Budapest

Wow.. what a place. We arrived in Budapest on Tuesday and I feel like we haven't stopped since... I am writing this now in Vienna, and we are happy to have a quiet night in (especially since we have been walking around in below freezing temperatures for the past week).

Usually I am a big wuss when it comes to the cold... And I know that say, high of 30, isn't really that cold in comparison to other places like Russia.. But you have to really motivate me to go out walking around in anything below 35.. Budapest was successful in doing so!

We got in on Tuesday evening, and naturally, it was dark and we had fun navigating our way through the metro and to our host's house. We found some cool girls on Airbnb, one of whom is from just outside San Francisco, and the other is from Bulgaria.. Staying in Budapest with 2 people who didn't speak Hungarian! It was probably the best case scenario because Hungarian is a crazy language, reminiscent of a cross between Dutch and Icelandic....

Ashley and Iva live in a nice apartment right close to Hero's Square and walking distance to a lot of the city sights.. It's right off Andrassy Blvd, which is called the "Champs d'Elysses of the East", because Budapest is the "Paris of the East".. (So far we have been to the "Venice of the North and the "Paris of the East" haha!) Again we got to stay in an old-style architecture building with big windows and tall ceilings.. I loved it. We have been so lucky to be able to stay with really cool people in nice places.. We were pretty tired our first night so we had some coffee and relaxed a bit with the girls, then found ourselves some dinner close by.. It would be hard to have followed the vegan diet I was used to back home in Hungary.. Everything involves meat, bread, and cheese. Luckily a lot of the places had fish, so I got a lot of Omega's during our stay in Budapest. If you love cheese, beef, sausage and goose, Budapest is the place for you.

We spent our first full day walking around and made our way to the Christmas market... Wow. The Christmas market is Budapest was amazing! There were all kinds of foods, crafts, gifts, clothes, drinks, sweets, etc... And there were mutiple markets around.. we would be walking around different parts of the center and stumble upon another market. Everyone seemed to be getting into the holiday spirit..The places were always packed with locals and tourists shopping and eating. 

Paul really got in the spirit too and chowed down on this gigantic sausage... They did have some grilled vegetables and potatoes too, but unfortunately the cold temperatures quickly turned them from hot to cold... I guess that's what you get when you eat outside and it's freezing!

We learned a lot about Budapest during our stay.. I can say that I feel much more comfortable with my knowldge on the former Yugoslavia, the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and socialism/communism. The first day we also visited a musem called the "House of Terror". The building itself used to be where the head of the communist party was housed back between the 1950's-1989. We learned all about WW1 and 2 and how it affected Hungary, when Hitler then the USSR stepped in to "help" Hungary after being battered by both wars, and how they were basically taken over and turned communist by Stalin. 

When I think of WW2, Nazi Germany, concentration camps, or the bombings in Japan usually came to mind.. Not Hungary.. It was very interesting to learn about the persecutions that occurred in Hungary as well. Over 200,000 people left Hungary during the war and never returned, many of them Hungarian Jews. Then, after the war, communism took hold and many Hungarians were sent to labor camps in Russia and never returned.. The Hungarians faced some very hard times while Stalin had his grip on the region.. But, unlike now, everyone in those times had a job, a home, and a purpose... They were just always spied on, interrogated, arrested, tortured, etc. if they did not agree with the state or had ideas.. I think I'd rather be democratic, too, despite low wages and unemployment!

We also took some FREE walking tours during our stay in Hungary... All you have to do is tip at the end! We did the Essential Budapest tour on Wednesday, where we walked in both of the cities. Budapest is actually made up of 2 cities, Buda on one side of the Danube River, and Pest on the other.. The 2 cities are linked by multiple bridges, one of them being the famous "Chain Bridge" that is made out of giant chains. It looks like a giant bicycle chain on a bridge. We started the tour on the "Pest" side, where the main center, shopping, and christmas markets were, and made our way across the Chain Bridge to the Buda side. It was cool to see all the main sights, like the St. Stephen's Bascilica, where there is part of St. Stephen's mummified right hand (we didn't go in to see it, though). We also saw some cool old buildings, that were unfortunately next to the "beast" grey tower blocks from the Communist times, fountains, parks, and other points of interest. We then crossed the bridge and went up the Castle Hill, where you can get a great view of Pest.. There was also the Hungarian "White House" where the president stays. It was a really good way to spend 3.5 hours, and our guide was very good and knowledgable.. The only downside was by the end I could no longer feel my toes. Ouch. 

