Watching my students (and my children) as they fall into Wanderlust is priceless. It brings back SO many of my memories of the first time I did the same in this very city - WIEN! Most of the places I have already been to, and while I always learn a little more, I am enjoying watching the others as really get into it all.
Because I am behind...what is new? ... I will go back to the United Nations. It is just an AMAZING place. I've been through the same tour before, but it always is amazing to me just how much goes on there and how much good they do for the world in general.
Our next stop was BUDAPEST.....after some free time after the UN.
It’s hard to describe my thoughts and feelings but I will try. Leading a group is so much different than merely going to a place. I didn’t remember as much about Budapest as I do in Vienna, therefore I wasn’t as confident at navigating. But we made it. I spent a little time feeling bad that I hadn’t gotten different things. For instance, the group train tickets were non transferable and not changeable. We left Budapest earlier than a lot of students wanted to leave. I would have liked them to have the option of when to return. Some spent the money and stayed. Most are on the train heading back (I am writing this on the train). Staying a little longer would have been nice.
Then there was the hop on hop off bus. The one purchased through. the Institute was more expensive and did not run as often as others. We spent longer waiting for buses than I would have liked. Oh well, live and learn.
Lastly, when my kiddos aren’t happy, it is harder for me. I had to have a conversation with Spencer about how many people I’m trying to manage as well as please. I cant do it all and it disrupts my flow when he is triggered. We were walking across the bridge, just he and Kelsey and me at the time, and being able to explore and run and jump and climb cured his saltiness. Yay!!
He and Kelsey, but mostly him, are making videos of doing push-ups all throughout the trip at every place we are. It’s actually pretty cool. I’m enjoying seeing them enjoying everything so much.
Witnessing them and my students “wanderlust” forming is exquisite for me. I fell in love the first time I came - observing the same in them is wonderful.
(pic of my necklace)
BUDAPEST
After visiting the United Nations, I took the kids and the boys to register in Vienna. This was the first time I wasn’t taken there. After that Spencer, Kelsey, and I had gelato and went to Stephansdom. I left them there to shop for an hour and went to have lunch (hot dog) with Lisa. I dropped lisa off to wait for them and went for my last student who had to run home for his paper to register. That never happened and we all ended up on the train to Budapest...the first long train of the trip.
Getting off the train in Budapest I enjoyed the pent up anxious excitement of the group. I remembered the train station from my trip 7 years ago but nothing else. Thanks to the map on my phone, we finally made it. Kelsey wasn’t happy - it wasn’t the nicest area of town and the hotel, admittedly, left much to be desired. But - it was a bed. A futile attempt for somewhere to eat took us by a sex shop, not what I would have preferred my students, OR KIDS, to see. Life is much different outside our boundaries. We ended up hitting a small semi grocery store to pick up some things. Dinner was bread, ham, cheese, chips and quest, yogurt, and Kirsten provided some cookies. Sadly we couldn’t read and ended up with seltzer water! YUCK!!! Oh well
Friday in Budapest was nice. The sun was out and it was a beautiful day. We finally made it to the bus and stopped to go to The House of Terror. It was the headquarters of the Nazi and Facist regime. I’ve studied the holocaust before, even to the museum in Jerusalem, but every time the same heavy, solemn, heavy heart feeling fills my entire being. To hear the accounts of the survivors - actual accounts - hurt my heart. Large tough men broke down sobbing. No words can suffice to describe the atrocities of that time. Two of the quotes that stood out most to me were
Form the survivors “We will forgive but we will not forget.”
Instructions given to the guards “Do not just guard them but also hate them”
To have these experiences so recent - that is crazy! During my moms lifetime. The father of our tour guide in Vienna was part of the Resistance. World War II was not that long ago. And Budapest’s lasted longer. After the Nazis fell, the USSR took over. So really they’ve had less than 30 years to rebuild and establish their own identity.
But it IS a beautiful city! Lunch was cheap and by Heroes Square. From here we found that our buses were SLOW. We got off to see the Jewish Quarter and ended up waiting FOREVER to get on the next bus. We decided to just stay on it. I hated not being able to get off at the Citadel and overlook the city. Oh well!
This is when it got a little tough. Spencer wanted to do his running, climbing, jumping and Sage wasn’t feeling well. Lisa stayed with Sage and Kirsten and used the bathroom and got a hoodie for our boat ride at 8:10. I took Spencer and Kelsey across the bridge and we hiked to the statue overlooking the city.
Instead of catching a bus, we walked to the famous Shoes on the Danube - a memorial to the Jews shot on the bank of the Danube river and let them fall into the river. It’s stirring and solemn. The kids shoes get me every time.
![]()
![]()
Then we hustled back to Boat Dock 8A for a night cruise down the Danube. It didn’t disappoint-tho it wasn’t too dark at first. Great pics for sure! Lisa took the girls and took a taxi home. Spencer, Kelsey, and I walked home. It was fun. We stopped and got some gyros (me a pita and Kelsey a wrap) and the Hungarian schnitzel for Spencer. We had a great walk home talking about things we’ve learned and how Budapest and Vienna are different than what we are used to in America. It was fun to listen to them - smoking is bad but that is the ONLY thing America is better at health wise than Europe. They were both impressed with the stop lights - how they go green yellow red and red yellow green. Spencer realized how important it is to know how read. How true - from getting the right water to knowing what food is and MANY other things.
Great time in Budapest - could have stayed longer, but this was a good time. This evening we will see Belvedere Palace and hopefully have dinner with out Vienna tour guide, Elisabeth.
Looking forward to it.
Belvedere was magnificent....dinner with Elizabeth was perfect!
What a GREAT day!!!
