The SAIICA clan went to Budapest as a segway from national to international law - we went to the Hungarian Arbitration Court and the head woman (Eva, an avid swimmer) spoke about how the former communism in the county affected their movement among European countries toward arbitration. She's one of the top five arbitrators in the world (or at least that’s the word on the street), so it was really cool to hear her speak in the beautiful, old court room (gold gilding everywhere). The downside is that we had to wear suits on the six hour bus ride to Budapest, and it was 90 degrees when we got there. BUT -after the lecture we checked in at our hostel (a group of ten of us girls all booked one together), and the fun began.
We had an AMAZING dinner at this little cafe on a square that marks the end of the main commercial drag through Budapest (the Vaci Utca) - I had chicken and pepper stew, and the other girls had goulash and short ribs - it was all SOOOOOOOOOO good!
That night we went on a boat tour - Budapest is one of those places that looks absolutely magical at night - the biggest and most impressive landmarks are on the river, and although they looked great during the day, I'm just so happy that we did the night tour (I only wish that my camera had a night setting - the pictures didn't come out so great). Each landmark was more surreal than the next. Then the girls working on the boat took us to a club, so we walked (like, way too far) to the old Jewish section of town and went to a rooftop dance club (with breathtaking views). We had a ball dancing all night, especially doing the limbo with some girl's crutches. We left the club to start the long walk home, and now for Tales from Seedy Restaurants ...
On the way home from the club, Laura, Jessica, Diane, Steve and myself were walking back when we saw a gyro stand and Diane wanted to stop. Laura and I had sworn off street meat under advice of our Budepest travel guide, so we waited while she got one and Jessica went inside to find a bathroom. I decided that a bathroom break wouldn't be such a bad idea, so I went in and headed to the only doorway inside, which lead upstairs. The girl at the counter started saying something Hungarian, and because I figured it was a "bathroom for customers only" kind of thing, I just said I was looking for my friend and went up the back stairs. At a landing there was a doorway, and I found myself staring into the kitchen - and at giant, hairy, topless Hungarian man with a giant knife in his hand, standing over a cutting board of food - and two other topless Hungarian men working in the other part of the kitchen. The best part is that they were all wearing an aprons - no shirts, but aprons. Yeah. So I try to keep moving but the big guy sees me, starts yelling something and strides to the door, knife in hand. My cue to leave. I turn to go back down and I'm faced with the girl from the counter, so now I'm trapped on the stairs between two angry, yelling Hungarians (one of whom is topless and knife-wielding), flight or fight sets in, I rush past the girl and book it out of there. So I get outside and tell everyone to get moving, and tell them all what happened. And the gyro gets eaten anyway. Sigh.
The next morning Laura and I had lunch at another patio cafe with great food (I had spinach crepes with turkey cutlets in a creamy cheese sauce) that sat right off the basilica square (which was right by our hostel), then we went to the public baths. Of course, the public baths are so famous and it's a once in a lifetime experience, so we went to the most famous ones at the fabulous Gellert. The thermal baths are drawn from natural hot springs and have a uniquely high mineral content - locals believe they are therapeutic to a medicinal degree. Basically, besides the water being different, it's like a giant public pool complex (the one we went to even had a wave pool, which was hysterical amongst all the old statues and marble). AND - there are massages! I had a relaxing aromatherapy massage, and it was that afternoon that I started thinking that I could live in Budapest :-)
We walked up along the river to change at the hostel, because we had tickets to the opera that night. Each ticket was 400 forint, or 2 American dollars. Yes, two dollars. The government subsidizes the arts so it was super cheap. I should mention now that everything was pretty cheap - not ridiculous, but still a very good exchange rate (200+ forint for a dollar). Each nice restaurant dinner we had was less than $20 each with wine and shared dessert - and these were amazing meals. The opera house is also one of the greatest sights in the city, and the only way to see the inside is to go to an opera or take a tour, which costs about 4 times what the opera does.
The opera turned out to be really weird - it was a "modern" interpretation of Xerxes (A Handel opera) - which means that although the music was the same, the costumes and dancing were, well, strange Hungarian hip-hop. Very bizarre. But the singing was amazing, especially the male soprano (a rarity), and the orchestra pit was out of this world.
After the opera we had a late dinner at Matyas near the Erzebet Bridge. Matyas is a Budapest landmark, and there was live traditional Hungarian folk music - very entertaining - and again, fantastic food.
We met back up with the bulk of the group at a floating pub on the river, then moved up to the Marriott on the river, which was very swanky. It started to get chilly outside and our waiter brought all the girls blankets! The professors were walking by so they stopped and hung out - it was just a great end to a perfect day.
Sunday I went off on my own and took the train out to Hero square, which was built to commemorate the 1000 year anniversary of the country's "modern" formation - yeah, super old city. This was pretty much Budapest's version of Central Park - there was another huge public bath out there, a park, museums, and a massive open square with huge statutes and monuments. Laura and I had made reservations for the one thing my guidebook said you had to splurge on - a fabulous brunch (they love brunch there). So, we made reservations at the nicest one in the city, the Gellert (where we had gone to the baths) - and braced ourselves for what we thought would be a very expensive experience.
The terrace we sat on overlooked the Danube, and we were treated like absolute royalty. There are no words to describe how amazing the food was. It was buffet style, and we went back for seconds and thirds so that we could try everything (beef bourguignon, lamb, dumplings, asparagus soup, various salads). Then, there was desert, not to mention champagne. It was heaven. So we have to get going so we can make the bus back to Linz, and we get the bill - it was less than $25 each! The best deal of ALL TIME!
The bus ride back we all gushed and gushed about how much we loved Budapest. It had a definite New York vibe with so much going on, but it also felt like Paris because every square inch of the city was occupied by a beautiful structure. Absolutely loved it, definitely going back.
