ONE FOR ALL, ALL FOR GREEN JOURNAL Hungary 05 th 11 th May 2016
1st day, 5th May Our journey started early in the morning as we should be at the airport at 6:30 am. It was the first time I was going to travel by plane and I was a bit nervous, but I loved it, I took lots of photos. We didn t have a direct flight, so first we travelled from Portugal to London and it took about 3 hours. When we got to London we had lunch and then we strolled around just to see how the airport was. After some waiting time we caught the flight to Budapest and as far as I am concerned this was the longest flight. When we arrived, we took a taxi to the hotel where we would stay. After doing the check in we went to the room just to leave the bags and then went to our Budapest sightseeing: we visited 2 bridges and the Buddha part of the city. We admired the parliament and enjoyed ourselves in the promenade along the river, we had dinner in a Hungarian-Italian restaurant and then, as it was almost midnight, we went to the hotel to rest.
seen from Buda Pest
2nd day, 6th May On the second day we woke up early, we took breakfast and visited the rest of the city, we went to the market, we admired some more bridges, and we went on a boat sightseeing on the Danube river where the guide explained the history of the city. I loved to do this visit by boat, not only because it was very beautiful but also because it was very interesting to know the history of the city. We walked back to the hotel early in the afternoon to pick up our bags, because we had a transfer that would take us to Nyíregyháza, our final destination. There we would finally meet the host families with whom we would live for 5 days. As the Budapest trip to Nyíregyháza lasted about three hours and we were so tired, we fell asleep for almost all the way. Finally we arrived and we had to wait for the host families at the hotel where the teachers were going to stay, but we didn t wait too long. I went to Dorka s (home) whose family was super friendly; there I met a Spanish girl, Mariann. After having dinner we went down to the city to a bar where we met some of Dorka s friends; afterwards we went home to rest.
3rd day, Saturday 07 th May. DAY OF ANIMALS On the third day we woke up early, took breakfast and went to visit the Zoo. There, at the entrance, we were organized in international groups, my group had two Italians, Dorka, a Scottish girl, Marianne (the Spanish) and a Turkish girl. We were supposed to choose one of the Zoo animals and write information about it (origin, characteristics, type of food, etc.) - my group chose the tiger. At lunch we ate traditional food that was bread with sour cream and grated cheese on top. In the afternoon we left the Zoo and we visited a traditional Hungarian house museum. There, on the lawns, we played traditional games that each "country" presented; and we, the Portuguese girls, sang "the girls of the Sado River." At the end of the activities the families picked us up. At night, after dinner, we watched a movie and then went to sleep.
4th day, Sunday 08th May. DAY OF WATER. SOSTO LAKE On the fourth day we woke up early. I was very anxious for this day as it was the day we would go to the spa and guess what? I had never been to one! Before going to the spa, we visited a park where people often go to exercise and walk. It s very beautiful, there is a huge lake and it has lots of varieties of plants and some animals, such as ducks and fish; then we finally went to the spa. First we had lunch and then went to the water, there were slides, a wave pool, a pool with a tunnel, pools for children, normal pools, and there was a pool with river water which was hot. This pool was connected to another one which was outside where there was a beautiful garden with chairs and a bar. There was also a Jacuzzi. I enjoyed it a lot and I was really tired! We went home and after dinner I went straight to bed.
5th day, Monday 09th May. DAY OF PLANTS, TREES AND FOREST On the fifth day we went to visit Dorka s school: I found it a warm and friendly school, very different from our school. I found really cute the fact that there are, on the walls, framed pictures of the students that have been studying there. We had a contest, whose purpose was to create objects using recyclable materials. My group won the 3rd place, we won a chocolate and everyone received a sticker, a notebook, a pen and a certificate which says we took part in this Erasmus + meeting. We had lunch at school and then we planted a tree, we heard Dorka and another Hungarian student singing, and we also heard the speech of the Hungarian teacher. After this we left school to go to a botanical garden where we took several photos and saw several species of plants. After the activities Dorka and Lili joined us and we went to the shopping center to spend the rest of the afternoon there and then Lili, Mary and Cristiana went home and Dorka, Marianne and I stayed for a while to eat an ice cream. Dorka s father came to pick us up and took us home.
6th day, Tuesday 10 th May. TRIP TO MISKOLCTAPOLCA, LILLAFÜRED and DIÓSGYŐR On the sixth day we traveled to visit the surroundings. We went by bus to a garden where there was a kind of "roller coaster" but with cars, they call it Bob carts. I loved it! We had lunch in the garden and also had a walk there. There was a large lake and various forestry species. Then we went again to the bus to visit a castle. It was quite interesting to see how the kings lived and know their personal stories; it was funny because people who worked in the castle were dressed according to medieval times. The day was quite tiring and full! Later on we went home really tired and fell asleep while we were watching a movie.
7th day, Wednesday, 11th May. Departure On the last day we were all sad at breakfast; Dorka gave us some souvenirs: a frame, and some chocolates. She took us to the hotel where the teachers were. There she stayed with us for a while. Then she hugged me and we cried. I invited her to come to Portugal. We started our journey back home at 8:00 am, we travelled to the airport by bus, then we caught a plane to Rome, Italy and from there to Lisbon. This part of the trip was a little bit bumpy. We arrived at the airport at 19:30 pm. I loved the experience and I loved to take part in this project.
PROUD OF OUR ERASMUS+ PARTNERSHIP BUT SAD FOR HAVING TO SAY GOODBYE