Now time to catch you up on the week of Oct. 27th. Monday was relatively boring, and Tuesday I got to register for my classes for interim and spring semester at 8 am our time (which was 2 am at home). I got all the classes I wanted, and later found out that my old roomie, Solita, is going to be in the same interim as me! How cool is that?! We didn’t even really plan it. Later that day I had my poli-sci mid-term. It went relatively well, for being the first poli-sci exam I had ever taken.
I’ll fast forward to Thursday now and tell you about my class trip to the Ukraine. We went as a group with our prof and his wife with the same tour guides that took us to Romania, so…we got to ride in the awesome VW vans again! This time one of the guides drove some students and the rest of us took a train to a city in Hungary closer to the Ukraine border to meet up with the other guides. We all managed to get there; some more stressed than others, and then boarded our vans to see some sights. This time the other guide, David, had returned from Canada to accompany us, so a student didn’t have to drive. We then set off to see a church where the famous Transylvanian prince Rakotzi was buried. (That may be the incorrect spelling; Hungarian names are so difficult for me to spell!). Then we drove through the Tokaj wine region to get to the restaurant where we were having lunch. Lunch was started with a warm fruit soup that was not particularly my favorite, and we found out later that is should have technically been served cold, which would have maybe made it a little better. We had other things for lunch too, but none as strange as the fruit soup. After eating, we went back to the wine region for wine tasting. We had to go under the ground into a special wine storage place that used to belong to a Transylvanian prince. Mold was located all over the walls and was used in the special processing of the wine. We got to try 3 different types of wine, a dry white, a semi-sweet rose, and a sweet red. In my opinion the dry white was the best, but everyone had differing opinions on their favorite. We then went next door to a museum on a Christian college and also visited its library. It was a decent museum, but nothing too exciting.
Then it was off to the place where we were staying for the night to check in and drop off our stuff. I stayed in a very large room with 8 other girls that was so cold! We tried to turn the heater up before we left again so the room would warm up, but came back to find that it hadn’t. Then it was off to the restaurant again for dinner. After dinner we came back and watched some homemade movies on the Ukraine that were made by the company our tour guides worked for. They were very informative and also a bit of a preview to what we would be seeing the next day, which was helpful. Then, because we were all so tired, we went to bed that night at 9pm! Because the room was so cold, many of us slept in sweatshirts and I even slept in my gloves.
The next day (Halloween) we awoke, packed everything up, and headed for the Ukraine border. (I got another stamp in my passport!) Our first stop was to visit a gypsy church congregation, one that we had seen in the videos from the night before. We got to see some a church service and then walked around the gypsy compound. This tour of gypsy village was so indescribable. It was a bind blowing experience! There were just dirt and mud roads through the village with houses upon houses in very bad decay; some didn’t even have much of a roof. There was junk and trash everywhere that was meant to be burned for warmth. There were many random dogs and a few cats roaming around the village and every now and again you might see a horse, but that was rare. There were random water pumps around where the people could get clean water, but many of them were broken because the kids would just hang on them, or they were just left running, so big mud pits surrounded the pumps.
There were tons of kids that came out to walk around with us, many held our hands and tried to talk with us. We did the best we could with what little Hungarian we knew, usually we just asked what their ages and names were. Many of these gypsy kids looked similar in their physical appearance, dark skin, dark eyes, dark hair, but there were some slight variations. These kids were very friendly, but the poor things didn’t have very much clothing. Many were walking around with out shoes, and there was tons of broken glass and sharp metal objects in the roads. Some of the toddlers didn’t have pants on, and many of the children had dyed red hair. This was super strange to all of us, but one of our guides, Robbie, told us that it is their way to feel a part of the modern world, a way for them to look like the celebrities.
As we walked through the village, we got some friendly smiles and some disapproving glares. Some adults came up and begged us for money, but we were told not to give them anything, or we would get swarmed. We were also told not to take pictures by our guide David, because it only makes the gypsies feel that much more awkward. I mean they already had some tourist group traipsing through their village, then for us to go and take pictures would just be too much of an invasion of their privacy. After we walked through their village a bit we were told to go back to the church area and many students began playing with the children. Here we took some pictures of the kids, and had some fun with them. It was truly unbelievable the conditions that these people were living in and an experience that I will never forget.
