Buda Castle District Adventures

Last weekend, my roommate and I were experiencing a minor case of cabin fever from being stuck in our apartment doing homework. So, on Sunday, we decided to take the afternoon off from studying to explore Buda, which is on the other side of the Danube from us. We took the metro to get there, and then started wandering around. We found a mall right off of the metro stop and checked it out, but decided to explore more outside since it was such a nice day. I pointed out a street sign that had a picture of a structure and a person with an arrow pointing up where there were stairs. It looked interesting, so we climbed up the 7 or so flights of stairs. Once we got to the top, we realized that we had found the Castle District! We wandered around there, finding the remains of an old church, a walking street with a beautiful view of the city, a museum, and finally, the castle. There was a woman selling hot mulled wine, but we left her stand as soon as we heard the price per glass...2000 HUF, which is about $10! We figured it was because the castle was a tourist destination. After looking at the castle for awhile, we went outside of the walls of the Castle District and found a beautiful pathway filled with greenery. 

We had seen a sign for the Labyrinth, which was built in the caves under the Castle District, and was used as a cellar, dungeon, and fallout shelter in the past. At the beginning of the dimly lit labyrinth, there were lots of mannequins depicting an opera that takes place in Budapest. Music from the opera was playing, which had somewhat of a creepy vibe. There were also parts of columns from hundreds of years ago. I think the oldest one we saw was from the 1300s. In some parts, there was hymnal music playing, which seemed fitting. Once we got through the opera section, there was a section focused on Dracula. This was definitely the creepier section. Apparently Dracula (the real person) was in love with King Matthias' sister, but Matthias ended up arresting him and had him held and tortured in the Labyrinth. I got freaked out when I heard other people walking by us once in the Dracula section...oops! I am more easily scared than my roommate!! 

We had a great day. I will definitely have to get back over to Buda to explore more!

 Buda Castle

 Pathway around the Castle District

 Creepy mannequins in the Labyrinth, depicting a scene in an opera

 Me in the creepier part of the Labyrinth! Notice the fog..

 Anything creepy jump out at you in this photo other than the coffin? No? Look in the background...

 View of the city along the walls of the Castle District

A view of the Buda Castle

Flowers in the Park

Today was a good day! I officially registered for my classes. I'm taking Theory of Computing, Probability, Combinatorics, and Topology. So far I like Theory of Computing the best. My other classes are going pretty well, though.

After my class and a bit of lunch, I decided to do some homework in the park. I went for a nice stroll and sat in the yard near all of the gorgeous flower beds (including multiple varieties of basil, so they smell good, too!). After finishing up my homework, I walked down to Heroes' Square, where I asked around and found out the difference between the two art museums on each side of it. One is contemporary, and the other is more classical. I'll be going to both of them next month, since the 3rd Saturday is free for students under age 26! Hopefully they will count me as a student. We were specifically told not to buy the student metro passes, because we don't go to school in Hungary in the long term so we could get a fine for having the student pass, but maybe we'll be able to get in for free art seeing day. =) On my walk, I tried to find these billboard-esque signs that had been on display, but they were taken down, unfortunately. They had seemed like they were designed by artists rather than just advertisements, so I had wanted to check them out. Oh well!

This weekend, I plan to explore Buda more! ...and also catch up on my topology homework. 

Loving my time in Budapest!!

 Flowers in City Park!

Sculpture in City Park - supposed to look like a mountain from this view maybe?

More flowers

Love these!

 Aaand...more flowers. =) I liked the pink one in the middle!

 City Park

Theory of Computing homework in the park!

A Weekend in Vienna

A group of friends (Irene, Allie, Katrina, and Dillon) and I took a train to Vienna for the weekend. I found out the hard way that not securing a seat on the train means you get to stand for most of the way. I should have figured that would happen, but I was being frugal and optimistic. Eventually, the seats cleared so I could sit for the last hour or so, so it wasn't terrible. It took about 3 hours to get to Vienna from Budapest. Once we got there, we found our hotel to drop off our stuff and wandered around. We stumbled upon the beautiful Church of St. Charles. A performing group was playing, so we stopped to listen and watch. After that we were super hungry, since it was pretty late. We ended up at T.G.I.Fridays (who knew they had them in Budapest and Vienna?!) since our other nearby options were McDonald's or pricey restaurants. After dinner, we wandered around some more and found the Soviet War Memorial, which was gorgeous at night.

The next morning (Saturdy), we went to an interactive music museum. It was a lot of fun. The strangest part of the museum was a room that was supposed to simulate the noises you hear while in the womb... I thought the best part was watching a recording of the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra.

