Budapest, Hungary

Eastern Europe. You would think that it is some poor run down country with nothing to show for. Afterall, it's been "raped" by both Germany and Russia during and after the WWII. But after spending 4 days there, I have fallen absolutely in love with this city. It is stunning! There's so much history, so much culture, and overwhelming pride amongst the people. The architecture is magnificent to say the least, and although I spent only a few days there, I would love to share with whomever is reading this all that I was able to capture.

The first night we checked into a Hostel called "Agape Guesthouse." It's in the center and the rooms are very nice. We droped off our stuff, and went out to explore. It was so COLD! much colder than Rotterdam. Check out the architecture:





Don't you just love my funkey "Russian Princess" Hat???!!!



We then had dinner in a fancy restaurant called "Menza." Actually in 4 days we went there 3 times! That place is incredible!!! Cheap prices and outstanding food.



The menu is interesting though. In Hungary the currency is "Forint" and everything is in hundreds and thousands. basically, 250 Huff ( forint) = 1 Euro = ~$1.25 so for a good dinner we cashed out like 2,000 HUFF. The ZERO's were driving me CRAZY!!!



The next day we took a city tour and saw so many beautiful sites. During our time there we visited Hero's square, Parilmant, Royal Palace, Statue of Liberty, Opera House, St Mattias Church, St. Stephen's Bascilica, and many other places.



We visited "The House of Terror" which was crazy. It's a place where after the WWII the Communist party tortured and killed people who opposed the rule. There were dungens and gallows where people were hanged. It was a bit disturbing.

I think St. Stephen's Bascilica impressed me the most. It was stunning. So many paintings and sculptures. Everything was gold plated, there were tons of candles and many people were praying. I took pictures but they don't even depict 1 % of the beauty of the place.



We also visited a Turkish bath house "The Gellart." Apperantly Budapest is above natural hot springs. This particular place is so old! There were ancient moisaic frascoes all over the walls and I felt like a princess in a bath. It was a great experience.



Ofcourse we did have a bit of fun in the night life. We went to a club called "Alcatraz" and they had a salsa night. It was so cool to watch, now i wanna learn to be as good.

And Finally, we finished off the trip with a visit to the Hungarian Opera House. We saw "Othello" and again i was taken away with how great the opera was, but more so with how beautiful the theater was.



Anyways, I can go on and on about how beautiful the city is. But unfortunately I was a bit dissapointed as well. I seems to me that amongst the history and beauty all around, people are not happy. They especially weren't too thrilled with 2 American girls and 1 Singaporian wandring around. People dont speak much English there, and it was difficult to communicate. We were also cursed out and flicked off at a cafe when we ordered lunch and they said they didn't have anything. Go figure. All in the experience I guess.

I loved to visit, but I learned that after life in Los Angeles, I can never stoop to a different kind of lifestyle again. I don't think i'm better but i'm deffinately different. They don't like American's much. Yet as much as I pride my Russian roots - I'm an American Girl. So deal with it!


Side note: We saw this on the way to the bath house... i don't think there is a need for an explination :)



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