Wednesday, March 13, 2013
Another Cliffs of Moher Picture
Slowly working on some of the pictures from older trips as the semester goes along.. this one is from Ireland!
Budapest, Hungary!
Hey! Its been awhile since I updated this thing so time to fill people in again. It is now March.. and it is still cold and snowing. Not okay. According to the locals it is "crazy" to get even one snowfall a year.. It has been snowing since we got here it seems! Hopefully we get to see the tulips before i leave again in eight short weeks.. getting sick of biking in the cold.. Everything else is still going splendidly.. host family school bible studies excursions.. everything is awesome!
Education
The education system out here is vastly different.. So i decided to cover briefly just a little bit about it before I get into Budapest, of course this is all my understanding of it.. To start the private and public schools out here are both funded by the government- that was a huge surprise. When kids are around the age of twelve they are tested and the parent's together with the kids decide what school to send them to the following year. The smartest kids go to one school, most kids to a middle school, and then the kids that need help to another. Already at that young age then kids need to decide what field they want to go into, and they start learning that. In the grade school equivalent we were in the kids were learning how to weld, work with metal, woodworking, business situations, you name it and they had an entire setup intended to practice it! The kids then can go on to high school(college) specifically to learn that skill.. the school we are at out here is actually for nurses, social work, and theology majors. A few of the elite can go to university which is more like what the American college is like. There are lots of positives and negatives to the system, and of course I am sure that I have stated some things slightly different and left things out.. it gets really confusing. In brief though, I am glad that i was educated in America! Here you need to pick where you are going quite early in life, even when i was eighteen i didn't know where i was going to end up! I also love having a liberal education in college, which is not offered out here. I did read an article recently that some colleges are starting to lean that direction here though. The positive is obviously that they produce a lot of people that are ready to work at a young age. Personally though, I feel that potential is stifled when people are classified. If one is excellent in music but can't pass math they are not allowed into university! Finally, the other thing that is vastly different is that all "special" kids are segregated into a school of their own. This means that we peeked into a classroom that was all ADD and ADHD kids.. Again, there are positives and negatives. They are getting an education catered to them.. but I think it would be better if they worked harder to fit in with the rest of the class personally so that they don't feel different or labeled!
On to travel! The class visited Utrecht.. but i have not had a chance to look at my pictures yet so I will cover that later! Last week the business class had a trip to Berlin to go to a conference.. and sadly I'm not part of that class. So Ashleigh and I decided to take advantage of the opportunity and go on the cheapest trip we could find, which was Budapest, Hungary! We booked on Sunday and flew out Tuesday afternoon!
Flying with "wizzair" was an experience! The plane landed and everyone clapped as soon as the wheels were down safely, we didn't realize why until he bounced the plane drastically when we landed on the way home and no one clapped!
Hostels are always an experience.. We buzzed the door and a man with dreadlocks down to his waist answered. It turned out to be an awesome place, despite whatever the people who worked there were smoking;) We got plenty of Hungarian culture that is for sure!
We took advantage of a free walking tour of the city the first day and learned so much! It was also the only english speaking people we met the whole trip... which made it quite difficult to navigate!
As always.. street artists are my favorite!
We ate with the group after the tour.. I had paprika chicken.. I think. It was tasty and cheap!! One dollar is equal to 226 forints.. so thankfully food and everything was quite affordable this trip. Walking around with 5000 forint bills was a new experience. We dined with a group of people studying in Finland, from Ireland, Greece, New Jersey, and Australia.. very exciting!
St. Stephen (pronouced steven.. made me miss ya dad!) was the first king of Hungary.. and the city places him on a pedestal even with Christ himself. Also interesting that most of the country is Christian!
On Fisherman's Bastion with their parliament building in the background.
Hopefully you can click and enlarge.. this is a panoramic taken from the Bastion.
That afternoon we decided to find the Elizabeth Lookout tower.. the highest point around and supposed to be easy to find.. after two buses a tram an ancient train a lot of backtracking.. some scary places (see above).. maps from people who didn't speak english.. and more walking than I care to think about.. we finally did find what we were looking for, and it was well worth the walk!
St. Stephens Basilica.. second largest church building in Hungary.
The next morning we got up bright and early to see the Central Market.. three floors of food souvenirs and shops!
