The Final Countdown

      Well, it has begun.  We have started counting down the days until we will have to say goodbye to Budapest.  As of now, I have 25 days left. It's time to start my own kind of advent calendar.  While I'll be sad to say goodbye to this amazing experience,  I'm so incredibly excited to see all of the important people in my life again.  I've missed you all so much!

Park in Krakow Poland.

     Now, I know that I have been M.I.A. for the past two months; my blog kind of took the back burner to the nth degree.  However, for the past three weeks I have been trying to overcome my shame and finally re-enter the blogging world.  My mom even said my boyfriend is kicking my butt at blogging. I couldn't accept that! That pretty much equals the worst possible insult--completely unacceptable :).   Well enough is enough! Really, this is just a long winded way of saying I'm sorry for disappearing and during my last month here I am going to try to update as much as I can.

      Since I am done traveling and the remainder of my time will be spent in Budapest, I also will try to post about my trips that I have taken during the semester in the mist of what is currently going on in Budapest.  Just to give you a sneak peek, since september I have traveled to Bosnia; Croatia; Vienna, Austria;  Romania; Venice, Milan, Cinque Terre, and Rome, Italy; Paris, France; and Poland (where these photos were taken). Wow, even writing that amazes me.  I am incredibly blessed.

Jewish Quarter; Krakow, Poland

Because I'm going to be writing about everything out of order, I just wanted to write a quick entry explaining everything before I lost my nerve and all hope of ever resurfacing my blog.  Hopefully I'll soon be posting up a storm!

"These are a Few of my Favorite Things."

This weekend marks my third week of residing in Budapest.  Can you believe that!?  I can't.  I can't believe it has been that long, and at the same time I can't believe it's been only that short amount of time.  It simultaneously feels like a lifetime and a blink of an eye.  Crazy!

Summing up the past three weeks would be nearly impossible. Also, relaying information about what I did the past week and a half would be tedious and probably boring to read (well maybe not boring, but pictures are better roughly... 87% of the time). Instead,  I've decided to show you a few of my favorite things that make Budapest, Budapest--to me anyways. 

In case you're curious, during the past two weeks I have gone to Hungarian class, finished Hungarian class with a final, started Calvin College classes, and tried to figure out Hungarian University classes.  Those tasks have all taken up parts of my days with the other parts being filled with exploring Budapest.  I know, exploring Budapest, it's a rough life isn't it?  Most of the following pictures were taken during these explorations. ...I could get used to this life. 

However, tomorrow that life ends.  Tomorrow, I will tread on new ground and begin real classes at a Hungarian university. Tomorrow, a real, concrete schedule sets in.   Not feeling so aimless everyday will be nice, but the schedule will also mean less free time.  Sadly, I guess I can't be on "holiday" for four months.  Sigh. Oh well, it was nice (read: absolutely magnificent) while it lasted.

This post represents that life and what I did during my first few weeks in Hungary.  From now on, whenever I sing 

"I simply remember my favorite things, and then I don't feel so bad" (Sound of Music)

I know memories from Budapest will always make the list. Here are a few of my favorites.

Get ready for Budapest--through my eyes.

~The architecture

The architecture here is amazing. 

Yellow buildings get me every time.

especially when the sunlight hits it.

~Flower shops

One day while my classmates and I were looking for a place to eat,  I stumbled upon this adorable dried flower shop.  Now, flower shops, or "Virags," are pretty common in Budapest--it seems like one is on every corner, but this flower shop consisted totally of dried flowers!  It was amazing.  The woman said she grew the flowers and dried them all herself...of course that's what I pieced together
in broken English so I'm entirely sure it's 100% accurate, but nevertheless the store was incredible and she was extremely talented.  AND she let me take pictures!!

If you are ever in the neighborhood and would like to visit this shop, I can help you out.

Name:    Iringo Viragmanufaktura

Where:          1053 Budapest,

                    Karolyi Mihaly u. 19

Telephone:    06-30-370-8378

www.iringo.com                                 You can also find them on Facebook!

~Sunlight in Budapest.

When the setting sun bathes the city in its light, you feel as if you've never seen anything so beautiful.
Everything comes alive in a brand new way; everywhere you look--it's golden.

