So much to update on! Here it goes! First and foremost, it's Britney Spears' birthday!! 29 and still going strong. Just had to put that out there, we (and by we, I mean I) have been celebrating all day. But there is so much more to celebrate than that. I handed in my first three psychology essays today! 4 turned in, and 4 to go! I've written one of the final four, though it needs some work. 7,000 words and I'm done for the semester! That sounds like a lot but once you've written 10,000 it doesn't seem that bad. I am a paper writing machine now. Hopefully I can bust one out this weekend.
Onto Budapest! We left Thursday night for Hungary and everything went smoothly (this is the week before snow closed down Gatwick airport for a couple days). Of all the countries I have been to so far, I was the most confused by Hungary. I couldn't even sound out the words. Dontea, Emily and I tried to pronounce the street we were staying on and failed miserably. At the airport, we met a guy from Bulgaria who was going to the city center as well so we all split it together. We finally made it to Veres Palne Utca (not pronounced as it spelled) and met up with the girls from UNH that I met at Oktoberfest! They had such a big apartment I couldn't believe it. I think my room here could've fit into their apartment, like, 20 times. It was ridiculous. We headed straight to bed that night so that we could up early and get exploring!
Budapest was the first (and will be the only) Eastern European city I have visited while abroad, and I really did get a different feeling. I can't really explain it, but there was a definite difference from the Western European cities I visited. Maybe it's because it was also near freezing the whole time, but it just felt different. It was nice to see something new though! A lot of the cities we had seen were very similar and this one stood out. We started out in the Pest district (Budapest is made up of two districts, Buda and Pest, which are on opposite sides of the Danube River). I knew that there was a giant synagogue in Budapest (second biggest in the world!) and I had to see it! I mean I've seen around 15 churches, so it was about time to go to a synagogue. It was very pretty on the outside! It was a little expensive so we just walked around but it was nice to see nonetheless.
This one's for Karen
Holocaust memorial
We continued our trek through Pest towards some of the sights farther down the river. We came upon another beautiful church (naturally), St. Peter's and went up to the top (naturally). This time we didn't have to walk! Elevators are so much nicer means of transporation.
St. Peter's!
beautiful church # ?
me + Pest!
Budapest!
Pest!!
For those of you not obsessed with pop music, Katy Perry's music video for her song"Firework" was shot in Budapest so naturally I had to find the spot where she filmed it. It was at Buda Castle, across the river, and this was when I got my first sighting of the building. I was so excited!!
Firework video location!
After coming down from the freezing cold top of St. Peter's we made our way to Parliament. It was designed like the British Parliament building and even had a British flag on it (didn't really understand that one). We were going to take a tour but we were running a little low on forint (Hungarian money) and just walked back along the river instead.
being Hungarian outside of Parliament
Me being a firework
us + the Danube!
so close to the firework video spot!
On the way back to Veres Palne Utca, we ran into a really cute Christmas market! There were old lady Hungarian carolers it was great!
old lady Hungarian carolers
That night we went out for Thai (we weren't exactly looking for any Hungarian food) and hung out with some of the friends of the people we were staying with. I was glad we didn't do anything crazy because we had a long day ahead the next day!
The next day we were going to the Buda side, which is across the river and less city-ish. There are more hills and it is really pretty. We started with a walk up Gellert Hill to the Citadell on the top. Only problem: it had snowed the night before. Not easy to climb up a mountain in snow. We made it though and the view was amazing!
the beginning of our trek
Budapest!
looking for Katy Perry
always imitating statues
Budapest!!
Me + Budapest
At the top there were also people selling traditional Hungarian scarves for pretty cheap. They were very friendly, they walked right up to Emily and put the scarves on her!
stylin'
At one point the citadel was actually used to defend the city so there were lots of different weapons scattered around. We took advantage!
taking over Budapest
We headed back down Gellert Hill and now the time had finally come. We were going to Buda Castle to see where Katy Perry shot the video! We got really confused when we got to the bottom of the hill but we managed to find our way (it is on a hill after all). After determining the exact location of where she was standing, we completely re-enacted the video (with about 300 less back up dancers). So exciting!
Buda Castle!
Me being a firework
us being fireworks
On top of the hill where Buda Castle there is a quaint town with lots of different coffee shops. We stopped for a while and rested our feet because we were very tired! I got a Hungarian funnelcake along the way. It was cinnamon and absolutely delicious! Our last stop was at the Labyrinths, a set of underground passages inside the hill and underneath Buda Castle. There were all kinds of strange things down there - from ancient cave drawings to a wine fountain. It was really dark and spooky and definitely one of the coolest things I have seen in Europe!
Hungarian funnelcake mmm
ancient cave drawings?
we couldn't even see this until we had the flash of the camera
getting directions
After a long day, it was finally time to head back to Pest and to where we were staying. Only problem, it was now dark outside and a layer of ice was completely covering the path down from Buda Castle. It took us forever to get down, probably at least an hour (this is not a big hill). We were crouching down trying to not slip and fall while the Hungarians were strolling right by us. It was like there was no ice! We couldn't stop laughing because we looked so ridiculous. I managed to sneak in a few shots along the way.
attempting to get down
struggles
Budapest at night!
After a very, very long journey home, we finally made it back to my friend's place. Emily and Dontea stayed in while I headed out with the girls from UNH for a little bit. The next day it was back to London! I've had a pretty busy week this week too and will be sure to tell about it soon, but for now I must get back to papers!!
No comments:
Post a Comment