Europe - Hungary

Ljubljana to Budapest takes eight looooong hours on the train. Made even longer when you're working on a Math for Business prep course :( But the train was on time and brought us into the city comfortably.

We had three full days and four nights to experience the city. Budapest has a much more "big city" vibe than Zagreb and Ljubljana. The architecture throughout the city is very well preserved and striking. It is different from the previous two cities we visited and way more diverse. And the food definitely improved (*cough* for Europe) :) Doner kebabs were actually crispy and spicy/on every block, the falafel tasted good, sandwiches very delicious (and cheap!), and we even found bubble tea. It was no Sweethut but the tapioca was a welcome and familiar sight.

Here's a summary of what we did, some advice if you visit, fun facts, and some of our favorite pictures.

Day 1

• Walk Andrassy ut
• Heroes Square
• Szechnyi Thermal Bath (just viewing, couldn't stand the sulfur smell)
• Vajdahunyad Vara castle

Day 2

• St. Stephen's Basilica climb
• Great Market Hall
• Nighttime view of the Parliament
• Walk Chain Bridge
• Szimpla Kert ("ruin bar")

Day 3

• Fisherman's Bastion
• Buda Castle
• Citadella

Advice if you visit

• The metro is really great and affordable. About $1.25 per ride and it connects the city well. No need to rent a car if you're just looking to see the city. And staying in a more affordable hotel a bit outside of city center is fine as well as long as its near a metro station.
• Food recommendations: Bors Gasztrobar for great sandwiches priced at ~$2.5 each, Ramenka for noodle soups (this is not ramen, no matter what the restaurants claims... but it is good noodle soup), Kádár Etkezde for traditional Hungarian, and kürtőskalács (cylindrical bread desert) from any street vendor.
• Definitely visit some "ruin pubs". They're themed bars using junk items like old TVs, radios, etc. to create a different vibe. Pretty reasonably priced for drinks surprisingly.
• Make sure to specify at train stations if you're buying a one-way ticket. We ended up with a round trip to/from Vienna because Mohit failed to specify we wanted a one-way :( 

Fun facts

• There's a ton of Thai massage places in Budapest... we didn't try it since we'd recently gotten them in Bangkok for very cheap and they were quite painful, but hey if you can't make it to Thailand, its an option.
• American rap is big in Budapest bars and smaller restaurants. 
• A nice Hungarian waitress rapidly explained the menu to us and kept calling her favorite dishes "good good".
• If a drunk Hungarian girl yells "Hallooo" to you, the appropriate response is to mockingly yell "Hallooo" right back in her face as Fate did.
• Europeans are definitely more posey (at least 3 face angles per shot) in pictures than Americans and maybe even Asians. 
• The number one tourist group in Budapest is the British. They're here mainly for the great money conversion rate(we heard a group say 'let's go all out' at a restaurant) and to be obnoxiously loud at bars.

Summary of Pictures

St. Stephen's Basilica where we did not enter because of the forced donation/entry fee. We did pay to climb the 300 steps up for a view, priorities. 

Heroe's Square, we had quite the gloomy day. This is to commemorate the thousandth anniversary of the Magyar conquest of Hungary in 895 but all that was said to Mohit was "something about the tribes, you know the tribes."  

The police car was very busy 

Rain or shine, gotta keep staring at historical buildings

Ghetto Hogwarts in the back/castles/Gothic architecture  

Szechenyi thermal baths! Still located in the same area as the last 4 pictures

Decorations of a ruin bar

Great Market Hall, do you need paprika, sausages, and tablecloths from 120 shops? Definitely come here.

The Parliament is awesome to see at night!

Chain link bridge, the first one to connect Buda and Pest.  

Ladies and gentlemen we present you goulash  and pasta. 

Kurtoskalac bread was Mohit's favorite street treat.

The area right by our hotel

The colors of the roof was the best part

Buda Castle, we felt way too tired to actually go in.

Final view point location, the Citadel. We climbed a giant hill to a fortress and this is the monument.

That striking architecture we were talking about.

A great street to walk around.