This past weekend was amazing!! Kelsie (one of my roommates) and I flew to Budapest, Hungary and stayed Thursday through Sunday. Three of our other friends joined us Friday through Sunday.
I have never had Budapest on the top of my list of “places to see”, and to be completely honest, we booked the flight because it was one of the cheaper options. It must have been fate, because I absolutely fell in love with the city.
At first, I wasn't sure if I was just glad to see something other than Tuscany, or eat something other than Italian food, but by the end of the weekend, I was dreading having to leave. I love Montepulciano, but being in the hills with the rivers, the trees changing colors for fall, and feeling the crisp fall weather was wonderful.
Budapest is Buda and Pest; the two areas were separated by the Danube until they united as Budapest in the 1870s. Even though the two are now one city, people still refer to each side as “Buda” or “Pest”. Pest is Hungarian for cave, and there are a lot in both Buda and Pest, some were even used as churches and labyrinths.
Our hostel, which was actually located in former Transylvania, was in the eighth district of Budapest, which put us in the southeastern area of the Pest side. It wasn't as centrally located as we would have liked, but close enough to spend our days walking through the city, returning only to sleep!
We got in late Thursday night and took a shuttle to the hostel. The next morning, we started with breakfast (which we grabbed at the nearest McDonald's, since we didn't know our way around yet). It was a HUGE restaurant, complete with a separate cafe, which served over-sized cappuccinos, hot chocolates, and a variety of pastries and breakfast sandwiches (which were actually really good)! We then took a tour on an open-roofed bus, which took us throughout the city and told us the history and background of all the main points. I was reluctant at first, because I don't enjoy being a 'tourist', but it was a great idea in the end, because we covered more ground than we would have been able to, and after the tour we knew where we wanted to visit for the remainder of the weekend. Of course, as much as we were excited to see another country besides Italy, we ended up sharing our tour bus with a group of Italian men, who sat next to us. When one man told me in English that he was cold, I responded (much to his surprise) in Italian that I was also cold – and then that I was staying in Italy, studying Italian, etc... “Brava!” he said. :)
We saw Gellert Hill on the Buda side, where castles and beautiful churches are located. There is an amazing view of the city and the Danube from this area, and legend has it that witches used it as a meeting place. In fact, it is named after Saint Gellert, a Catholic bishop who, after trying to convert local pagans, was sent rolling down the hill in a barrel full of spikes. :[
There were beautiful churches (Catholic and Eastern Orthodox), synagogues (near the former Jewish ghetto from WWII), museums, the opera house (complete with a statue of Liszt!), and even local shops and businesses were in old buildings that had amazing architectural detail. The buildings (I took a lot of photos!) were mostly gothic or baroque and many were influenced by eastern styles. Most of the city took a blow in the battles of World War II, but new construction has filled the holes left by the devastation.
The sunset and early night was best for walking by the river, taking photos, and drinking our McDonald's cappuccinos, which we could get “to-go” (that doesn't happen often in Montepulciano)! It was absolutely freezing on the river at night, but the old bridges with the lights on them made the walk worth bearing the cold.
Hungarian food was great (and a welcome break from pizza)! Of course I had some goulash (see photo), but my favorite meal was a dinner we had near our hostel: turkey stuffed with plums and cheese, covered in bacon, with princess potatoes on the side, and a mug of grog (see other photo). Ha!
The currency was also an adventure... 185 Hungarian Forints to every US Dollar! It was really strange handing over a five-hundred at McDonald's.
If you can't tell, Budapest is one of my new favorite places on earth. The colors of the city were so bright and beautiful. It is such an amazing mix of old world and new, western and eastern art, the feel of both Bohemia and Scandinavia, Roman and Ottoman architecture, I heard music from Germany, Austria, and gypsy folk songs... it's no wonder so many composers and writers found home here. :)
Next: Venice October 9 through 11
Sziasztok!
amanda june
