Welcome to Budapest

After several hours of lugging around a far too heavy bag, I have finally made it to Budapest! I met another Madison student at the airport, and we took a legitimate taxi to our hostel. We are staying at the Aboriginal Hostel in downtown Pest (surprisingly one side of the Danube River is called Buda and the other side is called Pest!). Funny enough the hostel is Australian themed (just like the name!), which is nice because the place is very colorful and bright. 


So far Budapest has been very relaxing. Most of our days have been spent wondering around trying to get acquainted with the town. The biggest struggle for us has been trying to find a restaurant. The first time I went to a restaurant, they brought us Hungarian menus! Guess what you're going to eat! Thankfully when he came back and realized we spoke English, he brought out English menus. Most restaurants have multi-lingual menus, which is really nice! Another interesting thing about Hungarian dining is the slow service and no tipping. Eating out is much more laid back and social here. We often have to wait a long time for the waiter to take our orders and a REALLY LONG time for the bill to arrive. It is very nice in comparison to the rushing in the States. 


Walking around Budapest has been a pleasant, but cold, treat! The city is beautiful and run down at the same time. You can turn corners and find pretty little places, and the buildings are very colorful. At the same time, there are some very old buildings, many with bullet holes in them. They look like they are abandoned. Interestingly, many restaurants and bars are located in the basement of these "abandoned" buildings. Its much more intimidating to go inside! We finally made it to the Danube River, that splits the two cities. It was gorgeous, especially at night. Many of the buildings (and bridges) have lights at night, which illuminates the city! 


Koszonom (Thank you) for reading!

Blog Set Up

Hello Everyone!

I am still in Madison, setting up my blog to go to Budapest, Hungary. I am currently ear deep in things I am leaving behind or taking with me! I am using this blog to tell everyone some memorable events from my semester abroad. I hope you all enjoy my blog! Please email/message me your address because post cards are a dying art, and I love sending post cards!!!

Thanks!
Caroline