A Day in Budapest

Budapest wasn't really a top destination when I arrived in Europe last September. Yet,  I decided to go for a couple reasons: 1) my friend Matt had studied abroad here two years ago, and was always talking about how much he had loved living there. 2) It was  city unlike anywhere else I had ever seen. 3) Flights were cheap!  However....Thanks to poor planning on my part, and a limited selection on the Ryanair website, I spent a mere 24 hours in Budapest to kick off my spring break.  But it was AWESOME, and I cannot wait to go back someday.

The best part of the trip, however, was the plane ride.  Let me explain. On ryanair flights, seats are first-come, first-serve, and nobody is assigned a seat.  About half an hour before the gate opens, everybody lines up and waits.  The goal is to get a seat near the front and a seat close to where you store your bag, making it easier to get off the plane at the next city.  Ok, maybe this has nothing to do with my story.  Let me get back to the point.   I made my way to a window seat, close to the back of the plane.  Oh, well.  Next to me was a friendly Mexican guy, about 30 years old, working in Slovakia.  We discussed the differences between Spain and Mexico, I practiced my Spanish for a while, and we just chatted for a bit.  Tired, I tried sleeping (in anticipation of my busy day to come), but it was impossible. I was too excited to be seeing a new country! Eventually, we engaged in conversation with the man on a aisle, a 32 year old guy from Budapest.  Somehow or another, we started talking about religion.

An American, a Mexican, and a Hungarian are sitting on a plane; it sounds like the start of a bad joke.  But it was quite fascinating, really.  The Mexican, a devout Catholic, whose mother goes to church everyday and grew up in a traditional Catholic-Mexican family, carried with him various keychains representing his faith.  The Hungarian believed life is what we make of it, and did not believe that karma, or God, or spirits had any control over human life.  And then there was me, asking all the questions and throwing in my opinions here or there.  I like to think that I have a very open-minded view about the world; I believe in karma, I believe in a higher being, and I think that organized religion can be a wonderful mechanism if used correctly. When we landed, we said our goodbyes and I politely declined the offer for a ride to my hostel.

Landing around midnight, I was a bit nervous to be in a country where I didn't speak the language, have any friends, or even have any of the currency.  Things worked out, they always do, and I took a taxi to my hostel (a whopping 20 euros! Yikes!), fell asleep by 2am, and woke up at 6am to see as much as I could!  I was greeted by a very friendly Dutchman who encouraged me to check out a few museums, etc, etc, and couldn't believe that I only had the day in Budapest! I know, I told him, I want more time, but this is all I have!!

Liberty Bridge, around 7am

Crossing the Chain Bridge of Budapest

The "Buda" side of the city

St. Stephen's Basilica

Inside St. Stephen's

The Great Market Hall; Központi Vásárcsarnok

With Matt's detailed notes in hand of where to go and what to see, I used my free airport map to loop around the city, go over the bridge to be "Buda" side (there's two sides of the city, "Buda" and "Pest"), taking in the architecture and enjoying the freedom and independence of traveling alone.  My final stop was the market, which I figured I could squeeze in before taking off for the airport.  My incentive?  Matt had described this yogurt lady that he always got delicious yogurt from, who sold fresh, local food. Having not eaten delicious yogurt in a long time, I was set on finding her.  I looked and looked and looked, but couldn't find her!    Frustrated, I gave up and settled for fresh orange juice, then headed back out to try to catch a train to the airport.  I reached my hand into my bag to get out my trusty map, but of course, I had dropped it.  Dang, I though,  I probably shouldn't haven even stopped at the market, and now I don't even know where I am supposed to go!  With only 45 minutes to go before I had to be at my gate, I couldn't find the train station to take me to the airport.  I somehow made my way on a bus with the help of a Hungarian girl, then found a subway, then a train, to get to the airport.  The seconds were ticking, and I was kicking myself for having tried to do so much in so little time.   20 minutes before the gates closed, I ran into the airport, waited in the stupid ryanair line (they insist on stamping your ticket if you do not have an EU passport), then finally got to security.  Literally, there were only 5 people in line ahead of me.  No big deal, I figured, this'll go by quick.  Of course, Budapest ended up being the MOST strict airport security I have EVER experienced, and they made me go back through 2 times before letting me free.  Flustered, I hurried to my gate and whew!; I made it with 4 minutes to spare!  Lesson learned; always give yourself more time then you need.

People have asked me if it's lonely to travel alone, if it's scary or overwhelming or even boring.  Yes; all of this is true. It can be boring to be alone in an airport with nobody to talk to.  It can be scary when you don't know where to go and cannot figure out how to follow the map.  And it can be quite overwhelming trying to even PLAN what to do, when there are so many options. But the feeling of being in a completely foreign city, alone, with just a backpack and camera, no set plans or agenda to follow: this is one of the most liberating feelings I have felt.  Meeting new people is terribly exciting for me.  And having that alone time to just sit and think, to watch people and not feel obligated to entertain anybody: absolutely freeing. Aside from skiing, being up to your knees in powder with the sun shining; traveling and seeing new places is my absolute favorite!

As I am writing this, I'm in Stockholm for the weekend visiting a friend. It snowed today, so I am very happy! So anyhoo, there's probably a few grammatical mistakes (sorry Mom) and I have more pictures/better pictures. But for now, I wanted to get it all written down before I forget all the reasons why Budapest was awesome!