Youda Best, Budapest (Part One)

Another weekend has come and gone - saying I'm exhausted would be the understatement of the century. I just spent the most magical weekend in Budapest, Hungary and I can't wait to share it with you. While we were there from Saturday to Tuesday morning, we did so much in such a short amount of time that I will be breaking up my trip into two posts.

Okay, so why Budapest for our first big excursion abroad? Normally most people want to travel to Paris or Barcelona or London when they think of traveling through Europe. While all of these cities are fabulous in their own unique ways, we chose Budapest because our Belgian friend, Annelien, was coming along with us. She actually spent a semester studying in the city 2 years ago, so she knew her way around extremely well - something Izzy and I were so thankful for. Plus, it's so much more fun to travel with friends! I had no plans of visiting Hungary anytime soon after college, so now was the time to go!

DAY ONE:

Our flight ended up leaving very early Saturday morning, so Annelien's boyfriend drove us to the airport in the southern part of Belgium so we could make it in time. Pain au chocolats in hand, we were off on a new adventure.

It's always so surreal stepping foot in a new country. For me, I was venturing into uncharted territory, and I couldn't have been more pumped! This was the first country I visited where the language was not Latin-based. For my English/French mind, Hungarian is an odd language. It looks and sounds so different, but it's fascinating to hear people speak and to read billboards, signs, etc. Upon stepping off the plane, we had to take a bus, to the metro, where we would then walk another 10 minutes to reach our hostel. Annelien knew exactly what she was doing, and led the way which was comforting. At this point, I was still in awe of all the sites - this is the farthest East I have ever been before.

First things first, we got to our hostel to drop off our things. This place was the cutest. It had an adorable courtyard with dangling lights and places to sit all over. It almost felt like walking through Greece or a Mediterranean villa. We hiked up to the third floor for our room to find the hallways have all of these murals, paintings, and quotes (one of my favorites is shared below).

After running by the hostel - we stopped for lunch. I finally got to eat a cheeseburger (#helloAmericancravings) and then we were off to explore the city! Annelien showed us the city center, which surrounds the Danube River. Budapest originally used to be two towns, Buda and Pest, until they merged in 1873 to create what we visit today. Boy was it a site to see. It is located on the outskirts of the Transdanubian Mountains, so much of the "Buda" side spreads through these mini peaks and summits. There are no words to describe it. After snapping some pictures, Annelien took us down to the Parliament building, where more pictures were snapped.

Before grabbing dinner, we stopped by St. Joseph's Basilica (also, another beaut). I think the pictures speak for itself, but boy, was it just absolutely stunning. I don't think I've ever seen anything like it.

We ate dinner at this cute little Italian restaurant that Annelien loves as well (unfortunately, I can't remember the name.) Pictures are below though. Their was a terrace area inside that overlooked the entire restaurant that we sat at which was so lovely. I also ate probably one of the best pizzas I've ever had . . . when in Hungary.

Cultural differences I noticed: it's polite to walk in and truly greet the host at a restaurant - instead of saying "we will have 3 people" or "table for 3", it's proper to say good evening/how are you/etc first. We had this happen on multiple occasions where the waiter would wait until we greeted them with the proper salutation before even seating us. Also - Hungarians come off as unfriendly for the most part - Annelien even said the same. They may not be unfriendly in actuality, but they definitely don't radiate the charm and pleasantness you find in the Midwest. But that's okay, and it's neat to see how society works in different parts of the world.

All in all, day one was a success. Stay tuned for Part Two of my weekend in Hungary!

Come with me to Cologne

Yesterday and today Izzy and I visited the wonderful city of Cologne, Germany. Now, would it be traveling if there wasn't something crazy that happened? No sir! Let me just share how this entire experience went.

We decided to go to Cologne ultimately because it was extremely cheap to take a bus there. Like in America, Megabus exists in Europe. For a 3 hour bus ride to Cologne and back to Brussels, you only paid 15 euros. Yeah, you heard me - 15 euros! So of course Izzy and I said, "why not? let's do it!" We booked a bus that left Brussels at 6:15 a.m. Because it always rains in Belgium, of course it poured the morning we left. We hopped (more like dragged) ourselves out of bed at 4:15 a.m. to make the 5 a.m. train to Brussels from Leuven. Upon arriving at the Brussels North station with 15 minutes to spare, we searched for our bus. We walked out of the station where all the buses park, and ours was nowhere to be found. We walked around for 10 minutes, trying to search for it. Nothing. Mind you, while this was happening, it down poured, it was windy, and it was just plain miserable. Eventually, we found someone trying to get on the same bus as us - and we stood miserably in the cold together. 6:15 rolls around, and it's still nowhere in sight. We asked an employee and a police officer if we were in the right place, and they said we were exactly where we needed to be.

Eventually, I gave up and went inside. Thank goodness my phone connected to wifi, because I pulled up an email informing me our bus was going to be an hour and a half late due to bad weather. 8:15 a.m. rolls around and we finally get on. At this point I'm already wiped out, my hair is a horrible mess, and I'm about ready to take a nap. So that's exactly what I did.

3 hours later, we wake up to arriving in Cologne! The Megabus drops you off at the airport, forcing us to take the train to make it in the city. This was also not an easy feat. I don't speak a lick of German, and trying to figure out how the heck we were going to get from the airport to the city with no help around us was an adventure in itself. Ultimately, we got on a train and hoped for the best, and thankfully the best happened. We arrived in the city, full hearts and empty stomachs - ready for a new adventure.

I have a newfound love for train stations.

