a lazy sunday.

Yesterday Jenna and I took a blanket and a book to the lovely Margit Island in the middle of the Danube. It was nice to walk though such a beautiful park and spend the autum afternoon laying in a green lawn with flowers all around. Later that night we went to one of Budapests most beautiful churches, Matthias Church, on Castle Hill. We sat and listened to an amazing requiem in the midst of astounding acoustics surrouned by walls completely covered with frescos. I may have discovered my favorite church yet.

... a few more

Our lovely van... plywood cieling and cardboard floor included.


Robert our expert tour guide and driver who navigated through herds of cattle and mountain roads.

This man invited us to watch/ help him rings the huge bells of his church on sunday morning... couldn't hear to well after that.

pictures from romania.

This is us and our host mom for the night.
The house was full of lovely red embrodery
and homemade pastries.

The next night we stayed at
this beautiful hostel in the valley.











Here is a view from a castle
near Dracula's house.

After bumping along for hours in the van we got out and walked around
this deserted mansion of a Romanian noble family. The sun was peeking through the clouds on the sheep roaming the countryside.



We saw many of these hay stacks.



Here is Ali and I freezing waiting to go into
the 4th church of the day.

A weekend full of Transylvania.

We left this past Thursday morning in three rickety vans on our first group excursion across the border into the beautiful valleys and countryside’s of Romania. Accompanied by two jolly and extremely knowledgeable tour guides from a Hungarian community redevelopment foundation, we got a great look at the complex landscape, culture, history, social structures and religions of Transylvania. We stopped at about 10 different churches (no lie), a seminary, as well as some old castles and estates. We drove on some ridiculously bumpy roads (think Michigan in January times 10) past winding mountains, gypsy villages, endless hay stacks, donkey’s pulling carts, herds of goats, and identical old hunched over Romanian women in colorful layers of tights and skirts and sweaters.

We spent one night with Hungarian host families where we were stuffed full of bread and soup and cabbage rolls and pork and pastries till we stumbled into bed sore from laughing at our miscommunications with way too much food in our bellies. The other two nights were spent at different hostels tucked away in tiny villages. Basically it was unlike any other trip I have gone on or place I have been to. I kept finding myself amazed at the humble places I was standing in whether it be the bell tower of a tiny 13th century church, an abandoned estate of a former noble family, Dracula's house, or a Romanian folk market. Definitely a much different trip from Vienna, but equally enjoyable.

a few more pics from vienna.

Wien.

After returning from Vienna (aka Wien) a mere three days ago I am packing up my backpack once again for our group trip to Transylvania tomorrow morning. These days in between have been filled with the confusing process of registering and starting classes at the different universities we are affiliated with, trying to catch up on sleep, and attempting to get our residency permits. Monday morning we stumbled back into our dorms after four jam packed days in Vienna and one long (and unanticipated) night at a train station. With the help of our expert travel pal Rick Steve we managed to get 3 euro standing tickets at the opera, give ourselves an all inclusive tram tour, hit up incredible gothic cathedrals, go through some fantastic art museums, ride bikes through the city, eat some great food… and much much more. We met amazingly helpful and fun people along the way that always seemed to show up at just the right moments. Vienna is a city with such a rich cultural heritage full of unbelievable art and music down every street. The friendly English speaking strangers and expensive touristy atmosphere was definitely a change from the more somber faces and graffiti filled streets of Budapest. I had never been so happy to return to the warmth of my bed and the familiar streets of Budapest after spending the night waiting for busses and trains in the cold and dirty Vienna metro station and the late night McDonalds. I can’t believe it has almost been a month since we got here. This semester is definitely going to fly by like no other. My internet is having issues right now but I will put up some pictures real soon… don’t you worry.

szuletesnap!

I just finished learning a lesson on birthdays in Hungarian class... conveniently two days before my own birthday! Now if anyone wants to know I can tell them my birthday is on september twelve... "a szuletesnapom szeptember tizenkettedikey van." Besides teaching us helpful phrases and words, Kati, our fun little Hungarian teacher has taken us on scavenger hunts throughout the city, made us buy the fried Hungarian doughy, cheesy, sour creamy treats in the market, showed us the best local champagne to try, pointed out the good spice and tea shops, as well as cook us some sort of raw meat pate (which is apparently a Hungarian specialty).

With so much free time before our other classes start we have spent a lot of time relaxing and exploring this city that will be our home for the next four months. It has been nice to visit the universities we will be studying at and to meet some of the other international students studying in Budapest. Corvinus University is the one that I will be taking a class at this semester, and it is located right next to the Danube river and my favorite market! The rest of my classes are taught right in our dorm by the Calvin professor, except for the renaissance art history class that will be taught in the teacher's home. It will be nice to eventually have a regular schedule to make things feel a bit more normal and to plan our weekends around.

Speaking of weekends... Thursday morning Ali, Jenna, Jordan, Debbie, Rachelle and I will be on our way to Vienna! A birthday in Vienna... can't get too much better than that (except the obvious fact of missing my friends and family back home).

here are some photos of Kati, the group, hero square, and the view from castle hill....