We had lunch at a Middle Eastern restaurant. I had a falafel and pita sandwich...best falafels I've ever had! The group split up from there, some to the torture museum, and the rest of us to the Belvedere, which used to be a home, but is now an art museum. We toured the Upper Belvedere. There was a nicely sized collection of art, including "The Kiss" and other pieces by Gustav Klimt (my favorite room of the museum!). The original ballroom was stunning. The courtyard was also beautiful, with the fountain, sculptures, flowers, and view of the Upper Belvedere complex.

That night, we waited in line to get standing room only tickets for the opera "Otello". Tickets were only 3 euros...how crazy is that? Our feet were extremely tired from walking around all day, but we couldn't pass up the opera. "Otello" was dramatic and had a sad ending, but the singing was amazing. We snuck out during the clapping to beat the rush (and also because the clapping was going on for 5+ minutes!).

On Sunday morning, we went to Cafe Demel and had pastries for breakfast! Next, we went to the Hofburg Palace and saw the dishes and centerpiece collection as well as the apartments. It was interesting to learn about the lives of the people who lived in the palace and their families' lives. We still had a few hours left before we had to catch our train, so we explored St. Stephen's Cathedral, which was stunning. Allie and I decided to see one more museum with our remaining hour, the Wien Museum, which had cool models and maps of Vienna in the past and other art from many time periods.

I would say that our trip was very successful!! We were able to see a lot more than we had expected!

Cool graffiti along the river

Soviet War Memorial 

 Church of St. Charles and modern nativity sculpture

View of the Belvedere courtyard 

 Good company at the Belvedere! (Katrina, Allie, Irene, me, Dillon)

Belvedere + fountain 

 State Opera House

 Hofburg Palace

St. Stephan's Cathedral

St. Stephen's Cathedral interior

Last Weekend Before Classes Start

A lot happened this week! First of all, I decided that I will be applying to graduate school. Second, I will be taking the GRE math subject test here in Budapest in October. Third, the Hungarian language class I was taking ended. The last day was on Friday. Each class had to make a skit...they were all hilarious! After class was done, my roommate and I couldn't decide what to do for the night, so we just stayed in and relaxed, which was probably the best choice. We made pork stroganoff and greek tomato salad for dinner (at least we think it's pork...we got some mystery ground meat at the meat market near our apartment). It was delicious!! We made enough for plenty of leftovers.

Yesterday, Saturday, we tried to go to the flea market in City Park, but we had missed it. We got to explore City Park a lot, though! So much was going on yesterday...there was a race taking place, a huge hip hop concert, some BMX events going on, and another event where there were lots of tents set up, but we couldn't figure out what was going on. We got to see Heroes' Square, which was absolutely beautiful. During our exploration, we found the Budapest Zoo! We decided to check it out. It was the coolest zoo I've ever been to! There were tons of different animals, lots of greenery everywhere, and very cool displays. It took us a good 3 or more hours to see the whole thing. Our feet were hurting by the end. I think I may have a new favorite animal...the red panda!

After relaxing at home after a long day of zoo exploring, we walked some more to go to the sparty (spa + party) at the Szechenyi baths with some other BSM people. The pool area was outside, and there were disco lights everywhere. It was a little cool outside, but the water was pretty warm. After about a half hour, the whole pool was full! People were dancing to the blaring music and having a great time. We were glad we went!

Classes start tomorrow...I'm a little nervous, but I'm sure it will be fine! I'm planning on taking Combinatorics, Probability Theory, Number Theory, and Topology. We get a 3 week "shopping period" to try out different classes and decide for sure what classes we'll take for the semester, though.

 Heroes' Square

 Budapest Zoo

 Piranhas!!

 The camels were hungry

 Awesome fruit bats in the Australia exhibit!

 Funny giraffe

 Mama elephant + baby elephant

 Red Panda!!!

 Gorgeous view of the pond in Budapest Zoo

 Budapest Zoo pond

City Park

Buda Hills and Szentendre Excursions

I just realized it's been awhile since my last post. This one may be longer..with more photos. :) I've been busy going to the Hungarian crash course! We go to class from 9am until 4pm (with breaks) every day. I'm learning a lot, but it's hard to learn so much vocab so quickly. I'm enjoying the course overall, though. We have great teachers!

