Our first 10-day trip had finally arrived and on the schedule were three capitals of three countries in 10 days, crazy right? So we were off to Budapest first by getting on a train to Milan on Friday morning at 4:30am! We had to catch a flight out at 8:30. This was our first experience with RyanAir which was quite interesting. Instead of getting a ticket with an assigned seat, it's pretty much a free-for-all and you sit anywhere that you can find. We arrived in Budapest around 10:30am and took a taxi to our hostel. Backstreet Boys "I Want it That Way" came on the radio in the taxi, so naturally I loved Budapest right off the bat. My first impression was that it reminded me a lot more of the U.S. than some of the other cities we've visited. Our hostel in Budapest has been my favorite thus far. It was in the best location close to all the major sites and great nightlife. It was so colorfully decorated and because it was so small we got to know a lot of the other people staying in the hostel. The staff was awesome and always helped us with the millions of questions we had. We made our way to a restaurant down the street called the Hummus Bar and ate some pitas, couscous and mint tea! We happened to be staying down the street from a weekend festival that was celebrating a type of pig (I know, weird) but the Hungarians went all out for it. We actually ended up going 3 times throughout the weekend. They had hundreds of vendors selling all kinds of meats, cheeses, honey, mulled wine, jewelry, fur and even live pigs. My friend Caitlin had a friend from back home who is actually studying abroad this semester in Budapest so she took us to her friend's apartment before we all went out together for the night. It was fun going out with 20 other Americans for a change. We went to a bar called Otkert which had a pretty big dance floor and it was really fun! I also found out about my sister's engagement that night so that was exciting!
On Saturday, we got up in time to catch a free walking tour of the city at 10:30. It ended up only being 4 of us so it was kind of nice having a private tour guide. We were staying on the "Pesh" side which is much flatter and where all the nightlife is and then we crossed over the Chain Bridge to the "Buda" side which is much more hilly and quieter. We learned all about the Hungarian history and how they were trying to switch over to the Euro. Speaking of money, in Hungary, they use what's called a "forint" and the conversion is about 1,000 forints = $5 so it felt kinda weird carrying bills around that were 10,000 and 20,000. Anyways, after our tour we headed over to Vaci Street which is where all the shopping is. We also went to the Central Market and got lunch and checked out all the vendors. I tried goulash for the first time which is a traditional Hungarian dish but I wasn't the biggest fan, it's a meat dish with paprika and mine came with a type of spetzle. I ended up not eating much of it. We walked back to our hostel and took a nap before our night started. We ended up finding this place right down the street from our hostel for dinner. It was a Budapest version of Chipotle called Burrita. It happened to be opening day and we got some things for free so it was great. It was fate. Saturday night we hung out with a lot of the people from our hostel and ended up going to this place called Instant Bar. This place is what they call a "ruined bar." In Budapest, when buildings and warehouses are abandoned, instead of using more money to tear it down and rebuild, most of them are turned into nightclubs. Instant Bar had 23 different rooms with different music in every one. It was crazy. Got home at 6am, no big deal right? Sunday we had a much more relaxed day.
We walked around the festival a bit and then we headed to the Baths. This was the coolest thing I've experienced yet. Hot springs are one of the things that Budapest is known for and we weren't going to miss out. It was so fun because it was snowing and the hot springs are outside so when you walk out the door you literally would have to run so your feet wouldn't freeze. There were whirlpools and 11 different hot springs. We ended up staying for 3 hours because it was so relaxing. For our last dinner, we decided to splurge a little bit because we wanted to use up the Hungarian money since we can't use it anywhere else. We found a really nice Italian restaurant and had some wine and pasta, yum! All the restaurants in Budapest are so elegant and reminded me a lot of places in NYC, only in Budapest literally every single restaurant is like that. Budapest was amazing and quite a surprise for me.
Just for fun here are some Hungarian words we learned (not many, haha)
Hi/bye = szia (pronounced like seeya)
Thank you = kozi (pronounced like cozy)
Excuse me = botch
Cheers = I have no idea how to spell it but basically you say "igga shigga tree"
And some things that Hungary is known for: paprika, poppy seeds and goulash
Click on the "CZECH REPUBLIC" tab at the top of my blog to see the next part of my trip!
On Saturday, we got up in time to catch a free walking tour of the city at 10:30. It ended up only being 4 of us so it was kind of nice having a private tour guide. We were staying on the "Pesh" side which is much flatter and where all the nightlife is and then we crossed over the Chain Bridge to the "Buda" side which is much more hilly and quieter. We learned all about the Hungarian history and how they were trying to switch over to the Euro. Speaking of money, in Hungary, they use what's called a "forint" and the conversion is about 1,000 forints = $5 so it felt kinda weird carrying bills around that were 10,000 and 20,000. Anyways, after our tour we headed over to Vaci Street which is where all the shopping is. We also went to the Central Market and got lunch and checked out all the vendors. I tried goulash for the first time which is a traditional Hungarian dish but I wasn't the biggest fan, it's a meat dish with paprika and mine came with a type of spetzle. I ended up not eating much of it. We walked back to our hostel and took a nap before our night started. We ended up finding this place right down the street from our hostel for dinner. It was a Budapest version of Chipotle called Burrita. It happened to be opening day and we got some things for free so it was great. It was fate. Saturday night we hung out with a lot of the people from our hostel and ended up going to this place called Instant Bar. This place is what they call a "ruined bar." In Budapest, when buildings and warehouses are abandoned, instead of using more money to tear it down and rebuild, most of them are turned into nightclubs. Instant Bar had 23 different rooms with different music in every one. It was crazy. Got home at 6am, no big deal right? Sunday we had a much more relaxed day.
We walked around the festival a bit and then we headed to the Baths. This was the coolest thing I've experienced yet. Hot springs are one of the things that Budapest is known for and we weren't going to miss out. It was so fun because it was snowing and the hot springs are outside so when you walk out the door you literally would have to run so your feet wouldn't freeze. There were whirlpools and 11 different hot springs. We ended up staying for 3 hours because it was so relaxing. For our last dinner, we decided to splurge a little bit because we wanted to use up the Hungarian money since we can't use it anywhere else. We found a really nice Italian restaurant and had some wine and pasta, yum! All the restaurants in Budapest are so elegant and reminded me a lot of places in NYC, only in Budapest literally every single restaurant is like that. Budapest was amazing and quite a surprise for me.
Just for fun here are some Hungarian words we learned (not many, haha)
Hi/bye = szia (pronounced like seeya)
Thank you = kozi (pronounced like cozy)
Excuse me = botch
Cheers = I have no idea how to spell it but basically you say "igga shigga tree"
And some things that Hungary is known for: paprika, poppy seeds and goulash
Click on the "CZECH REPUBLIC" tab at the top of my blog to see the next part of my trip!