February 25, 2019 – DIS/PNW Reunion in Budapest

In 2015, I studied abroad in Copenhagen, Denmark at a school called DIS. This used to stand for Danish Institute for Study Abroad, but somehow, it now stands for Study Abroad in Scandinavia. They made the switch when the school opened a second campus in Stockholm. A really cool move, especially because you can choose to do one semester in Denmark and a second in Sweden. It’s just a little silly that they still have the old acronym without the meaning tied to it.

Anyways. When I studied at DIS, I stayed with a host family because I had heard that this was the best way to get to know some locals and get a more personal look at everyday life in a foreign country. I had no idea this living situation would also give me a second (very tall, very blonde) family! And DIS didn’t forget the importance of making friends at school, either. For each geographical region made up of a couple neighboring towns, they formed what they called a “homestay network.” At the start of the semester, one event was hosted per network to help us meet other students in our area. This might make it easier to go out with people into the city together, hang out at home, or just meet new people we wouldn’t have otherwise met. I spent a lot of time with one girl who lived across the street from me, and we commuted together to our class that we had together. (Okay, so she lived across a big street and way up a hill around a pond – it took about twenty minutes to walk between our houses, but she was still the closest student to me.) We had a couple other homestay events that various people put on, and we had some more informal get-togethers.

Another girl I met through this homestay program was Denae. She lived in the next town over, in Allerød. She’s been teaching English and living in Budapest for the last year and a half, so when I planned my stop here, I knew I had to reach out to her! We planned to meet up on my first full day in the city.

I landed in Budapest around dinner time and made my way to my hostel. During my planning, I was excited to see that Budapest hostels were all very highly rated and extremely cheap. (Around $10-15 per night!) Additionally, several of them offered free dinners for their residents. I am big on hostel-provided dinners. At other hostels with this uncommon amenity, dinner usually costs anywhere from $5-12. But the food has always been amazing and bottomless, and some of them have included bottomless wine, too. Not a bad deal, right? My favorite part of this experience, though, is not the cheap, delicious food, as hard as that is to believe. My favorite part is that this seems to be the easiest way to meet other hostel tenants and have real conversations that make it past the, “Where are you from? Where are you going? Where have you been?” that is standard hostel banter. Hostel breakfasts, even when free, still don’t quite achieve this socialization aspect. People wake up at different times, they’re on their way out to catch a bus or a train or a walking tour, and they’re all half asleep. (Somehow, some of my best hostel-curated travel buddies, Teo and Bart, were actually found during breakfast, but I’ll count these as wonderful exceptions.) Dinner is a different story, though. Dinner starts at a designated time, and everyone sits down together, and everybody is forced to converse or be awkward for a solid hour or more. Most people choose to converse. I chose this particular hostel because it was super cheap, had some crazy review rating in the 9.8 range, and it included free dinner.

Despite all of this greatness in the world of Budapest hostels, apparently they are also known for their partying. Most of the highest rated hostels included disclaimers such as, **This is a SOCIAL hostel! Do NOT book this hostel if you do not want to socialize!!!*** And these same hostels included countless reviews stating that the hostel staff were amazing partiers when they played drinking games and took the tenants out on pub crawls. If you know me at all, you know this is not really my scene. My one shred of hope was that this hostel also included a review that said, “Great place to party, but also a good place to just chill if you want.” I was hoping people would let me chat over dinner and then just…. Chill.

I checked in just as dinner was starting and made my way out to socialize. I ended up latching on pretty quickly to a German boy and boy from Northern Italy (in an area where they actually speak German). Dinner was…. Free. So I can’t complain much. But it wasn’t multi-course, and there was no bottomless wine. There was some salad and bread, but both of these had been depleted by the time I made my entrance, so I was resigned to gain my sustenance from a gigantic bowl of udon-sized noodles in a very light layer of red sauce. I did indulge in a Somersby, though.

