Budapest

Well, I'm back from my 10 day stint in Central / Eastern Europe, and have a plethora of posts to send your way. I hope I haven't lost any readers during my break. I have a whole new bag of tricks I think you'll find interesting. So, bear with me and read up on my adventures.

I took a plane and headed for Budapest, Hungary last Wed night. I flew on Germanwings, which I was actually impressed with. I guess it is what you would call a discount airliner, except, they don't pick you up and drop you off at some remote airport that was last used during WWII. It was a quick trip, only about an hour and half.

To be honest with you, I didn't know the first thing about Budapest. No stories or knowledge about it's past. I just heard that it was a cool place to visit and it was in a part of the world I have never been to, so I thought, what the heck let's do it. The main course of the trip was a much anticipated stop in Poland, so I needed something as kind of a nice side benefit to being in the region.

I landed in Budapest, grabbed my bag, and headed for the train. As the train approached I was a little intimidated by its looks (for those reading this that went to India with me, picture something a little similar, except without the interesting smells). I guess I witnessed other humans getting on it, so I figured I'd get on it too. At first I couldn't tell if it used to transport cattle or coal (being facetious here) but I fully expected to see Mr. Ed at some point. The train was arranged in compartment style, so each compartment had three seats on each side that faced each other. I sat in my seat, kept all my extremities close, and waited for the 25 minute ride to come to an end.

Generally, I would not recommend going to a city you have never been to in the dark. It's harder to find your way around and you just don't really know what "part" of the city you are in. Not following my own advice, I hit the streets of Budapest around 10 at night to find my hostel, which was supposed to be close to the station I rolled into. I typically use travel guides to find good places to stay, and I've had nothing but good luck so far. Although you can trust what they say about the place, don't follow their map! I aimlessly walked up and down the street my hostel was on for a good 30 minutes looking for the damn thing.

Finally, I caved in and asked this family of four if they could help. They didn't speak any English, and I sure as heck didn't speak Hungarian. I was on the right street, but couldn't find building 12. I found 11, I found 13, now where in JC is 12? Even though they couldn't speak English, I blurted out the number 12. Thankfully the little boy said, "Ah! Ten, eleven, twelve." I shook my head with great enthusiasm, pointed at the address next to where we were, and did the one finger, two finger awkward sign language delivery of the number 12. He starting searching around the street for me and within minutes helped me find my place. Thank you Hungarian speaking Hungarian boy.

I woke up early the next day, had a typical European breakfast of bread and tea (or coffee if you actually like coffee (yuck)), and hit the streets of Budapest. First task was to find the tourist office to get free maps and suggestions on things to do. If you are ever traveling, I highly suggest tourist offices. The people are always friendly, and they have good ideas and free stuff. Anyways, Budapest is huge, and extremely confusing. The streets go in every direction, and looking at a map of Budapest is like looking at a pile of freshly laid pixie sticks.

I figured I would head to the river, as every major city has a river that runs through it, and that is generally where the action is. As I found my way through the street to the river, I came upon a spectacular site. The Danube divides the city into Buda on one side and Pest on the other. There is an entire history lesson on the eventual combination of the city, but I'll leave that up to you to research. Much of Buda rests on high hills that come up from the river. For three days I had to climb those darn dang things. It didn't help that the sun was absolutely blazing. I was sweating like a Republican at an earth summit, or if you cheer for the other team, a Democrat trying to figure out who is going to run in my own party.

The view from the top though was wonderful. You could see all of Budapest, which is a spectacular city. The sun shimmered off the Danube, and you really got a feel for how large the city was. In my opinion, it is the east's version of Paris, except without a steel tower in the middle (you know I love you Eiffel).

My first stop was at the summit of the largest hill (felt like a mountain) to see the Statue of Liberty, which ironically was put in place by Communist Russia, which if you didn't know was good at stealing just that, liberty. It was to symbolize the city being liberated from the Nazis. I almost died walking to the top. I felt like Rocky, I wanted to throw my hands up in the air when I finally got up there. They should have put a statue of me on top, symbolizing the climb I made on that quiet day in May 2008.

