Spring Break Part 1

BUDAPEST!!!

DAY 1:
the trip started out really really rocky when we got into budapest and realized that hardly anybody around us spoke a word of english, we had no forints (the outrageous money system they use) to our name, and no map in our pockets. getting on the metro to the hostel was interesting... communicating to the women at the booth with low grunts and a lot of pointing seemed to work pretty well but i recommend that if you ever travel to budapest, you at least have a few frases of their gibberish worked out (seriously, hungarian sounds nothing like anything i've ever heard before). Finding the hostel was an adventure in itself but it wasn't the first bit of excitement that we'd have the night we got there. we found the building the hostel was in about 2 hours after getting in (what should have taken 20 minutes or so. haha.) We buzzed the 2nd floor, let ourselves in the huge front door, and started climbing the stairs. The only problem was that there wasn't a single light in the entire place and somehow, we were still outside (a courtyard in the middle of the building). three girls, three full backpacks, and a can of pepper spray... we were hardly moving convinced that someone was playing a cruel joke on us and leading us to our deaths. Finally upon reaching the second floor, the lights flash on, and we are greeted with a friendly hello from the hostel man. he couldn't understand why we had been so scared and said he'd never heard anything about the "scary entrance" before but brushed it off as he showed us to our room.

that sounds like some dramatic ghost story but i swear it was one of the scariest entrances to a new place in my life

anyways, luckily that was the only bad thing i have to say about the hostel. It turned out to be the absolute best one i've seen in europe... the people who worked there were amazing planning out our days, making us tea and coffee, and bringing us out at night. the mattresses were orthopedic and more comfortable than anything i've slept on since the states and we met new people who were also traveling every night we were there.

DAY 2:
The first day we took a long walk down the main stretch of high end stores (budapest's michigan avenue) which was pretty but nothing we could afford except for a bagel and coffee (the first bagel i've eaten since being here.... HEAVEN!!) It only cost us 600 forints each! (and before you freak out mom and dad... that's about 2 euros or $2.50) At the end of the stretch, we found the big park in budapest with lots and lots of grass, trees, parks, cafes, etc. We bought cotton candy (300 forints ~ a euro) and layed in the sun for awhile (every day that we were there it was sunny and about 75 degrees (be jealous :P). Afterwards we rented a 3 person bike and rode around the park for 20 minutes while all the adults gave us weird "aren't you too old for that" looks but at least we had fun doing it. We stumbled into a flea market after biking and bought a few things for people back home (note to readers: do not buy ANYTHING from men in budapest who wear only underwear and fanny packs... even worse if they speak in only low grunts not knowing a bit of english. my friend stephanie bought a bracelet from a man like that and now is trying to get rid of the nasty rash it left on her arm. hahahahah.) After the flea market, we ate some lunch, walked around for a little bit, paid for a bathroom stop (how bogus is that... they've never heard of free public bathrooms), and then headed back to the hostel. By that time we didn't want to venture too far away from the hostel having been gone all day and went to the italian restaurant two buildings down (another note to readers: never get italian food in eastern europe... the pasta we ate was like licking a salt block. they must have boiled it in salt water... we didn't even eat half and our sodium levels sky rocketed). By the time dinner was done, we decided it was best to just go back to the hostel. We stayed in for the rest of the night talking with other people staying there... germans, an austrailian, british couple, and a few hungarians... probably the most of random mix of people i'd ever seen but it turned out to be a good night.

Day 3:
We talked with the hostel guy in the morning about what else he would recommend that we see in the city... after hearing about an underground hospital built into the mountain, we decided that is where the day would start us out at. We headed out early and got to the hospital just in the nick of time for the start of the next tour. We really had no clue what to expect, were a little worried when we got there when they boasted about the biggest wax figure collection in europe, but were glad we did it when the tour was over. It turns out that it was in use as a hospital all throughout World War II and prior mostly as a hospital for soldiers but also for citizens in the surrounding area. The whole place was really kind of creepy feeling but it made sense when we heard the stories behind it and all the things that the hospital had seen.... bombing after bombing after bombing of the city and dealing with the victims that numbered in the hundreds each week. What was also cool about the tour was that they showed us a new part of the underground network, a secret bomb shelter that was just discovered in 2002. It's where they had hidden top secret projects and would take care of the victims of an atomic bomb if there was ever an attack. The fact that I've now seen it is incredible because it's only been open since 2007 and just a handful of people have seen it since then. My only complaint was the 40 year old men from Minnesota who continuously hit on us during the tour and proceeded to invite us out for drinks afterwards. Luckily I had a good excuse... meeting up with my friend Rich from home who was just getting in from Vienna that day. Catch you never creepy old men!

Seeing Rich again was amazing!!! a familiar face from home is the best thing in the world to see. We checked him into the hostel and went for a traditional hungarian lunch... meaning more or less a hearty meal of meat and potatos. It was delicious but we couldn't stop laughing each time the hungarian waiter came to the table answering anything we said with "Yes please". "A Coca-cola?" "yes please". After lunch we ran into a giant protest (which are super common in Europe) and watched it for awhile until we were too creeped out by the hungarian police with their riot shields and billy clubs to stick around (remind me to show you videos of some of the protests I've seen when I get home... they're intense. you'll understand why we didn't want to stand around) We decided afterwards to go to the last day of this big art festival in Budapest the people at the hostel told us about... probably one of the coolest things I saw in Budapest. We looked at some amazing photography on display and relaxed on the grass for a long time after seeing that a group of performers were setting up. We never expected that we would be watching fire dancers perform in Budapest. We watched the whole show which was pretty impressive and then headed back to the hostel with a few bottles of wine planning to just lay back and chill for the rest of the night. We met a bunch of people again in the hostel and basically had a replay of the night before but better since I got to catch up with my friend Rich.... first time I'd seen him since New Years.

Day 4:
to be continued tomorrow... gotta get my beauty sleep :)