Stay Hungary, Stay Foolish

I don't even know where to start. Budapest, you're my favorite place on this planet. The architecture in the city is amazing (especially at Art Nouveau) and the bridges are absolutely beautiful. We arrived in Budapest to some amazing Goulash, which is a Hungarian stew filled with meats and vegetables. Budapest is a large city, with a compact downtown area filled with tons and tons of amazing places to eat. However, since its restaurants are all very small, you should definitely make reservations in advance (like do some research before you get there). There were a few places we missed out on because they were booked up for the next few weeks! I mean does it really surprise you that Hungarians are foodies?

This place, Hungarikum Bisztró had an amazing three course meal for less than 12 euros. Oh, that's another thing. Everything in this country was dirt cheap. They still use their own currency, the forint, and withdrawing money makes you feel like a millionaire. One dollar is approximately 268 forints. It's pretty nice, except getting a bill can give you a heart attack because you're paying in thousands of forints.

That day, we walked around the city a lot and went to this really cool bar at night called Szimpla Kert. It reminded me a lot of Delirium in Brussels, really good vibes. A lot of Hungarian bars are located in ruins scattered throughout the city. It makes for an amazing atmosphere and a great place to get the libations flowing.

Obviously, the next day we took it easy and relaxed in one of Budapest's many bath houses. Széchenyi is one of the largest spa complexes in Europe and has 15 indoor baths/ 3 outdoor baths with different medicinal treatments in the water. If baths aren't really your thing, they also have saunas, steam cabins, and different massage packages. We loved it there and found out that they even have bath parties at night, where the young crowd in Budapest like to go on their Saturday nights. Think pool party, but at a hot spring. It gets pretty rowdy.

Just taking a bath with 400 of our closest friends.

Scrub-a-dub-dub.

What people also don't realize about this amazing city, is that Budapest straddles the Danube River, with the Buda hills to west and Great Plain to the east. Most people reside in Buda and work in the more industrial Pest side. Buda is full of hills and parks, while Pest is full of rings of concentric circles that are bursting with life. Climbing to the top of Gellert Hill, you can see both sides of this amazing city at the same time.

However, under the stars is when the city becomes a more coherent unity. The citadel and the castle stand on the heights of Buda, and the majestic parliament mirrors its lights on the other side of the bank. I've honestly never felt more at peace anywhere than I do in Budapest at night. There's just something so serene about standing at the top of Art Nouveau and staring down at the world.

It was such an incredible trip, and I was incredibly sorry to see it end.

I'll see you later Budapest, you can count on that.

#budapest #hungary #logs #naked