London!
Okay, so I'm lazy. I'm just pasting what I put in my email out to everyone here, as well. Haha. It's insanely long, so I understand if you don't want to read it all.
So, as hopefully all of you knew, I spent last week out of the country. I embarked on a trip to London by means of passing through Austria, Germany, and Belgium on the way there, and France, Germany, and Austria on the way back. So here goes.
The girls from Kaposvár travelled up to Budapest on Thursday, April 6th, because we were to meet at Hero's Square at 9 am on Friday, the 7th, and there weren't any trains that would get us into Budapest on time. Sandy (from Iceland) and I stayed in a very good hostel that night.
Friday morning, we lugged our stuff from metro to metro to Hero's Square, on time, only to have the bus be an hour late. We ended up leaving about two (I think) hours after we were supposed to. That day, we drove through Hungary and Austria with only pit stops at gas stations and such until reaching Straubing, Germany, a small town in which our hostel for the night was. We were all pretty tired, and after exploring the town in search of dinner (no luck, everything was closed), we went back to the hostel and munched on our own food that we'd brought/bought.
The next morning, Saturday, the 8th, breakfast was at 6.15, so everyone was up early. We were set to leave early (at 7) for a day of travelling. I believe we ended up getting out at around 7.30 or so, so not too bad. In the early afternoon, we stopped in Cologne, Germany, for a few hours of free time. We (Julia, Sandy, Kelsey, Jess, Sara, and I) climbed up the cathedral tower (more than 500 steps). Right at the top of the tower, the batteries in my camera died. Of course. And my extras were in my other bag, so that rather sucked. After being up for a little while, we climbed back down, getting very dizzy in the process (they were spiral stairs the whole way). After that, we still had some free time, and walked around the town a bit. We found a really good shopping street, but didn't have the time to stop hardly anywhere, so that also kinda sucked. :P Then we headed back to the bus, and proceeded on to Brussels. We arrived in Brussels around 7.30. After much confusion and stuff, we were set free to go have dinner and stuff, having to meet back up in the main square at 10. Jess, Sara (both Australian), Kelsey, Saca (a Hungarian girl), and I went and found a place to eat, and got pizza and spaghetti. After that, we had a little free time and got Belgian waffles. Freaking deliciousss. :)
Then, we got back underway on our trip. We drove further until we reached the British customs office in France, and all loaded off at around 2.30 in the morning to get our passports checked. I was rather disappointed, because after travelling through 9 borders on the whole trip, this was the only stamp I got! After that, we got back on the bus and sat around for ever until we could load onto the ferry (at 4.30 in the morning, or something. Yuck). The ferry was about an hour and a half long, pretty much all of the exchange students conked out on seats and stuff until it was time to get off.
From there (we arrived in Dover, at around 6), we drove to Canterbury, a cute little town about an hour away from Dover. The town was very quaint and I liked it. Unfortunately, we were there at 7 in the morning, and not only that, but it was a Sunday as well. So literally nothing was open. The one cafe we did find that was supposed to open at 8 had had its window broken the night before, and so wasn't. The only place that WAS open was McDonald's, so of course all of the exchange students were there, eating breakfast. The upside to it was that I got a bagel with cream cheese. Yum. Then we all met back next to the cathedral, and went and looked at it. It was nice.
After that, we drove on to London. Most people slept most of the way. We arrived at the hostel sometime in the early afternoon (about 1, probably). Once there, though, our chaperones didn't want to let us out. We didn't understand why, and protested, until eventually they let us go out for food. Julia, Sandy, Kelsey, Sara, and I went off to a Lebanese restaurant way up the road and got pitas. They were yummy. We got back to the hostel around 6, only to find out we weren't supposed to go off alone. We got that sorted, though, and everything was all right. We were in for the rest of the night, and the hostel we were staying at (639 Harrow Road :D) was having a little karaoke night that night, so a bunch of the exchange students went down. It was cool. There was also a large group of Danish students staying at the hostel, as well. They all looked the same.. It was rather funny.
The next day, Monday, April 10th, started at 9 in the morning. At least, that's when we left. We went to the British Museum, and had three hours there for free time. We assumed they were three hours to look at the exhibits and we would get lunch after, so we looked at the Greek, Roman, African, American, Egyptian, and some of the Asian exhibits (pretty good for only three hours). It turned out, though, that we were supposed to get our lunch during that time, even though no one had told us. After much more protesting, it was established that we would get our lunch during the guided bus tour. So we went on the bus tour throughout London, and stopped at a wonderful chain sandwich place (Pret A Manger... Seriously perfect) for lunch, though most people went to McDonald's. Yuck.
