48 Hours in Budapest: Bridge Between Two Cities

Day 1

I was looking out the window. I couldn’t stop. The beautiful Tatra mountains laid before me. Castle on the Hill was on repeat through my earbuds. I took in each beat as I took in each detail of the landscape. I took a picture in my mind of rolling rivers, the fresh green tint of the mountains, and the way the sky seemed to be a different shade of blue from the sky at home. The few clouds brought even more color to the landscape. Every once in awhile we would pass a castle. It was like being in an eastern European storybook. The same hills passed me, but each one seemed to be unique. I stared out that bus window for 6 hours and never got bored. I was in love with these mountains

Soon the mountains turned into green fields, which later turned into a city. We parked on the side of the road and walked over to our restaurant for dinner. As per European style we had soup. I thought I had all soups, but this one was new to me. It was like a carrot and bean soup. Dinner was chicken with a paprika sauce and potatoes. Paprika is a delicacy of Hungary. Budapest is famous for its paprika. Every vendor sells paprika. It tastes better here too. I was in love with the taste of this paprika sauce.

After dinner we walked over to the Danube river. We were signed up for a little cruise. This was my favorite thing that I had done during my whole Europe trip. The sun began to set during our boat ride. It created some of the best photo opps. We passed under old brides. One side we saw Buda and the other Pest. They both had skylines with old castles, churches, and buildings. Of course we passed the famous parliament building. I fell in love with this view of the river and the buildings. I even bought a watercolor of this.

Later that night we got to our hotel. I was listening to Budapest on my phone while we drove to the hotel. You can’t go to Budapest without listening to it. It was a short ride to our hotel though. Our room had a balcony. I opened the door to the balcony and what lied before me was a beautiful European city full of life. This gave me life.

Day 2

This morning I had the best cappuccino I had ever had. It was not sweet. Its not like the cappuccinos at home. Europeans don’t use as much sugar in their coffee, but that was what made it good. I won’t lie. I felt very much like an adult drinking my unsweetened coffee.

Then we began our tour of Budapest in Pest. Our first stop was Hero Square. If you don’t know what hero square is, which I didn’t until I came, it is a memorial to the 14 greatest people in Hungarian history. It has statues of Saint Stephan I of Hungary, Saint Ladislaus I of Hungary, Coloman of Hungary, Andrew II of Hungary, Béla IV of Hungary, Charles I of Hungary, Louis I of Hungary, John Hunyadi, Matthias Corvinus, István Bocskay, Gabriel Bethlen, Imre Thököly, Francis II Rákóczi, and Lajos Kossuth. Seven of these men were the chieftains who brought the Magyar people to the land in 896 A.D. Two of the men were saints. The rest were either royalty, knights, or political leaders.

Hero Square is also the home to a memorial for the people who died during the Holocaust that don’t have their own grave.

We then made out was Buda. We passed over the river to get to hilly Buda. Here we headed to Matthais Church, also known as the Buda castle. It was named after King Matthais in the 19th century. It has been the site of many Habsburg coronations. I have seen a lot of beautiful churches, but this one was my favorite. It was originally built with Romanesque architecture in 1015. Since then it has had many renovations. Entering into the cathedral, we were given a sheet to cover our shoulders. We were told coming to Europe that we might have to do that, but this was the first place to actually make us do it. It is a sign of respect in many old catholic churches to do this.

Once we were finished exploring the cathedral, we headed back to Pest to visit the Central Market Hall. I love markets, but the craziness of this market was enough to set anyone off. I loved the smell of all the food and it was great to buy some real Hungarian Paprika, but the place was miserable. The temperature in Budapest was nearing 90 degrees that day, and inside that building with hundreds of people it felt like it was 100 degrees. It was super busy. It was really hard to get around. We bought food eventually, but there were no open seats or tables. It makes me sad that we had such a bad experience here, because I love markets, but maybe someday I’ll go back in the Spring or Fall when it isn’t quite as hot or busy.

There is not a better thing to do on a hot day than cool down in some springs. Budapest is home to many baths that are supplied by Budapest’s natural spring water. That was our next stop, the Szechenyi Bath in Pest Park, the most popular of the baths in Budapest. When we arrived we were given a wrist band and a changing room that acted as our locker while we were in the water. We then walked outside to see many different pools of different temperatures. I mostly stayed in the cooler temperature pools. It was too hot for the hot baths.

It was hard to tell if the baths were just a tourist destination or if the locals use it too. Based on the old Italian men in speedos, I would say there were also other tourists there, but I’m sure Hungarian teenagers go here like we go to our pools on a hot summer day.

After the baths we all got changed into nice clothes for a nice dinner. Again we had soup. This time it was a sausage and potato stew. Our main dish was my favorite Hungarian dish, Chicken Paprikash. To this day I love to make Chicken Paprikash. It is a great dish to cook and it taste amazing with paprika from Hungary. Then our dessert was an apricot crepe. Every country seems to have its own version of a pancake. The great thing about this is that I love apricots, but not everyone does, so I got to eat a lot of extra pancakes.

Following dinner, we had some free time. Many of us decided to go to the cat cafe. I was all over that idea. Cat cafes are different in Europe than in the United States, because the cats can actually hang out with you while you eat your food. I ordered a cappuccino, of course. Being the crazy cat lady that I was, I also bought a shirt from the cafe to prove it.

Afterwards we walked around, did a little sight seeing, and souvenir shopping. We walked past St. Stephen’s Basilica. A beautiful church in the middle of the city. This is when I realized how sad I was to have to leave Europe the following day. Europe was amazing. It made me feel so happy and at home. I know I will be back in Europe some day though.

Stay tuned for more posts from my Europe trip.