After our visit, we headed to our lodging to drop off our things. We stayed in a newly constructed retirement home that was not yet open for permanent residents. It was such a nice place! There were only 2 people to a room and we had actual beds. The place was heated and best of all, our room had a door! This is something I thoroughly enjoyed, because like I have said previously, my room in Budapest lacks a door. We ate dinner here and got to visit the local grocery store, which was fun. I got to see lots of the Ukrainian alphabet, which is similar to Russian because it uses lots of weird symbols. (I forget the correct term for which this writing is called.) After dinner we watched more homemade movies and saw the old town square of the town we were staying in. Then it was off to bed.
The next day, after breakfast, we headed off to a cemetery to see the locals celebrating All Saint’s Day. We saw some graves of military personnel and regular people. There were so many fresh-cut flowers and candles being put out in various patterns and designs by the living for their lost loved ones. Many of the sites were being swept and various plants were being pruned to make the graves look better. We saw various types of headstones; some had pictures, some just words. It was cool to see, but I felt pretty awkward being there because we had no real purpose in being there. It felt like we were disrespecting the traditions of the locals, by parading through the cemetery of their lost loved ones, but luckily we didn’t stay there long, so I didn’t have to feel too uncomfortable.
We drove back to the square where we went the night before and saw it in the daylight and visited a crappy market that just sold everyday and pre-packaged goods. Nothing too exciting again, but afterwards we went to have lunch with the pastor from the gypsy church, his wife, and some girls our age from another church community. The pastor is not a gypsy, but preaches to the gypsy community along with another Ukrainian one. They were so nice to us all, and served us goulash soup for lunch. Goulash is a dish that I have come to really enjoy while on this semester. They also shared some of their homemade palinka, which I tried only a sip of. Oh m gosh was it strong! It was flavorless, but tasted like acetone and burned from the minute it touched your lips. My sip made my lips, gums, tongue, and throat burn for a few minutes after sipping it. It was crazy strong; the strongest I have ever had! But, it was pretty funny just watching people take sips of it to see their reactions. Haha. After our meal we headed to a Ukrainian children’s hospital to visit some abandoned children, most of which were gypsies. This was another moment I will never forget. There were maybe 7 babies there ranging from about 6months old to 3 years old. The 3 year old, a girl, we learned was brought in recently after having been badly beaten by her father. She was so small and did not seem developmentally to be a 3 year old, yet she was so smiley. The others also had various problems, developmentally and superficially, like cross eyes, skin conditions, etc. It was so sad to see that these little babies were unwanted and we learned that they would most likely have to remain in the hospital for some time until the government declared them to be orphans. Then they would get sent to an orphanage to live and maybe get a chance to be adopted. It was interesting to see the students interact with the babies, and I even saw our professor hold one. I was resistant at first to hold one, but eventually did and formed a tie with a baby boy that had the name Bogart. I liked to think of him as Humphrey, for Humphrey Bogart. He was an older baby, with some obvious developmental problems. He had crossed eyes, jerky body movements, and an uneven breathing pattern that was very raspy sounding. He was so cute though! We played peak-a-boo and other games until I had to leave him. It was sad to know that he would probably have a life full of governmental institutions and no real parents to love and care for him.
After our touching baby experience, we returned to the retirement center for dinner and a group game followed by a showing of the famous Hungarian cult classic movie, the Witness. It was a great film about the ridiculousness of communism portrayed through the events of a common man’s life. I would definitely recommend seeing it, if you can find it anywhere.
Sunday was our last day of travel, so we got ready and departed the retirement home to go to a traditional Ukrainian church service. We didn’t stay for the whole thing, as they were serving communion, so instead we drove to another gypsy village near by to see a church which bears a bell that was funded by a previous Calvin group that came to Hungary. While there we were greeted by more gypsy children, which were more diverse in appearance than the last group we saw. Some of the children had dark skin and hair with light eyes; others had light skin, hair, and eyes. It was surprising to see. After a sufficient time of playing, we departed and headed off to see a castle on a hill and then paid a visit to an elderly woman that makes embroideries and rugs from old pieces of clothing. She was maybe in her early to mid 80s and had many options of rugs and embroideries for us to buy. Unfortunately, I was one of the last to get in to buy anything, so a lot of stuff was already picked over, but I did end up with a nice embroidery. We then left to head back to Hungary and some of us had to again take the train back to Budapest; I was one of these people. There was some confusion on train schedules so we ended up having to take the slow train back, which took 6 hours, but we eventually made it back.
