Buda - an awful lot of walking

Determined to fit in as much as possible in to our short trip as well as on a budget, I had lots of things planned.

Liberty Statue

Shortly after breakfast, we marched over the river to Buda towards Gellert Hill. The goal obviously to see the Liberty Statue and the Citadella at the top. There are many paths through the park up to the top; don't be fooled, none are shorter or less steep, but they will all get you to the top. Eventually, which is worth it.
You get a beautiful view over the city from the top, especially if it's a lovely day. For mid-November, it was rather warm and sunny!
We posed for a few photos, before aiming to stroll down Gellert Hill, this time on the other side.

Garden of Philosphy

This didn't go quite as well as we hoped, as we found ourselves wandering around a little aimlessly until we stumbled across  the "Garden of Philosphy" by Nando Wagner, featuring bronze statues of 8 famous philosophers or religious figures. It sits in a quiet park, almost totally overlooked by tourists, but the tranquillity only suits theme of the installation.

Upon getting our bearings again down by the river, we followed the promenade up towards Castle Hill. We took the funicular up; we'd already tackled one hill that morning, two seemed like a big ask! It brings you out right atop Castle Hill with the National Museum and the Palace to your left. We didn't go inside either of these, although I'm sure they have their merits. Perhaps with a longer stay or on a rainy day. We continued however, to circle the gardens and the castle walls, taking in yet more panoramic views over Budapest, as well as the sporadic entertainment of street performers. It did get quite crowded along the castle walls, which involved fighting/waiting patiently for a good photo opportunity.

Turret on Fisherman's Bastion

Coming back around the far (quieter) side of the castle, we came back out by the funicular and made our way past the theatre and museums deeper into Castle District.
Over lunch we planned our day before stumbling upon Matthias Church before we knew it. We bought our tickets first, strolled the Fisherman's Bastion before entry as we'd just noted a large tour group ahead of us.
Beautiful as the Bastion is, it's mostly just walls with the odd turret, merely hosting further stunning views of the city. That said, there was a wedding photo shoot taking place, so it must make an impressive backdrop for you wedding photos.
Having explored the Bastion, we entered the Church. Despite the tourists, it is serene inside and beautifully decorated. You can also make your way upstairs to the balconies for some museum exhibits and a bit of history.
Although there are many "attractions" in guidebooks and marked on maps within the Castle District, not a lot of it is worth seeing. We ambled around quite a bit before settling on the Labyrinth. The Labyrinth takes you underground and into the maze of natural caves below the hill and is set up to tell the story of Count Dracula. The displays are quite dated, but it is entertaining and educational enough. There is the option to tackle pitch black and explore a small part of the caves with only a rope to guide you. A large part of me wanted to do that, but then a small part was relieved when my fiancé refused. We cheated; we followed the rope around the caves using smartphones as a torch as well. I am intrigued as to how Vlad the Impaler became the legend we know today; he has a very interesting story growing up as a political hostage.
We moved on from the Labyrinth, we again strolled past the Matthias Church on our way to Faust Wine Cellar, where we had booked a wine tasting.  If you are ever in Budapest, DEFINITELY go to Faust wine cellar. It is small and really rather difficult to find, but worth it. It is small, which makes it intimate, having only a handful of tables. It is run by a husband and wife duo, who are very welcoming. For the wine-tasting you can try 5 local wines, and get some breads on the side, complete with full tasting notes and assistance from the hosts. They go into lots of details on the wines. At the end you can have another glass of your preferred wine. We spent hours here sipping our wines, before realising we should probably find some dinner.
Buda is much quieter in the evening than Pest so we crossed Chain Bridge (not worth further mention) and wandered around until we found somewhere just off St Stephen`s Square after following a beagle. Oh yeah, everyone in Budapest seems to have a dog.

