Budapest, You Were Da Best.

This past weekend was a great change. Me and 7 others in the program decided to take a trip to Budapest, Hungary. I didn't know much about Budapest but people told me it was the Sin City of Eastern Europe so that was a good enough reason for me to hop on board a train and go! Also, a break from Salzburg was really nice.

Friday, October 4th, we all met up at the train station by 1:30am and were ready to catch our 2:15am train. The 5 girls reserved a cart together and the 3 boys did their own thing (luckily got a cart too). Of course we didn't find our cart easily and when we did, it was far from what we wanted. The lights were out and there was a very large man sleeping across 3 of the seats. He must have been coming from Oktoberfest. He smelt like beer, and his stomach was sticking out of his little Baby Gap shirt. Of course this was our luck. We got one of the guys to wake him up and after a couple minutes the creature awoke and left the cart and stumbled into someone else's cart...oh well, not our problem anymore. Haha. So basically we had a great start to our trip. With the oranges we had and the hand sanitizer we used, the smell of beer finally went away. And then we were off! About 6-7 hours later, we finally made it safely to Budapest. We met up with one of our friends friend from high school who was studying abroad in Budapest and he was basically our tour guide for the whole weekend. Showing us very touristy things, great restaurants, awesome coffee houses, and the best bars! (if you read this Andrew, THANK YOU!) We couldn't check into our apartment until 2pm so we had all morning to see things. Everything was gorgeous, the pictures will tell it all. And we finally got some 'american style' breakfast instead of bread and nutella or some type of pastry. 

Finally, we checked into our apartment which was so cool! We had a full bathroom and a half bathroom, 2 big bedrooms, a living room (where I slept) and a kitchen. After we got settled in we went out for dinner at a pizza place. One thing about Hungary is that the currency (Forints) is extremely difficult so paying with a group was super annoying. At around 6:30, 3 of the girls left for a ballet in town while me and the others stayed at the apartment and relaxed. Our new friend and 'tour guide' came over shortly after with 2 of his friends and some wine. Wine is very cheap there so almost everyone bought a bottle. Then we left and walked the town to meet up with the girls after the ballet. We walked across the bridge and it was so amazing at night. Me and 2 of the boys actually walked up part of the bridge (they went all the way to the top but I only went half way). It was so surreal. 

After spending a while at the bridge we headed to our destination, Szimpla, which was a sick ruin bar! They have ruin bars all over Budapest which are basically old deserted buildings that they take and decorate with all this junk and turn it into a bar. IT'S AWESOME! We tried Palinka shots for the first time which is a very traditional Hungarian alcohol. It is like a type of schnapps that is very strong and it is made out of all different fruits (you could get a specific fruit flavored Palinka as well). I met so many awesome people at Szimpla (as we usually do when we go out) and we made it back to the apartment safe, where I then fell asleep in my clothes. Haha. Great night. 

Saturday, October 5th, everyone slowly woke up. We met up with our friends friend again and he brought us to the 'Chipotle' of Budapest. AMAZING! It had been so long since we have all had mexican food, but we got our fix with a giant burrito. <3 Next stop, Hero Square. Then, we walked through town and went by this lake in a park. Everything was just so beautiful and it reminded me a lot of New York City so I was beyond happy. 4 of them decided to go into the zoo and the rest of us went to walk around the park where we shopped, got coffee at an outdoor cafe and then sat by the lake (where I just went crazy with making pictures!). We rallied together again, headed back to the apartment, got ourselves together and then we were off again for the night. First stop, dinner! Most of us tried hungarian dishes. I got the goulash soup which was sooooo good (Mom, it tasted just like your beef stew). Next stop, The Blind Mouse, which was a bar/club. They are a stock market bar so they have flat screens everywhere with the drinks on them and it works like this...whichever drink is popular is the most expensive and the others and lower priced. Of course, we all tried getting the least expensive drinks but since we all got the same drink, it went up towards the top of the market so then we had to switch to a different drink or wait for it to drop again. Such a cool idea. We were also told that sometimes the stock market crashes and when that happens, the whole place gets free drinks. Unfortunately, it never crashed while we were there. But we did have entertainment because 4 drunk girls were dancing on their tables on the poles (mind you they had heels on that they could barely walk in. Haha) and then an older man got up and joined them (and he definitely won the dance competition lol). Of course I took video...haha. Our friend said it wasn't as busy as it usually is so we moved on to our favorite ruin bar again! Szimpla did not let us down and yet again we met awesome people and took more Palinka shots.

When it was time to leave the bar, my friend and I decided to get gyros because the place next door supposedly has the best and cheapest ones in town. Unfortunately I wasn't allowed to bring any food in the taxi and I was only half way done with it soooooo I stuffed it into the top of my bag quickly (not very good thinking on my part). As we go to pay for the taxi and I reach in to get my wallet, some of the gyro falls out all over the floor and I tried cleaning it up but there was no way I could hide the smell. Only me. Haha (dad I am sure you're enjoying this part saying 'typical Cheryl'). So then we payed but the driver started saying "you have food in here?!" And we all said "no no no no!" and quickly exited the taxi. As we walk up to the apartment door, we see the taxi driver get out, walk around by the back door, open it up, take the floor mat out and start shaking it in the air at us saying "what's this?! You eat hamburger?!" We were all yelling at the same time saying "No" and I just kept changing the subject and yelling "I already paid!" Then we all just went inside and he drove away. Haha, so racist of him to think it was a hamburger! Definitely a great way to end the night. And I didn't fall asleep in my clothes!

Sunday, October 6th, unfortunately our last day in Budapest. We checked out of our apartment by 10:30am, got food on the go and then headed over to the Jewish district. Our friend said this was a very hipster part of town. Also, while we were waiting by a bus stop, we saw a marathon happening! Then we headed to the Jewish District and walked down this one street where there was a whole craft fair going on and we went into an awesome coffee shop for a while. Right outside there were 3 guys performing live music (drums, saxophone and guitar). I didn't want to leave. But then we finally got our gelato! Something we have been craving the whole weekend and it was worth the wait. I'll just show you.....

            

Best weekend trip so far! We got onto our train with no problems and 6-7 hours later we arrived safely into Salzburg. :)