Budapest

So because I need a study break.... here it goes, the second part of my adventure to Budapest! 

As mentioned previously we took a bus to Budapest from Prague. It was a lengthy bus ride, about 7 hours, but like the train ride it was nearly as long as I thought it would be. It gave me a good break to recoop, while still seeing some of the Czech and Hungarian countryside as well as jot a few things down in my journal. 

It was on this trip that I realized how near the time is coming for me to go home. I am a little bit torn about this subject but the more time passes the more I realize that i'm really looking forward to it. I can't wait to see my family and friends! I will be sad to leave Europe and this lifestyle of traveling to new places every weekend, but it will also be nice to be stationed in one place for awhile. Traveling is exhausting. 

We arrived in Budapest and hopped on the metro to find our hostel as usual. We were really pretty fortunate both in Prague and Budapest that we stayed in pretty nice hostels for really cheap. Again we had to exchange our money this time to Forints. Same process as before. Been there, done that. After we grabbed some lunch where we got some advice from some people sitting at our table of what was worth seeing. 

We headed up to the castle hill, which had some really great views of the city and also a really laid back feel. I spent some time wandering around and enjoying the warm weather. 

St. Stephen's Basilica

Budapest Chia Pet!

From the top of Castle Hill

National Archives building for Hungary

Buda side of Budapest

Hungarian Jewish WWII memorial

That evening we got ready to go out to see some of the ruin bars that Budapest is famous for. Basically the ruin bars were old buildings that were destroyed from WWII no one had the money to buy them or fix them up so artists bought them and without changing to much of the appearance turned them into bars. They are decorated with random things... it just depends on which ones that you go to. We went to the one that claimed to be the original and it was decorated with tables inside of old cars as well as all sorts of cool stuff along the walls. It was a very fun atmosphere and we got to meet a lot of interesting people. I met a Russian who immediately after finding out that I was from Utah, asked if I knew Andre Kirilenko. It is amazing how many people follow the NBA teams around the world. 

Famous Chain Bridge, that was destroyed during WWII

Out at the ruin bar!

The next day we did a walking tour of the city which covered most of the places we had been before with a few fun facts thrown in. After we went to the House of Terror Museum which was the secret headquarters of the Nazi's in Hungary during WWII. VERY interesting and took most of the day. By the end of the museum visit we needed a little bit of break both physically and mentally so we went to take a quick rest back at the hostel and then head to the Turkish baths. 

Matthias Church, atop castle hill

Terror Haza (House of Terror)

 For all of the hype about the baths they were fun, but not as grand as I was expecting. Fun atmosphere and I met some Spanish guys who kind of helped me with my terrible Spanish. We watched the sun set from the pools and then made our way back to pick up our things and head to the airport. We had an early flight... and consequently were spending the night in the airport. Luckily they had benches to lay down on and when I woke up it was time to get on the plane. 

After an exhausting weekend I still had a project due on Monday, so I finished up my things at school and crashed for the next 2-3 days. Hungary was a beautiful exotic city with so much history, once again i'm glad for the opportunity to see such a cool place! 

Sunrise from the airport

Returning to a rainy Monday morning