First Free Day!

Today was our first free day, so many of us chose to continue exploring the city. Skylar started the day off by taking advantage of the roasting sauna and wading pool at our hotel before joining us at the continental breakfast. We talked about potential plans for the day while sipping coffee and eating our fill of carbs thanks to the bread-heavy spread offered. One group visited the Great Synagogue and found a new sweet treat from Street Cakes; it is a chimney cake with ice cream inside!

When a group of us set off for Buda, to our surprise we couldn’t even see it! Despite this, we ventured into the fog across the Chain Bridge to go explore Buda Castle. We skipped riding the funicular and walked up the hill to the castle (Jordan took a slippery shortcut). The castle and grounds are expansive, and we had a lot of fun exploring although we never ended up going inside. Unfortunately there wasn’t much of a view of the city below!

In addition to looking at the beautiful architecture, Jordan also often found herself entertained by the masses of pigeons strutting around the stone walkways. They came in many colors and patterns, and were rather friendly. They would come close and coo while they searched the ground for crumbs. It just goes to show that you can always find joy in the small things if you take the time to experience them.

Ole the Lion is taking Number Theory with us this Interim!

Matthias Fountain at Buda Castle

Foggy ruins at the Castle

Exploring the Castle 

A foggy morning at the Castle

From there, we made our way to Matthias Church and Fisherman’s Bastion. Although the church was closed, the outside was beautiful. The famous ceramic tiles on the roof were bright and colorful, despite the ominous fog. We wandered through Fisherman’s Bastion, taking a few pictures before heading back down to the Chain Bridge.

Mattias Church

Fisherman's Bastion

Coffee break!

This afternoon, a few of us took a short walk to St. Stephen’s Basilica to explore the inside of the church. The sheer size of the church is intimidating, and the inside did not disappoint. From our tour yesterday, we learned that the bodies of saints are relics. One reason this Basilica is special is because it has the right hand of St. Stephen, the first King of Hungary, within.

St. Stephen's hand

Dome of the Basilica

St. Stephen's Basilica from the outside during the evening

For dinner, a number of us headed over to Padthai Wokbar. The restaurant was a little too small to accomodate all of us, so we ate together in one of the conference rooms at the hotel. I think it’s safe to say we were all pretty excited about the veggies mixed in!

Enjoying dinner!

Jordan went on quite the adventure for dinner. The trip to the restaurant took quite a few twist and turns as the group made their way to the Buda half of the city. The trip there was made by a combination of walking, riding the tram, and taking two buses. The trek was well worth it though because the food was amazing! Here is a picture of Jordan’s entree: chicken breast topped with bacon, camembert, toasted walnuts, and french fries.

Tomorrow starts our first Hungarian lesson with Erika, another day of math class, and an adventure to find street cakes (s/o to Emily for the yummy photo)!

Until next time,

Skylar, Julia, and Jordan