October 23- Off to Budapest, 1st stop, for Fall Break!

So I am way overdue keeping up with this blog, but yes, its been so busy! I cannot forget about my fantastic Fall Break. It was a week off where I really wanted to go somewhere completely different, so when my friends in London told me they were going to Budapest and Vienna, I was sold.
I was beyond excited to begin my Eastern Europe journey.

Lets start with Budapest. On Friday, October 23rd, I flew alone from Paris to meet up with five of my friends from Syracuse, 4 studying in London and one in Florence. After following the directions my friends had given me once I arrived in the airport, we can say that I was a bit freaked out when I saw the Hungarian subway system. The subway car I entered seriously looked straight out of a horror film. Old, creaky, yellowish, old and leather swinging hooks. Oh communism.
After that little adventure, I found our hostel, Domino Hostel, a not too shabby looking joint where all 7 of us had our own room thankfully! It was such a great relief to see Megan, Carolyn, Rachel, Dana and Emily who I haven't seen in so long!! After a bit of catching, all pretty tired, we headed out for a chill evening at a local restaurant ready to indulge in true Hungarian food! I was all out for the local specialties! When will I be back in Hungary? Going for the goulash soup and chicken paprika, totally delicious and cheap with the ridiculous currency they have there. The Florent is about 270 to 1 euro. When I bought a water bottle for 570 Florents with my 10000 Florent bill, the lady gave me the worst look. Whoops...
We then took a walk around the city. We were staying right by the Danube which apparently divides Buda and Pest, formerly two separate cities. Who knew!? The buildings along the rivier were beautiful along with the Parliament which was lit up with the Hungarian colors of red, green and white. Already amazing.



The next day was planned to be a packed day, making sure we see everything. We started with a visit to this huge indoor market we heard about right near our hostel, packed with everything. There was tons of fruits and vegetables, bread, meats, cheese and pastries. Along with floods of hungry Hungarians. Hahaha, had to.
I settled on a small apple and cinnamon strudel, totally Hungarian of course. We then made our way to the Buda side of the city to take the hike up to Castle Point, a long hike up to the top where there is a fantastic view of the city. It was great walk up where we stopped to take looks of the fantastic views we constantly came across. Finally at the top, it was quite a sight!! Despite the foggy day, the view of Budapest from overhead was totally worth it. Then we ventured down to take the funicular up the Buda Castle, also located up on the hill. Up there, we saw the huge ornamental gate, which I was amazed by. It was so intricate!!! We visited the Hungarian National Gallery, also located in the Castle. We then took a nice walk across the Danube, along the Chain/Lion Bridge to head to Parliament. It is the largest building in Hungary! I was extremely impressed by it, probably one of the coolest buildings I've ever seen. We then headed over to the river to take a tour boat ride. It definitely had the oddest narrative I have ever heard, which included one voice as Buda and the other Pest. It just made want to keep doing the impressions for the rest of the trip. Hhaha, oh man. We saw great sites and nice views and enjoyed the free wine. We then took a tour of Margaret Island led by a sweet 20 year old Hungarian girl, an island located in the middle of the river, which according to the tour, "Pesch, You know Margaret Island belongs to me." Oh my goodness. We spend that night eating dinner at this boat/restaurant/club that our tour guide recommended.



Sunday, our last day in Budapest, we headed out early, searching for somewhere to eat a quick breakfast, everything closed. But ventured across a Coffee Heaven, pretty much like Starbucks. Oh Americanization. Our next stop was the House of Terror Museum, so using my great map skills, I assumed the metro stop Hosok Tere, was the correct stop. Fail. But we did get to see the Millennium Monument. We made it to the House of Terror Museum, which is located on the exact side where the Red Cross Party (Nazis) and then the Communist Party headquarters were. We learned all about Hungarian history in this period and saw where they killed prisoners. It was intense. On a lighter note, we traveled over to the St. Stephens Basilica and then the opera house. Of course, made a stop at the synagogue, the largest in Europe and the second largest in the world! It was beautiful with great pillars on top! We trekked through the small Jewish Quarter, where we stopped for some good matzoh ball soup.



That evening it was off to Vienna. We traveled by train, Hogwarts style for sure. Great moment...Megan and I in our car with two Austrian sets on both sides of us. As we approach Vienna, the couple starts talking to us. Megan: "We're American." Austrian man: "I could tell." Rough.
Next stop...Vienna.