The Rock Church had a lot of history behind it.. but the coolest thing for me was when Ashleigh told me that the cave is naturally heated by the streams running through the pillars in the cave.
Epic Bridge from the top of Gellert Hill.. by far my favorite bridge of the semester so far!
After a long climb we made it to Lady Liberty! Iconic she is always lit and above the city. She is one of the few remaining statues from the communist era. Hungary was communist until 1989, and after that all of the statues were torn down, but people liked her to much so she was instead covered with a white sheet for three days to cleanse her and now she remains standing.
The city behind us..
Their royal guards were almost as cool as London's!
Buda Castle
Found Aslan again on the Chain Bridge.. first bridge to connect Buda and Pest, yes they are two separate and completely different cities.
More Hungarian food! Langos made in the fire.. Sourdough bread with garlic sauce and cream cheese, then bacon and cheese.. We had some later that were fried instead and both varieties were awesome and filling! A typical hungarian meal can be up to 3000 calories.. yes the old men have big bellies.
Typical snack.. we were told it was like cheesecake.. they lied.
Following morning we went to city park and saw the Millennium Monument
Budapest is known as the city of spas! We visited Szechenyi Bath. It is the largest medicinal pool in the Europe made up of 18 pools. The big outdoor one behind us is still around 80 degrees because they are all spring fed. They contain all kinds of minerals that are good for joints and illnesses and such too. We spent about three hours here and tried all the pools.. warm hot and freezing.. along with the saunas and the whirlpool. Sitting in a pool in the middle of a palace.. I can not complain!
These guys play chess in the pool year round.
What's a trip without an awesome candy store
Hungary is an extremely poor country. There was homeless laying all over the place all times of day. The subways and buses were.. old is putting it nicely! The trams were interesting though.. we rode the #7 tram in the world according to national geographic! Another thing we noticed- people here are not afraid to show affection to each other in public, at all. Everywhere we went there was people all over each other, which made for some awkward bus rides!
Graffiti absolutely everywhere.
After two days a few wrong buses... ya wow this place was hard to find. To further the experience it is open until sunset.. notice how the sun is up and we are not inside? Enough said. Monument Park is outside of the city but where all of the communist statues were put in 89. We were told not to even ask the locals about the communism.. apparently it is a very touchy subject.
Stalin's boots! The rest of him was torn down.
Lenin..
Waiting for the bus back in the awesome bus stop
The synagogue is the 2nd largest in the world.
Weeping Willow tree.. each leaf is full of inscriptions of people murdered during the holocaust. "Whose Agony is Greater than mine"
We had a few hours to kill as we had to be at the airport at four in the morning.. so we went to city park for a few hours and managed to catch a Mumford and Sons concert for free! The entrance was so close to the stage we were able to enjoy the music and then get to the bustop.. where we saw a dead man on a bench nearby being tended to by police. Quite humbling. Overall it was a fantastic trip and we were blessed to make it there and back safely! The last picture is a full 360 degree taken from Buda Castle.. Left to middle wall is 180 degrees.. then to the right wall is another 180 degrees... Hope that makes sense! Miss everyone! Ill be home in eight weeks!
Education
The education system out here is vastly different.. So i decided to cover briefly just a little bit about it before I get into Budapest, of course this is all my understanding of it.. To start the private and public schools out here are both funded by the government- that was a huge surprise. When kids are around the age of twelve they are tested and the parent's together with the kids decide what school to send them to the following year. The smartest kids go to one school, most kids to a middle school, and then the kids that need help to another. Already at that young age then kids need to decide what field they want to go into, and they start learning that. In the grade school equivalent we were in the kids were learning how to weld, work with metal, woodworking, business situations, you name it and they had an entire setup intended to practice it! The kids then can go on to high school(college) specifically to learn that skill.. the school we are at out here is actually for nurses, social work, and theology majors. A few of the elite can go to university which is more like what the American college is like. There are lots of positives and negatives to the system, and of course I am sure that I have stated some things slightly different and left things out.. it gets really confusing. In brief though, I am glad that i was educated in America! Here you need to pick where you are going quite early in life, even when i was eighteen i didn't know where i was going to end up! I also love having a liberal education in college, which is not offered out here. I did read an article recently that some colleges are starting to lean that direction here though. The positive is obviously that they produce a lot of people that are ready to work at a young age. Personally though, I feel that potential is stifled when people are classified. If one is excellent in music but can't pass math they are not allowed into university! Finally, the other thing that is vastly different is that all "special" kids are segregated into a school of their own. This means that we peeked into a classroom that was all ADD and ADHD kids.. Again, there are positives and negatives. They are getting an education catered to them.. but I think it would be better if they worked harder to fit in with the rest of the class personally so that they don't feel different or labeled!
