Bathing in Buda, Perusing through Pest, and Drifting on the Danube

Last semester when some girls talked about the possibility of visiting Budapest, the capital of Hungary, we thought it would be a cool city to see, but it was definitely not on our list. Thanks to a new sense of adventure from spending so many months abroad, the first time someone mentioned Budapest this semester we said, "Sounds awesome, let's go!" So, with an open mind and some helpful tips from a family friend (thanks again, Elizabeth!), we were off to Budapest with a couple of friends for the weekend, ready to experience its history, food, and culture. When we were picked up at the Budapest airport by our very knowledgable and friendly hostel owner, Sandor, we very quickly realized that Budapest is one of the most under-rated cities in Europe. Originally two distinct cities (well, really three) separated by the Danube River, Buda and Pest joined in the late 1800s to become Hungary's beloved capital. Looking at the city, it is surprising to see how contrasting both sides of the river really are in atmosphere and geographically. The Pest side is flat with a more modern, 20th century atmosphere (with evidence of its historical past through the architectural influence of Hungary's former occupants), while the Buda side is extremely hilly and beautifully Medieval, with sites such as Buda Castle, St. Matthias Cathedral, and Fisherman's Bastion. Both were extremely different, but with the help of the Danube, they blended well together. As Sandor continued on and on about all of the possible places to explore and sites to see, we knew we had to get going in order to fit in as much as we could in the short amount of time we had there!

With our home base in the old Jewish Quarter of Pest, we explored that side of the river Friday afternoon and evening, taking a stroll down some wonderful streets and along the Danube river, even stopping at a bakery where the woman was extremely kind and friendly but spoke no English whatsoever, and, with us not knowing any Hungarian, it was a challenging yet entertaining pitstop. As the sun set, we watched the lights of the city slowly begin to glitter and bring the city to life. We must say, Budapest does a spectacular job of lighting up its most spectacular buildings at night. Being Valentine's Day, we decided it was appropriate to take a night cruise on the Danube to celebrate the occasion. On this cruise we appreciated the sites along the river, such as Parliament, Matthias Church, Buda Castle, and the Chain Bridge, while enjoying a free glass of champagne. For dinner we tried our luck at a traditional Jewish Bistro near our hostel, where we shared cabbage rolls and a sweet cake for desert. 

The Danube

Parliament

Fisherman's Bastion and St. Matthias Church

Buda Castle

Chain Bridge

River boat night cruise time!

The Chain Bridge from on the Danube.

Trying some Hungarian cabbage rolls.

Also some schnitzel!

Knowing we didn't have any time to lose, we were up early Saturday morning to explore the exciting Central Market. Bustling with life, we enjoyed walking through the stalls of scrumptious baked goods, traditional spices, fresh fruits, vegetables, and meats on the first floor, and artisan (and tourist) shops on the second. Unfortunately we were unable to spend much time exploring this massive market, but it was definitely worth a stop! We were next off to a free walking tour of the city, where our tour guide, Peter, gave us some historical and political information about Hungary as we crossed from the Pest side of the river over to the Buda side. While still on the Pest side, we stopped at St. Stephen's Basilica, named after the first Christian King of Hungary. 

The Central Market

Eating a sweet langos with banana and nutella.

Closest to home we've been in months!

St. Stephen's Basilica

Buda Castle

Fisherman's Bastion and St. Matthias Church

View of Parliament from the Chain Bridge.

We walked up one of the main hills of Buda to explore the President's residence, St. Matthias Church, Fisherman's Bastion and Buda Castle. We had some spectacular views of Pest, and it was an absolutely gorgeous day for a long walk. Here we finished up our tour and spent the early afternoon exploring this area before crossing the Chain Bridge back to Pest. For lunch we tried goulash soup, a traditional Hungarian dish with beef, vegetables, and spices. 

Looking down on the Chain Bridge from Buda.

St. Matthias Church

Fisherman's Bastion

Enjoying the view from Fisherman's Bastion. (Jennifer, Megan, Katie Q, and Katie)

Trying some goulash soup!

