A TRAVEL DIARY FROM OUR VISIT TO HUNGARY

Last May we at last were able to travel to Hungary to visit our friends in Dunaharaszti. We visited several places where we had a good opportunity to get to know Hungarian history and the Hungarian way of life. We lived in families, visited our friend school several times and went to Budapest to have a look on the famous sites of that big city. Besides we travelled to the famous vine producing area of Tokai and the very interesting and beautiful city of Eger. We kept on mind the topic of our project and got a lot of information about the Hungarian policy concerning refugees and especially the difficult Hungarian history: the nazi-time and the communist era.

Here we have a travel diary which contains also photographs:

Thursday 22.5.2003

It was Thursday morning when our plane took up from Oulunsalo airport. It was 6 o'clock and we were very nervous. We flew to Helsinki and from there to Budapest. We arrived at the Ferihegy airport at 9:30. There were our friends waiting for us. From airport we went to Dunaharaszti and in to the Baktay Ervin Gimnazium. There we had a welcome ceremony and a couple of speech. After that we walked to a nearby restaurant and had a delicious lunch. Also the mayor of Dunaharaszti was there and held a speech for us. Then we all went to our homes. We had a couple of hours to make ourselves at home and maybe sleep a bit. In the evening we gathered together in a cafe.

Here we are in front of our friend school, smiling when meeting our friends.

 

Friday 23.5.2003

On Friday morning we travelled to Budapest. First we went to the museum called The House of Terror. There we got information about nazi and Russian terror in Hungary in 20´th century. The museum was very interesting and instructive. (See the link www.terrorhaza.hu) After visiting the museum, we had free time to shopping and to take a look around. The most of us spent that time in the biggest shopping centre in Hungary. It was huge.

After that, we went home and had a dinner with family. In the evening we went to the café which was nearby.

 

The House of Terror, Budapest, 1062. Andrassy ut 60. Notice how many people are waiting all the time to get in the museum!

 

Saturday 24.5.2003

Today we went to Budapest. There we visited Buda Castle where we could admire the whole Budapest City. Beautiful view! Outside of the castle we met a Finnish guy from Turku.

After Buda castle some of us went to see St. Mathias' Church. The church was very beautiful and a great experience. After that we went to a big park called Margit's Island, where some of us just sunbathed and some of us went shopping to some little funfair. There was some kind of children's day. One of us fell on the wishing well and she was wet the rest of the day.

After a day in Budapest we all went home and did different things with our hosts. Had barbecue night or played games etc.

 

Sunday 25.5.2003

Today we weren't all together. Our hosts arranged our program. Some of us visited Zoo in Budapest. There we saw different kind of exotic animals like elephants, camels, giraffes, lions, tigers, bats and scorpions that glowed in the UV-light. The zoo was very nice and interesting place, but because of the heat, we got tired soon and needed lot of fluid.

After zoo we went shopping in to Budapest centre. There we had time to buy souvenirs.

After shopping we went home again to have dinner and after that we packed our packs for tomorrow.

 

 

The sight over Budapest city from the Buda Hills is impressive

 

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Mathyas Church in Buda Hills is one of those places, where every tourist must visit!

Monday 26.5.2003

It was Monday and we left really early by bus to Tokai. Tokai was little wine village far away from Dunaharazsti. The temperature there out side was about 40 degrees and the bus was really hot. We drove near whole day across Hungarian exotic view.

When we came to Tokai, we could not find the camping place at first. So it was little missing, and we drove around the Tokai. First we went to the wine cellar and we had an opportunity to taste famous Tokai wines. Wine cellar was really cool and our Finnish students group liked it very much. In the camping place we ate really delicious dinner and swam in the Tiza river where was a year a go some cyanide. In the evening we students walked around the centre and visited one cafe where we heard Finnish music for example Bomfunk’mc. The beds in the camping place were not really good, because there walked around little insects. The day was really long and hard because of the heat, and we were really tired.

 

 

In a cool vine cellar! Outside is +32 ° C, inside +16° C.

 

Typical Hungarian scenery in Tokai area. Beautiful hill sides and houses and vineyards.

 

A large vine yard near Tokai. In the beginning of the summer the scenery is very pleasant green.

 

Tuesday 27.5.2003

We woke up in the morning and some of us went swimming before the breakfast. After the breakfast we packed our bags and headed for a wine cellar. We bought some fine white wines of Tokai from the wine cellar. (See the link http://www.tokaji.hu/en.html)

The next object was Eger. Before we arrived to Eger we visited an old fortress. Then we continued to Eger. We saw beautiful buildings and a stork on the way for example. We drove around the town for a while and admired the views. We had about an hour to walk around the town.

Then we drove to a very beautiful restaurant that was located near Eger and ate well. After eating we started driving back to Dunaharaszti. After a few hours driving we spent a moment in a rebuild jail camp which was used during the Hungarian communist era. It was located in an at that time secret place on a high hill and there was a memory statue and a "house" where the prisoners lived. The "house" was merely a storehouse without any heating system. They said that it was impossible to escape that camp – only one man was lucky enough and he later wrote about the camp.

After few hours travelling and we were back in Dunaharaszti. And it was very warm weather!

The entire group with some Hungarian friends in the fortress courtyard. The sun was very bright!

 

Wednesday 28.5.2003

First thing in the morning: we had a tour in a local market place. Food, CDs, electronics, clothes, everything you may need. Those things were very cheap, even tough we were not sure how "real stuff" it was. We made our shopping…

After that we walked to the school, where we had a chance to visit Hungarian lesson. It wasn’t so different from the Finnish. Then we had a lunch in the school.

After that we left to home with our hosts to pack our luggage. There was plenty of time so fore example my host took me to see Hungarian youngsters while we were buying ice cream, because it was so hot.

At seven o’clock we met the others in the hostel, where we also made a quick visit. We think it was a good idea to live in families compared to the hostel. We had a "good bye" diner. Macaroni with meat sauce. It was excellent, and greasy, like food usually in Hungary. There were speeches from the both sides too. After that we left home to sleep, because we had an early wake-up next day. Though some of us wanted to continue spending evening.

 

Thursday 29.5.2003

We woke up in the morning and headed straight to the Budapest airport by bus.

We did the check in and then it was time to say goodbye. We took the last photos and thanked our lovely hosts. We spent our last forints in the tax-free –shops, and then we took off to Helsinki and to Oulu. We arrived at Oulunsalo airport with good memories from Hungary. We had a great time and got a lot of new experiences.

 

Our Hungarian host students at the Ferihegy airport. It is time to leave! We hope to see you some day!!!