It was great getting to visit the Ukraine. I saw so many things and learned so much more about the gypsies. I guess I had a general idea of their living conditions, but never imagined them to be a poor as they actually were. It was nice to get to visit with an organization that was actually doing something about the gypsy’s living conditions, but we learned that there is so much more that needs to be done. They are lacking so much in political and social recognition. I had a truly eye opening trip.
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
Monday, November 17, 2008
An eventful time
So, this is now time to catch up on the week of Oct. 13th until the 26th. This first week, all of our classes taught by our Calvin prof. were cancelled because he ventured back to America for some meeting, so it was just the students and his wife, Marilyn, in Budapest. My art history class was also cancelled, so I only had my Holocaust Lit class. It was pretty great. Many students went on extended vacations, so the apartment was pretty empty as well. At one point, it was just me and my friend Catherine that were left in the dorm and this lasted for a few days. I didn’t travel anywhere on this extended break because I was expecting a visitor, my last roomie from Calvin, Solita was coming to visit me on Thursday!
On Wednesday nights, my prof. and his wife usually have dinners for the students, usually a soup and some bread. Well, because Corwin, my prof., was away, along with many other students, just Catherine, Marylin, and I had soup together. It was very nice and I got to know them both a little better during this time. Plus, because of the small group, we got more special food. We had some great corn chowder, cheesy bread rolls, and even dessert! Marilyn went all out and we even got to take some leftovers home, but I never got to eat them, but that’s ok.
Then, on Thursday, Solita arrived to visit me for 10 days! She is doing a semester abroad program in Romania, so since we were in such close proximity and she had a big break, she decided to come spend her time with me in Budapest. J Our first few days together were rather uneventful. I took her to see some sights like our big grocery store, Auchan, but most of the time was spent doing homework, going to class, or studying for my art history exam, which was on the 20th. On the 22nd, Solita and I had a pretty busy day. Solita and I, along with another girl on the trip, went to the big central market for a bit and then we went to a pretty well known Mexican restaurant called Iguana for lunch. It was decent, probably the best Mexican food they have in Hungary, but Solita and I had made chicken tacos a few nights before and we decided that ours were much better. It was nice to go though. Afterwards, my friend Bree split and Solita and I ventured off to City Park for a bit and also to the Szechenyi baths. It was a pretty interesting experience filled with warm, supposedly healing waters, many old men in speedos, and a super hot sauna. The sauna was so warm that when you released a breath, the air coming out of your body was colder than the air going into it. It created a weird internal feeling that was indescribable. The baths were pretty nice though. There were 3 different pools, one was very warm the middle one was like a swimming pool and relatively similar in temperature, and the last was in between temperatures. We entered the very warm one first, unaware of the difference in temperatures and left the pool having difficulty moving due to feeling super heavy. Then we entered the middle and coldest pool. Brrr. So we quickly left and went to the final pool where there was a fun whirlpool. It was definitely a European, cultural experience.
After the baths, we decided on a whim to go see if we could get opera tickets, even though we were not dressed to attend an opera, were tired, and were still a little soggy from the baths. We ended up getting tickets, but because they were the cheap seats and on the upper level of the opera it wasn’t as bad not to be dressed up. We saw the play Tosca, which at the time was not very exciting, since neither of us had heard of it, but since seeing it, it has come up in discussions often, so I am glad I have gotten to see it. It is a tragic love story, between an artist and a woman and some political figure. I believe it was in Italian, but there was a translation screen that translated the lyrics into Hungarian. Too bad I couldn’t understand that much either! Haha. It was interesting to see though, and the Opera house was beautiful!
