The final days of an experience of a lifetime!

And as the title clearly says, i'm in my last few days here and it's so hard to believe.

Bittersweet moment is the best word for this. So instead of a few paragraphs I made a list of things I'll miss and not miss... (inspired by my cousin jacob)

What I will miss from Budapest
1. A store with what you need is right around the corner
2. Bars, Clubs, pubs
3. Cheap but tasty drinks
4. The people i met here (aside from UNH)
5. Gyros
6. capability to travel so frequently
7. my apartment/ and roomie :)
8. homeless man 1, and homeless man 2 (aka One leg Greg)
9. international classes
10. The language
11. Chicken paprika
12. Walking around in the beauty of Budapest every single day

What I will not miss from Budapest
1. Little dog who yipps not barks (all day long)
2. Poverty levels and visuals here (won't go into detail)
3. corporate finance
4. Not being able to communicate what you need.
5. our washer withthe spin cycle of an airplane jet

Hanging around the city

I had my dear friend Kimberly come visit me in mid november which was a blast. Having one of your best friends here is unreal! This whole time I kept saying to myself "Damn, me and my girls would have way too much fun hear!" we would go crazy. So basically that's what I finally got to do!

I gave the usual tour and took her to our favorite bars and clubs. She ha a lot of fun and really enjoyed budapest and vienna (took her there since its an easy 3hr trip).

Christmas markets were everywhere so luckily she was here and had an a easy time finding souvenirs.

Other than that school got extremely busy. They LOVE group projects in an international school (obviously) so it was fun keep up with 5 different projects with 5 different nationalities. But, at the same time, it was really great meeting them and having a class with so many different opinions and outlooks on the subject (as opposed to the arrogant UNH honor roll students chiming in every few seconds back at home)

We, of course, took advantage of our weekends during the last few weeks here. We really really needed to relieve all that stress!

Prague, Czech Republic

After the weekend in France with my parents I headed off to Prague with Caitlin and Hannah. It's about a 7 hour train ride, not so fun but way better than a 7 hour flight.

Prague was incredible, every time I visit another city or country I immediately see myself coming back in the future, it was just that great of a place to be!

The cobble stoned streets, colorful apartments/building aligning the streets, everyone out and about on the streets. What I liked most was that it wasn't all city life there, there was a lot more GREEN here than in budapest, so that was so nice to see especially cause it was fall time when we went.

At night was went to this great restaurant and had something we found out to be "milk beer" or to them "Mleko Beer" a lot of locals drink it. And it was delicious, it's a darker beer and its 3/4 foam from the beer, and you're supposed to chug, and it was so smooth and easy to chug and a lot of fun. All of us couldn't chug the whole mug but it was worth a shot for three 20 yr old girls! Here's what it looks like.

After we went to this place called the Beer Museum and found out it had 30 beers on tap! I tried a blueberry beer (my personal favorite), a cherry beer, honey brewed beer, and some kind of darker beer. All were extremely delicious!

So then we went back to our hostel and set the alarm early enough to get a head start. We were told to go to this breakfast place called Bohemia Bagels. Heaven was back on earth! We missed bagels and cream cheese and bacon egg cheese sandwiches, oh man were we happy walking out of that place.

We got a lot, pretty much ALL, of our sight seeing done in one day, we saw the astronomical clock

 very cool to see, there was a man up top sounding the trumpets, and tons of people were gathered around.

Also they had their version/imitation of the eiffel tower which was strange!

Here are some of the highlights of the trip, pictures tell it all! It was worth every freezing second spent outside!

Mom and Dad visit!

So shortly after Peter left Budapest, I was graced with my parents presence! Of course right when they got here it was pouring rain and cold, oh and the airlines lost my parent's luggage... not a good start.

The second day things were looking up, they got both of their suitcases and we were off to explore Budapest together! Except  had midterm...so THEY were off to explore budapest while I studied *ugh*

I did get to show them around my city and go site seeing for a bit. We all had a great time and my mom made the best home cooked meals! My favorite part was having them at night time here, I was never alone :)

Then we were off to Paris, France! So exciting, I was really looking forward to this. And I have to say I was not disappointed! It was so cool to see everything you have seen in pictures and on TV and experience it in real life! I loved ALMOST everything, I expected November to be a bit more quiet then summer days. However, not the case...Tourists everywhere, lines for hours, and really pricey foods. But overall worth being able to see the Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame, Louvre, Arc de Triomphe, Sacre Coeur, Moulin Rouge (outside of it haha) and Versaille. I couldn't stop taking pictures.

