Hungary for BUDAPEST

I just came back from a weekend in Budapest, Hungary!

Why Budapest, you ask?
Because every friend of mine who has been there said it was amazing. And inexpensive. And because I've never seen Eastern Europe. And because Monica and I wanted to have one last trip together before our study abroad ends!

We left on Friday, and arrived in Budapest around 5pm. By the way, on the flight over, the skies were clear enough to see the Carpathian mountains, which were ice-capped and absolutely GORgeous!

Flag!

Day 1:

As usual, the first thing we did when we got to Budapest was check in to the hostel and drop off our bags. The place we stayed at was called Mandragora B&B, and it was THE best hostel I've seen so far!

First of all, look how cute it is! It was decorated like a beautiful Zen-looking temple. Think lofted beds and warm colors and plants everywhere and people walking around without shoes (it was a requirement actually).





It was located inside an apartment complex, but it was DEFINITELY NOT like Grandma Italia's house in Milano!





It was so bright and clean, flowers everywhere, and when you enter the courtyard, there's a sign directing you to the hostel itself, saying "follow the red carpet". I know it's a small detail, and probably insignificant, but I thought it added a little extra charm. :)




See those bikes? The hostel actually rents those out to guests, too.





Here's a view of that same courtyard but from the inside.





They had the best breakfasts too! Hot tea, boiled eggs, bread, cucumber, pepperoni, jam... the most you can expect from other places is some toast and hopefully some instant charcoal coffee.

AND they had DVDs with subtitles we could watch! Not that we had time to watch any, but still pretty cool.

AND they had all these free brochures to help you navigate through the city!

AND they had a mirror by the door so you can make sure you're looking hot before you step outside!

AND they had this cute little lamp thing!

Ok, obviously I liked our hostel. I'll stop now.

There was so much to do in Budapest! In situations like these, planning ahead is an essential tool to enjoying the visit. :)

We make a great team.

After we dropped off our bags at the hostel, it was time to find some food. Monica's roommate, Nicole, has been to Budapest already and told us that the food here is inexpensive compared to Paris. And oh my god she was right. I ordered VENISON cooked in RED WINE sauce, and split a dessert with Moni that was a CREPE FILLED WITH COTTAGE CHEESE, and paired that with a CAPPUCCINO (so yummy by the way), and it cost me about 2500 Hungarian Forints.

That equals about 7 euros. No joke! Me and my student budget were so happy... :D





The restaurant we went to was adorable, and actually similarly decorated to our hostel with regards to the zen-like atmosphere. See the open terrace and the bamboo behind Monica?

They even had blankets for us to use when it got chilly outside!

Oh and since we liked this restaurant so much, we ended up staying for about 4 hours just talking and enjoying the atmosphere. But that's normal for Europe, so no problem.



By nighttime, the place was lit up and even more interesting! See the Buddha statue in the middle of the terrace?





I was inspired by the romantic ambiance and decided to run around taking pictures. I managed to take this GORGEOUS photo of Monica! After this, I decided that I should be a photographer and Moni can be my muse. :)

Here's one of me by another Buddha statue.

There were lights everywhere- it looked like the whole place was glowing!

Me and Moni!

Sign from the restaurant written in Hungarian.

Once the long and relaxing dinner was over, we went back to the hostel to get some sleep since we had a big day of tourism coming up...

Day 2:

First off, we found out about a free walking tour around the city (no, not the same company as those other tours), so we made our way to the meeting point in the center of the city. Here are some pretty buildings we passed along the way:

Oooh.





Aaah. (This was a national museum by the way)

Side note: Moni likes to pause in front of shop windows to check herself out. And I like to document weird moments like these.

Very ornate.

So excited to be here!

One of the more touristy streets where they had a lot of shopping.

And now, time for the free tour!

This was our tour guide! Her name is Agnes, she's Hungarian (I think she said she's even lived in Budapest her whole life), and she is one of many Hungarians who "survived the communism". I found it interesting listening to her talk about that last point specifically because she implied throughout her tour that she was incredibly grateful for the Western freedoms that Budapest has now. Honestly, Agnes's perception on communism being oppressive is not a new idea to me since I've studied the exact same line of thinking in high school, but to hear it all confirmed by someone who has actually lived through it all made it so much more real.

But then again, Agnes is one Hungarian out of many, and she was giving a tour to people coming from the democratic West. I'm just curious as to whether her views are shared by most Hungarians, and by most of Eastern Europe in general. I wonder if Hungarian kids my age think it's cool to quote Marx, for instance.