One more thing that we learned was how Hungarians got their name... I thought this was funny. Apparently a long time ago, Hungary was inhabited with people of Asian origin, during the Genghis Khan times. When the western Europeans saw these people, they called them the "Huns", which means Ogre, because they were a brutal people. From "Huns" came Hungarians, and from Hungary came Shrek. So   from what I've gathered from this history lesson, Shrek is Hungarian. It's their claim to fame. That and the guy that invented the Rubik's Cube.

We also did the "Communist Tour", which was free as well, and about 2.5 hours long. The guides on this tour were awesome - both of them lived in Hungary during communist times and gave personal stories about what life was like.. It's crazy to think that only 20 years ago everyone had very different lives in Hungary.. We walked around and learned about communist architecture and about how the walls were paper thin so that people could be spied on.. Or how the smallest room in an apartment was the kitchen...only 1-2 people could fit in the kitchen at a time so people wouldn't share meals because that could spark ideas. They wanted to force people to eat at the state-run Canteen where conversations could be overheard, and tried to prevent people from entertaining guests or cooking together in their homes. Crazy! 

We also learned about the ban on public display of beliefs or religion, and how Christmas was no longer a religious holiday, it was based upon "Father Winter" coming and was a state holiday.. The guides also reminisced on state-run TV, and how sometimes they preferred it to what we have today, because the state would show Operas, theatre, informational and educational programming, etc instead of the Kardashian crap we see now. They did not miss the communist cars, though. Apparently there was a car made out of cardboard and glue?! They also talked about how hard it was to travel to non-communist countries as well.. The state didn't want anyone seeing what life was like in Western society. I couldn't imagine living in a place like that! I guess everything about communism will be much clearer when we get to Vietnam and Laos.

One great thing about walking around in the cold in Budapest is you can find warmth and relaxation in one of their many thermal pools... Luckily for us, one of the biggest one was a short walk from our apartment. There were tons of different pools, all fortified with vitamins and minerals, with varying temperatures. The complex is huge, with saunas, steam rooms, showers, massage spas, mud baths, etc... It's a great way to spend a cold day!

We were sitting in one of the pools and Paul noticed someone he recognized... Then he pointed out this person to me, and I confirmed that I knew this person too.... It turned out that Stephen's best friend Phil, who we went to see the Local Natives with in London, was like 20 feet away from us at the thermal baths, in Budapest... We got his attention and he came over and talked to us, it was so insane to see someone randomly like that without knowing they were even in the same country! He and his girlfriend, Kate, were in Budapest for 4 days, and just happened to be in the same part of this huge complex as us at the right time.. Needless to say, we exchanged numbers and planned to meet up later.. We then braved the cold to the outdoor thermal pool, had a last soak, and headed off to get dinner and meet up with Phil and Kate.

We went to the Jewish District, which houses lots of cheap eateries and these places called "Ruin Pubs". Basically, when the Jews fled Hungary, they left behind all these housing blocks that were abandoned up until the fall of communism. Then, some university students bought up a couple of the apartment buildings (because it was so cheap) and began turning them into these multi-story, multi-room, themed pubs. A lot of these places have really cool decor, like bicycles hanging around or rooms that seem upside down because the furniture is on the ceiling. There's even places where you can sit in a bathtub. You could easily spend a whole night going from room to room in Ruin Pub.... Needless to say we lost track of time in one of these cool places and were out with Phil and Kate until like 4 AM.. I haven't seen that time on a clock since I had to get up for a crazy marathon! It was a lot of fun! 

We did so much during our stay in Budapest.. We also took a yoga class, I ran around the City Park every day, explored the Christmas markets, tried different foods (like a chimney cake! OMG), and hung out with our cool hosts. The last night (the night prior being our 4 AM night) we were in Budapest, Ashley and Iva invited us out for dinner an we were able to hang out and spend some more time with them.. They were very nice and interesting people.. Both very well traveled and smart! I learned a lot from them. :) Ashley told us some places to visit in CZ on our way up to Prague, since she lived there for a bit.... She also knows like 5 languages. I wish I knew 2 proficiently! We really enjoyed our stay with Ashley and Iva.. they made us feel right at home. 

Today we traveled on a bus to Vienna and arrived at 2pm. Our late night out had re-sparked this stupid cold that I have been trying to get rid of, so we aren't doing much tonight.. I think walking around for 3 days in freezing cold weather may have something to do with it too...We plan on heading in town tomorrow to see one of the most famous and beautiful christmas markets Europe has to offer, and see the old town in Vienna. We only have really one full day here, so it will be packed full of stuff to do I'm sure... More to come! Auf Wiedersehen!