4 countries. 5 days. I'm Huuuuuuungary.

This past weekend we finally got to leave the Czech Republic for a fun yet exhausting trip! We started out with none other than a hike to the Maiden Castle ruins above the Vltava River where I was reppin my Cal Poly pride and got to pet a goat.  Our main stop for the night was Cesky Krumlov the cutest town I’ve seen in the Czech Republic thus far. We went on a Castle tour where no pictures were allowed, but Marisa luckily snuck one of the theater, which was my favorite moment of the tour because it felt like a scene straight out of Finding Neverland.

Cesky Krumlov

The illegal photo of the theater.

Vienna, Austria. 

Day two we left for Vienna where we were rewarded some Schnitzel and amazing pumpkin soup after hiking down a mile long hill of the vineyard we were not warned about (big surprise). These unexpected hikes are really starting to get to us, as everyone threatened to not leave the restaurant if we were going to have to walk back up that hill. To be honest, the rest of Vienna is a blur and my first impression of this city just was not the best. It was very upscale and there is no need to grab a map of the city because you will never find where you are. We had a lovely meal at my friend’s Aunt’s house and then we were off to the museums that happened to be staying open until 3 am that night. I just wanted to see some dinosaur bones and then I’d be happy. We went to a couple museums but the fact that I was not going to see Ben Stiller or Owen Wilson I decided my night at the museum was over after one of the statues waved bye to Erica and I (not kidding). 

In front of the Belvedere in Vienna, Austria.

The next day we visited the Belvedere Palace’s gardens and went to the art museum where they were celebrating the 150^th anniversary of Gustav Klimt known for his painting “The Kiss”. Getting lost just one last time, Rachel and I made it to the bus on time and we were quite ready to say goodbye to Vienna and wake up in Budapest!

After crossing the border into Hungary, we took a quick stop at the oldest abbey in Hungary, Pannonhalma which began in 996. We went on a guided tour with the coolest monk I will ever encounter wearing his jeans and vans. The best part was the library. 

Buda and Pest. "Budapest? More like BudaBEST!" -Sunny

Budapest has won favorite city by far! The fact that we were here for two nights also made us feel way more relaxed on time and had more time to explore. We started the night at a fancy restaurant where we were served the best soup in the world, great wine, and some goulash and then took a night walk to the castle. They had told us that it would be warm on this trip…I don’t know if that meant we have totally different definitions of what “warm” means but I was freezing the entire time since I did not pack a proper jacket. Good thing it was so BUDAful (had to) that I didn’t mind walking in the cold. The next day started with a ride on the metro that sounded like you just won a video game at the end of each stop, and we were off to the Szechenyi Spas. 

I stuck my feet in but Erica and I decided we wanted to explore the city a little more. The whole day consisted of adventures, taking “senior pics”, eating hummus, going to the Central Market Hall, seeing a random statue of Ronald Reagan, and Jan, our program director/favorite Czech, ran and jumped onto a really tall statue like a beast. 

This has been the most moving Holocaust memorial I have come across on this trip. These shoes represent the Jews of Budapest that were lined up and killed along the Danube waterfront during World War II. 

Everything about Budapest was amazing and the fact that I’m surrounded by such great friends made it even better. A must go is the Szimpla Bar which is the 3^rd best bar in the world and THE best bar that I will ever go to. I don't know if I will ever find a place where bathtubs and old car parts are some of the provided seating. I’ve been slacking on the pictures a bit but it is so hard to capture the places we go through a camera lens. Guess I will just have to come back!

Leaving our mark at the Szimpla Bar. Hope to see you again.

Do I even need to talk about Bratislava? It is the capital of Slovakia and this is the one picture I took while there:

I never thought….

• I would get tired of seeing castles
• Eat a pepper that was even too hot for ME to handle
• Prefer my broken Czech when surrounded by German and Hungarian
• Be provided with Hungarian meats and cheeses as our "bus snack" and see a loaf of bread this big: