Budapest: Day 2- Flat Stanley comes out to play.

. . . The next day it was time to travel like the 21st century adults that we are; with an iPad. This made getting around a million times easier because anytime we got ourselves sufficiently lost (which happened quite often) we were always able to find a wi-fi spot or use his "Budapest City" App, to get ourselves back on track.

My main goal was to get to the Great Synagogue, which is one of the most impressive, and largest synagogues in Europe and was constructed in 1859. George and I spotted some domes and towers over the skyline and determined that was the way to go. When we arrived there was a large plaza with an even larger building which was absolutely amazing. However, on closer inspection i decided to tell George that there was "way too much Jesus" on the building to be a synagogue. So we popped in to the nearest "California Coffee Co." and looked up what the huge church was.

It was St. Stephen's Basilica-- which they claim to hold a relic of his mummified hand. Stephen was the First King of Hungary. This is probably the most beautiful church I have ever been in. It is incredibly different than the Gothic style churches of France and England. For one, the inside was completely constructed of marble and granite-- or other polished stones as opposed to the rough stones that Gothic is made up of. Anyway-- it is definitely a MUST see when ever you make it to Budapest. But thus, my search for the equally impressive Dohany Street Synagogue continued. 

I guess it is about time that I introduce you to my new travelling partner. Flat Stanley who is an Alien. 

As a school project for a friend of mine's son, we were instructed to take Stanley around and photograph him with landmarks. 

When we finally found the way to the synagogue, through the Jewish Quarter-- which I assume looked shut because it was Shabbat. I was immediately in awe of the building it was absolutely gorgeous, and all I wanted to do was go to services there-- but we were a little late to get to morning service-- and because it was Shabbat entrance was shut to the temple so I was very disappointed. None-the-less, the outside of it was gorgeous enough to satisfy me. Its size is only second in the world to Temple Emanuel in New York. 

As we were up ridiculously early to get a start on the day, we got a lot of stuff done, and after we saw the temple and wandered around the area, it was time to again cross the bridge into Buda and make our way up the "Funicular Rail" on to Castle Hill-- or so we thought. We made it to the foot of Castle Hill and went to the Funicular rail-- which was a fake cogwheel rail which made george very upset. Not only that but they charged an arm and a leg for a 2 minute journey up the hill-- we decided to walk. It was a VERY long walk up lots and lot and lots of stairs-- on a very empty stomach. Though I complained (again) I do not regret it a single bit because the view on the way up was spectacular.

On the hill there were lots of little stands selling overpriced touristy things which did not seem to interest me too much. Especially when there was a palace to explore, as well as an entire town on the hill! We went into the Castle to warm up and relax. It is now inhabited by many museums. We took a walk to the town and went to Matthais Church which again was a very beautiful church. 

But by this time of the day we were absolutely starving so going for a walk around inside was not on highest priority. We hopped a bus back down the hill and went to walk about the Parliament Building. One thing about Budapest is their absolutely fantastically ornate architecture-- such as all the buildings I have described thus far and Parliament.

Now was time for the real fun. Eating authentic Hungarian lunch. George read up on this local place that is tucked away and very small. Portions were huge and prices were small and taste was -- to be a little cheesy-- out of this world. I had Chicken Goulash-- not the stew version, but on a bed of potato noodles. Oh-my-gosh it was heaven. It was true, hungarian, home-cooking. The waitress did not even speak English.
I believe after that lunch we went back to the Hotel and crashed-- all those stairs are very tiring. We decided to go out that night for a nice drink and some dessert. We read about this artsy little cafe with funky furniture and decided that was the place for us. We got there and decided we were not hungry for dinner, so just decided to order a slice of cake-- the waiter was definitely NOT pleased and said he could only offer the table for 10 minutes because it was a Saturday night and they were busy-- there were plenty of tables open and it was not a fine dining establishment.
So we were planning on getting a quick 15 minute bite and then going to the bar we went to last night for drinks. However, 10 minutes became 30 minutes, became almost 45minutes to get our food, eat, pay, etc. And literally two seconds after we got our change and were getting up to leave another waitress comes up and begs for the table (How rude!). Anyway, because they took so long to let us pay we were no longer able to get drinks after because we would not make in time to get back on the metro and tram to our hotel. Overall disappointed with that particular cafe-- though their food looked very good.

Hope this is not too much to read! Tomorrow is the finale of my ventures in Budapest!
Sara

Budapest: Day 1- The Great Journey

Hi Everyone,

This is my first official post for Budapest! As stated below at 8am in the morning Gatwick Airport Duty Free shops were giving out free alcohol-- such typical England behaviour. The flight was a grand 1 hour and 35 minutes, ironically the same amount of time it takes me to train from Southampton to London.

First thing out of the Airport is to take out some cash and buy a 3 day unlimited travel card. which cost approximately 3,350 HUF (Forints). The Exchange rate is about 200:1 in Dollars and 350:1 in £s. This ended up being a great investment since we used the buses, trams, and metros consistently!! Their public transportation is incredibly efficient-- even if it hasn't been updated since the Soviet Era.