The German boy was travelling with two other Germans, and these friends were already pretty drunk. One of them came up, flicked his lighter in his friend’s face multiple times, made comments about his manhood, and told me I was pretty, but he would be disappointed if I ever cut my hair. A lovely gent. The whole hostel was headed out to a nighttime booze cruise on the Danube, and as lovely as the night cruise on the river part sounded, the booze part sounded a little less enticing. I said goodnight to the Germans and made my way to get ready for bed. Thankfully, with practically the whole hostel on the boat, I was able to fall asleep quickly and sleep soundly.

The next morning, I was greeted by the sun as I made my way toward the central market.

The market is held daily in a giant building that looks like an old train station. There was only one pastry/bakery shop in the whole building, and I made sure to grab some goodies. I also grabbed some fresh squeezed orange juice. There were many produce stands and meat stands on the first floor, and I couldn’t help but peer warily at every butcher shop I passed. I’ve never seen meats like this just laid out for the world to see: full pig legs with the feet still on and the other end roughly hacked off, metal pans filled with livers and other unidentifiable organs, and the kicker: actual brains!!!!!!!!!!

Dude, I thought about posting the picture of the pig legs, but I just don’t think you want to see that. (Let me know if you do, though, and I’ll send it to you personally, haha.)

The second floor contained food stands, souvenir shops, and craft stands. My favourites were the pottery, the embroidery, and the sewing/ quilting. There was one woman sitting in the corner of her stand and diligently, painstakingly weaving together intricate beaded bracelets, necklaces, and rings. They were so beautiful, but they were also so flashy that I couldn’t think of a single occasion to wear them to.

It was a struggle to not buy everything on the shelves. I settled for food, though. A big bowl of goulash, some bread, and a glass of wine, all for about six bucks. There was a three-man gypsy band playing in the corner, and it was delightful.

Then Denae came and got me, and we set out to explore her new city. (She’s actually from the Seattle, area, too, and during our chatting, we found out she went to school with one of my close friends from college.)

We decided to cross the water and head up to Buda Castle. We were supposed to take public transportation, but it kept changing its mind on us, so we ended up walking almost the whole way. No complaints here. It was a beautiful day for a walk across the famous Chain Bridge!

When we reached the other side, though, I found out that Buda Castle was at the top of a large hill. There was even a funicular to take passengers to the top. Not for us, though! We continued our walk. Denae asked if I keep a diligent workout regimen when I travel, and I laughed. Running after busses, climbing towers, and walking all day is good enough for me!

The castle was nice and grand up close, but the real view lay across the water.

After taking in the sights, we made our way along the hillside toward the Fisherman’s Bastion and Matthias Church.

It was fun to hear about Denae’s new life as an English teacher. I know a lot of people do this – live in foreign countries and teach English to children – but I’ve never known someone personally who took on this daunting task. It still seems crazy to me to teach a foreign language to someone without being able to speak theirs, but I suppose that can have its advantages.

It was also just fun to talk to Denae. She has a presence that is at once regal and silly, and she has a way of making everything sound grand. At one point, she asked me, “So, what are your wildest dreams…” For life? For my career that I’m so unsure about? For my children’s universities? (That one’s easy. I want one to go to UW and one to go to school in Boston. If there are others, they can go wherever their little hearts desire.) “…for Budapest?” she finished after what was really a hardly-there pause, but I was able to fill it in with all these endings, nonetheless. I let out a laugh that I hope didn’t sound too awkward and answered the question like a normal person, I think.

We made it to Matthias Church after about ten minutes, and the sun shined brightly off its Gothic façade and colorful tiled roof.

Then we walked down to Fisherman’s Bastion, a fairytale-like construction on the edge of the hillside with a beautiful view of the river and the parliament building on the other shore.

Denae had to head back to get ready for a little hangout that evening, and I stayed behind to enjoy my hot wine and check out the surroundings a bit more.