Agnes gave us a little history lesson about Hungary from the perspective of a Hungarian at the start of our tour. She told us how Hungarians are descended from Magyar tribes from Central Asia, and that their language today is different from all other European languages because of the Asian influence. She also painted a picture of Hungary being mislead and mistreated from the start of the World Wars to the Cold War- that they followed the Germans twice because of the promise of winning, but ended up worse off than how they were before. According to Agnes, Hungarians remained oppressed under Soviet rule after WWII and through to the Cold War.

She also expressed what it was like living under communism: bleak atmospheres, dull new buildings, gray everywhere, and the constant feeling of being watched. She definitely prefers life now.

So here are a few things we saw on the tour:
This is the opera house, although they don't use it for opera much anymore due to the horrible acoustics (no one wants to perform there). I think she said they're trying to convert the building into offices or something like that.





The Little Princess. This is a statue commemorating the first child to be born in a democratic Hungary. If you rub her knees, she brings you good luck.

Good luck to me!

Walking down a corridor to the next stop on the tour.

This was interesting: the weird-looking metal structure is supposed to be a symbol of romance! You're supposed to go get a lock engraved with you and your loved-one's names, attach it to the metal bars, and it shows the love you have for each other. Cute!

Oh, and yes, the woman there is a 7-month-pregnant Agnes! And this woman could walk all over the city, giving us a tour like it was no problem. Kudos to her.

Here's a close up of the locks.

St. Stephen's Basilica (St. Stephen I was the first Catholic King of Hungary).

Here's a good example of the remaining traces of communism left in the city:

Pretty buildings to the left= not communist.

Ugly gray and boring building on the right = communist.

Agnes said that the communist building today serves as an apartment complex, and they're probably the cheapest apartments in the city. And when I say cheap, I mean you get what you pay for. No insulation, thin walls, no central heating or AC. Not very comfortable, AND the people living here pay the most for heating in the winter and cooling in the summer.

Hungary's Lady Liberty at the top of a hill in the Buda part of Budapest.

I guess I should tell you that Buda is split up into two different parts: Buda and Pest. It used to be 3 separate cities until 1873 (Buda, Pest, and Obuda). Today, Pest is the newer, trendier side with the Jewish districts and the inexpensive food. Buda is the hillier, older, and more beautiful side. And the two sides today are split in half by the Danube river.

Also, Budapest is the only capital in the world that is built on top of hills with a natural cave system!





Here we are walking across one of the bridges (the nicest one, in my opinion) to Buda.





View of the Buda castle from the bridge. It looks pretty and big from the outside, but apparently the inside is less than impressive because of the constant destruction to it (wars, fires, normal wear and tear since the time it was built in the 13th century).

Beautiful day! It was perfectly sunny...

and so clear...

and so WINDY! Eeee!

Monica was excited to be there, especially with the sun!

We made it across the bridge to Buda. See the greenspace in the middle of the roundabout? During the communist regime, they used to plant only red flowers there, and in the shape of a 5-point star.




Then we hiked to the top of a hill in Buda, and oh my god the view was breathtaking!

View of Buda.

Danube River.

Some mountains in the distance.

The pretty bridge we crossed to get to this spot.

(By this point, I was so impressed with Agnes- that woman carried herself all over Pest, across this bridge, and hiked up this hill, and she led our group at a normal pace the whole time! I think I was more tired than her by the end of the tour. But of course, I didn't admit anything. For my own pride.) :P

Me and Moni enjoying the view!

Then, we started walking around Buda:

Here's a cute little side street.

The Trabant! This car was a product of the eastern part of Germany during the Cold War, and today it's a symbol of the fall of communism. They stopped making these cars in 1991, and good thing too, since their performance is less than mediocre. For example, on a good day and a downward slope you can speed like a demon at 60 mph! And to refuel it, you have to lift the hood, mix gasoline with oil, and pour in the mixture. To check the amount of gas you have left, you have to put a stick in the tank and pull it out.

Trinity Spire. You can find these all over where the Holy Roman Empire used to be.

Here's an example of the influence from the south: this church used to be a mosque, and still has some remnants from this influence inside. Today, it's called Matthias Church. (I liked the roofs.)

Matthias church.

Fisherman's Bastion, which is really just a fancy lookout spot (seriously, it's purely decorative). If you go inside one of those towers you can see a pretty spectacular view of the city.

More of the Fisherman's Bastion.

And more.

And more! But with me in front!

Aww what a cute couple!

