Budapest: Buda and Pest

Hello! Early this morning (around 2am), I returned from a 9-day trip to Budapest, Munich, and Prague. As I did with my spring break trip, I will be writing a separate blog post for each of the three cities I visited over this past week and a half. Use the navigation bar on the right side of my blog to view each post. As always, enjoy!

Last Monday morning (April 22), Eric and I woke up bright and early and headed to London Stansted Airport, where we boarded a RyanAir flight to Budapest, Hungary. Though we are completely finished with our study abroad classes and assessments, we decided early on in the semester to stick around for a few extra weeks to see more of Europe. Though I miss my family and am thrilled to be heading back home in just a couple of weeks, I'm definitely glad we made that decision!

Flying over the Danube, heading into Budapest!

I did not know much about Hungary before traveling to Budapest, but I definitely learned a lot on my trip. Though Hungary has not traditionally been a hot European travel destination, its tourism industry has been growing in recent decades, particularly among students. Why, you ask? Basically, Hungary is incredibly cheap. 22,000 Forints (Hungarian currency) is equivalent to $100 USD. I withdrew that much from an ATM on our first day, and was set for the rest of our stay, even having a little money leftover. For students studying abroad in Europe, a city as cheap as Budapest is a nice break from places like Paris and Berlin; not to mention, my lovely city of London, which I'm convinced has to be the most expensive city in the world.

But of course, Budapest is filled with history as well. If you are into World War II and Cold War history, Budapest is definitely an interesting city to visit, because of its history with German Naziism and Soviet Communism. The Danube river is very beautiful, and there is also some great food, especially goulash (which Eric and I enjoyed numerous times each day). The Hungarian baths are a top attraction, as is the Hungarian parliament building.

For those who don't know (I didn't before my visit), Budapest is essentially divided into two cities, one on each side of the Danube river. These cities - Buda and Pest - were originally two separate cities, but were later joined into one city, the capital of Hungary. Eric and I stayed in the Pest side of the city, mostly because hostels there are dirt cheap. But we also stayed in a less touristy area, which was very interesting. Here is our visit in pictures and captions!

After taking a terrifying taxi ride (our driver was weaving through traffic blaring techno music) to
our hostel, Eric and I had our first meal in Budapest, which was absolutely delicious.
I had goulash, which was fantastic. It is sort of like beef stew, but is so wonderfully seasoned.
We had it every day during our stay!

Our first morning in Budapest, Eric and I started the day with a free walking tour.
A lot of cities are now offering free walking tours, and we have tried to take advantage of them wherever
we find them. Although the walks are free, you are expected to tip at the end, but this usually means that the tour
guides work a little harder to receive a better tip! We started out on the Pest side of the city, and worked our
way over to the Danube River, where we got an amazing view of Buda Castle. 

Liberty Statue of Budapest, looking over the entire city

St. Stephen's Basilica; St. Stephen was the first King of Hungary. 

Statue of a Hungarian Police Officer - rub his belly for good luck!

After learning a little bit about Hungarian history, as well as seeing some major sites on the Pest side,
our walking tour brought us across the Chain Bridge (the most famous bridge in Budapest) to the Buda
side of the city, where we got this incredible view of the Pest side (pictured here: St. Stephen's Basilica
and the Chain Bridge)!

Hungarian Parliament Building, which Eric and I visited later on our trip!

Matthias Church 

Appreciating the gorgeous view!

The Hungarian President's office

The Chain Bridge

After our great walking tour of Budapest, Eric and I headed to the Central Market, which
was full of souvenirs and food. 

The interior of the Central Market reminds me almost of a Middle Eastern souk!

Budapest at night - so many lights! After seeing the sites at night,
Eric and I met up with one of my best friends from high school Lia!
We enjoyed a drink in an outdoor beer garden, and it was great fun catching up,
in Europe, no less! 

The next morning, Eric and I visited the Hungarian Parliament. 
You can only visit if you are escorted by a guide, as well as a military officer.
We took an English tour with a couple from Denmark, and learned a lot about this
gorgeous government building. 

Hanging in the Hungarian Parliament!

Parliament Meeting Room

After our parliament visit, Eric and I headed to the Szechenyi Baths.
Budapest is famous for its baths, where you can sit in a natural hot spring like this one,
receive massages and spa treatments, and try out all sorts of smaller baths and pools.
Eric and I stuck to the hot springs, and had a very relaxing time just sitting in the pool.
I even got a little sunburnt, which I welcomed with open arms after 4 cold months in London!

Leaving the Szechenyi Baths, we passed Heroe's Square, a major
political and historical site in Budapest. After resting after a long day of walking through town,
we enjoyed another traditional Hungarian meal for our last night in Budapest.

Overall, I enjoyed my visit to Budapest. Unfortunately, I did not like it as much as I thought I would. The walking tour Eric and I took our first day was fun and informative, and the sights along the Danube river were gorgeous. However, I personally felt that aside from the main tourist attractions, there was not much to the city.

Because we were told that taxis are a scam unless you call and determine a price ahead, and public transportation is incredibly confusing if you don't speak Hungarian, Eric and I walked everywhere, sometimes more than 2 miles to our destination. Now, I've gotten used to walking everywhere during my time in Europe, so this was nothing new. However, the areas we were walking through were not the slightest bit interesting. The streets were mostly filled with run down convenience stores or empty lots. This made for a very boring, sometimes depressing, walk to most of our destinations. There were also very few signs indicating the direction to major sites, and although we had a map, a lot of places were very difficult to find.

I must stress that I did like Budapest and definitely enjoyed my time there; it's just that the process of seeing the city was a lot more stressful than I anticipated, or had experienced in other cities. I would go back, but probably not for a long time.

On Thursday morning, Eric and I checked out of our hostel and headed to the train station, where we boarded a 7-hour train ride through Hungary, Austria, and Germany to our next destination: Munich!