Today we got a little time to sleep in and then we headed to our third cultural event. We spent the day in a town called Puszta and a Lazar Equestrian Park.
When we got to Puszta we arrived at the Lazar Equestrian Park and it was BEAUTIFUL. Now this park is a traditional Hungarian farmyard, it has competition stables and the Championship Hall which is home to the many awards that were won by the famous duo Vilmos and Zoltan Lazar who were star horse racers and owned the park. We spent the afternoon watching a horse show and eating a delicious Hungarian meal while we listened to gypsy music.
After we left the Equestrian Park we went to visit the second largest Baroque Palace of the world in Godollo! We arrived at the former summer residence of Queen Elisabeth (Sisi) and Francis Joseph (Habsburg Emperor and Hungarian King 1867-1916). This interior visit of the museum and the tour through the garden of the Chateau, gave us a glimpse of times under the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Doing this tour was very fun, and we learned a lot in the 2 hours that we were there about this royal couple. We then headed back to Budapest.
On the way back our bus driver dropped us off at the famous Budapest Baths (szechenyi baths) where there was tons of different pools heated to different temperatures by natural springs under the ground. There was also different saunas that you could go into, some that were EXTREMELY hot (one was over 180 degrees Fahrenheit). We were all so happy to have some time to just relax in these pools and we stayed there for about 3 hours. After we left we ventured back to the hotel. A few of us decided we wanted to go explore more of the city, so we showered and met back down in the lobby.
We found an awesome place where everything was made of ice! The walls, sculptures, and even drink glasses! It was a famous place in Budapest and we had such an awesome time there but it was FREEZING so we only were able to stay inside for about half an hour. After we left there, we went to a different place called Szimpla. It was decorated with all types of different things that you would usally see at garage sales, but it turned out to look really cool!
We all got pretty tired and decided to go back to the hotel to get some rest. Tomorrow we have another business visit and then Molly, Courtney, and I are planning on heading to the 'Buda' side of Budapest. I think I forgot to mention this detail, Budapest is actually 2 different cities 'Buda' and 'Pest' separated by the Danube river.
The beautiful Lazar Equestrian Park!
Enjoying the horse show.
The group on a tour around the park by horse drawn carriage! An interesting fact was that the man that was driving this carriage was one of the top horse racers in the world!
Molly and I :)
Lovin' this beautiful park!
Budapest Baths (szechenyi baths)
The famous place where everything was made of ICE! We had to wear these funny coats and gloves :)
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