Hi friends!

It’s me again. This update is going to be about the week of adventures that is called  travel break. With so many places to travel to from Copenhagen, we couldn’t pick just one so my friends Bella, Meaghan, Paige, and Becca and I agreed to backpack (yes, we packed for eight days in our school pack) from Copenhagen to Brussels, Belgium then on to Budapest, Hungary and ending in London, England before heading home. Why you may ask? The fight to Brussels was $18… the rest were comparably cheap as well.

Let’s talk Brussels. Waffles! Chocolates! Pom Frites! Beer! This was the city to eat and eat we did. You could never be too far away from a two euro waffle truck that gave you a deliciously crispy, sugar-coated waffle. We were shocked at how small the city actually was, but the architecture was gorgeous! Just google the Grand Place of Brussels. There were adorable cartoons painted on the sides of buildings that was fun to see, and we even paid a visit to the European Parliament. The main attraction though was Mannekin Pis, a little statue of a boy peeing that has become the national symbol of Brussels. Cheeky. I don’t think of us were quite aware of how much French is spoken here — Bella was ecstatic to practice, and I even managed to order a baguette in French by the end. A highlight was visiting the Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium for free (as we aren’t yet 19) and seeing masterpieces we studied in class. Namely The Death of Marat by Jacques-Louis David.

Then came Budapest. We landed late at night and planned to take a bus into the city from the airport…long story short we ended up buying TWO tickets for the wrong bus before finally hopping on the right one making us arrive at our Air B&B around 1:30 am. A small mishap in the grand scheme of things and we made the most of the two wrong tickets by using them to get to the Széchenyi Thermal Bath in the morning. The weather couldn’t have been better! We were able to lounge by the beautiful baths (I even got a slight tan).  Budapest is much larger that Brussels and split into two halves (Buda and Pest) by the Danube River. We resided on the Pest side explored so much. We were able to enjoy a river tour and saw the Parliment building lit up at night which was incredible! I also loved visiting the Fisherman’s Bastion on the Buda side and wish we had more time to explore that area more. Always a reason to come back! One of my favorite things was going to a famous ruins bar,  Szimpla Kert, the mecca of all ruin bars. Simply a delightful chaos of people if an abandoned building turned multibar. With live music, funky art, and colors, and a multitude of stickers. We were also able to get breakfast at the worlds most beautiful cafe, The New York Cafe. I highly recommend their coffee with ice cream and whipped cream.

London Town. I did not expect to love London as much as I did. Immediately getting onto the street from the tube, I felt at home which is ironic because we were probably in the least safe city out of all the ones visited. Nonetheless, I was so comfortable. It might be because it reminds me of NYC in a way, a city which I’ve always adored. We landed there on Halloween night and spent the evening watching a band originating from North Carolina called Rainbow Kitten Surprise. So. Much. Fun. We stayed in a hostel and were able to meet some Brits who showed us the cool places to hang out the next few nights. We spent our days checking off the touristy spots to see like Buckingham Palace and the Tower Bridge. My favorite thing we did was head up to Nottinghill and walk along Portabello Road. I purchased a pressed flower with a line of a poem the man selling them had written, he told Bella and me, “The spirit of the flower inspired the line.” I didn’t feel pressured to see everything there was in London because I knew I’d be back. Literally, because I’ll be there in a week with my parents, and figuratively because I have this feeling it’s a place I will go to as many chances as I get (study abroad spring 2021??)

Besides me telling you the bits and details of travel, let me tell you what I’ve really been thinking about.

The world is so, indescribably large. No really. I thought I knew that living in America, but now I can’t walk down the street without wondering what a person’s story is. Visiting these cities allows me to contemplate the story of humankind. While in Brussels, we heard the heartbreaking news of the Pittsburgh shooting at a synagogue. It’s incredibly difficult for me to put into words how much pain I feel in regards to this event. Budapest has a strong Jewish presence and memorials to the horrors that happened in WWII, and learning/seeing first hand the negative aspect of humankind from a historical perspective and then witnessing this horrific act in today’s age makes it difficult for me to see the progress of our society. I hold strong to the hope that we will teach love and stop history from ever repeating itself.

Till next time,

Chrisann