Tuesday,
November 19
My
friends and I bought tickets to see the Prague Chamber Orchestra weeks ago and
our evening at the symphony finally arrived! The concert took place at a
beautiful church in Prague 1 and while the event itself was quite nice, I was
surprised by the sheer mediocrity of the performance. The orchestra itself was
fine but the soloists were beyond subpar. They kept messing up (even with their
music in front of them—which is odd in and of itself!!!), their tone wasn’t
great, and their intonation wasn’t good. I was a bit disappointed by their
performance, but the experience was still very fun. I was just surprised that a
professional performance could be so average. My friend and I laughed about it
afterwards. I’m still very glad that I went.
Thursday,
November 21
Today,
I woke up early for a looooong bus ride to Budapest! I was dreading the bus
ride but was very excited to be in Budapest, so I didn’t mind having to drive 8
hours. We stopped for a short break in Bratislava. I can now cross Slovakia off
of my bucket list, I guess. It was raining when we arrived in Budapest but we
managed to find our hostel easily enough. It’s a hostel that is part of a party
hostel chain so it was a pretty crazy place but we were guaranteed a fun time
so we were all excited to stay there. We rang the doorbell to go upstairs to
reception and an Aussie yelled “are you here to check in?” from the balcony.
She let us upstairs and we were taken to a common room where we were briefed on
the rules and policies of the place. The six of us were divided into two rooms
and the rooms were exactly what you’d imagine when you think of a hostel:
crowded, smelly, and dirty (the beds/linens were clean, but the rooms themselves
were messy). We headed out for dinner at a restaurant called Most for an
amazing 3-course meal for only $6! Imagining what I’m going to have to pay for
meals in the U.S. in a few short weeks makes me cringe. We walked around the
city after dinner and had a change to get our bearings and admire Budapest
after dark. St. Stephen’s Basilica was absolutely gorgeous. We had a chance to
look inside and admire the interior. It houses St. Stephens arm as a relic and
if you pay 2 Euro, you can see it light up. We passed on the opportunity but
thought it was funny that there was an illuminated mummy arm at the church.
Interior of the church
Beautiful exterior
We
then walked toward the Danube River and had a chance to admire The Chain
Bridge, Buda Castle, and St. Matthias Cathedral. They were all particularly
beautiful all lit up.
After
our stroll, we returned to the hostel and went to a cheap karaoke bar with some
of the other guests staying there. Budapest is known for their ruin pubs (pubs
built on the ruins of WWII bombings) and we went to the most famous one called
Szimpla. It was incredible; a labyrinth of dark rooms.
This isn't Szimpla Kert, but rather, it's another ruin pub that we visited. I especially loved the strings of lights hanging from the ceiling.
Friday,
November 22
We
woke up early today for a free walking tour. We saw all of the famous sites in
both Buda and Pest. Buda and Pest are actually two different cities, joined
together by the Danube. While Pest is entirely flat and the center for business
and nightlife, Buda is composed of rolling hills and is where most of the
Hungarians actually live. A fun fact that we all enjoyed learning on our tour
was that Budapest was formally known as Pestbuda but they changed the name
because they thought Budapest had a nicer ring to it. I wonder if Los Angeles
will ever become Angeles Los one day.
We
watched the changing of the guards at Buda Castle.
We
were completely enamored by the colorful tile roof of St Matthias Cathedral. Apparently, this roof's decorative style is very Hungarian. A similar roof tops the Central Market Hall (you'll see a photo in a bit)
Our
guide was incredibly informative and told us all sorts of stories about
Hungary’s past. They’ve been under the control of so many different leaders,
many of them awful dictators. Hungary was destroyed in World War II. Nazi
Germany essentially sacrificed Hungary to the soviets, so they were under harsh
Nazi rule followed almost immediately by harsh Soviet/Communist Rule. Because
of its role as a “pawn” in World War II, Budapest was absolutely bombed to
pieces, so many of the sites that we saw were reconstructions of historical
sights.
L to R: Dani, Andrew, me, Kelsey, Grant, and James. These three women also wanted to be a part of our group shot, I guess. Look at the gorgeous roof tiles!
