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Budapest - Day Seven

We squeezed a lot in today, but I enjoy trying to maximize my time abroad. You know how in grocery stores they used to have an employee stationed at a table, serving samples of various foods? You get to try different things, albeit in small portions, to see if you want more. I view this trip similarly, it's a wonderful way to sample what it's like to explore the world. Well, I'm loving the taste and already hoping to come back for more. That's partially why I don't mind the packed schedule of quickly going place to place - it's left me wanting more. If I'm ever blessed enough to visit Vienna or Budapest again, I'll be able to retrace my steps and explore further the places I've already been (as well as places I haven't)! For now, I still have two full days ahead of me and I'm looking forward to discovering more about Budapest, as well as myself. I already feel more confident in general - I'm not exactly sure why, but I won't complain. 

I woke up around 8:05 A.M., feeling alright.  Five hours of sleep isn't great, but at least it was decent quality. Once again we slept with the window open, so the room was cool and the sounds of the city (noisy, yet more peaceful than usual) provided a pleasant background hum. Coupled with the indirect sunlight peeking through the curtains, it was a calm scene - Which is why I understand the reason Daniel decided to sleep in for the time being. In Vienna he had gotten me up in the morning quite a few times (as I would shut off my alarms in a half-awake/half-asleep daze, not remembering having some so afterwards). Once we got to Budapest, funnily enough that dynamic flipped and I would usually be the one up first, reminding Daniel to get up. (Let it be known he was still responsible and generally had alarms set). However, our buzzing and ringing phones didn't change the fact that Daniel wasn't feeling great. He wasn't sick or anything, just sore and wanted to get extra rest. He told me he'd catch up with us later, - Which I passed along to Natalia and Gwen, then Dr. Rotter. As is customary I browsed my phone briefly, checking my email, our shared group photo album, and whatnot, before getting out of bed. Back home I normally open up social media and waste time before forcing myself up, but so far I haven't had the desire to check, much less open, apps on my phone. As social media is extremely unhealthy, it's refreshing. Living through a screen is no substitute for enjoying reality. 

I quickly scarfed down breakfast with Gwen and Natalia, quickly heading to the hotel lobby, our designated meeting place. At 9:00 P.M. we boarded a nice tour bus, with Christine riding shotgun, adding context to the scenery through the bus's built-in microphone. I had a blast, turning my head back and forth as she'd narrate "on your left is the..." and "if you glance to the right you'll see..." Budapest was similar to Vienna in that there was something interesting to see in every direction. The seats were also comfy, a nice bonus. I sat on the left, across the aisle from Natalia and Gwen. We shared excitement when our eyes occasionally met, each trying to get a better look at points of interest visible from the opposite side. Seeing all there was to see, I really felt I was gaining a deeper appreciation for the city. Yesterday's walking tour was great, but crossing the bridge from Pest to Buda allowed me to see more of the bigger picture.

Unfortunately, however,  I couldn't capture many of those picturesque scenes during our ride. (Although I still did snag a couple cool pics). It dawned on me that I was on my last roll film, so I wanted to make my remaining shots count. Like yesterday, this led to many "what if?" pictures lingering in my head. The photo that evaded me the most was of a statue of "Csodaszarvas" (which translates to "Miraculous Deer") - An important figure in Hungarian folklore according to Christine. It supposedly guided two brothers, Hunor and Magor, to two princesses (which they married) leading to the formation of Hungary. The statue is very new as well, only finished in 2022. I recommend looking up a picture of the "Miraculous Deer" (as I sadly didn't get one). It sucks because I really thought I would, as we circled around it a couple times. Despite having my camera set to a fast shutter speed to prevent motion blur, there just wasn't a clear shot. Oh well, maybe next time. 

Note: I've noticed I've started going further in depth about the history of various things I've seen. It's actually helping reinforce the things I've learned, so I want to go back and flesh out the history of the places I've visited so far in previous reflections. I've provided brief background info for most places, but there's definitely more to write about. Eventually I'll be going back to each entry anyways, adding more details/smoothing things over. I am so excited to see how this project turns out! For the nth time, I buda-digress (sorry). 

It wasn't long after that the bus slowed to a stop and we piled off (accidently leaving my jacket behind which was unfortunate as it was chillier than I had expected). Spoiler alert: I ended up being fine. We walked some, crossing through a tunnel, soon arriving at the "Budai Várnegyed" (Buda Castle District). My attention immediately went to a neat cable car system embedded into the hill, carrying people up and down. I hadn’t seen anything like it before, but sadly we wouldn’t be taking one. Before venturing in, we stopped at a map of the district where Christine explained that this was Budapest's first district, continuously inhabited for almost 800 years (you can still rent a place there too). Like many places we've visited, it's also a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Before this trip I had only ever been to one designated site - Frank Lloyd Wright's "Falling Water" in Pennsylvania. As much as I enjoyed visiting... The sites in Europe have blown it out of the water. In general, I've reflected a lot on the differences between "the states" (as the USA is commonly referred to) and Europe (the parts I've seen at least) - I'll be sure to go further in depth on it later. 

To be honest, I wasn't immediately impressed with the supposed "castle district" (as no castles were visible from where we were at), but that changed as we continued walking. Following the cobblestones, I saw a lot of eyebrow dormers (which aren't very common) on the buildings lining the street. If I hadn't taken historic preservation classes, they wouldn't necessarily have caught my attention - It's neat how my education thus far has shaped what stands out to me, at least architecturally. It makes me wonder what other subtleties (across various fields) I must've accidentally glossed over. Still, if I was intrigued by simple eyebrow dormers then what was in store next would be jaw dropping (it was). 

While not as large or ornate as either of the St. Stephens' - Matthias Church (The Church of Our Lady), located atop the castle hill in Trinity Square, was beautiful in its own right. There were many fascinating attractions nearby (which we'd subsequently explore), but Matthias Church was our first stop. The structure we saw was originally built in 1255, but according to tradition the Church of Mary - apparently founded back Saint Stephen around 1015, over 1,000 years ago - was there first. Unfortunately the Mongols completely destroyed the original church in 1241. The current church has had its own turbulent history. It's been the site of multiple royal coronations, where King Matthias himself was married (twice), and for about 150 years (1541-1686) was sadly desecrated by the Ottomans and turned into a mosque. It's been renovated and repaired a lot throughout its almost 800 years in existence - Often influenced by different architectural styles popular in their respective time periods. The last large renovation, adhering closely to the original plans, was in the late 19th century. The history of Matthias Church is very complex and I couldn't include everything, but hopefully that was a sufficient summary. This church, like other historic structures that have been extensively renovated, always remind me of the "Ship of Theseus" paradox. If a ship (or a building) slowly has all of its parts replaced and repaired overtime, is it still the same ship (or building)? 

As we explored the interior, Christine expanded upon the church's rich history. Also, Gwen took a nice picture of me inside with the altar to my rear before it got crowded. I'm picky when it comes to how I'm photographed, but (as usual) Gwen snapped a picture that I actually really like. Looking around, I was entranced by all of the delicate stained glass, intricately carved statues, and general artistry. We went from the nave to the attached "Loretto Chapel" area with limited seating, where Christine told us the more behind the famous Virgin Mary and Jesus statue to our right. Apparently church goers plastered the walls, concealing the statue, as the Ottomans invaded... When the church was used as a mosque, no one knew it was hidden within the walls. Then, when the church was recaptured in 1686, an explosion nearby caused the wall to crumble, finally revealing the statue after almost 150 years. The Ottomans were petrified by this, supposedly retreating with haste because they were so scared. I find stories like this to be really cool as without Christine, I would've taken a look at the statue, gone "oh, that looks pretty," and moved on without a second thought. That made me think, yet again, how many times had I missed out on something intriguing due to innocent ignorance?

We hit the gift shop on our way out, where I got multiple fun magnets! I often try to get a second opinion on which ones are the best, so I hope Natalia, Daniel, and Gwen aren't sick of my magnetic misadventures. Afterwards we walked back out to Trinity Square, pausing for a bit. I turned to Jackson and gestured towards the giant bronze statue of St. Stephen (I’m starting to realize the Hungarians really like this fellow). It has stood for over 100 years and depicts him on horseback, wearing his regal robes, atop a two level pedestal - Which features neat mini lions and scenes depicting his life. Jackson, Samantha, and I both agreed it was very prestigious. While chit chatting, there were these older women trying to sell "handmade blankets" to us, which was kind of awkward - Especially when we'd say "no thank you" and they'd come back a minute later to ask again. Some other students accidentally showed too much interest and had to deal with a lot more pestering. I have nothing against these ladies, but it was annoying and out of place, especially as many of the blankets were most certainly not "handmade." 

Anyway, I was grateful things were warming up as it was shaping to be a beautiful day outside. Having already ignored putting on sunscreen yesterday... I started to have that "oh shoot" moment when you realize you're getting burnt and can't do anything about it. Luckily it wasn't too too bad. When we were at Dulles Airport seven days ago (which is hard to believe it’s been so short, yet so long ago), I had to throw out my sunscreen before getting on the plane as it didn’t meet the requirements. It was a full can too, which sucked. As I’ve adopted as a motto - “It is what it is.” Then, once everyone was together, Christine led us to one of Budapest’s most famous landmarks: The “Fisherman’s Bastion” - A castle-like structure built in a Neo-Romanesque style. Aike many other sites we’ve seen, it was constructed for Hungary’s 1000th anniversary, so it was designed more to impress rather than be used for defence purposes. Seven towers comprise the bastion, each representing the seven tribes that settled the region. The name “Fisherman’s Bastion” comes from the fishermen that once lived down the hill, along the river.  Speaking of, the view of Pest across the Danube River is amazing. Everyone took pictures, me included, and then we organized a big group photo (the first one we’d taken in Budapest). With Pest to our backs, Dr. Rotter pulled out his UMW flag and everyone posed. At first I wasn’t in any, but Dr. Rotter’s husband volunteered to take some, so I quickly joined in the bottom right corner. This was the same process for our second group photo, now with Matthias Church in the background.

Although I wasn’t in the first couple of photos each time, Christine offered to use my camera, so she kindly snapped film pictures of both group photos (which I got to be in)! Normally I’m not in the film shots, so this was a welcome change because I really enjoy the vibe of film and want to be in them. An extremely common trend (that I don’t think I’ve written about thus far) is my having to hone in the camera’s focus before each picture. The camera, although sometimes annoying, is mostly manual. Sometimes I’m quick with getting focus, other times… Not so much. It depends on the subject and whether or not I can use someone’s nose as a reference point (it oddly makes it easier).  Also, I’ve mentioned it a few times already, but I’m still grateful to Gwen too as she knows how to work the camera and got a few pictures of me throughout the trip - Both on film and digital (her camera/phone). One of my favorites that she snapped that day was of me, camera raised looking through the viewfinder, and Natalia, aesthetically posed in one of the windows, gazing across the river. It’s simple, but fun.

We wandered around a bit more, then retraced our steps, exiting to the square. From there we followed Christine further into the district. We briefly stopped at yet another statue of a man on a horse, this time (instead of St. Stephen) it was of András Hadik, a hussar general from the 18th century who served under Maria Theresa (who I justly, in my opinion, referred to as a “prude” on day two). This specific statue was unlike any of the others we’d seen thus far. Upon closer inspection, the horses testicles were a shiny polished gold color. The color disfiguration commonly occurs when passerbys repeatedly meddle with a statue at the same place, over and over. The tradition started a while back, when nearby students from Budapest University of Technology touched them for good luck in their studies. A few of our group partook in the tradition before moving on. Usually climbing on a statue is frowned upon, but Natalia/Gwen wanted good luck so they tried as well. I’m not sure who exactly touched it, but I think one of them did, or at least got close - Hopefully that good fortune is contagious. We rushed to catch up with everyone else, now making our way down the street towards Buda Castle, also known as the Royal Palace. 

As we walked, I had some insightful discussion with Dr. Rotter regarding the restoration and new construction of buildings in the district. He told me the last time he had visited a few years back, much of what we were seeing wasn’t there. I asked his opinion on if it was right to build new buildings near old ones, imitating as close as possible historical styles - Possibly causing confusion as to what’s original and what’s recently developed. This is a hot topic of discussion with no real right answer. I believe he thought we should stick to new, innovative buildings - As dwelling on the old leaves little room for advancement and causes things to stagnate. However, it depends on the context. I understand (and support to an extent) the sentiment, but I still tend to heavily prefer older styles. I appreciate contemporary architecture and find it interesting, but much of it is not what I’d prefer to surround myself with. Done right, newer styles can flourish - However, more often than not these designs fall short (in my opinion). Contemporary architecture is broad and innovative with many fascinating products, but your average contemporary building is more likely to be devoid of a pleasing aesthetic (in my eyes) than your average more classically inspired building. This is a wacky example but, think of Pizza Hut. The iconic red roof that immediately comes to mind adds a lot of character, it is the staple of the brand. However, nowadays Pizza Hut is phasing out those roofs for the typical drab, boring fast food box shape we see everywhere. In conclusion, bring back the “hut” part of Pizza Hut. 

