Budapest!

Here is my latest blog post everyone! Sorry it's been so long!

I arrived in Budapest on Friday evening. The people in my train cabin spoke English because they studied in Indianapolis and they were very nice. They were from Sweden and Romania, but they just graduated from grad school, so they were going on a month long trip before searching for jobs. I watched Arrested Development on the train which is quite hilarious. I bought the first season right before I left and am almost done already! I hadn't seen the episodes before. My favorite part was when the character Lindsay took a "two hour angry nap" because she was called a sleep-at-home mom.

Nora and her dad picked me up and we headed to their house! I could tell immediately that the buildings in Budapest were a bit older/less taken care of. But in a good way. They were older but still beautiful! I got to their house and they showed me around. It was originally pink but they just painted it. The house was very nice and has a very pretty garden! Then we ate dinner. We had borscht which was delicious with garlic and sour cream! I would never have said I would have tried and liked beet soup but it was great! They also had this spinach dish with eggs that reminded me of quiche. Afterwards, we chatted for a bit and then about 11 we went to bed. Saturday morning, I was able to sleep in. 

At breakfast, I learned that the Hungarian word for apricot is "Barack." Then Nora, her mom and I headed into the town. Lily wanted to join but she has to school leaving exams in 3 weeks and needed to study for them. They sound rather horrendous. We first stopped at the baths because they wanted to show me the outside of the building. Then, we went to Hero's square which has a cool monument to all the heroes in Hungarian history. Behind it is a fake castle based on one in Transylvania which we looked at. It also has a museum and a cool fake church based on an Hungarian church in the country side. We wandered around the Villas that are nearby which were gigantic and currently house embassies. Then, we headed to this hill that has a great view and a socialist monument. You could see everything from that hill! It definitely gave a great overview of the city. Nora's mom dropped us off at a bus stop and we took it up to "the castle" which isn't a castle but is really the national art museum, a shopping area, the national archives and this very cool building called "fisherman's bjsdbjskadka" (AKA I'm not sure what the name of it is) which is beautiful. We headed back to their house after wandering around the castle for a while. 

On the bus there was a dog that looked like a Wookie. 

Apparently, it was a Hungarian sheep dog/shepherd but it looked like a wookie. And you couldn't see its eyes. We also took the subway. The subway stops were beautiful! When we got back we had dinner, more borscht and something else which I can't remember. Then, we all talked in the garden for a while and Nora, Lily and I watched Under the Tuscan Sun. I'd never seen it all the way through and it's quite good. 

Sunday, we got up late again and ate Easter breakfast (ham, eggs and leftovers) and headed into town. Nora, her mom, dad and I went to the main basilica and wandered around inside which was BEAUTIFUL! And it has a relic. There was also an egg outside the church that was given by Croatia and decorated and was signed "D. Kovacis" which I thought was funny. For those of you who do not get why it was funny, there is a doctor on ER called Dr Kovac and he's from Croatia. We walked to the Parliament building and then to the square where Evita was filmed that also has the american embassy. Nearby is nora's school. We ate cake (which was delicious) and headed back to their house about 730 ish. We then had dinner (more borscht) and this good chicken thingy. Then, we talked for a while and watched "A Good Year." 

Monday morning we had breakfast. Nora's mom's mother and brother and sister in law came over and we chatted, ate more food, and then they took me to the train. The train trip was nice again. I watched more Arrested Development. I wasn't in a compartments this time and I wasn't sitting next to anyone. The view from the train was beautiful with occasional graffiti. I had a wonderful time in Budapest!! Nora's family was very warm and welcoming and we got along very nicely!! Lily invited me to her graduation in 2 or 3 weekends which I will probably go to. I love Budapest!

Today I tried out the level of German above mine but I think I'm behind in that level, since I have no idea how to do the homework. I think it would have been the class I should have been put into at the beginning. But since I missed 2 weeks it's a bit higher than where I am at. But that's ok I still have 3 more months of class after this one!

Here are the pictures from Budapest!! There are a lot!
http://s15.photobucket.com/albums/a353/LaurenHillard/Budapest/