Last weekend we decided to take a train to Budapest! It is only a few hours away from Vienna by bus. This is how Katharina and I felt when we first stepped on Hungarian soil:
This was a really fun trip because we essentially had no idea what to see in Budapest and made no plans. However, we were still able to see a lot of amazing sites! I think I quite prefer to travel with a flexible attitude and an adventurous spirit. The first thing we saw was St. Stephen’s Basilica. I really liked it! It is done in the neoclassical style which reminded me of Berlin my home (oh Schinkel!). It was a nice change after all the Baroque architecture that I can’t seem to escape.
Fun fact: 1 Euro=288 HUF (or as we affectionately called them “hufflepuffs). So it was really fun to fork out thousands for lunch.
After we said hello to St. Stephen, we walked around and stumbled upon this cool fountain that had 4 walls of water coming from the ground. When you got close enough, the water stopped to let you through. We had fun playing with the motion sensors. There may have even been a little “water bending” practice.
Oh we found Ronald Regan...in Budapest? It just goes to show that you can never quite escape Americans or American culture.
Then we kept walking and saw the Parliament building. Holy Gothic Batman.
Crossed a cool bridge:
And looked at the old castle district where the palace is. We spent the rest of the first day there because it is really beautiful. Near the palace I found a sad statue of a dead elk and a hunter... But then I found this statue of a kind woman looking after a deer. I approved.
Awww so cute!
Alright that is enough.
Here is a picture of perhaps my favorite church of all time (Matthias Church). It is located on Castle hill and is so beautiful:
You know I had to leave my mark in Budapest...
And here is a picture of us being princesses and dreaming about “when our princes will come” or whatever. Europe has ample opportunities to fulfill childhood fantasies.
The next day in Budapest we went to the “Great Market” which is a huge flea market with lots of things to buy and look at. It was fun to look around and get lost in everything. But seriously it is easy to get lost. Stick with your friends or you may never see them again...
After we went to Heroes’ Square (a war memorial) and walked around some more.
The best part of the day was going to a Turkish bath. Essentially it is this huge Baroque building with a lot of pools of various sizes and temperatures. They also had different mineral compositions. I felt like an ancient Roman hanging out at a public bath. The only downside? I saw a lot of skin that I didn’t want to see. I started to forget how people can be beautiful at all. Personally I would rather look at Lions. Or kittens. Or elephants :)
Here are some pics of the city at night:
The next day we headed back to Vienna, but stopped half way to spend a few hours in Bratislava, Slovakia. Here are a few of the pictures I took:
And the best picture of all? Check out what I bought in Bratislava:
Win. The only thing that may be able to top these earrings are these Jeanie pants that I bought in Budapest:
Watch out BYU.
It still looks like you're having a great time. I also bought genie pants, but mine were bought in India. I was there for a week with my younger daughter. The linzer cookie looks delicious!
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