"Miles from Budapest"

I have now been in Austria for just over 2 months. Part of me thinks the time is going by super fast and I can't believe I have been here 2 months, while the other part of me feels the time slowly ticking by and I am anxiously awaiting my arrival home on June 30th. Don't get me wrong, I am loving every minute that I spend in Europe, but if I have learned one thing in my time away it is that Natasha and I can not live more than driving distance apart, I miss her way too much. I have found that the best way to combat missing my sister and being homesick is to keep busy. The best way to keep busy, travel. During the week, I am busy with my school work, group projects, and readings but, on the weekends I have endless free time. This weekend I am taking it easy due to the fact that I was so exhausted last weekend from all my traveling. Unfortunately, it's only Friday and I'm already running out of things to do, I wish I was traveling somewhere. Hopefully I can explore a little more of Linz. I do have plenty of trips coming up, Stuttgart to visit distant family next weekend, France to visit a friend from Truman, and Italy in May. 

The past weekend, I had a chance to visit Budapest with a group from school. Budapest was beautiful but I would have to say that I enjoyed Prague more. The first day in Budapest the group got a semi tour of the city where we saw the Parliament building, some churches, the Danube river, and enjoyed the nice weather. After the tour, we went to a restaurant The Sir Lancelot, The restaurant was a medieval themed place, they didn't even have forks! I wouldn't recommend it. One, the food was not very great and two it was somewhat expensive especially for being in Budapest which is cheap compared to the rest of Europe. 

Met Ronald Reagan in Budapest

After eating the group left to go check out the nightlife of Budapest, I would say it's pretty alive. I stayed out the latest I ever have in dancing, Budapest has some pretty good places to dance. Even though I am an awful dancer I did have a lot of fun. Although, as many of my friends can tell you I am not one to stay out late. I became the first out of the group wanting to find my way back to bed!

The next morning we made our way to the Central market Hall. This place was huge with tons of food stands and craft booths. Although a lot of the stands sell more or less of the same thing, I enjoyed looking at all the different foods and even bought some homemade paprika!  After the market hall I made my way with a few friends towards the Castle of Buda and Matthias Church. The journey to these two places was a little of a walk/climb but completely worth it. The church is absolutely beautiful and the view was even better! If ever in Budapest, if you visit Matthias church be sure to visit a nearby cafe. 

my delicious cake!

The Ruszurm, which claims to be the oldest confectionery in the city has wonderful cakes. I can recommend the Eszerhazy torta, a specialty in Budapest, Dobostorta, and the "Ruszwurm" Torta. All delicious and worth the climb to get them! After enjoying our cake we made our way back towards the Pest side of Buda where we were staying. If you are not aware Budapest was actually once two different cities Buda and Pest and when describing where you are, you still would say whether you are in the pest side or Buda side. Our hostel happened to be on the Pest side. The hostel we were staying had a nice location and was also clean, I would recommend staying at the Wombat hostel. After resting for a bit we journeyed back into the city and fell upon a really cool street market with some musicians, tons of delicious looking foods and some really cool looking trinkets and such. Budapest is a great place to find street markets, we probably went to three in one day! That was by far my favorite part of Budapest.

St Matthias Church

After finishing our shopping we headed to dinner at Zsakbamacska, this place I can recommend. The food was delicious and the entertainment was even greater. Throughout the dinner we were entertained by some traditional music as well as dancers! Nothing better than dinner and a show!. After dinner was finished we journeyed once more into the Budapest nightlife. Having enjoyed enough of the nightlife the previous night I was ready for a good nights sleep. The last morning in Budapest I spent it wandering around the streets and falling upon yet another street market. I love street markets. I returned home from Budapest exhausted from my 3 weeks of travel with little rest but, content.
I don't know if I will ever return to Budapest but, I defiantly think it is a place worth visiting. It's hard to believe that I only have 2.5 months left in Austria, part of me ready to return to Kansas City and my family, but the other part wants more time to enjoy Europe and all its wonders.  

I'll leave you with yet another quote,  "Wherever you go becomes part of you somehow" -Anita Desai

Love, Alex