Peter came to visit!

Last weekend Peter came to visit. I was so anxious all night and all morning heading to the airport to pick him up! It was amazing to see him, I have to admit it was so strange at first? Even though I was right next to him is didn't feel real, it was weird. But naturally things were back to what they always were except 100 times better. Every day I took him site seeing, to places even I haven't gone to yet! It made me realized how little I have explored the city I live in. I had traveled every weekend up until he came.

Anyways, I loved having someone to always be with me and walk around with me. I felt so happy and safe to have him with me at all times. I think his favorite place in Budapest was the St. Stephens Basilica. Which is a beautiful place...

We also went to Gellert Hill which is a quick hiking trip but you get to see all of the Pest side, its awesome.

We had the perfect time together out here, it was so much harder to leave him again. I can't even describe how nice it was to have someone here with me, it made my experience that much more memorable :)

Too much beer and Too much beauty!

Too much beer:

So my first, and hopefully not last, experience at Oktoberfest was pretty damn chaotic. I don't really have full sentences for this duration of time, but maybe some metaphors, quick phrases and adjectives will help. Here it goes...Loud, intrusive, overwhelming, 1-liter beer, boobs, resting revelers, UNH crew representing, cheers!, German lyrics ha, meat and bread, big-ass pretzels, too many Euros spent, Foreign friends, lots of good memories (that I remember) hehe oopsie!

Too much beauty:
My roommate and I spent two days in Vienna and I fell in love. If I could combine Vienna's lifestyle/architecture/atmosphere with Budapest's nightlife I would surely make some arrangements to stay out here. Vienna's atmosphere was indescribable to me. I may be exaggerating but I just absolutely felt amazing experiencing this culture. Landscaping is unheard of over there and the Gardens are to-die-for, 100s of acres of land to take in. I plan to go back with a few friends in December, apparently there is a lot of festivals for Christmas time and what not, it must be beautiful to see. Can't wait for another perfect excursion to Vienna, and hopefully another trip when i'm older!

This weekend I will be staying in Budapest to greet my boyfriend at the Budapest Airport! I beyond ecstatic about this. Not to mention my parents will be visiting at the end of October. Oh and not to mention my best friend Kim will be visiting mid-November! I am to blessed to have friends and family who I love coming to visit me. I can't live without them! I wish more could visit, if only I were here for longer ;) I know my cousins Mel and Jacob would be here in a heartbeat!

That's all, will probably be updating this once Peter leaves, and I have a feeling my mood is going to be QUITE different unfortunately. But still so thankful he's coming at all!

love,
jess

Happy 1 month anniversary to my arrival in Budapest!

Well it was September 18th, but still I can't believe 1/4 of my study abroad experience is over, nutso butso. I'm still enjoying classes, however now that I'm mostly in the apartment or at school getting down a solid routine, days are flying by and classes seem to be more and more interesting, except for Corporate Finance. This class makes me nauseous haha but I think I can put up with it.

This weekend is oktoberfest! yippee! I have to say I'm a bit nervous! luckily I will be going with a lot of other from my group, there's a good 15-20 of us going, it's gonna be crazy fun! I can't wait to write about it to give you all the details of the trip.

Also, since I have been home so much I am CRAVING some good food haha, nothing I make myself is satisfying :/ Can't wait for  Mamma to get out here and cook :) Sorry Mom, I know its vacation but I'm giving you a place to live haha.

I'm missing.. Zucchini Bread, mom's Chili, Nana's Chicken and Dumplings, Apple Cream Pie, Apple crisp, honey bunches of oats, peanut butter (only found at ONE store that is pretty far away from me), salad bar at UNH, American-Chinese food haha, etc...

Other than food, I miss using a car to get around, my friends to go out with at night, not having a 6hr difference between your loved ones! the list goes on.

I  do love it out here, I just wish a few things were here, i will survive though :)