Budapest: Off Again

    The day after Christmas, we returned to Bogi, where three of my companions and I remained long enough to nap, shower, and repack before we were off on our next train to Budapest. This time, I went with my friends, Keith, Kai, and Florencia. Keith's birthday was coming up, and he'd invited us to spend it with him in Hungary. How could I say no to that?

   We arrived at twelve in the morning and I was impressed by how quiet and clean the streets were. Walking in Rome after dark I encountered some very sketchy scenes, like a group of men cutting each other's hair on the sidewalk while they did graffiti (???), but I felt completely safe in Budapest. The longer we stayed in Budapest the more we fell in love. It was a very well-kept city, with very little noise and tourists (comparatively), and a family-friendly atmosphere. There were parks all over the place. 

   Christmas was still in full swing and there was a Christmas market and an ice skating rink on every other block, which made the city feel cozy and quaint. I'm not really sure how else to explain it, but Budapest felt like the cities I used to see paintings of in my storybooks as a child. The ones where the whole city has gathered in the local park and they're laughing and talking under the Christmas lights. Sort of like this:

   On day one we explored a Christmas market next to a church. The whole experience was so satisfying because people had been hyping up Christmas markets for weeks in Austria. We'd visited a couple and we'd all come away disappointed. They were expensive, the merch was unoriginal, and the food was overpriced and basic. But not in Budapest. I wanted to buy something at every booth I passed. We tried some traditional Hungarian street food... oh my goodness, it was so good. All it was was fried bread with sour cream and cheese on it, but it really hit the spot. 

A delicacy 👌

Marzipan :P

I've never felt more like a tourist in my life 
then when I agreed to buy matching tote bags. 

Florencia and I

The tree must have been cold

A very bad photo of the parliament building. You should google it for a good photo
I've stopped taking my own photos when I travel, and I just steal everyone else's. 

   We decided to visit this museum of light that we've been seeing signs for. We expected there to be light sculptures and cool optical illusions, but they really took modern art to the next level. They were having a special exhibition on dreams and It was the most bizarre thing I have ever experienced. Between being genuinely confused, and slightly freaked out, we couldn't stop laughing at how ridiculous most of the exhibits were. 0/10 for museum experience, 10/10 for entertainment. 

The most terrifying escalator I have ever been on. Why was it so steep and long???

Watching the sunset over the Danube. 

   On Day Two, we visited the other side of the river. Apparently, I never knew this, Budapest is two cities. On one side you have Pest, and on the other you have Buda. We were staying in Pest, so we went across the river to visit Buda. We started by visiting the Buda Castle, an old fortress that had been converted into a palace during the time of the Hapsburg monarchy. My favorite part was seeing where the foundations, walls, and towers of the old castle were still visible, plus, to get to the palace, we had to walk along the old wall, which was fun. Something about walled fortresses are so fun to me, it always feels like something straight out of storybooks and I get really giddy. 

On the bridge to Buda

The view from one of the windows in the wall

An old tower that was still standing. You can't see it in the photos, 
but the sun was shining through the stained glass and it was very pretty.

And then we found the gates to heaven. The Buda Castle was at the top 
of a steep hill, so from our perspective, it looked as though there was nothing
beyond the gate except for a pink sky. 

   After visiting the castle, we went to the Fisherman's Bastion, two cathedrals on the hilltop surrounded by an elegant wall with covere'd stoa's that looked out over the river. This was one of my favorite places to visit, but it was packed with people. It was one of those places that, if there hadn't been soo many people, it would have been the most romantic place on earth to read a book. 

What I was saying when this photo was taken: "Hey, come here often?"

   After Sabbath, we went to get Thai food for Keith's birthday, and then explored another Christmas Market and explored "Fashion Street" as it was called, one of the main downtown streets for shopping. 

   The next day we headed to a park where there was a thermal spring (which was too expensive for us lowly people) and a castle. The first thing we found, however, was a hot airballoon. Kai really wanted to ride it, and it was pretty cheap so we all marked something new off our bucket list. The Balloon only ever went up or down, and it was foggy, so maybe not the most incredible first hot airballoon ride, but hey, I'll take whatever I can get. It was to walk around in the basket and watch it tilt. Poor Kai couldn't take her hands off the railing, or look up from the ground. But allegedly, "She was having a great time." 

Immaculate latte art. 👌

   

   Then we headed to the castle. Since I've been in Europe, I have never actually visited a castle. I've been to many palaces, but not castles. Everytime I go to Salzburg, I see the castle on the mountain, but I have yet to go to it. This spring, I will visit multiple castles in Germany, including the one the Disney castle is modeled after, but as of yet, I had not been to a proper Castle. Which I found atrocious. I'm so glad I remedied that in Budapest. This castle had a mote around it and everything. We stopped here briefly so I could throw rocks on the ice and listen to it sing. Then I was dragged away. But there was a bridge and a big metal gate, and spyres and balconies and mysterious doors. Amazing. Loved it. I would have lived there so fast. 

Look at the cool gate!

All of the walls and poriticoes were painted too, it was 
really beautiful to look at, but not quite as gaudy as the Baroque palaces are. 

   After that, Kai wanted to go to the mall. So we hung out there until it was time to head to the trainstation. I had a great time with these three, and I'm so glad I got to experience Budapest with them. It was probably the least busy trip I've been on, but it was really chill and super fun to explore the city since none of us knew anything about it. I would go back in a heartbeat. I think there is still a lot I didn't get to see and do.