Budapest, Hungary |
July 31- August 2
This was the last of the long string of international trips planned for the first half of my internship. I currently have no other flights booked –which feels a bit odd, but my pocket book is feeling better!
I traveled to Budapest with Beverley (friend from ICF), Vivian (friend from FAO), and Geovanna. This trip stemmed from an evening chat with Beverly and Geo about taking a trip for Beverley’s birthday and so that’s exactly what we did!
It was nice to arrive in Budapest when the sun was still up. We took a cab straight to the hostel/hotel. I am not sure what it was considered, but it felt like a very nice local option. The owner welcomed us and taught us pretty much everything we needed to know about the lay of the land. We were all very surprised at how thorough he was at explaining the city, as if he was our tour guide. He gave us a map and recommended many things to do in Budapest in our short time there.
We really enjoyed the food and atmosphere of the city. Who would have thought, Budapest? But really, I think it would be wonderful to live there. In fact, there is an FAO office (HR office, primarily) in Budapest, so we were joking a bit about how it would be nice if we could work from this office for awhile.
Everyone spoke great English, so even though none of us spoke Hungarian, we were able to get around quite easily. We walked just about everywhere so we could see the city as much as possible.
We were able to check out the Jewish Synagogue, Parliament building, Buda Castle, a huge market, and many other unique sites in Budapest. Saturday night we hiked up Gellert Hill on the Buda side to see a wonderful view of the Pest side (Budapest is split by the Danube river and used to be two different cities...thanks to Lindsey for this fun fact prior to our arrival), which is separated by the river. We enjoyed a lovely duck meal with local wine at a restaurant recommended by one of Geo’s colleagues. Wow, it was so amazing. So rich.
Sunday we were able to see a few more sites and relax in the natural thermal baths. I had never experienced thermal baths before, so I had pictured a super nature-y environment with little man-made additions. WRONG. The thermal baths were literally in a building that looked like an indoor swimming pool back home. Though there were many room that had many 'hot tubs'. Of course each of these baths had different temperatures that were displayed on the wall- some were super hot and some were super cold! People from all over the world were relaxing in the baths – we saw (and heard) lots of Italians.
The trip was very nice overall, but ended with a rip off taxi ride. These taxis guys give you so much guff about trying to pay with a credit card. But none of us had HUFs left to pay. So he took Euros, way too many of them. We found out that our flight was delayed once we made it through security, so we had some extra time to relax, though I think we were all ready to get back to Rome. Bev and I checked in and waited for Vivian and Geo who nearly missed the flight because even though it was delayed, the delay time changed to be significantly less than when first estimated. It was a crazy end to a great weekend. Note to self- if your flight is delayed, constantly check the status in case of changes!
For more photos, click here.
This was the last of the long string of international trips planned for the first half of my internship. I currently have no other flights booked –which feels a bit odd, but my pocket book is feeling better!
I traveled to Budapest with Beverley (friend from ICF), Vivian (friend from FAO), and Geovanna. This trip stemmed from an evening chat with Beverly and Geo about taking a trip for Beverley’s birthday and so that’s exactly what we did!
It was nice to arrive in Budapest when the sun was still up. We took a cab straight to the hostel/hotel. I am not sure what it was considered, but it felt like a very nice local option. The owner welcomed us and taught us pretty much everything we needed to know about the lay of the land. We were all very surprised at how thorough he was at explaining the city, as if he was our tour guide. He gave us a map and recommended many things to do in Budapest in our short time there.
We really enjoyed the food and atmosphere of the city. Who would have thought, Budapest? But really, I think it would be wonderful to live there. In fact, there is an FAO office (HR office, primarily) in Budapest, so we were joking a bit about how it would be nice if we could work from this office for awhile.
Everyone spoke great English, so even though none of us spoke Hungarian, we were able to get around quite easily. We walked just about everywhere so we could see the city as much as possible.
We were able to check out the Jewish Synagogue, Parliament building, Buda Castle, a huge market, and many other unique sites in Budapest. Saturday night we hiked up Gellert Hill on the Buda side to see a wonderful view of the Pest side (Budapest is split by the Danube river and used to be two different cities...thanks to Lindsey for this fun fact prior to our arrival), which is separated by the river. We enjoyed a lovely duck meal with local wine at a restaurant recommended by one of Geo’s colleagues. Wow, it was so amazing. So rich.
Sunday we were able to see a few more sites and relax in the natural thermal baths. I had never experienced thermal baths before, so I had pictured a super nature-y environment with little man-made additions. WRONG. The thermal baths were literally in a building that looked like an indoor swimming pool back home. Though there were many room that had many 'hot tubs'. Of course each of these baths had different temperatures that were displayed on the wall- some were super hot and some were super cold! People from all over the world were relaxing in the baths – we saw (and heard) lots of Italians.
The trip was very nice overall, but ended with a rip off taxi ride. These taxis guys give you so much guff about trying to pay with a credit card. But none of us had HUFs left to pay. So he took Euros, way too many of them. We found out that our flight was delayed once we made it through security, so we had some extra time to relax, though I think we were all ready to get back to Rome. Bev and I checked in and waited for Vivian and Geo who nearly missed the flight because even though it was delayed, the delay time changed to be significantly less than when first estimated. It was a crazy end to a great weekend. Note to self- if your flight is delayed, constantly check the status in case of changes!
For more photos, click here.