Europe Trip, Part I: Budapest.

Well, I did it! I checked off the very first number of my 30 by 30 list: Travel to Europe!

Micah and I visited 5 countries (they were Hungary, Austria, Czech Republic, Germany, and Scotland) in 2 weeks. Since we took about 1500 pictures and saw and did so much, I've decided to break down our adventures by country, and for all but one country we visited only one city in each.

So, let's start back at the beginning of our trip, which takes us to Budapest, Hungary.

We arrived in Budapest on very little sleep, but that did not deter us from getting out and seeing some sights that first afternoon/evening. Lucky for us, we had received a very detailed itinerary from Lauren of what to see and do in Budapest and we tried to stick to it!

We were staying in the Parliament district, so our very first sight was the Parliament building. It is located on the Danube River, which we then walked along to cross the Chain Bridge. The Chain Bridge connects the Buda and Pest sides of the city.

We then took the funicular up to the Castle district, which offers insanely beautiful panoramas of Pest. The view from the top was expansive, far bigger than I had expected.

After grabbing something warm to drink, we continued our walk to Fisherman's Bastion. I was completely unprepared for the beauty of sun setting over Budapest. It was incredible! Micah and I later agreed that it was one of the highlights of our time there.

We woke up pretty early the next morning and our day was full of Budapest experiences. We walked past St. Stephen's Cathedral, although we did not stop in and see St. Stephen's shriveled hand.

Breakfast was at Alexandra Bookstore Cafe and we got there right when it opened and pretty much had our pick of tables. This was my second favorite thing that we did in Budapest. The coffeehouse was a big, open room. The ceiling was ornate and the light bounced off the gold coloring. Two large chandeliers hung on each side of the room. Morning light streamed through the almost floor to ceiling windows. We enjoyed good coffee, the best croissants, and split a traditional hungarian cake which was layered with walnuts and cream.

Next on our itinerary was Terror House, a museum dedicated to remembering the tragic double occupation of Hungary by Nazi Germany and communist Soviet Union. The location of the museum was actually a prison/torture/killing headquarters under both occupations.

Each room is creatively constructed and designed to provide both context of the time period and witness to the atrocities that occurred. It is an incredibly well done museum and I would highly recommend it.

Moving on from the Terror House, we walked to Heroes Square

and then to Széchenyi Thermal Bath. Before going into the bathhouse, our hungry tourist stomachs led us astray and we got duped into buying a terribly stale and overpriced pretzel. Good thing we quickly followed that up with splitting a huge lángos.

I was a little concerned/anxious about going to the Bathhouse. I wanted to go because I had read good reviews about it and Lauren recommended it, but I hate not knowing protocol and the Bathhouse seemed like a recipe for not knowing what to do and how to do it. But once I stepped into the hot water, soaking my tired feet and jet lagged body, I was sold. Not many cities have a local experience so oriented to relaxation, so it was nice to join in and not feel as though I was taking away from other must-see tourist sites.

Afterwards we bought our train tickets to Vienna for the next day and walked to the Jewish Quarter. It was almost dark when we got there, so we didn't see much of the large synagogue. We did manage to find Printa (a local shop Lauren suggested) and buy some postcards, and then had dinner at Kloeves (another Lauren suggestion)! We finished off the night at Szimpla (you can probably guess who we got the recommendation from), a hip bar with tons of space, live music, and a girl selling carrots in a bowl. We were most definitely confused/intrigued by the carrots, and it was one of those times that I really wished I had spoken Hungarian to be able to ask.

Our last morning, we went to á table, a french cafe that we had passed the first night near the place we were staying. It was the BEST breakfast of the entire trip! I had a slice of quiche, served with a tiny side salad, and it was amazing. Seriously, I would venture back to Budapest for this quiche alone.

Stay tuned for Vienna, coming up next!