April 19-April 22
This past weekend I took another solo trip, this time to Budapest, Hungary. The trip came at a good time because the week leading up to my trip I was feeling a bit down and depressed. I was disappointed in myself for not doing as much of what I thought I should be doing, and that I had been spending a lot of time inside relaxing and doing nothing rather than socializing and exploring the city. I was bummed with myself and realizing how little time I have left. To help myself get in a better mood I reached out to my support system for advice and tried to change up my routine to feel better about myself. I made myself go out everyday, to do something, whether it was to go for a run, go to an intercambio or hang out with a friend. Making myself participate in the real world was helpful in improving my mood but then for the weekend being able to go to a different new and exciting city really helped boost my spirits. Budapest was energetic and full of things to do, which was great since being busy and distracting myself with activities helps take my mind off my doubts and keeps me in a positive mood.
I left for Budapest from Granada at 12:35 pm on Thursday. I flew from Granada to Barcelona with a few hours of layover there before flying the rest of the way to Budapest, then it was an easy bus ride to the hostel. I stayed at the Hostel One Basilica in the center of the city and it was amazing. It was a great hostel, very welcoming staff, lots of activities planned through the hostel and they serve a free family style dinner every night! I checked in and got some of the left over dinner, rice and curry, very good, then in the common room everyone (mostly) gathered and we played some drinking games. It was a good way to get to know people and break the ice while getting ready to go out for the night. We played a few games until about 11 pm when we headed out to the first bar. The bar scene in Budapest is pretty famous and the Ruin bars are the best, they are usually at least partially underground and claim to be the ruins of old buildings. The first bar was cool but nothing very special. There was hardly anyone there so we didn’t stay long before heading to one of the most famous bars in Budapest, Fosgas. It was a very cool bar, right when you go in you have to go down stairs and there’s a bar where we got a free shot of Pálinka (strong alcohol made from fruit, typical in Hungary) before heading farther into the club. There were so many different rooms with different things going on in each, the first room we passed had loud house music and lights but no one was in there so we kept going. One of the girls from the hostel I had been talking with saw a foosball table so we played that with some guys for a while. After losing horribly I wandered around to some of the other rooms, some rooms just had couches, others had various game tables, several different rooms with bars and various rooms with large dance floors and loud music. I danced and hung out with everyone from the hostel until about 2 am when me and another girl walked back and called it a night. I had a good time at the bar but I have to say the loud party music will never really be my thing and I am not a dancer so it isn’t really my scene.
I woke up the next morning at 9 am, got dressed and ready to go and walked to the Vorosmarty Square where the spring market was, I looked around at the stalls and got a donut with chocolate syrup for breakfast then I waited for a free walking tour. The walking tour started at 10 am and went to a bunch of the important monuments in Budapest while telling interesting stories and history. We walked to Erzsebet Square, passed the Michael Jackson memorial tree covered in his pictures, the Budapest Eye and Akvarium (the pool over a bar in the park), then we went to St. Stephen’s Basilica, The Fat Policeman Statue, over Szechenyi Chain Bridge to the bottom of the Castle Hill before climbing to the top of a hill overlooking the Pest side of the city. We stayed to watch the changing of the guard at the president’s house, which our tour guide told us is really a show for the tourists since their guns are fake. She even said that in the case of emergency they would have to contact police before acting. Afterwards we walked down the road of cherry blossom trees to the Matthias Church and Fisherman’s Bastion where the tour ended. After the tour I took a bus to the Deak ter Metro station quickly bought a slice of pizza before taking the metro to Szechenyi Thermal Bath. The Bath house was similar to what I have experienced at Glenwood Hot Springs in Colorado. The large complex had two thermal outdoor pools and a colder lap pool while inside had various different sizes and different temperatures. It was very relaxing and I even got a 20 minute massage which was great and made my week much better after having been feeling down. After the baths I walked through Heroes Square, saw the Budapest sign and made my way to the metro taking it to the Dohany Street Synagogue. I wasn’t able to go inside but I was able to see the outside and a little through the gate. After that I went back to the hostel, they offered another free dinner this time pasta with tomato sauce and vegetables. I socialized with everyone at dinner and hung out until heading to bed.
