Budapest, Vienna, and Venice... Is This Real Life?!?!

I know it has been WAY too long since my last post... I've been so busy lately!!!  So shall we dive in?

Budapest, Hungary
"Buda Buda Buda Buda Walkin' Everywhere!"

Last week Sara, one of my best friends from middle/high school, came to visit me from Paris!  On Thursday we went on a crazy welcome party on a boat for the school, and on Friday we were on a bus to Budapest, Hungary!  Lesson #1: do not attend crazy boat parties the night before you leave for another country. (We did make our bus, but it involved a good amount of running through metro stations...)

We arrived in Budapest and yayyy, it was snowing again!!  We found the metro to take us towards a restaurant recommended by my guide book (thanks Dad!) and finally got to see the city center.  I have to say, Budapest is one of the most beautiful cities I have ever seen!  We eventually found the place and stumbled in with our giant backpacks.  Lesson #2: Do not bring the world with you for a weekend trip... it's not worth the pain!  

The restaurant was quite adorable, and we were promptly introduced to the new culture when bowls of lemon water were placed in front of Alyssa and me.  (For some reason Sara didn't get one...)  We stared at the bowls for a long time.  I thought about drinking it... but it was in a bowl, which was weird.  We then brainstormed a thousand different purposes of the lemon water, and decided it must be for hand washing... so we dove in.  We asked the waitress later what the water was for, and she replied "after."  We are still confused...

Lesson #3: Always bring a calculator when eating in Hungary with other people.  Although Hungary is now part of the EU, they are still in the transitioning stage so they still use the Hungarian Forint.  The exchange rate is 1 Euro = 270 Forint  and 1 US Dollar =190 Forint.  So the total for every meal we had was in the thousands and naturally, they do not split checks.  It was the most complicated math I've ever had to do at dinner time... especially after a couple glasses of Hungarian wine.

Our hostel was amazing.  Andrew, the owner of Home Plus Hostel, was so kind and spent at least half an hour showing us all the places we must see on a map, and gave us recommendations for good restaurants and bars.  He also shared a bag of cookies with us :).  We ended up in a 9 person room to ourselves, which was so homey and comfortable.


Our first night out we went to a local restaurant with live piano and I had my very first Hungarian goulash!  We ended the night by exploring Buda.  We stumbled upon the Fisherman's Bastion, a terrace on Castle Hill that overlooks the city and is completely magical when it's illuminated at night.

The next day we toured around the city and went to the Terror Museum.  There we were educated about the Hungarian Communist and Nazi regimes which took rule over the country in the 40s and 50s.  These two terror regimes used the house of terror, now a museum, to hold, torture, and kill many innocent people.  We listened to interviews of former prisoners telling the cruel acts they had to endure.  We also toured the bottom cellar where the prisoners were kept and tortured.  It was not my imagination, it still smelled of dead bodies.

We also took a walk along the Danube and saw the Shoes on the Danube Promenade memorial.  Here stood a long row of old shoes of all sizes to symbolize Jews who were shot into the river by the Arrow Cross regime.  It was a beautiful, but sad memorial.

Our last day we went to the Szechenyi Bath and Spa, dating back to 1881.  The city of Budapest has many natural baths all over the city, where both locals and tourists come to relax and enjoy the natural healing properties of the thermal wells.  It was very relaxing, and we also indulged in massages!  Lesson #4: People come in all shapes and sizes, and modesty is not the same in every culture.


Overall, I loved my time in Budapest and want to go back again when it gets a bit warmer.  Heck, with a 19 Euro bus ride and a 10 Euro Hostel... why not??  :)

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Falling in Love with Wien
I couldn't be happier calling any other place home.

After we returned from Budapest, Sara and I spent a few days exploring Vienna and going to the Art History Museum.  It was so much fun!

We went ice skating in front of the beautiful city hall.  It was my first time ice skating and I had a blast!  (I even skated backwards and did an awesome spin-turn move!)

Alyssa and I also took her out to the local bar, Travel Shack, where all the Erasmus students and local travelers hang out.  We enjoyed ourselves.  :)

We also went to the Prater amusement park (which was mostly closed for Winter) and went on the famous Prater Ferris Wheel.  The views were amazing!!  I miss Sara already, and can't wait to visit her in Paris this April!

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Carnivale di Venezia
Pasta, pizza, crazy costumes, little girls singing in Italian, gelato, sunshine, and one crazy train ride!

Last weekend we took a party sleeper train to Venice Carnival with the school's Buddy Network.  It was one of the craziest weekends of my life.  The way there we had our own sleeper compartment and were treated to unlimited drinks in the "Party Wagon."  The wagon was stuffed full of internationals dancing and having a little too much fun.
Lesson #5: A room full of college students + unlimited boos + a high speed train = a recipe for disaster!

We arrived groggy in Venice the next morning and were immediately greeted by a woman in full Carnival attire on the bridge to the city, just a preview of what was to come.  The whole day was spent wandering the city, taking pictures, and marveling at the massive amount of people and the intricacies of all the costumes.  It was so much fun!  One of my favorite parts of Italy, naturally, is the food.  I had AMAZING pasta for lunch, AMAZING gelato for a snack, and AMAZING pizza for dinner.  I can't wait to go back to Italy just for the food alone!

While walking around we saw so many different costumes... even whole families dressed up!  One of my favorite moments was when we were sandwiched into a mass of people all herding towards the Piazza San Marcos down a tiny Venice alley.  All of a sudden two little girls dressed up in costume behind us started belting out some kind of folk song in adorable Italian at the top of their lungs.  It was so freaking cute that I didn't mind the fact that I felt like a cow being herded towards the slaughterhouse.  

Lesson #5:  Don't attend Venice Carnival if you are claustrophobic, a germaphobe, afraid of crowds, or if you are afraid of clowns or various other costumes...