Backpacking in Budapest

It is 5am and we are currently sitting inside a very cold, old, sketchy bus station on the outskirts of Budapest, Hungary. Remember in my last blog when I said that I didn't need WiFi to survive? Alright well Google Maps has always gotten me from point A to point B, not always soundly but at least safely. Nobody appears to be getting a strong enough signal to figure out how we're going to find civilization, so in my only defense and because it's still 5am, I just lay there like a slug. I can't tell you how, why, or who decided to just start the march from the bus station, but I feel myself being heaved upward and before I know it we're out the door and facing the cold. I begin to notice that every time I swallow, a sensation of oh I don't know, 54 little push pins have been lodged in my throat and I realize that I have somehow managed to contract the sore throat from hell during this wonderful 5am excursion towards the heart of Budapest. George Ezra, you never mentioned how long the expedition was from the bus station to where all forms of life are. Due to my sore throat, I cease from speaking and let the rest of the group decide which street to pick at this fork in the road. Paige Kristensen (aka PK) looks between the two roads, and says "How about this one?!" As the rest of our travel group agrees with "Sounds good to me!" That's right, she and the group literally eeny-meeny-miny-moed that decision, and my fate now lies in their hands. For the readers back home, I would like to announce that we walked for two. solid. hours. from the boonies of Budapest to the bustling city center at the crack of dawn in the cold. To say that I am half asleep is an understatement. My soul is still snoozing, and I am literally walking with my eyes closed. I can feel Zach holding my hand but before you say 'aw' or throw up whichever, he's only holding my hand as a means to tug me along so that I don't fall over. In between this march through the dreary fog towards civilization, everything the rest of the group is saying or doing is all a blur, however I'm sure Sheyenne and PK are joking about how surprised they are that we haven't yet gotten kidnapped along the outskirts of Budapest during these wee hours of the morning. I now realize that my aching feet are no longer moving, so I assume we have come to a stop and I open my eyes.
                       
A church! If there's anything that gives me peace and serenity during any situation it's a church. I thank God for protecting us and give a shoutout to our Guardian Angels because I'm sure they're uber annoyed with all of us for just walking aimlessly around in a foreign country. I look to my right and spot a bridge. We all gravitate towards it and march on to the city. Oh happy days are here again!

Upon crossing and covering a bit more distance, we spot another establishment that has grown to also give me peace and serenity. Yes that's right, those big beautiful golden arches can only mean one thing- we can now bask in the warmth, WiFi, and nourishment that McDonald's has to offer! However there's one problem, this is Europe not America and MickyD's aren't open 24/7. Bummer.
Onward.
Shortly after retrieving money from a corner ATM, we stumble across a local bread shop and we all pile up inside.
We all point to unknown pastries as we order what we want, settle down, and fill our stomachs as we warm up and rest. After I power-up with the yummy strawberry flavored things I finally tune in to what our group is saying. We have to somehow find Wombat's City hostel, and again I am embarrassed to admit that yet again, I let them do all the work. My throat still feels like I drank a cup of acid the night before, and my body just feels helpless. I accept the fact that I may be getting sick, (in freaking Budapest, Hungary, for crying out loud) stand up, and follow the group outside
to continue the what at this point is the march of eternity in pursuit of our hostel. Okay so we're
walking, walking, walking- and then someone spots it. By some God-given miracle, we just randomly find our sleeping quarters without WiFi! (I mean I don't think anyone had wifi... I was sleepwalking remember?) As we all eagerly walk inside, I can only think of falling in a bed and sleeping till goodness knows when. If I haven't mentioned it before I'll mention it now, we all decided that it would be best to backpack while we're here, and at this point I'm sure that my spine has curved to meet the weight of my backpack. I would also like to point out here that in reference to our whole laundry fiasco back at the dorms, PK and I couldn't dry anything because I don't even know, nor do I want to talk about it... but long story short we were carrying around wet towels with us. WE CARRIED THESE DAMN THINGS AROUND THE WHOLE WEEKEND AND THEY NEVER DRIED. EVER! I have slight PTSD from the wet towel incident, so we both bought travel towels so that we -never- have to deal with a similar situation ever again.

I realize that none of you needed to know that, but I wanted you to know that. Because it just added to the ambiance that was this whole trip - we were always wet whether that be from the rain, the thermal baths, more rain, or the snow, we nor our towels- were ever dry. But it's really fine, because this weekend excursion set the bar high for all those to follow!

