Budapest

This past weekend, the 22nd till the 24th, I was in the beautiful capitol of Hungary!!!! Budapest, the capital, is about 7 hours away with the bus and train. On Friday I went to Linz (2hours), where most of the exchange students met up and we took a bus to Budapest. The other exchange students met up in Vienna and we saw them all in Budapest. Not only was this a very pretty city but I also got to see my friends who are doing an exchange in Hungary.  I met them back in October during Vienna Weekend and now the Austrians went to them!!! We arrived around 5, and then after dinner, around 7:30 we did a quick tour around the block.

The long bus ride.....

I tried to play Battleship, but forgot the "I"..oops

Hero Square

A castle, it was originally built out of wood and cardboard as a temporary place, but then was later rebuilt out of stone. The moat and water around the castle comes from natural spring water.

Its soo pretty

Wow, I might move to Budapest just for this view.

playing Rotary games and then curfew/bedtime of 11;30

On Saturday we had a bus tour of the city. It was amazing to see how pretty the city was and I was also very impressed with our tour guides English. I know that I would not be able to speak that good of Hungarian.

Back in Hero Square, this is a statue the first king who transformed Hungary into being Christian, he was very loved by all his people and also helped Hungary become part of the more modern Europe at the time. The coronation crown still exists and every king after him had to be coroneted with this crown, unfortunately we were are not allowed to take photos of the crown. It is over a 1,000 years old!!!

This is a statue of Matias the Just. He became King at the age of 14, and almost all his advisors tried to take his land away, but as he got older he managed to get everything back. He is dressed in skins and almost like a commoner because he would dress up as one and go into the cities, and learn what it was like for his people as one. Hence the name, Matias the Just.

After Hero's Square we went to the other side of the city and went up on top of the hill where they have their own version of the Statue of Liberty.

looking out over the city with Lilacs. It was very warm, around 26 degrees Celsius.

Almost at the top!!!

At the top, its sooo flat

cotton candy

the city just keeps going

almost Statue of Liberty, Budapest-ified.

At the top with friends.

amazing church

it almost could be from Cinderella

photo bombed

Nikkole got to hold a falcon, the national bird, even with her broken arm!!

Hanging out in the shade

speechless

looking out into the city

Parliament

Inside

Exchange Students in Parliament

After the parliament tour, we came out to a peaceful protest. They had several hundreds of thousands of bikers bike through the city. They were protesting the lack of bike paths in Budapest, so they got a lot of people and went through the streets.

Shoes on the Danube, there are 60 pairs of iron shoes lined up along the river. They represent the victims of the Holocaust and WW II, who were shot into the river. They had to remove all clothing and shoes.

looking out into the city

taco/burrito things with pig knuckle, it was surprisingly good

Gulasch on top on hash browns...my new favorite food.

a market, it was very similar to the Christmas Markets in Austria in December

On Saturday night we watched Les Miserables, play form, in Hungarian.

Sunday we got back on the bus and headed home. I was up early and went through the city before we left to get another couple of photos.

a 3km long street, built similarly to the one in Paris

Good bye Budapest!!!!!

Thank you. Next week starts Europe Tour!!! Meaning lots more photos.

Easter in Austria

Easter break was filled with fun adventures and meeting with "old" friends!!! Austria is a catholic state, meaning that we have holiday when ever there is a religious day!!! I personally find this great, even though I do not attend church regularly having days off from school..... So this time we had a week off of school for Easter!!! I decided to travel to Graz, a cute Austrian city, where many college students live, and not only college students......two of my best friends. So on Friday (18th) afternoon I had a three hour train ride to Graz. I spent the first two nights by Millena's. (Alaska)

Arrived!!

Center Square

Exploring the streets of Graz

My good friend Millena (Alaska) showed me this graffiti, not only are the colors pretty but it also shows a rough out line of what Graz looks like. Later that evening we went up to the building on the top of the hill. Licht turm.

A Café house in the middle of the river.......

Graz sky line

Its even prettier at night

I was actually there

Day two: We were back in the city exploring and looking at all the touristy things. Granted we did not come into the city until 1:30pm........and then we stayed in Graz a little later so I could see what this cute city looked like at night.

walking through a small little square

Theater house

Even Austria like Lady Liberty

This is/was a poster advertising some one for the elections in Austria. I find it very interesting to see how other countries deal with politics, especially with the US's political situation.

The Church.....sadly I did not get to go in, but have heard that it is a very pretty church on the inside.

Day three: On day three, we all slept in late and then came into the city around 3. Jade, another good friend from Canada, had also joined us on Saturday and (Sunday) she had to go back home in Vienna.

saying Bye to Jade at the bahnhof.

After Jade left I spent the afternoon in the city with Millena (Alaska) and Maria (Arkansas).

I visited a house where all the engravings are faces!! I found this an exceptional piece of art, and am amazed that anyone would think of this and then execute is so well.

 Hanging out in a cute park

walking through the streets. Millena is sadly leaving, and I wont see her again until the end of April at Budapest weekend.

Day four: I spent the last two nights with my other best friend, Maria. This day was spent eating ice cream and shopping!!! 

waking up to this view made my week.

farmers market in city central

waiting for the tram

we found a tree house!!

Day five: Today (Tuesday) I had to leave, but I still spent most of the day in Graz, with Maria.

Another cute farmers market

Good bye Graz


One of the hardest parts of an exchange is not only facing loneliness but saying good bye. You say bye to your family and home, the only one you have known for 16/17 years. Then you meet new hundreds of new people, and at the end you say good bye again. Some of the people you meet on your exchange could end up being your best friend and then saying good bye, not knowing the next time you will see them??? It is one of the hardest things I have ever done, there is nothing in this world that compares having to say bye to those you love. It does not matter if you have known them for 18 years or for 9 months. Saying good bye is hard.

Easter with my host family!!!!
Instead of going to church like I have done since I was one, we went out to a restaurant on Saturday with some of the family and then on Sunday we visited more of the family. The entire weekend was full of fun and made long lasting memories.

the Easter bunny came

with the family!!

my amazing host family!!!!

cake!!!!!!! or in German Kuchen!! This was a word I learned in my first two weeks.......


Monday was hiking day.

The view from the top. This was the same hike that I did back in Language camp!! It is truly amazing how long ago it was, and all the memories I have made since then.

good old Austrian pizza after the hike.

the view was more than stellar

flowers with a snowy, well kinda snowy, mountain in the back ground-spring has come.

Thanks