Trip #1: Budapest, Hungry

Friday morning Meg, Brittany and I took a train to Budapest. We don’t have class on Friday so we decided it would be a great place to go for a weekend. The train ride was a lot of fun. Meg and Brittany had never ridden a train before and it had been a long time since my last ride. We played cards for most of the trip and we were lucky that the train was not too full. The cabins have 6 seats in each and for most of the whole trip there and back the three of us had our own cabin.

One of the reasons we went to Budapest was for the spring festival. We were not sure what to expect but the events on line seems really interesting. As we walked through the city we saw some plazas where vendors have set up small shops with traditional crafts of Hungry. And of course I picked up some souvenirs. One of the events of the festival was a concert by the National Philharmonic Orchestra and Choir. The interior of the building is pictured above. We did not have tickets and felt a little underdressed in our jeans, but we went in and found out that there was a student section and the tickets were only 200 Forints = $1.00!! the seats were on the 3rd floor and only a standing area with a few benches. Luckily, it was and the orchestra and not a ballet, we didn’t have to watch the whole performance.

Saturday we went across the river to Buda, did you know Buda is on the west bank of the Danu and Pest is on the East? The castle is in a walled city in it’s self. There are a few hotels and some very nice restaurants as well as a cathedral and castle. The photo above is of a lookout point near the cathedral. The cathedral is in major construction/renovation, but still is impressive.

Saturday night was St. Patty’s Day and Brittany, Meg and I were really excited to go to the two Irish Pubs that are in Budapest. The first one we found (Columbus) was not very exciting- I don’t think they even knew it was St. Patty’s Day. But at least the second one, Beckets Irish Pub, was much better. They had a live band and a whole-lotta people in the building.

Sunday was a more relaxing day, there is an island between Buda and Pest called Margret’s Island. It’s mostly a tourist island; there is a spa and a hotel or two. There is also a small petting zoo and a park. It was nice to walk from one end to the other.

We had originally planned on going to the Van Gogh Exhibit at the Museum of Fine Arts on Sunday, but they sold out of tickets and couldn’t go until Monday. Train tickets are very flexible and we ended up taking a later train Monday afternoon. The exhibit was really good. There were many early drawings and then more painting and you were able to see his style develop based on the dates of the paintings. It was worth the extra half day in Budapest.

The train ride home seemed longer then the ride to Budapest, we were all ready to get home. It was nice to think of Prague as a little bit more like home.

Good News!!

I’m going to be in Kansas City next year!! I have been accepted into the Kansas City Design Center.

Studio project and Telč

Monday with studio professor, his assistant, and the rest of the studio (about 15 people) we traveled to the site of our project just outside of Brno, about 2 hours from Prague. We took a small bus and there was a crazy driver so I had to sleep for most of the driving.

My project is a “bunker house” during the cold war the Russians built bunkers for missiles pointed at the US and then hid them under mounds of dirt. The area has been purchased by a developer and they want to turn the land into a high-end housing development. The developers asked 10 architects to design a house for one of the 20 something sites, one of which was my professor. The designs that come from the architects will be part of a brochure for the clients who are interested in the site. My professor told the developers that my studio would be doing this project and they are excited to see the results when we are done. If the developers like our projects, some of them could be in the brochure and possible be built in real-life. That would be so cool!

After the site visit we all ate lunch and then took a short drive to Telč. It is a beautiful city that is artificially surrounded by water. At 5 pm on a Monday the town was mostly deserted. But I think I got a few good photo in.

Dancing House

This is the Dancing House by Frank Gehry. It is one of the few examples of modern architecture in Prague. Gehry is known for his out-there designs, this design is supposed to reflect a man and woman dancing. It is a very interesting building, but they say is it hard to use the space inside. And the double façade (two layers of glass) is hard to see out of. This is usually not a problem but because the glass walls curve and are not parallel, a glare is created. But it looks cool, and can help with heat gain from summer sun.

The office building has a restaurant on the top floor, it is very expensive. It is easier to see the man and woman dancing in the logo of the restaurant below. Maybe I can convince mom and dad to take me there when they come visit in a few weeks.

Ohh what a game…

It is the finals for the Hockey teams in Prague and a few of the guys have been going to the games, so I decided I wanted to go to- after all when am I going to get another chance to see the finals of a European Hockey team. About 10 other people joined in and we all went to the stadium and got tickets, ate dinner, and found our seats. The game was ok, we cheered for the home team, Sparta Prague and they won. The fans are crazy; they are like football fans in the US. The fans all wear jerseys and some paint there faces. At the two ends there is standing section where people cheer like crazy the whole time. The food isn’t over priced like it is in the US; beer is 15 krowns which is less then a dollar and the tickets were only $11.00 = 220 krowns. I just went to a Blues game before leaving St. Louis and the beers where $8.00, but at least the tickets were free.


The ride home was more interesting, and a little scary. We followed the mass of people after the game to the nearest metro station, when the train arrived the crowd pilled in. I held my arm against a pole so that I wouldn’t be pushed into the pole and the other people around me. It was very tight, but no one got hurt. The fans were all cheering and jumping up and down, singing songs and having a great time. When we got to the next station police officers came on the train and cleared out two cabs- one was mine. The 5 of us from the states who were near each other stayed together while the police kept the people from leaving the platform or getting on another train. We asked a few officers if they spoke English, one said no, but that we were ok. They started writing tickets to people who were on the train, we were worried that we would get a ticket too until a young Czech guy translated to the police that we were tourist, and then they let us get on the next train. It all turned out ok, and I could have been on the news, there was a guy with a camera but I don’t have a tv- so I will never know.

Salvador Dali

Today Brittany, Sally, Jeff and I went to lunch in the old town and then saw a gallery exhibit of Salvador Dali. The painting above my favorite piece of the exhibit, but everything was very interesting, mostly drawings and water colors. Can you tell who is in the painting? Supposedly if you stand 20 meters away, from the full size version, the painting of Abe Lincoln will be clear.

bottomless fountain drinks…with ice!!!

I have found my favorite restaurant, it was recommended by people who studied here last year. This afternoon we went for lunch. I had a grilled chicken caesar bagel sandwich, and they had bottomless fountain drinks…with ice!!! It was amazing. Next time I’m getting one of the breakfast meals, they looked really good. The girls and I will defiantly be back.