Travega: i [HEART] Budapest

Budapest has just landed a spot on my favorites list. One of my professors talks about the "soul" of the city; how it feels when you walk around, what aesthetic visuals, smells and people tell about the city and how these things make up its “soul”. I think Budapest and I might be kindred spirits as I fell in love with this place. If I hadn’t studied in Prague I would have wanted to study here! The people are very nice and multiple times helped us get along. There is A LOT of culture and many things to see. The city at night however is incredible and throws punches to Amsterdam.

But let me start at the beginning:
We first stopped at Pannonhalma to see the Benedictine Pannonhalma Archabbey which is the oldest abbey in Hungary founded in 996! It is the second largest territorial abbey in the world and is a UNESCO world heritage site. There are several interesting aspects about the abbey including the incredible dining hall which features beautiful painted walls which scenes remind the abbots to eat healthy and minimally. The other part about the abbey I liked was the magnificent door which has images of earthly items; snakes, birds, trees along with the incredible window which is actually a sculpted peacocks’ feathers. The door is to symbolize leaving earth and entering a spiritual realm. We were given a tour by the cutest abbot you ever did see! He was intelligent and warm and never pressed religion or the bible teachings. He gave us an insight into his life and why he lived it. This was probably the best tour I’ve ever had of a religious site. Truly inspiring to look through a window into this (what seems to most of us) obscure way of life.

From the abbey we drove to Budapest and after settling into the hostel walked around the incredible city at night. The soul of Budapest can be seen when strolling the river or crossing different bridges. Feeling the cool wind of the Danube River or walking to the Buda Castle Quarter fills the heart with warmth. We started by drinking and eating (what else would we start with) and I drank my first red wine and enjoyed it. Maybe you remember that after my wine tour of Moravia I decided I couldn’t drink red wine so young. Perhaps I have grown older after my solo trip to Santorini and now have the belly for it! We then walked around the city and immersed ourselves in the beauty that is Budapest.

What would a trip to Budapest be without a trip to the incredible hot spring baths? Budpest is home to 80 geothermal springs and is the world’s largest thermal water cave system. So we got in our bathing suits and spent the morning splashing and giggling in the hot water. We then took tours of Heroes’ Square, the Parliament building and the synagogue. We broke from the group to do some Easter market shopping and to go to The Great Market Hall. We met up for dinner and I was surprised by the charming night life. Like in San Sebastian, Spain there is a main street dedicated to night life. Other than a 10:00pm restriction on buying alcohol (which was a complete shock to a girl growing up in a 24-hour casino driven town) the nightlife had a lot to offer. This is defiantly a city I will go back to in my life! Anyone want to join me?