After the tour, we were taken to Madame Taussaud's (dunno how to spell it) Wax Museum, and were given a little less than two hours there. We were supposed to meet back at 6, but a bunch of the exchange students (around 15) got caught in a show and didn't get back until 6.30 at the latest. The teachers and bus drivers (stupid Chubby Csaba) weren't happy. Then we were taken to a supermarket to buy food, and then back to the hostel for the night.
Tuesday started with being driven to Windsor Castle. It was rather silly, though, because we were going to see the changing of the guards, but couldn't see it, actually, and couldn't go into the castle. So we walked around Windsor and had Starbucks (first time in eight months.. Haha) and bought souvenirs. After Windsor, we were driven to Oxford, which was also rather silly, because we only stood around staring at the college, which wasn't all that exciting. And we couldn't go looking around the city at all. After Oxford, we were driven back to Oxford Street (haha) in London, and given about an hour and a half or two of free time there. I finally got sun glasses (hooray) and a birthday present for my host sister, Barbi (if you want to know, they were striped knee socks... She likes knee socks). Then it was back to the hostel.
On Wednesday, we went to the Tower of London in the morning. It was really interesting, at least for us. I saw the crown jewels, and so that was cool. But some of the stuff is seriously outlandish and rather gaudy and tacky. Ah well. After the Tower of London, we were driven back into town and given free time. Jess, Kelsey, and I (as well as some others) decided to use it to go to the Hard Rock Cafe London. After spending a LOT of time getting there, we had a delicious meal (best cheeseburger and fries I've had in my whole time being here) and went in the store, where (of course) I bought a shirt. Then we went back to meet our group, and went back to the hostel (surprise, surprise).
On Thursday, we had the mess of checking out of the hostel, then drove for forever (for whatever reason) only to reach the same point we'd had been at the day before. We were given more free time. Kelsey and I didn't want to spend money, so we went and got sandwiches (Pret A Manger!) for lunch, and then walked around the city. We went to the Parliament and talked to the picketer there (the one who's been protesting for something like four years). He was actually really cool. Then we walked back along the Thames, and sat on a bench. It was rather entertaining, because a group of 12-14 year old French kids came and surrounded us, waiting to get on their bus (we happened to be sitting in front of it). We didn't want them to understand what we were saying (in case any of them understood Engish), so we spoke in Hungarian. It was funny to see the looks on their faces, because it was obvious they had no idea what language we were speaking. Haha. Then we went back to the bus. There we found out one of the Thai girls (Dzsip) had had her bag (including her passport) stolen. Not good. The rest of the day was spent trying to go to the Thai embassy (closed due to the Thai new year) and the police station (too long of a line). So we didn't get to go to Hastings, or spend time in Dover. Instead we just went straight to the ferry.
On Friday, we got to Paris really early (around 8, I think). Sara, Jess, Sandy, Julia, Saca, Kelsey, and I went and got breakfast. Then we had the whole day, pretty much (until 6.30, when we were meeting at the Eiffel Tower) to go around the city. We started at the Notre Dame Cathedral, then went to the Louvre (saw the Mona Lisa and Venus de Milo), Champs Elysees, some other museum that we sat outside of, and finally the Eiffel tower. We ate lunch in the gardens outside of the Louvre, and actually walked the whole length of them (it was loonngg). At the Eiffel tower, Sara didn't feel like going up, so I stayed down with her because I'd already been up before. We got ice cream and walked around a bit.
We finally ended up leaving at around 7, for our long drive back to Budapest. We arrived in Budapest around 3 in the afternoon on Saturday, April 15th. Us Kaposvár girls had to go catch our last train home (barely made it). We were all marvelling at the weather and how pretty Budapest looked. Seriously, in the week we were gone, everything came into bloom and stuff. Boat tours are running on the Danube now, and everything's all tourist-y. So if you want to come visit me in Hungary (haha), come now! Budapest is nice again!
Anyway, dunno if you read all of that. Haha. It probably took you forever, if you did. It wasn't all that exciting, either. I'm sorry.
