"I hope you fall in love someday with being alive." Budapest did just that for me. It is a city with so much to see and so much beauty, but thankfully lacks the heavy amount of tourists. The best part about it? The exchange rate is really good, making it a very cheap country to visit. 1 Euro is equivalent to about 315 Hungarian Forints. Bridget and I were supposed to go with Meghan and her friend Alex who is studying in Dublin, but Meghan missed the bus to the Dublin airport so it ended up just being the 3 of us. We met Alex's friend Anna and her roommate Molly who are both studying in Rome. Our hostel coincidentally ended up being 3 buildings down from their Airbnb, which was super convenient. Budapest is split by the river into 2 cities, Buda and Pest. Buda is a lot more hilly with older sites and Pest contains most of the nightlife, the shopping, the Jewish quarter, and the Parliament building. We stayed on the Pest side. Once we all got checked into our accommodations, we took a free walking tour of the city. This was nice because we saw most of the main sights. However, it gets dark around 4 in Budapest so we saw a lot of the sights in the dark on the Buda side. We went to a restaurant recommended by our hostel for dinner and afterwards we went to Szimpla, Budapest's most famous ruin bar. Budapest is famous for its ruin bars, which are bars built in old abandon buildings from World War II. They are filled with flea market furniture and random art - we ended up sitting in a bathtub for seating.
The next morning we went to a cute local cafe for breakfast that Alex's friend had recommended. We only had to wait about 20 minutes, and after we were sested they told people that it was a 2 hour wait because of reservations so we got super lucky. The fresh squeezed orange juice and mushroom wafflini were definitely things to write home about. After breakfast we headed towards the Great Market and explored the food stands and the traditional Hungarian souvenirs. We were going to head to the Buda side to see it during the day, but it started raining so instead so got gelato shaped like roses and climbed to the top of St. Stephen's Basilica. We wanted to see the city at night so we took a river cruise and were given 2 glasses of champagne with our tickets. Afterwards, we headed to a very traditional Hungarian restaurant that Alex's friend highly recommended. Alex and I wanted to try the most Hungarian thing we could, so we both ordered the Chef's special - pork chop and goose liver with paprika gravy and potato croquettes. Hands down without a doubt the most amazing meal that I have had abroad. And all for $4.
The next morning we went to a cute local cafe for breakfast that Alex's friend had recommended. We only had to wait about 20 minutes, and after we were sested they told people that it was a 2 hour wait because of reservations so we got super lucky. The fresh squeezed orange juice and mushroom wafflini were definitely things to write home about. After breakfast we headed towards the Great Market and explored the food stands and the traditional Hungarian souvenirs. We were going to head to the Buda side to see it during the day, but it started raining so instead so got gelato shaped like roses and climbed to the top of St. Stephen's Basilica. We wanted to see the city at night so we took a river cruise and were given 2 glasses of champagne with our tickets. Afterwards, we headed to a very traditional Hungarian restaurant that Alex's friend highly recommended. Alex and I wanted to try the most Hungarian thing we could, so we both ordered the Chef's special - pork chop and goose liver with paprika gravy and potato croquettes. Hands down without a doubt the most amazing meal that I have had abroad. And all for $4.
The next day, all the girls wanted to spend a few hours in the famous thermal baths, but I wanted to see more of Buda before we had to leave so I opted to do my own thing that day. I took the metro to the Szenchyi Baths and tried to buy a visitor's ticket to hopefully just take some pictures, but the guard informed me that they weren't taking visitors that day. I explored the Vajdahunyad and Heroe's Square before taking the metro back to the city center. I walked towards the beautiful parliament building and spent some time taking in the Shoes on the Danube memorial. The shoes are a memorial to the Jews who were shot and killed during World War II. They were lined along the river bank, ordered to remove their shoes, and were shot into the river so they were carried away. On my way to cross the river, I ran into my friend's mom from back home. She was on a Danube river cruise and we knew that we were both in Budapest but we never made a plan to meet up. Such a small world! I spent the rest of the day exploring Buda and all of its sites including the Matthias Church, the Fisherman's Bastion, Sandor Palace,and the Labyrinths underneath the Buda Castle where Dracula was imprisoned and tortured in the 15th century. I met back up with the girls for dinner and afterwards we enjoyed some traditional Hungarian street food at the Christmas markets before enjoying some drinks at another ruin bar.
Everyone left early the next morning, but our flight wasn't until 4 so we walked the main shopping street and explored some of the Hungarian fashion stores. We ended up eating at a little burger and pasta bar right by our hostel and it was easily the best burger I have ever had. Leaving Budapest was hard, but I will definitely be making it back to Hungary at some point in my life.
Everyone left early the next morning, but our flight wasn't until 4 so we walked the main shopping street and explored some of the Hungarian fashion stores. We ended up eating at a little burger and pasta bar right by our hostel and it was easily the best burger I have ever had. Leaving Budapest was hard, but I will definitely be making it back to Hungary at some point in my life.