On Thursday, we traveled to Prague by train. This was a quickly planned, spur of the moment trip, but I really wanted to see Prague and I don’t think Solita minded getting out of my apartment for a while. The train trip took around 6 and a half to 7 hours to get there, and it left at 5:30 in the morning! We had to get up and get ready so early; even public transportation wasn’t running yet, so we had to take a taxi to get to the train station. I hadn’t gotten to bed until about 3 in the morning before we left, so I mainly slept my way to Prague. Solita had gotten a little more sleep than me, but she slept on the train too. When we arrived, we hopped on some public transportation and checked into our hostel, dropped off our stuff, and went out t o see the town. We walked around the Old Town Square, saw a famous astrological clock, went into a Mucha Museum which was pretty cool (he is the artist that designed some cigarette wrappers, I forget for whih company) and I got some Starbucks coffee to help keep myself awake. (Yes, they had Starbucks!!) It was pretty chilly in Prague, but I luckily brought a few layers to help keep me warm, since I was stubborn and didn’t bring my winter coat.
We saw a little grocery store called IHOG: International House Of Groceries, which had a lot of American brand treats like stove top stuffing, candy bars, apple jacks cereal, etc. I thought about buying something, but the stuff was so expensive, I decided I could go a little longer without having a special American treat since I have made it this long. Next door was a cool restaurant called Red, Hot, & Blues that featured more American cuisine and a performance nightly or either rock, jazz, or blues. This is where we had dinner, and I think there are some of these restaurants in America as well. I had a great chili that was so spicy, Solita had some tortilla soup, and we both got to watch a guy play some blues on the piano and his harmonica. It was a pretty nice way to start our trip. We both agreed over dinner that Prague felt so Western in comparison to Hungary and Romania, which we later heard a differing opinion that made us chuckle. After dinner, we were whipped, so we headed to bed at 9 pm! I know, I know, you can’t believe it, but it’s true. We were both out like lights as soon as our heads hit our pillows. I only woke a bit when 2 more people checked into our 8 person room, but fell back asleep right away.
When we woke in the morning, so did 2 of our other roomies and so we talked a bit with them. They were American students studying abroad in Spain and were very friendly. After that we got our breakfast and hit the sights. We saw some of the Jewish district, saw something Christmas being filmed, saw the river and the bridges, saw some of the castle from a far, and visited some shops. Then Solita and I had some lunch at a place called Bohemian Bagel. It was nice to have a bagel again and the food was pretty affordable, it tasted good, and we got free refills!!!!! Then we ventured around some more, saw a Hare Krishna parade that reminded me of George Harrison and the movie Across the Universe, and ran into a Calvin Alum. (We were both wearing Calvin sweatshirts and I got a picture with him, what are the chances?!) We got to see the once Lenin wall, now Lennon wall which is filled with Beatles lyrics, images of John Lennon, and other peace images. Many people have signed the wall, and I found a few Ohioans that signed the wall and drew a Brutus, so naturally I signed my name near them and of course took many pictures. It was so cool and right up my alley! : )
Afterwards I got to do something that I had hoped I would get to do, but didn’t know if would actually happen or not….I got to meet up with my friend Colleen!!!!! She is studying this semester in Luxemburg and made the long trip to the Czech Republic with a friend. We met up in the evening and went to an Irish pub to talk and have a drink. There I tried my first hot wine, which was pretty good, but odd because it also had orange slices and raisins in it. I got to introduce Colleen to my old roomie Solita and she introduced me to her friend Ryan. It was a pretty great time, even though it didn’t last too long. We got to catch up a bit on each other’s semester and all the places we have travelled too. I even got to hear Colleen’s impression of Prague. This is where you can tell that I have been in Eastern Europe more and she has been in Western Europe more, because she said they could tell instantly after crossing the border from Germany into the Czech Republic that they were in Eastern Europe. This floored Solita and me because we had already remarked how Western Prague was. I mean, it even had some Starbucks stores! You can’t find any of those past Vienna. Haha. Well, it was great to get to see Colleen again, but unfortunately we couldn’t hang out too long, for Solita and I had tickets to a black light show. So, we said our good-byes for now and exchanged excitement over seeing each other when we get back to the states.
So, Solita and I headed off to see our black light show called Cats, but quickly learned it was more about the cats of Prague rather than the Broadway musical. It was so funny to watch because it combined people in cat costumes, hand puppets of cats, poorly translated and heavily accented English music that was lip sung, and of course black lights. It was great to see just for fun, but I probably wouldn’t want to watch it again. Solita and I were the only ones laughing during the show, which was awkward, but great nonetheless. After the show we headed back to the hostel and went to bed.