The wine was really quite strong, and I was left a little tipsy afterward. Tehe. Whoops. I also stayed up there on the bastion a bit longer than I should have, so that when I went down to climb the tower of Matthias Church, I was notified that climbing only happens every hour on the hour, and I’d missed the four o’clock tour, the last tour of the day, by ten minutes. Ugh. I considered trying to run over to Buda Castle to see the museum inside, but it closed at six, and I don’t like being rushed in museums. I decided to see the inside of Matthias Church for now and try to come back for the museum and tower tomorrow.

Ignore the stray thumb in that last one. Tehe.

The interior of the church was quite lovely, but I was pretty lost on what to do when I made my big exit. I resigned to hanging out on the Bastion to watch the sunset. Can’t go wrong with sunset views, right?

I stayed past sunset, too, until all the lights turned on at the parliament building and the Chain Bridge.

Very pretty, very pretty. Here’s some more pictures.

On my walk back along the hillside, I stopped at a supermarket and bought some of this weird colorful stuff.

Candy, I think? Or playdough? I’m gonna wait until I get home to find out.

Buda Castle and its inner courtyard were beautiful in the night lights.

The real reason I had ventured over to the castle, though, was to visit the national library. The lady at the front desk gave me a puzzled look and told me it was a modern library, and, “It’s not beautiful.” I gave her an equally puzzled look and said, “Yes. I just want to sit and read.”

This just seemed to puzzle her even further. It was all-around a very confusing interaction. She finally said that I could come in to read, but I would have to buy a day pass. To visit the library???? You let me down, Budapest. Sad, sad. I made my way back out into the cold without setting eyes on a single book.

The walk back across the water was all black and yellows.

As I approached my hostel again, I found a giant Ferris wheel and some lamp posts wrapped in cozy sweaters. Crochet really is big here.

Dinner tonight was a bit fancier (and tastier!) than the first. Unfortunately, this meant it took a bit longer. Food wasn’t on the table until nearly 8:30, though 7:30 is the advertised meal time. At 7:30, I remember seeing some yummy looking quartered potatoes on a pan. Little did I know that they still had to be baked, mashed, and then baked again before they were ready for dinner. Beans with mashed potatoes over the top and baked. Simple, but surprisingly delicious. I also made sure to get plenty of salad and bread this time.

I met a girl from Uruguay, several girls from Australia, and a boy from Montreal who was raised bilingual and had a full-on American accent. That was a little confusing for my head.

Luckily, though, I didn’t have to stick around for the drinking games, because Denae had invited me over to her little shindig! I was greeted by a quiet courtyard and a cup of mulled wine. My kind of party.

The rest of the party was made up of current and past coworkers, and it was very interesting to see what kind of bunch was educating the young minds of Budapest. We were all about the same age. There was one American couple who had come over together. He had studied European history in college and was now teaching history to middle schoolers. He looked the part, and he brought a home-printed and self-laminated free version of Secret Hitler for us to play. It all seemed very appropriate. His gal pal studied Hungarian in college and was busy studying the language and doing translations into English. A Hungarian-enthused power couple if ever I did see one.

Another couple was made up of an adorable, self-deprecating British boy and his sassy Hungarian girlfriend. My favorite quote of his throughout the night was, “I hate youths because I’m no longer a youth.” She was also a hoot. As the group exchanged horror stories about work, she regaled us with the fact that she was being required to use a fake name in class, so that her students wouldn’t know she wasn’t a native English speaker. When asked if the parents knew of her true identity, she responded, “They know that my mom is Hungarian, but they don’t know that my dad is also Hungarian.” Sneaky, sneaky. Her British accent was pretty convincing (the natural accent she has when speaking English), and I doubt you would catch her tiny slips if English wasn’t your first language.

She let out several fun little bits Hungarian knowledge throughout the night. At one point, we got on the topic of dragons, and she told us of a Hungarian dragon named Shoo Shoo (I am almost certainly spelling that wrong), “and the whole time, everyone feels bad for him because he’s only got one head.” Apparently Hungarian dragons are meant to have three or seven. Who’da thunk?

