The Final Day

Today was our last in Budapest together as the Number Theory Class of 2018. Many of us fueled up with the usual breakfast from the hotel before starting on the final at 9:30 AM. After the rollercoaster ride the final took us on, we were free to go about the city. It was a beautiful, clear day to conclude our explorations of the city. Some people walked down the street for one last langos (Nutella and strawberry was a favorite) from the Central Market while also doing some last-minute souvenir shopping. Others took the opportunity to get one more of the beloved chimney cakes. They will be greatly missed when we come back to the United States.

Olivia, Julia, Victoria, and I took the trolley a few stops towards Parliament to visit a Holocaust memorial of bronze shoes next to the river. It is in remembrance of many people who were executed at the edge of the river, leaving their shoes behind.

"Shoes on the Danube Bank"

Chain Bridge

We chose to walk back to the hotel along the river, taking stops for pictures while soaking up of the beautiful Buda side of the city and the Danube River. You can never have too many pictures of the castle or the Chain Bridge, right?

At 5:10 PM, our whole group met in the lobby to have our final banquet. Prior to meeting, we only knew that the location we would be walking to was 1 km away. The suspense was released when Berliner told us that we would be going to an American-Buffet style restaurant (in other words, all-you-can-eat). We had a nice walk and finally arrived at Trófea Grill Restaurant. The staff kindly held the doors and greeted us. Once we had sat down, they gave us the rundown of how the buffet worked, and we were then set loose. There was a variety of food options ranging from Hungarian foods to salad to grilled meats and cheeses to desserts. A bonus to the restaurant was that water was factored into the flat price for the meal. We tried a variety of the foods with multiple trips up to the buffet while talking and enjoying our last official time together in Budapest.

Just a sampling of the food!

As a symbol of our gratitude for our wonderful professors, our class decided to get Berliner a dessert cookbook so that he can take the Hungarian cooking back home (and hopefully make us some chimney cakes back in the US…). For Bruce, we got him some fancy chocolate picked out at the Central Market.

 

This evening, a large portion of the class decided to adventure out on a night hike up to the Citadella over on the Buda side. It seemed appropriate to end how we started: with a nice hike up. The views in the night were beautiful, and our spirits were much higher than they were when we were jetlagged and exhausted from travel. The city is truly a gem all lit up and spurred reflection on our month living and studying here. It is sad we will be leaving the city and concluding our month abroad, but many of us are looking forward to seeing family, friends, and pets back home. We will be boarding a bus at 3:30 AM and heading off to the airport. Thank you for following our blog!

Chain Bridge at night

Liberty Statue

Köszönöm,

-Skylar and the Number Theory Class of 2018