Budapest Trip

The full time teachers at ICSC were able to go to a conference in Budapest, Hungary at the ASCI headquarters. We flew out of Lisbon very early Thursday morning. The school bus came to pick Gina and I up at 3:45am. We landed in Hungary early afternoon and headed to the ACSI house on the southeast edge of the city. The had prepared a Hungarian stew for lunch which was delicious. The ACSI house is in a beautiful neighborhood that reminded me a lot of home. The leaves were turning colors and it was fun to get a taste of fall - including the early morning frosts! :O) I went on some walks through the neighborhood and enjoyed the smell of fall. Here are some pictures of the neighborhood.

During our stay there we had about 8 different sessions. Some were whole group and for others we broke up into smaller groups based on our age levels or challenges in our classrooms. It was good to be reminded of some things and get some new ideas. One of my favorite things about the trip was getting to know my fellow teachers better. It was fun to be in a relaxed environment and get to know more about them. Saturday afternoon and evening was our time to go sightseeing. We got 2 taxis to take us into town and started out at a Hungarian market. Here's a picture of the outside and then one inside to show just how big it is. The first level had all kinds of food and the second level was mostly souvenirs.

From there my roommate Gina and I went with Robb and Anna to the Castle District. We navigated our way on the metro (which brought back memories of my trip with my sisters in 2006) and enjoyed walking down streets and seeing some of the history around us. My roommate Gina loves coffee and saw a sign in one of the shops for Bubble Tea - something she hadn't had for years. I took a picture of her jumping outside the shop. I knew we wouldn't be able to see much in the short amount of time but was thankful for what I did get to see. The sun goes down very early - about 4-4:30 so it was neat to see the city all lit up at night. Robb, Anna, Gina, and I crossed the Danube River walking across the Chain Bridge.We ended up at a small pizza place for dinner. Budapest is a beautiful city with many beautiful sights. It'd be fun to go back and visit again. Here are some pictures from the trip! I'll close with a video of a man playing in one of the open areas. I love coming across live musicians in Europe. Earlier in the night we heard a man playing violin too.