First Full Day of Classes & Exploration

Day 3 in Budapest came with a welcome relief, the jet lag everyone was experiencing was finally beginning to wear off. After another tasty breakfast at the President’s Guest House, everybody was on their own to trek through the snow and arrive on time to language class. The sidewalks and streets were a slushy mess, but everybody was in their seat by 10.00 for the first of Erika’s language class. Speaking the alphabet proved a daunting task, four variations of “o” and strange consonant combinations such as sz, zs, and cs will take much getting used to. Many of the sounds are not really used much or at all in English.

The lunch break between language class and math class was the first time many students got to explore Budapest without the help of a guide familiar with the Budapest public transportation. Gyros, Chinese food, and bananas are just a few of the wide variety of Hungarian delicacies students decided to enjoy. Going out into Budapest and exploring was not too hard, but finding the way back to the classroom proved interesting. Several groups encountered confusion trying to navigate the streets and read public transportation signs.

At night the people of Budapest like to light up their buildings and monuments. One group saw several of the more impressive ones on the way to dinner, passing the basilica and parliament buildings.

While the basilica is not open at night, it’s impressive exterior is well-illuminated.

The dome atop Budapest’s parliament building lit up at night.

In addition to being well-lit, the basilica is host to bells that toll upon the hour. This is not your usual bell-tolling, either. At seven o’clock the bells rang not merely seven times, but went on continuously for what seemed like five minutes. The people of Budapest certainly take steps to make their city presentable and exciting in night as well as day.