Last weekend, I went on a hike in the Buda hills with other students in the BSM and AIT programs. It was set up through the language school. On our way to the meeting point at a metro stop in Buda, my roommates and I got a little turned around. We ended up being about 15 minutes late, so the group had left without us. Luckily, a few other students had also missed the group's departure. We called our tour guide using a pay phone, and she told us to go run to get on the 20 bus...but didn't tell us where to get off! We remembered that we were going to go see the Children's Railway, so we ended up getting off at that stop, and found the rest of the group shortly after, thankfully. We went to a lookout point where we could see a wonderful view of Budapest. The Children's Railway came next on our itinerary. It is a railway that is mostly run by the Pioneers (similar to Boy Scouts in the U.S.), and is a remnant of Hungary's socialist past. After taking the train, we hiked a bit to go see the Elizabeth lookout tower. It is larger than it looks, with interesting spiral staircases that take you higher and higher. The very top level has a breathtaking view! Next, we hiked back down and took the chair lift down to the campsite where we were served delicious Hungarian goulash for dinner, and palacsinta for dessert. I could take the chair lift every day. It was so relaxing!

Yesterday, my roommate Irene and I met our friend Ross near his host family's home in Újpest ("New Pest", which is north of where we live). There was a festival going on, so we walked around and looked at the booths, people dancing/modeling (for some sort of beauty contest?), and kids playing games. The sight of the semi-crowded street reminded me a little of the Minnesota State Fair, so it made me feel at home a bit. Later that night, we got together with some other friends in Pest and had a "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" party. Who knew I would watch my first episode in Hungary??

Today there was another excursion through the language school, this time to Szentendre (north of Budapest). We got to the meeting point early this time! Szentendre is called the city of painters. Every Sunday during the summer, they have a fair with arts and crafts sellers and food vendors. It was fun walking the streets, and it turned out to be a beautiful day. We took a bus to the open air museum, which has historical buildings and people to describe how life was back in the 18th century. Unfortunately, we didn't have enough time to see even half of the museum. It was still fun, though. There were a lot of adorable cats! We also got to listen to a few musicians play Hungarian music, and a guy taught us a few traditional Hungarian folk dance moves! Everyone got really into it and participated, so it was a blast!! After the museum, we got to walk around down town Szentendre more. A few friends and I ate lángos (fried dough) with sour cream and cheese on top for lunch. We then watched two guys do some impressive juggling, and went to a small museum with miniature art. It was amazing! Each piece had to be viewed with a microscope. I don't understand how you can create something so tiny! To get home, we got to take a boat on the Danube. The weather was perfect, and it felt great to sit down after walking all day.

For now, it's time to rest! More adventures later! :)

 Elizabeth lookout tower

 View of the Buda hills from the top of the tower

Go Auggies!

 Chair lift

 Festival in Újpest

 Windmill at the open air historical village museum in Szentendre

 Adorable cat in Szentendre!

 View of Szentendre and the Danube River

 Boat ride home - Ross, Nora, Sarah, Dan, Olivia, and Ethan

 Danube river 

Parliament building view from the boat

Holiday Weekend Fun

The last few days have been spent exploring the Pest side further as well as relaxing (which is needed after so much walking each day!). On Sunday, my roommates and I went to the Concert in St. Stephen's Basilica. The Duna String Orchestra performed famous pieces such as J.S. Bach's "Air", F. Schubert's "Ave Maria", G.F. Haendel's "Oratorio Messiah", and many more. Not only was the music breathtaking, but the sight of the ornately decorated basilica was as well. The acoustics were marvelous!

The next day, we walked to Central Market Hall, which had tons of fresh fruits and vegetables, as well as spices, and meats on the first floor. There were souvenir and food stalls on the second floor. It was fun to walk around. I especially like the colorful Hungarian flower designs on clothes and table runners being sold. In the evening, we met up with other BSM students at a bar called Szimpla, the coolest bar I have ever been to! There were lots of rooms to go in with random things on the walls and lots of twinkle lights. Every room had writing on the walls and furniture...we even found a table that had a math pun! It added to the atmosphere. Some parts were open air. I had a lot of fun getting to know the other students better!

Tuesday was St. Stephen's Day, the first Hungarian king to be crowned by the Pope. My roommates and I walked around by the Danube after dinner, and watched the fireworks. There were people everywhere! The fireworks were impressive.

Today my Hungarian class began. Some of the sounds in the language are hard to make, but hopefully I'll get it eventually! "Szia" is used for both hello and goodbye, and is pronounced like "see ya," which makes it easier for me to remember. That is my Hungarian lesson to you for the day. Maybe more later...  :)

 Concert in the Basilica

 Painting of St. Stephen and the Virgin Mary by Gyula Benczúr.

 St. Stephen's Basilica at night

 Grand Market's exterior

 Grand Market's interior - lots of produce, fresh foods, and souvenirs

Me with my roommates Irene and Olivia at Szimpla

Happy St. Stephen's Day!!!