The next day was our day to leave. We got ready, checked out of the hostel and went to spend our last bit of time in Prague by hanging out at the Starbucks drinking coffee and playing cards. It was a great way to kill some time. In total I went to Starbucks like 4 times on our trip, 2 times for caffeine and 2 times to warm up with a hot chocolate. It was so nice to have a reminder of home so close by! We got on the train and made the voyage back to Budapest. I did some homework and Solita read and listened to her ipod. At one point a guy from Turkey came over and started talking to Solita and I about traveling and colleges. It was interesting to listen to, but very distracting when I was trying to do homework, oh well. It got done.
Then we arrived in Budapest and made our way back to my dorm. After living off of lots of peanut butter for some meals, we fixed some French toast for ourselves and watched a movie that night. It was our last night together in Budapest, for the next day was Sunday the 26th and Solita had to leave, unfortunately. That night, daylight savings time occurred, which was so weird, because I always thought Daylight Savings Time occurred the same day it does in America, but I was obviously incorrect in that thinking. Luckily I had heard about this change for Solita’s travel sake. On Sunday we woke up, had a brunch together, and then Solita started packing. She left in the afternoon to head to Cluj Romania and I resumed my normal life in Budapest. It was great to have a friendly, familiar face around for a while, especially because we were both getting a little homesick. I had a great time bumming around with Solita and was blown away that I got to see Colleen too! A two for one kind of deal! What more could a girl ask for? : )
On Wednesday nights, my prof. and his wife usually have dinners for the students, usually a soup and some bread. Well, because Corwin, my prof., was away, along with many other students, just Catherine, Marylin, and I had soup together. It was very nice and I got to know them both a little better during this time. Plus, because of the small group, we got more special food. We had some great corn chowder, cheesy bread rolls, and even dessert! Marilyn went all out and we even got to take some leftovers home, but I never got to eat them, but that’s ok.
Then, on Thursday, Solita arrived to visit me for 10 days! She is doing a semester abroad program in Romania, so since we were in such close proximity and she had a big break, she decided to come spend her time with me in Budapest. J Our first few days together were rather uneventful. I took her to see some sights like our big grocery store, Auchan, but most of the time was spent doing homework, going to class, or studying for my art history exam, which was on the 20th. On the 22nd, Solita and I had a pretty busy day. Solita and I, along with another girl on the trip, went to the big central market for a bit and then we went to a pretty well known Mexican restaurant called Iguana for lunch. It was decent, probably the best Mexican food they have in Hungary, but Solita and I had made chicken tacos a few nights before and we decided that ours were much better. It was nice to go though. Afterwards, my friend Bree split and Solita and I ventured off to City Park for a bit and also to the Szechenyi baths. It was a pretty interesting experience filled with warm, supposedly healing waters, many old men in speedos, and a super hot sauna. The sauna was so warm that when you released a breath, the air coming out of your body was colder than the air going into it. It created a weird internal feeling that was indescribable. The baths were pretty nice though. There were 3 different pools, one was very warm the middle one was like a swimming pool and relatively similar in temperature, and the last was in between temperatures. We entered the very warm one first, unaware of the difference in temperatures and left the pool having difficulty moving due to feeling super heavy. Then we entered the middle and coldest pool. Brrr. So we quickly left and went to the final pool where there was a fun whirlpool. It was definitely a European, cultural experience.
After the baths, we decided on a whim to go see if we could get opera tickets, even though we were not dressed to attend an opera, were tired, and were still a little soggy from the baths. We ended up getting tickets, but because they were the cheap seats and on the upper level of the opera it wasn’t as bad not to be dressed up. We saw the play Tosca, which at the time was not very exciting, since neither of us had heard of it, but since seeing it, it has come up in discussions often, so I am glad I have gotten to see it. It is a tragic love story, between an artist and a woman and some political figure. I believe it was in Italian, but there was a translation screen that translated the lyrics into Hungarian. Too bad I couldn’t understand that much either! Haha. It was interesting to see though, and the Opera house was beautiful!
