Bathing in Budapest

Once again, I'm sitting in an airport reflecting on my trip and typing up a blog post on my iPod. But this time, I'm not anywhere near where I had planned to be while typing this. Originally, I had a later flight home than my friends, and had planned on passing the time by going back to my favorite place in Budapest to reflect and write before leaving for Dublin. That was until I had realized I booked my flight for April 8th, not April 21st. Yeah. Ouch. Everything turned out okay, except for having to pay an excruciating amount of money to get a new flight home. So to ease the strain of this minor fiasco, I'm going to pretend I'm in my favorite place, and go about reflecting and writing as I had planned. Here we go.

For the first time this trip, I'm not sitting in an airport as I type my blog post. Instead, I've decided on a much more serene place for reflection. It is by far my favorite place in Budapest: Margaret Island. It's a park situated right in the middle of the Danube river, and it is one of the most peaceful places I have ever been. The other day my friends and I barely said a word to each other as we strolled through and laid in the grass because we were so absorbed by it's serenity.You must allow me to tell you how ardently I admire and love Margaret Island (points for recognizing the literary reference). It is so beautiful here that I just want to curl up in the blankets of grass beneath the lilacs and the trees and let time and the clouds pass me by. I could easily spend the rest of my days with Margaret Island. Do I sound like a lush? I'm just crazy about Margaret.

Budapest has been amazing. We have had so much fun roaming around this city. Our first day we rented bikes and peddled all over town. It was an awesome way to explore! We saw Hero's Square, Buda Castle, the Parliament Building, and the Market where we gorged ourselves on traditional Hungarian food. At night we strolled along the Danube, admiring all the beautifully illuminated buildings, and enjoyed an amazing view of the city from the front of St. Matthias which is perched on top of a huge hill. The entire experience was mesmerizing.

On day two we climbed to the top of St. Stephen's Basilica for another amazing aerial view of Budapest. We also saw the preserved hand of St. Stephen. (People are so bizarre. Let the poor dead man keep his hand!) For lunch we met up with a friend of a friend whose studying in Budapest and got the low down on Hungarian life. It was great to make a new friend and hang with a semi-local! In the afternoon we treated ourselves to a spa day in a traditional Hungarian bathhouse - something that Budapest is known for. We hung out in the different hot tubs, enjoyed the sun from the heated outdoor pool, relaxed in the sauna, and got aroma therapy massages. I was so relaxed I could have melted right into Budapest. It was wonderful.

That night we wet to a pub called Szimpla which is allegedly the third coolest pub in the world, and I'm not disagreeing. Its called a "ruin pub" because its in a huge broken down old building that basically has really cool and colorful decorations plastered all over it to hide the fact that the building is an abandoned factory. It's a lot cooler than it sounds. You'll just have to trust me.

By the time we got to Budapest I was a bit picture pooped out, so unfortunately (for you, mostly ... sorry) I didn't take as many pictures as I could have. But I do have some! And can always steal some from my friends.

I often wondered on this trip what I'm going to think when I look back on this part of my life years from now. I wonder in what ways this experience will affect my life. I'm just so thankful for every second I spend in Europe because I know how lucky I am to have these life changing experiences. I'll be saving every single penny of my kids' money so they can do the same one day. I never realized how important it is to travel the world and see it with your own eyes, your own heart, and your own mind. I wish I could give this experience to everyone.

I'll soon be back in Dublin and will no longer be able to pretend that I don't have to take exams. Hello, reality. I really have to crack down on my studying because I don't think I've ever been this unprepared for finals. But hey, if I fail all my classes it'll at least make a good story one day, am I right? 

Once I'm back in Dublin, the next plane I get on will be heading back to the states. But until then, I've got a lot of drinking, I mean studying, to do between now and then, and I'll be very busy squeezing every last ounce of enjoyment out of Ireland. My friend and I have compiled a bucket list of things to accomplish in Ireland before we leave. I'll be sure to tell you all about it in a future post.

Until next time, cheers friends!