Apologies for the side tangent, back to us moseying towards Buda Castle. Aside from all the construction, which was cool from a preservation viewpoint. It was an enjoyable walk and showed the scale of how large the Castle District actually was. I had completely underestimated it. We saw so much in such a short time that it felt like a blur. We stopped occasionally, listening to Christina tell us more about our surroundings. There was one spot we paused at that had a great view looking further into Buda. Lined up on the road below were some colorful antique cars, which I wish I had gotten a picture of. In all honesty, I missed most of what Christine said unfortunately as I got distracted by talking to my friends/fiddling with my camera. I’m sure she provided some fun facts about the castle as we approached, but I didn’t catch them - So, here’s a summarized history of “Buda Castle”: In 1241 the Mongols invaded, leaving much of Hungary in ruins (remember this as it will be relevant tomorrow too). To prevent such a tragedy from happening again, the first iteration of Buda Castle was built. Unfortunately, none of it remains. In the 14th century, Stephen, Duke of Slavonia (younger brother of King Louis I of Hungary) built another castle - now referred to as the “Medieval Royal Palace.” Subsequent rulers, such as King Sigismund and King Matthias enlarged the castle, altering it to keep up with the latest fashion. During the late medieval era, it was considered possibly the largest Gothic palace in the world - Of which little is left as it was destroyed in 1686 (take a wild guess who was involved). From the ashes, the Habsburgs eventually started reconstruction… From 1749 to 1769 a massive Baroque palace was built. Maria Theresa, under whom the palace was built, preferred her time in Vienna and so the palace served different functions - Such as being used as a nunnery and university for some time. In 1791, when Archduke Alexander Leopold of Austria moved in, the palace once again became a seat of political power. Then, in 1849, it was heavily damaged during the Hungarian Revolution, where rising feelings of nationalism caused Hungarians to revolt against the Austrians. The Hungarians successfully captured the castle, but the damage was extensive and their victory short lived. Fast forward 18 years later (including another reconstruction period) and the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of 1867 officially recognized a dual monarchy and created the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Under the reign of Franz Joseph, Buda Castle was remodeled yet again. Overall, things were going well during this period and Buda (now linked with Pest) was a regal site to behold… That was until the World Wars. Although spared harm during the Great War, the palace was heavily bombed during The Siege of Budapest in WWII. The siege lasted 102 days, finally ending with the Soviets fully capturing the city. Now under the control of the communists, they eventually chose to restore the castle, albeit simplified when compared to its previous iterations. Even more construction has occurred (and will still be occurring until at least 2030) since then. It was awesome to witness, however I wish I could’ve seen it throughout its various highs and lows over the past millena. I think similar to Matthias Church, the Ship Of Theseus paradox certainly applies to Buda Castle as well. It’s a shame we didn’t have the time to go inside. Still, it was awesome standing right at the main entrance, taking in the stunning facade. 

Christine led us a little ways over to a vantage point with a scenic view of the palace as well as Pest across the river. Glancing over the parapet, looking at the winding pathway up to where we were, I saw a familiar face: Daniel! Natalia, Gwen, and I started waving to try and get his attention, which we did after a few shouts of, “Daniel, up here!” We were close to leaving, so he joined at just the right time. I believe he took the metro by himself to reach us (which I thought was impressive because I found that trying to navigate public transportation was intimidating). All together, we followed Christine to the “Oroszlános Udvar” which translates to “Lion’s Courtyard" in Hungarian, surrounded on each side by castle walls. It’s a famous venue and lots of movies/shows have used it as a set. For a fun example, Katy Perry filmed part of the music video for “Firework” here. Plus, you can get married there (if you have enough forints). Flanking either side of the main gate are carved statues of lions - Both sitting politely, seemingly docile. Once inside, however, if you turn back around there are two more lions guarding the gate - Both snarling, ready to attack. I’m still intrigued why they have the offensive lions on the inside and the defensive on the out. Either way, it’s apparent Hungary really takes “pride” in its lion symbolism. 

From there we left, wandered around a bit longer, then took elevators down closer to the street. Despite the elevators being fairly large, it took multiple trips for us all to get down there because: 1) There’s a lot of us UMW folk, and 2) there’s a lot of people in general - All clambering to get on. Now, I’m by no means “scared” of elevators (although I was as a kid), but having an extra spacious elevator doesn’t help with claustrophobia when all of that extra space is packed with other people, squished in there like sardines. I’d have probably felt just as smothered in one of those cable cars, but at least it’d be cooler. Don’t worry though, our 20 second elevator journey went smoothly - No omniscient narration by Rod Serling.

We then made our way onto the bus, settled down, and enjoyed our ride back across the Danube to Pest. Overall, it was a lot of fun with many Buda-ful sights to see. Once again we passed over As the bus rumbled, so did our stomachs - It was well after noon and Daniel, Natalia, Gwen, and I were really Hungary (that’s a cheap joke, I know). The bus dropped us off near where it had picked us up earlier that day, close to our hotel. As I was stepping down the last bus step, before my foot even hit the sidewalk, I saw a sign that said “Donna Mama Pizza.” My friends and I pretty much immediately agreed to get lunch there. In general I’ve tried to avoid foods I can have at home, such as pizza, but my friends and I were famished. We went inside, found exactly four stools (just enough for the four of us), and put our stuff down. I’m always really careful about where I put my camera also, one of my worst fears is something spilling onto it. Then we each went up to the register, ordering our respective pizzas. Occasionally, back home, I can eat an entire pizza by myself. Granted, I normally won’t feel great afterwards but I can still do it. So, I planned to just order a couple slices, not going overboard. However, in Europe (or at least this particular pizza place) they do pizza differently. It’s so different that I was able to eat an entire pepperoni pizza for lunch and paradoxically come out feeling refreshed. Natalia, Gwen, and Daniel had been abroad before, so they already knew what “real pizza” was like - Not me, I’m used to Little Caesars and Dominos, so this was a total blindside. I’m not complaining though, it was good… Just messy as it kept falling apart at the seemingly the slightest touch. I swear it felt like if I held it at even a minor tilt, all the sauce, cheese, and pepperonis would slide off onto the floor, completely wasted. I didn’t want to reach across the table awkwardly over people’s food, so I ended up asking Natalia for napkins quite a few times. It was funny because each time she’d pass napkins over, there always was one more than I asked for. That was a good inference on her part because I definitely needed them. It was fun making Budapest puns and discussing what we wanted to do next, as the rest of the day was allotted as free time. Even though we wanted to check out the museums Christine had recommended yesterday, our number one priority was visiting Budapest’s famous thermal baths! 

More specifically, we were going to take a dip in the “Széchenyi Baths” which Natalia did her pre-trip presentation on. A week before leaving we had to watch and leave productive comments on two other peoples’ presentations - The videos I picked were Jackson’s (about goulash) and Natalia’s (about the baths). Both of their pieces were top notch. Natalia did a great job breaking down the baths’ history and their importance to Budapest, so much so that I was actually really eager to jump in (which we were about to do)! Per her presentation, the Széchenyi Baths, named after István Széchenyi (a beloved Hungarian politician), opened in 1913. It features many mosaics, stained glass, ornate statues, etc., but it carefully balances aesthetics with functionality. The thermal waters are sourced from two natural springs that range from 80-100 degrees fahrenheit, rich with magnesium, calcium, and sulphate. The water is believed to relieve joint pain, arthritis, as well as help with general skin issues. The baths quickly became a cornerstone of the city’s wellness culture, as locals and tourists alike utilized the water’s medicinal properties. In the 1920s, new saunas, swimming pools, and more were added, continuing the legacy of the importance of thermal baths in Hungarian culture. Nowadays, around 1,000,000 million people visit the Széchenyi Baths each year.

Once we got back to the hotel from Donna Mamma’s, we went to our respective rooms to grab our things (in my case, my pink starfish swimming trunks I bought from Belk, my sling satchel, and the hotel’s bathroom towel) before reconvening in the lobby. Daniel was able to securely smuggle the towels out the front door, but we didn’t want the hotel to think a towel kleptomaniac was on the loose, so we made sure to return them later. It’s just that our options were either to take the hotel’s towels or rent some at the baths (which cost too many forints). Obviously, I needed to save all the money I could for magnets. Trying to forget yesterday’s incident, we got on another one of Budapest’s public buses, bound for the baths. It was actually super convenient, after a short ride the bus dropped us off literally right out front. Without having yet gone inside, the Neo-Baroque and Neo-Renaissance architecture of Széchenyi was already impressive. But, we’d have to brave the locker rooms before getting to see the rest (which was even more impressive). 

Inside we paid for our ticket (which came with a wristband used to lock/unlock the lockers), bought flip-flops (which you had to wear everywhere whenever you weren’t in the water), and split up - As the women’s changing area was to the left, and the men’s to the right. I’m not sure exactly how Daniel was doing, but I felt like I was on an episode of “scared straight” walking down that hallway. It’s even worse because everyone was speaking a different language, so that added to the confusion. I doubt I need to go into further detail. We found lockers, stashed our stuff inside (including my camera as I carry it with me literally everywhere), found bathroom stalls, changed, and then escaped out to the main plaza. I was the last one out, so I was looking around trying to find Natalia, Gwen, and Daniel to no avail. I didn’t have my phone, so texting on wasn’t an option. After a minute I saw them waving to me as they were enjoying going around and around this section of the bath with jets, similar to a small watery racetrack. I happily joined in, going in circles shooting the breeze. The water felt great, not too hot, not too cold. After a few minutes we exited the whirlpool, now taking turns enjoying the high water pressure of one of the nearby spigot/pipe things shooting water downwards into the bath. I had to make sure not to let my glasses get too wet. I’m not sure if I’ve mentioned it, but throughout the trip (especially recently) my upper back had been a little sore. Nothing too bad, just annoying. So, the water slamming into my back felt amazing. I wasn’t there long enough to testify to the bath’s wellness properties, but it was definitely relaxing floating around, enjoying living in the moment. We also discovered that the other end of the bath has underwater jets near the walls which also felt incredible sitting in front of. The whole aesthetic of Széchenyi was magnificent, the yellow of the building contrasting wonderfully with the blue sky, featuring only wispy cirrus clouds. The cherry on top of the scene was this classic red and white striped hot air balloon nearby, making trips up and down. Later on, before we left, I braved the locker rooms once, grabbing my camera to try and capture the scene. I reigned in the focus, adjusted my aperture, took a deep breath, exhaled, and pressed the shutter… Only to have someone walk right in front of me without warning. I didn’t show it, but I was furious. I need to make every shot count, and don’t like taking pictures of the same thing twice. If it were digital, I wouldn’t care - But this was on film. Still feeling pretty Buda-pessimistic, I retook the picture. Honestly, I enjoyed the composition so much that I asked Gwen to take a picture with me in it this time. She kindly obliged (thanks again Gwen)! I’m clearly over it now, but the messed up picture lingered in my head for a while. I just keep reminding myself, “it is what it is.” 

Back to the baths - We left the main plaza area to explore the indoor section, which went on seemingly forever. It was fun going room to room, although sometimes things smelled a bit weird. Each room had its own pool(s), all varying temperatures. Sampling each one, I better understood Goldilocks - It’s hard to find one that’s “just right.” This adage applied to my flip-flops too as they were too small which made them a minor hindrance. All in all, the experience was still unforgettable. While I knew that the Széchenyi Baths offered more than just pools, I wasn’t expecting there to be “salt inhalation” rooms. I won’t lie, they looked kind of sketchy at first, but the four of us ventured in. It wasn’t all of but three seconds before my glasses completely fogged over. Oddly enough, a few minutes in the fog completely disappeared. It was a bonus being able to see, even though all that was visible was a dim, hazy red light. A little bit later an interesting phenomenon occurred - When I licked my lips, I could fully taste the salt from the air. I then told Daniel, Natalia, and Gwen to lick their lips as well. I know that makes sense given we were in a literal salt inhalation chamber, but I thought it was neat. We were in there for who knows how long, but eventually left to keep exploring. Everyone was having a good time, but we still wanted to try and squeeze other activities into the evening. Before leaving, Gwen was set on finding the hottest pool (which we did) and as nice as it was, the heat got to be too much for me. We all joked about how it felt like we were in a giant bowl of soup. 

Leaving the interior pools, we hung out in one of the (comparatively cooler) outdoor pools. Eventually, I got out to get my camera (Gwen tagged along and we chit-chatted some). Once we snapped some pictures, I was ready to get changed and head out. Daniel handed me his wristband and asked me to grab his towel from the locker (which I attempted to do) but the room was inaccessible due to the number of people changing right there in the middle of the floor. Unfortunately unable to get the towel, I was able to snag the cute little mini mason jar that Gwen had given me earlier. You see, I wanted to bottle some of the bath water (as weird as that may sound) to take back home. So, I took the jar, went out to one of the spigots on the edge of the pool, unscrewed the lid, and filled it up. Was it an odd sight? Yes. Was it worth it? Just wait. With my mission accomplished, all I needed to do was change and meet folks in the upstairs lobby. I took my clothes, my jar freshly filled with “magic water”, and went to a bathroom stall to change. Unfortunately, while changing, the jar fell and shattered into pieces all over the ground… This was not fun as I heard (what I’m assuming to be) curses from people speaking different languages. I quickly assessed the situation and took responsible action by: 1) picking up the largest glass shards I could reach and placing them on the water tank, 2) opening the stall door and fleeing the scene with haste. I went back to the locker area, now less crowded, and sat down, replaying the scene in my head. Daniel walked in, so I explained what happened to him and he mentioned how he saw workers cleaning up something over in that area. More than anything I was upset that I now didn’t have anything to bring home with me. I had wanted to snag some bath water from Széchenyi Baths since before we even departed Fredericksburg. Spontaneously, Daniel grabbed his water bottle, chugged what was left, and said I could use that to capture some water (and then transfer to a more eloquent container later). Brilliant. I don’t think he knows how appreciative I am of him for that as it was paramount I brought back some of the bath water. So, I went back out, filled up the bottle, and went back once more for the rest of my stuff. As I raced upstairs with my things, I saw the workers picking up the glass, looking at the fragments either pissed off or confused (or likely both). Another wave of guilt washed over me. I would’ve attempted to fully clean it up myself, but realistically there wasn’t much I could do. At least I can (somewhat) confidently say it won’t happen again. 

The sun was much lower in the sky than it had been as we journeyed from the Széchenyi Baths back to the Hotel Astoria. Before anything else, we needed some time to recuperate. At around 6 P.M., we met in the lobby, dressed for a night on the town (I exchanged my grey jeans for corduroy khakis, how fancy)! As we were seven days into the trip, my wardrobe was more constrained than usual. Natalia, Daniel, and Gwen all cleaned up great though. The game plan was to try out “chimney cakes,” find a shop where I could buy more film (as by this point my stockpile had been exhausted), and check out Budapest Jazz Club (which Natalia discovered while researching things to do). Also at Natalia’s suggestion, it seemed “f8 Vintage Camera Shop” was our best bet to find 35mm film rolls - Plus it was only a seventeen minute walk (not bad at all) according to Google Maps.

