You da best, Budapest

Hi again! Don’t worry about the title, I know… I hate myself for it, too. I really need to get over the terrible rhymes and puns, it’s just not funny. I’m so sorry. Anyway, I have another post for y’all…. If you can get past the god awful title….

As I sit on the 7 hour train to Prague (at least it’s better than 15 hours), I’m already fondly reminiscing about my time in Budapest, which was sadly short lived since we only had 24 hours in the magnificent city. Magnificent is not a word to be tossed around lightly, so when I say that Budapest is magnificent, I really mean it. Wow did I love that place!  I didn’t expect myself to enjoy the landlocked cities as much as the seaside destinations, but apparently I don’t know myself as well as I thought. My words just don’t do the place justice, and neither do the pictures I took, but I’ll do my best!  As soon as we emerged from the underground metro and rose into the real world again, I knew I was going to love it. The streets are full of incredible buildings with such detail and intricacy, nothing like your average downtown architecture. At least not in my experience. Our hostel, which was called the Wombat City Hostel, was in a great location and we walked to the parliament from there. The parliament is amazing, of course, and is right on the river. We sat and examined it for a while and then continued to wander the streets of Budapest, having no sights in particular to see, just getting a feel for the city and the lifestyle. All the streets are filled with amazing restaurants, cafes, and shops. We had dinner at a place called the Hummus Bar…. Amazing! I can’t even explain how delicious and unique it was to eat there. And so cheap too! I got a bowl of hummus with roasted mushrooms and the softest, most delectable pita bread. It sounds quite simple, but it was some of the best food I’ve ever had! And for less than 4€! Of course, the currency is different, which is the one and possibly only thing I disliked about the city. Try to wrap your head around this: 1€ is equal to 315 of the Hungarian currency. What?!? It really throws you off when you go to order a coffee and the price is in the thousands, so that would take a while to get used to for sure.  That night, we sat in a park for a bit and observed the lifestyle of the true Budapest natives. It seemed like such a cool place to live. The atmosphere is very relaxed and casual; we saw groups of friends sitting around drinking coolers and beers, couples lounging with their dogs, everyone just seemed to have no agenda and nowhere to be, just enjoying a calm evening after a long day of school or work. It was just amazing.  Like I mentioned, we only had one night there, which was disappointing, but so so worth it. I’m glad I got to experience such a vibrant and beautiful city like that, even if only for 24 hours. I definitely hope to be back, but for much longer next time! I could even see myself doing a semester abroad there if he opportunity presented itself, although I have a feeling I will say the same about Prague once we get there, since I’ve heard nothing but great things about the city. Everyone who’s visited it that I’ve talked to has just raved about it. I’m looking forward to experiencing it for myself!  That’s it for Budapest! I don’t have too much to share since we only were there for a short period of time, but clearly it was a short period of time well spent!  Tal