11/25/19 - Monday I went to class and worked on homework. I made the truffle risotto I bought from Eataly. I was a little nervous because I ruined the last risotto I tried to make, but this one was good.
11/26/19 - On Tuesday I did my homework and a little bit of online black Friday shopping.
11/27/19 - I had class and met with a group I’m working on a project with for class on Wednesday. The rest of the night I spent working on projects and homework. All of my papers and projects are due next week, so that’s why I’ve been swamped.
11/28/19 - Thursday I did homework and packed for my final trip this weekend. I’m headed to Budapest, Vienna, and Salzburg. Can’t believe it’s my final trip! For dinner I had some chicken and french fries. They were the worst french fries ever and it definitely wasn’t the Thanksgiving dinner I’m used to. That night at 9, I got on the bus and headed to Budapest.
11/29/19 - After 12 hours, my roommates and I arrived in Budapest. I was going to have to survive the entire day off of 2 hours of sleep. We started out with a 2 hour walking tour of the city. We went to see the park with the cities ferris wheel, and there was a small Christmas market there. Then we went to see the largest Catholic church in Budapest. The large Christmas market is set up in front of it, so we walked through that a little. Next we walked to the bridge and got to see the Buda side of the city. The Pest side is the more lively part, and the Buda side is the more residential part. Along the river, we saw the palace and place where their president and prime minister do their work. After that, we climbed up the hill on the Buda side to get a view of the city. Sophia, Hannah, and I grabbed a quick hotdog and Hungarian sausage to eat for lunch. The sausage had paprika, and so did the ketchup. They were both really good. We saw a really beautiful church with a tiled and colored roof. We also saw the parliament building across the river, which is a really beautiful building. Sadly, we didn’t have time to walk over to it. After the walking tour, we had tickets to go to the Szechenyi thermal baths. There are a couple baths in Budapest, and definitely something to do if you visit. They were nice and warm (even though it was pretty cold outside). It was nice to relax a little bit too, after walking all morning (and not sleeping). We tried out some Hungarian street food after. It was like deep fried dough with sour cream and cheese on top. It sounds kind of weird, but it was actually really good. We went back to the hostel we were staying at to freshen up, and then headed back to the Christmas markets. We shopped around for a little bit, but then got hungry. We got dinner at a Hungarian restaurant. I wanted to try the goulash of course, and then I got the paprika chicken, too. They were both so good, but I was so full after. We walked back home through the Christmas markets and we got a chimney cake. It’s like dough wrapped on like a fire rod and cooked over hot coals. Then they coat it in a topping. I got vanilla, but they also had strawberry and cinnamon and such. We were pretty tired by the time we got back, but we were told we had to at least see the “ruins bar”. So we went just to look around. It’s basically these bars they have all over with eclectic decorations all over the walls. It was pretty cool and huge, but we left to go to bed instead of getting a drink. We had to get up early the next day anyway. I really loved Budapest, but we definitely didn’t have enough time. I will for sure be visiting again someday (plus it’s so cheap so that’s a plus!).
11/30/19 - On Saturday we left at 7am to go to Vienna, Austria. When we first got there, we walked to the city center. We started at Starbucks for a bathroom and coffee (since we have been deprived of Starbucks in Italy). When we finished there, we headed to the large church in the city center. It also had a similar tiled roof like the Budapest church. We stepped inside quick to see the inside. It was a really beautiful church, and there was even a service going on in German. There was a small Christmas market around church, so we walked through that after. Then we did a little bit of regular shopping. I got a cute dress on sale at & Other Stories. After, we were pretty hungry. We found a popular little Austrian place not too far away. I got the pork roast with a dumpling. It was really good of course, but so filling. Next we walked over to the Hofburg Palace. Sadly it was closing, so we didn’t go inside. We did see the outside though, and we saw the balcony Hitler made some sort of speech on when Germany took over Austria. We compared it to old pictures, it was pretty chilling. Then we walked over to check out the city hall. Turns out, that’s where the large Christmas market is. We walked around there for a short bit, before we had to meet for the bus to drop us at the hostel. We rested at the hostel for a little bit, but then decided to go back to spend more time at the Christmas market (also they have uber there, yay, and it was so cheap too! Only $5). For dinner, Sophia and I got a cheese filled sausage, and Hannah got pizza in a cone. The sausage was so good, of course, since we were in Austria. I ate so much sausage this trip, I might turn into one. It was refreshing from my typical pasta dinners. I also got a red gluhwein (or mulled wine), and Hannah and Sophia got white. It was really good, and helped to warm us up. After spending some time and shopping around, we headed back to the hostel to go to bed.
12/1/19 - We woke up and had to be ready by 6:45am to go to Salzburg on Sunday. They played the Sound of Music on the drive there. Then when we got there, we went on the Sound of Music tour. I kind of knew the movie was pretty historically inaccurate, but it was interesting to go in depth in the movie. Also, it was fun getting to see where they filled a lot of the scenes. We saw the Abbey they filmed at, which is from like 700AD. Then we saw the lake/pond where they filled all of the backyard garden scenes, and the part where they fall off the boat into the lake. After that, we headed over to where they moved the gazebo after finishing filming. Sadly you can’t go inside anymore because an old lady slipped and broke her hip so they don’t want to get sued. But we got some cute pictures outside of it. Then we went to the church where they filmed the wedding. It’s actually outside of Salzburg a little bit, but it was pretty and had a small Christmas market outside. We got some hot chocolate. Then we headed back to Salzburg and back on the bus to Florence. The weekend was a bit rushed, but overall a fun trip. I always love Austria, though, and I will definitely have to go back to Budapest.