Our first stop - on the way to our first stop (the film store) - was a random chimney cake shop right along the sidewalk. We had already passed (and would continue to pass) a multitude of chimney cake vans, shops, carts, etc. It grew apparent that chimney cake stands are to Budapest what hot dog carts are to New York City. Oh, I don’t think I’ve even explained what a “kürtőskalács” also known as a chimney cake is, so here’s some background: Traditional kürtőskalács originated in Transylvania and are made from wrapping dough, covered in butter with sugar/cinnamon, around a cylindrical spit that is then baked. When removed from the spit, smoke often rises from within the hollow cake, resembling a chimney. Of course there are many variations, but that’s the basic idea. They can be served with ice cream and other toppings as well (like how ours were). Be prepared for them to be messy (also like how ours were). We ate as we walked, which to be honest wasn’t ideal as they were messy, as justifiedably stated above numerous times. Everyone seemed to like the taste though. I ate mine quickly as I didn’t want to bring it into the camera store, so I wish I could try one again, not having to scarf it down. Still, that’s one item checked off my Buda-bucket-list (I know that’s not even a pun, but we thought it was funny). At last, we finally arrived at the film shop just in time! Well, we technically had 30 minutes until they closed at 7:00 P.M., but still.

Daniel and Natalia waited outside while Gwen and I stepped through the front door. The inside was a bit austere and smelled funny, but that’s beside the point. It was genuinely neat, but we were here with one purpose in mind - To purchase some rolls of 35mm film. We asked the owner if they had any Kodak or Fujifilm in stock, but he said they had just run out and wouldn’t be restocked until Monday… Pardon my Hungarian, but szar. I felt my heart sink, shooting a roll a day was one of my biggest overarching projects of the trip. Budapest doesn’t have a Walgreens on every corner where you can buy film, most of it is sold in small shops, such as the one we were in. This sucked. However, thankfully our efforts weren’t for null as the shop owner gestured to a bowl full of filmstock, albeit overdue by twenty or so years. Gwen seemed excited, but I still was frantically thinking to myself, “Film that expired two decades ago? Oh, this is hopeless.” My mood quickly rebounded when Gwen reassured me that, although expired, we could work with the film. In fact, sometimes expired film comes out looking cooler than non-expired film - Depending on your artistic taste. She explained how all I had to do was adjust the settings to compensate for the degradation of the film. Her familiarity with shooting on expired film was a great comfort. It had the chance to go awry, but it was better than nothing. So, I bought two rolls of HANSACOLOR 100, Super Plus DX. I tried researching the brand (as I had never heard of it), but not much was available online. I was able to deduce, however, that it was a Hungarian brand! Instead of being bitter, I was now fairly excited as shooting the last couple days of our trip in Budapest on Hungarian film felt special, you know? Even if it doesn’t work, I’ve still kept the box, which upon closer examination is made up of the Hungarian Flag (from top to bottom, three equal horizontal sections of red, white, and green). Seriously, without Gwen I don’t know what I would’ve done. 

I didn’t even pay attention to how many forints it cost, I was set on using it. Gwen also bought some film, although I’m not sure what kind. She had mentioned she might get back into film photography more once we were back home. Feeling relieved, we waved goodbye, exited the store, and continued our walk. I had been the main navigator up until this point, but the wheel now switched over to Natalia - It was time to go to the Budapest Jazz Club! We made our way to a bus stop, hopped on one of the fun antique tramcars, and were off. The ride was fun, especially because Daniel and I both really like the yellow trams here. We also had a great view of Buda Castle at one point, now beautifully lit up against the now fully dark sky. Getting off was interesting, as we had actually reached the “end of the line.” There was literally no more track for the tram to go forward on. We watched the driver pack up, clock out of his shift, and walk away. This must’ve been a nightly occurrence for him, but it’s not something I think most people normally see. It’s akin to seeing your neighbors carry groceries in - You know they regularly do, but you hardly (if ever) witness it occur. 

Following Natalia, we walked down a couple streets in search of “Budapest Jazz Club.” It wasn’t long before we happened upon a sign with those exact words. Honestly, the venue appeared fairly drab, located on the first floor of an apartment building. I reminded myself to not judge a book by its cover - Or rather, a jazz club by its somewhat depressing architecture. Inside, immediately to the right, was a booth, where we bought our tickets for about 7,500 forints each. The club was made up of a bistro and bar (both separate bills) as well as a “koncertterem” or concert hall (included with our ticket). No one was playing at the time, but Natalia reserved some seats in the front row (which we’d come back to later). Back in the main area, we put our stuff down at a table and assessed the scene, making our way over to the bar. I’m not sure what drinks everyone ordered, but I opted for yet another cup of hot chocolate. Gwen was hungry though, so she got some chips and dip. We sat and we sipped, enjoying the ambiance. Across the room people were checking in their coats, getting their tickets inspected, and walking into the concert hall - By pure luck we chose to visit right as a performance was starting! We stayed at our table, wanting to finish our drinks before heading in to see the show. I hate to admit it, but this hot chocolate was the worst I’d had in Europe, possibly anywhere. I know ordering hot chocolate at a bar is like ordering sushi at a burger place, but still. To make matters worse, I accidentally spilled it on my shirt. The only positive thing about this hot chocolate was that it came out easily in the wash. The muffled sound of music caught my attention, so Natalia and I finally decided to enter the concert hall. We shimmied past folks and made it to our reserved (thanks to Natalia’s forward thinking) front row seats. It’s a good thing she saved them because, while the room was fairly small, it was PACKED. 

Let me just say, words cannot do justice to how amazing the performance was. It met every preconceived notion I had of what a jazz concert should be, and then some. The headliner was Vladimir Cetkar, a Macedonian musician who has been writing songs for quite a number of years. He sounded great, had fun banter with the crowd, and - alongside the rest of the musicians - played some pretty damn good tunes. What made it extra fun was his ability to improv with the band, you could practically see the gears turning in his head. It’s the kind of music where you can’t help but tap your foot and pretend you're playing the drums. Each player contributed to a lovely cacophony of brass, drums, keys, and guitar. I found the lead artist on Spotify afterwards, but it just didn’t hold a candle to the live experience. Not to say he’s a bad musician, but more so that he shines when you see him perform in the flesh.

I truly don’t think we could’ve come at a better time. Also, more than at any other point, this part of the evening vaguely reminded me of the night of the masquerade ball in Vienna. For the majority of the show it was just Natalia and me up front - Sharing the experience through tapping our feet to the beat (although I was often off rhythm), smiles of disbelief, and turns of the head, mouthing to each other, “Isn’t this amazing!?” Obviously a jazz show In Budapest is miles different from a masquerade ball in Vienna, but the feelings (at least for me) harmonized. It was a nice mirror to our time in Vienna. It’s surreal (there I go again) all of this had happened within less than a regular work week - Of which back home they seem to fly by, speeding up every year. I’ll touch on that odd feeling later. But for now, in the best way possible, time didn’t quite feel real. Here I was, 4,790 miles away from home, in a foreign city, on a different continent, with three people whose last names I barely knew (no offense to y’all if you’re reading this, I know now), at a jazz club, with sh*tty hot chocolate stains on my shirt. Incredible. Unlike our night out in Vienna, I was confident I’d wake up the next morning with a smile, not a headache. 

Leaving the jazz club, all four of us made our way back to the shopping area we frequented our first night in Budapest. I had given up my aspiration to buy a “cool European jacket” but Natalia had not waned in her need for a pair of “cute European boots.” We briefly looked in a few stores, quickly landing on one that had a decent selection. I stuck with Natalia, giving her my opinion (when asked) on contrasting pairs of boots. After a short while she came to a conclusion on which pair to purchase, so we set off, pleased with an awesome day, for the Hotel Astoria. On our walk back, a random kid pointed to Natalia, grinned, and said something in Hungarian - Which neither Natalia, Daniel, Gwen, or myself could decipher. We joked that she had made fun of Natalia, but we all knew it must’ve been some sort of compliment. We have no clue what was said, but the amicable feelings shined through. We kept walking, taking turns talking to each other, making it back to the hotel at a (fairly) reasonable hour. In our room, Daniel and I wound down for the evening - Recapping to each other our favorite parts of the day. My only complaint being how I accidentally skipped over dinner. Before showering and crawling into bed, I made sure to fill up a page in my physical journal. If you were to just read those journal entries you might be disappointed, so that’s why I’m making up for it digitally. Plus, with how much I’ve typed thus far, I’d have overwritten my whole journal multiple times over! 

[blba3]

Budapest - Day Six

Today was my first full day in Budapest, Hungary! It's gone by in a blur, that's for sure. Hah, that rhymed. Anyway, I woke up around 8:15 A.M., in time to go through my morning routine, get dressed, etc. without being rushed. We had left the window open overnight, so it was pretty chilly at first. I put on that one white collared polo shirt I like (the one I wore on the first day of school last semester), stepped into my corduroy pants, grabbed my 35mm camera, slung on my satchel bag (which by the way has been an absolute lifesaver), and went downstairs for a quick breakfast with Natalia, Gwen, and Daniel - two pieces of bread with some cheese and salami, a bowl of frosted flakes, and a banana (occasionally). I often skip breakfast back home, but with how rigorous our schedule was on this trip, I needed the boost. Plus, the breakfast buffet here was very high quality.

At 8:50 A.M. everyone met in the lobby, ready for a busy day of exploring Budapest for the first time (at least for me). In addition to us students and the professors was Christine, who would be our tour guide for the next few days. She passed out small devices, similar to an MP3 player, to all of us. In addition, she handed out earbuds (well, it was a singular earbud) that we plugged into the device, allowing us to hear her voice, even from a distance, as she talked. It was very convenient and solved the issue of not being able to hear everything being said, which was a minor problem during our tours in Vienna. The sound quality was a bit muffled, but it wasn't too bad. So, after plugging in my earbud and shoving the device into my pocket, we walked out of the hotel. Today we'd be covering the "Pest" side of Budapest. (For those who don't know, like myself a short while ago, Budapest is actually two cities separated by the Danube River that merged in 1873 - Buda and Pest!)

We rounded the corner and began to walk along the sidewalk, listening to Christine narrate the history of adjacent buildings. Aside from her stand-out purple jacket, she also constantly held up a cute yellow flower, resembling a dandelion. The flower, coupled with the jacket, was definitely useful in not losing Christine in the crowd while following her from location to location. (My friends and I also just found it quite endearing). Our first stop was only a little ways down the sidewalk, a pathway leading to a small courtyard. Gwen and I were so focused on taking pictures that I unfortunately didn't pick up much of what Christine was saying - which is kind of silly considering I had her voice literally playing in my ear. Although the courtyard realistically wasn't much to look at, Gwen and I still snapped a couple pictures. One fact, however, did stick with me: the blocks on the ground making up the pathway, normally made of stone, were actually made of wood. Back in the day when horses would enter and exit the area, the wooden blocks muffled the noise that the horses trotting along would make. Neat, right?

From there we walked further, eventually crossing the street to make it to a gorgeous building, resembling a temple. We were at the step of the Hungarian National Museum. There wasn't time to venture inside, but Christine gave us some context where we were at - an area known as the "Palace District." The name was fitting. From there we continued walking, later arriving at the Dohány Street Synagogue - the largest synagogue in Europe and fourth largest in the world. Similar (and understandably so) to other Jewish sites I've seen during our trip, the security was tight. I had to empty my pockets, put all my stuff in a small tray, and walk through a metal detector before being allowed inside. (It was the same process we had to go through at the Stadttempel Synagogue in Vienna). I was grateful I didn't have to remove my belt, something I had to do at practically every building I went into when I visited Washington DC last fall with my advisor Dr. Turdean and a couple other preservation students. It's not a big deal or anything, just slightly inconvenient.

Yet again I had to wear a kippah, as men are required to have their heads covered while inside a synagogue. I swear it's impossible to get it to sit just right, but at least it didn't fall off. We sat together in the pews, listening as an elderly lady provided a history of both the synagogue and Judaism in Budapest. I enjoyed hearing the information, however sitting down made me a tad drowsy. Still, it was cool learning the layout of the synagogue, where people sit, how the Torah works, etc. etc. After the lecture we walked around the outside edges of the property, viewing various memorials. It was then I finished up the roll of film I had leftover from the previous day. I wound up the completed film, stashed it in my satchel, and put a fresh roll of Kodak 400 - the last film stock I had brought with me.

I had planned to buy more film in Vienna, but that never happened. I shouldn't have pushed off my shortage as it would come back to bite me later. On the way out we hit up the gift shop. They had some funny stuff, like shirts that spoofed Nike's "Just Do It" - instead saying "Just Jew It." Not my taste, but I appreciated the humor. It took me forever to decide, but I eventually bought a Budapest magnet for Allen, my roommate back home. As you know, I am very particular about my magnets, so I wanted to get him a good one. I also bought one for myself, the first of many Budapest/Hungarian magnets I'd acquire in the coming days.

We then continued our walking tour, once again led by Christine (and her dandelion). Gwen, Daniel, Natalia, and I enjoyed making small talk while walking - pointing out cool sights, discussing what we had seen. Once again, you could swivel your head around almost any direction and your eyes would land on any number of brilliant, jaw dropping buildings - each with a unique history. Christine covered a few of those, but I can't recall the specifics. She did explain certain architectural motifs and what they represented in Hungarian culture though. Many buildings were undergoing renovations, sadly covered with large tarps. It wasn't totally lame though, as the tarps had rough outlines of how the building would look once completed. An interesting way to minimize the ugliness caused by the need to cover up the main facade. Also, there were massive red cranes all over the place. So common, in fact, that I started to associate them with Budapest itself. I enjoyed getting more of a feel for the city too, allowing me to appreciate it better. It's very different, feeling to me like almost like a cross between New York City and Vienna. Keep in mind I haven't visited NYC in over half a decade.