After a prolonged breather, I made my way to the Castle District, which is still on the Buda side of the river. The only catch is you have to walk down one hill and then climb up another to get there. I didn't do much in the castle district. I just walked around, breezed through a couple museums, and sat down at a cafe. I had a chicken caesar salad, but there was nothing caesar about it. I swear it was mayonnaise on that lettuce, I'm not kidding.

Intrigued by what was on the other side of the river, I walked over to Pest, and down the most notable street in the city called Andrassy. To use Paris again, it's like a Champs-Elysees. I walked all the way to the end to get a glimpse of Hero's Square (again, history lesson up to you), and then back tracked down the same street to experience the House of Terror museum, which highlights the Nazi and Communist occupations. Very interesting, especially the basement of the museum, which was used to house political prisoners.

After all of that, I thought my feet were going to fall off. I went back to the hostel for a breather, and determine where I was going to eat. I figured that since I was in Hungary I should try the local fare. So, I looked up good places to eat, and promptly picked the one that was the closest walking distance. I sampled the goulash soup and the pickle salad. Very good!

Day two in Budapest required me to use public transportation, which in itself is foreign to most Americans, let alone an American in a foreign city. I jumped a tram to the edge of the city, and then caught a bus to what I consider the country side to get a glimpse of Monument Park. It's a park in the middle of nowhere that has all of the old Communist statues that used to be located throughout Budapest.

Now, riding public transportation in Germany is quite easy. The tram or bus automatically announces the next stop, and the name of the stop is nicely displayed outside; so if you didn't hear it, you can darn well see it. Not in Hungary. Riding on a bus in the country side without a travel companion and not being able to speak the language can be a little tense. Since it is a relatively well-known tourist attraction in the city, I scoured the bus for other tourists. I always look for the ones that are holding tourist books, that is the safest bet.

Since you have to be aware of where your stop is, my forehead couldn't have been pressed against the bus window any harder. If we were able to open the window, I would have looked like a dog with my head sticking out of the car cruising down the road. It became clear to me I wasn't going to find this place on my own. Eventually, I gave up and relied on the other tourists.

As we approached this one stop, still no movement. The other tourists sprinkled throughout the bus looked like we had hours until the final destination. Just then, a little old Hungarian lady tapped me on the knee and pointed outside. I quickly looked at the bus driver, and he to was turned around and just staring at everyone. I realized this was my stop, so I quickly jumped up and got off the bus. As soon as I did that, five other people did the same thing. It appears we all had the same idea, only everyone was relying on a different person to give them the queue when to get off. I'm happy to say I was the person for the group. Thank you old Hungarian speaking Hungarian lady.

My first impression of the park was, this is cool, but why the heck is it in the middle of nowhere? It seems they could make a lot more money on it if it was in the city. Then again, maybe they don't want these anywhere near the city! The statues were slightly comical. All of the famous communist figures were on display: Marx, Lenin, and Stalin. You know, the dream team. My personal favorite was the big burly Soviet soldier holding the flag with the hammer and sickle with a gun strapped around his neck. The statues always look so proud. Too bad life couldn't imitate art.

After that stop, I made my way back to Budapest for some more public transportation, and great Hungarian food. Apparently, paprika is a big export, and they sprinkle it on everything. I had some more goulash soup and paprika chicken which was a delight. That was followed by some more walking around the city which culminated with my arrival at the hostel.

There weren't too many sights to see on my final day, so again I just walked around, enjoyed the culture, and ate, ate, ate. I did stop at the train station to purchase the ticket for Krakow, which I was leaving for the next morning. It was an experience that can only be rivaled by the DMV. I stood in an endless line, only to get up to the window and have the lady close her window and point me in the direction of another one opening up. As you can imagine, it was a mad dash to the next window, but I came through victorious.

My final night in Budapest was just spent relaxing. The food was probably my favorite part. The people were neither nice nor mean. Monotone seems to be the best word to describe it. In all, I highly recommend you visit the city. Just make sure to pack your walking shoes.