Day 8: Slovakia & Hungary

We started our day today with breakfast at our hotel in Krakow, Poland.  Then, we drove for about 4 hours through the Tatra Mountains.  I'm sure it was beautiful, but my motion sickness would not allow me to look!  Luckily, I got a few pictures from Salli, who didn't have that problem!

We had a few potty breaks before lunch - if we had the money to pay for the potty..  Our brains are now a mess when it comes to how much things cost.  We have used four different currencies - European Union Euro, Czech Koruna, Polish Zloty, and now the Hungarian Forint!  

It typically costs about 50 cents to use the toilet unless it is in a restaurant that we are eating in.  At this point, we have coins from every country.  So, we just hold our hands out full of the conglomeration of coins and let the attendant take what is necessary! We will definitely look forward to converting back to the US Dollar!

As we drove through Slovakia, Vanja told us that only 4-5 million people live in Slovakia with a million of those living in the capital city!  We also learned that because of the location in the mountains, Slovakia is home to 180 castles! (Remember, castles were best built on mountains so they could see their enemy coming!)

We ate lunch in Slovakia (country #2 for the day).  We stopped at a ski resort and had a very nice break from the bus, ate a good lunch and enjoyed a little walk in the fresh air.

Our group has been perfect!  Everyone has gotten along very well with each other and with the other groups.  We've all made new friends with people from Oklahoma and Indiana.

After lunch, we still had about 3 hours of driving before we made it to Budapest.  When we arrived, our bus driver dropped us off at the square near St. Stephen's Basilica where we crashed a wedding to see the beautiful church!  Hey!  It was open, and they were letting people in!

So, our third meal of the day was in Budapest, Hungary (also our third country of the day)!  Not many people can say they ate all three meals in three different countries in one day!  

 We had some time to walk around and enjoy the area for about an hour before dinner.  So, we visited the Danube River for a few minutes and did a little shopping.

• Almost 10 million people live in Hungary
• It has existed as a country since the year 896.  So, the number 96 is used in several things throughout the city.  
• For example, no building can be taller than 96 meters in Budapest.  So, there are no skyscrapers to be found! 
• There are also 96 steps at the Parliament Building!
• Saint Stephen was the first king of Hungary.  The Basilica was named after him.

Europeans believe in exercising and staying healthy!  We found this gym in an outdoor park while waiting for dinner.  The students had a blast as if they had all the energy in the world!

Tomorrow is our last day on tour.  We are looking forward to a fun day as we tour Budapest and then visit the Budapest Baths.  We are going to be really sad to leave our bus driver and Vanja on Sunday, but it has been a wonderful trip!