Budapest Trip

Last night we got back around 830pm from Budapest!! It was a fantastic trip, that city is awesome.
We stayed at a hostel that was pretty nice-it was basically a huge apartment some guy rented out. The owner was awesome and told us all the perfect places to go in town. Oh and he gave us coupons to a restaurant down the street...we had giant meals for like 6 euro each, it was amazing. There was a guy in the hostel from London who was backpacking from there and hoping to get to Japan, and we met a girl from Australia who is working in Vienna now, so she came along with us on Sunday to sightsee.
Oh...I need to brag for a moment. I got us from the Hungarian train station, through the metro (everything is in hungarian...) and through town to our hostel, without getting lost. So proud:)  ... kay, end paragraph.

On Saturday we walked across the bridge to Buda, and explored there. First we climbed a giant, enormous, steep, insanely tall hill for a while to get to the top of Castle Hill. There were flea markets on top so I got some souvenirs...it was a bonus that Budapest is pretty cheap compared to the Euro-they do Forints. So we bought too many scarves and postcards, took hundreds of pictures of the lovely view, then climbed back down to find lunch. We ended up in the cutest cafe. I got white hot chocolate-and it was basically melted chocolate, kind of awesome.

Side note: Europe  knows how to do hot chocolate. I'm talking thick chocolatey goodness decorated all nice in a glass cup... It's awesome.

Oh and I got a Clark Salad...heh:)
So we went back to the hostel and rested up a bit, then went to dinner at the place the owner told us about (The Blue Rose...if you are ever in Budapest, go there). I had the best drink of my life there, i forget what it was called though. Afterwards our Australian friend took us to this ruins bar. It was called Simpla I think...but it was seriously awesome. The bar is in a house that was bombed in one of the wars, but not fixed back up at all. Walls are torn down, its just concrete, and pretty much looks like crap. And then they added graffiti and fire lamps and disco balls, there's a dj upstairs on a balcony type thing. Sounds awful, but it was really one of the coolest things I saw in Budapest. You have to go there to understand, I think.
After that, the hostel reception guy invited us out to a bar where there was a Carnaval party, so we hit that up too.

The next day we explored Pest. We went to the House of Terror-a museum about nazism and communism in Hungary. It was really interesting but mellowed us all out...sooo next we went to Heroes Square. It took 20 minutes to get there, all on the same road. We could see the giant statue in Heroes Square the whole time, so it felt like we would never get there. But Heroes Square is basically a pavilion in the middle of the autobahn (highway) that has these huuuge statues of Hungarian Heroes-it's quite cool. As we walked towards it we ended up seeing a flea market right next to that, so we went there. That was pretty sweet-we saw cute little Hungarian people making whatever food it is that they eat a lot...that I can't pronounce and could not identify but looked delicious...and some other things. Then we headed back, not before stopping to eat at an Italian pizza place (also delicious). The train ride back was scary at first- a lot of people had reserved seats for this particular train so we got kicked out of our seats 4 times before finding ones. But it was a 3 hour ride back, and it was nice to just rest after the full day of walking around.

Now I'm back in Wien trudging through the busy week. My schedule is insane, but what else is new. I'm currently debating where to go for Spring Break, and every other weekend:) Suggestions welcome!
Now....pictures:

Downtown Budapest

The bridge to Pest

Me at the top of Castle Hill

From the green, going clockwise: Mint white hot chocolate, coconut hot chocolate, white hot chocolate, and peanut hot chocolate...no words.

Budapest

View from the tram thing that we took up the incline

At the top of Castle Hill, near the Hungarian Museum of Art

 It was so nice out:)

 Hana taking a photo

 Kitsa and Melissa when we were trying to get back

 Sweet church

 Coolest bar everr

 Heroes Square

 Up close

Until next time,
Alyssa

And so it begins..

Our first week of classes has officially begun. But first, the last week and a half in review...

German intensive is done! woo! So we had a week off (Over here the schools have their semester until now, and take a week off, then start the summer semester this week, like we're doing..kind of)  and I went on a tour of Germany with IES.
The first day we were in three countries in one day-Austria, Czech Republic, and Germany. We stopped in Prague for a lunch -I am in love with that city. It feels like a small town but it's huge, and the architecture is awesome. I will definitely be going back there in the spring.
At the end of the first day we arrived at our hostel in Dresden. We lucked out, the hostel was more like a hotel and it was fantastic. (Our beds were like treehouses) We spent some time wandering around town, and the next day went on a city walk tour that was cool too.
After that we traveled to Leipzig for a day. We went on a tour around the city and saw a lot of musically historic things-i.e. Bach's church :) We also got lost in the city, go figure. But we made it back to the bus just in time to be on our way to Berlin.