My favorite story, though, came when we started talking about the upcoming Easter holiday. I guess there is a tradition in Hungary where boys and men dump water on the heads of girls and women. It’s called an “Easter sprinkling.” We all thought this was a joke at first, but she supplied enough stories to convince us thoroughly. They don’t use buckets any more. Now they keep it to the more civilized kitchen cup. Every Easter morning, as she’s eating breakfast, she knows that if any of the her brothers, or even her father, get anywhere near her, she is about to have a cup of water dumped on her head.

She has four brothers.

It gets worse, though. The children get little presents and candies for the holiday, and when the boys perform this ritual, she is then supposed to give them some of her candy, “To thank them for watering me.”

WHAT?!

I’m sorry, but WHAT?!

Not to get political, but DOWN WITH THE PATRIARCHY.

I would not stand for that crap, dude. Not without retaliation.

But I digress.

The evening was lovely, and the only hiccup was when we all remarked how delightful it smelled of a sudden. Like cinnamon and sweet things and happiness. Denae instantly popped up and ran into the kitchen after the wine, but we called after her that we didn’t think that was the source of the sweetly smell. Our retorts were quieted when the cinnamon smell was quickly replaced with that of a cheery smoky scent.

Turns out alcohol burns off. Hahaha.

It was really nice to meet up with Denae again after three years, and it was lovely to hang out with people to have a cozy, normal game night. Almost felt like home. Thanks for the warm welcome, Denae!

That night, though I was alone when I went to bed, I was woken up just after two by some super loud New Zealand girls who stormed into the room, turned on all the lights, and proceeded to yell about how horrible their night of partying had been. When the two American girls in the room entered, they realized I was there, right by the door, trying to sleep. This did not deter the loud girls. Ugh. Sometimes sleeping in a room with seven strangers has its downsides.

Maybe it was that hour of sleep I missed in the middle of the night, or maybe it was the fact that I couldn’t put my book down, or maybe it was just my overall tiredness, but I didn’t leave the hostel until two the next day. I propped myself up in the dining area with my pastries from the market, and I settled in for a good, long read. I didn’t look up until I finished my book.

I did eventually convince myself to go outside, though. My first stop was Stephen’s Cathedral.

This cathedral interior was so beautiful. Quite possibly my favorite ever. All yellows and golds with touches of beautiful blue, mixing and dancing on the walls and the ceilings in a dramatic swirl of perfect design.

And there was a tower. (:

On my way out I came across a langos restaurant and stopped in for a bite. (Because I never stop eating, apparently.) Langos is a traditional Hungarian fry bread. I believe the standard is to eat it plain, with garlic and butter, or with sour cream. I opted for the works, though.

So. Filling. Luckily they gave me a little doggie bag, so I packed my leftovers and made my way back across the Chain Bridge once again.

A quick stop at the Bastion.

Then up Matthias’s tower!

The tour guide explained that the largest bells were so big, holes had to be cut to make one of the windows bell-shaped so the bells could be lifted in by giant cranes.

It was very beautiful up there, and it was exciting to see the colorful roof tiles in full view. The church has been reconstructed and restored many times due to fires and wars, but it stands tall and proud, now!

Even though I had even less time tonight compared to the night before, I still made my way to the museum held in Buda Castle. I would be strategic and efficient, I told myself. Then when I bought my ticket, I found out the under-25 discount only applied to EU residents, and the exhibits actually close at 5:30, even though the museum’s advertised closing time is 6:00. That would give me 45 minutes to ‘efficiently explore,’ but it was still only €6 to enter, so I said, “What the heck,” and off I went!

I actually really liked the museum’s collection. It had a good mix of Hungarian, international, modern, and traditional.

There were also some nice views from the upper floor windows.

I don’t think I’ve ever walked so quickly through a museum, but I actually managed to see the whole thing! Amazing, I know. I felt a bit silly, and I obviously would have preferred to have an extra hour, at least, but it was a nice way to spend my evening. I really did love the collection here.

