Budapest

So from June 19th - 22nd, I decided to go to Budapest! Since I didnt have class on Thursday I wanted to take advantage of this extra long weekend. I went alone because no one really wanted to go this time as well. My train left at 5:41 am super early again. The sun comes up way too early in Weimar lately, around 4am the sky starts turning blue, and it makes it hard to sleep! The train ride was 13 hours, it was super long. From Dresden to Budapest was 9 hours....with almost no air conditioning, it was hot and squishy and pollen flying everywhere, it wasnt the most pleasant. I got to Budapest almost 7pm. I met Sandor, who drove me to the hostel and told me everything I needed to know. We got there and honestly wasnt even a hostel at all. It had 3 rooms and 5 beds. It was more like an apartment share which I liked even more. It was only me and a 30 year old Brazilian, Bernardo lol. I was pretty tired so i just stayed in.

The next morning, I went on the free tour. K. so maybe Im just dumb but i did not know Buda and Pest was two different cities lol. who knew? and that is pronouced Budapshhhhhest. But anyways went to all the touristy spots and learned a little something. lol had to cam whore to take pics =( Met some Canadians from Western University and and old Australian couple, who were really nice! I then just wandered around Vaci the giant tourist street and the main market place. It was really really hot that day more than 30 degrees, around 5pm I had to take a break it was just so hot. I ate a lango in the food court upstairs and honestly really disappointed =( it wasnt freshly fried and tastes like langos everywhere else. I then had to go buy a summer dress and swimsuit because i couldnt take the heat. The internet told me not to bring revealing clothes so i didnt bring shorts...wow what a mistake, Budapest is a giant city everyone else is wearing shorts, tank tops, tube tops, short dresses, h&ms and zara everywhere....wear what you want. I bought some fresh strawberries at the market and sat by the Danube for the sunset. So romantic....by myself FML. After a long day of heat and walking i slept early again like a loser lol.

I decided to get up early to check out the flea market on the other side of town. oh ps. the metro system is so easy to use there! After wandering around for 2 hours I just gave up, could not find it =( and a little bathing suit mishap. I checked out the other tourists site in that part of town, the castle the monument etc. I decided to treat myself to a Hungarian lunch at a restaurant i read in a guide book. I had veal stew with these pasta like things. It was pretty good, the most expensive meal that trip a little overpriced in my view. I spent the afternoon at the largest Hungarian bath house, very nice! outdoor pools in the sun, and got a great tan =) Met Andrew and Jamie, Americans from Boston, and not to mention pretty cute! I made it back to the hostel just before the evening storm and fell asleep on the couch. Went out for a quick dinner.

Bernardo and I then went out that night, because i did want to at least check out the nightlife in Budapest, which according to him was amazing. We went to the first bar which was cute, kinda like Germany lots of people sitting outside and just drinking. Then to another in the Jewish district. There my Coach bag brought Thomas, from LA to me! We got along perfectly =) Bernardo then took us to this club but by this time I didnt even have enough money to get in. Thomas lovingly walked me back to the hostel at 4 am. Bernardo came back shortly saying it sucked inside so im glad i didnt go =) After hanging out we finally went to sleep at almost 6am. Got up at 7am to head to the train station home and I was scared I was going to miss my connections because it was late! but after a few runs I made it back =) GREAT TRIP even though my parents hate me traveling alone. , met some great people and did not get robbed like I was scared to. good weekend away from Weimar

Queen's Day in Amsterdam

The last weekend of April was Queen's Day in the Netherlands, so Karoline and I went to Amsterdam for the weekend! The train was about 8 hours i think? We left at 5 am, so I was super tired. Luckily Karoline's friend Nick let us stay with him =) We got there on friday and just walked around the city. Of course we had to try a space cake, and I did catch myself starring at a lot of things after lol. I also had to try FEBO! food that comes out of vending machines and the fries there. Later we went out for dinner had some real meat again and for Queens night, just a big party on the streets. And a mission to figure out the night buses home

The next morning was Queen's day. Again the transportation was a little hard because of the street closures. The whole city become a giant flea market, there were some cute stuff but I just didnt want to carry it around with me. In the park little kids were having their own stands, cupcakes were very popular! Also you can throw things like eggs, wet sponges and oranges at kids. But we found this 10 year old who drew our portrait...it was....unique. The rest of the day we just walked around, to the different areas for parties and free concerts. The dutch have great music! I also tried a croquette which was actaully really yummy! But my feet were so so so tired and wearing flats...people just kept stepping on my feet.

Unfortunately it was very busy at one point was just crushed between two people, pushed around and could barely breath. There were also a lot of drunk people, angry drunks who kept starting fights. We saw a guy completely knocked out on the ground and the ambulance had to come. There was also a guy that i swear could crush me just by clapping his hands. People peeing and garbage everywhere...Yeah it got messy and frankly unsafe compared to Oktoberfest in Munich and Carnaval in Ovar. And getting home was a mission and a half....the trains schedules were all off and some werent working etc.

The next morning we went on the free walking tour and actually learned stuff beside all the parties. lol and yes. saw some hookers. But then I was super dumb and bought the wrong train home, luckily they let me on anyways. The train was so packed that for most of it we had to sit on the floors =( but nonetheless it was a crazy trip, definitely worth going once. not more.

ps. Orange is their national colour, its everywhere that weekend.

It's been a while! School and April updates

It has been a very long time since i've blogged. Its now the end of May! So we chose our courses again in April, this semester I am taking:

On the Road / Weidemann Project: All handmade printing, as you can see the photo we had to make a poster about kurt weidemann, a german designer. It was done with screenprinting ( I finally got to learn!) and stamps cut out of linoleum, which I gave myself the biggest cut on my hand =( We are also supposed to make some layouts for a book with handset type. But of course this class is SO UNORGANIZED that I honestly dont know if it is going to happen. There is just no information on what we are expected to do, its very annoying, this class is kind of a joke. But late April we took a trip to the Leipzig printing museum which was kinda neat. I got to see metal type made in front of my very eyes! 

My other classes include my masters seminar, The Public Sphere, which is ok, not learning much but at least its in English. Level 7 Deutsch (finally getting better at german!) and Presentation Technique which is honestly do whatever you want to do kind of class, and of course im doing mine on cupcakes.

In April we celebrated Andreannes birthday with a great dinner, Rinats 24 hour long birthday bbq then turned party, Tory's birthday as well. There was also the 2nd semester erasmus party at ckeller. We also had a goodbye party for Mac. and lots of park time since it was so warm.