Budapest

Budapest

Day 2 - 3/30

Katy, Jesse, and I got here at around 11 or 12 last night after a 7 hour bus ride. I was pretty fried from the trip but also really excited. Unlike a lot of other cities in which you see a lot of things (museums, castles, etc) but don't DO a lot, Budapest is more of a doing city.

Our hostel is nice but not as awesome as the hostel in Vienna. Katy and Jesse apparently thought that I didn't want to come to Budapest with them so they planned their accomadations and travel without me. I was able to book the same buses and hostel but since they booked a private two-person room, I had to book a bed in an 8 person dorm room. They aren't even in the same building as I am! Whatever, though. Aside from dealing with a snoring older man in my dorm room last night, my accomadations are pretty good.

Anyway, this morning we went on a free tour of part of Budapest. We woke up early and walked to the meeting place called Vorosmarty Square where they happened to be setting up for a spring market in which artisans set up stands in the square to sell jewelry, food, beltes & bags, glasswork, etc. There was this one stand with the most amazing jewelry but since the owner was just setting up and we were leaving soon, I didn't get anything. Hopefully I will go back tomorrow and buy some handcrafted, metal earrings.

Waaaant

Our tour guide was this very attractive Hungarian guy named Andrej. It was a really great idea to go on the tour bc we went to the places I was planning onseeing anyway but I got some nice background info. For example, although I kinda already knew this, he explained that Budapest was once two cities, Bda and Pest (pronounced Pesht) but they were united in the 1800s (I think). He also told us all about the Hungarian history of conquerors (much like the Czechs) and explained that the reason tha tBudapest is famous for its baths is because of the Turks, who occuppied Budapest and built many Turkish-style baths.

Anyway, back to the tour: starting off at Vorosmaty Square, we walked along the river on the Pest-side a bit, getting a nice view of the Castle and Chain Bridge; through Erzsebet ter Square, where we saw a love lock tree and found out that Hungarians are always in love and sometimes put multiple locks on the tree; to St. Stephen's Basilica. We didn't get to go inside St. Stephen's but it was really gorgeous. Thanks to Czech Art, I could tell that it was this awesome mix of neo-classical architecture and Renaissance which gave it a very regal look. Andrej told us that despite how old it lookos, St. Stephen's, like most buildings in Budapest was built in the 1800s after a flood destroyed a lot of the city. Interesting.

Erzsebet

St. Stephen's - possibly one of the prettiest Basilica's I've seen so far and definitely one of my top 3 favorite places in Budapest

With St. Stephen's, we basically finished our Pest side of the tour and walked across the Chain Bridge to the hilly Busa side to explore Castle Hill. Unlike Prague which has a relatively narrow river running through it, the Danube is pretty wide so it was quite a hike crossing it. It was so windy that several times I thought I was going to lose my sunglasses...or myself!

FortunatelyI didn't lose either and once we made it to the Buda side of the Danube, we began climbing up the park-like Castle Hill. After being in the more urban areas of Prague for weeks, it was really refreshing to be around grass and the outdoors.

 Once we got to the top, I was a bit surprised at the Buda Royal Palace, which seemed kinda plain. Andrej said that it wasn't very extravagant or impressive because it was just symbolic and no ruler actually used it so I guess the lack of ornamentation made sense. Still, it gave us an awesome view of the Danube River, the Chain Bridge & St. Stephen's, and Parliament

While walking along the top of Castle Hill (we basically skipped the actual castle part), Andrej pointed out some protesters outside of one of the government buildings (can't remember which). He told us that the Hungarian president Dr. Pal Schmitt had just been outed for having plagiarized his doctoral thesis pretty much word-for-word. President Schmitt apparently said that it was the administration's fault for not realizing he plagiarized earlier and said that he won't step down from office. I personally think that his comment was ridiculous and arrogant but I'm not sure what should be done. Certainly his doctorate should be revoked but I'm not sure that he needs to give up his presidency. Admittedly, the whole scandal reflects bad on the country for voting such a morally questionable guy into office and on the universities for not catching it, but the fact of the matter is that he didn't get elected because of his doctorate, he got elected (I'm assuming) because of his ability to lead and as long as he can still do that, his private affairs shouldn't be an issue. Then again, he did break the law and shame the country. It's a tricky one. What do you guys think?
UPDATE: As I was posting pictures on Facebook, I looked up the Hungarian president and it turns out that he did step down from office! Andrej was so sure that he wouldn't but I guess he had a change of mind. It's so cool to think that I was in Budapest, observing protesters before his resignation. Sorta feels like I witnessed history, which is especially nice in such historic cities

