Budapest

 **I wrote this on Sunday (March 20), but I didn't post it because I didn't have time to organize all the photos but now its 11 days later and I'm still feeling lazy so whatever. I'll just post it. More photos will be in the next post or something, I guess.**

On Friday, after waking up very early in the morning, some people and I headed off to Budapest, Hungary (along with basically like... everyone else on exchange in Vienna, apparently, but okay).

At first, I was kind of like "ehh" about the city because it looks way sketchier than Vienna. It looks much older and "worn" than Vienna, but as I walked around more, I kind of liked it that way. The public transport was also pretty sketchy. The trains looked super old and the one bus ride I took to the Citadel/Gellért Hill was insane. It was super rickety and lurched everywhere so you were thrown all over the place. It was an experience. They have some new trams that are super nice though. Overall, the city was an interesting mix of old and modern. I'll write more about it later because I am still at the hostel right now (getting ready to check out and head back home).

--Edit:

Okay, back in Vienna now. I have to say that I'm kind of glad to be back. It feels like home here and in Vienna, I actually know what I'm doing. I mean, generally I don't have that "lost" feeling after first day in a new city (assuming I stay in the main areas, of course) but it's still a little weird. Oh, and screw writing short entries. I will bombard you with walls of text because it brings me great enjoyment (you don't have to read it, obviously).


Anyway, in Budapest we basically went to all the typical tourist sites (I will link Wikipedia pages to some of them for your convenience). The first day, we just wandered around (semi-lost). However, we did end up at the Central Market (or something?) which is basically like Naschmarkt, but indoors. and in Hungary, of course. There, we ate some potato-onion-sausage thing for lunch and talked to some Germans. They were a group of pretty old people, but they were really nice so I enjoyed talking to them. I actually managed to hold a conversation with them for a decent amount of time, which was pretty awesome. The sad thing is that I think I spoke more German in Hungary than I have in Austria. Clearly, there is something wrong with that.

On the second day, we walked down Andrássy út (basically like the Champs-Élysées of Hungary), visited the "House of Terror" (a museum about the fascist/communist regimes in Hungary), and the Heroes' Square (Hősök tere). We also ate dinner at this restaurant we found (and ate at) the first night. I got this rose-duck thing and it was absolutely amazing. Gah, duck is so delicious. Then at night, we walked over to the Chain Bridge ("Széchenyi Lánchíd"; connects Buda and Pest). It was so gorgeous at night.

Today, we went to the Buda Castle area and the Fisherman's Bastion (Halászbástya) which was quite nice. That afternoon, I met up with some Hungarians and went with them to Gellért Hill where you can see some sick views of the city. Apparently at night, it's AMAZING, but sadly, I didn't get to experience that. Oh well. On top of the hill, there is the Citadella (basically a fortress thing) and the Liberty Statue (Szabadság Szobor; in remembrance of the Soviet liberation of Hungary from the Nazis). The trip up the hill was pretty intense, as I mentioned earlier.

On to the food... Oh man. There is so much good food. Of course, one must try goulash or "gulyás" in Hungary (really delicious) and anything with paprika in it. Also, there are also some really amazing pastries/sweet things. One thing to try is definitely "Kürtőskalács" (chimney cake). It's basically like a very chewy/doughy pastry that is rolled out pretty thin and wrapped around a cylinder to form a tube. Then it's glazed with sugar and er... cooked on a spit almost, and covered in sugar/other delicious things. "Rigó Jancsi" is also quite delicious. It's just a chocolate sponge cake with a ton of chocolate cream, but I like how pastries here are generally not too sweet (unlike the US, ugh). Finally, there's this filling called "túrós", which is basically like a smashed cheese-curd that can either be sweet or savory. I ate it (sweet) in this croissant-like bread roll thing, and it was pretty awesome. Plus it only cost 240HUF which is less than a euro. Amazing!