hand held explosives in a crowd' kind of display. It was exciting and terrifying and magnificent and so much fun. After managing to wish the entire kitchen staff at Bombays a happy new year as we walked out the door with our take away cocktails our night was over. A very fun night indeed!!

The next day we braved our hangovers with our second visit to maccas in a few hours and headed out for tourist day. I used my new knowledge of the Berlin Wall to be our tour guide. We walked down to Checkpoint Charlie, Tim and I found the traces of the Berlin Wall in the street and decided to stand on either side of it, we walked right along the remnants of the wall to the Sony Centre where Tim sat on a Lego Santa's lap, we strolled and slipped through the Holocaust memorial and then headed out to the East Side Gallery. This is the longest stretch of remaining Berlin Wall and it has been turned into an art gallery. Artists have painted amazing and sometimes sad murals over the wall. We walked along this for a while and then turned back to head back to Friedrichstrasse.

The next morning we got up nice an early to make it all the way to the top of the TV Tower. From way up there Berlin looked pretty grey and miserable but it was a great chance to see where everything was in the city and read some info about it. Once back on ground level we headed out north to go to some Sunday Flea markets. They were so cool!! The main market stalls were either antiques, handmade beanies and scarves, vintage clothing and furs, photography and music. We had a ball and Tim managed to find his one of a kind, genuine army man bag that he even haggled the price of. After heading back to Alexanderplatz we walked all the way to the Berlin Dome and the DDR museum. Berlin Dome is just stunning! We then headed to the Brauhause Mitte to have some traditional German grub. I have Pork Schnitzel and it actually wasn't too bad. To finish off the night we drank most of a bottle of Jager than we picked up for some ridiculously low price and headed out to a bar for some drinks and dancing.

The next morning we went in search of shopping, we didnt really find the shopping areas but we did find a while lot of stencil street art by accident. It was really awesome to see!! After a while we managed to find some shops and keep ourselves occupied for a while. Then we went to a store where you make your own chocolate. It was oh so yum! Mine was the best, better than both Tim and Jemma's. While there we spotted Seth Rogen! He was a little thinner so we were not too sure but after seeing an interview in TV since I know it was definitely him. Star Struck!

Our final day in Berlin was spent finally checking out the Brandenburg Gates, walking up to the Reichstag (We were not allowed in because of some stupid terrorist threat) and down into the park to the Soviet Memorial. We read a lot of information there and I'm afraid it still doesn't make much sense to me who they were?

A great time was had in Berlin and all I can say it... I'll be back :)

Photos: Belgium Christmas

alisonbraidwood — Wed, 29 Dec 2010 23:29:00 GMT

A Belgian Christmas

alisonbraidwood — Wed, 29 Dec 2010 23:12:00 GMT

On Christmas Eve, just as the last minute shoppers started going crazy in London I boarded my tour for Belgium. Dom, Tessa, Jemma, Tara and I were all in high spirits and ready for our adventure. Bus ride = fine Ferrie ride = near death experience We were told that the Ferrie had never been that bad. It was bad, and it seems I may have gotten my Mums sea sickness and was a real mess for the whole thousand minutes journey (actual time 1 1/2 hours). On the other side of the English Channel we boarded our bus for Brugge. Brugge was a beautiful place. Cobble stone streets, cute little houses, everything covered in christmas lights, Little castles and cathedrals everywhere. On our first afternoon we just sucked up the culture, food, wine and sights of Brugge. Before long we had eaten our first of many (tessa) Bratwursts. They were delicious!! As you could imagine there were a lot of chocolate shops... I'm talking everywhere! I think I picked a bad shop because on my first day the chocolate I had tasted like Cadburys. But I was later told there was much nicer chocolate to be found. Christmas morning Dom, Jem and I went Ice Skating in a rink in the middle of Markt Square. What a surreal feeling to be Ice Skating on Christmas Day with Castle like buildings all around. Let me inform you all that we did not fall over once!! Very proud! Then we headed over the road to our Chrsitmas Lunch. The food and drink was so delicious I didnt realise that I accidentally drank 1.5 Litres of Leffe Blond during lunch. Let me just say the beer is always in bigger glasses here. So after lunch I stumbled over the road and went on a horse and cart ride with the girls, apparently screaming what I thought was a dutch "Merry Christmas" to who ever would listen. This gave great amusement to our cart driver who just cackled at me nearly the whole trip. The next day we got up nice and early to head to Brussles for the day. This was a stunning city! We did a walking tour and ended up walking for 4 hours! Saw some beautiful things like the Art Neavou district and some huge statues who's names have been list on me right now. I will think about the and add them later. Brussles was covered in snow and was so beautiful. I have so so so much more to write about Brussles but I think I will have to just go back there to be able to say all I want! One day was just not enough!!!! After Brussles we headed to a bar in Brugge and had a bit of a big night out in town. The final day was the journey back and let me tell you I was not happy about getting back on that ferrie!! But everything was fine and we all made it back in one piece!

The Journey: Never a Dull Moment

alisonbraidwood — Mon, 20 Dec 2010 04:28:00 GMT

I would have much preferred an event-less journey, but if you know me you probably aware that weird things happen to me a lot. My 30 odd hours in transit were far from event-less.

So I arrived in Melbourne and boarded my flight for London. That was all fine.

I then slept and slept and slept (against some advice that when traveling to the UK you should stay awake - perhaps this advice would have worked if I had not gotten drunk with Imogene, Alki and Ozgur on my last night in Melbourne). The next stop was Doha.

We landed in Doha and I was loving the view. It was like the middle of the dessert with these metallic high rise buildings that look like something out of 2050! I was actually really enjoying looking around at this stage... Then we finally get off the plane and we were in the middle of a field. We all loaded on to a bus and then were transported for 25 minutes to the airport! I could not believe it. Once we got to the airport it was chaos! TOTAL CHAOS! I had a two hour stop over but I really did not think I would make it through security in time for my flight. There were people everywhere, no signs, pushing and shoving. Well I am the queen of the shove and I managed to get into a line that got me through and on to my plane. Doha was the most horrible place I have ever been. If anyone is going to book a flight to London do not choose stop over in Doha!

Anyway then after another 25 minute bus ride to board my next plane my flight was off and headed to LONDON!!!

After way to many plane meals and a feeling like I was going to have to throw up on myself the poor man next to me I was about to land in the UK. Snow covered London looked beautiful from the plane!

Then after waiting in a grueling line at border security I was greeted with a not so happy man. The man that was going to grant me entry started on a rant. He basically said that I was stealing jobs from the people in UK and with the unemployment rate as high as it was that I should expect to not get work. He went on to ask what I would do if I had no job and told me I was very rude to come and steal work. He also said the phrase "you should go back to your own country"!!!!! I had no idea what to do so I just smiled and nodded until he put the stamp in my passport and let me through. I ended our not so great conversation with a 'Merry Christmas" (actual meaning = you are a nasty nasty man!)

And then I made my way to the baggage carousel... where I found my overpacking may not have been such a great idea. The seams in my day pack on the front of my backpack had torn letting all of the contents out onto the baggage carousel. I was pretty upset but the only thing I have lost is one shoe (out of a pair) so I think that is a rather good outcome!

Anyway now I'm here, settled with internet and a phone #. It has been snowing a bit and I have really been loving it. Dom and I went shopping on Sat arvo and I am loving the shops, the food and the atmostphere of London! I miss everyone already but it will get better. Lawrence I <3 U!!!

Welcome :)

alisonbraidwood — Fri, 17 Dec 2010 04:24:00 GMT

Hi Everyone and welcome to my travel blog!!

I will be updating this blog throughout my travels for the next 12 months.