I woke up the next day at 9 am, got ready and then headed out to a recommended breakfast restaurant nearby called Panificio il Basilico where I ordered scrambled eggs, toast and orange juice and all were very good. Then I went to catch the bus which was little bit of an odd situation since everyone had told me it was important to get a bus ticket and if you don’t get one you can get fined, but if there isn’t a machine then to buy one on the bus, however on the bus when I tried to buy a ticket the driver wouldn’t let me. I transferred buses and the second driver didn’t have me buy a ticket either, which was good and I got to save money, just a bit confusing. When I got off the bus I only had to walk right across the street and I was at the caving place. I had signed up in advance to go adventure caving which is also known as spelunking, and was very excited. I, of course, got there a bit early and had to wait around for the other person in my group to show up, but once he got there the guide took us to get changed into overall suits that go over your clothes and keep them clean, we got helmets with flashlights as well. Once dressed – the guide, me and another guy named Matt, around the same age as me from New York but studying in Barcelona, Spain, went into the cave. You had to descend a 30 meter ladder to get under ground but from there the caving began. It was a lot of crawling under rocks, between rocks, through holes and up walls. I bruised up my knees, shins, elbows, even my hip and bottom of my foot but it was by far one of the best experiences I’ve had. It was very cool in the caves, there were various large rooms and fossils on the walls, crystals and stalagmites and at the very deepest point a lake. Since it was just the three of us we were going pretty fast and ended up catching the group in front of us, so the guide asked if we wanted to follow them or go the hard way, we chose the hard way which led to the clear water lake in the deepest part of the cave. On the way up he gave us the option of hard or easy again and we chose hard which lead us to the Death Sandwich, a very tight crevice and uphill slope that we had to army crawl up and squeeze through. It was very hard but we did it and got to sign a special guest book that is left in the cave. After that we went back to the surface. Caving was a great experience and I had a lot of fun, I could have organized the caving and baths better so that I would have gone caving first then to the baths but when I was booking I didn’t have my full plan yet. It would have been nice to relax and get the massage after the hard work of caving but I still had a great time. After caving I went back to the hostel to grab a few things before going to the Erzsebet Square where I grabbed lunch. I got pasta with salmon and vegetables that was delicious, then walked to the Parliament Building. It is amazing and very beautiful, its design is interestingly based on the Westminster Abbey in London. I then walked to the Shoes on the Danube River, the memorial for the Jews who were forced to jump to their deaths in the river during WWII, the shoes are an art piece created in memory of the lives lost. The metal shoes built by the artist have been decorated with flowers and ribbons. From there I went back to the Castle Hill, climbed the staircase to Buda Castle, walked back to the Matthias Church and Fisherman’s Bastion, then spent more time looking over the city at the Fisherman’s Bastion. The look out is amazing with a view of Parliament and the Basilica. The Fisherman’s Bastion is a decorative fortification built in the 19th century to serve as a lookout tower with some of the best panoramic views in Budapest, Hungary. There used to be real castle walls there but the structure has never served as an actual fortification in Buda. After hanging out at the top for a while I headed back down the hill, I laid around in a grass park on the Pest side of the chain bridge for a little then went to Vorosmarty Square. I bought some souvenirs at a few of the stands in the market and I got a Chimney Cake Ice Cream, one of the pictures below. It was delicious and I wish all ice cream cones where like that. After my snack I went back to the hostel, hung out, socialized with the various guests from all over the world, got a dinner of vegetarian chili before heading to bed early.
I got up at 3:20 am the next morning to get ready and catch the bus at 4 am for the airport. My flight left at 6:15 am from Budapest to Barcelona, landed in Barcelona at 8:45 am. I had a layover there until 11:15 when I took a flight to Malaga, landing in Malaga at 12:45. I took the airport bus to the bus station, ran into McDonalds for some cheese bites before taking a 3 pm bus to Granada. My bus got to Granada at 4:45 pm and I got back to my apartment at 5:15 tired and ready for a nap but happy and content after such a great weekend. I had a great weekend in Budapest and loved the caving. I was sore and achy all day Sunday and Monday and still have remaining soreness after an Arab bath and massage today. I am excited for my up coming trips and trying to stay positive as my study abroad time comes to an end.
And below are some of the bruises from my caving adventure!
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