Study Abroad is all about cheap flights and the "experience." Our first glimpse of this was when we booked a flight out of Malmo Airport to go to Budapest because it was significantly cheaper. $70USD was the base fare for a round trip flight. This did not include credit card booking fees, boarding pass printing fees, and some more bullshit fees. After all that is was around $165, still fairly cheap. Throw on a $100 more dollars in taxi cab fairs to Malmo since you missed both your trains and buses at 4 am in the morning... Than you really should have just paid to fly out of Copenhagen. HASSLE FREE. Those several minutes where I thought I wouldn't make my flight to Budapest were pure anxiety (in need of a xanax) attack.
Arriving in Budapest, was well, Different. Ive had yet to get off a plane where you go down the stairs on the tarmac and take a bus to the baggage claim. It was crowded and pointless. Discount Airlines!! We took a shuttle down to the city center of Budapest. My travel buddy gets motion sickness easily and looked as if she was going to throw up. Crazy driver. We were greeting by our Hostel owner, Sándor. He created one of the most positive experiences ever. He was awesome and could tell he loved his job. He showed us around the city quick than brought us to our hostel which was really just a cute apartment that was conveniently across from the number one bar in Budapest, we shall get to that later. He whipped out a map and several pamphlets of things that we should do and spent an hour making sure we knew the lay of the land. I would recommend this Hostel to anyone. Super cheap and quaint. Blue Danube Hostel for Reference. And if you skip hostelworld.com and book directly through him you save 10 percent ;) After he left we made our way to the scheduled wine tasting we had at the Faust Wine Cellar up on Castle Hill.
We decided to walk to the wine tasting so we could see a couple of sites along the way. The city is absolutely breathtaking. The Danube River helps set the perfect scene. We made it to the Chain bridge, the first bridge connecting Buda and Pest (actually two different cities), than up to fisherman's bastion, the old Royal Buildings, and Mattias Church. BEAUTIFUL. We of course made time for cliche jumping pictures and statue poses. This wine cellar was located 54 steps to be exact underground in the Hilton Hotel. It was an old cellar and didn't even have internet capabilities or a bathroom. Great setting. The two hosts were adorable and were so happy to please us. We picked the white wine lovers tour and got to sample 8 different wines from the various regions of Hungary from the dry whites, fruity chardonnays, and the super sweet dessert wines. I ended up buying a bottle to bring home with me. Worth the splurge and the memory. Along with the wine tasting we received hungarian pastries with cheese on top as well as a cheese platter of several delicious cheeses. I felt so posh. Everything hit us when we walked up to the daylight around 4 pm, 8 wine samples + 1 full glass deep. Trouble. We made out way down Castle hill in Buda, crossed the chain bridge, and made it safely to Pest. We continued the fun at various cafes and pubs indulging in the Miller Lite of Hungary, Shiproni. We had a pitcher of beer for about $8, dirt cheap in Europe and even in the US. I wil never get over how cheap everything is here. For example a HUGE bottle of water here is less than a dollar, about 178 HUF (215 HUF = 1 USD) confusing to see a price of 10,000 HUF places, but in actuality it isn't that bad. We were wiped from the day between missed trains, anxiety and wine. We ended up falling asleep at 8 pm.
Saturday was another tourist day. We decided to spend money on the Hop on Hop off tour. This enabled us to avoid buying a metro pass, plus it included a free beer and goulash soup. The bus was a little hot and stuffy, and preferably I would have enjoyed walking. But you can't please them all. We made it all over the city, from Heroes Square to Citadel Hill where the views of the city a mind blowingly beautiful to the Parliament building and the shoes on the Danube. Negatives of our bus tour were that sometimes you couldn't hop on a bus because it was too full.. BS.. and it smelled like it was going to blow up in flames trying to climb several hills. But overall it was worth it. As they say.."A picture is worth a thousand words.. and 5000 HUF."
Saturday night we had a reservation at a restaurant called SPOON. It is a boat on the water that was absolutely amazing. For around 10,000 HUF or about 42 USD I had 1 absolut and soda, 2 glasses of chardonnay, an appetizer of goat cheese bruschetta, monkfish in a coconut curry, and amazing dessert selection. Thats unheard of in the US and definitively in Copenhagen. We ended the night at this interesting bar, called a Ruin Bar. They are interesting because they have short term leases and the owner can tear down the building whenever he pleases. They are filled with flea market finds and old furniture. Super eclectic but a lot of fun. We met some kids who studied in Budapest from the United States. They love it here, and so did we. Two draft beers for something like 5 dollars. Highlight of the night had to be the food we got after. Qdoba substitute basically. Mexican is something that Copenhagen lacks. We managed to find ourselves with jars of salsa and queso along with a huge bag of chipe mysteriously in our purses.. OOPS.
Sunday was another big day. Started out a little rough when I was locked inside my room trying to go to the bathroom. torture. Once we got up we made our way to the New York Cafe, supposedly the second best cafe in the world. I had an amazing Vanilla Latter (probably my 7th one of the trip because they are so cheap) and scrambled eggs. I miss Marigolds and Sunroom Cafe. Our waiter was obviously Hungarian and spoke little english. He would always say please and thank you when it did't make sense to add it to the conversation. He tried. After brunch we made our way to the Szcheni Thermal Baths. This is a phenomenon in Hungary, and particularly in Budapest. They are heated pools that are outside. So even when it is like 0 degree old men are out there playing chess and basking in the heat. It was definitely a once in a life time experience. I could have laid there for hours. But obviously I began to burn, awkward, and my hands pruned up like no others. Something to cross of my Euro bucket list. Afterwards we stumbled home with intentions to go to the Holocaust memorial center. Things went array when we found this place that had been raved about, MENZA. Holy hell it was amazing. And for about 20 USD I had a glass of wine, a tall beer, Garlic Soup with traditional hungarian bread, Baked Eggplant with meat and tomatoes, and a Menza burger that was awesome. Not to mention the atmosphere was great too. I love to bee a foodie. Its how I would love to spend my European travel time. In need of some dessert we went to another cute cafe where desserts were spinning in the window, literally. We indulged in some Baileys and Coffee for me of course and some other fine desert cakes. Pure bliss. Our walk home was bittersweet seeing that it was our last night in Budapest.
Budapest is seriously amazing and if it wasn't on your travel plans before it should be now. The views are awesome, the price is right, and the food is amazing. I want to come back this late spring if I have the opportunity. I just love it.
Next stop, and spur of the minute decision by myself, ERIN DONGOSKE IN ROMA HEYYYYYY. Couldn't be more excited to see her, see rome, and indulge in some tasty Italian food. My life seriously is not real.
Cheers from Chels ;)
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