Back in Budapest

Yesterday was more interesting for us than today. We started it out by going into a small cafe in downtown Vienna ordering good European espresso and well made eggs. After we visited St. Stephens Cathedral, walking around and in the amazing structure. On the way to the Belvedere palace we ran into another church that while not as grand as the cathedral still warranted a stop. The last place we went to was the Belvedere Museum, they had an amazing Gustav Klimt exhibit including his famous work "The Kiss". We also ate sausages and mince meat in a cafe near the museum. Afterwards we caught an early train back to Budapest and were surprisingly excited to sleep in a non-hostel bed.

Some of us returned from Vienna today on the 11:40 train after spending a second night at the hostel. We were welcomed by a fresh layer of snow that had fallen while we were away. I got back just in time for a group excursion to the Budavári Palota. This is the big palace on the hill right across the river from downtown. It is a huge place and fun to explore, not to mention the amazing views. The majority of the building has been converted into a history museum, which we are planning on seeing later on. We walked all around the walls of the fortress, taking pictures and admiring statues. The view was especially pretty with the snow on the rooftops and the sun about to set. We did some exploring and found a garden with a well, a hidden spiral staircase, and a creepy unlit passageway that ended up being a dead-end. Then we went over to the big church next door before taking the bus back to Pest.

 After the group excursion to Vienna, Austria. Our day today was fairly low-key. There was a lot of homework done today but a small group was able to tear themselves away from the homework to go ice skating. While we had two hockey players, the talent level for the rest of the group ranged from average to below average. There was only a small amount of falling but some of us just existed in a constant state of almost falling. After doing so for a time, we found a place for dinner and were so hungry as a group that there were no pictures of the food so you will have to take my word for it on that one. We ended the excursion with a chimney cake before returning just in ti e to prepare for the Vikings game.


Also the surprise activity this morning is starting to get us excited.