Budapest!

A while ago, me and my boyfriend decided to have a last minute trip to Budapest for a weekend. We booked the tickets on Thursday evening/night and the bus left already on Friday evening. We just really wanted to go somewhere and see new things and enjoy the summer. I think almost everyone has felt the urge just to travel and explore something new, to have a break from the everyday life. Even when the travel was quite long and exhausting by bus, it was totally worth it! 

We arrived to Budapest in Saturday morning ready to explore the city. We started our sightseeing from the Hősök tere (Heroes' Square) and continued walking in the city park crossing Vajdahunyad Castle with many different kind of architecture styles. After a while in the park we decided to continue to the center of the city for breakfast. On the way we saw the Hungarian Parliament Building. Our breakfast place was unbelievable, the atmosphere was so great!  The place was called Liberte Budapest Restaurant & Grand Cafe, we were sitting in the terrace drinking cafe and listening to live music they played by a guitar and a violin. 

After the breakfast we walked in the center in the Liberty Square and to the St. Stephen's Basilica. Soon after that it started raining a bit even when the morning had been really beautiful. We decided to visit a museum while it was raining, we took the old metro line and came to the House of Terror museum. The museum shows the fascist and communist regimes in Hungary. After the museum visit the rain was gone and as we were close to our hotel we decided to refresh a bit.

We had dinner in this Hungarian restaurant called Tüköry Étterem that my boyfriend found before from TripAdvisor. The restaurant was recommended mostly by the locals and the prices were quite cheap. We ordered traditional Hungarian food, as a plate for 2. The plate was so huge that we probably ate half of it in reality. Place to recommend!

In the evening we went to see the Buda castle on the other side of Tonava. We climbed to the castle and enjoyed the view to the city. From the other side of the castle hill we were able to see the beautiful sunset. It started to be late and we were tired of walking for the whole day, it was time to check out this bar that my boyfriend found online before. The place is called Szimpla, the setting of the bar is very unique and we wanted to visit it as we hadn't seen anything like that before. The place was quite crowded so we stayed there only for a while to look around and see all the weird rooms. Afterwords we ended up in car themed pub, there were quite many pubs that had a special theme that was visible in the decor.

Normally I'm very good with directions and maps. This time when we were trying to find a way from the center to our hotel, we took a wrong bus that went to completely wrong direction. We ended up walking to our hotel, that was our adventure!

The next day was reserved for relaxing. We went to the Széchenyi thermal bath in the city park and enjoyed the baths and the good weather. Széchenyi is the largest medicinal bath in Europe and the temperatures of the baths went up to 38°C. Sunday was also the the day our bus was leaving back to Wroclaw. Even when our holiday was very short, I enjoyed every minute of it and would do it again anytime. Maybe I fell in love with Budapest!

-Camilla

Graduation!

I graduated last week as Bachelor of Laws! In Poland the process for Bachelors is a bit different than for example in Finland. Apart from my thesis I also needed to have final exam (defence) and answer to some question about my thesis as well as a general question in relation to the department I wrote my thesis to. 3 years of hard work behind but for me these three years mean so much more than just Bachelor degree. These studies were the final reason why I decided to move abroad to Poland.

If I look 3 years back, I was just selling some of my furniture as I already knew I will be moving to Poland. I showed my apartment for the new tenants and packed my stuff to be stored at my parents place. I was excited about moving, but at the same time I had no idea how it would go in reality. Afterwords I have wondered how I had so much courage to change my life so dramatically, but I'm more than happy that I took this opportunity and learned something new also about myself. I'm not sure what were my expectations about Poland and about the studies, but as I look back I was just so excited and maybe also a bit stressed about everything new. When I left Finland I did not know when I would come back, that feeling is even more stronger now. I do not see myself living in Finland at least in the near future. Poland is my home for now, but I could see myself in other countries too. I think that once I left from Finland and survived so well, it is now easier to think that I could live almost anywhere.

These three years have passed so fast and now it is already the time to start something new. I'm so happy that my family has supported me in my decisions, even when I know they would like to see me more often. During these years I have built new friendships, another safety-net apart from the one I have in Finland. What really makes living in Poland so good, are these people. At the same time I feel guilt that I haven't been able to spend that much time with my friends in Finland. Maybe this quote shows my feelings towards these friends: "Good friends are like stars, you don't always see them but you know they're always there."

Having coffee with my Erasmus friend during the first semester in Poland. The first semester was about getting to know new people, learning polish and discovering the new city. We had a nice girls trip to Berlin and I made the first contact to Finnish community in Wroclaw.

The second semester my family came to visit Wroclaw, I was so proud to show them around the city. For the first time I experienced the early spring (at least compared to Finland) and the warm weather. The first year of studies was done and I was happy to go to Finland for the summer.

The third semester was studying in cafes and meeting with friends every Wednesday in a jazz bar. Our friend from Finland came to visit us here in Wroclaw and I met many new people.

The forth semester was great! We had a nice weekend in Prague, my sister came to Wroclaw, I met with my brother in Gdansk.... So many great things! I also came more involved with the Finnish community as I became a teacher in the Finnish School in Wroclaw.

The fifth semester started the final year of  LLB. I met with my family in Stockholm, I continued teaching at the Finnish school and I got involved with the Telders moot court. I also started to write my thesis.

The last semester was probably the most stressful and eventful. We had a trip to Ukraine, I visited Finland as a surprise, Telders competition in Warsaw and in the Hague, thesis and finally graduation! 

-Camilla