On to travel! The class visited Utrecht.. but i have not had a chance to look at my pictures yet so I will cover that later! Last week the business class had a trip to Berlin to go to a conference.. and sadly I'm not part of that class. So Ashleigh and I decided to take advantage of the opportunity and go on the cheapest trip we could find, which was Budapest, Hungary! We booked on Sunday and flew out Tuesday afternoon!
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| The entire city behind us! |
The Rock Church had a lot of history behind it.. but the coolest thing for me was when Ashleigh told me that the cave is naturally heated by the streams running through the pillars in the cave.
Buda Castle
Following morning we went to city park and saw the Millennium Monument
We had a few hours to kill as we had to be at the airport at four in the morning.. so we went to city park for a few hours and managed to catch a Mumford and Sons concert for free! The entrance was so close to the stage we were able to enjoy the music and then get to the bustop.. where we saw a dead man on a bench nearby being tended to by police. Quite humbling. Overall it was a fantastic trip and we were blessed to make it there and back safely! The last picture is a full 360 degree taken from Buda Castle.. Left to middle wall is 180 degrees.. then to the right wall is another 180 degrees... Hope that makes sense! Miss everyone! Ill be home in eight weeks!
Friday, March 1, 2013
Spring Break 2013! London and Dublin
On Friday night the 15th of February six of us out here embarked on our spring break. We took a train to Amsterdam, where we boarded a bus to head to London. Thirteen hours and a ferry ride across the English Channel later we showed up in London on Saturday morning dead tired!
View Larger Map
The hostel was an hour walk across town, on the way we ended up in front of Buckingham Palace, caught the mounted changing of the guards.. saw the eye..saw the Prime Ministers house with his car in the background of the last picture.. and eventually made out way to to Rest Up London Hostel! The hostel was an experience in itself. Nine bunk beds in a room.. one bathroom with two toilets two showers and three sicks.. to be shared by guys and girls alike. Made for quite the interesting experiences, especially when some of the people at the hostel smelled worse than any homeless person I have ever met..
That night we went up the London Eye, the largest ferris wheel in the world. It takes a half hour to go around, and the view from the top was absolutely stunning! A few of us purchased the London Pass, so that we had travel and entrance fees all paid for for a few days, which saved us a lot of money, time and hassle! The first thing we saw was the HMS Belfast. The ship was used during the attack on Normandy, and also in some other major battles of WWII. What amazed me was that the anti-air guns on the ship were not accurate, but could shoot up to 39,000 feet!
After the Belfast we took a tour of Tower Bridge. The tour itself was not that exciting, but we got to walk across the top which was an awesome view! The bridge was the second one across the River Thames, and was badly needed at the time. It was of completely new design, utilizing steam power in order to raise it.
Right next to Tower Bridge is the tower of London... Dating back to the 11th century it has been a key point of control and defense for England for centuries. We saw the tower where a lot of important prisoners were tortured on "the rack" and it is now the location of the Royal Crown Jewels! After waiting in line for awhile we were able to see crowns from years past that have been worn, along with all the gold table settings and all that ornate stuff.. right up to seeing the crown that is currently used at the end.
I was finally able to go see a castle! Windsor Castle is the oldest and largest occupied castle in the world. It is still a "weekend getaway" for the queen, and around 150 people live there year round. All of the rooms in the castle are still used, so really you are not allowed into to much of the castle itself. the pure size of it was crazy! We were able to go in the "state rooms" but not take pictures... but rooms full of old weapons and paintings and huge sitting rooms and dining rooms.. just the maintenance and amount of wood needed to keep all the fires in there going is astounding!
Hampton Court was an extremely hurried visit, but the history behind the place is astounding to say the least. King Henry VIII took up residence there, but the location of it was the best part. Out the back door is an awesome garden of sorts with fountains, sculptures, and a massive pool/canal.
Some of the group had made it to Harry Potter world.. I didn't wanna fork over the funds but still made it to King's Cross Station and Platform 9 3/4!!
