Belgium Study Abroad 2012: One Full Day in Budapest

7/06

This morning we woke up fairly early because we only had one full day in Budapest so we wanted to get everything done. We took the metro into the city center and ate breakfast there. We found a small shop that sold sandwiches and drinks for very cheap. Things in Hungary are pretty cheap compared to the western side of Europe. I was able to get a drink and some snacks for a couple of Euros. Then we went to a site called the Lion Fountain; we were waiting there because there was a free walking tour of the city that we wanted to take. The best thing about the Lion Fountain and all of the other fountains in the city was that all of the water was drinkable and free so we refilled our water bottles as often as we could. The walking tour took about 2 hours and we got to see many different sites such as St. Stephen's Basilica, the Széchenyi Lánchíd (Széchenyi Chain Bridge), the Matthias Church and the Fisherman's Bastion. It was very hot and humid outside the entire time so the free water that was available was very helpful. I would pour water on myself to cool myself off while we walked. The tour was very good and we all had a very good time walking around and seeing the city. After we were done with the tour we found a small grocery store to get some lunch. Then we all went to the Labyrinth that was near where the tour ended. It was very interesting to see the different tunnels and passages that were underground and it was also very cold. We spent about an hour going through the Labyrinth and then went to find a bath house to go to. We went to the Széchenyi bath house which was very nice; it had more than 20 baths that were filled with different chemicals and a few outdoor pools as well. It was a very good experience and we stayed there for more than 2 hours. After walking around and getting sweaty all day it was nice to cool off in the pool. Once we were done at the bath house we went back into the center of the city to find a place to eat for dinner. It didn’t take us long to find a nice place to eat for dinner; I really enjoyed how cheap everything was especially the food. I ate some pasta with chicken and we all had a good time sitting and relaxing after walking around so much during the day. By the time we were done it was beginning to get dark so we wanted to see the lights in the city at night. We were able to stand on one side of the Danube River and look at the buildings and bridges lit up. We stayed out for a little while longer enjoying the night time in the city and then we decided to travel back to our hotel. It started to rain when we were walking back but it wasn’t too bad. We had had a great day in the city and we were able to see so many things. By the time we got back, it was around midnight and we all fell asleep very quickly.