“I’m on vacation” became the theme of our trip, whenever my PCV friend Stuart and I would question whether or not to splurge for desert, sleep in or have to exchange money with a lousy rate. (It also became humorous trying to convert in four different currencies; Euros, Hungarian forint, Bulgarian lev and Macedonian denars)
Budapest is an incredible city and for some reason I didn’t expect it to be crawling with tourists, although I can understand why. This beautiful and ancient city was once actually three cities divided by the picturesque river of Danube; Buda, on the west, O’buda in the north and Pest on the eastern side of the river. There are still Roman ruins nearby, although I didn’t have time to check them out myself. I did however enjoy seeing the very old buildings from the earl 1900’s on the Buda side of the river, including the medieval castle and Independence monument, with amazing views of the city, the Fisherman’s Bastion, Matthias Church and of course, relaxing in the fantastic Turkish Baths which are a true highlight of this wonderful city.
It’s hard to pinpoint exactly why Budapest is such a great place (some say it’s better than Prague, although I haven’t been there myself yet to say if I agree or not). However, with a mix of old and new, fantastic views and really cool architecture and beautiful buildings, there’s a lot to see and do. It’s also a huge city that Stuart and I ended up spending much time just walking around, especially up and down the river and across several of its picturesque bridges.
The original purpose of the trip was because my friend and fellow PCV Sara is running in the Annual Budapest Marathon and we were going to be her personal cheering squad. But unfortunately, due to an outbreak of violent protests two weeks prior, the Marathon was postponed until later. The protests were a reaction of Hungary's prime minister admitting he and other officials had lied about the economy. It was a tough decision, but I decided to stick with our original plan of going last weekend, especially due to the fact that I’d already booked my flights out of Sofia, Bulgaria and hostel reservation (Sara will go to Budapest with her visiting family two weeks later). I was concerned that the protests might flare up again and make it difficult to get around the city; however we swung by the mammoth parliament building on the last day and found it to be very mellow and peaceful.
Three days ended up not being enough time to see and do all that I’d wanted, but I enjoyed visiting the city and seeing all that I did. And who knows? Perhaps I’ll be fortunate enough to return for another visit after I finish my Peace Corps service next year. I wish I could have had more time there; a longer vacation. But isn’t that often the case when it comes to vacations?
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