 ~Street Art.
I love looking at all of the street art in Budapest.  Even if I don't understand all of the meanings, I can see that the art tells stories.  Granted, artless graffiti just for the sake of vandalism still exists,  but truly skillful and wonderful graffiti is the norm in central Budapest.  I get the feeling that the artists spray the city to be heard and show the world what they think is important, and I can't help but think it is a direct result of what this country had do endure during communism.

Now, the art captured here I think is just for fun, but if you come to Budapest you'll find art that is packed with political and social issues.

 ~Rod iron: Gates, fences, and the like

 One day when my friend Maddy and I were exploring and looking for a cafe, we found this huge, gorgeous gate.  She offered to take a picture of me in front of the gate...well it sort of turned into a photo shoot.  Mostly at first because I couldn't make a good face (I'll spare you from those pictures), but then we were having fun capturing all the different angles of the gate and feeling kind of artsy.  Here are a few of my favorites.

 

 Check out Maddy's blog here,  I'm featured one day! :)

~The beauty everywhere in the city--from sidewalks to the Citadella.

 

~THIS ART STORE!
Another day while I was exploring with my friend Maddy, we stumbled upon this art store mainly consisting of pottery.  All were done by local artists.  We were so happy we had decided to walk into this little hole-in-the-wall.  I'm for sure coming back and getting a souvenir from here.

~The desserts. Enough said.

~Cafe Yoga, my friend Maddy, and Avocado shakes.

Cafe Yoga, located on Oktober 6 utca is the perfect dose of serenity from the busy city.  It plays calming "yoga" music ( I don't know how else to describe it)  where birds chirp and brooks babble in the background.  The friendly barista is from Indonesia and will help you make a decision out of your comfort zone like getting an avocado shake!

With its brick walls and wicker furniture with
white cushions...

...And an awesome staff, Cafe Yoga definitely gets my recommendation.

Can you see why I love this place?

I also like talking pictures of my friends.  Meet Maddy :)

Yes, that's right, an AVOCADO shake!

 

 ~Yummy Noodles
Okay, this isn't necessarily my favorite; but my group has discovered you can get a very, very large portion of noodles for only 600 HUF which equals under $3...and that's why its a college favorite :)

~History Museum: its pillars, people, and flowers.

On the steps of the History Museum located east of Kalvin ter.  I enjoyed my first moments of alone time in TWO WEEKS!  It felt so good.  With my living situation in the dorms, you literally can find no place to be alone; not even in the shower.  So these moments on the steps were cherished.  I just sat, read, wrote in my journal, and enjoyed my surroundings.  A little kitty came up next to me and ruined it, but I decided to enjoy its company and even take a picture.  After I had soaked up the view from the steps, I took some pictures.  The museum had beautiful flower beds to work with; my favorites are the ones where you can see the city skyline in the background.

~Doors.

~The Danube and its bridges. My heart aches, its so beautiful.

From the Pest side, the Citadella in the backgound on Gellert Hill as the sun sets.

The people.  I'm pretty sure this man knew I took a picture of him...
but I didn't budge, I pretended I was taking a picture of the
 boat behind him. Whoops :)

~Locks.  

I have found so many locks in Budapest.  On the bridges,  couples engrave their name on a lock, lock it around the bridge, and then toss the key into the river.  These are my favorites.

~My roommates.  The culprits of my lack of alone time, but I love them. Many aren't included here but you'll meet them throughout the semester I'm sure.

~Interior design

~Young people lounging around in parks, by water, with incredible buildings in the background.  Scenes like this make me do a double take and go, "Oh my gosh! I'm in Europe, in Budapest, and I get to live here!"

~Random pieces of art in the street.  It makes the city beautiful, unique, and interesting. 

 ~Gelato. Oh gelato. If gelato was a person, we would probably have a love affair.

Yes, this gelato is shaped like a rose. How cool is that!?  The women working there craft each cone into a flower.  The store is located right next to St. Stephen's Cathedral.

 ~This isn't a favorite thing, but I thought it was cool.  I ran into a photo shoot in front of St. Stephen's!

 ~Again, the architecture. I love the variety.

~Lamposts.

Now you have a little taste of what my eyes have been seeing in Budapest.  In our Karoli University orientation, the leader said Budapest has many hidden treasures.  I'm excited to unfold the city even more and see what other treasures it's hiding.