April 4th marked the 3-month anniversary of being in Europe, that means April 5th marked the final countdown until I arrive home (1 month). Do I really have to leave?!
When I first started planning my trips earlier in the semester, I did not think I would be able to make it to Budapest, Hungary because the flights to Budapest were too expensive. I was forced to settle with only going to Prague, Czech Republic since they are similar in the aspect that they are both Eastern European countries. After my friends and I got back from Prague, we were wondering what to do during the upcoming weekend since we had no classes. We began researching and found an affordable option to go to Budapest! This was one of the shortest planned trips I’ve had all semester because I typically plan at least a month in advance; however, we only planned this trip 3-4 days before we would depart. Budapest is the capital of Hungary and has an approximate population of 1.8 million people. Budapest is known for its parliament building, thermal baths, and the Eastern European atmosphere. Buda, Pest, and Óbuda were all separate cities in the past; however, in 1873, they all merged to form what is now known as Budapest.
Thursday 4/6/17
The short trip to Budapest started in the afternoon with a flight leaving Frankfurt-Hahn airport. The only way to get to the airport was to take a bus for 1hr 30min. Luckily our student cards worked on the bus so we could ride for free (technically private school students do not get free transportation but public schools do). More information about the student cards will be in my final post abroad. I always have trouble going through security and this time was no different. I set off the metal detectors so I was frisked. The detector went off when he went near my crotch haha but it was my pants button. Anyways, our flight landed around 18:30 (6:30PM) and we made our way to our hostel. I traveled with two friends that I usually travel with (one from UIUC and the other IU). After we made it to our hostel, we went out for dinner at a place called EXTRA and it fit our personalities great.
Friday 4/7/17
Our main day in Budapest started early around 08:00. The day was cloudy with a slight drizzle for 1-2hrs. We wanted to take in the views of Budapest so we hiked up the Gellért Hill. Although it was cloudy, it was still very beautiful on top of the hill. Not far away was the Buda Castle. The Buda Castle was on a smaller hill than the Gellért Hill and the castle was the palace complex for the Hungarian Kings in Budapest. Just like the Gellért Hill, the Buda Castle offered some spectacular views of the city as well. Across the river was the Hungarian Parliament Building. I really wanted to take a tour of the inside; however, the advance tickets were already sold out so you had to buy whatever they had left in person. Before we reached the building, we crossed the Chain Bridge, which is a suspension bridge that goes across the Danube River between Buda and Pest. The bridge connects the western and eastern sides of Budapest and opened in 1849. Once we made it to the parliament building, we saw there were only tickets available in the evening. We already decided that we were going to the thermal baths that evening so we decided we would come back the next morning at 8AM because that is when they start selling the tickets. The Hungarian Parliament Building, or Országház, is the seat of the National Assembly of Hungary, which is one of Europe’s oldest legislative buildings. It is also the largest and tallest building in Budapest and sits on the bank of the river. The detail on the building is unbelievable. One of the main reasons I wanted to come to
Budapest was to admire the parliament building. After walking around the outside of the parliament building, we went to St. Stephen’s Basilica. St. Stephen’s Basilica is a Roman Catholic basilica and is named after the first King of Hungary. While at the basilica, we decided to walk up to the top to get another view of the city. When we made it up there, it was very windy but it was worth it. Next, we decided to go warm up in the Széchenyi Thermal Bath. This bathhouse is one of the main thermal baths in Budapest and is the largest medicinal bath in Europe. Can you believe that it is supplied by two thermal springs with temperatures of 165 and 171 degrees Fahrenheit? Since the weather outside was in the upper 50s / lower 60s, the water felt great! We mainly stayed in the larger ones outside, but there are several indoors along with steam rooms. The inside had an odor to it and I am not sure why but that was the main reason we stayed outside. This was another reason why I wanted to go to Budapest. After the baths, we made our way back to the hostel.
Saturday 4/8/17
Our 2nd and final day in Budapest started around 07:30 because I wanted to make it to the parliament building to get a ticket for the 10:00 tour in English. (We needed to head to the airport at 12:00 to make it on our flight.) When we got there, they only had 11:00, 12:00, 13:00, … options available in English. That would not allow much time to make it to the underground line in time for our flight. The tours were approximately 45min long. We tried everything to get into the 10:00 tour but they would not budge. There was another tour at 10:30 in Magyar (Hungarian). This set off a lightbulb. I really wanted to see the inside so 2 of the 3 bought the tickets for the tour at 10:30. Before the tour, 2 of the 3 wanted to go explore more so we did. We went across the river to get another view of the parliament building and walked to the Fisherman’s Bastion and Matthias Church. The Fisherman’s Bastion is a terrace built around the Matthias Church that was built around 1902. Since it was a beautiful day, the views were even better than the day before.
The Matthias Church is a Roman Catholic church that was originally built in 1015. It has a beautiful design and the roof was very colorful. It is also the 2nd largest church of medieval Buda. After a short visit across the river, we hurried to get back in time for the tour. Once we made it back, we passed through security and got our headphones. I thought maybe they are prerecorded so we could ask for an English version. I asked a worker and she said the guide speaks in a microphone so it would be in Magyar. She was confused as to why we were in the tour haha. The tour was fun even though we had no clue what was going on. Whenever the group would laugh, we would laugh. Whenever they would look up, down, left, or right, we would look there too. In the tour we saw the Holy Crown of Hungary and the Assembly Hall of the House of Magnates. At one point, the group all spread out and we were wondering what was going on so we ran to the side. It turns out that they were doing a changing of the guard in front of the crown. After the tour, we headed for the airport and began to make our way back home. Finally, over 1,336 miles roundtrip, we made it to our apartments around 19:00 (7PM).
Budapest was a very cheap city! The exchange rate was for 1 Hungarian Forint, it would take 0.0034 US Dollars.
See you soon, but not too soon
-E