Budapest, Hungary and Taking a Moment to Soak Everything In

The last two cities that we visited on this trip to Eastern Europe were Bratislava, Slovakia and Budapest, Hungary. We were only in Slovakia for half a day, but it was still enough time to get a glimpse at where this country has come from and where it hopes to go in the future. The top picture is the castle overlooking the entirety of Bratislava. From this point, I truly got a full picture of the city (and not in a camera kind of way). The castle and older part of the city were a standing legacy to the history of Bratislava throughout the centuries. Various styles of architecture were visible everywhere. Across the river, I could see the communist legacy of cement-block style apartments built in the latter half of the 20th century. Almost everywhere I could see was excitement about the Euro. In 2009 Slovakia joined the monetary union of the EU and thus was brought under its protective wing (extremely beneficial for the country right now, this cannot be understated). Posters marking this historic achievement were everywhere. It's hard to see, but even the castle amidst the scaffolding had a Euro 2009 poster with a 1 Euro coin.

Next we traveled to my favorite city from this trip, Budapest. In all reality, you would be hard-pressed to find a city with a more beautiful Parliamen (see Parliament). Regardless, Budapest had this and an amazing castle and cathedral opposite parliament across the river. We were able to take a boat cruise on the Danube at night, and the above picture is one from that trip. I wish it did more justice.



Once again I came away from the meetings aspect of this city believing entirely that what we learned would have taken at least twice as long in the classroom and would likely not have stuck in our memories nearly as well. From each speaker that discussed the politics and economics of Hungary, I gathered the dismal reality of their situation. Hungary faces an insurmountable challenge from the financial crisis. A challenge made more difficult even with loans from the IMF and EU due to the countries lack-luster political situation. On top of all this, the public is disheartened from corruption and ineffective government. Dismal enough yet? The country's economy is based on exports; mainly automobiles and parts...

As disheartening as the situation may be, I felt like Budapest and Hungary still have a lot to offer. The magnificent beauty of the central core of Budapest needs to be advertised more. The river corridor with parliament, the castle and other beautiful buildings are truly something to be proud of. Another thing the city had going for it while we were there was the exchange rate (thanks also in part to the crisis, but that helps tourism). Meals and souvenirs were significantly cheaper for us than for the students in my program that came the semester before us. Also heavily influencing my opinion was the weather. Much of what we experienced this trip was cold, gray, wet or a mixture of all three. Our last day in Budapest was magnificent. The sun was shining, the sky was a deep blue, and it wasn't cold :) See the third picture.

We also visited the Nazi extermination camps of Auschwitz/Birkenau. I didn't include those pictures mostly because of time, but I may put them up later. The feelings and impressions I came away from there with would also be too hard to put into words, nor could I do them justice.

Overall this trip was certainly my favorite. The sights, experiences and impressions will last a liftime, no doubt!

Just before I wrote this blog this evening, something striking hit me. I finished my work for the day and was listening to music (Band of Brothers Soundtrack) while looking up info on Omaha Beach and the French railway system (for a short trip when we have a break). I was doing this from my apartment in Freiburg, Germany where I am studying abroad for a semester, drinking a beer I bought in the Czech Republic, which was made in Bratislava. This is a once in a lifetime experience (Erfahrung). I had to smile and think, "This. Is. Amazing. How did I get so fortunate?"