abroadcast: 40 hours in Budapes(h)t

Week:

Tuesday- Come back from Galicia at 6 am
Wednesday- Turn 21
Thursday- BUDAPEST!

hence why I was so tired on the plane....

first experience with the crazy Hungarian language, which is apparently the 5th hardest language in the world to learn. I learned one word: Kussi (thanks)

Upon arriving in Budapest, we didn't even bother to figure out the public transportation but took a taxi to the hostel, checked in, made a plan for the next day, and promptly went to bed. It was my first dorm room hostel experience...not too bad except all out roommates were up and out by 6 am. But breakfast was free!

Good morning Budapest!

Before our free (!) walking tour we walked through the square with traditional Hungarian stuff, like these cool truffle spreads, food products for sale, food to eat, artisan things, fur hats, and more...

Truffle spreads. My favorite was the spicy tomato chutney

all my sample spoons...

To start the tour we got a really interesting quick history on Hungry. I could tell it to you, but you could also just read it in a book with more detail. One thing to note...the Hungarians have only been victorious in one war....which apparently is why they have a reputation for complaining a lot and being surly and why they like to go out...it makes sense...they also picked the wrong side (*cough* world war I and world war II)

Also, Budapest has two sides...Buda and Pest. I bet Julie we were on the Pest side (neither of us really knew). I won 1 euro cent!

After the history lesson, we started walkin'! We saw...

The Little Princess (a famous sculpture by the river) You rub the knees for good luck.

Hungarians apparently invented Love Locks

And they're really good at it...

St. Stephen's Basilica with Emma (our tour guide)

Rub the fat Austrio-Hungarian policeman's tummy for good luck

View from the Royal Palace (view from Buda to Pest)

Changing of the guards.

Matthias church with cool Turkish tiles on the roof

The turkish tiles were a trend on the Buda side.

Then....LUNCH! The food in Budapest was A.M.A.Z.I.N.G. My dream came true....I had goulash in Hungary!

salivating just looking at this

pickles beets and cabbage with fennel

Royal Palace

Parliament modeled after Westminster

Currency exchange rate: approximately 300 forints to 1 euro. and everything is cheap cheap!

Cheap candy bar...

Famous Hungarian candy bars....sweet cheese covered in dark chocolate. YUM

We also went to the Terror Museum, which was really cool since it talked about a lot of Hungarian history and the Hungarian revolt against the USSR in 1956. Coolest part was the reconstructed prison and torture cells in their original location. Also a really interestingly set up museum...

Opera House

Photo cred to Julie

On the way back to the hostel (which is in the 7th district (aka the Jewish district/party district)) we ran into a Jewish community center, so we popped on in to look around.

One thing I didn't get to do was go on the Jewish walking tour or explore the Jewish history. When I go back to Budapest I will most definitely hit this part up...

The synagogue

We got back to the hostel and were greeted by free crepes!

Then, we went out!

Navigating the Pest streets at night.

First we went to Ruin Bar

I tried the local beer

And we had Polinka, a 70% shot of some type of alcohol famous in Hungary

I had plum flavor

it burned going down...and continued to burn

Then we found another bar, filled with people drinking weird green drinks, lots of Hungarian young people, cigarette smoke, and arcade machines

i tried the dark local brew...

The friends we made in the bar...They entertained us the rest of the night

NO.

The next morning we went to the Turkish baths...the only thing left from when the Ottoman Empire ruled Hungary. It was a beautiful day to take in some sun and enjoy the warm pools.

There were lots of old leathery Hungarian locals...aka men in speedos and women in silly swim caps

Chillin like a Hungarian

This dude was sleeping (and snoring) on the shallow step. We sat next to him for awhile.

To get to the baths we had our first Hungarian metro experience. Its a piece straight out of the communist era, with rattly trains, the most violent shutting doors (they will seriously kill you if you're in the way) and a scary and loud bell that rings before the doors close and the train takes off. I felt like I was being driven straight to Big Brother in this one. We also managed to ride all the lines in 4 hours! (There are only 3).

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After the baths we went to the Great Market Hall for some traditional grub, food market, and artisan goods

outside...

baked goods

meat goods

fish goods

pickled goods

Then, we lunched!

My stuffed cabbage (with some kind of meat and rice) and extra cabbage on the side with LOTS of paprika. Covered in some yogurt sauce. YUMMMMMMY! (and cheap! only 990 forints!)