The Home Stretch--One Week Left!

Jó napot!

On the way to school this morning we saw Budapest's version of a "snowstorm", much different from the snowstorm experienced by our dear friends back in Northfield, Minnesota. 

Our "snowstorm" here in Budapest

In other news, we had a long day full of mathematics in both the morning and the afternoon. We learned about solving quadratic modular congruences, quadratic residues, and the Legendre Symbol.

While the material was fascinating, nearing the end of the first class we were getting very tired and hungry, and some people decided to create a tower out of water bottles. Following the double math classes, we all headed back to the hotel to get a jumpstart on the double homework due tomorrow. 

Casual water bottle tower during class

For dinner plans, we all split up again, with Victoria and Olivia going to Market BDPST with Julia, Hunter, Derek, Luke, and Brian, while Emily joined the residents of 453 to make pasta with pesto. The night was made more comical when Andrew realized the staggering difference in spoon sizes that the hotel has supplied us, as well as Owen's attempts to drink juice out of a wine glass in the most interesting fashion.

Dinner is always an interesting time

After dinner, we settled in to finish up homework, eat some chimney cakes, and get a good night's rest for class tomorrow.

We will miss Chimney Cakes when we return in a little over a week!

What better way to end a blog than a dog-spotting compilation!

 

This is our last room blog of this trip, and we just want to say köszönöm for reading our room's adventures!

Best from Pest,

Room 653-Emily, Victoria, Olivia

SURPRISE and more....

Hi Y'all! Today was an eventful day.

Cooking!

The long awaited surprise was finally revealed.... A traditional Hungarian cooking extravaganza!  We learned how to make a beautiful three course homemade meal, with the help of some very patient native Hungarian chefs.  On the menu was a delectable starter pea soup, followed by a choice of  chicken or mushroom paprikash, served with homemade dumplings, and finished with palacsinta, sweet Hungarian pancakes.  A crowded kitchen can be a tad dangerous, too many cooks can spoil the broth, but we were victorious in our efforts nonetheless!  The meal was filling and delicious, and we all learned a lot.  Many skills were honed and we will be sure to bring back these recipes to share with our families and loved ones.

Look at everyone having fun!

 Throughout the day we also took over St. Olaf's instagram.  Our very own Amanda was one of the ones who were trusted with the precious log in information for St. Olaf's instagram account, and she did indeed use it for good and not evil.  

Today was our 12th day of math class!  We had oodles of fun learning about multiplicative functions.  Berliner, in true math teacher fashion, spent an entire class teaching us about a theorem (Fermat’s Little Theorem), only to surprise us by saying that we can forget about it because it is only a specific case of a more general theorem (Euler’s Theorem).  This reminded us of high school calculus class where we spent days learning about anti-derivatives, only to find out that there is something called the integral and it is so much more useful!!!  Anyway, now that we are equipped with Euler’s Theorem, we are ready to face any of the many modular arithmetic problems found in daily life.  After 2 hours of class we went to a bookstore nearby where we found a book about Fermat's Little theorem that we learned in class!!!!!!  Hannah and Karina went to our favorite cafe SuWu and did their homework, while Amanda and Penelope worked from the comfort of our temporary home.

Yesterday was our free day where we gathered our newly minted pals and trundled off through the snow to Memento Park for some experiential history.  We first learned of the park on one of the first days of this trip from our local tour guide, András.  He explained that during communist rule the regime erected many communist propaganda statues all over the city.  When Hungary was finally freed from communist occupation the statues were rounded up and moved to a small park on the edge of the city, where now, to quote András, "people go to laugh at them."  We were determined to experience this for ourselves.  As fate would have it there had been a heavy snowfall overnight.... We joined in with the other visitors and made the most of it :)

We made our own addition! Little Boris (the snowman) dreams that one day he too will be giant and terrifying.... we think he's too cute though!

Family Photo!

~Szia~

Berliner liked it soooooooooo

Time for another taste test!!!!!!!!

This week.....

Csokoládé Taste Test!

Hannah and Karina trouped off to the store and bought a selection of chocolates from the sale bin, What could go wrong?!

Our Selection

Chocolate 1: Boci Tirimisu


Hannah: "It's not right. . . but I like the fact that it is slightly crunchy."
Amanda: *giggles* "Not going to lie, tastes a little bit fake, the name made me feel its a bit fake, but its not bad."
Karina: "Not expecting the rum flavor from the chocolate, somehow this was weirder."
Penelope: *shrug* "I like it. Its fine. I like the crisp bits"



    Chocolate 2: Raffaello

Hannah: "Coconut, with like, snot."
Amanda: "I like it. Very niccccce." *thumbs up*
Karina: "A weird coconut, the cream is meh."
Penelope: "Yeah I don't like coconut, the cream is fine though... oh its all over my hands"

  Chocolate 3: Sandwich Dark Chocolate

Hannah: "If I was ever going to overdose on something it would be these."
Amanda: "I like dark chocolate, but its kinda dry, so I dunno. Don't eat this if you're dehydrated."
Karina: "The wafer is fun. It crunches delightfully in your mouth."
Penelope: "It's fine, its just, like, a wafer but you wish that it was thicker"