Looking through the Bastion to Budapest.

What made our exploring through the Bastion even better was that there was music playing! Here's a video:

Plus, there was a restaurant inside part of it!

Then Monica and I got creative with taking pictures around the Bastion. (The architecture was inspiring!)

Having a seat.

Just another day as a world traveler.

One day I'll be rich and famous and my house will look like this.

Sepia toned.

Not very good at hide-and-seek.

Another cute couple photo!

Just trying out the Romeo and Juliette balcony.

Matthias Cathedral from below.

Fisherman's Bastion from below.

After the tour ended, Monica and I made our way back down to Pest, where we found this cute indoor market:

Entrance.

Indoor market.

Fresh produce!

All smiles!

This was on an upper level in the market.

By the way,

• Etterem = restaurant with good Hungarian food.

• Restaurant = restaurant geared towards tourists who don't know what etterem means. So higher prices, and probably not as authentic. We tried to stick to only places that had 'etterem' in the title.
  

Speaking of Hungarian food, we then went to this very cute and very busy street nearby to try a Hungarian lunch!





First, we tried a popular drink for people our age in Budapest. I don't remember what it's called (it's in Hungarian, and that's my excuse), but it's very simple: just red wine and coke. I would never think to mix these two drinks together, but it was surprisingly good!





And of course, we can't leave Hungary without trying some goulash!

Here's me explaining our lunch a little better:

Sooooo good!

I think they use a lot of paprika in Hungarian cooking. There's even a paprika museum in Budapest. :P



After lunch, we decided to rest for a while by relaxing on the greenspace in front of the opera house we saw on the tour.

Aah, it was such a perfect day for this! I got a little bit of a tan too.

Next, we started walking towards another park area in the northeast part of Pest. This street is called Andrassy Avenue, and was packed with fashion, fashion, and more fashion daahling!!- Gucci, Prada, and Louis Vuitton, to name a few.

Here's a side street where a lot of small theaters were located.

They even had their own Moulin Rouge!

And here's the Budapest Opera house (this one is still running as an opera house, unlike the other one with the bad acoustics).

Here's some pretty detailing on a few buildings I saw.

Andrassy Avenue.

Heroes' square! This is at the end of Andrassy Avenue, and the tall spire in the center is called the Millennium Monument, erected to mark the thousandth anniversary of the Magyar conquest. And I'm in the center of the square running around like a lunatic (I had to take advantage of all the open space!).

Here's a wider view of the square. It was massive!

Monica's jump shot!

To the right was an art gallery...





And to the left was another gallery dedicated to Spanish art (they even have some of Goya's work inside).

At the bottom of the Millennium spire, there are life-size statues of the seven tribal cheiftans.





Oh, and I just wanted to point out the guards at the Serbian embassy. This was across the square, and there were several embassies in the area but for some reason, there were only guards at the Serbian embassy. They were well-armed, too, as in they carried shields, gas masks, huge guns- it was intimidating at the very least. We found out later that there was a demonstration going on that day and the guards were there because of tensions between Hungarians and Serbians. I'm still not sure what that specific demonstration was about (the guy we asked only spoke a little English), but it was shocking to see the lengths they had to go to in order to protect the Serbian embassy.




Once we made it past the square, we went to see City Park, which is big enough to hold the Vajdahunyad castle, a thermal spa, and a ton of greenspace for concert venues or a nice family outing.

Here's the entrance to the Vajdahunyad castle.

Vajdahunyad castle again.

More Vajdahunyad castle.

Here's a musician we saw while we were wondering around. This guy was fascinating- first of all, his costume looked interesting, but what captured my attention was the instrument he was playing. It looked like a sort of string instrument where you wind it on one side to make noise, and pick strings at another side to make the melodies. Check it out:

It was so melancholy, but beautiful at the same time... I wonder if this is traditional Hungarian music...



Here's some more architecture we saw by the castle:

Gorgeous! I love architecture...

Here's part of the park by the castle. This all used to be part of the royal hunting grounds.

The atmosphere was so peaceful!

And we had no idea this was going on, but we found a festival in the park too!

It was amazing! There were tiny huts lined up where you can take your wine glass (that you paid for at the entrance) and sample whatever wine you wanted. There was music, barbecue, and so so many people. It reminded me of the festivals we have in Georgia in the Spring.

Here's a video!

I loved it- everything was so lively!

Check out that barbecue!

