Aussie Aussie Aussie and Beautiful Budapest

Beautiful Budapest

Spending Australia day in the Czech Republic was definitely a unique experience and something I will never forget! With scheduled classes on the morning of Aussie Day, we all got up pretty early and 'prepared ourselves'! With Aussie tattoos on our face, draped in flags and wearing umbrella hats, we walked to class showing our national pride. Keeping a close eye on the triple J to
p 100, we patiently counted down the top ten whilst keenly listening to our lecture on Freedom Of Speech! Our lecturer was a great sport who finished the class a little early, dressed up in Aussie garb and got a little Aussie crazy.

For lunch, we went to an Indian restaurant, then headed to a huge mall on the outskirts of town where we were able to do some ice-skating outside. We were also the recipients of some very interesting looks, frequently forgetting we were still wearing Aussie tattoos on our face. Usually these encounters resulted in uncontrollable giggling after our desperate tries to explain what Australia Day was in the Czech language failed miserably!

The whole International Law and Human Rights class on Australia Day

After a big night for some, 6:55am was very early to be getting on a bus! After four hours we arrived in Budapest, Hungary and checked in to our fabulous hotel! We don't ask for much, but shower screens, clean bathrooms, comfy beds and televisions were all very welcome comforts.

Overlooking the whole of Budapest

We soon headed out for lunch, and after paying $5 AUD for a three course meal, we headed over to the European Roma Rights Centre. We had a great lecture and learnt a lot about the discrimination of minorities in Europe. Next we were off to the Open Society Institute where we learnt all about the process of providing legal representation to minorities all over Europe.

Following dinner at a lovely restaurant, a few of us headed to the traditional Rudas baths. The hot baths are the oldest in Europe and are said to have healing properties. The experience was one I will be never forget and my body definitely thanked me for it! I even froze my backside off in a traditional ice bath!

Waking up relaxed and rested on Saturday morning, we had a buffet breakfast in the hotel restaurant and then headed out on our walking tour of Budapest.

The whole group on the walking tour of Budapest... That is

our Czech coordinator Martin mooning the camera!

This was a great chance to see all the sites of the city and have the history explained to us by a local. After a quick lunch we headed off the to the Hungarian Jewish Holocaust Museum. The memorial, entitled "From deprivation of rights to genocide", detailed the awful plight of more than 600,000 Hungarian Jews and Roma people who died during World War Two. It was a
truly awful but worthwhile experience.

Sunday morning brought with it a visit to the Hungarian Parliament House. The fourth largest parliament in the world and decked out in more than 60 kilograms of gold, the building was a spectacular piece of architecture. We even got to see the original crown jewels, guarded by Royal Soldiers. A ride up the funicular, a spot of souvenir shopping and some delightful cakes and before we knew it, it was time to get back on the bus and go home. Budapest had been very good to us!

The very beautiful Hungarian Parliament House

Things I love about Europe that we don't have in Australia! :

¥ Fresh pastries every morning! There is nothing better than some lovely baked goods before class every day!
¥ An efficient, clean public transport system! I don't think any further explanation is required for that one...
¥ The cultural activities that are so readily available and so cheap! Every night of the week, even in the smaller cities, there is high quality ballets, operas and theatre being performed. I have loved being able to experience these!
¥ The concept of central heating and layering! It's cold outside and really lovely and heated everywhere inside. Everyone dresses really cleverly and wears lots of layers. And they wear fashionable clothes whilst doing it!

I can't believe we have less than a week to go of the course... And there is an exam at the end of this week! I am enjoying myself far too much for this to end!