Oh, and check out a summary of photos from the trip here! http://www.ringo.com/photos/album.html?albumId=38495714
That's it for now.. Puszi, sziasztok!
So, as hopefully all of you knew, I spent last week out of the country. I embarked on a trip to London by means of passing through Austria, Germany, and Belgium on the way there, and France, Germany, and Austria on the way back. So here goes.
The girls from Kaposvár travelled up to Budapest on Thursday, April 6th, because we were to meet at Hero's Square at 9 am on Friday, the 7th, and there weren't any trains that would get us into Budapest on time. Sandy (from Iceland) and I stayed in a very good hostel that night.
Friday morning, we lugged our stuff from metro to metro to Hero's Square, on time, only to have the bus be an hour late. We ended up leaving about two (I think) hours after we were supposed to. That day, we drove through Hungary and Austria with only pit stops at gas stations and such until reaching Straubing, Germany, a small town in which our hostel for the night was. We were all pretty tired, and after exploring the town in search of dinner (no luck, everything was closed), we went back to the hostel and munched on our own food that we'd brought/bought.
The next morning, Saturday, the 8th, breakfast was at 6.15, so everyone was up early. We were set to leave early (at 7) for a day of travelling. I believe we ended up getting out at around 7.30 or so, so not too bad. In the early afternoon, we stopped in Cologne, Germany, for a few hours of free time. We (Julia, Sandy, Kelsey, Jess, Sara, and I) climbed up the cathedral tower (more than 500 steps). Right at the top of the tower, the batteries in my camera died. Of course. And my extras were in my other bag, so that rather sucked. After being up for a little while, we climbed back down, getting very dizzy in the process (they were spiral stairs the whole way). After that, we still had some free time, and walked around the town a bit. We found a really good shopping street, but didn't have the time to stop hardly anywhere, so that also kinda sucked. :P Then we headed back to the bus, and proceeded on to Brussels. We arrived in Brussels around 7.30. After much confusion and stuff, we were set free to go have dinner and stuff, having to meet back up in the main square at 10. Jess, Sara (both Australian), Kelsey, Saca (a Hungarian girl), and I went and found a place to eat, and got pizza and spaghetti. After that, we had a little free time and got Belgian waffles. Freaking deliciousss. :)
Then, we got back underway on our trip. We drove further until we reached the British customs office in France, and all loaded off at around 2.30 in the morning to get our passports checked. I was rather disappointed, because after travelling through 9 borders on the whole trip, this was the only stamp I got! After that, we got back on the bus and sat around for ever until we could load onto the ferry (at 4.30 in the morning, or something. Yuck). The ferry was about an hour and a half long, pretty much all of the exchange students conked out on seats and stuff until it was time to get off.
From there (we arrived in Dover, at around 6), we drove to Canterbury, a cute little town about an hour away from Dover. The town was very quaint and I liked it. Unfortunately, we were there at 7 in the morning, and not only that, but it was a Sunday as well. So literally nothing was open. The one cafe we did find that was supposed to open at 8 had had its window broken the night before, and so wasn't. The only place that WAS open was McDonald's, so of course all of the exchange students were there, eating breakfast. The upside to it was that I got a bagel with cream cheese. Yum. Then we all met back next to the cathedral, and went and looked at it. It was nice.
After that, we drove on to London. Most people slept most of the way. We arrived at the hostel sometime in the early afternoon (about 1, probably). Once there, though, our chaperones didn't want to let us out. We didn't understand why, and protested, until eventually they let us go out for food. Julia, Sandy, Kelsey, Sara, and I went off to a Lebanese restaurant way up the road and got pitas. They were yummy. We got back to the hostel around 6, only to find out we weren't supposed to go off alone. We got that sorted, though, and everything was all right. We were in for the rest of the night, and the hostel we were staying at (639 Harrow Road :D) was having a little karaoke night that night, so a bunch of the exchange students went down. It was cool. There was also a large group of Danish students staying at the hostel, as well. They all looked the same.. It was rather funny.
The next day, Monday, April 10th, started at 9 in the morning. At least, that's when we left. We went to the British Museum, and had three hours there for free time. We assumed they were three hours to look at the exhibits and we would get lunch after, so we looked at the Greek, Roman, African, American, Egyptian, and some of the Asian exhibits (pretty good for only three hours). It turned out, though, that we were supposed to get our lunch during that time, even though no one had told us. After much more protesting, it was established that we would get our lunch during the guided bus tour. So we went on the bus tour throughout London, and stopped at a wonderful chain sandwich place (Pret A Manger... Seriously perfect) for lunch, though most people went to McDonald's. Yuck.