  Chocolate 4: Milka Ordaments

Hannah: "Literally a kinder egg, just not as fun 'cause there's nothing inside."
Amanda: "It's just chocolate made into an interesting shape.  Kids will like it."
Karina: "Tastes like chocolate.  I like the cream stuff in the middle, it's good.  Cheap chocolate, not bad, its fine."
Penelope: "Looks like the death star.  Tastes fine.  Can't really go wrong with this"






  Chocolate 5: Lindt Strawberry Cheesecake

Hannah: "Really fake but like those strawberry popsicles but not as good and sorta chocolatey"
Amanda: "Not bad. I kinda like it though, better than the tiramisu and the sandwich."
Karina: "Nahhehhhh, tastes like fake strawberry and I hate fake strawberry."
Penelope: "I like theres a crispy crispa-do. Good textures."






Chocolate 6: Mon Cheri

Hannah: "HOLY CRAP IT'S LIQUID.  Oh my god it's dripping.  It was baaad." *frowny face*
Amanda: "Oh what. This is not what I expecteddddd. Strong liquid.  Doesn't taste right. Ya know what, it tastes disgusting.  The worst combination.  Shouldn't exist in this world."
Karina: "Better than the strawberry cheesecake, burns a little bit, but the chocolate's better than most others."
Penelope: "Ugh! I don't like.  I don't like dark chocolate.  I don't like cherries.  Not a fan"


Chocolate 7: Boci Túrógombóc

Hannah: *frowny face* "Not as bad as the cherry one"
Amanda: "Sweet.  It tastes fresh, like dish soap.  Shampoo, dish soap, body wash, that kinda feeling."
Karina: "What?!  It might be citrus flavored?  Agree with dish soap comparison."
Penelope: "I feel clean.  Like a nice toothpaste.  Weak toothpaste."




  Chocolate 8: Milka Collage

Hannah: "It's ok, not as good as the sandwich one."
Amanda: "It's sour.  I like it.  Sweet and sour, not bad.  A little bit dried powdery."
Karina: "Oh. It's softer than I was expecting. Good chocolate. Good show."

Penelope: "I don't like the fruity hints, they make me uncomfortable."




  Chocolate 8: Ferrero Rocher

Hannah: "Clearly the best out of all of them (along with sandwich one)."
Amanda: "This is good." *Takes first bite* 
Karina: "It's good and we all knew it."

Penelope: *thumbs up* "Good reliable friend."

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.

Wandering Around Wien

Willkommen!

Today (well actually yesterday) we spent the day wandering around Vienna and seeing the sights. First, we woke up and ate a lovely breakfast at the hostel before we started our day.

Just some Oles eating some food in a foreign country

After breakfast, we became very intrigued by Naschmarkt, an open-air market that was across the street so we decided to check it out. As we wandered in, we were overcome with the overwhelming smell of delicious food and spices. While wandering through, a mysterious pastry was spotted. It was stamped with the word "Mohn." Could they be paying homage to the famous Mohn Hall, the second tallest building in all of Rice County, MN? Alas they were not. Mohn is the German word for poppy. While wandering, Anika found many things quite amusing so she was doing some laughing. The vendors eventually caught on and started mimicking her while sticking food out for us to try. It was a very surreal moment that could have come straight out of a movie. 

Fun Fact: Mohn is not Norwegian 

Some yummy fruits!

After the market, we decided to wander into the city with no real plan. We came across the Vienna State Opera house. While we were very intrigued by this beautiful building, we were more interested in the squad of pigeons that was chilling outside. 

Just some cool birds

After about 10 minutes of admiring these majestic creatures, we decided that we should see more of what Vienna has to offer. We came across St. Stephen's Cathedral and ventured inside. They were in the middle of mass so we stayed for a bit to look around and then left to do some more exploring. 

wow

Our method of sightseeing was spotting something in the distance and walking towards it. We eventually ended up near the Spanish Riding School. This area was full of majestic buildings and some cool ruins.

By this time, we had been walking for quite some time and found a café to have some lunch. Anika ordered a black coffee in German, as her last name means black in German. After eating some yummy sandwiches, we headed off to Belvedere Palace to look at some art. This museum houses the largest collection of paintings by Austrian painter Gustav Klimt. The outside of the palace was almost as beautiful as the paintings inside!

A subpar photo of "The Kiss" by Klimt

After walking around for quite sometime, we decided to find a cheap option for dinner. As the day went on, our wallets became lighter and our stomaches became emptier. We decided to settle on an American classic: McDonalds (don't worry we ate Austrian food the night before). Due to the fact that we have not yet consumed any fast food in a foreign country, we decided that this was an ok thing to do. A review of Austrian McDonalds: pretty much the same.

Some exotic foreign food

After dinner, we headed back to the hostel to relax and do some homework. We had a very action packed day that lead us to take approximately 22,424 steps!

Auf Wienersehen!

Anika Schwarz, Katelyn LeBeque, and Shannon Bayless