Youda Best, Budapest (Part Two)

Here goes **Part Two** of my adventures in Budapest. I'm still in awe of how much we accomplished in such a short period -- but we had the best time and I couldn't have asked for a better experience (get ready for LOTS of pictures).

DAY TWO:
After getting plenty of rest, we woke up to grab breakfast before heading off on the day's adventures. We grabbed food at this place called Cserpes Tejivó, a little breakfast/brunch place to fuel up. One of the great things about Budapest? It's cheap. They do use a different currency there, the forint, although Hungary is a member of the EU. Their bills are measured in thousands, so for a typical dinner, you may pay 2500-3000 forints (around 8-10 euros). Our breakfast ended up costing 470 forints - so basically 1.50 in euros. And look at how great it was!

After getting my chocolate fix, it was off to Buda Castle. We hadn't ventured to the Buda side of Budapest, but the castle is perched on the top of this plateau that overlooks the city - well worth the visit. Traveling tip - pay for public transportation and the bus will take you all the way to the top of the plateau so you don't have to climb it or pay 10 euros to have a trolley bring you.

The views were absolutely stunning. You get this gorgeous look of the Danube River, you see the bridges connecting the two sides of the city, and there is a fantastic view of Hungarian Parliament (a must!) It's one thing to walk by that building, but you must travel to the Buda side of town in order to see a complete view of the building in all its glory. A mini photo shoot also ensued, so enjoy some of my favorites below.

After taking in some beautiful views, we grabbed lunch and then headed back down the hill. If you take some time to walk around the top of Buda, you'll get some great views of the mountains I mentioned behind the city - you can see little towns spread throughout and it's just stunning.

Once we took a bit of a breather at our hostel, we decided to go to this pub that Annelien loves to visit when she comes here. We were a bit concerned we wouldn't be able to go, as it was Sunday and everything is closed then in Europe - but the place was open and boy was I glad it was.

If you ever go to Budapest - stop by For Sale Pub. While it does have a bit of a Texas Roadhouse vibe (peanuts to eat at every table, shells and hay scattered across the floor), what people go for are the notes spread all throughout. Thousands hang from the walls and ceilings, written by people from all over the world who have visited. Of course we had to make our mark, so we grabbed one of the coasters and placed ours on a wall. Hopefully one day I can come back to find it.

Leaving our mark in Budapest. 

For dinner, we were craving pasta, so that's exactly what we went and got. With our bellies full of Italian, day two was a wrap.

DAY THREE:
Again, we slept in and enjoyed the morning. We grabbed a late breakfast at a place called Friccolla - all fresh ingredients, organic foods, extremely healthy (think of those trendy places in big cities that sell those green juices with ingredients you've never heard of it). I had a great sandwich on ciabatta bread with ham, mozzarella, and sun dried tomatoes which satisfied my morning hunger.

Once we finished eating, we stopped by a mall so Annelien and Izzy could do a bit of shopping. Like I said, Budapest is really cheap -- so if you're looking to shop, this is the place to go. Later on we took the metro to Annelien's neighborhood where she lived when she studied abroad here. The building she lived in was beautiful. While I can jazz up this city as much as possible through these posts - parts of it were saddening.

Budapest has lots of old buildings with beautiful detailing/architecture/etc., but many of them are deteriorating because no one is refurbishing them. Who knows why they aren't being cleaned up, but you could see paint chipping off many of the buildings, exposed brick, and rusted walls slowly falling apart. It was a beautiful tragedy - the city is so old, but no one is doing anything to fix them up.

Annelien at the metro stop in her neighborhood

At the end of her street - you come across Hero Square. Used to commemorate the Seven Chieftains of the Seven Magyars, it includes the tomb of the unknown soldier (also a place where many political demonstrations have taken place). After walking around for a bit, we stopped for food and then relaxed again before the final stops on our Hungarian explorations.

I don't know if it was fate or just a stroke of luck, but our hostel ended up being 3 minutes away from a cat cafe! It was the greatest thing. If you aren't aware of how these work, they're basically cafes where you can drink your cup of coffee while playing with kitties at the same time. So, I ordered my cat-puccino and did exactly that. So fun! I just wish there was one at home for me to go to. Makes me miss my cats even more.

One cat-puccino please!

Two more stops were to be made on this trip. First, we tried Kürtóskalács, a delicacy first made in the Hungarian-speaking parts of Romania for festivals that is now eaten on the reg. They describe it as a "spit cake" made with a sweet yeast. You can get it with different toppings (I went with chocolate because duh!). Very different, but yummy.

Our last stop: Szimpla Kert. They call them "ruin pubs" where you can eat/drink and socialize. They completely take over these old buildings and factories that are practically falling apart and refurbish them into restaurants. So cool and very funky. Originally, we were searching for a rooftop restaurant that would overlook the city, but we determined it would still be a bit too cold to do so.

All in all, Budapest treated us so well. As for my next couple weeks, I will be spending time getting to know my area a bit better. No major travels until our spring break hopefully. On my list for now? Visiting Lille, France (just a train ride away), possibly Luxembourg, as well as the tulip fields in the Netherlands once the weather gets a bit warmer. Soaking in every moment has been key, but I can't wait to see what new adventures Belgium brings me!