Last Leg of the Trip

So as you already know, at this point in time I’m actually writing these blogs from my family room couch in Gaithersburg, Maryland. I want to write about each place I went in Europe but didn’t have time before I left for home, and also I was just too lazy last week. But even though I’m home now, I still remember my trips perfectly (which I should cause it was literally a week ago).

Budapest was the last leg of my trip. After 3 other countries in just 9 short days I was officially exhausted, and at this point, even more ready to come home. But the bus ride to Budapest kinda perked me up a bit. It took 8 long hours, but I got to see beautiful views and small towns and neighborhoods in the countryside of the Czech Republic, and I’m lucky I actually love bus rides. I don’t know why but I think they are relaxing and, actually pretty comfortable. But the trouble comes when I get off the bus in Budapest: it’s 12:30 in the morning, the bus depot is closed so we’re dropped off in what feels like the middle of nowhere, everyone is either from Prague or Budapest so I don’t hear any English, I have no Hungarian money, and I can’t find a taxi nor do I know if there are certain taxis that are unsafe or a rip off. So here I am, stranded, alone, and not to mention scared, in Eastern Europe at 12:30 in the morning. Some random guy offers me a ride to my hostel on the side of the street, but nope, not brave enough for that, I told him to keep driving. I finally found some girls who spoke English, and after some time I followed them to where they were walking to find some taxi’s lined up. I went up to a crossing guard and he got a cab for me who thankfully took me to my hostel. Finally at 1:15 in the morning, I’m there, but the nights not over yet. The room I reserved for the next 3 nights, an 8 person mixed dorm, was all full when I went to move in! So I spent a long time waiting for the girl at the hostel to tell me where I was going to sleep, and she ended up bringing me upstairs to a private room with my own bathroom. It’s just for the night, but hey, not to bad. So after a stressful night, I get to have my own room and a, relatively, good nights sleep.

 

Halfway through the bus ride we stopped at a gas station and got to stretch our legs.
That's my bus behind me, and I have no clue where I actually am.

The next day I start off by venturing out into the city by myself, getting lost at first and wandering the streets, and then finally finding my way to the river and center of the city. I just meander around until my walking tour starts at 3pm. I really enjoyed the walking tour, which was mainly of the Buda side of the river. If you didn’t know, Budapest actually used to be 2 cities, on one side of the river was Pest, and on the other side was Buda. They united a few hundred years ago around the time when the bridges were built across the Danube river connecting the two sides and it was originally called Pestbuda. And I’m not sure why it switched to be called Budapest. But on this tour is where I met some girls from Poland! They were my age and super nice, just traveling to Budapest for the week, and I ended up spending the entire day with them. After the tour we got a typical Hungarian strudel (very delicious), walked around the castle area (yes, another castle), and headed over to the supermarket to get dinner for a picnic! But while still sitting in the castle talking, something strange happened. We noticed this Chinese man standing next to us and lingering a bit. So we looked up and there was a group of Chinese people standing taking pictures of us! Then they started smiling and thanking us as they continued to take pictures and take turns standing next to us and posing. So we spent a good 5 minutes taking pictures with these Chinese tourists and I was probably the most confused person alive at this point. But, they seemed pretty content, and after numerous thanks and waves goodbye, on they went.

But anyway, at the supermarket later that night I just got some bread and cheese and then some Hungarian dip thing from the deli counter. I had absolutely no idea what it was when I bought it, but I like to be daring, and it turned out to be delicious! But I’m getting ahead of myself, we walked down to the small island of Margaret which is small piece of land that’s in between Buda and Pest, and you can get there by walking across one of the city’s bridges. So we went and had a nice picnic there, and then made plans to meet up later that night for drinks. After we walk back to our respective homes and rested up a little, I went to meet them at a metro station that I once again, got lost getting to. The layout of the city really confused me, and even though I’m actually pretty okay with directions, I could not figure this city out. It took me over 30 minutes to walk there, at 11:30 pm, and I was once again, getting nervous walking alone. But I eventually made it and we sat and had a few drinks all together with them and one of their Hungarian friends. Overall, though a short night, and stressful getting there, I had a great time. We talked about different norms from different cultures, what its like growing up in Budapest and in Poland, what its like to study in Spain and study abroad to different cultures, and more. It was refreshing to talk with people from such different places about their views, opinions, and lifestyles. Whenever I had traveled before, I was always with a friend from my program, a friend from home, or had trouble talking to natives because of the language barrier (Since the polish girls all spoke English perfectly). So it was cool to be on my own, making my own decisions and meeting my own friends. 

I took this picture in the morning when I sat for a little on the lawn before my tour.

View from the castle on the hill on the Buda side of the city

Me with my polish friends!

Again, with the polish girls ( I can't actually spell or remember all of their names)

Where we sat and had our picnic on island Margaret.

I reserved the next day for seeing and learning about my roots! Ha. I went to see the magnificent synagogue that is the second largest in the world after the one in New York. The decorations and designs were gorgeous. But one thing I noticed about this synagogue was its resemblance to the look of a church. The bimah was up at the front, and the seats were in rows facing the front. It seriously felt like walking into a church. Later on my walking tour my tour guide told me that when they built the synagogue they were trying to assimilate to Christianity and so they built it like a church, they even had an organ in the front for some time (maybe its still there I don’t know). So I was right! 

Outside of the synagogue

Inside of the synagogue (they aren't conducting services as it may look like, this is just people also coming in to visit and listening to their tour guides in the seats.

I also learned on my tour of the Jewish quarter that this is also the site of one of the only 4 synagogues in the world that has a cemetery right next to it. After WWII there were thousands of corpses in the courtyard next to the synagogue, so Jews had to dig mass graves for all of them, and buried the corpses inside in a, well, more “proper” burial than the alternative. There were also some memorials in the back courtyard and one in particular was a weeping willow tree with the name of each Jewish person who died in the war engraved onto one leaf of the tree. It was very moving to be here, and I made sure to take my time and soak everything in. Around this area was also the birthplace of Theodor Herzl (the leader of the Zionist movement), which I was very surprised to see as I had no idea he was even Hungarian. 

Mass graves

The only reason you can tell that this is a synagogue is because of the tiny 10 commandments in the back. Can you see them?

The weeping willow tree memorial

The old wall of the Jewish ghetto. Although its a replica since the old one was demolished, it's still the only one you'll find in Budapest today,

On my walking tour we walked through what used to be the Jewish ghetto (which was actually the same neighborhood that my hostel was in), and we saw a replica of what the old walls used to look like, and some other synagogues that are there now. What’s interesting is that this area is now where most of the bars and clubs are in the city, where nightlife bumpin. Yes, I said bumpin. There are these bars called ruin bars, which are huge bars that are built inside old ruins. So most times there are no roofs, just tapestries or tarps as the ceilings, and the walls are just old brick structures that have not been reconstructed.

Simpla, the most famous of the ruin bars

Inside view of Simpla

  

That night I met some Australian kids in my new room in the hostel. I decided not to go out that night since I was getting up at 3am for the airport, but instead just hung out with my new Australian friends. After going to bed at 12:30, I woke up 3 hours later to get to the airport, it was a long morning, but finally I was back in Barcelona, and had just 2 more days to enjoy the city one last time before I would be home.

Overall, I am really glad I got to travel to Budapest. But i have to admit, though the river at night and the parliament building were gorgeous, it was not the most beautiful city I had been to. But when you come straight from Prague, its hard to top that. So even though I wasn't blown away by the city, I got see and learn about the history that took place there. I got to be in the country where my family lived and see what life there felt like, and that in itself was what made my experience there so amazing.