We kept walking, at one point passing by a tiny book cart selling...Take a guess, books. It was simple, but charming to me. A few members of the group were checking it out, so I raised my camera, poised to take a neat picture. (I much prefer photos with subjects, particularly members of our group, opposed to stationary subjects, such as the book cart by its lonesome). However, people moved at the last minute so the picture was a bust. I'm not sure if anyone else can relate, but sometimes a "what if?" picture lingers in my head after something like that happens. Even if I'm out without my camera, I'll still see compositions occasionally where I say to myself, "Oh, that would be a nice shot. Darn it." This was one of those moments. Anyway, moving on -

We ended up outside of St. Stephens (Budapest), not to be confused with St. Stephens (Vienna) - Each respectively wonderful works of art. While not quite as jaw dropping (partially because my appreciation of architecture had been constantly overstimulated on this trip) as the interior of St. Stephens (Vienna), this basilica was still awe inspiring. Christine told us how its construction lasted 55 years, from 1851 to 1906. I'm 21 currently, so that's almost triple the amount of time I've been on this earth. Woah. It was built in preparation for Hungary's 1,000 year anniversary (as were many other major landmarks in the city). It took a bit longer than expected, but still eventually opened to the public. The stained glass (which I'm a sucker for) was great as well. The sun was shining in at a lovely angle, illuminating the pews, where our professors and fellow students were sporadically spread out, with a warm glow. Beautiful Intricate statues surrounded us as well. I didn't catch everything Christine said, but I was fascinated by a small, glass container over against the far wall. Encased inside was the actual 1,000 year old Holy Right Hand of Saint Stephen - The founder and first king of Hungary. I'm not embarrassed to say my first thought was "if I could, that would be a legendary fist bump." I mentioned my "fist bump idea" to my friend Jackson, who is Catholic, and he chuckled. In actuality, I think it's a little interesting to hold onto someone's fist for so long, but I understand and respect the importance of relics to Roman Catholics.

From there we made our way towards one of Budapest's most famous landmarks: Országház (The Hungarian Parliament building). Where we had a tour scheduled after lunch. It's the largest building in Hungary, as well as the tallest in Budapest. It's a fun mix of Neo-Gothic, Renaissance Revival, and Baroque architecture. Vivian, the kind older lady who sat next to me on the plane ride to Vienna, was right - It's worth visiting.

On our way there we passed an interesting area that had a statue leftover from the USSR - it was crazy to see the actual hammer and sickle on a statue like that. Nearby was also a statue of Ronald Reagan (which I got a photo with to send to my parents). Before our tour of the parliament, however, we walked along the edge of the Danube River - gazing upon the famous shoe memorial dedicated to those killed by the fascist Arrow Cross Party in 1944. While a somewhat unsuspecting, simple memorial - It was very moving. Seeing only the replicas of shoes, devoid of their owners, was powerful given the meaning behind the display. Gwen and I were able to get some good pictures, capturing the moment. In 1944, while the Arrow Cross Party reigned, they would line Jewish people along the bank of the river, force them to remove their shoes, (as they were valuable and could be reused/sold) and then shoot them...Leaving them to fall into the river. It gets worse, but that's all I'll cover here. And so, seeing the shoes of men, women, and children lined along the bank made you really think about who those shoes could've belonged to, how each person had their own complex life, hopes, dreams, etc. - All unjustly cut short. At first I was confused as I noticed yellow bands tied around many of the shoes. On each band I think it read, "bring them home" - referencing the hostages held as a result of the October 7th attacks. After a somber few minutes of reflection, we made our way to a nearby restaurant, Séf Asztala, for lunch. Occasionally we all eat as a group and this was one of those times.

We were sat in a corner at a table with three spots on either side, half booth and half table. I was in the middle on the table side, across from Jackson, with Daniel to my left and Gwen to my right - Diagonal me was Samantha, Jackson's girlfriend, to the left, and Natalia, to the right. I remember the seating chart well as it led to the most hilarious mealtime conversation I've had thus far on the trip. Jackson is able to crack me up by just raising an eyebrow, so once we all started making jokes - I was practically wheezing from laughing so hard. As soon as things settled down, someone would let loose a quick one-liner and the laughing would start all over again. Each of us took turns telling awful Budapest puns. For example, it was important to get your buda-rest to avoid buda-stress on our buda-quest, buda-unless you didn't mind being a buda-mess, I buda-guess. Aren't all these puns pest-tacular and full of buda-zest, it's all in buda-jest! These types of jokes became commonplace throughout the rest of our trip.

Much more tasteful than those puns was the lunch itself! I tried goulash, a staple of Hungarian cuisine, and it was delicious. It paired nicely with the bread they gave us. However, it did clash a little with the forró csokolád, or hot chocolate, I had ordered earlier. (As I said, ever since Vienna, I've been on a hot chocolate kick). It was nice to discuss the meal with Jackson, our resident goulash expert this trip. Earlier in the semester each student had to pick a topic/location we'd come across while abroad to give a short presentation on. I chose Visegrád Castle (which we'd visit in a couple days) and Jackson chose the general topic of "goulash." He even said he might try to make a batch himself. Aside from cooking goulash, we were also cooking up some more jokes - which I'll spare everyone from. The only real downside to the meal was the dessert. I'm not sure exactly what it was, but I know it was at odds with my taste buds.

Once we finished up, it was time to walk a short distance to the Hungarian Parliament for our tour. Once inside the visitor's area, we briefly browsed through the gift shop (there were some fun magnets), and then sat down for a little. After some time we all stood up, got in line for security, and received earpieces that played a pre- recorded audio tour synced for wherever we were within the building. However, while passing through security, the security guards refused to hand check my bag/camera (despite asking politely) and so two rolls of film went through the x-ray machine... I was briefly seeing red, but let the feeling pass as it was unproductive. It's not always the case, but x-ray exposure like that can definitely cause problems with 35mm film, or any film for that matter. Dr. Rotter suggested that the scanner may have been an ultrasound one, which would be less powerful thus hopefully less damaging. Much preferable to say, a machine you'd find at airport security. To maintain peace of mind, that's the scenario I'm choosing to subscribe to.

The audio tour was fairly high quality - it was both educational and entertaining. If trying to describe the exterior of the Parliament building can't be properly done through words (which it honestly can't) then trying to adequately capture the beauty of the interior in writing is next to impossible. It. Was. Stunning. The art, the architecture, the artifacts, all of it... Incredible. While in general I prefer the interior of the cathedrals, I appreciated the variety and uniqueness of the Parliament's interior. Although each area we stopped was awesome, the climax of the tour was definitely within the main dome. Saint Stephen's Crown, otherwise known as the Holy Crown of Hungary, was in a glass box surrounded by multiple armed members of Hungary's military. They had it locked down like it was Fort Knox (which is funny because the crown was once stored there around WWII). Also protected was the "Sceptre of Saint Stephen," the orb, and the sword used for his coronation - each one fascinating in its own right. It's cliche, but if I had a nickel for each time I'd seen something related to Saint Stephen in a glass box (his fist and now his crown), I'd have two nickels - which isn't a lot but it's weird that it happened twice. The crown itself has a rich history as it was made in Constantinople around the 1070's and was once stored at Visegrád (where I did my presentation on) from 1323 to 1440... When it was stolen! King Mathias Corvinus was able to buy it back over twenty years later, where it once again was stored at Visegrád - Until the Turks took control of the castle in 1529, causing it to move again. As you can see the crown has been all over the place, but since the year 2000 it's been in the Hungarian Parliament.

Near the end of the tour we passed a very regal hallway wonderfully lit by the afternoon sun shining through the large windows. I made sure to try and get a picture as the composition stood out to me. Gwen helped out as we took turns taking pictures of each other throughout our brief time in the building (although we did this the whole trip). As we're both each commonly behind the camera, it was fun getting to be in front of it more for a change. Unfortunately that was actually the last hallway we'd see, as it led to the end of the tour and into a small exhibit space with miniatures of the building, interpretive labels, etc.

We browsed the gift shop once more where I bought the magnet I had eyed earlier! I also bought a postcard with the Parliament building on it - The first building block in my blossoming postcard collection spurred by Natalia's appreciation for postcards. With the amount of magnets I have, I'll end up needing multiple fridges - So, she suggested I start getting postcards as they are easier to store and more commonplace. Good idea. (Although I ended up forgetting to buy anymore postcards as I continued buying magnets out of pure reflex).

After spending some forints, we walked around to the backside of the Parliament, to Kossuth Lajos Square. We were there at just the right time to see Hungarian soldiers walk by with the large red, white, and green flag of Hungary - As they had just taken it down for the day. I snapped a (hopefully) cool picture of them marching by on my camera. Christine, still holding up her yellow flower, shared some morbid facts about where we were standing as massacre had occurred, leaving visible bullet holes in places. On October 25th, 1956, during the Hungarian Revolution, peaceful protesters were shot at indiscriminately by the Red Army (and Soviet-sympathetic Hungarians), leaving likely 800-1000 dead. However, an exact number of casualties is hard to establish. Christine, pulling from the lived experience of her and her family, used this as yet another example of the horrors of what she refers to as Budapest in "the communist times." It felt weird to be calmly hearing her tell us about the massacre whilst standing where it happened. Sadly this was a familiar feeling by this point.

We then took the Metro Line M1, the oldest subway in Europe, in continuous operation since 1896, to Hero's Square. I really enjoyed getting to ride on this line, as the aesthetic was completely opposite the other lines we had been on in Budapest. Dr. Rotter had given us some background information before getting on, but seeing it in person was extra cool. Also referred to as "The Millennium Underground," this was yet another project (like St. Stephens and the Parliament) constructed in preparation for Hungary's 1000th anniversary. The cars were much smaller, but the overall vibe was better than the usual metro. Daniel, Natalia, Gwen, and I had fun chit chatting and looking out the window at the unique stops we'd briefly pause at before rushing off again.

Once at Hero's Square (yet another Millennium project) Christine gave us some context and explained what each statue surrounding the central column represented - The seven chieftains of the Magyar tribes that founded Hungary. She also told us that unfortunately the centerpiece on top of the column, a statue of the Archangel Gabriel, had been removed for restorations. As much as that sucked, as a preservation student I understood and respected it. During this time my friends and I also were debating on which museums, multiple of which were nearby, to try and go to the next day. (We didn't have enough time to go to any, unfortunately. Still, we had a fun time). Soon after, Christine concluded our tour of Pest for the day. But, we'd be seeing her again tomorrow for a tour of Buda.

It was time to take the bus back to the Hotel Astoria! However, it did not go as planned. Out of the entire trip thus far, this upcoming experience was hands down the most intense and awful. Don't worry, things worked out in the end - but I was close to losing my sh*t, pardon my French. I don't think I was alone in this sentiment.

While waiting at a nearby bus stop, things were going swell. I was enjoying talking to folks, discussing our favorite parts of our day, etc. These pleasantries continued as we soon boarded the bus once it slowed to a stop in front of us. I had my Budapest transportation app (which if you remember I had paid for when we first arrived in the city) open, ready to be scanned. However, instead of having the QR code on our phone scanned... We had to scan a code ourselves near the front of the bus. It took me, and others, a few seconds to figure it out, but we quickly did and hopped on, good to go. As we were all very new to this, it took a little longer than normal. That wouldn't normally be a big deal, right? Normally, when dealing with an empathetic rational person, things would be fine - But we'd soon realize we were, in fact, NOT dealing with an empathetic rational person, also known as this bus driver. A couple students were having trouble with the app, things were just not working out. Thankfully, Dr. Hansen-Glucklich was helping out, attempting to pay with physical forints instead... Annoyed with how we were apparently taking too long, the bus driver suddenly shut the doors and started driving. I looked out the window, seeing a couple students staring as they had just been left behind, without any warning. Even worse, the jolt of the bus unexpectedly moving forward causing a friend to fall down. Everyone was surprised. As this was all happening, Dr. Hansen-Glucklich assertively told the bus driver to stop, MULTIPLE times - which the bus driver completely ignored, instead speeding up. I immediately picked up my phone, calling one of the people left behind giving them an update on what had just happened. Just then, the bus driver rounded a corner, almost running over a mother with her small child. That was the nail in the coffin that the bus driver was not in his right mind. I did not feel comfortable being on the bus anymore, so as soon as we hit the next stop, everyone piled off. I handed my phone off to the professors and they spoke to the students. It wasn't like we had gotten separated on a flight or anything, realistically we were close enough to walk back and meet up with them (which we did). Daniel had even kindly run ahead to make sure the left behind students were alright. More than anything, I was ticked off at that bus driver for how he: 1) willfully left behind my friends, 2) almost hit a woman and her child, and 3) disrespected and disregarded Dr. Hansen-Glucklich's justified demand for him to stop this bus. My mantra usually leads me to let things pass, as dwelling on things you can't control isn't productive, but the events that had just transpired made me absolutely livid. As you've seen, I've wanted to keep my reflections as real and raw as possible, so here's where my head was at. It may sound stupid in writing, but here goes. As soon as the bus jerked forward and I had heard the bus driver raise his voice at Dr. Hansen-Glucklich, my immediate reaction was to push through the crowd and go to the front of the bus to bang on the thin partition protecting the driver from us until he was forced to stop. Though, it quickly dawned on me that catching an assault charge in a foreign country wouldn't be productive. I never want to be the one to freeze when something like this happens, so I'm happy I had to consciously stop myself from going into action rather than do nothing. In hindsight it obviously would've been overreacting as well, but hearing the extreme distress in Dr. Hansen-Glucklich's voice immediately set off alarm bells in my head. If you get it, you get it - That's all I'll say. Also, it was impressive how calmly both Dr. Hansen-Glucklich and Dr. Rotter handled the situation. They set a good example for how to deal with something like this in the future. Like I said, in the grand scheme of things it wasn't a massive incident or anything, but it was still the most intense thing that happened to all of us together, and it wasn't okay. But, I buda-digress...

