Romania and Budapest

A couple of weeks ago we took a business trip to Romania and went afterwards to Budapest. While eastern Europe isn't as developed or wealthy as western Europe, I enjoy it much more. It's less populated and less touristy. I feel like I'm experiencing more of the culture of the city and country when I visit cities there compared to cities such as Paris. You can really tell the influence of communism. During the years when the country was under communist rule, the country didn't develop like western European and American cities did. Communism in a way preserved the historic buildings and culture. My favorite city in eastern Europe was Prague, which I already blogged about, Budapest was much larger, but also very beautiful. Romania was very poor, but is improving. In Romania we visited several non-profit organizations, which I really enjoyed since that's something I would like to go into. We visited "Save the Children" which is an organization that provides schooling and after school activities to children who have parents working in western Europe for long periods of time. We also visited a non-profit home healthy agency and a tourism agency. I don't know much about business, but have learned a lot this semester; even with my little knowledge, I could tell the differences in the developing market in Romania. Since one of the organizations was a tourism company, we were given tours through Brasov and Bucharest, where we learned about the history of Romania and the several different countries and dictatorships that had control of it, including communism. Having a tour guide to provide stories and explanations of sites always adds so much value to the tour!

Helping Roxana at the "Save the Children" with her schoolwork (it probably was just coloring)

View in Brasov

Brasov city center

Brasov

Brasov from above, notice the ancient wall for the city's protection. 

Brasov

Restaurant in Bucharest where we ate authentic Romanian food. 

Largest government building in the world - parliament built during communism in Bucharest. 

We took an overnight train to Budapest, Hungary - another adventure in itself. After an hour of figuring out how to set up our beds, we got to know our cabin mates a little better....one was from Romania and another from M... They answered all of our additional questions and gave us a locals' viewpoint about Romanian culture, including some of the corruption in politics and about the prevalence of gypsies in society. We arrived in Budapest the next morning, and decided since we only had one day to see the city to purchase a jump on, jump off tour. This was a good idea as it allowed us to see the entire city with tour guide commentary and go on a night boat cruise. Most of the group was together on the tour, so this provided some fun photo opportunities. As usual, my favorite area was the park/gardens around the top of the citadel hill. The next morning we climbed the other hill, castle hill, and walked through the area and got coffee outside for a relaxing morning before flying out. Possibly another reason why I like eastern Europe is because several of the countries don't use the euro and prices are much cheaper that in western Europe, so I feel like I can splurge a little :)

The gardens near the city center in Budapest

Castle Hill

Castle Hill 

Out for cocktails in Budapest

Parliament Building 

Our night boat tour

Budapest city center

Citadel Hill 

View of Budapest from Citadel Hill 

Selfie on top of Citadel Hill 

 Park path on Citadel Hill 

When In Rome

When leaving for Rome on Monday the 21st after a late night from the soccer final, I wasn’t really in the traveling mood....how could I not be extremely excited to go to Rome?! I was tired and pretty traveled out I suppose. But all the same, I didn’t have to pay for or plan the trip, so I didn’t give it too much thought. When we got to Rome the first night we walked around the city, visited a couple smaller tourist sites, and ate supper with the whole group. The next morning we visited the major tourist sites, such as the historic cathedrals, the Colloseum, the Pantheon, and ruins of Roman villas and government buildings.

Trevi Fountain 

Ruins of Nero's Villa 

Colosseum 

Panorama of the Colosseum 

Ruins of a chariot racing area 

Overlooking the city from the ancient villa 

Roman Ruins 

Temple of the Vestal Virgins 

more ruins of the government sector 

Prison where Peter and Paul were kept 

Beautiful, but more modern building from 1800's.

Pantheon - complete structure about 2,000 years old 

Inside of Pantheon - reconstructed. 

 During our walk through the Roman ruins, our teacher provided detailed stories about the history of all the sites. These stories made it so much more meaningful. Recognizing that Peter stayed and preached at the church we visited, and that each of the ruins were 2,000 years old is stunning. The next morning we visited Pompeii and Mnt.Vesuvius, which is a 3 hour drive and saw a whole city that was destroyed by the mountain volcano in 79 AD, but yet preserved from the natural disaster. We climbed the volcano and were able to see crater. The city was so impressive, the ampitheater, temples, shops, houses, and roads were all so well preserved. Even the fresco paintings on the wall were preserved. It really gave an indication of how they lived during this time. Similar to the day before, we also had short stories and explanations of the tour. 

Crater from Mnt. Vesuvius 

Streets in Pompeii 

Vineyard from Pompeii 

Wealthy house in Pompeii 

Fresco painting preserved

Courtyard connecting houses in Pompeii 

Area for worshipping idols

Temple for Roman gods

Amphitheater 

Roman ruins in Pompeii 

Pompeii ruins 

On Thursday we visited the Vatican. We walked through St. Peter’s Catherdral, climbed to the top of the dome, and tour the Vatican museum and the Sixteen Chapel. This area was so beautiful! But also incredibly busy, because of the all catholics making a pilgrimage to the Vatican for the Pope becoming a saint. The view from the Dome of Saint Peter’s Cathedral was beautiful, you could see the entire city of Rome!

Saint Peter's Cathedral 

Famous sculpture of Mary and Jesus

Saint Peter's from above

Dome of St. Peter's cathedral 

Saint Peter's cathedral from above

beautiful views of the Vatican from the top of St. Peter's cathedral 

Inside of St. Peter's

Ancient bath used by the wealthy Romans

Gardens in the Vatican

On Friday we visited catacombs and the Via Apia, the longest road in the Roman Empire. It was so neat to walk where Christians from 2,000 years ago walked and to see the signs that distinguished themselves on their gravestones. I wasn't feeling like being a tourist by Friday, so I didn't take any pictures myself...I'll add them later when I get them from other people. Currently, I’m sitting in the airport waiting for my flight to Barcelona. How crazy that I’ve been walking and seeing the sites of people 2,000 years ago. Learning about the culture and about the Christians of that time is unforgettable.