Some of the things that we had our hearts set on that day included of course, the infamous thermal baths and some Irish bars in light of Saint Patrick's day. We had some time to kill because we couldn't yet check into our room, so Sheyenne, Paige, Jenny, and PK went off in search of new swimsuits  meanwhile Zachary and I napped in the hostel's lounge area of their lobby. That's right. My stuff could have been stolen, I could have been stolen, Zach could have been stolen, but apparently none of that mattered for I needed to catch some major Z's, and that I did. After the girls got back we still had time to kill so we walked some more and found a bustling Hungarian restaurant where Paige Phillips and I discovered the world of Paprika flavored everything and we all devoured our fine Hungarian cuisine.

I'd like to fast forward to all of us at the thermal baths later that evening, mine and PK's wet towels in tow, both of us forgetting flip flops so yeah, we wore socks as a pathetic means to avoid contracting  heaven knows what from the wet floors. Ma if you're reading this I'm sorry. Don't worry, I bought  sandalias so that this will never happen again!
                                    
Considering the freezing temperatures surrounding us, the warmth of the baths were an exhilarating experience that many of us agreed to only do once! Why do you ask? Well, we were in a giant bathtub in very warm waters with hundreds of other complete strangers :) Future MD Paige Phillips held herself together as I begged her to not tell me what else was swimming among us in those waters! All germs and jokes aside- the baths were an amazing experience that I highly recommend anyone to do at least once!

Later that evening, our troop was pooped. But it was St.Patty's day, and we all took an oath to go out for Jenny Belsan because she brought face tattoos and gems. We love Jenny Belsan. So, we all got tatted and gemed up for Jenny- and dragged ourselves to the Irish bar. We later wandered into a club where they played one Latin hit after another, including Gasolina. We thrived.
                      


The following day was one of my favorites, because we had the privilege to visit the largest Synagogue in Europe, (however not the largest in the world- we learned that the largest in the world is in NYC!) We had an excellent tour guide, for he explained the different architectures of the synagogue because it was handed off from architect to architect as the times changed and as the money was available. On the right is the inside of the Jewish synagogue, and our guide explained that many observers might mistake this for perhaps a Christian church because of the high altar in the front and the organ in the synagogue. On Saturday's, Jews are forbidden to do any sort of labor or work and the argument with the Organ was that technically because it's behind the altar and the little room behind the altar that holds the Torah, it's not really IN the synagogue therefore it's kind of bending the rules.... that and they just get a non-Jew to play it! Also - if you're casually walking down the street one day and you're curious as to whether or not you've stumbled across a synagogue, a way to tell is not by the star of David- no no. It's if you see the ten commandment tablets anywhere, then you know it is religious and holy. The star of David is more of a cultural symbol than religious, our guide explained. There was so much more we learned but I figure if you want to know more about this Jewish synagogue, DM me.

Later that day we tried to go to a restaurant that served all day breakfast. We still haven't had old fashioned eggs since forever ago, so we were all as the kids say 'Lit.' This was our second time visiting this restaurant because the night before for dinner they had apparently "run out of all food." You're reading this and thinking uhh...is that some kind of sick joke? We figured "well it's dinner time and the people here have big lunches and small dinners so maybe it's a plausible claim." Okay well day two we trod in for lunch, smiles spread across our faces, beaming that we're all going to finally have an old fashioned Hungarian style American breakfast. The waitress comes around and lo and behold- they again "ran out of all food." How in the actual flying flick do you run out of all food, not ever restock, and still make money?! There were other people in this restaurant! This place was bustling and you're trying to tell me that you only have bagels and ham sandwiches?! BUDAPEST I AM CONFUSION. HUNGARY I AM HUNGRY. My mind is completely boggled and I'm still not over it because now I'm convinced that they just didn't want to serve us for reasons unknown to me. ALL WE WANTED WERE EGGS. It's fine I'm fine I'm done talking about it because the ever so wonderful Sheyenne Kiesel said Fear not! And found us this scrumptious little restaurant with excellent Hungarian food.
                             
After dinner, we all marched on to see things like the chain bridge, a few palaces and castles here and there, and the parliament building which was absolutely breathtaking.               



After all of this incredible sightseeing, we all trudged yet again through the streets of Budapest to a local Costa Coffee to warm ourselves up before our long trek back to the bus station. (It's a chain like Starbucks) After our prep session we all bundled up to face the cold and headed south. Just kidding I don't know what direction we're going, I'm useless navigating over here, I just follow the pack!

Again - Thank you for being loyal and reading this all the way through, once I get on a roll I just can't seem to stop! I had to wrap things up rather quickly because yep, I'm about to go to Belmundo - it's Portuguese night!

Farewell until next time!