Margitsziget.

Finally I have a proper weekend this week and decided to go to Margaret Island with my friends. They went this morning for swimming and I joined them a bit later. This island is called as Margitsziget in Hungary and it's located in Danube River between Buda and Pest. You can reach this island by metro M3 to Nyugati Palyaudvar and change to metro 4 or 6 to Szell Kalman Ter. It's a recreational park, so nobody actually lives here but there's swimming pools, parks, restaurants, and the main attraction is the dancing fountain. I went there quite early today around 4pm and got to watch the show for 3 times since it scheduled for each hour. Budapest was burning hot today, and it felt so good to be there because I sat under the shade and it was windy.

PS: 

If you are wondering why I always write what I did during my exchange, it's because I want to have a travel diary so that I can remember what I did during the trip.

Budapest Free Walking Tour.

Today I joined Budapest free walking tour since I had nothing to do on Saturday. I've joined one before in Prague and I found it was amazing. We went to some famous places in Buda and Pest such as St. Stephen Basilica, Danube River, Chain Bridge, Buda Castle, St. Matthias Church, etc. Basically we dont pay for the tour but we give tips in the end of the tour based on your favor. Our tour guide today, Andy, was funny and interactive and he gave us lots of information about Hungary's history and cuisine. It's actually similar to the places I went on my first week in Budapest but with the history in it. I thought it would be very far because we went from Vorosmarty Ter in Pest to St. Matthias Church in Buda but actually it's not when you did it. My history knowlegde about Europe has improved a lot because of many tours I've joined and this made me happy. Through the tour, I knew that the place I went before with the green dome was actually not the Buda Castle but it was kind of the national museum. Only the castle's ruins are left in that place. This walking tour is highly recommended if you like to walk and enjoy the city's view and at the same time you can get the knowledge about their history. It lasted for 2.5-3 hours for each tour. After all these times, I started to love this city and just realised that I only had 13 days left before I leave Budapest.

Buda Castle viewed from Pest riverside

St. Stephen Basilica

View from Buda Castle

St. Matthias Church

Lake Balaton.

I just came back from a 3d2n trip to Lake Balaton. It's 2 hours by train from Budapest. There was Balaton Sound Festival and some of my friends went on Friday so we left on Friday morning. It's great; actually it's pretty much the same as Lake Toba but too bad Lake Toba is not properly organised hence not many tourists go there. Here they have parks for people to picnic with family and friends and also they can sunbath. This is absolutely different with the culture we had in Asia; people dont like sunbathing because they can easily be tanned. We also dont really go on a picnic (maybe it's for Indonesian only); we prefer to go on holiday staying in villa spending time with family and cousins. We like to travel to nature but not by exposing ourselves to direct sunlight. I like the environment here because people really enjoy their life to the fullest; most of the shops in Hungary close on Sunday and that's why they have their own private time to relax themselves. In Indonesia or other Asian countries, most shops open on Sunday so it's not difficult if you want to buy things on that day but as the result you dont really have much time for yourself unless it's a public holiday. Everything always has a positive and negative side. For the second day, we went to the other side of the lake. They also had parks, beaches, and restaurants; we went uphill to a church at the peak and took some pictures. I found a souvenir shops who sold everything about lavender and later found out that there were lavender fields in that island; too bad it's a bit far so I didnt go there. It's a good choice to spend the weekend there because we can enjoy the nature but maybe 2 days are enough for me.

My roommates: Zehra (Turkey) and Marisa (Portugal)

Budapest: the first few days.

It's my third day in Budapest and the second day in the hospital! Budapest is VERY hot; in Paris and Prague it's not this hot. Paris was cold in the morning and night and in the afternoon it's hot but still windy. Indonesia is definitely hotter than any other cities in Europe but we have aircon everywhere: bedroom, living room, inside the car, plaza, everywhere. It's totally the opposite in the hospital. Being accepted in the Pediatric Surgery Department in Semmelweis University hospital, I stay most of the time inside the surgery ward so it's definitely better with the aircon. Im very happy that I got this department; my chief and the other doctors are very friendly and they speak English well. They explain the case to us whenever they can and I got to see some cases which I never saw before. The only thing I dont like is that because I bought the wrong shoes, my feet hurted a lot since we were always standing. Apart from this, I really like this department and especially because I have interest in anatomy, it really helps me alot. Even after three days in Budapest, I've not gone to any tourist places probably because it's very hot makes us easily to get tired. Im even lazy to do anything; I just want to sleep.