Not wanting to risk the bus again, we all took the metro and ended up back at the Hotel Astoria. I'm pretty sure the sun was close to setting, we were pretty beat honestly. We all took a short break in our rooms, then met downstairs in the lobby. As I rounded the corner I saw Natalia talking to Christine, the conversation looked interesting (and it was). I sadly only caught the tail end of things, but it was cool hearing her thoughts on Budapest and Hungary. Hearing about her experience with "the communism times" was most fascinating to me. She recommended two museums: The House of Terror and The Budapest Retro Museum. Both immediately were added to my Budapest bucket list. She even had a cool coupon for the Retro Museum (which I hope doesn't expire anytime soon). It's a shame that we never had the spare time to visit either of them - This is a perfect example of why I would love to one day visit again.

At Jackson's suggestion (as he and Samantha had gotten dinner there the night before), Gwen, Natalia, Daniel, Chinyere, and I dined at the "Café Astoria" which was connected to the hotel. We were some of the only people in there, so service was nice and speedy. One of my goals for this trip was to branch out and try as many different foods as possible, especially those which aren't common back home. So, after ordering another hot chocolate (which was really good), I asked for "Töltött Káposzta," which translates to "stuffed cabbage rolls." I wanted to like it, but it just wasn't for me. Although I'd be willing to try it again. After my lackluster entree, Natalia and I split "Astoria Desszert" and "Mascarponés Nutellás Szelet" for dessert. Both were decent, although I preferred the Nutella cake.

Having already unanimously decided on calling it early for the night, our last adventure led us a few blocks away to a more pedestrian friendly shopping area. I enjoyed walking around as it made me really feel like I was a part of the city. Also, tomorrow afternoon we'd have some free time, so we planned to spend it at one of Budapest's famous thermal baths! The day before leaving for this trip, I had bought a new pair of swimming trunks in preparation - However some of my friends still needed bathing suits. As we went store to store, I enjoyed wandering around, taking in everything. I still hadn't gotten used to seeing the price of everything being in forints, so it was wild seeing a single nice jacket cost 35,000 (in forints). Ever since we arrived in Vienna, one of my goals was to buy a nice "European jacket" or whatever that meant. I will forever love my green lightweight puffer jacket, but some of the coats I saw over there were very in vogue. This is random, but it's also worth mentioning that Daniel has great tastes in jackets by the way. Unfortunately I couldn't find anything in my size or style that I liked enough to justify spending thousands on. Oh well, maybe next time.

Once everyone got everything they needed, we set course back for the hotel. Before making it back, on a whim we stopped by a Lidl. I know we have those in the US, but it still was interesting to compare and contrast things such as food brands, store layouts, etc. The only thing I bought was a giant bottle of water, as I was (and still am) slightly dehydrated. We went through self checkout, which I mostly navigated in Hungarian (unaware that there was an option to switch to English). Finally we walked the remaining way to the hotel. I enjoyed making conversation with Gwen, Natalia, and Daniel. We'd often walk in pairs, switching who we were talking to occasionally. That was a common thing throughout the trip, which was a good way of getting to know people better. Our banter was, and continues to be, awesome. Traveling seems to be a great way to get to know folks on a deeper level than you might otherwise, in say, a regular classroom environment over the same period of time. This would also be the last night Chinyere hung out with us. To which I say, knowing what I know now a few days on, "good riddance." I don't say that to be mean - But like I said, one of my goals is to be honest in documenting my experience. I'll explain more later, but for now, take my word for it.

After saying goodnight to folks, Daniel and I moseyed on up to room 106. I sat at the vanity for some time, working on writing in my journal as well as these blog posts. Daniel and I had our usual evening small talk before winding down for bed. He mentioned how time seemed to have both slowed down and sped up on the trip thus far - I fully agreed. These past six days have felt like WEEKS. I've loved it though, it's not even over, yet I know this trip as a whole will be very transformative. That's also why I've gone into such great detail documenting my time here abroad. I know future me will appreciate looking back at this, thankful I wrote page after page as opposed to just two measly paragraphs. I sadly can't capture everything, and it sucks as I'm slowly losing the finer details as I update these reflections in the future (like I am right now). I plan to continue revisiting these posts, updating them with newer facts (and fixing grammatical errors) when I have the time! I eventually fell asleep at around 2:30 A.M. after writing for a few hours. I'm still just incredibly grateful for this experience.

[blba3]

Vienna/Budapest - Day Five

Having stayed up until late the night before (which I still don't regret), I was a little groggy when I woke up at around 8:00 A.M., with four hours of not-so-quality sleep. Unlike some other mornings (where I could get by with an extra five minutes of sleep) today was our last day in Vienna and we had to be in the hotel lobby by half past eight. Following our trip itinerary, we were to travel by tram to Zentralfriedhof (Central Cemetery). It was founded in 1863 and is referred to as "central" not due to location, but due to the number of those interred within - around 3,000,000, making it the second largest cemetery in Europe. Also noted in the itinerary was "everyone needs their luggage packed in their rooms" as checkout was at 2:00 P.M. Irresponsible as it may be, I had not packed up any of my things to leave yet... I thought about trying to pack before heading downstairs, but I decided on quickly grabbing breakfast instead. On our schedule it looked like we had some free time after our cemetery visit, so I figured that would be a good time to pack up my things. I would be cutting it down to the wire, but I didn't have a crazy amount of stuff anyway. Still, I normally prefer to be better prepared as these kinds of things cause undue stress.

I got to the lobby right on time at 8:30 A.M. and said hi to my friends, asking them how they slept, etc. Then, once the professors took a headcount, we walked out into the alleyway in front of our hotel and rounded a corner on our way to a bus (tram) stop. I enjoyed talking with Natalia, Gwen, Daniel, the professors, etc. on our short trek. Although they follow a similar route, I much prefer riding the tram as opposed to the bus - I just find them more charming. The tram is also a means of transportation I've never used before, so it has a fun freshness to it. As the tram pulled up to our stop, we all hopped aboard, keeping in mind Dr. Rotter's advice to the group to use multiple doors to avoid a bottleneck (this was recommended for the U-Bahn as well). It was nice not all being stuffed into one section, we had more room to see and interact with strangers who were sharing the ride alongside us. I never made conversation with anyone, but we shared smiles (occasionally, as it was rare for someone to actually smile back). I may have mentioned it already, but I think it's awesome that smiles bypass any and all language barriers. There, holding tightly the overhead grips or metal stability pole, I was reminded that every person I saw had their own destination in mind, with their own goals and dreams. It sounds silly, but remembering that everyone has a life just as complex and in-depth as your own is interesting.

After a few stops we got off and began to walk towards the cemetery, just a couple minutes away. I hadn't seen this side of Vienna before, it was very different from where we were staying closer to the city's center. The ornate architecture had dissipated, the general verticality of structures was reduced, and the overall vibe just shifted. (It made sense though - for example, it'd be silly to expect all of New York City to be just like Times Square).

Either way I was still enjoying myself as we finally got to the cemetery. We met Walter, our tour guide (and at this point quite the character) from the last couple days, at gate one - The old Jewish part of the cemetery. He led us around the graves, pointing out the final resting places of various interesting people. Take for instance the grave of Arthur Schnitzler, who wrote "Dream Story" which was adapted by Stanley Kubrick into "Eyes Wide Shut" (which I still haven't watched but plan to). Or, possibly more well known, inventor and actress Hedy Lamarr (who Walter referred to as a "sexy woman"). Not to mention a few musicians you might have heard of such as Beethoven, Brahms, Bach, Strauss, Schubert, and Mozart. Each time Walter stopped to talk, we tried to stand in the sun as it was chilly, yet still very nice outside.

Most eye-catching was the sheer amount of variation and artistry that went into many of the graves - famous or otherwise. Gwen and I were having a blast photographing it all. I'm not sure if I've mentioned it in writing yet, but she is a photographer - and a talented one at that. There were absolutely massive tombs, constructed in a multitude of styles from classical to art nouveau. When you visit a cemetery in America, or at least the ones I've been to, you normally have some regularly sized headstones and then the occasional large, more ornate memorial now and again - Now, imagine a cemetery where every single grave is that large ornate tomb. That is a Zentralfriedhof (or at least what we saw). Aside from the Jewish section, we also explored other areas, such as Group 32A, where the aforementioned musicians are buried. It's worth mentioning that Mozart's "grave" is actually more of a memorial as it is not known exactly where he was buried. Also, Daniel is a musician and so we were sure to get pictures of him in front of the composers' final resting places. In general it was interesting to see how different people bury their dead. Regardless if people had massive carved monuments or headstones bearing just a last name... Everyone still had one thing in common.

After Walter's tour we briefly visited the Bestattung Wien Museum (aka the Funeral Museum), also located within the cemetery. It was pretty dead, pun intended, so it was nice to be able to stroll leisurely through the exhibits, being able to take time looking at each artifact/label. However, some of it could definitely give you the heebie-jeebies - particularly the death masks in my opinion. If you don't know what that is, I suggest googling it because I don't feel like describing it at present. One display that really caught my attention was the "rettungswecker" which was a device made of pulleys and a bell used for someone trapped in a coffin. On the off chance you were accidentally buried alive, you could ring the bell by moving your toes and those on the surface would hear it and bring you back up. An odd machine, but better safe than sorry I guess. I know some people in our group really dig this burial stuff, pun also intended, so I'm glad we stopped by the museum. Dr. Rotter also handed everyone free funeral museum themed pencils, so that's a bonus. Before leaving I bought a magnet from the gift shop that says "der letzte wagen ist immer ein kombi" which translates to the last car is always a station wagon with a picture of a hearse - It's not hearse-terical or anything , but it gave me a good morbid chuckle. (That's it with the puns, at least until we get to Budapest).

After exiting the museum, everyone split up with the only caveat being to be in the hotel lobby, luggage and all, by 2:00 P.M. Gwen, Daniel, Natalia, Chinyere, and I all decided to go to Schloss Concordia, a cute nearby restaurant, for lunch. It was definitely a unique place. For instance, out front they had a giant statue of Jesus. I'm not complaining, but it was just kind of random. The interior of the restaurant was very pretty as well. We weren't particularly hungry, so we split a bunch of desserts for fun - something Natalia and I continued to do quite often throughout the trip. The hot chocolate was decent, but still nothing compared to Cafe Central. Once we finished sampling their desserts, we made sure the waiter was speedy with the check. The others paid while Natalia and I wandered to a little store next door, it ended up being pretty bland unfortunately. By this point I only had an hour or so to make it back to the hotel, pack, and meet in the lobby. I was going to be fine, but I still was stressing myself out a little bit.

Once we got off the tram, Daniel and I raced up to our hotel room to get ready for checkout. Daniel had been smart and already made progress packing the night before while I was still at square one. Thankfully, however, it took much less time than I expected to gather up my things, so I was able to ease up some. It took us a bit to drag our stuff downstairs though, so we made it to the lobby just a tad after 2:00 P.M. When Dr. Rotter was sure everyone was present, we all grabbed our luggage and made our way to Wien Hauptbahnhof, the train station. It was surreal to think we had arrived here in Vienna only four days earlier. Daniel, Natalia, Gwen, and I agreed it felt like we had been there for so much longer.

Our train was set to leave just before 2:45 P.M., so we had a brief period of free time. Having not had a real meal Daniel, Natalia, and I searched for food - leaving our bags at a waiting area with everyone else. We found this Mediterranean place in the food court that Natalia recommended, Türkis. I had a chicken döner, which actually was very tasty. So tasty, in fact, that we lost track of time.

Although we were already in a rush, we didn't realize that we needed to be in MORE of a rush. Once we realized just how close we were cutting it, we booked it back over to the sitting area where everyone had been waiting except... There was no one left, aside from Dr. Rotter who had stayed and waited with our luggage. I instantly felt awful, but for the time being the most important thing was making it on our train in time. We grabbed our stuff, raced up the escalator, and hustled to make our way to the train. We luckily hopped aboard with about a minute to spare. We were in the caboose, while the rest of the group was a car or two ahead. I won't lie, it felt more dramatic than it was. We hadn't raced alongside the train as it started to chug along and then thrown our stuff, then ourselves onto the last train car or anything - but it felt that way. Worst case scenario we would've just caught the next train, but thankfully this wasn't the worst case scenario. I feel extremely bad about causing needless stress for folks, especially Dr. Rotter, but we made it in time and that's what matters.

On the train I worked briefly on these blog posts, but soon fell asleep. I'd regain consciousness now and again, enough to look out the window and appreciate the countryside briefly before falling right back asleep. At one point I glanced up to see Daniel and Natalia at the back of the train car, looking back at the tracks as we chugged along. So, I grabbed my camera and went over to join them. We took a few fun pictures and enjoyed the ambiance before heading back to our seats. Gwen came over to say hi at one point and that's when Daniel opened his bag to showcase the massive amount of chocolate Kinder eggs he had bought before we left Vienna. For those who don't know, they are a type of chocolate egg with a plastic capsule inside containing a random kind of toy. You see, although we have Kinder eggs here in the U.S., they aren't the same as those in Europe. In America they are technically banned due to how children would accidentally swallow the chocolate, along with the toy. Because of this, Daniel needed to stock up his stash before smuggling them back through customs when we'd eventually fly back.

After talking for a little bit, Daniel kindly shared some of his Kinder eggs with Gwen, Natalia, and me. It was a fun experience, I'm thankful for the chocolate as well as the small plastic monster truck that came attached. Gwen got the monster truck too and attempted to have it perform a cool jump, however it accidentally smacked right into Daniel (thankfully he didn't require medical attention). It was around this point that I looked at my phone's location and saw that we officially crossed the border from Austria into Hungary (although they used to be one)! As such, I can say I've been to three different countries (the US, Austria, and now Hungary), awesome!

