It was coming down to the last weekends, and me and some girlfriends decided we needed to fit in one more weekend adventure...and what better place to go than Budapest Hungary?!
We left Maastricht early on Saturday, hopped on a small 'WizzAir' plane and within an hour and a half, we were stepping foot in Budapest.
Our hostel was noted for having funky themed rooms, and we ended up staying in the 'Space Room'. With a disco light, planets on the ceiling, and dark walls, we felt ... cool :)
After freshening up at the hostel, we made sense of our map and headed to the St. Steven Basilica to meet a free walking tour of the city. We took advantage of the free city tour in Prague, and they are very educational and funny as well. Our tour guide first showed us around the Basilica and the Jewish Quarter. She showed us the old communist housing, which still looks very plain and concrete.
It gets dark so early, so as the sun was setting, we got to walk across the Old Chain Bridge and caught the most gorgeous view of the Danube river at sunset. The lights from the Parliament Building and the buildings on Castle Hill were simply breathtaking.
After befriending some Australians on the tour who were traveling Europe for 3 months, we made the hike up Castle Hill to see the city at night. The pictures can't do justice to how beautiful it was.
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Love Locks...apparently the tradition started out in Hungary! |
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Castle Hill from the Danube River |
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The Chain Bridge and the Castle |
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My girlfriends and I on the Chain Bridge |
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Part of Castle Hill |
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Parliament from across the river. |
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After our tour, we passed by the Four Seasons hotel and could not resist taking a few Christmas pictures of it's gorgeous architecture and festive lights. We indulged in some Gluhwein (mulled wine) and 'Tornadoes', which are similar to churros, only in the shape of a, well, tornado! There were about six different Christmas Markets, so explored a few! After the markets settled down, we went to explore the nightlife. After hanging in a lounge with 23 different rooms, we decided to end our long, but amazing day.
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Christmas Tree at the Four Seasons |
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The Four Seasons |
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Gluhwein! YUMM |
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St. Steven's Basilica & Christmas Market |
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Having so much fun at the market |
Day 2 BUDAPEST
Another early day to start off our adventures!
We headed to St. Stevens Basilica square for a Starbucks and were greeted with the most beautiful Christmas Carols being sung by the church choir on the steps. We took a peek inside the church before mass began and I was blown away. It was definitely one of the prettiest churches I have been in.
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Stunning |
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So Ornate |
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Before Sunday Mass |
Then we made our way to the river to see some sights.
The first was the Memorial for the Shooting of the Hungarian Jews in 1944. They were shot into the river, but first they had to remove their shoes, since they were valuable at the time. It was definitely a touching memorial. Sitting by the river was also a nice time to relax...yes our life is SO hectic ;)
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Very touching. |
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Me along the Danube. Parliament in the background |
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My friend Olivia & I. I'm going to miss her when we all leave!! |
We walked around the Parliament, abiding by the rules, since the Hungarian policeman was watching us out of the corner of his eye...we weren't doing anything wrong!! Suddenly, we came upon some traditional Hungarian dancers. It was one of the highlights of the trip to see them dancing and singing their traditional music.
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Parliament |
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Traditional Dancers |
Afterward, we headed to the Hungarian Opera House. It was so beautiful and so ornate. We tried to see the Nutcracker Ballet, but we were only a few days off. We did however, get to see a miniature concert, where I was so fortunate to 'dance' with the opera singer. Me and my friends could not stop laughing.
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Exploring the Opera |
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hahaha... |
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Beautiful! |