A Visit to Pécs

After our practice trip to Szentendre, the professors deemed us ready for another adventure. This time our day trip took us on a three hour train ride to the fifth largest city in Hungery: Pécs. We got up dark and early (in some cases even before breakfast opened) to catch our train from Keleti central train station. The inside of the train station is quite beautiful, even if many of us were too zombie-ish to appreciate it.

The train was lovely but was, honestly, mostly a nap time for the majority of the class. Some homework was attempted, little got done. 

Nevertheless, (or perhaps because of) we arrived in Pécs excited and ready to explore. We began our visit with a trip to a small art museum that featured the works of Victor Vasarely, a particularly apt choice since it is easy to see the effects of mathematics and geometry in his work. We had a lot of fun with some of the dizzying effects. 

We were then let loose upon the city for lunch. Some of visited bakeries, others chose Italian, while still others went for seafood. We collected back up at the basilica but not without being enamored by the overwhelming display of love locks on the way. 

The basilica, too, was overwhelming, both in size and in ornateness. We wandered the chapel and the crypt while trying to resist the temptation to test the acoustics (ok, it's a group of Oles, we TRIED).  

Afterwards, some of us went to a museum of porcelain and ceramics, while others explored the city. We wanted to take home a good portion of the stuff at the museum, especially the ducks. 

We caught the train back, making sure not to leave anyone behind, and preceded to enjoy another nap time (except for the couple of people who didn't nap and where kind enough to not take pictures of our sleeping faces). 

After a such a long train ride, our first priority upon our return was food. Many made a it a quiet night at home, but one group when out for authentic Chinese food. Trusting Zhifei to order for us. chicken feet, pig liver, intestine, beef with green onions, and one chili eating challenge (Zhifei beat Aaron) later, we left the restaurant full and with clear sinuses. 

People are headed to Vienna tomorrow and some of us still need to pack, 

         Sweet dreams from Budapest, 

Kate A., Sarah, Sam and Tess