We landed in Budapest around night time, and luckily our school itineraries had a map and multiple ways of transportation to get to the hotel. Trying to be economically conscious and learn the typical ways of transportation, we decided to do the cheapest way, bus...and then the underground. Surprisingly, we were able to navigate our way just perfectly fine (with only maybe just a couple bumps along the way) and we were pros in no time!
Once we arrived to where our hotel was we looked at the AMAZING view that Budapest had provided us. We couldn't imagine if the city was this mesmerizing at night, how much of a great time we would have during the day! The pictures that I took in no way do it justice, but here is one so you can generally get an idea:
For dinner we went into this English pub that had both Hungarian dishes and English dishes, but being in Hungary we decided to try the Hungarian food. I went with goulash (yummy!) and a couple of my friends tried Wiener Schnitzel. Overall it was a good, cheap meal!
Another thing we could not possibly prepare ourselves for: the hotel. but specifically....the hotel breakfast. *cue in angels singing*
I wish I had taken a picture of the breakfast area because it was so freaking extensive! There was cereal, fruit, yogurt, pancakes, biscuits, omelets, pastries, bacon, sausage and so much more. There were multiple choices for EVERYTHING!
The hotel also had probably the best towels I've ever felt when it came to shower towels. It was as if God himself had made them. So soft. So magical.
Hesitating, as we could have eaten all day at the breakfast bar, we walked outside (where it was extremely windy) and took a tour around the Pest side of Budapest. I actually didn't know that there were two sides...Buda and Pest! It was a great tour, but a little hazy as I didn't know much of the history coming into Budapest so it was hard to retain. We visited a Jewish temple, the "tree of life", and a jewish museum. After our tour we ended at a church and a couple of friends and I walked and walked and walked all the way up to the top. The view, of course, was gorgeous.
It was lunch time and although we were in a place with different food, we decided that we were craving Thai food. Best decision of the trip, in my opinion. We entered this place that was cheap, but it seemed really popular. I can't even describe to you how good that pad Thai was. I honestly just wish I was eating right now so I could be experiencing culinary excellence (typical of this blog to maybe possibly be exaggerated).
After that out of body experience, we met with the school group again to go to the Terror Museum. At first when I heard the title of this museum, I for some reason thought it was going to be like a scary movie type museum. Not exactly scary movies, but just scary things. Well, the museum was a bit scary, but for a different reason. Hungary had been affected by World War II, and so at this museum were things in relation to that. Throughout the museum there were many videos of people talking about their experiences. Although I didn't really, truly understand, just seeing their faces so distraught and sad was enough to make anyone feel their pain.
For dinner, we, once again, went to the English pub and then headed back to the hotel to just simply hang out and talk and share each other's favorite songs, it was a really nice, relaxing evening.
The next morning some of us woke up early (like 5 am early) to visit the Thermal baths. While everyone else went to go swimming (which now I regret I didn't do) I went to take pictures. That worked out fine though because since everyone else was wet, they needed someone to take their pictures! Once we were done with that, we went to our haven of the Hotel Breakfast and then took a much needed, but not nearly long enough nap.
Apparently, at the hotel, you could order special pillows such as a Vitamin E pillow, a pillow for your back, or a pillow with horse hair. I didn't try any of these, but a couple of my friends did and they claimed they slept like a baby. So I guess if you have a chance, try it out!
Our next venture was another tour around Budapest. We visited the market, which I guess was famous for its pickles, and then we visited the Buda side of Budapest. This is said to be the nicer side, and I could see that because we went to a CASTLE! My fav. Can't get enough of those.
I was still exhausted from the early morning tour, so I took another nap, but, thinking ahead, I set my alarm to a couple minutes before the sun was setting and I woke up just in time to enjoy the breathtaking view and of course...take some pictures! The image loader is making the colors all funky for the picture I wanted to upload, but again, you can see it better here.
Our last part of the school trip included a cooking class, the thing I was looking forward to the most! My group's task was to make meatloaf and a cream pea sauce thing. The first step was to cut the onions and then cook them in oil for a bit. Well, we messed up on the very first step. Classic. We cut the onions! Buttttt we forgot to cook them in oil! Woops! The head chef later tried our pea sauce thing (still don't know what it was, also I have to add that I was not part of the making of said thing) and made a bad face. I think that's when our group felt a BIT defeated and our chef supervisor decided to just take over. I think that was probably best for everyone. Of course, I later managed to burn my hand from boiling soup when I was ladling it out, and that kinda ended the dinner for me. This was over a week ago and one of my fingers is looking pretty grody, but we carry on!
It's odd to think that I've been in Europe for almost 2 months and I've already visited 6 countries (including Italy). The time is going by insanely fast and I need it to slow down! I want to appreciate every bit of this experience that I have and be able to document it at the same time so I don't forget anything. My worst fear (which I'm afraid may come true) is that I'll arrive home in an instant and be gone from all of this. It will still be something that I have done, but it would be just that....done.
On a happy note, I've still got a couple trips left and I'm excited for those! :)
No comments:
Post a Comment