But back to sightseeing. We walked around with the tour group a bit more at Castle Hill before finally stopping at Matthias (not saint) Church and Fisherman's Bastion. Although we didn't go inside Matthias Church, it was really cool just seeing the outside. The windows and tower were very neo-Gothic (it was re-built in the 1800sm remember?), intricate, and formal; the detailing gave it a very impressive feel. At the same time, though, the patterned roof felt a bit whimsical and reminded me that Budapest is a quirky, relaxed city that doesn't take itself too seriously.

Matthias Church. Not quite as powerful as St. Stephen's or St. Vitus in Prague but unique and kinda spunky

After the tour ended, Jesse, Katy, and I explored Fisherman's Bastion, a neo-Gothic and neo-Romanesque terrace that overlooks Pest. since we were right there anyway. Before even going to Europe, I had looked up some things to do in some cities like Budapest and saw pictures of Fisherman's Bastion so I was excited to finally see it in person. Still, the pictures didn't do it justice. Tied with Vajdahunyad Castle (more on that tomorrow), this was my favorite site in Budapest. I couldn't get enough of it! It's not cookie-cutter or overdone like some of the places I've been in Europe, but seemed very unique.

Lugos. Good enough to give you a heart attack

When we finally finished up with Fisherman's Bastion, it was 2 and I needed to be at the train station by 3:45 because I WAS GOING CAVING! Katy, Jesse, and I hustled back to the hostel, stopping along the way to get lugos, a Hungarian food of  fried dough with sour cream and cheese. It was delicious but sooo greasy that mid-way through I had to stop because it was filling and so bad for me. I also kinda wanted an apple just to feel healthy again.

Jesse and Katy wanted to go to a market in Budapest instead of caving, but I didn't mind. Caving is something I've never done, or even had the opportunity to do, before and I wasn't going to miss out. While there are definitely caving programs in the USA and even in PA, I've never gone and since Budapest is the only European city with caves, I figured that this was my chance.

Don't let how good I look fool you. This was intense

The Oxfords (red & yellow)

After waiting half an hour for everyone to get there, an hour to travel to the actual caves, and another hour for our group to go (about 50 people showed up so they split us into three groups and mine was the last to go), we finally set out at about 6. I didn't mind the wait that much, though, since I got to meet some interesting people while waiting. My group was mainly young (20s, 30s) tourists. There was Adriana and Brienne, two girls from Wisconsin studying abroad in Florence; Katie, an American girl traveling by herself in Europe for two months; the two guys from Oxford whose names I can't remember; a guy from New Zealand a guy from Hong Kong who didn't really talk to anyone much; and six guys studying abroad from the US. It was an intersting mix of people but I really liked them and meeting them gave me hope for traveling in Italy.

Climbing through the caves was just incredible. I think I expected it to be like walking through rooms of stagmites but it was totally different. We were dressed up in bodysuits and headlamps and made our way through by crawling, climbing, and squeezing. The caves themselves ran deep and seemed endless; part of me felt like I was the first person to ever explore there before. They were very much untouched, with almost no man-made markings or anything, and we were so far down into the earth that everything seemed quiet and natural; there weren't even bugs! At one point, Cylad, our Hungarian guide, had us turn off all our lights and just sit in the dark. At first I was impatient to move on but sitting there after a while in complete silence made me realize just how far away from civilization we all were.  Then he sang a Hungarian folksong in the dark and we sang Hakuna Matata. So yea, it was pretty magical.

The hole of doom

Before I went, I thought that caving would be really difficult for me, ya know, because of the lack of upper body strength or really any strength at all. I was pleasantly surprised to find that I was a natural. Being short works well with being in caves! Whereas everyone else struggled to get through holes or cracks, I just slid right through. There was one hole in particular that seemed impossible. It took everyone else a good 10 min to carefully maneuver their body through but when it came to my turn, I just kind of threw myself through! It was so easy that Cylad actually grabbed my ankle to give me a challenge! Even the parts that did require me to pull myself up weren't too hard. I just kind of hurled my body and clung on to anything. It was exhausting but I felt like such a champ.

