Fulbright trip to Szentendre and Visegrád
On Thursday we had a half day of orientation sessions and then took a trip with the Fulbrighters to two small towns north of Budapest—Szentendre and Visegrád. Again, this trip was open for family, so everyone got to join, even my mom. We took the bus north and saw great views of the Parliament building from the Buda side of the river. We also saw a good view of the Margaret bridge, which has these really cool posts for the electric lines. In Obuda, the area north of Buda, there are old Roman ruins and the remains of a Roman aqueduct. We may go back to visit these at a later time, but it was neat driving past them. We also saw the huge block apartment flats that were built during the Soviet occupation. I think this is the largest panel housing estate in Hungary, holding over 36,000 inhabitants!
Szentendre is a small town north of Budapest known for its many museums, galleries, and artists. It is made up of lots of quirky and colorful streets, many with decorations hanging across the streets. My favorite was the umbrellas, but the others were neat too. They historically had a lot of blue dyers, and the one picture shows a dying store. There was also a lovely little lavender shop that sold gelato. Of course we had to go in for a bite!
We went in the Saint John the Baptist’s Church, which had a pretty front alter but the pulpit was sort of weird looking, or at least I thought so (and so did Willow). From the open area in front of the church you were able to look down and see the town, which was nice.
We definitely didn’t have enough time to explore Szentendre, so we will be back. It seemed like a lot of tourist shops instead of actual artists, but I’m sure we can find some of the more authentic shops. From here we got back in the bus and went up to Visegrád, which is a town best known for its historical significance as the location where the Visegrád group met (first in 1335 and then in 1991) to form alliances across Hungary, Poland, and the area that is now Czech Republic and Slovakia. The big things to see in Visegrád are the castles and the palace. We first went to the Royal Palace, which is at the bottom of a big hill. You can see the Upper Castle on top of the hill above. The palace holds a small museum about the history of Visegrád and had a pretty garden and fun ruins for the kids to explore.
It was starting to get dark, so the bus took us to the castle, where we took a bunch of pictures of the Danube bend (the point where the Danube makes a big U-curve right at Visegrád) and the lovely scenery. We just walked at the outside of the castle, and of course we had to take pictures climbing the rocks (even some of the big kids…I mean the Fulbrighters). This is the site of some Renaissance reenactments and a museum, so there were some old-school disciplinary devices that Zoey and Ronin had to try out!
We walked to the Renaissance Restaurant at the Upper Castle, where we had dinner family-style. It was really good, and the kids had a blast. Ronin got to sit with his new friend, and Willow went and sat in the middle of the other Fulbrighters. I tried to get her to come over to our table, but the adults said she was fine there, so I let her stay. She at two giant loaves of bread even though she wouldn’t even try most of the other food, even the giant turkey legs (she has been losing weight on our trip because she won’t eat much of anything—it’s a little worrisome). Willow entertained her tablemates by telling them all about unicorns and horses, her favorite stuffed animals, and singing them some songs she made up. I am glad they were so accommodating to her, but I have to admit she is pretty adorable. Ronin and his friend were given the special crowns for the King of the Party, so they both got to be kings. Of course they allowed the crowns to be passed around, but they thought it was super cool they were chosen.
After the dinner we had over an hour bus ride back to Budapest, so of course everyone fell asleep. It was a great trip, and we had a great time with the other Fulbrighters. I was so thankful with how everyone took to our kids and how great they were with them. The kids absolutely fell in love with some of the Fulbrighters, particularly Megan, Sofi, and Bence.
