Budapest left me way too many awesome memories.. Since I’m writing this post late I’m terrified I’m actually missing a lot of details! Take my word that it was amazing.
Errrmmmm to start with, Michelle and I are #YOLO travelers. Which is the technical term for doing no research, not looking at a map, and not figuring out the step following anything.
So from the get-go we had a couple of close calls. We decided to get to the airport about 2 hours early and left 2 and a half hours early thinking we would be golden. Our taxi driver came and picked us up and we knew we were going to have a great trip just by how enthusiastic he was.
He asked us what time our flight was and then booked it.. because turns out that if you leave at 6 o’clock in the evening from anywhere, you are going to have a bad time. Bumper. To. Bumper. But this cab driver knew all the backstreets and I think he got a little thrill of nearly hitting innocent pedestrians. Throughout the duration of the ride he told us how the cab drivers in Italy hate the Japanese tour groups and always try and take out the leader of the pack, to convince the others in the group not to cross the street when they’re driving. Super cultured conversation we were having with the taxi man.
We make it to the airport just in the nick of time (Jk the flight was delayed and now Meesh and I are super pro at navigating through airports so we were waiting for an hour) and flew our butts to Hungary.
When we got there we decided to use the official taxi service and we turn to each other thinking “Dayummmm we’ve done good so far!” right up until the taxi man stopped in a really sketchy neighborhood at 1 a.m in the morning. I refused to get out of the car at first because none of the buildings had any demarcation indicating that there was a hostel anywhere nearby. The cabbie nearly forced me out though, saying he took us to the address we gave him.
Michelle and I get out of the car and on a small scrap of paper (you can’t make this stuff up), it said “Hostel” in 16 point font on a door.
Oooookaayyyy shady hostel. I see you.
So we go to the keypad and see “hostel” on one of the options and a man answers saying “come in.” We walk into a pitch black courtyard and I’m turning to Michelle about to recommend we go find a holiday inn, when a guy with a beard and no shoes meets us outside and says “Hey. You with the hostel?”
So we head up the stairs with him and the first thing he says is “Shoes.” and points to this massive collection of shoes. It was hilarious and absolutely disgusting at the same time and I just kind of stood there at a loss for words. At this point Michelle and I are trying to suppress the laughter because this is what you get when you are paying 10 euro a night for a bed.
We went to bed and patted ourselves on the back for surviving our first night in Hungary.
The next day we set out to explore! Starting with McDonalds, because nothing says cultural appreciation like eating a big mac in Budapest. Sorry ’bout it.
Really though, I loved Budapest. Otherwise known as two distinct areas, Buda and Pest and pronounced Budapesht in the Hungarian language. It was a really unique city vibe with a mix between urban and casual with a younger looking crowd alongside an aging population. Very, very unique. I’d also never heard the Hungarian language and I thought it was beautiful! It’s unlike any other language I’ve ever heard so I loved hearing it spoken around me.
We wound up going to St. Stephen’s basilica first, because we’re Roman folk now and we love our basilicas. It was absolutely beautiful and I was happy to spend a few minutes there. Meesh and I are massive fans of the city passes so we wound up getting a Budapest pass and with it we visited a number of fine arts museums and took a look at the Hungarian art that was more country and nature oriented than other art I’ve seen here in Europe!
My super blurry pano. You get it though!
One evening Michelle and I went to a little restaurant for drinks and a chocolate dessert before heading back to the hostel. We ordered our daiquiris and dessert and sat for a while before deciding it was time to head out. The waiter came over and in his thick Hungarian accent we thought he asked “Are you done?” so I quickly said yes. He turned around and left and then I looked at Michelle and said “Wait.. did he say are you done.. or ‘another one?'” Within minutes he came back to the table carrying two more drinks and we were doomed to pay the ridiculous cost of another round but did our best to embrace the miscommunication and its outcome! When in Budapest and all that.
That first day we were both feeling tired and sick so we called it a night.. after being so disgusted with the hostel conditions and terrified to use the bathroom alone that we decided to pull a girl move and shower together. No judgment, people. That place looked like a war zone and we weren’t taking any chances in there by ourselves.
The next day we wandered around Budapest and ordered a number of strawberry daiquiris. By far the highlight of my afternoon was exploring the view from atop the palace gardens (I think.. otherwise this could be awkward. Do your research before you go!)
I’m going to be honest here – Budapest was amazing because of the people we encountered more than the museums we visited and historical sites we saw.
I don’t know if Michelle and I are just always super lucky with our hostel friends or if every place is like this, but everyone we’ve met in hostels have been the most incredible and kind hearted people.
On our second afternoon in the city, Michelle and I had come back to the room for a quick nap. In storm these two pretty big guys, screaming at the top of their lungs and playfully harassing the female staff member who showed them their room. I look at Michelle from across the dorm and kind of roll my eyes like “These guys. This is going to suck.”
They immediately introduced themselves to us and their giddy attitudes were infectious. Soon we learned that their names were Omer and Uri and they were from Israel. As we got to talking we learned a lot about where they had come from, where they were going, and who they were.
