Budapest, Gyula and Szeged, Hungary (February/March 2014)
Moving on to the next trip...We spent the winter break of 2014 in Hungary - in Budapest sightseeing, in Gyula meeting up with Julcsi's family, and in Szeged just hanging out at home.
I already had a proud moment on the plane as I managed to order a beer in Hungarian :D. Woot woot! Also, this was our first stay at the best hostel in the world, Lavender Circus on Múzeum körút. By this point, we've stayed there multiple times and will continue to go back. The owner is an artist and this is why the walls of the corridors as well as the rooms have the most amazing drawings everywhere. Each room is unique and each time you visit, there is something new to be spotted on the walls. This time, we got the Galaxy room, which is like a spaceship. The bed is high up, too, and the drawings include different planets.
On our first full day, we went to Deák tér for some Starbucks and then continued to the Parliament where we had a guided tour. The building is completely gorgeous both from the outside and from the inside but unfortunately the people working there are completely rotten. A country with a parliament like that is hardly a democracy. The tour itself isn't very long so you might want to be prepared for that.
Our next stop was Szent István Bazilika and the Panorama tower with spectacular views over Budapest. Be prepared to climb quite some stairs to reach the top, though!
Then we had a coffee break at Sugar!, which is both a coffee and candy shop. I'll let the pictures speak for themselves!
Quite cool, no? Anyway, in the afternoon, we went to the circus, which was a fantastic experience! The only thing I didn't like was that they had elephants and horses because I think they're trained through fear and that's animal torture. But anything that had people in the performance was spectacular! The performers came from many different countries - there were Romanians, a group of Chinese men, a Brazilian spiderman who was walking upside down, hanging from the ceiling...
Afterwards, we went for lángos before meeting up with Julcsi's friend Ági quite close to our hostel. It was a very active day to say the least :D!
The next morning, we checked out, left our stuff at the hostel and went to Buda to see my favourite building in Budapest, The Fisherman's Bastion.
Then we returned to Szent István to see the chopped off hand of Szent István - it's also known as the holy right hand and it's a relic...Why someone thinks it's cool to chop someone's hand off beats me, and I'm so sorry to say it but I nearly puked from the mere thought that someone's mummified hand has been kept like this for centuries. Anyway, whatever rocks your boat...:D
In the afternoon, we caught the train to Gyula, where we mostly met up with Julcsi's relatives. I'll post a couple of pictures just for the sake of it. We also went to the chiropractor's because I was really suffering with my right shoulder, and the spa. Anyway, on to the pictures...
After a couple of days in Gyula, we still went to Szeged for two nights. In Szeged, we mostly took care of some practical things and met up with Julcsi's friend Csilla, but also had time to have a Banános Titanic at A Cappella!
It's also worth mentioning that our flight back to Tampere was late because our plane had been hit by a lightning! Aaaargh! I feel like nothing ever goes as planned when it comes to flying out of Hungary.
Anyway, the next update will be coming right up and it's about Turku, Finland :).
I already had a proud moment on the plane as I managed to order a beer in Hungarian :D. Woot woot! Also, this was our first stay at the best hostel in the world, Lavender Circus on Múzeum körút. By this point, we've stayed there multiple times and will continue to go back. The owner is an artist and this is why the walls of the corridors as well as the rooms have the most amazing drawings everywhere. Each room is unique and each time you visit, there is something new to be spotted on the walls. This time, we got the Galaxy room, which is like a spaceship. The bed is high up, too, and the drawings include different planets.
On our first full day, we went to Deák tér for some Starbucks and then continued to the Parliament where we had a guided tour. The building is completely gorgeous both from the outside and from the inside but unfortunately the people working there are completely rotten. A country with a parliament like that is hardly a democracy. The tour itself isn't very long so you might want to be prepared for that.
Our next stop was Szent István Bazilika and the Panorama tower with spectacular views over Budapest. Be prepared to climb quite some stairs to reach the top, though!
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| The staircase! |
Quite cool, no? Anyway, in the afternoon, we went to the circus, which was a fantastic experience! The only thing I didn't like was that they had elephants and horses because I think they're trained through fear and that's animal torture. But anything that had people in the performance was spectacular! The performers came from many different countries - there were Romanians, a group of Chinese men, a Brazilian spiderman who was walking upside down, hanging from the ceiling...
Afterwards, we went for lángos before meeting up with Julcsi's friend Ági quite close to our hostel. It was a very active day to say the least :D!
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| People skating in the city park. |
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| Mátyás templom. |
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| The Chain Bridge. |
In the afternoon, we caught the train to Gyula, where we mostly met up with Julcsi's relatives. I'll post a couple of pictures just for the sake of it. We also went to the chiropractor's because I was really suffering with my right shoulder, and the spa. Anyway, on to the pictures...
After a couple of days in Gyula, we still went to Szeged for two nights. In Szeged, we mostly took care of some practical things and met up with Julcsi's friend Csilla, but also had time to have a Banános Titanic at A Cappella!
It's also worth mentioning that our flight back to Tampere was late because our plane had been hit by a lightning! Aaaargh! I feel like nothing ever goes as planned when it comes to flying out of Hungary.
Anyway, the next update will be coming right up and it's about Turku, Finland :).
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