Climbing mountains

I have less than 7 days in this country. 7 days. It's now crunch time for planning things to do. We have to fit so much into these next few days that I don't know how we're gonna do it. Day trip to Slovakia tomorrow, Clinicals and Buda Castle on Tuesday, then, from Wednesday to Friday I have to fit in a research project, final exam, clinicals, and my book review. Friday night is a boat ride on the Danube at sunset and Saturday I have to run around doing last minute stuff!

Study abroad is a marathon, not a sprint.

Today's portion of the marathon, however, started with one heckuva nap. Some of the group went on a day trip to a neighboring town, but Morgan and I had other plans, so we got to go downstairs in our PAJAMAS. It was the most fabulous feeling ever. And while half of our little group left breakfast to go trudge around in buildings, Morgan and I got to go back upstairs and curl up in bed. Morgan was productive with her time, but I was so tired that, after I found two sources for my paper, I rolled over and fell asleep for another two hours.

Can I start every day that way?

Morgan's face popped up next to mine on the top bunk. Mo was ready to go out and about, so after dragging my lazy butt out of bed, we set off to get lunch at our favorite spot, Anna Cafe. We spent our lunch watching the creepy cutlery saleswomen swarm people in an attempt to pawn off their goods. They were so intense about it that they would follow people across the street. I thought that the 'victims' displayed a grand amount of patience by not decking those people in the face.

Following lunch, we walked across the Liberty Bridge and hiked up to the top of that mountain with the Liberty Statue at the top. I'd like to say that the view was amazing the entire way up, but dang there were a lot of steps. A. Lot. Think Stone Mountain, but all steps. We stopped to take pictures ever couple hundred steps because that view was so amazing. It's right across the Danube, so, at the top, you can see all of Buda and Pest including at least three of the bridges. It was completely breathtaking. I sat down on a stone wall and relaxed in the shade while taking it all in. Technically, the top is actually the 'Citadel' but my limited grasp on Hungarian means that I was unable to read the signs so I can't tell you what the significance is.
Halfway up the mountain, there was a really neat Roman Catholic Church that's called the Cave Church. It's carved IN the side of the mountain. Going inside actually required twisting through a couple of hallways where the walls hadn't ever been smoothed out. It was totally worth it to follow the beautiful harp music and angelic voices. It was incredible and I was once again humbled by the beauty of the service that we watched. I got a souvenir smushed coin in the hopes that I won't forget that experience.

I'm so sorry to cut this off short, but the storms are getting pretty loud and I'm afraid the Internet is about to cut out again. I'm sorry for the choppy post, but I'll cross my fingers that I have more time and Internet access tomorrow.
Ciao!
Jess