Weekend trip to Budapest!

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