Budapes(h)t

I'm back!!!

Sorry I've been a little MIA, but I promise I will make it worth it now that I have a tiny bit more free time on my hands after my La Sorbonne classes have finished.

Let's go back to Budapest.

Seeing as though my trips in the past have always had a rough beginning, why would Budapest be any different? My friend Elena and I, went to the RER metro station to take the train to CDG airport. We were waiting and waiting on the platform, and saw that there seemed to be no train going to CDG in the next 45 minutes. Hmmm? So, I asked the French Police metro man what was going on, and he gave me a grin, and while slyly smiling he told me to wait. Useless Parisian help, once again. Feeling a little uncomfortable, we walked away, and by the looks of everyone else's faces on the platform...we knew it. La Grève, the strike. The French just love to strike, protest, and complain. Thankfully, I was ahead of schedule, better to be safe than sorry. Unfortunately, we took a pretty pricey cab to the airport, but made our flight! All the while annoyed, and I was trying to come up with a way to strike the Parisian strikes. I failed to come up with a plan. I'm still brainstorming.

This is a typical Communist building, paper thin walls, grim, made for quantity not quality

St. Stephen's Basilica

So, we got to Budapest late Friday night, and the only way I could describe it was a ghost city. Where was everyone?! I thought maybe our hostel was just a few blocks from the city center, but the next day proved that it was not, the city is just sort of empty. On Saturday we explored. Thankfully, I have these new, super map-reading skills (or Budapest is just easy to navigate, I like to think it's my skills though) , and I got us to the free-walking tour meeting spot. It was fun, it was free. I learned a lot about the city, and about the history of its communist oppression. Seeing as it has only been 20 plus some years since this country has been liberated from communism, you really still get the eery vibe of an oppressed city. Our tour guide told us that Budapest is really pronounced Budapesht, and the city is divided into two. The Buda side and the Pesht side. The Pesht side is where we stayed, and it is more lively. "Lively." No no, I feel like I am giving Budapest a bad name, it honestly was really cool. It got even better when Emily arrived Saturday night.

View of the Chain Bridge and St. Stephen's Basilica, taken from the Buda side

I like this car :)

On Sunday, we also went to the Jewish Synagogue. It is the largest in Europe. It is one of the most touching places I have been to thus far. It has a beautiful memorial dedicated to those who were killed during the Jewish deportation in Budapest during WWII. 

Packed Tram to the Boat

Friends on the boat!

Sunday night Emily's friend knew someone who was studying abroad in Budapest, and we discovered a Halloween party. It included a night boat tour on the Danube river, and then an entrance into a club. It was one of the most bizarre, but fun things I have ever done for Halloween... sans costume. But it's ok, everyone was into the zombie/vampire/blood on the face thing in Budapest, and seeing how pale I have gotten abroad, I fit right in. 

Parading to the boat!

Halloween party

The night ended with us getting dropped off by cabs at the totally wrong street, but we had a great navigator with us, and we were back at our hostel in no time. And we got a nice tour of the Pest side at 5am.

On Monday, we planned to see the Turkish baths, and go to the House of Terror museum, but woops! It was All Saints Day, and everything was closed. I missed one of the main attractions in Budapest, but it's ok. I sat  in a cafe, and tried all the delicious Turkish coffees.

More to come soon!