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It was once again surreal to realize that the overall trip was now halfway over as we left Vienna en route for Budapest. I'll write and reflect more on this first half later on, but now it's time for the second half of this adventure!

Looking out the window, the scene was the polar opposite of Vienna. Massive beautiful, ornate buildings were replaced with equally massive (somewhat depressing) brutalist buildings, leftover from the Soviets. However, I know I am making an unfair comparison by holding the inner city of Vienna to the far outskirts of Budapest. Regardless, as a first impression I was a bit thrown off. However, as I enjoy architectural history, I was personally not disappointed by the new aesthetic. It was still fascinating to me. My personal taste in buildings has changed greatly these last few years, especially as I've gone through the Historic Preservation program at UMW. In the past I found concrete brutalist structures to be gross, but I now had an odd appreciation for them. Not to go too far off topic, but one of my favorite architects is Louis Kahn, who specialized in modern (not contemporary) style architecture. I first became familiar with his works in my first ever preservation class with Professor Spencer during my freshman year. He showed clips from the documentary "My Architect" which covers Kahn's life in detail. Some of my favorite pieces by him include the Salk Institute in California and the National Assembly Building of Bangladesh. Both, as well as many of his other structures, incorporate a harsher, minimalist design. I realize it's unfair to compare the high style works of Kahn to drab vernacular Soviet-era apartments, but I digress. Still, throughout my time there I slowly began to notice that this style of building seemed to be much more common in Budapest - most likely due to the fact that Budapest was under communist hold for many decades, unlike Vienna. As we know communists are well known for their ornate, free flowing forms of self expression through the use of classical architecture.

As our train approached the station, a family that had been sitting a few seats down asked us if this was the correct stop. Not knowing if it was, yet still holding my luggage ready to get off if needed, I replied that I wasn't sure - However, we quickly realized it was, in fact, the right stop! We officially arrived at Keleti Station in Budapest! I wasn't able to get any pictures inside of the station, but it was gorgeous. As we were walking, I purchased a week-long ticket that allowed me to use practically any and all public transportation. It was quickly put to use as we all got on the underground metro, luggage and all, to make it to "Astoria." The stop was named after the Danubius Hotel Astoria, the historic four star hotel in the centre of Budapest that we were staying at for the next four nights. It was stunning, especially compared to the A&O hostel in Vienna. (Not to say that I'm not grateful for our time there).

Daniel and I checked into room 106, which probably was the nicest hotel room I've ever stepped foot in. The vintage interior design coupled with a modern bathroom (featuring a bidet) as well as a small walk out balcony was lovely. It was good to decompress for a short time. Daniel and I agreed that I could have the bed closest to the window (like how I had in Vienna) and he'd have the bed further away (like how he had in Vienna). I truly think we worked well as roommates. We dropped off our stuff, I haphazardly unpacked, and then we met Natalia, Gwen, and Chinyere downstairs in the lobby (which was equally as aesthetically pleasing).

All we had time, and the energy, for was some meandering around shops and then grabbing dinner. All we had time, and the energy, for was some meandering around shops and then grabbing dinner. The first shop we stopped at was called “Magma: Hungarian Art and Design.” It was really neat and full of fun knick knacks. I ended up buying a little flower card that I eventually gave to my academic advisor, Dr. Turdean. Despite being a member of the European Union, Hungary does not use Euros. Instead, the national currency is "forints." As I had seen while using Euros in Austria, the exchange rate was fairly similar, close enough that you could pretty much assume the dollar amount in USD. The forint, or as I consistently referred to it as "monopoly money," was completely different. For reference, Hungary's smallest note is 500 and their largest is 20,000 - 1 USD is roughly equal to 368 HUF. Also, Daniel (who could speak fluent German) was not as fluent in Hungarian, the language spoken in... You guessed it, Hungary. (Let the record state that Daniel does have a decent Duolingo streak in Hungarian). We also checked out the nearby Rózsavölgyi Music Store which was neat. They had these little "Pocket Guide to Hungary" books that I enjoyed browsing through. I tried pronouncing some simple words, but was having difficulty as it's not my strong suit. Although, one phrase stood out to me, "beszél angolul?" - which I continuously practiced saying to myself over and over throughout the trip. It's Hungarian for "do you speak English?" My plan was to try and use it in a conversation at some point with a stranger, whether that be a waitress, cashier, etc. etc. I think, especially after being immersed in it, Hungarian is a pretty darn cool language.

Once we all finished up at the stores, we walked further into the city, looking for a place to eat. By a whim we chose to dine at a local restaurant called “Cyrano” which had multiple Hungarian food staples. I tried the chicken paprikash while Daniel and Gwen had the venison goulash. I can't remember exactly what Natalia and Chinyere had though. Overall it was a decent dining experience, a place for a good first meal in Budapest.

Afterwards we might've looked around another store or two. Although I'm not quite sure as I'm pretty exhausted while writing this. I know that back at the hotel it was nice to organize my things, brush my teeth, shower, write in my journal, and plan out future outfits (I try to dress my best each day, or at least practically). I appreciated that this room had a cute little vanity where I could write and gather my thoughts. I also spread out all the souvenirs I got in Vienna, most of the clutter was made up of magnets. It had been a fun few hours in Budapest thus far, but I still didn't have a solid opinion on the city (as I had barely scratched the surface of what it had to offer). I will say it was VERY different from Vienna. It's incredible how somewhere, only a few hours away by train, can be so wildly contrasting. Right off the bat, I hate to admit that Budapest felt slightly more dirty/grimey, but that certainly depends on specific locations. I was surprised to see so much graffiti on the buildings, especially the historic ones (which were practically everywhere). There was a lot more noisy traffic, uncomfortably fast escalators (which I thought were fun), etc. etc.

I did grow to appreciate the differing vibe of each city more and more throughout my time visiting though.

Anyway, I ended up falling asleep after winding down for a while. Daniel and I kept the window open for a nice cool breeze, but along with the wind came the sounds of the city. Yet again, the contrast between sleeping with the window open in Vienna compared to Budapest was interesting. I ended up getting some decent rest, which I'm grateful for. For the millionth time, this is all so surreal. I'm very grateful.

[blba3]

Vienna - Day Four

Today was a rollercoaster, both emotional and physical. We had another early meeting time this morning, 8:30 A.M. I almost overslept yet again, but thankfully didn't. However, I definitely needed the sleep as my watch only registered 3 hours, 44 minutes with a quality of 47. Despite pushing through jet lag, my body still is out of whack. The alcohol from the night before certainly didn't help. 

As soon as I got up I knew something was... Off. I felt like total garbage. My guess is that it was a combination of a mild hangover, lack of sleep, and all the fun craziness of this trip in general. Once I had woken up however, I got dressed and raced downstairs for breakfast. Unfortunately they were out of milk, which I only realized after I poured myself a bowl of honey oats. Instead I only had some thin slices of cucumbers - the epitome of a healthy balanced breakfast. 

At 8:30 A.M. I met up with everyone else in the hotel lobby. Most people seemed to be in good spirits. I, however, began to feel worse and worse. The nausea was the most difficult to deal with. My friends were supportive, thankfully. Still, I felt so off that I was incredibly close to backing out of the excursion all together. Natalia and I agreed that would just make things worse in the long run. A few extra hours of sleep would help, sure - but spending the rest of the day alone in the hotel while everyone else was out doing something would quickly get to my head. Right before we were picked up, I quickly used the restroom and then hopped on the bus before I could second guess myself. It was about a two hour ride or so to the concentration camp, during which I slept the entire time. The bus seats weren't particularly comfortable, but I was so exhausted it didn't matter. 

Once we arrived at Mauthausen, I ironically felt much better (in terms of dealing with what I am deeming my hangover). We shuffled off the bus and things instantly felt surreal again. Here I was - borderline hungover - at a concentration camp. Once everyone got off, we walked to the main visitor center and then were given some free time before our tour of the camp would begin. Gwen, Natalia, Daniel, and Chinyere all got snacks at the small adjacent cafe. I sat with them, as well as Professor Hansen-Glucklich (she was showing me her camera which was pretty neat). From there we went to the museum (you had to walk through part of the camp to get there) and it was, once again, surreal. The museum was well put together, I enjoyed going through it, although quickly. We saw a temporary art installation that was actually really impactful. All of the paintings were eerily haunting and some even seemed to stare back at you. Downstairs was where things got more intense. We walked through the "Room of Names" - which was laid out similarly to the Vietnam War Memorial in Washington D.C., just horizontal. 90,000 names or so we're lit up from below creating a maze of people only identifiable through a few syllables. To think each name was a person, not just a number, really makes the dark reality of things set in. Almost a hundred thousand people died in the place I was now walking around as a tourist. Right after you exit you are met with the crematoriums where they burned the bodies as well as the gas chamber, where 3,500 people were murdered. I hadn't expected it to be such a small room either. To think that so many people perished in such a small place, a place that I was now peering directly into, made my skin crawl. 

I left the museum after that and met up with the main group for our guided tour of Mauthausen. Our tour guide, who's name I didn't catch, did a really good job for the most part. She showed us pictures and explained things that (despite knowing a decent bit about the camps) I had no idea about. She talked about the stairs of death, the quarry suicide ledge, as well as how the SS would play soccer next to people dying in an inhumane field hospital only a few yards away. It was a very holistic and educational experience regarding not just what happened there, but the larger issue at hand. It was a lot to handle but I'm glad I was able to witness this stuff firsthand. Walking through the front gate of Mauthausen, the same way the prisoners would, was...for the millionth time - surreal. 

The tour lasted about two hours and fifteen minutes, which went by surprisingly fast. It was good to end where we did however because going through the camp and learning about all the horrible things that happened took a toll on everyone emotionally. I handled things better than I thought I would honestly. I went back to the bottom of the museum again, this time with Natalia and Daniel. I hadn't realized that more lay beyond the gas chamber, where I previously thought was a dead end. We walked through and saw the operating room where the SS would experiment on people, rooms where they'd store bodies, etc. One room in particular had (and will continue to have) a lasting impact on me. In this specific room I was reading about how the SS would hang prisoners to death from a metal cross beam in the ceiling. As soon as my eyes finished reading those words, I looked up to see the exact metal beam above my head. That gave me goosebumps and I promptly chose to leave.

It took a bit to find Daniel and Natalia again, but eventually we all ended back up on the bus for our two hour ride back to Vienna. It was fun catching glimpses of the Austrian countryside, especially the Alps. It would've been great to have a day dedicated to hiking or nature exploration. For the drive back I made sure to not sleep and instead write, which I did a lot of. In fact, I spent the entire bus ride writing here on my phone. I still have yet to even publish my second blog post (update: I now have), so I'll have to get on that soon. Unfortunately, I've also been neglecting my actual journal (which I hate doing). I just don't have the time to sit down to write by hand, let alone for as long as I would prefer to. This trip so far has been intense, but well worth it. 

Once we got back to Vienna, we decompressed briefly at the hotel before choosing to push the pedal the metal once more. It was worth it to freshen up and take a mental break from how intense the day had been. Being it our last full night in the city, I really wanted to make it count. All the way back on Sunday, Daniel had the idea of going to this "rollercoaster restaurant" which as you know we dismissed for lovely Viennese Korean food instead. So, to counteract the underlying depression from earlier in the day, we decided to literally go to "Rollercoaster Restaurant" inside the Prater (essentially an amusement park, sort of). It also wasn't that long of a ride away thankfully. 

Once we got there, walked upstairs, and got seated over in the corner - we ordered our food, in my case a cheeseburger with fries, and then sat around seemingly forever. Also, sidenote: My least favorite thing about Europe is how they handle water at restaurants. Buying a whole bottle without free refills is stupid, and has led to minor dehydration as I'm used to more H2O. Anyway, our food eventually arrived via rollercoaster which genuinely was pretty neat. Every so often the lights would turn off and a synchronized "show" would happen to a random song - which was neat. My cheeseburger wasn't bad, but I unfortunately wasn't able to finish it. Also, the ketchup in Europe is VERY different from the ketchup back home. It's much less sweet, which is hard to describe unless you taste it. I would've probably liked it more if they had given me enough to eat with my fries (they didn't). Our conversations throughout dinner were humorous and I enjoyed my time there. 

Afterwards we went over to "The Wiener Riesenrad" which was the giant ferris wheel nearby. Normally UMW students have a farewell dinner on one of the cars, but officially scheduling it didn't work out this year. Daniel, Natalia, Gwen, Chinyere and I still wanted to go on it though, and we later did. Before paying the 15 euro required for a ticket, I bought a BUNCH of stuff from the gift shop. Between this shopping experience and other excursions, I was able to get something for everyone in my family. I'm very thankful for that. 

Eventually we walked to the waiting area and enjoyed all the miniature diagrams showing Vienna's history. It was unexpected, but cool. Once we went further in, we got our picture taken on a fake ferris wheel (the pictures cost 20 euros but were worth it). Finally, we then arrived at the docking station. The whole experience was maybe 10 minutes, but it was a lot of fun going all the way up and over and down the ferris wheel together. We didn't have to share the car with anyone else, and it was super spacious. I have to say the view from up top was eye opening. It's wild to see centuries old structures sharing a skyline with a building from the last 20 years most likely. Plus, Daniel and I rocked the car back and forth by running to either side of the car. It was fun but it freaked out folks. It was all in good spirits still. 

Once our ride on the ferris wheel was over, we hopped on the tram (or train) to head back to the hotel. Once there, we said our goodnights and parted ways for the evening. During this break, for about an hour, I called Mom and Dad and told them about the night of the ball as well as my fresh experience at Mauthausen. They liked to hear everything and I liked to share. It was loud having guests and visitors around during the call, but it was worth it. Once again it's wild to be reminded that I have a life back home. That sounds silly, but having been so preoccupied with my time in Vienna - it's taken up most of the space in my brain.

