Day #4 in Bratislava - Wednesday - day trip to Budapest, Hungary!

Wednesday was our scheduled day to take a day trip somewhere outside of Bratislava. We had thought we might be going to some castle ruins for the day, but the group consensus was to go by train to Budapest, Hungary (pronounced by Slovaks like Buda-pesht). We were excited to go to yet another country... three capitol cities in three countries in just over a week - wow!  I have traveled many places in Europe in the past, but I had never made it to Hungary before Wednesday. It was a very beautiful city, we had a gorgeous, warm, sunny day to walk around, and we were all happy to be there.  Pictures below from our day trip to Budapest - enjoy!


From L to R: Karolina, Megi, and Tatiana (all C.S. Lewis students that have studied at MA), and Elsie, Lexi, and Ben - fun to be on a 2+ hour train ride to an exciting destination!


L to R: Soren, Drew, Beck, Tuviah, Ethan, and Asa.


A view from the train ride... Minnesota isn't the only place that has lakes!


Welcome to Budapest!

We went to the House of Terror, a museum that focuses on communism and the nazi era. This was a very powerful experience and one that brings this time in history to life with the personal stories and pictures that we saw of that time.  It is interesting to learn it at home in history classes, but brings the learning to a whole new level to see a museum like this in person.


























After we were done at the museum (which turned out to be around 3 hours total), we took the second oldest underground train system (behind The Tube in London) to the center of downtown Budapest.










When in Budapest... eat at Meatology - Hungarian Grill Food!  :)












Hmmm... the leaders look happy to get a Starbucks!


The Budapest Eye - Hungary's version of the London Eye.


The Danube








Photo op time!








I just love these MA Slovak girls!  They are the best.  :)


The MA group... lookin' good!




"Shoes on the Danube" - these cast iron statues of shoes were made in the memory of the individuals shot into the Danube by Arrow Cross Militiamen in 1944-1945. I encourage you to read more about this memorial here.










Yet another smiley Elsie and Lexi picture!  They enjoyed these Slovak chocolate wafers all week.


After we arrived back to Bratislava by train around 8:30 pm, everyone went their separate ways with their host families to spend time with them. I was happy to get to see my friend Jana in the evening for dinner. Jana started working at the C.S Lewis School at the very beginning of its existence, and she was the one I talked to over many years to arrange the Slovak students that were going to come to MA to study. Jana also traveled to Minnesota several years ago during her sabbatical and came to MA to meet with leaders in the school and to also teach in the English department. It was so nice to see her!