Ciao a Tutti,

This past Memorial Day weekend I was in Budapest, Hungary. The differences between western and Eastern Europe were more apparent in Budapest than they were in Croatia. Perhaps that has to do with the fact that we stayed on the coast in Croatia, and Hungary is a land locked country. Budapest was beautiful in a very unique way. Budapest actually developed as two different cities, Buda and Pest, separated by the Danue River. The Buda side is more historical and more expensive; the Pest side is more commercial and industrialized. We stayed on the Pest side. The architecture in Budapest is very unique; the Turkish influence is very obvious. Very old and intricate buildings are intermixed with more modern structures. The older buildings have spires, pointed roofs, very unique window shapes, and really colorful and detailed paint jobs.

The city was also creepy in a way as well. It is not a very populous city, so it almost felt empty or deserted, like a ghost town. One day Shannon and I were walking on the main shopping street and there was a single street performer playing a violin. That single violin was the loudest sound in the entire area; that sweet yet melancholy violin incapulated our feelings about Budapest. It was a bit of a shock for us coming from Paris and Rome. It was also incredibly hot and humid, oppressively so. Plus the customs and the way people interacted were very different than in any place we had previously been. In was a night and day difference in almost every respect from Dublin, which is maybe why it was a shock for us to fly from one strait to the other. There is also a very big problem with homelessness and alcoholism in Budapest. I’m not sure which caused the other, but in this city they seemed to go hand in hand. It was really hard walking around at night and seeing all theses people (most of them were elderly) who needed some much help, and really not being able to do anything. I’m not sure what kind of social programs the city had to offer them, but whatever it was it was not enough. The city was also kind of dirty; the heat only intensified the unpleasant smells of the streets.

Shannon and I were lucky, we met a Hungarian man on the plane who spoke English, shared a cab with us and helped us find Katrine’s apartment building. Katrine is Norwegian and studying veterinary medicine in Budapest; she lived in the US for a while and she and Shannon went to High School together. The apartment building was older and rundown, but Katrine’s apartment was very big and really nice. She and her roommate had three of the cutest little dogs, so it was perfect that they let us stay there. After we had showered and changed, the three of us went to List square which is one of the most social places in the city. The entire square is filled with nice restaurants and cafes. The sidewalks were filled with people sitting, drinking, talking, eating, and strutting just so that they could be "seen." We found a café and split a bottle of wine; we ended up staying there pretty late. Afterwards Katrine walked around with us pointing out places of interest. We stopped at this 24-hour pancake place, but the "pancakes" were more like crêpes. They were SOO good, and so cheap (one Euro = 250 HUF).

The next day we went with Katrine and her friend Anita (another Norwegian student) to the top of a park on the Buda side. The park was beautiful, very green and over grown with lots of interesting statues, and at the top was an amazing view of the Danue and the Buda side. Shannon and I stayed there for a while and then the two of us left Katrine and Anita in the park so that they could study and play with their dogs. The two of us walked back over the river and toward the Basilica at the center of the Pest side. We wandered, ate, and talked. Eventually we took and open air bus tour of the city. We really didn’t care about looking like tourists in Budapest (not like how we cared in Paris and in Rome), plus it was what Katrine recommended. The tour took two hours, and went all over both sides of the city. The best part was when the bus drove up to the old citadel, built on one of the highest points in the city. From up there was the MOST amazing view of both sides of the city with the river cutting down the middle. We got some great pictures up there. After the tour we walked to the main shopping street, we were unimpressed and bought niente… Plus it was so empty that we both felt sort of off. So then we walked to List Square and got iced coffees at a café, and then later we got dinner before walking back to Quatrain’s. We changed, showered, and ended up staying out way too late.

The next day Shannon and I went to a Turkish bath, that was by far the highlight of our time in Budapest. After studying the roman baths in my Ancient Roman Civ class, and knowing how the Romans/ Byzantines influenced the Turkish, it was very cool to go to a modern day one. The bath was adjacent to a very nice hotel on the river on the Buda side. It was so luxurious, columns, statues which recalled the ancient Greeks, and beautiful mosaic tiling. We made appointments for facials, and then changed in the women’s dressing room and the made our way to the pool. It was so beautiful, in doors but with an open roof, the water was very blue; it was just what you would imagine an ancient bath to look like. We swam and then sunned ourselves before making our way to the women’s thermal bath. The thermal baths were separated by gender because people go in them either naked or topless, it was very liberating and the warm water and steamy rooms were very relaxing. Then we went into the sauna and then showered before making our facial appointment. After wards we both felt SO good, both inwardly and outwardly. Then we walked back to Katrine’s and later the three of us went out to a VERY nice dinner to celebrate our last night in Budapest. One of the nice things about Budapest was that things were SO inexpensive so we could actually afford to treat ourselves, a rare occurrence.

The next day I flew back to Rome and Shannon flew to Paris. It was really sad to say good bye to each other, and even harder for us to go back knowing that we both would have to leave Europe in a matter of days. Our entire trip in Budapest had a sad undercurrent for the both of us. We were both very pensive, just reflecting on our time in Europe, how we had changed and the thoughts of our paused lives at home waiting for us to resume. At least we had each other to talk to about it all, it was nice having someone there whom really understood me and could understand my situation both abroad and at home.

Flying to Rome was bittersweet, I was so happy to be going back there, and so sad knowing I would have to leave so much sooner than I wanted to.