After saying "I love you" and "goodbye" to my parents, I went up to the room to get ready for bed. That was until I checked my phone - 15 minutes earlier I had received a text from Natalia mentioning... She said that her, Daniel, Gwen, Chinyere all were at the bar downstairs, getting ready to take a farewell to Vienna. I didn't plan on drinking anymore after the ball night, but this was another special occasion. And so I raced downstairs, worried I had missed out.  Thankfully, however, I stepped into the bar area seeing them at a table, with a free seat available. I was just in time. I quickly ordered a shot of tequila with a lime, sat down, attempted to learn the saltlick/drink/limebite method of drinking tequila (I eventually just said whatever I was doing was good enough), and got ready to toast goodbye with a cheers (or "prost" in German, which I think Daniel said). We all smiled, clinked glasses, and downed our shots and immediately munched down on our limes. It was fun, although I got a little bit of tequila/lime juice on my pants. 

We all talked for probably 30 minutes afterwards, just enjoying ourselves down there in the hotel bar. Eventually we decided it was getting late and parted ways up to our rooms. However, first we toured each other's rooms as my experience with pre-stained bed sheets piqued Natalia and Gwen's curiosity, so they wanted to see for themselves. Apparently I had messed with the "duvet cover" or whatever, which I honestly had never heard of in my whole life. Daniel and I then checked our room and we ended up spread on the floor/bed, talking for another 30 minutes (or longer). It was very wholesome and an amazing way to spend our last night in the City of Music. We had our Midwestern goodbyes and finally went out separate ways before subsequently hitting the hay. It was late, and tomorrow was yet another early morning - As well as our last half day in Vienna. 

[blba3]

Vienna - Day Three

I overslept a tad and woke up (or moreso Daniel woke me up) at around 8:30. While the jetlag was resolved, my body still isn't fully adjusted to being in a very different time zone. A six hour difference doesn't seem like much, but it has a lasting effect. Soon after I got breakfast in the basement with some other people on the trip. Then I ran upstairs to use the restroom, little did I realize that Dr. Rotter wanted us in the hotel lobby at 9:15...

I messed up and thought we were meeting Dr. Rotter and everyone else at 9:30, NOT 9:15. As I was washing my hands in the hotel room I got a text saying "Are you near?" from Dr. Rotter. Not wanting to be left behind, I subtly freaked out and immediately hustled to the lobby. On our walk to the train station I was up front, right by Dr. Rotter. He jokingly said, "Are you staying up front to make up for being behind?" to which I said, "Actually, yes." I'm not particularly keen on being left behind and lost in a foreign country. 

We all got on the train and went quite a few stops until eventually getting off at a station near our destination - Schönbrunn Palace! It's very historic for a multitude of reasons. Before walking directly there, we got a fun group picture in front of the station! Fingers crossed it turns out decently. I had a nice conversation about photography with Gwen while walking too. Once we got to Schönbrunn, Dr. Rotter split off to get our tickets. From the exterior the palace is extremely impressive. Still, not as impressive as the interior - as I would soon find out. After going through a coat check, where I handed over my camera, we all sat around for a while waiting. I'm not sure why, but it was a solid 25 minutes at least. Anyway, once Dr. Rotter returned we walked further into the palace and got handed an audio tour guide speaker device thing. It was surprisingly pretty intuitive, you'd press the number on the device that corresponded with the number above each room. All of us went through the tour at our own pace, but crossed paths quite a bit. Throughout the tour it also became apparent that each and every room was unfathomably beautiful. The main hall had beautiful paintings on the ceiling, awesome pillars, and everything had hints of gold. I wish I could remember more about each room, because each had a lot of interesting information associated with it. I can remember that we went through Emperor Franz Joseph's bedroom though! Finally we passed through a couple of gift shops and I decided on a dinky little magnet showing Empress Sisi (she's very popular in Austria and was on every product imaginable) as well as the Schönbrunn and Gloriette (where we'd be going next). They had lots of magnets and it was honestly hard to choose. 

It was a more intense trek up to the Gloriette restaurant than you'd expect. Gwen and I were wanting to take pictures so we dragged behind the main group quite a bit. Eventually I was worried we were getting too far behind - So I lightly jogged to catch up, only to fall behind again from waiting for folks. Once again, I'm hoping my pictures turn out alright. As for the Gloriette, my meal, a croissant with a bunch of stuff in it, was pretty delicious, albeit messy. Everyone had already sat down so originally I was at the end of the table, between Dr. Rotter and Dr. Hansen-Glucklich's husband (whose name I don't know). He asked me about my camera and mentioned that he and his mom used to be big into photography as well. It was a fun conversation. However, my seat was unfortunately in the direct path of the afternoon sun. I tried staying where I was at, but eventually went to the opposite end of the table, next to Jackson, Will, and Ryan - with the sun to my back. I haven't interacted as much with them, so it was fun getting a different perspective. 

We finished eating and once again hit the road, now walking to the Stadttempel, the largest and most important synagogue in Vienna, possibly Austria. On our walk there we were reunited with our tour guide from the first day, who did a good job but kept inserting his political opinions when they were (and are) irrelevant. Still, I enjoyed discussing things with my friends while we walked along. Speaking of, literally just walking through the city is incredible. Words can't do justice, let alone describe how amazing this experience is. Once we arrived at the synagogue, which is almost invisible from the street. We had to go through security and a metal detector before being let in. There was also an Austrian soldier stationed out front, this has been commonplace at all the Jewish sites we've visited. Makes sense. 

I hung up my jacket and was told to put on a head covering, also known as a "kippah" I believe. I'm not sure why it's required, but I was a guest so I obliged. Our tour guide was a younger guy, but he was very knowledgeable and made the experience fun. He explained what three things are needed to make up a synagogue, told us the history of Jews in Vienna, and shared Jewish artifacts. It was very educational, however I was really tired. Just like with most things, I wish I could reiterate what I've learned more eloquently. In the main chamber, which looked awesome, I was dozing on and off slightly. Hopefully he didn't notice, so I put a euro in his tip jar. It was then time to head to the Freud Museum, a tram ride or so away. 

The museum was made up of his apartment/office areas. It was very barbones as much of the furnishings are in London due to him having to flee the Nazis in the late 1930s. A nice lady gave us an extremely quick (still at least 30 minutes) tour of each side and genuinely did a good job. A lot of people had little stools to sit on during the tour, but I just stood up. Everyone always complains about their feet hurting, which is valid, but I find it sort of funny. Maybe it's the inserts, maybe it's the fact I like to walk, who knows? But, I am oddly proud of my ability to not sit. (Also if I sit I'll immediately get tired which isn't good). Honestly, I felt like I learned a lot at the Freud Museum - just don't quiz me. The gift shop had a bunch of cool stuff, including magnets. Yet again, my options were limited due to not all the magnets saying "Freud Museum" which is a prerequisite for any souvenir magnets for me. The magnet has to say the name of the place where it's from - even if it's in small print on the side (which this one was). That's three magnets I have so far! 

I quickly ran to the bathroom, but then saw that most people had left. Or, at least the people I had thus far hung out with the most on this trip - Daniel, Natalia, Gwen, and Chinyere. Daniel was feeling tired and had actually left much earlier, but Natalia, Gwen, and Chinyere still were nowhere to be found. I still was near other people, such as Isabella, who I chit chatted with while walking for a bit. Eventually I saw my core group at a pharmacy (which we've been searching for for days). Gwen and Chinyere stayed around there while Natalia and I went to this cute Viennese thrift store. It was nice to be able to actually experience a small shop, you know? It's wild hearing all the different languages and seeing signs in German, currency as euros, etc. I've said it before and I will say it again, especially later on during this recap, Vienna feels surreal. Before leaving the store I spent two euros on a Mozart Vinyl as a souvenir for myself. Vienna is the "City of Music" and home to a pretty lowkey musician who you might've not even heard of - Mozart. 

Natalia and I met up with Gwen and Chinyere and we then started walking around. We found this cute little bakery and I had a certain kind of brownie (I can't remember the exact type) but it was REALLY good. Then, we found a cute little antique-y store full of metal animals, cool glass, and other knick-knacks. I could've walked out of there with all of those chickens, frogs, cows, etc. if I lacked any more self control (which I already don't have much of as is). The shop owner was really nice too. I was missing a euro or so and he let it slide, same with the soap Natalia was buying. I lended her something like 40 Euro maybe? Either way, she paid me back a few hours later.

Anyway, once we walked out of the store, we decided it might be a good idea to head back to the hotel as we still had a Viennese Ball to attend. We were trying to coordinate with Daniel to meet up to eat somewhere, but time just flew by and we realized we didn't have the time to sit down. Eventually we met up in the main subway station. After I stood in line with Daniel to buy a toothbrush, we went to a grocery store to buy cold sandwiches. 

In the hotel room we had about an hour to get cleaned up. It was great to have some time to just decompress, even if for a moment. After using the restroom, I wet my hair and slicked it back - which I felt like I needed to do because it had gotten messy throughout the day. I think I ended up looking alright. Daniel was a big help in guiding me through the process of getting ready for the ball also by the way. It didn't take too long but it was still wild seeing myself in the mirror in a full tuxedo. I was in disbelief thinking to myself, "Holy sh*t, I'm dressed to the nines, about to go to the largest masquerade ball in the country, and will be exploring a royal palace in the next couple hours." Woah, right? Before we left for the tram at 8:30ish, I made sure to round up folks for a group picture. Dr. Rotter's husband took one on my film camera (with me in it!) and I hope it turns out well. Everyone was so well dressed and it felt almost magical, as corny as that sounds. It was nice talking to Kayla and Natalia on the tram, we reassured each other things would be okay and we'd have a good time - Not to spoil it, but we did end up having well... a ball! 

The walk from the tram stop to the Hofburg Palace wasn't too far. I appreciated that it wasn't too chilly out (at least at that point). As we stepped inside, it felt almost like a literal fairy tale. The amount of people bustling around, speaking German (I hardly heard a lick of English throughout the whole night), and posing for majestic photo ops was incredible. We Were OFFICIALLY at the Rudolfina-Redoute in Vienna, Austria! It was, and is, absolutely surreal to me. I'm not quite sure how long we stayed at the ball, but it was definitely a hot minute. We maybe got there around 9 P.M. and I believe we stayed until probably 1:30 A.M.?  I'm not entirely sure, but either way - it was awesome. 

*I'm going to skip over the dance itself right now and cover the immediate afterwards*

Natalia and I split off from everyone else about 1:30 A.M. We spent the hour beforehand just chit chatting about life and stuff, enjoying the ambiance. I was chatty, feeling loose, and having a good time. Oh, I also had my first drink as a 21 year old! Normally I wouldn't indulge, but I was at a masquerade ball in Vienna - that seems like a good time and place to try it out. So, Natalia and I clinked our glasses together and then took a shot of vodka. My first reaction was, "this tastes like hand sanitizer" and my second reaction was "why do I feel like it travelled through my whole body?" I immediately followed it up with some water as per Dr. Rotter's advice from earlier in the evening. I can't tell if it made me actually tipsy or if it was simply placebo, but either way... Oh boy. I felt regret at first, but then reminded myself that I'm in a royal palace at a masquerade ball on a different continent. Surreal. 

Then, like I said, Natalia and I talked for probably an hour (I lost track of time). We both agreed we were having lots of fun and appreciated our established platonic friendship. The others stumbled upon our conversation at one point and informed us they were looking for Kayla. Apparently she had found herself quite the bachelor, or so I heard. Anyway, we didn't want to leave her so we all split up to locate her. She ended up safe and sound thankfully. Now, this is where an already crazy night becomes even more insane. It's genuinely hard to process all that has occurred in the past 24 hours. 

Natalia and I wanted some food, but the food at the ball was way too expensive. So, I searched for places that would still be open at 1:30 A.M. near us. I found this Irish pub called "Bockshorn" within walking distance and figured we could grab some quick food from there. So, we were handed our chocolate on the way out of the ball and strolled along the seemingly abandoned walkways of downtown Vienna.

Once we arrived at Bockshorn, we took a step inside and saw that it was pretty compact and that... much to my dismay, did not serve any food - only drinks. We just decided to roll with it and we split half a Guinness (although I only had a few sips). The other people at the bar were singing songs and it was a funny environment, not one I'd like to constantly be around, but fun regardless. We moved to two stools at the counter and once handed our Guinness, took turns sipping on it. Then, a group of guys walked in and said that we were actually in their seats... which we were. However they were super friendly and in good spirits. They asked why we were all dressed up and we explained the ball, then they asked where we were from, etc. It was fun banter all around. Once I mentioned it was our first time in Vienna and that I was 21 (and that this was my first night ever drinking) they went wild. One dude gave me a hug and then talked about how his country loves Bill Clinton and even a statue of him in their capital city, or something like that. Plus, one of the guys was from Arkansas, U.S.A. and lived in Florida, where Natalia is from! Everyone was joking back and forth, very respectfully. It was rowdy, but safe. At one point the guy who hugged me and was going on about Bill Clinton went behind the bar (I'm assuming he knows the owner) and poured everyone shots of this Austrian pinecone liquor concoction... It tasted exactly like a pinecone. When we said "cheers!" I only drank some, but a little while later chugged the remaining half because I didn't want to waste it. By now it was past 2 A.M. and the bar had closed, but the party was still going - However, Natalia and I realized we needed to start making our way back because tomorrow (which was today) would be intense (it was). So we said our goodbyes and stumbled from the bar onto the streets of Vienna once more. Natalia and I both still agree that our brief time at Bockshorn was the cherry on top of an already great night.  There wasn't a facade of customer service or insincerity. THAT was Vienna, ya know? Getting to have such a genuine interaction like we had works wonders - regardless of location. Honestly, I don't plan to frequent any other bars either. I'm happily content for a lifetime. 

It's also incredible how clean and barren the city was. It was so empty that we each got pictures of each other in front of St. Stephen's Cathedral with NO ONE ELSE in the background. Also, by this point I had already made it halfway through the complimentary chocolate they gave us as we left the ball. Also by this point I think I was tipsy. Natalia and I had a great time talking and attempting to navigate public transportation. (We were successful eventually). It didn't take long before I finished my entire bag of chocolates either.