This was a funny story: we were passing by this really cool barbecue pit and I wanted a picture, so I asked the guy cooking if he wouldn't mind me taking one. He didn't really speak English, so I played charades with him until he understood what I meant. But he was being very nice about it, so I thought I'd ask if I could take the picture with him in it too. He thought I meant that I wanted Monica to try cooking. And that's how she ended up with the tongs, turning over sausages. The best part though, was when we said thank you and started to leave. The guy asked me if he could call us up sometime! I thought it was hilarious how he didn't speak English, but he knew how to ask for a number. And how would he communicate over the phone without charades to fall back on as a tool of communication? Ha ha ha... amazing.

So many people!

Here's a video of a band that was playing for the festival. Plus some people dancing.

Here's the lake by the castle. The festival was going on to the left.

Me and Moni by the lake!

Taking a break from the wine festival.

After exploring the festival, we made the long walk back to the hostel and rested a little before going out again.

First thing when we went back out: we grabbed a bite to eat. Surprisingly, we found another little festival that looked almost exactly like the one we saw in City Park. The only difference was the large amounts of beer instead of wine. We bought a sausage to share (yum!) and enjoyed the lively atmosphere for a while before heading out to find a club.

Side note: I don't know if this is a Hungarian culture thing, but I noticed that at this festival and the one earlier that the locals had a tendency to stare very intently. Not just at me and Monica, but at everyone. Like they were checking people out non stop. It felt like being back in high school, trying to find a seat in the cafeteria at lunch time. Interesting.

Poor Monica! She had to pause for a minute for her very tired feet (we walked a LOT that day).

No judgment though. I was dead tired too.

But no problem- we went to a coffee shop to reenergize with some cappuccinos and a slice of cake.




And then to a club! We went to one of the most popular spots in the city called the Godor Klub. It was in the middle of a park, and people everywhere were having a drink either on the lawn or at a table below. The club part is underground, and there's a pool over the main area, so if it's hot enough outside, people swim in the pool and you can look up to see them while you're rocking out to the music below!

The music was good too! When we went, there was a live band playing gypsy music, and the best part was that we watched some of the women inside to pick up on their style of dancing. Most of it looked like a cross between flamenco dancing (specifically with the hand movements), and a subtle form of tap dancing.

Here's a video showing some of it (watch the hand movements!):



Then they brought out a dancer:


I liked the fact that this club wasn't just a trendy spot for people my age. There were little kids running around, and some of the older women were dancing better than the younger girls! To me, it shows that this kind of music and dancing isn't some random fad in Budapest, but actually a tradition for these people. I felt like I got to experience something authentic, which is sometimes hard to do as a tourist. So I really enjoyed this!




Now for Day 3 of Budapest...

Our first adventure of the day started at Memento Park, which is a park filled with communist statues that were removed from the streets of Budapest after the fall of communism in the early 1990s. The whole visit was so interesting, like a step back in time and into another world I've fortunately never experienced...

Entering the park. We had to take a bus to get there since it was about a 20 minute ride outside of Budapest.

About the entrance: it looks like a huge classicist building from the front but it's only 2-dimensional- if you look behind it, the structure looks unfinished. The architect of this and the whole park said the "park is about dictatorship. And at the same time, because it can be talked about... this park is about democracy."

(I'm quoting from a brochure about the park, by the way. Any fact that I give about Budapest is from a brochure I read actually. And this is my lazy attempt to avoid plaigiarism, ha ha.)

Statue of Lenin at the entrance.

More dictator statues.

As you can see, the park itself was so barren, reflecting the architect's aim to mirror the effects of tyranny.




Monica and the Liberation Army Soldier. This statue used to stand in the center of Budapest so it would be visible from every direction. He's 6 meters tall, and Monica is definitely shorter.





Liberation Army Soldier from eye level. Having the sun in the background makes him look more majestic.





A lot of the statues showed moments of "Hungarian-Soviet friendship", "liberation", and famous communist leaders like Marx, Lenin, and Engels.

Five-pointed star from red flowers. The softer side of communism.

Lenin plaque.

Monica still looks good with communism in the background.

More statues:

Notice how his hand is sideways? It wouldn't be pointed down because that's too obviously oppressive, but it's not palm up either, which would be a gesture of welcoming and love. (There's a little study of communist body language for you.)

So stark and despairing! The statue, not me.

Palm facing down.

Same thing, but notice how it's not so obvious. I find this very interesting.

We were both amazed to see all this.

Five pointed star.

It seemed like most of the statues reflected a military theme, with a central figure leading the way to victory.

I'll take my democracy, thank you.

