holidays, part 3
holidays, part 3
Budapest was the final stop on my whirlwind tour of my three countries. I didn’t really know what to expect there, but it was really beautiful and quite an enjoyable city. I took an early morning train from Vienna, so I arrived at about 9am, and made my way to the hostel. I had to take the metro and the tram, which I assumed had the same tickets, but there was a ticket checker on the tram and he said they weren’t. I have a feeling I could have gotten in trouble for it if there had not been the language barrier and if my stop hadn’t been the next one. Oh well, I was sure to have separate tickets for the rest of my journeys. After I checked into the hostel, my first day was spent walking around, and just appreciating the city. I went to the Great Market that sells tons of fresh fruits, vegetables, meats, bread, and little knick knacky things. I made my way through part of the old town next on my way up to the castle. There is a tram that normally takes you up the mountain up the top where the castle is, but of course it was broken the day I went. Rather than come all the way back another day, I decided to walk up all the stairs to the top. It wasn’t a bad walk though; it was a beautiful area with lots of trees that were all these beautiful golden and amber tones. Once at he top, I walked around the castle area and enjoyed the views across the Danube to the Pest side of the city. Budapest is actually Buda (on the west of the Danube) and Pest (on the east side of the Danube). The castle is in Buda and most of the rest of the city is in Pest. After enjoying the castle and having lunch at the top, I walked back down and went to a park in the city, again very pretty with all the fall colors. I headed back to the hostel for a little rest, and after a bit of contemplation I went back out into the city and saw the Opera house, and walked back from there to get in some more of the city.
Saturday, I got up kind of early and made my way to Central Europe’s biggest flea market (it actually wasn’t that big). It was quite an adventure getting there. I took the tram to the bus, and while on the bus, there were no indications of what the stops’ names were, so I finally had to ask some other people who looked like Americans about it. Just as we started talking the bus stopped, and another passenger informed us that it was the market. Sure enough, there it was, thank goodness for friendly people… I was begging to wonder how it was all going to turn out seeing as that I was in the middle of some random, underdeveloped part of Budapest… Anyhow, I spent a bit of time there, then went back into town and made my way up to the City Park. It was really nice there as well. And the road to the park was just as lovely. It was lined with trees and all these mansions. At the park I sat down and made my sandwich for lunch and went to the Museum of Fine Arts. I went to one of the natural baths there because I wanted the massage, but it was only 15 min, so I decided against it. I really didn’t want to go swimming so I left, and only got back a portion of what I thought I was going to; so essentially I paid $10 to walk in and out of the bath!!! Very frustrating… I really didn’t spend that much money on anything else, except one dinner. For my last night, I went out to eat at this great vegetarian restaurant with two of the girls from my hostel. The next day before my flight, I was determined to get in a little more of the city, but it was raining and I really just felt like having a relaxing morning, so I stayed in an read my book before my vacation ended.
All in all it was a great trip. I would definitely recommend those cities to anyone who is interested. There was a bunch more to see in Vienna and Budapest, and had I planned more time I could have seen it all, but maybe I’ll just have to go back at some point…
Budapest was the final stop on my whirlwind tour of my three countries. I didn’t really know what to expect there, but it was really beautiful and quite an enjoyable city. I took an early morning train from Vienna, so I arrived at about 9am, and made my way to the hostel. I had to take the metro and the tram, which I assumed had the same tickets, but there was a ticket checker on the tram and he said they weren’t. I have a feeling I could have gotten in trouble for it if there had not been the language barrier and if my stop hadn’t been the next one. Oh well, I was sure to have separate tickets for the rest of my journeys. After I checked into the hostel, my first day was spent walking around, and just appreciating the city. I went to the Great Market that sells tons of fresh fruits, vegetables, meats, bread, and little knick knacky things. I made my way through part of the old town next on my way up to the castle. There is a tram that normally takes you up the mountain up the top where the castle is, but of course it was broken the day I went. Rather than come all the way back another day, I decided to walk up all the stairs to the top. It wasn’t a bad walk though; it was a beautiful area with lots of trees that were all these beautiful golden and amber tones. Once at he top, I walked around the castle area and enjoyed the views across the Danube to the Pest side of the city. Budapest is actually Buda (on the west of the Danube) and Pest (on the east side of the Danube). The castle is in Buda and most of the rest of the city is in Pest. After enjoying the castle and having lunch at the top, I walked back down and went to a park in the city, again very pretty with all the fall colors. I headed back to the hostel for a little rest, and after a bit of contemplation I went back out into the city and saw the Opera house, and walked back from there to get in some more of the city.
Saturday, I got up kind of early and made my way to Central Europe’s biggest flea market (it actually wasn’t that big). It was quite an adventure getting there. I took the tram to the bus, and while on the bus, there were no indications of what the stops’ names were, so I finally had to ask some other people who looked like Americans about it. Just as we started talking the bus stopped, and another passenger informed us that it was the market. Sure enough, there it was, thank goodness for friendly people… I was begging to wonder how it was all going to turn out seeing as that I was in the middle of some random, underdeveloped part of Budapest… Anyhow, I spent a bit of time there, then went back into town and made my way up to the City Park. It was really nice there as well. And the road to the park was just as lovely. It was lined with trees and all these mansions. At the park I sat down and made my sandwich for lunch and went to the Museum of Fine Arts. I went to one of the natural baths there because I wanted the massage, but it was only 15 min, so I decided against it. I really didn’t want to go swimming so I left, and only got back a portion of what I thought I was going to; so essentially I paid $10 to walk in and out of the bath!!! Very frustrating… I really didn’t spend that much money on anything else, except one dinner. For my last night, I went out to eat at this great vegetarian restaurant with two of the girls from my hostel. The next day before my flight, I was determined to get in a little more of the city, but it was raining and I really just felt like having a relaxing morning, so I stayed in an read my book before my vacation ended.
All in all it was a great trip. I would definitely recommend those cities to anyone who is interested. There was a bunch more to see in Vienna and Budapest, and had I planned more time I could have seen it all, but maybe I’ll just have to go back at some point…
posted by emily at 9:56 AM
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