A few of us decided to head up to Budapest for the long Halloween weekend! Here's a common conversation I kept having before leaving:
Person: Going anywhere for the long weekend?
Me: Yeah! Budapest
Person: Uh what?
Well turns out that Budapest is by far one of the best places I have been since abroad. And unlike Granada, they have a fall season! Prepare yourself for an absurd amount fall foliage in my pictures. I went a bit crazy...
We left on Friday morning at 1 am from Granada and took a bus to Madrid (5 hrs). Tyler booked the bus which ended up costing 25 euro but we couldn't figure out why it was so expensive...turns out we got the supra bus. A Mercedes class bus with a free beverage, reclining first class seats and foot rests. Not a bad way to spend the night if you ask me.
From Madrid we touched down in Dusseldorf, Germany for a 5 hour layover. We stayed in the airport where Tyler went crazy for a chicken salad, I went crazy for the massive capuccinos and Andrea and Meghan went crazy for the duty free shopping. I have never seen someone as excited as Tyler to simply be traveling. He didn't care where we were, he was simply thrilled to be in an airport and have the ability to fly. It was like a child deprived of candy for years, and then you brng him to Willy Wonka's Chocolate Factory.
We got to Budapest late on Friday and headed to the hostel upon arrival. My sister recommended the Loft Hostel so without hesitation I booked it. After following the directions to the Loft, we came across what looked like an abandoned building. We walked up 4 flights of stairs ( we didn't think the elevator would survive with all of us in it) and found ourselves literally looking at a loft...
Turns out it was THE COOLEST PLACE EVER. It's basically run by anyone who wants to stick around and get a little free room and board. Everyone there was from the UK or Australia and was between 20 and 25; no plans for the future, just living in the now. It was so hard to resist following suit...
Saturday morning was Halloween! To start off, we went to the House of Terror Museum. Although depressing, it opened my eyes to what WWII was like in this part of Europe. Basically, Hungary couldn't catch a break; after the Nazi's came in and deprived the nation of all of their resources and as many people as possible, the Communists followed behind them, only to destroy any hope of a bright future.
The museum used to be home base for the communist party and is located ironically, on one of the most beautiful streets in Budapest. This building, along with those around it, had basements that all connected to make an underground torture chamber. I swear to you, walking on this street, you would never guess something like that was taking place. The eeriest part was seeing all of the torture chambers and the mechanisms the Communists used. I'll spare you the details.
After, we took a stroll down Andrassy Utc. - the same street from above, and then headed over to Parliament and the Danube River. Prepare yourself...I am so indecisive about which pictures to choose, so I put the majority of them up
No comments:
Post a Comment