Rain, Cafes, and Public Transportation

Before I launch into this past weekends adventures, I must note that I saw the Nutcracker Ballet. It was beautiful and again made me miss dancing and gymnastics! I went with three other girls from my program and had a perfect evening!

After that aside I must move to my weekend trip to Budapest. I never expected to find myself in Budapest. I have envisioned myself in France and England, but this trip has turned those plans upside down and launched me into the fascinating world of Central and Eastern Europe. I did not know what to expect at all. We arrived in the city and took after a dinner at the hotel hopped back onto our tour bus for a driving/ walking tour of the city. In Budapest you can feel worlds and experiences colliding. It is a city that truly tells a story. One our way into the city we drove past old roman ruins. They appear on the side or even in the middle of the road. Closer to the city old apartment buildings begin to come into view. They are run down and immediately made me think of the projects in Chicago. Our tour guide informed us that the communists built these as housing. After that introduction it became plainly obvious that this place was behind the iron curtain. Old communist monuments have been changed to celebrate freedom, but the lasting impression remains. Mixed in are old beautiful buildings from many eras including many designed in the art nouveau style. The buildings radiate beauty except for the great deal of damage they have obviously endured. This damage remains from the war. There are chunks of stone blown away from buildings, many literally crumbling from wear. This sounds like complaint of dissatisfaction. It was anything but. I felt as if I was walking in a history book, this city really had things to say to its visitors. Saturday we had entirely too much free time to contend with. We had a delicious outdoor lunch and then made our way to explore. Throughout our aimless wandering we spent easily a couple of hours in total on public transportation. This was an adventure in itself. In Vienna you must have a ticket, but are rarely checked, in Budapest I could hardly walk anywhere without showing my ticket to be allowed onto the subway or tram. The subway system is very old, and sometimes we felt as if the train car was going to deteriorate around us—this was quite entertaining I must say. We saw both the Buda and Pest side, as well as the island that lies in the middle of the Danube separating the two. The weather began to look ominous and Rachel, Leah, and I wisely decided to find an indoor location to spend the rest of our free time. We found a café and chose to each order a cold chocolate. Although this sounds deceptively similar to chocolate milk it was one thousand times better. It contained lots of milk, but the stomachache I later incurred was worth it. We then ate dinner on a boat (may I note this is the second time we have done this on the trip.) We were served a delicious stew, which tasted fabulous after we had been standing in the frigid rain for literally 30 minutes because our boat decided to park on a different dock and not tell us, yeah oops. We then hopped back on the bus and went back to the hotel where my two roommates for the weekend and I played Dutch Blitz. This game is fantastic and hilarious. I plan to purchase it and teach it to people, get ready for it! Sunday we went to an adorable town outside of Budapest that is primarily small cafes and shops. I purchased many things to take home for gifts; I was very excited for this! The currency in Hungary is hilarious. They are called Florins, but the value is MUCH different than a euro or dollar. For example, one dollar converts to 200 Florins. Seeing the prices was really funny because when charged 1,000 florins for something initially seemed ridiculous but turns out that’s about $5. We decided it was similar to spending monopoly money, it didn’t feel real! We drove home and I traveled back to my flat stopping for a brief dinner. My host Frau invited me to enjoy a piece of leftover birthday cake from her daughter and kindly sat down to chat about my weekend. She is a delightful woman who has quickly become somewhat of a relative figure. I am blessed to be able to live in her home!

This is very long, I am so sorry. However, I am not done yet. We’re nearing the halfway mark, the first session students leave Thursday. Second session students come this tomorrow (Tuesday) so we’ll have one full day together as a cohesive Vienna Summer School group.
Permission to quit reading: this is a much less exciting part of my blog, but it’s honest. I’m starting to feel the first real hints of being homesick. I’m over the honeymoon “oh my gosh I’m in Europe” phase and realizing the reality of still being away for three more weeks. I am enjoying myself immensely all the same. It is difficult being a college student and not wanting to drink. It’s a reminder that I’m just a little different but also an amazing reminder that I am so blessed to have the friends at Hope that I do—people that support and understand my decision. Seriously, you guys are great and I am beyond blessed and thankful to have you in my life. This is not all to say that I think drinking is wrong, but simply that I’d rather enjoy a good glass of white wine at a cute restaurant here in Vienna as opposed to frequenting bars.

No more complaints. I’m off to write a paper and then have dinner at a lovely Italian restaurant with a few friends! I hope all is well know that you have all been in my thoughts and prayers!