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Location Date North America 1513728000 Europe 
1513382400 -
Location Date Ireland 1513382400 Italy 1512777600 Croatia 1511049600 Slovenia 1506207600 Hungary
1505862000 Czech Republic 1505516400 Germany 1504998000 Belgium 1504825200 Netherlands 1504393200 - Budapest
Budapest is but a memory now. (We are in Ljubljana, Slovenia now, after a 7 hour bus ride in pouring rain)
So Budapest....
We stayed in the most beautiful apartment in the Jewish Quarter, which is a super-hip neighborhood. The apartment featured a chandelier over the bed, beautiful furnishings, and two balconies. However, we arrived on a Friday night and the bars outside the apartment were ROCKING all night. I mean all night - at 6 am the party finally stopped. Ditto for Saturday night. We got a bit of a reprieve on Sunday night, but they were back at it on Monday night. But only til 4 am - it was a work night after all.
Budapest is a beautiful city, with a mix of ancient and modern architecture. Gritty too. As with other European cities, a good amount of graffiti. We saw more of a homeless population here. This is in stark contrast to the myriad displays of opulence - Gucci, the Ritz Carlton, Rolex, and Michael Kors were are within walking distance of our apartment. It an expensive city, still dealing in forints, instead of Euros. (258 ft = 1USD - so we got approximately 50,000 forints for 200 dollars). It is strange to pay 11,000 of anything for something.
We visited many places (The Castle, The Great Synagogue, St. Stephens Basilica, The Szechnyl Baths, and more). We did a Hop On, Hop Off bus, and a boat tour, and we walked many miles, and we just touched the surface of what Hungary has to offer. Really, stunning. ( See pics! )
What I am really struck by is how difficult it is to meet people or to strike up a conversation. People are nice enough, but not warm or engaging, which I find to be disappointing. Steve and I have had many discussions about this. We noticed it from about Berlin on. We are wondering if it is a post-communist trait, or of course it could be that that's just their cultural leaning. Or it could be that our American perspective is clouding reality. Many evenings and glasses of wine could be spent on this fascinating topic.
Our take: Budapest is beautiful and worthy of a visit, especially if you are young, like to party all night, and have money to spend:)
- comments
Puffin Lovin Muffin MAn Awesome. Remember that Hungary and East Berlin were shut off from the rest of the world, for the most part for decades. they are not accustomed to socializing like us. We were in Budapest in 1988 and people didn't even look at each other. WEird but it has come a long way.
Kimberly Hirst Thanks Mike for sharing your insight. That helps us to put things into context. We loved many things about Budapest, but the social implications of communism have lasting effects. Thanks for sharing in our adventure!