A few of us wanted to hit up Oxford, so one of the days we made the long walk to the bus station to head up there and visit some Dordt students doing a semester abroad there. Yes we made that hour walk to and from the bus station to the hostel seven or eight times while we were in London.. yes it stunk.
After this we headed off to Ireland..
Our hostel was very budget friendly!! picked us up from the airport.. free breakfast.. a free tour worth 30 euros.. definitely would have made money off them if their maids hadn't taken our towels!! We flew out to Ireland early.. Left the hostel in London around 3 am.. so we were pretty tired that first day. We did visit a prison though. At the time it didn't mean much but as we got to know more of the countries history we learned that many of their leaders in the revolution for independence against England were kept and executed there. Kilmainham Gaol!
The free tour we took was to Glendalough, the Wicklow Mountains, and Kilkenny. Our guide was awesome! A short irishman with a case of road rage that loved to sing. He kept us learning and singing about Irish songs and their history for the duration of the day.
We then got a great discount on a tour to the Cliffs of Moher/Insanity thanks to our awesome driver! It is all the way across Ireland.. so maybe two hours drive;)
We took a bus back again.. under the English Channel this time! We loaded the bus on a train and through the tunnel we went.. not my favorite part of the trip but proud to say i havn't gotten sick yet while out here despite all the crazy travel methods! :)
I think that covers most of the trip! It was an awesome experience! Got to know the group a lot better.. how can you not when you are not out of each others eyesight for nine days.. Had some fish and chips in London.. and as always there are lots of small moments to write about that im sure i forgot to mention. School is still going well.. just had out midterm evaluation! Hopefully in the next few days ill do a post about education out here and some of the other cultural differences we have encountered. Im still doing fine.. miss home, family, friends, AMERICAN FOOD!!!, and my independence a LOT- but down to two months left so I'll be fine! Really starting to look forward to this summer.. for those of you who didn't know I am going to be an Expeditions guide at a camp by Lake City, Colorado.. so I will not have a cell phone for another four months! The quick turnaround is scary but I am sure that God will give me the strength! If you want to know more about how I'm doing.. as Amanda says.. shoot me a message! And if you have anywhere awesome to see in Europe let me know! I got a five day weekend next week and am not sure where we want to go yet..
Camp Redcloud.. please keep me in your prayers as I am trying to prepare for the summer while in Europe!
Can't wait to see my car again!!
The hostel was an hour walk across town, on the way we ended up in front of Buckingham Palace, caught the mounted changing of the guards.. saw the eye..saw the Prime Ministers house with his car in the background of the last picture.. and eventually made out way to to Rest Up London Hostel! The hostel was an experience in itself. Nine bunk beds in a room.. one bathroom with two toilets two showers and three sicks.. to be shared by guys and girls alike. Made for quite the interesting experiences, especially when some of the people at the hostel smelled worse than any homeless person I have ever met..
That night we went up the London Eye, the largest ferris wheel in the world. It takes a half hour to go around, and the view from the top was absolutely stunning! A few of us purchased the London Pass, so that we had travel and entrance fees all paid for for a few days, which saved us a lot of money, time and hassle! The first thing we saw was the HMS Belfast. The ship was used during the attack on Normandy, and also in some other major battles of WWII. What amazed me was that the anti-air guns on the ship were not accurate, but could shoot up to 39,000 feet!
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| The captain's chair |
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| On the deck.. |
After the Belfast we took a tour of Tower Bridge. The tour itself was not that exciting, but we got to walk across the top which was an awesome view! The bridge was the second one across the River Thames, and was badly needed at the time. It was of completely new design, utilizing steam power in order to raise it.
Right next to Tower Bridge is the tower of London... Dating back to the 11th century it has been a key point of control and defense for England for centuries. We saw the tower where a lot of important prisoners were tortured on "the rack" and it is now the location of the Royal Crown Jewels! After waiting in line for awhile we were able to see crowns from years past that have been worn, along with all the gold table settings and all that ornate stuff.. right up to seeing the crown that is currently used at the end.
I was finally able to go see a castle! Windsor Castle is the oldest and largest occupied castle in the world. It is still a "weekend getaway" for the queen, and around 150 people live there year round. All of the rooms in the castle are still used, so really you are not allowed into to much of the castle itself. the pure size of it was crazy! We were able to go in the "state rooms" but not take pictures... but rooms full of old weapons and paintings and huge sitting rooms and dining rooms.. just the maintenance and amount of wood needed to keep all the fires in there going is astounding!
