Budapest (Days 22-25)

Yay for the Budablog! 

We did our first 3 day excursion of the trip in Budapest! This will be how the remainder of the trip is structured so it was fun to get a feel for the format.

Getting there: 

Planes, trains, and automobiles was the theme of the journey. Aspen and I began our morning with a .5 mile walk to the train station, then a 4 hour train to somewhere in Hungary, a 30 minute bus ride to another train station in Hungary, a 1.5 hour train to Budapest, AND a 15 minute metro ride from the train station to our Airbnb. Cristina took a plane from Copenhagen to Budapest, a 30 minute bus ride from the airport, and a 20 minute metro ride from the bus station to our meeting point. Whew.

BUT THE MAIN POINT IS THAT WE ARE ALIVE, WELL, TRAVEL-PROS, AND MOST IMPORTANTLY TOGETHER!

Finally reunited, hanging out on our pub crawl (more details below)

Site Highlights:

So. Many. Sites. There was a lot to see and do so the sightseeing basically started the first night we arrived (after a traditional Hungarian dinner of course).

Castle Walk: We started our site seeing with a walk over the Chain Bridge, and a hike up the hill to see the castle. The Chain Bridge crosses the Danube and connects Buda with Pest and represents the unification of Budapest. It was destroyed by the Nazis during World War II but was quickly rebuilt. The castle was once the home of Hungarian royalty and now (in my opinion) is a touristy, bland building, that offers a decent view (emphasis on decent, not spectacular).

Chain bridge at night

View of Pest from the castle. Building on the left is Parliment, building on the far right is the Basillica.

Castle illuminated

St. Istvans Basillica: Budapest's largest church. We didn't go in, but we enjoyed looking at the outside.

At night....

....and during the day (taken with the help of my selfie stick)

Parliment: We really wanted to do a tour of this historical building but Parliment is in session on Mondays so we couldn't. There was also a protest going on outside which was very interesting to see.

I took some better photos on my real camera, so I can't post them :(

Great Market Hall: A giant market that is located on the pest side. Remind me of the market off the Ramblas in Barcelona. They sell both food and goods here, and we took the time to enjoy a Hungarian lunch in the hall (more info in food highlights)!

The market

Happy pickled veggies (located in the basement of the market)

Gallert Hill and the Citadella: A lengthy, completely uphill hike BUT TOTALLY WORTH THE VIEW. There aren't any museums up at the top, but we loved how picturesque Pest and the Danube looked.

The view

Just some Buda(B)pest(ies)

This is how Aspen and I feel about wind ever since Santorini....(it was windy, again)

Matthias Church and Fisherman's Bastion: Matthias church has the most incredible and intricate roof I've ever seen. Fisherman's Bastion is a a castle like structure that surrounds the church.

Church

Look at that roof!

Fisherman's Bastion

House of Terror: Our museum for the city! An incredibly eloquent and terrifying museum that highlights the struggles that Hungary has gone through. My summary: if you were Jewish you were persecuted, if you were rich you were persecuted, if you were Christian you were persecuted, if you were German you were persecuted (by the communists), if you were Slovakian you were persecuted, if you were young you were persecuted, if you had relations with people outside the country you were persecuted. Basically everyone was in a horrible position. The museum is located in the building where these tormenting governments were based and also where many were torchered. There are no photos allowed in the museum, but it definitely is worth a stop if you're ever in Budapest!

The exterior of the museum

Szechenyi Baths: Rick Steves' #1 attraction in Budapest (and also highly recommended by Ellen)! We spent our last afternoon relaxing in the baths like the Hungarians do (no chlorine included). 

The baths, note old men playing chess in the corner.

Cristina forgot her bathing suit, and Aspen forgot that we were leaving the country/just wanted to be super patriotic?

Pub Crawl: What is a trip to Budapest without a tour of its famous ruin pubs? We experienced it in full force, visiting 5 pubs. Our favorite was definitely Szimpla Kert...our final stop of the evening.

So many strange decorations and a live tree! We also made friends with some Norweigans/US people studying abroad/a girl from Ireland/a guy from Argentina and Quebec! #friendsaroundtheglobe

Food Highlights:

Hungarian food is....large portions, dense, inexpensive, meaty, hearty, homey. Those were the words we frequently used to describe the cuisine in Hungary. We were definitely never hungry in Hungary (I've always wanted to use that pun!!!!) I also may have found a new favorite dessert...

Dinner at Hungarikum Biztro the first night featured many traditional Hungaruan dishes. Sausage, paprika, and dumplings are highlighted in this photo.

My Langos lunch! VERY traditional, pizza like but I had mine sans cheese (plus veggies/prosciutto)

MY ABSOLUTE FAVORITE STREET FOOD!!! I loved the plain vanilla one.

At first I was skeptical that such a hollow, crisp looking, bready thing could be delicious. I was very wrong.

Apologies for the SUPER long post. We covered a lot of ground and or amped to continue seeing the world!

Budapest

Rating: 7/10 (Katie), 8.2501456/10 (Aspen), 8.5/10 (Cristina)

Likelihood of Returning: 50% (K), 60% (A), 72% (C)

Aspen: The diversity was great, which was a huge plus for me.

Cristina: I didn't have high expectations for this city, but I was pleasantly surprised.