After we got done, I was supposed to clean up and then meet everyone at a club but I got tired and fell asleep. My bad

Day 3 - 3/31

This one will probably be short(ish) since the last one was soooo exhasuting.

In contrast to the adventure-filled yesterday, today was much more relaxed. Katie, Jesse, and I decided to go to the baths and explore more of Pest so, taking the advice of a guy from our hostel named Laslo (that may or may not be his actual name but it sounds like that and we became friends), we walked up the historic Andrassy Avenue which is apparently a World Heritage site. Maybe it was because of the kinda grayish weather but Andrassy was not all THAT and a bag of chips. Cool but not supercallawonderful. It did take us on a sorta scenic route to the parky areas of Pest (I don't know if that area of Pest has a name but it's the one grassy area all the way to the northeast).

It brought us to Heroes' Square, one of the most important squares in Budapest which contains statues of leaders of the seven tribes that founded Hungary and memorializes those who led Hungary to independence. Despite the dark clouds, it was very moving and powerful, although I kinda wish this had been part of the tour so someone wouldn've explained who each of the figures was and his significance.  On either side of Heroes' Square was the Museum of Fine Arts and the Palace of Art but since we wanted to get to our spa and message appointment, we didn't go in.

Behind Heroes' Square, we stumbled upon Vajdahunyad Castle which, with Fisherman's Bastion, is tied as my favorite site in Budapest. Holy wow, Batman! That place was gorgeous! It reminded me of Sleeping Beauty's castle. Romanic, Gothic, Renaissance and Baroque in architecture, it looked so naturally beautiful that I couldn't help but be enchanted. Unlike some of the places I've seen in London or Vienna, Vajda Castle (I'm calling it that now) was nestled around some trees and didn't seem pretentious or overdone, just beautiful. Plus, it had a moat. A MOAT! It kinda reminded me of Mom a bit in the antiquated (not that your old Mom, just that you like that kind of thing), sophisticated way. Obviously I was entranced.

Vajdahunyad Castle. Yup, that is real.

Just standin in a moat

When Katy and Jesse managed to pry me away from the castle (we got to look at it again so there!), we went to Szechienzyi Baths, one of the largest and best bath houses in Budapest.

It was HUGE. There were three outdoor baths - a warm one full of old men, a cold (I'm guessing) one for laps, and a super lava hot one - plus a bunch of indoor ones. We hung in the outdoor pools for a while until it was time for mine and Katy's massages. My message was only a half hour but the message was pretty wonderful. I came out wanting to glide(or skate) across the water. Since I could do neither but still felt kinda oily, we sat in an indoor bath for a while and just relaxed.

Never in my life have I seen so many speedoes. It seems that European men have no problem just laying it all out there. Old men with beer bellies, pre-pubescent boys with skinnier thighs than mine and rat tails (don't get me started), they all just wore super snug speedoes or briefs. It was weird and really made me appreciate Americans.

By the time our toes were all pruney, Katy, Jesse, and I were ready to go and decided to hit up the sauna before we left. I guess I expected there to be a ladies ssauna and a mens but it turned out to be mixed...and by mixed I mean full of old, fat men. We lasted about 10 min before their eyes and the lack of cold air got to me. I always forget when I go into them that you basically sit there, sweat, and imagine yourself breathing out of Darth Vadar's mask. So we left Szec...the baths. and wandered back to the Vajda Castle -- I discovered a whole other building! and a church! YESSS!!!-- then through the City Park, and back towards the hostel.

It took about 40 min to get back to the hostel area and by that time Katy was pretty ravenous so we stopped that this Hungarian restauraunt. It was only 4:30 so no one was really there but we didn't particularly care because we were starving. Thinking I could eat like a big girl (or normal person), I ordered to appetizers of stuffed mushrooms and what was supposed to be potato something (I don't even remember anymore). They were both delicious but mid-way through the mushrooms I got full and by the time it came to eat the potato thingy, I was about to burst. So yea, that was my meal in Hungary.

Our bellies full, we quick stopped off at our hostel before going back to the jewelry stand I saw yesterday and getting earrings (so cute!) and gelato (so delicious!).

I'm getting kinda bored of writing and I'm done so the end. Until next time.