Budapest
Our next stop on the mini Euro tour was Budapest, Hungary. It was kind of a random pick, mostly people would travel to Germany or Scotland since that’s close to Ireland, but sometimes you have to take the crazier path. We heard that Budapest was a beautiful city and it did not disappoint.
Peak
After exploring the city for a while we decided to take a boat ride along the Danube RIver. As we drifted between Buda and Pest, yes apparently they are two separate places, we came across Margarets Island where the tour guide informed us that we could make a pit stop on the island and hop back on the ferry in a couple of hours. Once we got on the island we saw 4 person tandem bikes and there was no going back. We ended up meeting cool people, getting lost and watching the sunset. So I guess it was a pretty perfect girls day out.
We also found out about the famous baths of Budapest, and you know Priya can’t turn down a sauna and steaming pools. Our bodies and especially our feet thanked us after all the walking.
Valley
When we arrived in Budapest Alexis’ phone died and unfortunately it had all the info for our Airbnb. It was already 9pm and we had to spend another 20 mins looking for an outlet. Once the phone turned on we got directions, an address, and some cryptic instruction about finding the apartment keys.We walked to the third floor and looked in plant pots and hallways for keys. Eventually, Alexis reread the instructions that said they would be in the left window of the apartment, so she bravely stuck her hand in a window unsure of it was the right apartment. But eureka the keys were found and we entered an amazing lofty apartment.
While we are on valleys, Alexis might have also said our flight out of Budapest was at 8:30 instead of 8am and we ended up missing it by 5 mins. Eko and Rupa only had one suitcase to put on the plane but they said it was to late. After a lot of frustration and bad customer service, we ended up getting on a flight at 1pm to Madrid and we would fly to Barcelona the next day. To pass the time Rupa threw back some beers, Priya threw Guiness brewery barley at us, Eko napped and Alexis cracked jokes mostly on herself for screwing up.
Appreciation
It’s always a good day when we can try some new food that is veggie friendly. As we were walking the streets of budapest we came across a market that had a couple of food vendors. We were intrigued by a doughy sugar coated dessert on an open fire. We soon learned about the famous chimney cakes aka kürtőskalács (don’t ask us to pronounce it), and they definitely hit the spot.
“I soon realized that no journey carries one far unless, as it extends into the world around us, it goes an equal distance into the world within.”
-Lillian Smith
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