Trip #1: Budapest, Hungry

Friday morning Meg, Brittany and I took a train to Budapest. We don’t have class on Friday so we decided it would be a great place to go for a weekend. The train ride was a lot of fun. Meg and Brittany had never ridden a train before and it had been a long time since my last ride. We played cards for most of the trip and we were lucky that the train was not too full. The cabins have 6 seats in each and for most of the whole trip there and back the three of us had our own cabin.

One of the reasons we went to Budapest was for the spring festival. We were not sure what to expect but the events on line seems really interesting. As we walked through the city we saw some plazas where vendors have set up small shops with traditional crafts of Hungry. And of course I picked up some souvenirs. One of the events of the festival was a concert by the National Philharmonic Orchestra and Choir. The interior of the building is pictured above. We did not have tickets and felt a little underdressed in our jeans, but we went in and found out that there was a student section and the tickets were only 200 Forints = $1.00!! the seats were on the 3rd floor and only a standing area with a few benches. Luckily, it was and the orchestra and not a ballet, we didn’t have to watch the whole performance.

Saturday we went across the river to Buda, did you know Buda is on the west bank of the Danu and Pest is on the East? The castle is in a walled city in it’s self. There are a few hotels and some very nice restaurants as well as a cathedral and castle. The photo above is of a lookout point near the cathedral. The cathedral is in major construction/renovation, but still is impressive.

Saturday night was St. Patty’s Day and Brittany, Meg and I were really excited to go to the two Irish Pubs that are in Budapest. The first one we found (Columbus) was not very exciting- I don’t think they even knew it was St. Patty’s Day. But at least the second one, Beckets Irish Pub, was much better. They had a live band and a whole-lotta people in the building.

Sunday was a more relaxing day, there is an island between Buda and Pest called Margret’s Island. It’s mostly a tourist island; there is a spa and a hotel or two. There is also a small petting zoo and a park. It was nice to walk from one end to the other.

We had originally planned on going to the Van Gogh Exhibit at the Museum of Fine Arts on Sunday, but they sold out of tickets and couldn’t go until Monday. Train tickets are very flexible and we ended up taking a later train Monday afternoon. The exhibit was really good. There were many early drawings and then more painting and you were able to see his style develop based on the dates of the paintings. It was worth the extra half day in Budapest.

The train ride home seemed longer then the ride to Budapest, we were all ready to get home. It was nice to think of Prague as a little bit more like home.