I'm finally starting to orient myself with the city - I no longer have to pull out my map every five seconds to find my way around. Wednesday we went to the thermal bath and it was the most incredible thing ever! I had no idea what to expect; I thought it was like a big hot tub, but it was so much cooler. There were three outdoor pools and then indoor pools, too and a sauna room. Two of the outside pools were giant circles, and then there was one pool where you could lap swim. I never went to the indoor pools, but my friends were saying the outdoor pool was better anyway. We went at night, so it was beautiful! It's not as hot as a hot tub because then people couldn't stay in them for long. I think we were in it for about an hour and a half and by the end we were just ready to get out because it was so hot. The first bath we went into wasn't that hot at all. I was shivering. And then my friend came over and said the other one was much warmer, so in our bikinis we sprinted in the freezing cold weather and jumped into the warmer bath. I think I ran the fastest I've ever run because it was so cold. After being in the bath for a long time though, it was easy to get out because my body was so warm. I will definitely be going back there at some point because it was a lot of fun! Here's a few picture I took of the bath afterward:
And then before going to the bath, we all met up in Heroes' Square. Here's what it looks like! It was such an amazing sight!
Thursday we met at the Parliament building and took a tour around the building. It was the most beautiful building I've ever seen in my entire life. I couldn't even believe my eyes! This is a picture of the outside of Parliament - I'm sorry they are sideways. I can't figure out how to rotate them on this blog, but maybe if you save it to your computer you can rotate it there?
Once we went inside, this was the first thing we saw. It's made completely out of match sticks!
This was really cool - we walked into one room and there was this royal crown in the middle of the room and then two national guards on both sides of the crown guarding it. The crown is always guarded at all times.
These were the stairs in Parliament. So beautiful, I still can't get over it!
After going to Parliament, I walked over to St. Stephen's Basilica church with six other girls. This is what it looks like on the outside. That's me and my friend Anna-Lena from Germany!
This is the inside of the church - sorry the pictures aren't clear.
After going to the Basilica, we went out for lunch at a place called Hummus Bar. I just got some coffee, but the menu looked really good and the food was really fresh from what the girls said. It's a chain restaurant here, so there's actually one right next to my flat that I'll definitely have to try. After the hummus bar, I walked back to my flat and stumbled upon the Dohany Street Synagogue! Here's a sideways picture of it:
When I got back to my flat, I went to Ikea with my two other roommates. I bought a few things for my room - I really needed a duvet cover and I found a really cool red and orange one! After Ikea, we came home and made dinner and then Ana and I walked over to our friends Dany, Anthony, and Ben's apartment to hang out with a bunch of people. They were still eating dinner when we got there - they had a pancake competition. Anthony made Canadian pancakes and Ben made Dutch pancakes. I think Anthony won by default because Ben wanted to make his salty, but they had no salt. Anthony actually brought a can of Canadian maple syrup to Budapest with him! I tried it - it's actually really really good! So I hung out there until around midnight and then everyone else was planning on going out, but I needed a break and a good night sleep so I came back to my flat. I still couldn't fall asleep to early. I think I finally fell asleep around 3:00am. I'm still a little jet lagged and not caught up on Budapest time. I also really need some earplugs because I can hear everything going on in the flat next to mine and they have a baby that constantly cries. I'm also right on the main street so I hear cars going by all the time. But, I really can't complain because I love my place!
On Thursday I went to find the shopping area that is near my flat and I ended up buying some black tights, so I can wear some of the skirts and dresses I brought here! I also found the Timberland boots I want to buy, but they are about $100 so I might hold off on those. They are really cute and they would be great for here! After the shopping, I came back to the flat to get ready for Pub Crawl! We left around 5:30pm to meet everyone. They split up the groups by first name, and there were four different groups. We went to four different pubs and spent about an hour in each one, and then afterward we all met back up at a club. We started Pub Crawl around 6pm and didn't get home until 4:30am. Budapest knows how to party. At each pub they gave us one or two free drinks and then at one we were able to eat some food for free! The first pub we went to was more like a modern restaurant and the second one was a whole in the wall pub but it was great! The third one we went to had fake grass on the floor, a bunch of couches, and a huge screen. When Mimi and I got in there, we looked at each other and were both thinking the same thing - Superbowl bar! We went up to the owner, who was wearing an ASU sweatshirt (gross!) and we made him take it off! Then we asked him if we could come for the Superbowl and pretty much reserved the entire bar for ourselves! I am so stoked! I have my 49ers jersey ready to go. I have all the Europeans ready to cheer for the niners! The last pub we went to was a sports bar, but there were barely any TV's. I wanted to watch the Superbowl there before we had found that other place. All these pubs were right near my flat, so it was really convenient and nice to see what is in my area.
Today was just a relaxing day. I met up with my friend Anna-Lena for coffee and went and hung out at her flat until around 9pm tonight. Her flat is way nicer than mine - I loved it! And it's in a really cool area near our school.
Tomorrow is Fresh Camp! We are leaving at 8am (I won't be able to wake up!) and driving two hours to Eger. When we get there, we will be going to a City Rally in the town of Eger and then Saturday night we are doing a Hungarian wine tasting and dinner. Later that night, we will have a private party at the place that we are staying at. There are about 200 of us going, so it'll be fun! On Sunday, we have the choice to either go to the Thermal Lake Salt Hill Spa and Wellness Bath of Eger (I'm guessing like the bath I went to the other day), or to go visit the medieval castle of Eger. I think I'm going to go to the bath, but I haven't decided for sure! We will get back around 10pm Sunday night, and then we are meeting for the superbowl at 11:30 for a 12:30am kick off! It's going to be a long few days. Once the superbowl is over around 4am, I will get about three hours of sleep or less, and then head to my first class at 8am. I'm going to be exhausted, but it'll be totally worth it!
GO NINERS!
xoxo
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