Budapest, Hungary

Sunday, May 29th

Life Lesson Number 187.53 of this trip: Always look to see what route your scheduled train will be taking. We unfortunately learned this the hard way. Our night train crossed two borders each with their own passport checks. Mind you that we took a 2AM train, meaning we were woken up multiple times between the hours of 2:30AM and 6AM. Let's just say it made for a rough start to a short trip in Budapest. Natalie: This was my first night train, and let's just say I was not a happy camper. Being woken up 4-5 times during the wee hours of the morning, would not be considered my idea of fun. Nor is the idea of sleeping across three disgusting, old, uncomfortable chairs in the middle of eastern Europe with gypsies and thieves roaming the cabins. Nevertheless, somehow I survived.

While the train may not have been the most pleasant, the time we spent in Hungary absolutely was! The first thing we did upon arriving at the hostel was to take showers. After 9 hours in a hot train and feeling a little sleep deprived, we needed something to wake us up.

With that out of the way, there was only one thing on our my mind....FOOD!!! Having spent substantial time during the semester researching food from each of the regions we were to visit, there was one treat in Hungary worth devouring: goulash! With my target in mind, I sought out local intel on where to taste this regional soup (Not a stew, but a soup). Our hostel pointed us across the street to a restaurant that was both cheap and high quality. Once again we put our faith in the hostel's suggestions, and like always, they did not disappoint. I, Morgan ordered the goulash and Natalie got a shopska salad (I'm starting to thing Natalie may have a strange obsession with this dish since first tasting it in Bulgaria. She seriously has ordered it in almost 5 out of the 6 counties we've been to so far. I'm beginning to think that they put crack in it, she's showing signs of dependency). (I, Natalie, just need some veggies in my diet or my digestive system hates me. So calm down.)

Getting back to the Hungarian restaurant...the goulash was absolutely an epicurean delight! They brought it to me in a hanging caldron like pot with a small flame resting underneath the bowl. They definitely get an A+ for the unique presentation of a soup. It was as equally as strong in taste. My first thought when sipping this soup was that it was eerily similar to the fish one that we had in Serbia, except rather than use fish, they used beef. This Hungarian soup, not stew, is different from most non-eastern Europeans would call goulash. The broth is not thick, like a stew, and the broth is red in color, as well as, spicy. Natalie thoroughly enjoyed her new favorite salad. 

After lunch we headed down a street in the direction of the train ticketing office. On the way we were confronted with the massiveness and beauty of Hungarian buildings. Natalie definitely was hit by surprise by Budapest, as it was nothing like she imagined. She will probably elaborate on this when she edits this post...My (Morgan's) memory for day to day happenings is creepily strong and hers not so much. However, she has an amazing knack for organizing my incoherent ramblings into a thoughtful exposition of our travels so I write she edits. I guess that's what happens when you spend seventeen days with someone 24/7. You truly learn how they think and are able to fill in the gaps. 
  
Right, so my (Natalie's) idea of Hungary or Budapest was completely blown out of the water. I do not think I could have been more wrong. I had the idea that Budapest would be similar to Sarajevo, Bosnia, in that the city would be small and not be very modern. Boy, was I wrong. Budapest is massive. There are massive buildings surrounding all the streets reminiscent of Paris or London. Cars, buses, and trams zig zag every which way on the streets. A huge river also bisects the city into Buda and Pest. Three or four colossal bridges connect two sections of the city, that are similar to modern bridges in NYC. This place is amazing. To top it all off, there is a huge Hungarian palace atop a hill, with a beautiful white church it's side. I'm so glad I am able to visit it now before it is overrun by tourists like Paris and London.

Returning to the walk to the ticket office...After about 10 minutes in, we realized there was no way we would have time to purchase the tickets. 
Life Lesson Number 173.45: Eastern Europeans have no sense of time. Always multiply whatever time they say it will take to do something by 10. 
Taking this into account we abandoned our mission for tickets and went directly to the meeting location for the free walking tour. After reading so many of our posts you may be thinking, "Another walking tour...Really?" My answer to you is that I have no income until september plus a month more of travel, and Natalie isn't a doctor yet. So yes, another free walking tour.

The tour was lead by a young Hungarian woman, named Emma, and she was assisted by a college aged Hungarian guy. They were both rather strange and had extremely high energy. It was like they were pepped up on...To be continued

Monday, May 30th 

To be written...