I was told by one of my friends from the program to go to Vienna for a day since it’s so close and we had enough time. So, Thursday, that’s what we did. We hopped on the 9 o’clock train from Budapest to Vienna, arriving around noon. Another beautiful day (wow… I guess we’ve been getting super lucky with weather. I didn’t realize until now because I keep writing that these days we’re beautiful haha). It was lunch time, so we got some sandwiches and headed down the main road. It was a huge shopping street, so we obviously had to check out some of the stores. We soon noticed many people with ice cream which led us to a gelateria owned by this guy named Paolo something. Whoever Paolo is, well, he makes the best ice cream in the world. Seriously. Better than anything I’ve ever had and I’m not exaggerating. This place has to be on your list of places to go if you’re in Vienna. Ok, enough about the ice cream…
Vienna is an amazing city. The architecture is out of this world. Check out the library…
Overall, the day was great. Vienna is definitely a city you can do in a day, so it was perfect for us.
Back to Budapest. So, this city is actually split into two parts by a river. There is the Buda side and the Pest side. Our hostel was on the Pest side. On Friday then, we decided to go explore the Buda side, which is actually the side with everything touristy possible. For good reason though… There is the Buda Castle, the Fisherman’s Bastion, many churches, and the amazing Citadel perched on top of its own little mountain. We were able to get a great look at Parliament from the Buda side, since it sits right along the river on the Pest side. It was fantastic… this is the view from the Citadel…
Back to Budapest. So, this city is actually split into two parts by a river. There is the Buda side and the Pest side. Our hostel was on the Pest side. On Friday then, we decided to go explore the Buda side, which is actually the side with everything touristy possible. For good reason though… There is the Buda Castle, the Fisherman’s Bastion, many churches, and the amazing Citadel perched on top of its own little mountain. We were able to get a great look at Parliament from the Buda side, since it sits right along the river on the Pest side. It was fantastic… this is the view from the Citadel…
This is Parliament… (the best picture I got before my camera died).
Sightseeing is exhausting! But, worth it. We ended up taking a little cat nap in the sun that afternoon in a park behind the Citadel. On our walk home, we strolled through one of the main squares and stumbled upon a little cart that was serving ice cream. Obviously I wanted some, but there was a sign next to it that said the actual café was just up the street. We walked over and then, after reading their menu, realized that it was a world famous café. Gerbeaud’s. Another random thing we just happened to walk by that was absolutely delightful. We split a sundae (because that’s what they are known for) for some ridiculous price. We justified it because, I mean, they said they were world famous…? Haha. I think you can tell by now that ice cream is my/our weakness. (I’m not gonna lie though, Paolo still wins, and it was WAY cheaper haha).
For dinner that night, we went to a hummus bar. It’s basically what it sounds like. It’s a little restaurant where you can order a bowl of hummus (or a pita sandwich) and then flavor it/add stuff if you want. It turned out to be soooo good, and SUPER cheap, and we had leftovers for lunch the next day!! So, if you’re ever in Budapest, go to a hummus bar.
We weren’t really sure what else there was to do in Budapest for our day on Saturday… the city turned out to be a little smaller than we thought. However, we took advantage of the favorable exchange rate and went to see a couple movies for pretty cheap. We saw An Education, which I recommend even though it was kinda weird, and Dear John, which I also recommend, but only for the girls. Or I mean, anyone who enjoys chick flicks haha. It was a chill day and definitely fit into our budget. Had and I did not plan on taking any more money out of the ATM after the first day. We succeeded…barely haha.
The week after I got back was full of researching. We have to do an independent study project for our program due towards the end. I’m doing mine on the education of refugee children in southern African during apartheid. So… if any of you are ever interested in this specific subject, I’ll probably be an expert in about 2ish weeks. Haha. We have to write 30 pages as well as do a 20 minute presentation. Should be interesting. I’m actually really excited to hear everyone else’s work too. Also, it's officially time for me to start stressing... it's due in May 5th. Ugh. Don't they get that studying abroad should not involve such intense projects?! Jees louise. They're crazy.
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