Budapest or Bust!

Hello everyone! I know it has been some time since my last post, but this one should not let you down. I went this weekend to Budapest, which is located in Hungary. I honestly knew nothing about Budapest before we set out on our journey. I just knew a rough location of where it was and that was about it. Well let me tell you, Budapest is a shinning emerald in the crown of European cities. The city is absolutely stunning, I had one of the most enjoyable days of my life wondering the city with friends. 

In front of the Capitol Building, I thinks it is prettier from
the water though.

We took a tourist bus for around 6-7 hours to get there. It was a pretty relaxed ride, the country side was really beautiful. Farms that seemed to be draped of the rolling hills. It was a really wonderful time just watching as rows of vines and other crops blurred past the window. Once we arrived in Budapest we were treated to a small tour from inside the bus. The city has on of the most interesting histories and again the buildings are nothing short of monuments. An interesting fact is that it was once a law that 20% of the cost of building a building here had to be in the cost of the decor. So the bigger the building the more elaborate and intricate was the facade. I really loved it, also they had a Starbucks, now I do not care to much for Starbucks, but I like my American sized cup of coffee, so I was ecstatic that I could get some coffee!  

An old beggar that was
 ignored by everyone around her. 

So after being in the city for a quick tour via bus we all dropped off our things at the hotel and walked around the city for a short time. After most of us went on a tour of the city via the river. Let me suggest if you are visiting Budapest to go on a tour from the water as the sun is setting. Most of the pictures in this blog are from that tour. They had champagne for all the riders and everyone was so jovial. I was like a kid in a candy store, I took over 500 pictures on that hour. You cannot help but to fall in love with beauty of this place. I have not been to Paris yet but I give Budapest for a city of love. What a place to have as the setting of a love story. After our boat ride we all split up and went out into the city. It was St. Patricks day but I really did not want to spend my only night here at a bar. So me and two others went out to find dinner. We had a guide book of the city and found a back ally that had a small Hungarian restaurant. The food was simply fantastic! We shared a bottle of local wine between the three of us. It was such wonderful company and conversation. We ended up talking until the place closed. Once we left we were feeling good from the wine and wanted to climb up the mountain that overlooks the city. It was quite a hike to make, especially on a full stomach of food but once we finally reached top we forgot all about how tired we were and looked over the city. It was again stunning, you had a 360 panoramic view of the city. It was such a humbling thing, to see the massive beauty before us and just how expansive the city was. After standing in awe for a small time we went down the mountain again and decided to take in a bath at the natural hot springs that we heard so much about. Luckily you can rent everything including a bathing suit and the baths are open till four in the morning. So we ended our fantastic day soaking in natural sulfur hot springs. 

 The next day we visited some of the land marks of Budapest. Notably the Hero's circle is amazing. It was built to honor the cities 1000th birthday. The statues are massive and they are all of men who have played a important role in the history of Budapest. After we went walking around the town again from land mark to land mark. It was so much to take in. But I am running out of ways to describe just how beautiful it was. After taking in some more of the city we climbed back on the bus and headed home. We did make a stop for lunch at a small village that was located near a lake. It was fun to watch the fishermen just lazily catch fish. It would be nice to come back once the water warms up and to spend some time here in Budapest.

Other than that I have been visiting some local museums in Croatia. I have been slowly cooking more and more, if you have any good recipes be sure to send them my way! I hope every one is safe and hope to see all my friends back home soon!  God Bless

This is the Capitol building from the water side.