We left Freiburg bright and early to head to the Stuttgart airport, everyone was tired and hoping they didn't forget anything and that their bags didn't weigh too much. Somehow it was decided that I was the expert on baggage weight and had to check Natalie's, Andy's and leave my dorm early to meet Kori and make sure hers didn't weigh too much. Andy and Kori ended up being slightly over, and I had judged them both as "really close."
We all made it on the plane without too much incident and were on our way to Budapest, Hungary. Being part Hungarian I was really excited. I've wanted to visit Hungary for a while and although Ildy is completely Hungarian and speaks the language I still felt a pretty strong connection to the country simply because I love the food (or something). It was kind of crazy driving from the airport and seeing women along the side of the road who looked exactly like my grandma and her sisters. They definitely look Hungarian. It was kind of a bleak area, but the city itself looked gorgeous. This was confirmed as we had an evening boat tour of the Danube. It was fairly cold and windy, but as usual I spent most of my time as close to the bow as possible. Of course I participated in a Titanic reenactment as well (picture soon to be found).
I roomed with Kate, which turned out to be great. We lived together really well, didn't drive each other crazy and I got a lot closer to a really interesting person.
The next day we had a couple of meetings, the first one was at the Hungarian Parliament building which is currently surrounded by security fences and heavily guarded because there have been protests by opposing parties, and lots of problems due to the PM lying during the campaign. We eventually got in after Ildy used her Hungarian skills to speak to the guards and we each got an individual pass, went through security, had our pictures surreptitiously taken, all of which took a good 20 minutes making us late for the meeting. The building is gorgeous, most of the interior is covered in gold leaf and they are currently displaying the crown jewels in the main dome. There are 27 staircases in the building (good to know, right?).
Over lunch we headed over to the Pest side of the river (the city was originally two cities, Buda and Pest) and climbed a huge hill to visit a castle we had seen from across the river. It was beautiful and gave us a great view of the city. After a brief photo shoot with Kate and Jenna we had to head back. We managed to go to a church that has the "Chapel of the Holy Right Hand" which to me sounds like something out of Monty Python, but was actually some Catholic Priest's miraculously preserved right hand...The next meeting failed as there was confusion on the lecture topic.
That evening we had a little time to find dinner and I was determined to find Chicken Paprikas which Ildy assured me could be found at any traditional Hungarian restaurant. Alas, this was not the case, but Kate and I found a really nice place that had bookshelves on the walls, families celebrating birthdays, a Hungarian band, no smoking and veal paprikas (different, but wonderful!). The meal and atmosphere made me irrationally happy and we spent a little time afterward wandering the main street of the section we were in (there are many individual sections to Budapest, no main square or anything). We found a tea house that looked like it could be fun, again no smoking (this is key in Europe). We sat there for a couple hours enjoying tea and biscotti, chatting and generally having a wonderful evening. We were very full and content and headed back to the hotel.
The next morning we went to visit a museum called the House of Terror. The building which now houses the museum about the Nazi and Communist occupations was once headquarters and torture chamber of both parties. It was a full sensory experience with sound, lights and torture chambers to walk through. While it was interesting to learn about everything, it was almost too dramatic. It was also strange to see my great-grandma's last name on the walls because Sipos is a common Hungarian last name, but not something you see in the States that often.
Hungarian Countryside from the Bus:
At one we boarded the bus for an 8 hour trip through Slovakia and into Poland. The countryside of Hungary and Slovakia was gorgeous, rolling hills into winding mountains, eventually reaching snow covered peaks where we stopped for dinner in a ski village. I had food with me on the bus so enjoyed the 45 minutes we had wandering around, getting in snowball fights with Sean and our chaperons and enjoying a little bit of feeling like it was actually February. Back on the bus we watched Meet the Fockers and continued our journey through Central Europe. We arrived in Poland where I will pick up next time I have some free time to write.
Slovakia:
1 comment:
The background of the picture with the river looks like a painting.
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