Dubious hymns (and Nuns)

Monday morning blog post? Old habits die hard!
As a completely random piece of information, this is my mouse. He is called Charlie. His name is a recent discovery which only came out after dropping it. He lost an ear in the process and before I knew it "there, there Charlie" had escaped my lips.
I'm settling in nicely to Bregenz, meaning I can now find my way around town, to and from the schools/other important places without use of a map. I have yet to make a full exploration of the place though. Despite having a 3 day weekend, I had a few dates with my French YA (year abroad) essay. I shut myself away and worked away like a busy little bee. It's now in the proofing stages. Someone kindly pointed out that I was missing some vital information  (I don't need to mention who's in power when discussing Quebecois nationalism in a political context, right??) so that needs fixing. The deadline is a week away so I have plenty of time.
Politics is seemingly topic of the month. I've been asked to prepare classes on the British system. Not my strongest subject and I doubt "The LibDems are sell outs" will cut it really.
Yesterday was quite a pleasant day. I only had a little bit of work to do you see. I went to church in the morning. It was much as I expected until they got the little children up to the front. They did a little activity and then started to sing a song. True, it was about God loving every child in every country, but it was really rather racist. You can read the lyrics for yourself here. That aside it was very nice. A young woman came up to me after the service and chatted away, introduced me to people, showed me where the tea and coffee is and invited me to a house-group. Should be a good way to meet people and practise my German. She was very nice and told everyone that I speak "super Deutsch." Yay!
I've also contacted 2 people also doing teaching assistantships in the area and hopefully will be meeting up with them in the near future.
I've just realised the title sounds like the nuns are a bit dubious. They aren't. They seem like very lovely women. It's how I'd imagine having a few grandma's around is. They cluck over me a little, always asking how I am. I spotted one knitting in the office. Nothing like Sister Act I'm afraid.
I've also chatted to a few other people here in the internat. Just to put it out there, are all Moldovans called Viktor? I'm spotting a pattern.
Anyway, my To-Do list for today is quite long and I have a class later...

no Aix puns included

One megabus, a trek across London which included getting caught in a thunderstorm, a shuttlebus, a plane and one final bus ride was all it took to get to Aix-en-Provence. No early mornings at least. I may have spent an entire day getting there but I was very excited to greet my friend and future housemate, Louise.
I'm not entirely sure where the time went during my visit. Proof of the old adage that time flies when you're having fun I suppose :)
It was nice to be in a francophone country again, hearing French (from time to time!). It made me realise just how many quebecisms I've learnt. One French girl mistook me for a Quebecoise, probably due to choice vocab rather than having picked up the accent. At least I hope I haven't picked up the accent which is rather nasel and not so pretty. I found a delightful post card which reminded me so much of the French boys in Sherbrooke that I had to get it. Getting an address to send it to was an entirely different matter. I hope they find it as entertaining as I did!
After moving Louise out of her room and across to the faculté de théologie (maybe?!), waving off other Erasmus students and a quick mooch into town, we went to a student or youth church event on the Saturday. We may have been a fair bit older than the others but I rather enjoyed the activities and free food, even if they didn't listen to me while trying to piece together a story. Ah well. I may have picked up an injury too. Getting on clearly.
We went to church twice on the Sunday. Almost like I was making up for lost time! The french one reminded me very much of the 90's, what with the overhead projectors and multiple acoustic guitars backing the singers. We went for food with a group of people after the anglophone one in the afternoon. We sat outside and it got a bit nippy I have to say. On the way back, I was distracted by the smell of crepes so I had to indulge. We shared a nutella and coconut one. Yummy. The French certainly do crepes well.

On Monday we went for a walk, I have no idea where we went, up a hill somewhere. It was nice though. We took a very unplanned route back which involved a stop at a patisserie, another thing the french do well! That evening was a collective meal at the fak. Possibly followed by a game of cluedo or another game about a hungry giant. I chose to be the citrouille just because I learnt this apparently almost redundant word. Playing these games could have happened any evening and I think on multiple.

see, stripy

Tuesday was my last day. I had a late flight however so we headed to Marseille for a bit of tourism. I had to take my stuff with me. Although not heavy, it was a pain to cart my bag around all day. Louise was very nice and we took turns in carrying it though. We took in enough touristy sights. It seems that in Marseille they like stripy buildings, or perhaps just stripy churches. We had ice-cream but we never made it onto the carousel. I had my heart set on it as well. I didn't, but it would have been nice. It played such wonderfully French music! In the end we had to head back to the station and go our separate ways.
Before long I was back in Blighty, making my speedy way to a dreadful hostel before dashing off to visit my sister for a few days.