I have never met anyone from Israel. I have also never met anyone who is experiencing a war in their own backyard. I’ve been keeping up with the Gaza Israel conflict in the news since it began, and I learned how easy it is to slip into a bias just because of the media or vocal opinions of others after talking to someone who is experiencing it in a very personal capacity.
Whatever previous attitude I may have had toward Israel, it definitely changed after meeting two men who used to serve in the army (as is the requirement for all Israeli men and women) and who are currently experiencing national turmoil.
Omer showed me a picture he took just days before he went on his trip abroad. In it are cars all pulled over to the side of a highway after one of the many sirens that go off in the middle of the day. In the picture I could see his mom draping her body over his younger brother as they crouch on the side of the road waiting for the sirens to end.
Uri was the more passionate of the two. He immediately asked me what I thought of Israel after the coverage in the news and I gave him a very honest answer and told him I didn’t know enough about the history, politics, or situation but that I thought it was a terrible situation for both the Palestinian and Israel civilians. He passionately defended Israel’s point of view, telling me that the Israel government was trying to defend its citizens in the most secure way they knew and were not actively harming Gaza citizens. Although we went back and forth and there was a lot of debate, it was chilling to talk to someone who lived in a war zone.
He showed me two videos. The first was in his neighborhood. His friend who lived nearby took a video and uploaded it to Facebook and in it was a scene out of a war movie. An incoming missile is shooting straight at their neighborhood and was intercepted in the air by Israel defense missiles. In the second one he showed me a video of the Hamas influence on Palestinian children chanting for war.
I think in this particular conflict, there can be no right and wrong, because right would mean no innocent citizen dies and children are left to play and not to hide on the side of the road or march off into war. I think there is definitely foul play on both sides, as is the nature of war. Talking with Omer and Uri humanized a situation that I had previously analyzed in terms of statistics, numbers, and facts. Talking with them, seeing Omer and Uris friends and family living in fear, learning that since commercial flights have been banned, they are currently stranded abroad, and hearing about their experiences with their country absolutely reminded me that both sides are suffering and to remember that in every story there are two sides.
After our long discussion on the situation in Israel, we learned that Omer and Uri were models and bartenders. Go figure. So at this point we have the two most charismatic, beautiful, and excited human beings in the world, and the five other roommates slowly trickled in. The eight of us all decided to go out together and since we had two conveniently located bartenders on hand we had a grand old time. We headed out to Szimpla, a ruins bar, which was by far one of the coolest things I saw in Budapest.
The ruin bars were part of buildings that had been bombed during World War II and rather than rebuild, some guys just threw some alcohol in there and called it a bar! It was such a fun night with new friends and it was a great way to see the city at night.
At around 4 a.m we got back to our shady hostel and Michelle was back in the room while I did what I do best, and struck up conversation with my new friends. We all sat around the common room couches. Uri from Israel, Ray from Chile, Ajay from India, and Tom from England. And then there was Rachel from Florida. How’s that for diversity?
I had one of the most riveting conversations of my life that night.
Ajay was a 26 year old accountant who let me grill him on technology in India, his thoughts on the growing industries in India, and where he saw himself in the next 5 years.
Ray was a 24 year old student from Chile who lamented the costs of education and discussed education reform in an excited tone of voice.
Tom, 22 from England, is a chemist studying abroad in Budapest for a year and we got to talking about self-help books and the English culture.
Uri, 26, was more subdued, I think because he’d just received news from some of his friends back home about another conflict that had broken out.
I have never felt more a part of an international community of friends. It was terrifying to realize that if I allowed myself to stay in my bubble, in my little pocket in America, I would have never met these incredibly unique personalities that each brought a piece of their own “corner” to the table. I loved every second of it and it just reiterated my desire to work amongst the international community to solve some of the most prevalent issues facing our generation.
Another thing I had to take into account is that sometimes I think the only way to meet these people is through just plain and simple travel. If I went the route of politics I run the risk of formalities and meeting just the politicians from a different country who might speak a different native tongue, but who all speak the same language of politics. I think one of the greatest things about all these encounters with people is that they come from all backgrounds, all career types, and all with different futures. That was one of my favorite nights in Europe, just because of the conversation that was flowing between all of us.
The next day I was fairly exhausted from the late night and my body was just tired from all the travel, running around, and yes, all those daiquiris.
Thank God for Michelle. We ended up back at McDonalds for a third day in a row and wandered around Budapest at a snails pace. We hit up a walking tour but about one hour into it we realized we were just not up for it and headed back to the hostel for a nap. Ahh, memories.
That night we went back to Szimpla with just the two of us and my favorite couple we met were two very posh men from London. They worked in the fashion industry and I ended up in a two hour debate with one of them about the relationship between a global economy and philanthropy.
We ended up meeting a group of about five guys from England who were staying at our hostel and we wound up talking with them until about 5 am and four of us headed back to the hostel where we promptly passed out.
The next day we were set to head back to Rome!
I don’t think I’ll quickly forget that night that I talked with people from all backgrounds from all over the world. It was the most incredible realization that I could not only hold a conversation with these guys, but that with our own perspectives and ideas, we were able to have a productive talk about which direction certain industries and fields should be taking in the next couple of years. I feel so incredibly grateful for this opportunity to have met these people, and for that Budapest goes down as one of my favorites.
Running in Rome 