After the tour, we were taken to Madame Taussaud's (dunno how to spell it) Wax Museum, and were given a little less than two hours there. We were supposed to meet back at 6, but a bunch of the exchange students (around 15) got caught in a show and didn't get back until 6.30 at the latest. The teachers and bus drivers (stupid Chubby Csaba) weren't happy. Then we were taken to a supermarket to buy food, and then back to the hostel for the night.
Tuesday started with being driven to Windsor Castle. It was rather silly, though, because we were going to see the changing of the guards, but couldn't see it, actually, and couldn't go into the castle. So we walked around Windsor and had Starbucks (first time in eight months.. Haha) and bought souvenirs. After Windsor, we were driven to Oxford, which was also rather silly, because we only stood around staring at the college, which wasn't all that exciting. And we couldn't go looking around the city at all. After Oxford, we were driven back to Oxford Street (haha) in London, and given about an hour and a half or two of free time there. I finally got sun glasses (hooray) and a birthday present for my host sister, Barbi (if you want to know, they were striped knee socks... She likes knee socks). Then it was back to the hostel.
On Wednesday, we went to the Tower of London in the morning. It was really interesting, at least for us. I saw the crown jewels, and so that was cool. But some of the stuff is seriously outlandish and rather gaudy and tacky. Ah well. After the Tower of London, we were driven back into town and given free time. Jess, Kelsey, and I (as well as some others) decided to use it to go to the Hard Rock Cafe London. After spending a LOT of time getting there, we had a delicious meal (best cheeseburger and fries I've had in my whole time being here) and went in the store, where (of course) I bought a shirt. Then we went back to meet our group, and went back to the hostel (surprise, surprise).
On Thursday, we had the mess of checking out of the hostel, then drove for forever (for whatever reason) only to reach the same point we'd had been at the day before. We were given more free time. Kelsey and I didn't want to spend money, so we went and got sandwiches (Pret A Manger!) for lunch, and then walked around the city. We went to the Parliament and talked to the picketer there (the one who's been protesting for something like four years). He was actually really cool. Then we walked back along the Thames, and sat on a bench. It was rather entertaining, because a group of 12-14 year old French kids came and surrounded us, waiting to get on their bus (we happened to be sitting in front of it). We didn't want them to understand what we were saying (in case any of them understood Engish), so we spoke in Hungarian. It was funny to see the looks on their faces, because it was obvious they had no idea what language we were speaking. Haha. Then we went back to the bus. There we found out one of the Thai girls (Dzsip) had had her bag (including her passport) stolen. Not good. The rest of the day was spent trying to go to the Thai embassy (closed due to the Thai new year) and the police station (too long of a line). So we didn't get to go to Hastings, or spend time in Dover. Instead we just went straight to the ferry.
On Friday, we got to Paris really early (around 8, I think). Sara, Jess, Sandy, Julia, Saca, Kelsey, and I went and got breakfast. Then we had the whole day, pretty much (until 6.30, when we were meeting at the Eiffel Tower) to go around the city. We started at the Notre Dame Cathedral, then went to the Louvre (saw the Mona Lisa and Venus de Milo), Champs Elysees, some other museum that we sat outside of, and finally the Eiffel tower. We ate lunch in the gardens outside of the Louvre, and actually walked the whole length of them (it was loonngg). At the Eiffel tower, Sara didn't feel like going up, so I stayed down with her because I'd already been up before. We got ice cream and walked around a bit.
We finally ended up leaving at around 7, for our long drive back to Budapest. We arrived in Budapest around 3 in the afternoon on Saturday, April 15th. Us Kaposvár girls had to go catch our last train home (barely made it). We were all marvelling at the weather and how pretty Budapest looked. Seriously, in the week we were gone, everything came into bloom and stuff. Boat tours are running on the Danube now, and everything's all tourist-y. So if you want to come visit me in Hungary (haha), come now! Budapest is nice again!
Anyway, dunno if you read all of that. Haha. It probably took you forever, if you did. It wasn't all that exciting, either. I'm sorry.
Oh, and check out a summary of photos from the trip here! http://www.ringo.com/photos/album.html?albumId=38495714
That's it for now.. Puszi, sziasztok!