Beautiful Weather

Yesterday, winter seems to have ended abruptly with Budapest being sunny and gorgeous at 60 degrees (yes, who would have thought that I would be calling 60 degree weather beautiful). After finishing off two homeworks (wohoo), we decided to go over to Margaret Island. Margaret Island is an island in the middle of the Danube between Buda and Pest. It has a course that people walk and run along the perimeter and parks, fields, and basically nature in the middle of a city all over it. Yesterday, it was packed with people. It seemed as if everyone in Budapest was crossing the bridge to go over to the island! Tons of families with little kids and older couples- everyone! On the island, they had little food stands all over. The really exciting thing I saw was absolutely massive cotton candy (like 3 times the size of cotton candy in the US) and they had multiple flavors like sour apple and coconut! We didn't try it but sometime this semester I will be back and try it! I see Budapest as a very grey and muted city so it was excellent to see people out, having a good time, enjoying the weather, and possibly even smiling! That never happens here!

I am currently sitting with my window open. For some reason, once it gets to be about 60, my apartment becomes about a million degrees. I could foresee this as being a problem for the rest of the semester... I've woken up at 8 AM needing to open my window to let some cool air in because it is so hot (we don't have air conditioning). But it is so nice to go outside not wearing my big winter jacket! And I can hear children playing outside at the park right outside my apartment. It just feels so much more familiar when weather is nice, the sun is shining, and people are happy.