Dani, Andrew, and I made silly faces while Kelsey, Grant, and James opted out.
The first statue in Budapest built without any political purpose. There are many statues like this around the city. They were built after the fall of Communism in an effort to beautify the city without a political purpose.
Buda Castle
Presidential House at Buda Castle
Lookout at the castle
View from the lookout at the castle
We
then visited the House of Terror on the famous Andrassy Avenue. The House was
the former Nazi then Communist headquarters. Many prisoners were harshly
persecuted, tortured and killed here. It has been transformed into a museum and
offers insight into Hungary’s dark past. The museum is very eerie and dark but
informed me on a country’s past that I had never studied before. Hungary has
had their fair share of tough goings.
After
the museum, we relaxed at a hole-in-the-wall bar and had a beer. Hungary is
known for their wine, not their beer, so we weren’t all that surprised when we
read that all of the beers on tap were in fact Czech. There was a funny Corgi
in the bar who was sitting oddly. He would literally just rest on his behind
and looked oddly human. It’ll be funny to come home to the States where animals
and bars/restaurants never mix, when in Europe, there are pets all over the
place.
Our
hostel took us for a riverboat cruise tonight. We floated down the Danube on a
big boat and had a chance to admire all of the famous sight from the river.
Parliament was my favorite sight. It is so extravagant and beautiful, especially
when lit up and reflected against the water at night. At one point in his life,
Michael Jackson attempted to purchase the Parliament Building, but the
Hungarian government rejected his offer.
Kelsey, Dani, Grant and I enjoying the cruise
Parliament from the Danube!
Sunday,
November 24
We
headed to the Central Market Hall for breakfast/lunch and shopping. It was
very touristy but filled with Hungarian trinkets and food and was fun but
overwhelming to look around.
Exterior of the Central Market Hall. Look at the roof!
We crossed the bridge into Buda and hiked to the
top of Gellért Hill for a panoramic view of the city. This was the best part of
our trip. The hike was gorgeous and the view was unmatched by anything I’d seen
thus far. Although hiking the hill is on the to do list for most tourists in
Budapest, it felt more low-key and off the map than a typical tourist excursion.
At the top of the hill lies the Citadel (Citadella in Hungarian), a fort built
by the Austrians in an effort to discourage a Hungarian revolt. It was
unbelievable looking out over both Buda and Pest and observing how much the topography
of the cities change so much by the small division that the Danube creates.
Statue built by the Soviets at the top of the hill
View of Pest
We
spent the night at a Hungarian bathhouse. Our hostel held an event that kept
the bathhouse open after hours and it was so fun playing in the baths. I had a
chance to experience the busier outdoor bath as well as the hotter, calmer and
quieter bath inside. Because of potential water damage to my camera, I didn’t
take any picture of the baths, but I’ll attach some images courtesy of Google
so that you can see how beautiful they are!
These are the Széchenyi Baths--definitely the most famous in Budapest with over 18 baths on site. I didn't visit this bathhouse but I thought that this one encapsulates the main purpose of them quite well.
(Image courtesy of Google)
Sunday,
November 24
We
spent the morning packing up our things and getting ready for the long bus ride
back home. Budapest was an incredible adventure, filled with new culture, food,
and fun.
I
had an amazing weekend and can’t wait to explore Dresden and Berlin next week!
Christmas markets should be in full swing by then! Can’t wait!
Rolling hills of Buda (top) and the flats of Pest (bottom)
Czeching
Out,
Grace
BREAKING NEWS! As of last night (Monday night, 11/25) IT HAS SNOWED!!! Granted, it was only small flurries, but I still think that counts! I was jumping around, chasing the snowflakes with my tongue (I caught one!), and dancing. I felt like a 4-year-old on Christmas, but I didn't feel ridiculous. It was awesome. Hopefully we'll get some more snow before I have to leave! I've heard Prague is even more breathtaking under a blanket of snow.
You can see the small snowflakes if you look closely. This is my attempt at catching them on my tongue.
Ps-
hi Koby
