We left for Budapest on Saturday the 27th? and took the train, we slept on it and got to the boarder at 6 am and then rented a bus that we used all week. Went through the boarder passed coustoms and got stamped. then we drove for hours and made it to Budapest, Hungary.
So much happened over the week we were there that i didnt exactly write journal form i just listed bullets of the main things i hope to remember so I'm going to do that and then expand a bit more on some for your comprehension.
Sunday: arrrived in Budapest-Hero Square where there are statues of all the kings and rulers. one of my pics is there and the guys name was Beth....something or other so i was stoked :)
-nearby castle/palace with a statue titled Annonymous
-massive sand drop grain clock that takes the whole year for all the sand to fall and they flip it at new years
-Parliment (gorgeous and i believe is the biggest parliment and has 3 different buildings connected or something)
-Buda Hill, Matthias Cathedral, Martzipan musem mmmmm delicious. GREAT VIEW here
-Roman Aquaducts on the way to our hotel (Monte Cristo) in Obuda
Monday: first day of exploration BUDA side
-breakfast at the hotel of cereal yogurt and bread cheese and tomatoes
-we took a bus and then metro and wandered around up on buda hill again
-Labryth caves underneith buda hill/castle
-Met James from St. George Utah... we were lost and he heard us then came over to talk and one of the girls i was with is from sg too. He stayed with us for a LONG time. he was backpacking throuhg Europe and just got to budapest so didnt know much directional wise but pretended and liked to take control and ask people to get us going places. People are so nice and helpful here though unlike Kyiv.
-Statue park. a collection of fallen communist statues. WAY on the other side of Buda in some random neighborhood place. we took tons of buses and made friends with so many nice people who "happened to be going that direction and could take us closer and closer" it was so nice.
-at Statue park there was a lady from VA who works for Fairfax county public schools! she didnt care to talk more though.
-back the Pest but realized we didnt need to cross the bridge, James left and we walked across the bridge as the Sun was setting. GORGEOUS!
-walked around lost on the buda side but found a tram place and met two girls who took us to a general central travel area or something. They were nice and one is going to study in Austria and was excited we were headed there later in the week.
-figured out a place we'd been before and ate Gyros cause we didnt feel like going back to the hotel yet
-went to the metro to get some transfer cards for the way home and found a girl in a BYU sweatshirt and this guy started to help us out. Rocky, from SLC. Hes an RM who served in Hungary and was just back for a coulple weeks to be back. He helped us find an easier route home and we decided to meet tomorrow so he could take us to where we hope to go since he knew the place. Awesome!
Tuesday: Pest
-met rocky at the train station. rode the oldest subway in Europe
-House of Terror. The building where Hungarian tramatic events and tortures took place. The headquarters where all their evilness was planned and carried out durring the Wars. It was very sombering. What a scary and sad time of life. Its amazing how much hope and dedication people had to hold on to life and endure so many attacks and such brutal torturing. What guts people had to not give in to the communism and to stand up for what they knew to be true only to be silenced by death. Very touching and emotion filled exhibit.
-Great Market. Big marketplace filled with meat fruits bread pastries and then souveniers all over the top floor...
-H+M. yeah we went to one but there was this really cool hip old lady who was decked out in the styles of today. it was funny because its total stylish hippy wear so of course she got into it.
-breakdancers. well they have them in every major city but so far the best ones we've seen were these guys. Dave, maybe you'll be that cool someday, work on your moves and then travel through Europe on the money you make from the people :)
-hike up hill, statues, PHENOMENAL view of pest from buda. You could see the city for sooo far and up the Danube. it was breathtakingly beautiful.
-restaurant with authentic Hungarian food (gulash and pancake things and fruit soup and fried cheese and all sorts)
- so happy, couldnt stop smiling
*Budapest was Amazing and it was so cool to meet so many nice people. It was so funny that there were multiple random people from Utah. There is such a great feeling being there that is hard to describe. the people are nice friendly and feel obligated to help, they actually smile at you and want to help, the atmosphere is jolly, the food is wonderful, the air is way cleaner then kyiv. nobody could stop smiling which was a great feeling after never smiling in Kyiv. not many people seem happy in kyiv though im sure thye are they jsut dont show it as frequently*
Wednesday: Vienna, Austria-woke up and drove 4 hours to Vienna, Austria.
-St. Stephens cathedral, a palace, Maria Teresa statue, the summer palace, some government place. We didnt have much time and no free time to explore so I spent most of the time taking pictures rather than listening to our guide... so im not quite sure what everything was that we saw.
- i got Shots the ice cream treat that i used to get in England :)
Thursday: Eger, Hungary-we had to pack up to leave already :( but we stopped in a beautiful little town called Eger
-walked around and saw some castle. went swimming in a thermal bath called caves which was not as cool as it could potentially be but it was fun to go swimming.
-then on the bus and went back to the boarder and BARELY made it to the train with 3 minutes to spare. it left at 10 and we slept again and made it back to kyiv 2afternoon friday.
It was a beautiful trip and the weather was warm and sunny almsot the whole time. It was great! not exactly as i expected it to go but thats partially what made it so enjoyable.
Conference was GREAT so far, im on my way to the next 2 and then the last next week. I LOVE YOU ALLLLLL