Even the female figures looked stoic and masculine.

This statue was my favorite:

It looks so powerful, even from far away.

Up close, too.

I found it to be captivating from every angle.

It was enormous too! I'm 5'6'' and still have to climb up to reach his knee.

I wanted to see if I could imitate his stance. Not bad, huh? :)

If Monica and I were communist statues, we would look like this.

Stalin's boots.

The Trabant!

There was also a film playing in a reconstructed barrack which showed "The Life of an Agent". It was a documentary explaining communist secret service operations, including methods of collecting information and sharing it with other agents. It looked like an old James Bond movie, but it was bizarre knowing that agents actually did things like hiding information in mailboxes and recording people delivering a new refrigerator because it could potentially be a hidden printer instead.



Next, we headed back into Budapest and checked out the largest synagogue in Europe!

It was beautiful from the outside!

I wish I knew what this said.

We didn't go inside since there was an entrance fee, but here's a peek through the window. For the people who did go inside, the women had to cover their shoulders and the men had to wear the skull cap. This was my first time seeing the inside of a synagogue and I was really impressed by how ornate it was. There were several rows of seating, balconies, a beautiful altar, and a gorgeous chandelier above everything.





Behind the synagogue, there's a small garden, and this memorial resembling a weeping willow.

One of the long corridors.

Star of David.

I was surprised going in to the synagogue because to enter, we had to pass through a security check just like what they have at airports. I didn't realize that measures like these were necessary to protect the building and the people inside. It must be so disheartening to be a member of the synagogue and have to be scanned in order to practice the religion.



But afterwards, we went to a thermal spa! This was honestly THE coolest part of our weekend.

Here's the thing: Budapest is very well-known for its medicinal baths, and the main reason why is that after the Turkish occupation in the 16th and 17th centuries, bathing culture became really popular.

So today, that means you can go to a real Turkish bath that's been operating for over 400 years!!!

It was such a cool experience! We went to a spa in Buda called Rudas, which we chose specifically because part of it's architecture has literally been unchanged since the 16th century, and we wanted to bathe like people back then. It was a little confusing at first because there's a process of paying then finding a locker then changing then bathing that's hard to follow if you're not a veteran, but we figured it out with some help from a security guard who knew how to make universal hand gestures.

The baths were absolutely gorgeous! We weren't allowed to take pictures inside, but here's one from their website:
There was a main octogonal pool in the center and a traditional Turkish dome above with tiny circles of multicolored glass letting the natural light through. There were also four smaller pools in the corners of the room that had water at different temperatures, ranging from 'way too cold for me, thanks', to one where you have to take a good half hour to submerge your legs just because it's so hot (I think that one said 40 degrees celcius). We saw people making rounds with the smaller pools like it was a sort of rejuvinating process, and yes, we tried it too, but after the super cold pool, we decided that we were young enough still to not need any rejuvinating. There was also a room for massages and a sauna (but that was ridiculously hot. 50 degrees celsius, which means hot enough to forget how to breathe and such).

But in all, the experience was amazing! Right when you enter the spa you smell the sulfur in the water, and you're envelopped in this warmth that instantly relaxes you. It was especially perfect after walking around the city all day the day before and all morning. I think the only way it could have been better is if we could have gone on a Tuesday. Tuesdays at Rudas are ladies only, which means no guys to ogle you in your swimsuit, and the choice of whether or not to wear anything at all! (How cool would it be to bathe in a REAL Turkish spa, in Budapest, completely nude?! Definitely a good story for future grandkids...)



After that, it was time to eat again. We ended up at this cute little square by our hostel, where you can eat outside and get a hefty portion of food for under 5 euros.

We were both really hungry after spending so much time at the spa, so when our food arrived it was hard not to be ecstatic.

Priceless.

Mmm soo good!
I thought this was funny: according to my English menu translated from Hungarian, I ordered chicken "cooked in an egg jacket". No complaints, though- the egg jacket was tasty.

For dessert we tried fried cottage cheese balls! Not bad.

It feels good to have food in the stomach.

Just filling up my water bottle from the fountain in the square.

Specials of the day. 650 Hungarian forints = less than 3 euros!

And yes, we stayed there until after the sun set. I'm really liking the longer mealtimes!





We had to catch a flight back to Paris the next morning, so as a nice way to say goodbye to Budapest, we took a stroll around the city. It's so beautiful at night because they light up all the bridges and the major monuments and buildings. Perfect for a romantic date!

So long, Budapest...

Viszlat! XOXO