Budapest, Hungary

 

Funnily enough, it was my 4th time arriving in Budapest yet my first time affording the opportunity to explore the city where this journey of mine began. I arrived back at Keleti and this time, purchased a 24 hour transport card- necessity. I decided to splurge on my first private room of the trip for this last night abroad as I'd need to depart at 2 AM to make my first, of many, flights back home. Luckily, Budapest is very affordable, as was my night in a prime location at Hotel Benczur. I took public transport (and got off way too early) then walked to drop off my luggage before setting out.



My first stop was Heroes' Square, conveniently down the street.

 

Right around the corner was Vajdahunyad Castle where I stopped for some mulled wine and grounds exploration.

 Across the street was the largest medicinal European bathhouse, Szechenyi.

 

 

After exploring much for the "Pest" side (pronounced "Pescht") I walked back to my hotel and cleaned up for "Buda" across the Danube river. Budapest used to be two smaller towns before being joined as one. 

I took the tram to the riverside for beautiful views of Buda and the infamous  Shoes Along the Danube <--- Read the history here.

Then I crossed the famous river myself and arrived in the higher ground of Buda.

Matthias Church

Fisherman's Bastion was quite a site, I even splurged on a "Last Supper" 3 course meal at a pretty pricey restaurant inside with views of the Hungarian Parliament Building.

Fisherman's Bastion

Parliament

 

Dinner was inside here!

 Next, I took the tram as close as I could to Buda Castle.



Stunning views of Chain Bridge.

Didn't have time to make it to Gelert Hill, as seen here. 

I needed to rush back to meet up with a friend but then, my phone died. I was bussed out of the city where no one spoke English. I tried to use maps and finally got back close enough to find a young helpful local who directed my back to stay. *ALWAYS have a back up charger!*


My local friend picked me up and we went out for a night on the town in the Jewish Quarter. Here, former, decrepid, WWII housing ghettos were repurposed into eclectic bars, the most famous (as noted in Dan Brown's latest "Origin") being Szimpla Kert.





 

Anytime of day is worth checking this place out but boy was the night life fun. So fun, in fact, that I almost missed my flight home. I was dropped off back at my hotel in the nick of time where I had pre-arranged a Mini-Bud pick up (remember, don't take taxis) only to realize that the TIME HAD SPRUNG FORWARD! Yes, apparently, this happens weeks later in Europe than the US. Again, I was saved as my Mini-Bud (which taxied others to the airport, as well) was late. So after zero hours of sleep I began my seemingly never-ending journey back across the pond.

Vienna, Austria

 

After my intense, but relaxing, 5 days in the Angloville program, I headed to country 4/4- Austria! Wow, was I impressed upon arrival. The tourism center was so helpful in assisting me with a public transport ticket and even connecting me to Wi-Fi for directions to my stay at Wombats Naschmarkt. 

After a less than pleasant check in, I embarked on a nighttime exploration of the city. I only had until afternoon the following day and needed to get in as much as possible.

Karlskirche

Obvs had to indulge in the classic.

Vienna was like walking through an RPG game, around every cobblestoned corned was a jaw dropping supply of architecture and history. Roaming freely felt entirely safe, even late into the night. 

Hofburg

St. Stephen's Cathedral

Sacher Torte with a desert wine pairing, of course.

 The next morning, I woke up early to check out the famous Naschmarkt outside my hostel.

 

 I took the metro to Prater- must watch Before Sunrise if traveling to Vienna.

 With less than a couple of hours to spare, I splurged on an Uber to save time and explored the grounds (no time for entrance) of the Belvedere.

Vienna was great, nearly everyone spoke English (although, interestingly enough to me, German is the native tongue), the have Uber and free public WiFi like, everywhere, and it was super clean as well as safe. I grabbed my luggage which was stowed at the hostel after check out and headed back to the immaculate train station for my trip back to Budapest.

Angloville Budapest

 

I arrived in Budapest from Krakow around 8:15. Through research, I found that taxis in the city were risky and Ubers, nonexistent. I should have taken public transport from the very old city train station, Keleti, at which I had arrived but I figured since meet up wasn't for another couple hours and the walk was mapped at 45 minutes, I'd trek it. Spoiler Alert: This was a mistake. The streets were snow covered and dragging my luggage through the unplowed sidewalks across 3 kilometers took a lot longer than 45 minutes. It was a rough walk, especially after little to no sleep (another sketch train ride). But, alas, I made it to the meet up and patiently awaited for pick up to our stay outside the city.

 

I could tell all about the Angloville program but to truly get a feel, check it out here. We arrived at a snowy farm about an hour out, the picturesque Varga Tanya. I highly, highly, recommend this immerse conversational English program if traveling abroad. It allowed me a comfortable break from my fast-tense travel and allotted me new friendships of others from around the world.

 

 

 

  

I even got to ride this sweet girl, Roomba!

 

 

Krakow, Poland

I'd be lying if I said my overnight, 3rd class passenger train ride from Prague to Krakow went swell. Highly recommend splurging on the upgrade or sleeper cart for this route. Also, since the stops were unannounced, I was terrified of sleeping through Krakow and had to be on high alert of my surroundings so as not to awake in the final destination of Warsaw. I arrived to the snow draped, desolate, Polish town around 6AM and stowed my carryon at the train station.

Be sure to use the lockers rather than the checked luggage area which is more costly and shuts down. You must have change though.

My pre-booked Auschwitz tour (what drew me here) wasn't until 10:15, so I had a few hours to acquaint myself in the sub freezing temperatures.

Here, every hour on the hour, trumpeters continue the tradition of playing their tune out of each cardinal direction from atop the church tower. I desperately wanted to enter (to both admire the inside of the famed basilica- a noted mecca, of sorts, for Polish Catholics) and escape the cold but, alas, a sign was posted that only church goers were welcome.

St. Mary's Basilica

 Finally, I met up with my tour group and embarked upon the two hour ride out of the city to our first stop, Auschwitz.

"Work Will Set You Free"

 Auschwitz was first used as a Polish Prisoner of War camp. Also, here highly educated and influential Poles were held as to allow for takeover of the country.

 Next, we traveled to Birkenau, where the mass termination of Jewish people all over Europe were brought and murdered. I was, by far, the most ill prepared dressed out of my group and could barely immerse myself in the experience (that I'd longed to have since I was a young child, first learning of these atrocities) due to the cold. This, however, put even more into perspective the harsh conditions and suffering that those housed and executed here endured. It was 12 degrees F, lots of walking in the snow, and emotionally draining (you can feel the weight of death when stepping inside the crematoriums).

 The Auschwitz- Birkenau tour lasted all day between the extensive tours at each camp along with the commute to and from. I had hoped to visit Wawa Castle as well as the Oscar Shindler Factory while in the city, but by the hour I was returned, I did not have enough time to travel across the river into the other sect.

I stopped for traditional Pierogi at Pierogarnia Krakowiacy back near the square. There's only communal seating at this literal hole in the wall, but it's worth stop.

Back in the town square, I perused the market halls to pass the time before my departing train.

Overall, my first time in Poland was wonderful. It was much different from Prague in that nearly everyone was quite friendly and well-maintained. I headed back to the train station which was attached to a mall and picked up my luggage from storage. The station even had showers which was great as I had another overnight train ahead, this time, to Budapest. As I awaited for platform announcement, I sat near the public piano where passengers and homeless alike took turns keying out beautiful music. It was all a dream.