Oh, and remember that “Easter sprinkling” I was telling you about? Well, at one point, as I was walking through a historical section of the museum, a certain painting off to the side caught my eye. I took a closer look, and quickly thought to myself, “No… It can’t be.”

But it was. “Easter Sprinkling” is literally the title of this painting. Do you see what’s going on here?! Do you see how all of the women are trying to run away? Off to the right, a man is literally yanking a woman back by the braid so he can douse her in water!!!! What is this madness?

I think the topping on the cake is that this painting is about two hundred years old, which means that even though it was obviously not okay back then, they still do it today. Dude. Come on.

On a lighter note: dinner. Just outside the museum, I snagged some mulled wine and goulash for about six dollars. Yum. And warm. Between the heat lamps and all the hot liquids, I almost forgot I was eating in below-zero (Celsius) temperatures.

Then back across again in the yellow and black.

I walked along the bank of the Danube for a while and found an art piece created to honor the Jews who were killed in Budapest during World War II. Pairs and pairs of shoes, in all shapes and sizes, facing the water.

I kept walking after that until I was standing in front of the parliament building.

Then a long walk back to the hostel to grab my swimsuit! I decided to skip dinner tonight so I would have time to visit the Szechenyi Thermal Baths, a massive complex with fifteen indoor pools, three giant outdoor pools, and ten saunas. I went into every single pool and sauna, with the exception of the outdoor lap pool! (Swimming caps were required for the lap pool.)

I felt like I was going to die in the first sauna. It was so hot and steamy, I couldn’t even breathe without the air burning my lungs from the inside out. I have no idea how the man in there was just sitting calmly. That was my least favorite sauna, and I lasted about ten seconds. My two favorite saunas had potpourri-type aromatic dried plants inside to make the air smell and feel delightful. There were also saunas with light therapy, some with crazy bubbling sounds playing, and some with so much steam clouding the air that I couldn’t see my hand held out in front of me.

As for the indoor pools, most ranged from slightly-warm to a good bath temperature. I would only say one or two came anywhere close to ‘hot tub’ temperature. There were also several cold ‘plunge pools,’ which I don’t think were included in the count, and made sure to pop into these whenever I came across one. The water in these was always an untrustworthy greenish color, but I didn’t let that deter me. Don’t want to overheat!

I saved the massive outdoor pools for last. The first was a proper hot tub temperature, and it felt heavenly to sink in after running through the freezing air to get to it from the main building. This pool had a sign warning that maximum immersion time should not exceed twenty minutes. I believe this was the hottest of all the pools in the complex. The middle pool was the lap pool. I dipped my toes in and lamented about the silly swim cap rule. It was the perfect swimming temperature.

The third pool was the ‘adventure pool.’ This one reminded me of the weird pool in Rovaniemi that was ringed with various jets and fountains to experiment with, but on a much larger scale. There were two boys casually playing chess at a table jutting out from one of the walls. Massage falls streamed down all around. Jets jumped up or out to surprise you with every step. And in the middle was a bubble pool ringed with a small lazy river. I played around in this pool until we were kicked out at 9:45.

I didn’t see how I could possibly have my phone with me whilst swimming and sauna-ing all night, so I don’t have any pictures, but here’s one from a Budapest tourism website. The concentric rings are the bubble pool and the lazy river. Pretty massive place!

All around a lovely day, and it felt just as full as the last, despite my slow start. I slept well that night and woke up early to take advantage of my last few hours in the city before my flight.

Greeted by the sun, I grabbed a cappuccino and headed to Heroes Square and the city park surrounding it.

I also got a chimney cake for breakfast. Yum.

The park contained a little castle and cathedral, and I explored these and climbed the little tower.

Then some mulled wine to warm me up. I couldn’t finish it fast enough, though, and I really had to head back to catch my bus to the airport, so I dumped the remnants into my tiny water bottle. Ha! It was a little awkward, and it was still so hot that it made it hard to hold the water bottle if I wasn’t wearing gloves.