On Thursday, we traveled to Prague by train. This was a quickly planned, spur of the moment trip, but I really wanted to see Prague and I don’t think Solita minded getting out of my apartment for a while. The train trip took around 6 and a half to 7 hours to get there, and it left at 5:30 in the morning! We had to get up and get ready so early; even public transportation wasn’t running yet, so we had to take a taxi to get to the train station. I hadn’t gotten to bed until about 3 in the morning before we left, so I mainly slept my way to Prague. Solita had gotten a little more sleep than me, but she slept on the train too. When we arrived, we hopped on some public transportation and checked into our hostel, dropped off our stuff, and went out t o see the town. We walked around the Old Town Square, saw a famous astrological clock, went into a Mucha Museum which was pretty cool (he is the artist that designed some cigarette wrappers, I forget for whih company) and I got some Starbucks coffee to help keep myself awake. (Yes, they had Starbucks!!) It was pretty chilly in Prague, but I luckily brought a few layers to help keep me warm, since I was stubborn and didn’t bring my winter coat.
We saw a little grocery store called IHOG: International House Of Groceries, which had a lot of American brand treats like stove top stuffing, candy bars, apple jacks cereal, etc. I thought about buying something, but the stuff was so expensive, I decided I could go a little longer without having a special American treat since I have made it this long. Next door was a cool restaurant called Red, Hot, & Blues that featured more American cuisine and a performance nightly or either rock, jazz, or blues. This is where we had dinner, and I think there are some of these restaurants in America as well. I had a great chili that was so spicy, Solita had some tortilla soup, and we both got to watch a guy play some blues on the piano and his harmonica. It was a pretty nice way to start our trip. We both agreed over dinner that Prague felt so Western in comparison to Hungary and Romania, which we later heard a differing opinion that made us chuckle. After dinner, we were whipped, so we headed to bed at 9 pm! I know, I know, you can’t believe it, but it’s true. We were both out like lights as soon as our heads hit our pillows. I only woke a bit when 2 more people checked into our 8 person room, but fell back asleep right away.
When we woke in the morning, so did 2 of our other roomies and so we talked a bit with them. They were American students studying abroad in Spain and were very friendly. After that we got our breakfast and hit the sights. We saw some of the Jewish district, saw something Christmas being filmed, saw the river and the bridges, saw some of the castle from a far, and visited some shops. Then Solita and I had some lunch at a place called Bohemian Bagel. It was nice to have a bagel again and the food was pretty affordable, it tasted good, and we got free refills!!!!! Then we ventured around some more, saw a Hare Krishna parade that reminded me of George Harrison and the movie Across the Universe, and ran into a Calvin Alum. (We were both wearing Calvin sweatshirts and I got a picture with him, what are the chances?!) We got to see the once Lenin wall, now Lennon wall which is filled with Beatles lyrics, images of John Lennon, and other peace images. Many people have signed the wall, and I found a few Ohioans that signed the wall and drew a Brutus, so naturally I signed my name near them and of course took many pictures. It was so cool and right up my alley! : )
Afterwards I got to do something that I had hoped I would get to do, but didn’t know if would actually happen or not….I got to meet up with my friend Colleen!!!!! She is studying this semester in Luxemburg and made the long trip to the Czech Republic with a friend. We met up in the evening and went to an Irish pub to talk and have a drink. There I tried my first hot wine, which was pretty good, but odd because it also had orange slices and raisins in it. I got to introduce Colleen to my old roomie Solita and she introduced me to her friend Ryan. It was a pretty great time, even though it didn’t last too long. We got to catch up a bit on each other’s semester and all the places we have travelled too. I even got to hear Colleen’s impression of Prague. This is where you can tell that I have been in Eastern Europe more and she has been in Western Europe more, because she said they could tell instantly after crossing the border from Germany into the Czech Republic that they were in Eastern Europe. This floored Solita and me because we had already remarked how Western Prague was. I mean, it even had some Starbucks stores! You can’t find any of those past Vienna. Haha. Well, it was great to get to see Colleen again, but unfortunately we couldn’t hang out too long, for Solita and I had tickets to a black light show. So, we said our good-byes for now and exchanged excitement over seeing each other when we get back to the states.
So, Solita and I headed off to see our black light show called Cats, but quickly learned it was more about the cats of Prague rather than the Broadway musical. It was so funny to watch because it combined people in cat costumes, hand puppets of cats, poorly translated and heavily accented English music that was lip sung, and of course black lights. It was great to see just for fun, but I probably wouldn’t want to watch it again. Solita and I were the only ones laughing during the show, which was awkward, but great nonetheless. After the show we headed back to the hostel and went to bed.
The next day was our day to leave. We got ready, checked out of the hostel and went to spend our last bit of time in Prague by hanging out at the Starbucks drinking coffee and playing cards. It was a great way to kill some time. In total I went to Starbucks like 4 times on our trip, 2 times for caffeine and 2 times to warm up with a hot chocolate. It was so nice to have a reminder of home so close by! We got on the train and made the voyage back to Budapest. I did some homework and Solita read and listened to her ipod. At one point a guy from Turkey came over and started talking to Solita and I about traveling and colleges. It was interesting to listen to, but very distracting when I was trying to do homework, oh well. It got done.
Then we arrived in Budapest and made our way back to my dorm. After living off of lots of peanut butter for some meals, we fixed some French toast for ourselves and watched a movie that night. It was our last night together in Budapest, for the next day was Sunday the 26th and Solita had to leave, unfortunately. That night, daylight savings time occurred, which was so weird, because I always thought Daylight Savings Time occurred the same day it does in America, but I was obviously incorrect in that thinking. Luckily I had heard about this change for Solita’s travel sake. On Sunday we woke up, had a brunch together, and then Solita started packing. She left in the afternoon to head to Cluj Romania and I resumed my normal life in Budapest. It was great to have a friendly, familiar face around for a while, especially because we were both getting a little homesick. I had a great time bumming around with Solita and was blown away that I got to see Colleen too! A two for one kind of deal! What more could a girl ask for? : )
Thursday, November 6, 2008
Off to the land of the Dancing Queen where the Winner Takes It All with Money, Money, Money
So, I am going to try to be better at keeping up with this blog. Sorry for leaving you all hanging! Let me try to catch you all up on what I have been up to for the past few weeks.
So, October 9-12 two girls and I took a trip to Stockholm, Sweden. We got into the airport pretty late in the evening only to find that we were still a little over an hour away from the city itself, so we had to take a bus from the airport to the city. After getting into the city we had to take a taxi to get to our hostel for the night, which didn’t take too long, but with these sudden, unexpected expenses, we weren’t too thrilled that night. Not to mention, by the time we reached our hostel, it was around 1:00 am. Yawn!
So, we make it to our hostel, which was actually a boat, which sounds cooler in theory than it was in actuality. We were in a small room with 12 other people in bunk beds. The room had steep stairs to get in and out of it and the bathroom and shower room were located at the top of these stairs as well. It was pretty crammed. Luckily we were only in this hostel for one night.
The next day, we woke up early, went to a coffee house for breakfast, and then made our plans for the day. We decided to go to a music museum that had student discounts on tickets and it proved to be a great decision. They had many musical instruments from countries around the world, many of which you could actually play! They had information on these instruments and also sound clips and recordings of people professionally playing these instruments. It was such a fun place to visit! They had some musical exhibitions also and one of them was for ABBA! In case you didn’t know, ABBA is from Sweden, but they don’t really have much stuff about them there. The ABBA museum is yet to open (2009).
After the museum it was late lunch time, so what better way is there to get to know Sweden than to go to T.G.I. Fridays?! Haha. I know, it was pretty ridiculous of us to eat at an American restaurant, but we were hungry, it was there, and it wasn’t too pricey considering the other restaurants. We all ordered our meals- chicken fingers, a quesadilla, and a sandwich- and the best thing we all got…..free refills! This is something that is non-existent in Eastern Europe, so you bet we took advantage of it. In the end, our meal came to a total of about 80 U.S. Dollars, just for lunch! Let me just tell you now, things in Sweden are not that cheap.
Well, after getting some energy back we walked around the city, talked to a strange man who claimed to be from the states (but he obviously wasn’t for reasons I won’t explain), and checked into our other hostel, which was so nice, it was more like a hotel! This time just the three of us had a room to ourselves. After checking in, we headed back out to take pictures of the city by night, bought some snacks at one of the million 7-Eleven’s in Stockholm (seriously, they are on every corner!), and then watched TV in our hostel. Don’t worry, we realized how ridiculous it was for us to just hangout in our hostel at night while we were in Stockholm, but let me just tell you how nice it was to watch TV in English again. It was like a breath of fresh air, even though we were watching South Park, still, it was refreshing.
