Week 4 went from the conclusion of the Vienna trip to the beginning of Karneval.
Our last day in Vienna we started by going to the Spanish horse riding school which was interesting. I wound up sitting next to Dr. Wasser and we got to talking about apprenticeship programs and how there aren't many in the US anymore. Falconry as a notable exception that Dr. Wasser has apparently participated in. When I was younger I actually really wanted to get into falconry but unfortunately I couldn't find a master anywhere near where I lived. After we left the horse riding school a few of us went to the Austrian National Library which was the nicest library I have ever seen. Darby spent a good bit of time just trying to decipher the mural on the ceiling, and I'm glad she did because she got me to notice stuff I wouldn't have otherwise. Like how what I thought was just some dogs turned out to be Cerberus. After that we went to the Natural History museum which is probably my favorite thing we've seen on this trip to date. I really wish we could have spent more time there as I could easily have stayed there for days. Hell, I could die there. It was easily the nicest museum I've ever been to, architecturally, and the exhibits themselves were phenomenal as well.
After Vienna several of us went to Budapest. Our first night there was interesting as an old gentleman who was on the same train as us also happened to live in the same building as our Air B&B so people were kinda freaking out when he seemed to follow us. He was even offering to help us but he only spoke German and Hungarian, I was the only one who spoke Any German, and my German was not good enough to communicate what was going on. So I felt bad for the guy cause he was just a nice old man but we didn't understand his intentions.
Nicky, Kate, and I then walked across the river to grab some stuff from a nearby drugstore. We got lucky enough to catch the lights they put on the buildings until 0000, which was good because then we knew what time we needed to see everything by at night.
The next day, we went to the Bathhouses which was a blast. It felt great, especially the sauna then icebath, even if it was freezing to go between areas outside. Then we walked to what had to have been all of the major locations in Budapest. We first walked to the top of the substantial hill overlooking most of the city, then to Buda Castle, then to the Parliament building. I believe that this was the day we grabbed lunch at this fantastic little cafe our Air B&B host recommended.
So on Sunday we naturally went to another place he had recommended, which also was fantastic. The service was incredible, and I had what has to be my all time favorite interaction with a bartender; We were waiting on our table and Kate had ordered her drink and while the bartender was making it he just turned to me and said "you want a big beer don't you." Which of course, I did. Another amazing service moment was when Kate dropped her fork the waiter heard the clatter and came over with a tray of fresh silverware to replace the one that had been dropped. After lunch I noticed that my Drill Sergeant had commented on my post of the Parliament building that we should check out the underground hospital if we had time and we just so happened to have a few hours to kill before our flight so we went, and just barely made it! It was a pretty awesome underground structure that had been re-purposed multiple times. From a hospital during WWII and the subsequent rebellion against the Soviet occupation, to a nuclear shelter during the Cold War.
The last event of note from this week was our first 211 exam, which was quite difficult, and about which I can actually talk a bit more about because with me writing these so late I actually have seen my grade. After the adjustments to the grading due to double jeopardy issues and units I wound up with a 71% which is ok but not what I would have liked to get.
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