This past weekend I took a trip to an area of Hungary called Balatongyörök, which is about a three hour drive southwest of Budapest. Myself and around 200 other students from all around got to know each other (very) well during our two day retreat out of the city, and I feel really lucky to have been able to see this new area of the country.
Corvinus University had 4 buses full of undergraduate and graduate students. Luckily we all had one thing in common: English. Sure, that's great for us Americans, but it also makes us feel like total doofuses. We actually weren't supposed to go on this trip because it was organized by an exchange program that deals with just about every country in the world besides the United States (because we're elitists, perhaps? Unwilling to compromise, maybe?) but were allowed to attend because all the spaces didn't fill.
After our bus ride beginning at 08:30am, we arrived at Lake Balaton. I didn't really take any photos because I didn't think it was that interesting. From there, we went to a place called the Abbey Church, a 250 year old monastery and crypt.
We had a tour guide, which was nice because we could listen and look at the same time. I probably would have found it more interesting if I was religious, though. I was most compelled by how old the place was. It seems like it's really hard for myself and the other Americans I've spoken with to grasp how young of a country we come from.
In the Benedictine Museum next door, there were a lot of great surrealist sculptures. Some of them were even demonic, in a way.
My new friends and I posing with central Europe's only body of water, Lake Balaton, in the background.
One thing I will try to establish when I come home is dessert after every meal, like crepes after lunch, for example.
The next day I went to the Helikon Kastelymuzeum which is the former palace of the Festetics family. It was built in 1750, and they take such good care of it that you have to wear felt booties while walking around inside to preserve the wooden floors.
An amazing library, and really detailed wallpaper.
1 comment:
so pretty
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