Budapest

My program gave us all of last week off for independent travel.  I split my time between Budapest, Hungary and Istanbul, Turkey—both unique and incredible cities!   

My friends and I arrived in Budapest on Saturday and stayed in a small but beautiful apartment that we found through airbnb.

The city was absolutely amazing and SO cheap.  After spending the last few months guiltily forking over $4 for a cup of coffee, the prices of eastern Europe came as a huge relief. The city had a much edgier and less polished feel than Copenhagen. Having been under Soviet control until the 1990’s, many of the buildings were under kept and in need of renovation. 

The Danube River splits Budapest into two distinct sections—Buda and Pest, which were completely different cities until 1873. We stayed on the Pest side, home to the Jewish Quarter, the parliament building, the main shopping street, and the Budapest Eye—the world’s largest mobile ferris wheel. 

{Parliament} 

{Central Market Hall}

The Buda side includes what’s known as the “castle district,” which is made up medieval, cobblestone streets that lead to the Buda Palace (recently converted into the national art mususem), the Mathias Church, and Fisherman’s Bastion.  

{Mathias Church}

{Buda Palace}

My friends and I all agreed that our favorite site was the House of Terror museum  The museum, situated in Hungary's former Nazi headquarters, tracks the fascist and communist dictatorial regimes in 20the century Hungary. 

{"Shoes on the Dunabe"- a memorial to Jews killed in Holocaust}

Budapest is known for its two dozen “ruin bars” scattered across the city.  The bars are built into neglected buildings, leftover from the country’s socialist era.  By embracing their worn interiors, the bars have emerged as  popular and hip spots for both locals and tourists.  

"Do not trust a hungarian unless he has a third eye in his forehead"

-A Czech saying