The next day we got up early, walked to a special store to pick up something special for someone, and then had lunch at a fast food place called MAX. It was pretty similar to a Mc Donald’s but better and cheaper! It was much cheaper than our meal at Friday’s, so that was nice. After a recharge to our batteries, we headed off to see Old Town. There we just looked at the pretty buildings, went in a few shops, and passed some time people gazing before having to catch our bus to take us back to the airport.
Overall, the weather was on the cooler side, low to mid 50s with some cool winds. Like I said earlier, things were pretty pricey there, not only because it was Western Europe, but also because it was in the Scandinavian region. I had a nice time traveling with just a small group as opposed to our large group excursions. I also enjoyed seeing all of the waterways and beautiful people. People in Sweden dress so nicely and many of them speak English!! It was great to get out of Hungary for a few days, even if it was expensive. It was worth it and a great trip overall.
So, October 9-12 two girls and I took a trip to Stockholm, Sweden. We got into the airport pretty late in the evening only to find that we were still a little over an hour away from the city itself, so we had to take a bus from the airport to the city. After getting into the city we had to take a taxi to get to our hostel for the night, which didn’t take too long, but with these sudden, unexpected expenses, we weren’t too thrilled that night. Not to mention, by the time we reached our hostel, it was around 1:00 am. Yawn!
So, we make it to our hostel, which was actually a boat, which sounds cooler in theory than it was in actuality. We were in a small room with 12 other people in bunk beds. The room had steep stairs to get in and out of it and the bathroom and shower room were located at the top of these stairs as well. It was pretty crammed. Luckily we were only in this hostel for one night.
The next day, we woke up early, went to a coffee house for breakfast, and then made our plans for the day. We decided to go to a music museum that had student discounts on tickets and it proved to be a great decision. They had many musical instruments from countries around the world, many of which you could actually play! They had information on these instruments and also sound clips and recordings of people professionally playing these instruments. It was such a fun place to visit! They had some musical exhibitions also and one of them was for ABBA! In case you didn’t know, ABBA is from Sweden, but they don’t really have much stuff about them there. The ABBA museum is yet to open (2009).
After the museum it was late lunch time, so what better way is there to get to know Sweden than to go to T.G.I. Fridays?! Haha. I know, it was pretty ridiculous of us to eat at an American restaurant, but we were hungry, it was there, and it wasn’t too pricey considering the other restaurants. We all ordered our meals- chicken fingers, a quesadilla, and a sandwich- and the best thing we all got…..free refills! This is something that is non-existent in Eastern Europe, so you bet we took advantage of it. In the end, our meal came to a total of about 80 U.S. Dollars, just for lunch! Let me just tell you now, things in Sweden are not that cheap.
Well, after getting some energy back we walked around the city, talked to a strange man who claimed to be from the states (but he obviously wasn’t for reasons I won’t explain), and checked into our other hostel, which was so nice, it was more like a hotel! This time just the three of us had a room to ourselves. After checking in, we headed back out to take pictures of the city by night, bought some snacks at one of the million 7-Eleven’s in Stockholm (seriously, they are on every corner!), and then watched TV in our hostel. Don’t worry, we realized how ridiculous it was for us to just hangout in our hostel at night while we were in Stockholm, but let me just tell you how nice it was to watch TV in English again. It was like a breath of fresh air, even though we were watching South Park, still, it was refreshing.
The next day we got up early, walked to a special store to pick up something special for someone, and then had lunch at a fast food place called MAX. It was pretty similar to a Mc Donald’s but better and cheaper! It was much cheaper than our meal at Friday’s, so that was nice. After a recharge to our batteries, we headed off to see Old Town. There we just looked at the pretty buildings, went in a few shops, and passed some time people gazing before having to catch our bus to take us back to the airport.
Overall, the weather was on the cooler side, low to mid 50s with some cool winds. Like I said earlier, things were pretty pricey there, not only because it was Western Europe, but also because it was in the Scandinavian region. I had a nice time traveling with just a small group as opposed to our large group excursions. I also enjoyed seeing all of the waterways and beautiful people. People in Sweden dress so nicely and many of them speak English!! It was great to get out of Hungary for a few days, even if it was expensive. It was worth it and a great trip overall.
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