My Trip to Budapest, Hungary

This past weekend, me and a few friends took a bus ride to Hungary. We have an awesome school schedule, which means no classes on Thursday or Friday, so Wednesday night we stayed up all night and then left at 5 am to head to the bus stop. The ride was interesting. There are times that I look out the window and feel like I'm in the US in a rural area, because it looks so similar. From prague to Hungary was about nine hours, but the bus was a lot like flying. There was a hostess, who served snacks and a drink. There was also movies which were in English, so the ride went by quickly. When we arrived, we spent about an hour walking around trying to find out hostel. We finally stumbled upon it, threw our stuff in the room, and headed back out to find some food. We at at this little greek place that had really good food. Everyone had a gyro, and I had a greek salad and some cheese bread. It totally hit the spot. We then wandered around the city. As with most European cities, Budapest had an incredible castle. It even had a moat surrounding it, which was still maintained. We spent a while there, just observing the amazing architechture and of course did the tourist photo taking. We spent the rest of the evening exploring the city near our hostel and then headed back, because all of the yawning got the best of us due to our no sleep. The next morning we woke up at nine and headed out to greet the day. We bought a tram pass so that we could go farther and not waste so much time walking. We rode the tram in the downtown area, and were instantly amused. The city was so incredible. Aside from the immaculate buildings and beautiful scenery, the people were so friendly. As I have mentioned before, Czech people are not fans of tourists. They are usually quite unfriendly, but the Hungarian people seemed excited that we were there. They asked questions, and went out of their way to make us feel welcome. It was also possible to cross the street in a crosswalk and have the drivers actually stop and let you safely cross. In Prague, it is a daily risk to cross the street :). Anyway, after we walked around what we thought were the important spots to see, we decided it would be fun to experience the thermal spas that Budapest is known for. The country is basically sitting on top of a hot spring, and the have developed spas where the water is pulled up and left untreated. When we walked into the building, it was really quite funny, because it did not look like the location for a spa at all. The building was very large and ornate looking. It had large columns and the ceiling was beautifully painted. It looked just like a museum, but people were walking around in speedos and white robes. There were four areas in this particular building. There was a pool inside, and a spa (hot tub) next to it, and then the same set up was outside up on top of the building. It was such a pretty view. We were there for almost three hours. It felt so good since we had been walking basically that whole day. Afterwards, we were quite hungry so we had this restaurant on while we were walking. It had to of been one of the best meals I have had since being in Europe. It was just pasta with vegetables, but for some reason, it was amazing. We also got desert. I had chocolate crepes which was so yummy. We walked back to the hostel, and met a guy who was staying the night there as well. We went out to this pub where everyone had a few beers (no worry I had one mixed drink and stuck to juice :) and the guy came along with us. He is from England and had been traveling for almost nine months. We asked him where he was going next and he didn't know, so we told him he should come see Prague, and he is now coming in three days. Its so crazy that some people have no schedule or commitments, and just plan their lives one day at a time. Saturday, we woke up to a rainy day. We walked to a little cafe and had tea and a muffin and spent the morning just talking. I have really come to adore my new friends. They are such awesome people, and we have a blast together. We stopped in a few shops and bought some souvenirs and then headed back to the hostel to pack. Chelsea and I left a day earlier then the boys because the bus for today (sunday) was sold out. We slept for half the ride and then just talked the other half. We finally pulled into Prague at about 11:30 last night. It amazes me that we have only lived here for about a month, yet getting back last night was such a relief and a comfort to be somewhere familiar again. Hungary was a blast, but so far nothing beats Prague!