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| Caught the Guards parading as we came in! |
Hampton Court was an extremely hurried visit, but the history behind the place is astounding to say the least. King Henry VIII took up residence there, but the location of it was the best part. Out the back door is an awesome garden of sorts with fountains, sculptures, and a massive pool/canal.
Some of the group had made it to Harry Potter world.. I didn't wanna fork over the funds but still made it to King's Cross Station and Platform 9 3/4!!
A few of us wanted to hit up Oxford, so one of the days we made the long walk to the bus station to head up there and visit some Dordt students doing a semester abroad there. Yes we made that hour walk to and from the bus station to the hostel seven or eight times while we were in London.. yes it stunk.
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| On our walk we stopped to gaze at Westminster Abbey. |
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| Had tea in the pub where Tolkien and C.S Lewis always sat together! |
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| One of Oxford's Library's.. the public is not allowed in sadly. Apparently there are tunnels running all over under here full of books.. and connecting libraries.. and lots of different levels of them so lots of students disappear down there to study. |
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| Christ Church... We have seen so many huge churches anymore that unless we get a full tour they don't really pique our interest |
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| Inside the garden where Tolkien always sat. |
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| Christ Church from the other side... |
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| Paddy's Palace! Our hostel and tour provider.. yes we rode around in the "paddywagon" for three days. |
We were famished. Most of what we ate was the cheapest we could find.. not that healthy!
The free tour we took was to Glendalough, the Wicklow Mountains, and Kilkenny. Our guide was awesome! A short irishman with a case of road rage that loved to sing. He kept us learning and singing about Irish songs and their history for the duration of the day.
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| First stop was Glendalough.. yes this is where apparently "PS I Love You" and "Braveheart" were filmed.. it was amazing country! Drove through Irelands highest town to get here. |
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| An old monastery we got to walk through |
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| The water tower.. when invaders came the watcher would warn the people then stay up in the tower.. often to be burned out. |
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| A tomb! The heaviest one in all of Europe this rock covers the entrance.. this site remains untouched so they don't know who is buried there or how old it is exactly. Many consider it equal to stonehenge in that they have no idea how the stone was moved back then. |
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| Drove past Hollywood.. population 100? |
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| Kilkenny Castle! |
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| A panoramic of the castle... |
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| Stopped here on the way.. |
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| Stopped at the baby cliffs! Actually more frightening because you sit right on the edge of these.. |
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| The group minus Brian.. he was off trying to fall and perish. |
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| The cliffs of Moher!!! 702 feet high... |
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| And from the other side! Ill have more pictures later.. but decided that blogging was more important for the time being.
Then we took off back to London for the last day or so! We covered a lot that last day.. I got lots of pictures of street people in Covent Garden which made my day!
              
Abbey Road where the Beetles famous picture was taken..
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Shakespeare Globe! Performed all of his plays here..
The taxis are a model of car made only for London taxis..
We took a bus back again.. under the English Channel this time! We loaded the bus on a train and through the tunnel we went.. not my favorite part of the trip but proud to say i havn't gotten sick yet while out here despite all the crazy travel methods! :)
I think that covers most of the trip! It was an awesome experience! Got to know the group a lot better.. how can you not when you are not out of each others eyesight for nine days.. Had some fish and chips in London.. and as always there are lots of small moments to write about that im sure i forgot to mention. School is still going well.. just had out midterm evaluation! Hopefully in the next few days ill do a post about education out here and some of the other cultural differences we have encountered. Im still doing fine.. miss home, family, friends, AMERICAN FOOD!!!, and my independence a LOT- but down to two months left so I'll be fine! Really starting to look forward to this summer.. for those of you who didn't know I am going to be an Expeditions guide at a camp by Lake City, Colorado.. so I will not have a cell phone for another four months! The quick turnaround is scary but I am sure that God will give me the strength! If you want to know more about how I'm doing.. as Amanda says.. shoot me a message! And if you have anywhere awesome to see in Europe let me know! I got a five day weekend next week and am not sure where we want to go yet..
Camp Redcloud.. please keep me in your prayers as I am trying to prepare for the summer while in Europe!
Can't wait to see my car again!!
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