A museum, an opera and some sheep cheese.

Picking right up where I last left off! 

On Thursday I visited the House of Terror Museum. The address on Andrassy Utca in Budapest has been home to the security administrations of the Hungarian Nazi Party (The Arrow Cross), and the Soviet Regime.

An "Iron Curtain" Statue outside of the museum. 

The museum was long, but the message was striking. The history of the place was made more potent by its location. Historical photographs depicted tanks, weapons, explosions and bodies laying right outside the steps of where the museum now stands. The basement of the museum has replicas of the prison cells and torture weapons used by the Soviet Regime in the time of spying, secret police and deceit. 

Although the museum has a few bright moments (Colorful Soviet propaganda, revolutionary tales and the end of the Communist bloc.) again the message was grim. Many innocent people lost their lives both in the revolution in 1956, and in the transition from Nazi control, to brief democracy, to the Communists taking control. 

An Italian student who was with me asked me this question: " Can you even imagine what would have happened if American and Allied forces had reached this place in the war?" Geography, particularly of this region, has defined the history of this region, and often times they drew the short straw. (I am discovering that this is a pretty narrow-minded view actually, more on that later.) 

Following the Museum I joined my roommates at a Hungarian Opera! I meant to purchase us tickets for the very famous Hungarian State Opera House, where they were showing a French show with both Hungarian and English subtitles. Unfortunately, I purchased non-refundable tickets to an entirely Hungarian show, at theater just down the street. The show was Don Pasquale, and it involved a marriage, a topless actress, and a chorus of dancing frogs. I could not tell you the plot, even after watching it for two acts. It was however, a fantastic display of talent, and a window into the importance of performance art in the city. 

Me and my roommates at the opera I dragged them to. 

Last Friday the school hosted an international dinner for the exchange and Erasmus students. We all brought typical foods and drinks from our own nation and got to try some others from all around the world! I have been to this sort of event before, but it is a lot different when an actual Korean students is serving you Bulgogi! I brought an apple pie, which took a few trips to the market and half an afternoon to figure out how to put together. The whole tram smelled like Christmas on my way to the campus, which was a first for public transport in this city.

We went shopping at the large market at Fovam Ter. for ingredients for international dinner.

At the dinner I ate enough for three meals. I tried German sweets, Turkish grain salads, French sandwiches and even some Chocolate tequila from the Mexican table. My American friend Audrey even managed to but together some real-life buffalo chicken wings. 

Supporting the USA at the international dinner. Also in the picture is my roommate Blanca from Spain! 

On Saturday, the next morning we met early at the train station to take us north west to Slovakia. The train was only about two and a half hours, and went through some beautiful farm countryside and small villages. I unfortunately spent most of the travel time trying to review Organic Chemistry, for a supposedly "fun" class I signed up for, which has a test every week.

Arriving at the train station.

The historical city center of Bratislava is absolutely beautiful. Although we were told it was very small, I really think it deserved the night we spent there. This was also the first time I had used airbnb to book housing and it was an absolutely fantastic experience. We ended up in an apartment just outside the city center just by ourselves for less than the price of a hostel! 

The quiet streets of the historic city center.

Children's paintings decorate a part of the church that they cannot afford to clean up.

We spent Saturday wandering around the city, in out of small shops, bookstores and drinking Mulled wine. We saw the inside of the coronation Chapel. and laughed at ourselves trying to intimidate statues that we passed. For dinner we went to a traditional Slovakian pub that had been recommended to us by a Slovakian student in Hungary. We all split trays of pierogies, and a potato dumpling called Haluski. I try and be open minded about new foods, but this was the first think I've tried here that I really really hated. It was like eating heavy cream, butter, and bitter cheese, and then it was heavier than that! When the food came out I was concerned it wouldn't be enough, but I couldn't stomach even more than a few bites!

Exploring some bookshops.

The creamy dish on the end is **shudder** Halusky. There is also sheep cheese on the pierogies in the middle of the plate. 

After dinner we went out in search of some nightlife, and we ended up in a bookstore that turns into a pub in the evening! I drank a glass of wine and read the first few pages of the Goldfinch and I've never been happier in my entire life. This was seriously the highlight of the trip for me!

Bookstore/Coffee/Bar

The next day we took a walking tour back through the historical district, and learned a lot more about the history of the city, including the Candle demonstration and the Velvet revolution that protested communism in the 1980's. My favorite part of the tour, however, was when the guide explained a very particular Slovakian tradition happening on Easter Monday.

On the tour we also saw the famous "Blue Church". It;'s a blue church. 

The tradition goes a little like this. Women are woken up with iced water thrown on them by their brother, or other male friends. Then throughout the day they are subjected to more water throwing, and even whipping with very soft branches! The young women's parents allow different men to enter the home! She was laughing about it herself when she was telling us, and it all stems from old superstition that cold water and this particular tree brings youth, beauty and intelligence. I cannot believe that a tradition like this actually exists, but she just smiled. She said that women hate when only a few men come looking for them, because it means they are unpopular!

If you want you can look up some videos on Youtube of that weird tradition, it looks really scary to be honest, but I think the people are smiling! 

We ended our trip walking the palace grounds, and trying to get an Eastern European pancake on our way to the train station. We were about to miss the train, so it looks like the pancake has to wait until we find another restaurant that sells them. Very soon we were back on our way to Budapest, and again trying to study Organic Chemistry. That's really the only thing that reminds me I am a student, and not just on permanent vacation!

The view from the palace.

In the distance the UFO restaurant can be seen on the bridge. 

I have to finish this blog post by describing the scene around me as I type. I have FINALLY found a great coffee shop near my campus, and it was right underneath my nose the whole time! Colorful books are lining the shelves from floor to ceiling, pastries sit in the case, and I have a espresso that I am trying to learn how to drink without sugar. The people around me are speaking in many languages, and every table is full of people working or chatting with friends. There are some English professors near me, as well as the Hungarian full time students. There is a statues of an Asian soldier holding a book by the door. I just realized there was an upstairs! (Also the man next to me has started to explain the coffee menu and I really needed that information haha). [UPDATE: the cutest dog just walked into this cafe, and apparently that is super normal here!!]

I promise this place was full just a minute before I took this photograph.