Berlin is almost like the the NYC of Germany, but not. It's a lot cleaner and a little more spread out, plus..it's Europe. Okay, so maybe it's not like NYC. But our hostel was ...mmm....well it reminded me of a place in the movie Across the Universe. But it was really chill inside and we got used to it. I can't possibly write about everything we did while we were there, it would take forever. But SparkNotes version: We went to tons of museums, bus tours, walking tours, got lost, overdosed on Milka bars (the best chocolate in the world), went out dancing, found some of the sketchiest places I've ever seen, explored castles, went to neighboring towns, ate all kinds of crazy ethnic food (they got me to try sushi....not a fan though) etc.   But anyways, it was a great trip and a really good way to unwind after all of those German classes. It was great to come back to Wien and my apartment though. I appreciate our clean bathroom and my bed so much.

So here I am, back in Wien on the second day of classes. My schedule is kind of awesome-Mondays I don't even have class until 3pm. Today I went out searching for a gym to go to. I found one that's a pretty far trek away but is three stories and pretty much the greatest thing ever, so I'll be there tomorrow bright and early.

Here are some pictures, they are not in order at all. hah.

 Museum in Berlin! We had a museum day where we could go to whatever museum and get reimbursed for the ticket. There's a place called museum island...heres one of them.

Berlin Symphony Orchestra! They played Beethoven's 6th and it was SOOOO good.

 Prague!!! View from across the bridge

 Me on the bridge in Prague...loved this city

 In Old Town Square in Prague, lookin for some food.

 My roommates and I in our Dresden hostel...so cool

 Dresden! The wall on the left is the processional of princes in Dresden.

 Our group lunch in Dresden...coolest place ever. In the very back is a round carousel swing...where you can eat if you want, and you sit on swings and the table/chairs rotate as you eat.

 Sideways...Bach's church in Leipzig.

 Part of the Berlin wall.

 Holocaust monument in Berlin. Underneath this is the Holocaust museum.

 Mesopotamian gate in the Pergamonmuseum in Berlin

Our hostel was literally one block away from the Berlin Film Festival...check it outtt

Downtown Berlin at night

-Alyssa

Done with German!!!!!

Okay, so I'm not totally done with German...but I'm done going to German class EVERY. SINGLE. DAY. for THREE. HOURS. :) woooot. Yesterday we had our oral final (interviews with other students in the class), and then a bunch of us went to visit Mozart's house. He lived in the apartment in Vienna for three years. We were in the exact room where he wrote The Marriage of Figaro (which I will hopefully see at the Opera later in February). It was really cool, and we got a free guided audio tour with the admission price. On our way back to IES we saw a huge crowd gathered near Stephansplatz, watching four guys breakdance in the middle of the street. I would've joined (because we all know I'm a fantastic break dancer) but I didn't want to embarrass anyone. So we watched, and then turned around to go home only to see we were facing the bakery display from Aida, a cafe nearby. Naturally we all went inside to "look", and we ended up coming home with pastries. Most people got Sachertorte, I got some fruit/cheese torte thing, I don't really know what it was though, besides delicious.

Today we had our German final!! It wasn't too bad, and now I'm done. The sun in shining (it's almost always cloudy here) and I'm ready for break. Tonight I'm making crepes for everyone. I also just contacted my soon-to-be flute teacher and hopefully will get a lesson when I'm back. She teaches at the University of Wien and seems like she's pretty awesome.


Oh! The day before yesterday...I guess that would be Wednesday, we went to see Stephansdome...aka St. Stephans Cathedral...aka the center of Vienna...aka AWESOME. pictures below.
I also went to the Opera to see The Magic Flute on Sunday night. Every venue here is soooo beautiful.

This is the opera house from where I was:

 Stephansdome with Hanna and Rachel:

 Inside the cathedral:

In the city on a beautiful day:

 Part of the street on the walk home:

The weather hasn't been terrible here (I guess I can't complain...it only snowed once) but I would mind an early spring:)...cough Groundhog Phil cough
Here's to hoping for more sun,
Alyssa