Beautiful Budapest and Last Days at AUBG

Without a doubt, one of my favorite places I have traveled to this semester was Budapest, the Hungarian capital. For a few months now, my friends and I had all intentions of spending Easter weekend in Budapest. We had no classes on Monday, so we were able to fly in on Friday and fly home on Monday, without missing any classes. After landing on Friday in the late afternoon, the first thing that struck me about this city was the unique architecture and the beautifully well-kept buildings. Hungary is another Eastern European country that suffered nearly a half century under Communism. However, the recovery process in comparison to Bulgaria is of massive difference. Budapest, for many in the West, is a location of destination. Bulgaria’s capital of Sofia, on the other hand, is pretty much off the map.

Hungarian forint

So after navigating our way from the airport to the city center using public transportation and asking some locals for directions from the metro station to our hostel, we finally came across it. It was on the second floor of a building which has a courtyard in the center. Needless to say, probably one of the coolest hostels I’ve stayed in. A friend of a friend from the U.S. was meeting us there, so reunions commenced the moment we walked in the door. After settling in for a bit, we ventured out to a traditional Hungarian restaurant, enjoyed a delicious meal, and tried to get used to our first encounter with Hungarian currency (1 U.S dollar = 178 Hungarian forint). I ended up taking out 27,000 forint at the ATM. No big deal. After a trip to a bar in the former barracks during Communist times, we called it a night, as we had a good amount of exploring to do the next day.

St. Stephen's Basilica

Saturday was an absolutely gorgeous day. We set out to see the city. It seemed that around every corner was a different view, equally as beautiful. We saw St. Stephen’s Basilica, the Opera House, and did a little shopping, where we stumbled across an adorable second-hand English bookstore, where I purchased a novel for the long plane ride back to the States. We made our way down to the Danube River, and began the hunt for a place to enjoy lunch. It was just the beginning of our lovely food discoveries in Budapest. We came across a vegetarian Indian place, where I lit my mouth on fire with some delicious Indian soups. We then walked for a while along the Danube, taking in the stunning views and stopping every once in a while to bask in the sun. After a stroll down some more hidden streets, some gelato, and souvenir shopping, it was early evening, so we headed back to our hostel to relax for a bit. We had a nice dinner out, switching up the cuisine once again to Mexican. We finished up Easter Eve with a night of dancing.

The following day was Easter Sunday, and it was definitely different from all the Easters I have experienced in my life. It was fairly laid back, as the weather decided to get a little cloudy and chilly. We had spent all of our time thus far in Budapest on the “Pest” side of the Danube River, so we decided to venture over to the “Buda” side to see what it had to offer. We walked across one of the many beautiful bridges and made a quick stop in a neat little church that was in a cave in the mountainside. We then burned a few calories walking up the hill to the Buda Castle, which is a historical castle and palace of the Hungarian kings, dating back to the 14^th century. On top of castle hill is a small little village with beautifully picturesque homes and shops. We stopped into a confectionary for some tea and sweets, then spent a while taking in the view of the city before heading back down the hill and across another beautiful bridge back to the “Pest” side. We walked to the Parliament building and through some more unique streets, until we again struck gold with a brilliant food discovery: a hummus bar. We thoroughly indulged here, with hummus, falafel, and black tea. We were on the verge of exhaustion, so we worked our way back to the hostel, watched some movies, and made dinner for ourselves in the hostel kitchen. We flew out the next morning, tired but so happy to have made the trip we’d all been waiting to take. Budapest is way up there on the top of my list as one of the best weekends I’ve experienced during my time in Europe.

Our hike through the Rila Mountains

The semester is in its final days. My time in Bulgaria can be numbered to six. Last week was my last week of classes here at AUBG. Yesterday, a group of us ventured out to the Rila Mountains to hike the Seven Lakes. It was a difficult hike, but rewarding beyond belief. Without a doubt, one of the most beautifully breathtaking sights I’ve ever seen, and the best part about it: pure nature. Today and the rest of this week will consist of studying for finals, packing my life away, making some final memories, and saying goodbyes. Sad but an exciting time. So for now, back to studying!

Shots from Budapest...

Opera House

"Buda" side along the Danube River

Parliament

My girls :)