We finally made it to our hotel after getting lost on the tram system a few times. We developed a general plan of getting into the City and just doing-- old school. Meaning we only used paper maps and did not bring the iPad with us.  We walked around looking at the cool suspension bridges and the chain bridges. Ate really cheap food for lunch. Walked through a park and found an awesome tree with random Michael Jackson pictures and poetry and letters with candle memorials around it.

We then walked down to the Bridges and the river front and George geeked out at figuring out why it is called the Chain Bridge. Apparently it has something to do with chainlinks on a bike :-D. But the city of Pest and Buda from either side of the river is absolutely gorgeous-- even in cloudy weather! 

Then we found this awesome hill called Gellert Hill. Which has something to do with a saint. We had a hard time figuring out what everything was since hungarian is not the easiest language to read or understand. (Though by the end of the trip we definitely picked some up!) Anyway so this hill side had all these stairs going UP. (Well duh) -- but I mean really really up. So of course we had to climb them to get to the cool statue at the top. (And of course I complained about all the stairs! ). 

One thing I noticed about Budapest is all the graffiti. I am usually a graffiti pro-ponent, however the fact that people vandalized such beautiful architecture just made me sad. That being said, the city overall felt very safe to me (besides of course pick-pockets that you get in every city). Walking around at night, even in sketchier areas, I did not feel in any danger-- and I noticed that there were lots of young women walking alone at night as well. 

Anyway, back to my point. The view point from "the top"-- we were really only half way-- was absolutely spectacular! 

So as it was getting late and we were getting hungry it was time to venture out to find some classic hungarian cuisine. Let me just say: We failed. The area we decided to go to was aparently the only place in Hungary that was not lined with restaurants. We ended up sitting in a little cafe, ordered .5L of beer-- Local of course for under a £. And it was very good!!!. We then asked the owner if he would mind if we walked up the street, got a gyro and came back to order more beer. Which we then did. And then we got a slice of what I thought was going to be chocolate cake-- it wasn't. Still have no idea what was in it but it was delicious!

Overall first AMAZING day!!

Sorry if it droned on a bit. But there are TWO more days of blogging to come! So keep your eye on it.

(Almost 500 views!! Thank you so much for reading my blog!)

Sara

Hungary? Why yes, I am!

Started my day with a shot of free vodka at the airport at 8am this morning, finished with a pint of 1£ beer. This tripq is already at a great start!!

Day at the Races! with pictures

Hi everyone.

I had one of the most amazing days yesterday. George's parents took us to .... Garthorpe-- The Melton Hunt Club.

The place was filled of hundreds of people, dogs, and 43 horses, for a good ol'fashion "point to point." It was really good fun! On the second race, George and I placed a small bet on two different horses. We should have bet to place not to win because one of them came in third :( . A common feature in a steeplechase is horses or riders falling over the jumps. So as expected one of the horses threw off the rider and no one thought much of it. In fact the announcer got a lot of enjoyment from making fun of the fact that after the rider was off, the horse still ran the race. Not only ran it, but jumped the jumps, at one point jumping in front of all the other horses, and then almost winning the race, entirely without a rider. 

   One of my goals while I was here was to go to a fancy hat horse race, or really just a race in general. So that has been almost completed-- as there were no fancy hats yesterday! I must admit there was nothing I wanted to do more than jump on one of those horses and race with the other numerous woman jockeys. (Which was something I was not used to, jockeys that weighed over 95lbs and were over 5' tall, in addition to being on quite small horses-- 15 hands mostly, I would say. But the ground was not very level so I could be mistaken!) Also the race was VERY long!! It was over 2 miles, possibly closer to 3. 

Weather seems to be behaving itself ;) 

Update more later ! 

Sara

Surprise pt deux: Bubbles, Tinkerbell, and the Tube

Hi everyone!

        So I never made it to Oxford the other day, but I definitely plan on going while I am here.
The girls in Riding Club are all really nice and had a great time eating really good chinese food which I was absolutely CRAVING.
       Wednesday Night the girls and I went to the University run "I <3 College" Foam party night at "The Cube" One of the many bars ON CAMPUS. It is half dance club half American Frat Party themed ...club, with beer pong and sorts. We started chatting to the American Football team who were playing beer pong, and they were all very nice. I got into an argument over Redskins vs. Eagles.... Of course I WON. Because being a home team kinda girl... and American... I just win. They all decided to head to another club downtown but we were not thinking of paying for entry to another club so we stayed. We headed to the dance floor which was covered in foam!! My favourite!

Before

After

So we then had to walk back sopping wet in the freezing cold! I don't know how we did it. 

I then decided to come up to George's Parents house for the weekend to get him back for last weekend. He had absolutely NO idea that I was heading up here and I must say was quite a successful surprise :-D

It was Fabulous! Anywhere that is where I am now, andddd over and out!

Much love,
Sara