After walking, talking, and enjoying the absurdity of Vienna - we finally found what was supposed to be the right tram stop (it was, but we realized it comically too late) to take us back to our hotel. We stood on a curb for like 20 minutes waiting and waiting to no avail for the tram to come. While waiting I ended up giving Natalia my tuxedo jacket to wear because it was chilly outside. (I feel like if my mom saw that she'd be happy). Natalia also acknowledged that she notices when I try to stay on the outside of the curb or get in-between strangers and her when we're walking at night. She said women notice that kind of stuff and appreciate it. After an uncomfortable amount of time passed, she eventually hailed a taxi. Now here's the funny thing - as soon as we pulled away in the taxi... The right tram stopped where we had been waiting. Sure, it sucked but it was funny in all honesty. Our cab ride was pretty uneventful as well, aside from when I pointed out some silly graffiti. The cab driver was quiet as well, he said business wasn't great due to people taking other forms of public transit (which would've been us). 

Finally we stumbled into the hotel at 3:00 A.M., tipsy, hungry, and eagerly anticipating getting up early to visit a Nazi concentration camp in a few hours...(We just got back from the camp, I'm a tad sunburned, but things went well)! I do wish I had brought my film camera, but it's probably good I didn't. It was important to be there in the moment.

Anyway, everything on the night of the ball was pure madness, but in a fun way. I honestly felt like I was in a movie or something. Natalia has talked about it more and she agrees. We both never want to forget this trip - most specifically the night of the ball.

[blba3]

Vienna - Day Two

To quickly preface this - I am currently writing about day two whilst already in Budapest. I've been working on documenting every single day, but this one just fell through the cracks. I'm surprised I somehow missed it given that it was my first full day on the continent. I know I haven't posted any other blogs at this point other than the first one, but I think I can make a decent case for myself. Okay, with that being said, here's my recap of my second, and first full, day in Vienna.

I woke up well rested at around 8:30 A.M. or so. Although the bed sheets came pre-stained, the nine straight hours of sleep I got was very restorative. According to my smart watch it was 99/100 in overall quality (my average is 75-ish). It was sort of surreal waking up in Vienna, not Pulaski or UMW. I then threw on my Sunday best (my new green shirt with a white collar, bought last minute specifically for this trip) and went downstairs for breakfast. I ate a small loaf of bread, some meat, a little cheese, a few slices of cucumber, and honey oats with milk. Everyone then met in the lobby at 9:30 A.M so we could travel to the Kunsthistorisches (Art Historical) Museum. To get there we took the "bim" which is slang for Vienna's tramway. This was my first time riding a street car, something I had only seen in San Francisco - which I still have yet to visit. Seeing the city while rushing by rail alongside regular cars was beautiful. There was always somewhere interesting to look at, even if you had already looked at it! If I only had a few words to describe Vienna, one would most certainly be "ornate."

I got to see lots of different architectural styles, many of which are not common back home. The contrast between old and new was interesting, but makes sense given the destruction from WWII. It was still wild to hear strangers conversing in German; having entire conversations that I couldn't eavesdrop on, even if I wanted to. We eventually reached our stop, hopped off, took a headcount, and walked towards the museum. The Kunsthistorisches is across from another museum, Naturhistorisches (Natural History). In between was a massive statue of Maria Theresa, the ruler of the Habsburg Monarchy from 1740-1780. (Apparently she was productive, but also a prude). It was incredible seeing so much without even having to turn my head.

Dr. Rotter went and got our tickets while we waited out front, where I hurried around looking for good pictures to take. Soon after we made our way inside to the museum's lobby - which was gorgeous. After the hustle and bustle settled down, we all were handed earpieces. After some short crackles, I heard the sound of our tour guide introducing himself and giving a brief orientation to the museum. He was a good guide and our hour-long tour was very informative. He also provided context which made items you might otherwise brush past much more interesting. Take a salt holder (one valued at €50 Million) for example, he told us the "Saliera" was once stolen and found buried in the woods by a thief. That small bit of context changed my entire perception of that artifact. Same as when he showed us how otherwise stationary automatons functioned in a brief video. For relics from the late 1500s, it was very impressive.

Once the tour concluded, we were given less than an hour to explore for ourselves - and there was a LOT to explore. Sadly we didn't get to everything. I wish I could've spent more time taking in what I was seeing (and using Google translate to figure out the non-english interpretive texts). Seeing the Roman/Greek exhibition also reminded me of "The Holdovers" which I recommend watching. The mummified crocodile in the Egyptian room was gnarly as well. It was fun exploring with everyone! The art upstairs was stunning as well, specifically the Tower of Babel painting by Pieter Bruegel (which I got a magnet of). We eventually met in the lobby, hit the gift shop, and then got moving to our next stop: The Dorotheergasse (Jewish Museum).

Dr. Hansen-Glucklich led us to the museum, where we had time for a brief snack before getting a tour. Natalia and I went to the cafe, but my appetite wasn't great. So, we decided to split a lemon-y dessert, which was really yummy). Chinyere shared some of her hot chocolate with me too, which started my hot chocolate kick that lasted quite a while. After a while we met our tour guide, Walter - the same gentleman who showed us around Vienna on day one. He did a good job and the museum was fascinating, but I was really tired and didn't fully appreciate it. It would be nice to go back refreshed. After the tour Natalia and I had a nice long talk about art and I saw Orion, a cool acquaintance who while not technically part of the trip, travelled generally adjacent to us. Some folks ate at the museum cafe afterwards, so Natalia and I - already full - hung out in front, enjoying the city's ambiance. It was a good experience to just hang out on the sidewalk, like a fly on a wall, while people went about their days.

From the Dorotheergasse, Walter led us to Judenplatz where we saw a stone library memorial for Austrian holocaust victims as well as another museum, Misrachi-Haus. We didn't spend a crazy amount of time at the museum, but learning about the square and its history was interesting. However, the basement of the museum was the most fascinating - fairly well preserved lie the ruins of a medieval synagogue.

We said farewell to Walter for the day, and then split up for free time. Natalia, Chinyere, and I walked to "Cafe Central" one of, if not the most, famous Viennese coffee houses ever. I had watched a YouTube video about it from my dorm room at UMW, so being there in person was surreal. In case I haven't already covered the Cafe Central's history, it's been around since 1887 and has quite the number of famous guests, including Hitler, Trotsky, Stalin, Lenin, Freud, and Kafka - just to name a few. I was most enthralled with Kafka, as I love his works such as “The Metamorphosis.” For food, I enjoyed "schoßohupf mit schlagobers und vanilleeis" (hot chocolate cake with vanilla ice cream) and "heiße scholade" (hot chocolate) - both delicious. The hot chocolate specifically might have been the best I've ever had. Ever.

Once we were finished I went to the "WC" which stands for "Water Closet" where the restrooms are housed. After washing my hands, I was attempting (and failing) to get some paper towels from the dispenser. A man beside me at the sink made some sort of friendly joke in German, to which I responded by looking blankly at his face as I had no clue what he had just said. I was going to try and say "Ich spreche kein Deutsch" (I don't speak German) but kept stuttering like a fool, unable to get past the first syllable). I was embarrassed, but he just pointed at my paper towel dispenser and said "empty" and then pointed at his saying "full" - Whoops. That was probably my first one on one interaction with a German speaker (as I normally rely on Daniel's German speaking talents). It wouldn't be my last.

Then the waitress took forever to bring us our check, despite making eye contact and asking for it multiple times. Daniel and Gwen had been waiting for us outside for quite some time, so it was slightly frustrating. At least I was able to get my picture taken in the cafe! That was one check on my Vienna bucket list.

We finally made it out and then embarked on a leisurely stroll. Unfortunately most shops were closed, as it was a Sunday (and in Vienna that means almost everything is closed all day). We still saw some cool knick knacks in the store windows. Once we worked up an appetite we decided to grab dinner at Sura, a Korean food restaurant. I already like Korean food, but Viennese Korean food was extra delicious. They only gave us chopsticks too, which would've once been an issue for me (an issue solved by getting sushi a lot at the Eagles Nest). Overall it was a fun meal and everyone seemed to be having a good time.

Before heading back to the hotel we went on another small walk. The day before, while observing St. Stephens, I had mentioned how I'd like to see how it looked at night - My wish was granted. As we entered the cathedral, I held the door for an older lady who said "danke schön" (thank you) - to which I replied "bitte" (meaning 'you're welcome' in this context). I had my first fully German interaction with someone! It may have been only one word, but I'm proud of the exchange.

We then accidentally got on the wrong train in Vienna's U-Bahn (subway). However, it wasn't a huge setback or anything as we just got off at the next stop. While a minor inconvenience, the thought of getting "lost" in Vienna honestly sounded pretty fun.

We soon after made it back to the hotel, ready to get some rest. Before hitting the hay I stayed up working on my first blog post. I finally published it at 1:56 A.M., phew. It wasn't until the next morning, when I rechecked my Tumblr page, that I realized how many grammatical errors the post had... Luckily I quickly fixed them (or at least the ones I noticed). I'm happy with my summary of that first day, but I wish I had gone more in-depth like I am today. The large amount of writing I'm doing, both physically in my journal as well as digitally (like now), can be draining at times. You'd be surprised how much time it takes. I still haven't been able to fully capture the essence of things thus far, but I'm trying. Vienna, regardless of my literary abilities, is still incredibly fascinating.

[blba3]

Vienna - Day One

To establish a very brief background for those unaware - My name is Blake Bauer and I'm a Junior at The University of Mary Washington in Fredericksburg, VA - majoring in Historic Preservation with a minor in Museum Studies. I've always wanted to explore the world, and, as of yesterday, had unfortunately never left the United States. So, with that being said, here is a recap of today's events:

A little after noon on Friday, February 28th, I met Professor Rotter and other students that would be attending the trip at the Belltower on campus. Everyone had their bags packed and ready to go, thankfully me included. The night before I had stayed up until 3 A.M. frantically doing some last minute packing - Although I spent many weeks mentally preparing for this trip, I unfortunately did not spend the same amount of time physically prepping. However, I was able to finish packing, weigh my suitcases at the campus gym, and be on time for the van to pick us up on route to Dulles International Airport!

During the ride (which caused me to become quite nauseous) I got to know my roommate for the trip, Daniel (who thankfully did NOT make me nauseous). He is a freshman music major who handcrafts his own guitars, speaks German, and is well-versed in dancing the Waltz, specifically the *Viennese* Waltz. Quite the cool fellow. We got along great and he was very kind at the airport, making sure I didn't get left behind. In fact, most everyone I had spoken to thus far had been pleasant. I didn't (and still don't) know everyone else on the trip super well, but we seem like a solid group to me. Once our luggage was checked, passports inspected, and tickets scanned - We finally boarded flight 94, bound for Vienna, Austria at about 5:30 P.M.

Originally we were supposed to all be seated together, but Austrian Airlines has other planes and so I was stuck in seat 20 B, sandwiched between two strangers. However, to my right sat Vivian, an absolutely lovely older lady who was en route to Cario, Egypt with her husband. We talked a lot throughout the eight and a half hour flight, she told me how her husband was blind but that they still travel the world together. She'd describe each new place in great detail and said her husband was able to still visualize the scene. She also had already travelled to Budapest, another stop on our trip, (which she told me was technically pronounced "Budapesh") and shared stories of their adventures in Hungary. I half expected the Hungarian Parliament building, which she was particularly fond of, to appear in my dreams.

However, I did not have any dreams as I slept in short bursts for probably only three hours the entire flight. Now, normally it wouldn't be a huge issue...Besides the fact I only had three hours of sleep the night before from my "paniacking" (my term for "panic packing"). This lack of sleep came back and bit me in the form of jet lag. You see, Vienna follows CET (Central European Time) which is six hours ahead of EST (Eastern Standard Time). So, despite the time jump forward to 8:30 AM once we arrived in Austria, it technically felt like 2:30 AM to us.

Some other students had dealt with jet lag before, but for me it was all new. The magical feeling of being in a new city, in a new country, on a new continent helped me fight through - but I won't lie when I tell you it was ROUGH at times. I eventually caught a second and third wind, but at times I felt as if I blinked just a second too long I'd tumble over onto the ground, dead asleep. It sounds bad, but I found it comforting that everyone was suffering alongside me.

Once we put our stuff in a waiting room at "A & O" Wien Hauptbahnhof (our hotel), we were able to walk on our own for a couple hours. I split off with Daniel, Kayla, Natalia, and Gwen. Getting to know everyone was a real treat, as was the Peppa Pig popsicles we bought and shared for fun to celebrate arriving safely to Vienna. A three hour or so walking tour of the city also helped offset the sleep deprivation. It was incredibly informative, I just wish I had possessed a bit more energy. We stopped by many famous spots around the city, such as St. Stephen's Cathedral and The Hofburg Palace. Visiting these places in person caused my jaw to literally drop. While I love American architecture, these two structures were on another level.

After our tour we checked fully into the hotel. To be safe, I made sure to not lie down as I was worried I'd pass out. A couple hours passed and then all of the students and our professors met in the hotel lobby so we could walk to Der Ringsmuth, where we'd have our first Viennese dinner. It was a lot of fun and I got to try pork wiener schnitzel for the first time... It was delicious!

From there we went back to the hotel for showers (much needed) and sleep (also much needed). Just like that, my first day in a new city, in a new country, on a new continent came to a close.

Note -

We were told to think about some sort of side project to work on while abroad, and mine comes in the form of film photography. More specifically, documenting our time spent in Austria and Hungary on 35mm film captured by my Mom's Olympus OM-G that she got as a high school graduation present in the 1980s. I won't see the results of these pictures for probably another month given they need to be developed, scanned, etc., but fingers crossed they turn out decently. As I've told folks on the trip, I think shooting on film will better capture the "vibe" of the trip. What makes my time abroad extra special is the people I get to hang out with - and those are memories I want to keep.