There's nothing like visiting a new city. I thrive off of the uncertainty and the opportunity to explore. As soon as we stepped off the platform, we were greeted by the fourth tallest cathedral in the world, Kölner Dom.  It is the most visited site in Germany, with an average of 20,000 visitors daily. Construction started in 1248, but ended for quite some time in 1473. It wasn't completely finished until 1880. I've had the opportunity to see Notre Dame and Westminster Abbey, but gosh was this church just magnificent. We even walked inside to see a service happening. You could just see and feel the structure reaching up towards the heavens, it was absolutely beautiful. I'm so happy to have had the chance to take in the beauty of this building.

I couldn't even fit the entire church in one shot!

Selfie stick in hand, happily enjoying our Dunkin' Donuts pick-me-up.

Unfortunately, I had no wifi the entire time we were were there. Thankfully, Izzy could connect in one spot - the information/tourism center, so we had the chance to plop ourselves down here to figure out our game plan. We couldn't check into our hostel until 3, so we decided to walk around and explore the city for awhile. 

Two of my favorite photos from our walk are pictured above. The first was around this adorable alleyway full of different colored buildings and cobblestone paths to walk through. It was lovely. The photo below that showcases a picture Izzy snapped of me thanks to Pinterest! I originally had no plans on finding this place, we just came across it and it was the perfect photo opportunity to capture the charm of Cologne (or Köln, as the Germans pronounce it). This street reminded me of a Wes Anderson film (if you've seen the Grand Budapest Hotel, Fantastic Mr. Fox, or Moonrise Kingdom, you know what I mean). Extremely pastel, colorful, and quirky - it embodied the style of his movies. 

Eventually, we looped around and made it to the Hohenzollern Bridge, known for the tens of thousands of love locks attached to the structure - very similar to the ones in Paris. It's so neat to look at them all and to see how far back some of them date to. 

After, we checked into our hostel. I didn't end up taking pictures -- just because it wasn't that exciting, but the place was modern, clean, and comfortable, which was all that mattered to me. Another must-see in Cologne is their chocolate museum. While much of it was just reading about the history of chocolate, half of the museum is a Lindt Factory where you can see how the company makes their delicious sweet goodies. 

They even had a chocolatier serving waffers covered in chocolately goodness. You can see in the photo there was a fountain full of the molten yumminess. To say I was in heaven would be an understatement. 

We finished the day off with pretzels and that was that! All in all, an extremely fun time exploring a new city. Megabus kept its consistency, as our bus was delayed coming back to Brussels. We were flexible though, and patiently waited to arrive home. 

Auf Wiedersehen, Cologne!

Castles and Coffee and Class - oh my!

Week three is done. I can't believe it'll be a month that I've been gone here soon. Time flies. Unfortunately, I fell ill with a cold and sore throat (my body's way of saying slow down) so there was much more time for relaxation included in my schedule these past couple days. As you know, Monday I visited the beautiful Kasteel van Arenberg. From there, it was class - class - class - coffee - and more class.

I know I will be saying this throughout the entire semester, but I truly have already come to appreciate the education I'm receiving at Hanover College. While the subjects in my courses are extremely fascinating, it's difficult sitting in a lecture for 2-3 hours when there are no discussions to engage in. I am so grateful to have the opportunity to attend this university, but I already know I will be so happy to be back in our 15 student classrooms when I return back in September.

Tuesday, we had a girl's night with Annelien and a few of her friends. We made chocolate fondue that we dipped bananas, grapes, madelines, and marshmallows into and it was heavenly. While many foods taste different here in Europe - both the chocolate and marshmallows taste are out of this world in the best way possible. After indulging in sweet treats, we watched the movie, "The Other Women" in her residence hall's movie theatre.

Speaking of food, I am having McCalister's Sweet Tea withdrawals. I also want breadsticks....and Qdoba chips and queso. I have no clue how I will last the next 4 1/2 months, but I guess I can give in to snacking on some Belgian chocolate to ease my sadness.

Nonetheless, this week did bring a great surprise. My Institutions and Policy of the EU course met for the first time, where I discovered shortly after class began an exciting tidbit of information. My professor explained he was going to be at conferences throughout the semester, so days would vary when we would meet. As soon as he said this, I was curious, and googled him to find out that he serves on the European Commission (a.k.a the executive board of the European Union). How neat is that?! I will be learning all about EU policies straight from someone who serves at the executive level. I've heard the course is extremely tough, but I am so excited to gain knowledge on this area from an EU commissioner himself.

I also checked one of the coffee shops off my list - Koffie Onan. I already know I will be back. Say what you want, but I don't mind spending a few euros on a good vanilla latte. The drink I had was frothy, creamy, and dreamy all at the same time. I had a cliche European moment, as I sat at the cafe watching people walk by and taking in all that the scenery had to offer. It was a blissful moment - my sore throat was thankful for the warm drink as well.

So frothy, so wonderful.

You know how you can buy pillows or frames with cheesy sayings and life lessons to adorn your home with? Well, I've got one I want to custom make already. Life Lesson #1 brought to you by my time in Leuven: "Whether it's taking a different street home or going out of your comfort zone to meet someone new - don't always take the same path in life." I know I am a very task-oriented individual. I like knowing what I'm doing/where I'm going/how I will accomplish things. When you're traveling or living in a new place, that isn't always possible. I'm learning to slow down, to look up, and to take the long way back home - it's doing me wonders.

The cutest apartment I discovered, courtesy of "taking a different path home".

Today, I am catching up on some Cold War History readings and later we're meeting one of Izzy's friends who is currently studying abroad in Paris for dinner. New adventures are in the near future, and I can't wait to see what more this city brings me.