Underground Arts

After a slow morning, most of the group took an exciting trip underground. After a journey on the subway and bus, we arrived at the entrance of one of the many cave systems that can be found under Budapest. We toured through one such cave called Szemlo-hegyi where we saw a large variety of rock formations throughout the 40-minute tour. We also watched a short film explaining the geology of the caves, in which we learned that the massive cave systems under Budapest were partly created by the same geothermally heated water that fuels their hotsprings and also the many local baths.

After finding our way to the surface we snaked our way through the Buda hills to a restaurant where we enjoyed a wonderful 3-course meal, which naturally included the obligatory meat and potatoes, before the group split and some people went to try out one of the baths.

Another group took to the Hungarian House of Music for a Deak Bill Gyula concert for the night.  An artist commonly revered as the “King of Hungarian Blues” and it was indeed all in Hungarian.  We have little to no idea what was said nor sung, however, we do know that the guitar player was absolutely SHREDDING it tonight.  Despite the language barrier, it was still quite the unique experience to see a legend of Hungarian music live in what we (today’s writers) believe to be one of the coolest architectural buildings we have ever had the pleasure of visiting. 

Despite our guest lecturer from earlier this week revealing that the Casino almost always wins, a select few set out to test this theory for themselves. Their new knowledge of the odds must've been helpful as your Oles came out on top as a collective despite 2 of our members losing it all.  Pictured below is Alex Kelly with his earnings from the night following a jackpot on the slots!

Alex showing his dominance over the casino

Collin decided he was too cool for the rest of the group, so instead of going to the Deak Bill Gyula Concert, he went to an orchestra concert in the national concert hall! The concert hall was absolutely stunning and the orchestra played a program of Bach, Tchaikovsky, and Strauss wonderfully. It was truly a memorable performance if for no other reason than the 9 French horns sitting immediately beneath him, hopefully not resulting in permanent hearing damage.

                

After a long week of hard math, we are taking the time to enjoy our last weekend in Budapest before returning to the frigid wasteland known as Northfield Minnesota. We are also preparing for a last push with a double math class on Monday and a busy last week, and possibly one last load of laundry.

Good night, sleep tight!

Max, Collin and Holden signing off.