Alright. this week, we went on an Eastern European tour. Our group took up about a forth of our marvelous purple double decker bus, and the rest was filled with Ukrainians, including the principal of the school i teach at and two of the girls we teach. they made a new friend in a young boy also. they had an enjoyable time teaching us Russian for a change, and got pretty intense about it! it was crazy to visit all these other places and experience their cultures. we were shocked to see people outside with jackets and smiles on, as opposed to the stone-faced fir-covered Ukrainians we have grown accustomed to. the metro's were also weird, apparently it is not kosher to push people around? what? anyway.... on to the trip.
We got on the bus on Saturday the 19th at 9:30 in the morning, and arrived in Budapest, Hungary at 11:00 a.m. on the 20th. We got to the border about one in the morning and it took about 6 hours to get through.
BUDAPEST - we started on the "pest" side, and Janelle, Sharlee, and I went to a Turkish bath. it was pretty much a bunch of swimming pools, but it is all natural mineral medicinal water-ness. It was amazing, and we saw many interesting things, including but not limited to; the largest sauna I've ever seen, old men playing chess in the pool, and some other old men in pretty risqué speedo's. lovely. afterwards we went exploring and saw a very architecturally confused castle, a statue of George Washington, and some very interesting monuments. after that, it was back to the bus. we went to the "hills of Buda" and were able to see the parliament building, which is the third largest in the world, and some of the old town with our wonderful guide.
VIENNA - we were only there for four hours, but we saw a castle that is based off Versailles and had beautiful grounds, and some other cool buildings.
DREZDEN - we didnt have very much time here as well, but there were some cool buildings, and we were able to sample some of their famous pastries and some sort of hot dog/sausage within a croissant. we ended up just wandering around because we didnt really know what else to do.
PRAGUE/PRAHA - we spent the most time here. the city is ancient and there is so much to see there. the streets are set up so oddly, there are no street names and every building has two numbers on it. 1 tells what number in line it was built, and another tells how far away it is from a certain statue or something of one of the numerous animals withing the city. If anyone ever goes to Prague, see the Charles Bridge and the Astronomical Clock. we had an awesome guide in Prague, and i loved it a lot.
if anyone has questions i guess just ask! (:
Hello Lauren,
ReplyDeleteI asked your family about sending you a 'care package', but said you probably wouldn't get it. Instead they gave me this blog address.
I read many of your entries here. You are getting quite the education in the ways of the world and in world history. You will no doubt have a greater appreciation for life in the good old US of A.
My mission (Finland 1974-76) presidents wife (Faye Wade) just finished serving a mission of her own in Budapest, Hungary. She left there at the end of March. In her last e-mail, she mentioned being on the 'pest' side anf the 'buda' side. I know it's quite remote, but if you had a chance to attend Church there on the 20th, you might have met her, but it appears that you didn't get the chance to attend Church in Budapest.
Why is there a statue of George Washington in Hungary?
Did the people of Ukraine always speak Russian, or is that a result of the Soviet Union's former rule over Ukraine?
Did you do the sauna thing in Hungary (or eleewhere)? Saunas are the invention of the Finns. For 8 of the months I was in Finland, I did not have a shower/bath available, so the only way to get clean was the public sauna. I learned to love the sauna. Sometimes, I miss it.
I hope you continue having good experiences. Your Mom and Dad are proud of you. They 'beam' whenever they talk about you being in Ukraine. May God bless you and keep you safe.
there is a statue of George Washington as a representative from the USA because we have a statue of an important Hungarian in Washington D.C., so i guess its to make it even!
ReplyDeleteThe Ukrainian people have their own language, but were all forced to learn Russian because of the Soviet's. Here in Kyiv, A lot of people speak Russian or both Russian and Ukrainian, but most of the people in Ukraine (especially Western Ukraine) know Russian and now refuse to speak it. They are proud to be Ukrainian, and hate the reminder of Soviet Time's that Russian provides them.
The Sauna we went to was in Hungary.
Finland sounds really incredible!! I wish I could have met Sister Wade!
thanks for the comment, its good to know that people are interested (: