Day 17 (I think?!?!)

Today was spectacular, because instead of class (not that there is anything wrong with class) we went on

a day trip to Lake Balaton!  Unfortunately, our train left the station at 9:05 am, so a little bit earlier of a

morning.  

Despite the already early wake-up call, Gordie, Savannah, Collin, and Dan locked in and went for a run

at 6:35 am, and while it was early and cold, it was beautiful and not as cold as Minnesota, so we had a

good time!

We all made it on the train and began our favorite activity, math homework.  However, this particular

homework session had the pleasant bonus of a beautiful winter wonderland view of the frozen Hungarian

countryside.  

Our train arrived, and we took a quick bus to the town of Tihany, home of the very beautiful abbey

Tihanyi Bencés Apátság.  In addition to seeing the abbey and hearing about its history, and the history

of nearby monks and monasteries, we also got to enjoy a great view and do some shopping at a nearby

Lavender store. (For those wondering, “lavender” in Urdu is لیوینڈر)

 

We then took a bus to Lake Balaton, which is where the Balaton candy bar derives its name (they are

really tasty, Emese gave us some on the train today because she’s the best!). The lake is frozen for the

first time since the 2016/2017 winter, so we got the pleasure of: running across it, sliding on it, getting

some pretty dope photos on it, looking at it, talking on it, and sometimes falling on it.  

After thoroughly enjoying the frozen lake, we made our way to Badacsonytomaj (good luck trying to

pronounce it) for a delicious lunch and cultural immersion.  We were welcomed with yet another

three-course meal that left us all stuffed and ready for a nap.  

After ANOTHER bus ride, we made it to Kosaras Reggli, a local, family-run dairy and lavender farm.

We saw some freaking fabulous horses whom we fed carrots like total pros. There were also cute,

itty-bitty bulls that American cattle could probably eat whole. After admiring these animals, we

wandered on over to the farm house, where we were greeted with three absolutely adorable dogs!

Once we pried ourselves away from the dogs and made it into the house, we got to learn how the

farm operates and sample some of their cheeses, meats, syrups, and lavender goodies. The family

then left each of us with dried lavender as a parting gift!

We then had an hour-ish bus ride back to the train station. I can't say a whole lot about that because I

was taking a fat nap in the back row. I woke up and couldn’t feel my hand.  

After a restful bus ride, we had another long train ride, which meant more homework time :( 

Alex and Dan went to Simon’s burger. Yummy in my tummy! Everyone else went to less cool places for

dinner.

Today’s office hours had lackluster attendance according to our professor, and in his own words, “I’m

only loved when you need me.” - Adam Berliner at 9:55pm, 01/21/2026 :’(

Blog post

I yearn for my bed

*Misc*

Friendship is beautiful

Continued lover’s quarrel between Gavin and Noah

Signing off, your favorite writers

Guess who 😏🦃