The people of Budapest

Last one, I promise. And, then we can move on to Bratislava :)

Somewhere along their journey, TWBR boys ran into another group of passionate travelers. This other group, known at Trabant Trek, was making a journey from Germany to Cambodia by car to raise awareness (and money) for charities whose aim it is to help the incredibly large number of street children around the world.

Catch is, this group was driving in 3 plastic, Soviet-era cars known as Trabants.

Oh, and these cars were deemed “The World’s Worst Car” by the London Times.

I believe their goal was to make this road trip in about 3-4 months. But, as it turned out, the cars weren’t as reliable as hoped and the several mishaps, breakdowns, stalls, and more, caused the expedition to exceed its initial time frame by a few months…in fact, they are currently in Laos- so close to their destination, yet so far.

(And, if you think your cars are bad, PLEASE just read this blog. It is too funny and may put things into perspective of how bad a car can be!)

One of the ladies on this journey was Zsofi. She had made it all the way to China with this group, but had to return to Hungary for finals (what a bummer!). However, at 21 years of age, she has taken part in one great adventure!

Starting in Germany and traveling through Eastern Europe to Armenia and Azerbaijan then through the ‘Stans’ (Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan) to Russia, Mongolia and China!

All in a matter of months. As one of two girls with a group of boys. In some crap cars. For a worthy cause.

More of us should get out and do things like this.

Of course, since she was in Hungary at the time we were, we met up with Zsofi and she was kind enough to introduce us to her friends and show us around town a bit. She accompanied us to the thermal baths, took us to Buda Castle, and introduced us to a bar that quickly became a favorite that we frequented 3 of the 5 nights we were there.

I am stoked to have made some friends in Hungary. I hope to go back and see Zsofi and her good friend Anna at some point soon. They have an eclectic group of friends that have also done an extensive share of traveling and seeing the world that, for me, is absolutely contagious. I can’t get enough of the stories or adventures that entice me to do more traveling of my own.

And, hopefully, by reading about TWBR or Trabant Trek, people realize that there is so much in this world to see and experience. And, that if you truly have the passion to do it, you can in just about any way you can think if.

So, what are you waiting for?!

Zsofi and her sister, Reka. Tamas and Anna. At our hangout, Zsimpla.

We met this guy who played for the Hungarian orchestra. He was a bit inebriated and played us a ditty on his clarinet. He was quite good.

These ladies were fantastic! They were dancing like it was nobody’s business. But, please, please, check out the Euro fashion. It was too much. And, I didn’t even get her electric blue socks in the picture!

 

Buda.Pest.

While I would like to tell you that I saw tons of historical monuments and landmarks whilst in Budapest, that wasn’t quite the case. We stayed fairly central, spending time on Fashion Street and Vörösmarty Square (the main shopping and Christmas market areas). And, these areas are the same as I have seen in the other European cities I have been to: loaded with H&M’s, Zara’s, NewYorkers, and other cheap and trendy fashion stores. Not that anything is wrong with that, or those stores, but I was hoping to see some cool local boutiques with true Hungarian (or German, or Czech, or Slovakian) fashions. I am sure these boutiques are out there, just not as the main pull for visitors.

Fashion Street, Vörösmarty Square Christmas tree, roaming carolers.

It was still quite nice as this area was loaded with friendly, jovial people all in the Christmas spirit. Food and trinket stands were everywhere and carolers walked the streets. Once the snow started to fall, I couldn’t imagine being anywhere else. It was a perfect pre-Christmas atmosphere.

We also spent a couple hours one night up at the Buda Castle built in the 13th century. After it got dark. When it was freezing out. Nonetheless, some intricate architecture and design that is worth looking at even if you can’t feel your toes.

Buda Castle by day.

There is no monarchy running in Hungary and the castle, after some reconstruction due to damage done during WW2, is now home to a library, a museum, a ballroom, and some administration offices.

A view of Pest and the Chain Bridge from the Buda Castle.

A fountain feature outside of Buda Castle. Children and mermaids fishing…

Buda Castle with St. Stephen monument in foreground.

Unfortunately, that is really about all the historical aspects we made it to while in Budapest. I know you wonder how I spent five days there and was so limited in my sight seeing, I don’t know how it happened either. Just gives me reason to go back and explore it again. SOON!

As always, for more pictures, click here.

Steve and crew had met some folks in their travels that showed us the night life in town. And, this will have to be another post. Some interesting characters met here and there.

 

Buda+Pest+hot water= Oh, yeah!

My tour with TWBR boys started with a 6.30am bus ride- 7 hours long- to Budapest. The boys were coming from Romania and were a little delayed so I had some time to explore the city by myself. Within hours of being there, I contemplated making it my next semi-permanent residence.

I know it isn’t the clearest of pictures, but it was the first I took in Budapest. It is from the East side of the river near the Four Seasons Hotel. This is the Buda Castle.

Click here for a better version!

This city (a combination of Buda on the west side of the Danube River and Pest on the east side) is absolutely beautiful. From the people, to the architecture, to the overall Christmas atmosphere, I was smitten from the start.

For me, Budapest had a similar look to Prague, but there were so many things different. People smiled more. The city streets and squares were cleaner. There were less tourists. And, people smiled more…did I mention that? I miss that!

In the spirit of taking part in the culture, we decided to do one of the more popular Hungarian activities- visit a thermal spa. These waters have been around for centuries and are known for their healing and medicinal properties. It used to be that only men could enter and take advantage of these spas, but now women are allowed (although one spa said women were only allowed in on Tuesdays.)

We visited one of the largest in Europe called Széchenyi. It had three large hot water baths outdoors and a variety of baths indoors as well as a sauna, steam room, acid pool (nice green water that was cold) and a variety of other things.

The boys and I spent over THREE hours at this place hoping from one pool to the next, going into the saunas, steam rooms, and back out again. I would have loved to got pictures of all the amenities (and people!) but obviously my camera and water don’t go together. I can say that after that I felt like a new person. I felt I had been given a scrub down physically and mentally and was floating on air afterwards. I can see why people would purchase season passes to this place.

Just another reason to love Budapest- Thermal spas in the dead of winter.

More to come later!

 

On tour with TWBR

Back in Prague after a whirlwind tour of Eastern Europe.

Ok, maybe an exaggeration. We didn’t quite get to all the cities I had hoped. But, still fun nonetheless.

I met up with The World by Road boys (Steve, Steve, and Mark) in Budapest and as we initially planned to stay three nights that was extended to five. Then we skipped over Vienna completely (although we did cross into Austria so I will now claim I have been to that country) and hit Bratislava for lunch.

I have some pictures and I have some stories and I will put those up as soon as I have some time here to upload. These boys have taken over the place!

With all that has been going on, it doesn’t really feel like Christmas is just a few days away. Anna and I are going to have a dinner party here at our place. And, while Kiki suggested I Skype myself into the family dinner on the 24th, I am not sure how that will work. So for now, I will say Merry Christmas.

Lots of love! Updates and pictures to come soon.