Egeszsegedre!

Cheers!

In Hungarian.

We are loving Budapest and learning a few important words: thank you = koszonom (pronounced kuh-suh-nuhm), hello = jo napot (yo nah-poht) and meg egy palinkat = more palinka (a hungarian brandy).

Our first full day in Budapest started around lunch time at Kiado, a lovely little restaurant in the market area. I'm pretty pleased with the vegetarian selections here in Budapest, but I do know things will change once we reach Romania (eek!).

First on our list was visiting a Holocaust memorial along the Danube River. It was about 20-30 feet or so of shoes lined up along the edge of the walkway to represent those executed and thrown into the Danube. The most striking aspect for me was seeing a child's pair of shoes in the midst of all the adult sized shoes.

We continued along the Danube towards the Chain Bridge and climbed up a hill to the Buda Castle. After walking around the grounds we stopped for some hungarian funnel cakes covered with sugar and cinnamon, or chocolate. We took the train back across the Bridge to St. Stephen's Basilica. Luckily, we arrived when mass was scheduled so we got to hear mass in hungarian. It took Sheena and I awhile to figure out where exactly we were in the mass. The basilica was beautiful! I feel like that is still not enough to describe all the details of the statues, the ceilings, and the extravagant altar. We explored for awhile and then sat outside on the steps of the church until we were told by a guard that we weren't allowed to sit there (that's what we gathered since we don't speak or understand hungarian).

Our third time crossing the bridge was to find this lookout that promised gorgeous views of the city. It was near Hotel Gellert (a hotel famous for its thermal baths in Budapest) and involved climbing even more stairs. Ryan led the way, and we eventually made it to the top. I then realized that a statue we had seen all day, way up on a hill, was what we had actually reached. It also turned out to be the Citadel. After a much deserved rest along the benches, Annie saved the day with some granola bars, while we all took in the view and watched the sun start to set. Climbing down proved to be much easier and we stopped at a playground along the way and enjoyed going down some slides as well.

Someone decided we should stop at a market and pick up some food to make dinner back at our lovely hostel (which by the way is awesome! Home-made Hostel, if you are ever in Budapest, we highly recommend it). Iron Chef Leslie and Iron Chef Nick prepared spagetti with a hungarian red sauce (from a jar that none of us could read, but we guessed it was spagetti sauce), veggies, and bread. After dinner, a few beers and many laughs with our new Swedish friends, also staying at the hostel, we ventured out for the night to Szimpla. Szimpla is a cool, semi-outdoor bar, with good music, cheep Dreher (a beer equivalent to maybe a Miller Light), and interesting decor.

Today, we are getting ready to explore a labyrinth, a synegogue, a couple Holocaust museums, and whatever else looks cool along the way.

-Leslie