Looking for Buddha in Budapest

This weekend Deanne, Blair and I took a 7 hour bus ride to Budapest.  I absolutely loved the city.  AND, only after an afternoon of getting completely lost in the ugly part of town, I thought it was easy to navigate and the views were gorgeous.

We stayed in a really small hostel right in the center of all the sights, food and shops so we were able to walk to everything and avoid the transportation system as much as possible.  Blair was scammed by a metro lady on the first night so buying tickets was something we wanted to avoid as much as possible.  Also, the trains were very, very old - they kinda scared me.  The weather was awesome on Saturday so walking all over was enjoyable because of the sunshine.

Our bus got into the city Friday afternoon and we were eager to see some sights before night.  After bad directions from the brand-new hostel worker and a hop on the wrong bus we ended up in a completely different place from where we wanted, with no castle in sight.  We contemplated just getting a taxi ride to the right spot, but the idea of a nice dinner and glass of wine sounded much better.  We ended up at a trendy restaurant with really nice staff and were back at the hostel and in bed by 10 p.m.  (Not before making a quick stop at the Hungarian pancake (crepes)  shop down the street!)

All three of us were determined to make Saturday a perfect day since it was the only time we had in Budapest and the first night had gone so wrong.  It ended up being a jam-packed day with food much better than anything I could have asked for!  Our day included:

• Brunch at Most Cafe - An artsy place that made me feel like I was back in the States (Lisa Nicchi, if you go to Budapest you would die for this place!!)   

• Matthias Church - Absolutely gorgeous and I loved the colorful tile on the roof.  We didn't go inside because we're cheap college students.  Also, there was some sort of wedding going on.

• Fisherman's Bastion - BEST views of the city and the amazing Parliament building.  

• Ruszwurm - A 200yr-old bakery right by the church.  We had to check it out to tell Mr. Downer what Hungarian bakeries were like.  I got a marzipan/chocolate tort that was out-of-this-world! 

• Buda Castle - Gorgeous and a must-see, but that's a given.

• House of Terror Museum  - My favorite part of Budapest! It's a museum located in the building that was originally the headquarters for the Arrow Cross Nazi Party and later the "House of Terror" where interrogations occurred for the Communist party.  I learned SO much and got to see some scary artifacts and footage.  Very educational! 

• Sugar New York - A candy shop and bakery (see a pattern?) with outrageous pastries, treats and a rice pudding bar.  Looking at all the fun desserts was the best part.  

• Rudas Baths - Budapest is famous for its mineral baths so Blair found one for us to try.  Overall, I'm not a fan, but I'm still happy we went and I got to try it out.  The waters are supposed to be very healing so people go to them all the time, even daily.  Bad part: because of the minerals the water smells like rotten eggs and it's very murky.  Deanne and I were kinda uncomfortable to say the least.  Also, we forgot towels and stayed in the water too long so they yelled at us because they were closing and we had no way to dry off.  We all had to get dressed still soaking wet hahaha.  I tried to dry off with one of the hair dryers and the man thought I was insane.

• Pesti Diszno - The absolute most delicious meal I've had so far! We just happen to stumble upon this find.  It's a chef-owned restaurant that serves smaller portions to share.  Their logo has a pig on it so I'm assuming they specialize in pork.  Deanne and I split a pork shoulder that was so tender and delicious.  One thing we realized after all our meals - Hungarians use way more salt than we're used to.  

Overall, it was a crazy, fun-filled day and a much better experience than what we started off with.  Weirdly enough, I really missed Prague and was so happy to be "home" when we got back.  I think I picked the right place if I'm always excited to return :)

Fun Fact #4: Some people might know this, but I definitely didn't - Budapest is split into two by the Danube river.  One side is "Buda" and one side is "Pest."  We stayed on the Pest side and that's where all the food and shopping seemed to be.  The castle, church, baths were all on the Buda side.

Also, there are no Asian influences in "Buddha"pest - someone in my program asked me that hahaha.