Day 5 - Saturday, July 21, 2007

On our last day, we slept in, packed up, rented some bikes and rode all over Budapest. It was amazing! I had forgotten how much I enjoyed riding bikes! We rode along the Danube river and walked across a bridge open to the public on weekends. They had cool music, shops, and food. Then we had to return the bikes, collect our things from the hostel, rush to the train station, and catch our 7:45pm flight back to Bucharest. Wow. It was an amazing trip!

Day 4 - Friday, July 20, 2007

Today we woke up early and left for a small town called Szentendre. It's a small artist community about 40 minutes north of Budapest. We arrived on a tram and strolled along the streets admiring the art, nick-nack stores, and really beautiful old buildings. After having sandwiches in the shade (very hot), we rode the tram back to Budapest and went seperate ways. Alina and I went to try to find statue park-- which is a huge park where they've collected large statues from days of communist dictatorship. Well-- we didn't find it and met Heidi back at St. Stephen's church. Largest Cathedral I've ever seen in my life. We walked back to the Hostel for a nap, then had a wonderful Hungarian dinner at a restraunt called... ______.

The Night pictures are the scenic view of the Danube River.

Day 3 - Thursday, July 19, 2007

We woke up, got ready, ate breakfast, then left for City Park. We went to Szechenyi Baths for the whole day! The Szechenyi Baths are the largest medicinal baths in Europe. The water is supplied by two thermal springs. These Turkish baths are a tradition that Budapest has had since the 16th century. We paid for admission, changed in a booth, and walked through a series of indoor thermal pools. Then we walked outside, which seemed like walking into a different world, where there were large baths (more like pools) with lots of people. There was 3 large pools: one warm, one swimming pool, and one cooler fun pool. We stayed for about 8 hours and it was great! Plus-- I got a great sunburn to prove it! I also got to sit in a sauna and then rush into a really cold pool. That was a thrilling experience.

After leaving the bath, we walked to a fairytale style castle called Vajdahunyad Castle. It had a beautiful old church and there was a Swedish birthday party going on too. Then we walked to a large square where the Millennium Monument was. Really cool! Then were had some drinks at a nice restaurant that was on the water of a pond. After that, it was getting dark, so we went back into the center to the hostel neighborhood and ate a Siberian Gyro with some great ice cream.

Day 2 - Wednesday, July 18, 2007

We woke up, left to find a bank to exchange money for Florins (Hungarian currency), shop for breakfast, paid rent for 4 days, bought a metro/bus/tram pass, and walked out into Budapest.

Budapest is a beautiful city. I honestly knew nothing about it when deciding to come. The Danube river cuts right through the middle north to south. The west side of the river is called "Buda" and the East side is "Pest". The Buda side has wonderful medieval castles and churches. The Pest side is more cosmopolitan and modern with a huge parliament building and stores, etc.

We walked over the northern most bridge to an island where they had a huge fountain synchronized with classical music. It was cool. Literally. By the way, it's been in the high 30 's and low 40's here. For those of you who are aren't doing any mathematical conversions this summer (Hey-- school's out), in Celsius that means 40C = 104F. So it's been very hot. We took every chance to run through sprinklers or douse ourselves in public drinking fountains every chance we had.

After visiting the island, we took a tram and bus to the Buda side and went to Castle Hill. It was amazing. We saw a really old church called Matthias Church and took pictures at the Fisherman's Bastion. Very beautiful. Then we went to Buda Castle-- very large! After that, we walked down to the Danube riverside and rode a tram to a public drinking fountain and then crossed a bridge to the biggest covered market in Europe called the "Great Market Hall". There we got the ingredients for sandwiches, which we made and ate along the outdoor market street. After that, we took a tram up to the Hungarian Parliament Building-- where they were having a film festival. Pretty dull. So we went back to the Hostel for a nap and then went out to play music in the streets. Heidi played the violin, Alina percussion, and me on the guitar. We actually made some money!