By the late afternoon it was time for our cultural immersion: a trip to one of Budapest's famous thermal baths. Budapest has several thermal baths, so it took quite a while to chose one. We finally decided on the Rudas Baths, an old Turkish bath house dating back to the 16th century. With an open mind and having utterly no idea of what was going to happen, we were off to the baths. There was no turning back! Arriving at the front lobby, we allowed ourselves to be ushered through the line, paid for our tickets and moved begrudgingly to the locker room. Luckily, we found changing rooms to change into our swimsuits and avoided an awkward moment. After we changed, we hesitantly made our way to what we thought were the baths, only to find a normal sized pool. Wrong door. Back outside of the locker-room we stood awkwardly wondering where to go until someone automatically saw that we were strangers to this cultural pastime and pointed us in the right direction. Like a timid group of high school freshmen on their first day of class, we stood around the entrance to the baths, hesitating and second-guessing our decision. After another couple of awkward minutes passed by as several locals walked in and out of the baths, we took the plunge. We walked into a large, misty, and humid square room in which there were baths in each of corners of the room, with a large circular bath in the center, under a Eastern-style dome. All of these pools were at varied temperatures (in Celsius): 28, 30, 33, 38, and 42--which is over 100 degrees Fahrenheit! Not really knowing what to do next, we got into one of the pools, all the while being very self-conscious with the fact that we obviously stuck out like sore thumbs. It took about 10 minutes until all of our hesitation, uncertainty, and self-consciousness went out the door as we soaked in the hot steam and the mineral-filled water. As we followed the locals from bath to bath, we could sense ourselves relaxing. It didn't matter who we were or how we looked, we became just like everyone else, in our own little world, yet surrounded by a 100 or so of our closest Hungarian and foreign friends. We didn't want to leave, and stayed for a couple of hours until the baths closed that night. We walked out with a calm and serene sense of mind. It was an awkward, yet relaxing and unforgettable experience, and we would love to have been able to explore some more baths in Budapest!

What happens in the baths, stays in the baths. 

Sunday morning we rose early to do some last minute sight-seeing before having to say good bye to this charming city. We walked down Andrassy Avenue, Budapest's version of Paris's "Champ-d'Elysees," to Heroes' Square, which held big monuments dedicated to the founding and history of Hungary. We also walked partially into the park which lay behind the square. There we saw a beautiful ice skating rink next to a wonderful palace. It was a beautiful morning, and we wanted to join all of the groups of ice skaters! Heading back to the old Jewish Quarter, our last stop was the Dohany Street Synagogue, the second largest synagogue in the world, after the New York Synagogue. But, as Sandor argued "this is really the biggest one, because the one in New York is a block of cement; it's not beautiful. This, this is a work of art!" We would have to agree with him there, for the synagogue with all of its gorgeous decorations and sparkling tile mosaics really was an architectural masterpiece! 

The Opera House

Heroes' Square

Dohany Street Synagogue

Budapest was a city unlike any other one we have experienced in Europe. The city is utterly impressive with its two sections being completely different yet containing enough similar qualities to link the two together. This city is full of life, with so many places to see and unique pastimes to experience. We definitely under-estimated Budapest, and we have now realized that you could easily spend a week in Budapest and not see everything, there is that much to do. When driving us back to the airport, Sandor asked us "so when are you coming back?" Well, that's a good question Sandor, hopefully soon!

Keeping Warm in Krakow

We started off our second semester ready to make new friends, explore new countries, and create new memories!

For the first long weekend of the semester, we traveled to Krakow, Poland for a change of pace. We definitely got our fill of winter with the weather being a balmy 20 some-odd degrees. We thought we missed South Bend weather! When we arrived at the old market square of Krakow's Old Town, we were pleasantly surprised by its beautiful blend of Eastern and Western influences. We really didn't know what to expect traveling to this country, but we found Krakow to be a friendly city full of culture and history. Of course, we immediately reinstated our travel tradition of experiencing culture through food by relishing several different types of pierogi including meat, cheese and potato, and sauerkraut with mushrooms. We spent the rest of our first day exploring the Old Town; to stay out of the cold we even took a horse-drawn carriage ride! After a long day of travel and exploration, we enjoyed traditional Polish dishes of kielbasa and stuffed cabbage rolls for dinner followed by some delicious hot chocolate (more like hot fudge with milk) at a chocolate shop.

Exploring the streets of Krakow.

Time to eat some pierogi!

St. Mary's Basilica

Seven of us squeezing into the carriage for a tour of the city. 

The horses of our carriage.

It was just as cold as South Bend!

Saturday was a solemn day of remembrance as we visited the concentration camps of Auschwitz I and Auschwitz II - Birkenau. As a group, we took a tour of both camps. It was difficult to walk through the camps as historical sites, let alone imagine what it was like for the thousands of victims who had been murdered there. Auschwitz I is the smaller of the two sites, with exhibits explaining the history, showing the awful and inhuman conditions, and displaying thousands of personal belongings of the victims. Auschwitz II - Birkenau was even more unbelievable with its sheer size: it seemed to go on forever. It was a very humbling experience, and while we knew quite a bit of information of what went on during World War II, walking through the blocks and seeing all of the personal belongings made it very, very real. We walked in disbelief of how something like this could happen, and understood even more the importance of making sure something like this will never happen again. We learned a lot from this somber day, and while it was difficult to handle, it was a worthwhile experience we will never forget. 

The entrance to Auschwitz I: "Work makes you free."

Auschwitz II - Birkenau

The Memorial at Auschwitz II - Birkenau 

After a very difficult day we returned to Krakow for the evening, and our spirits slowing lifted as we enjoyed a wonderful Polish meal of kielbasa, pierogi, and potato pancakes. And, thanks to the exchange rate of the Euro to the Polish zloty (about 4 zloty to 1 Euro), we were able to satisfy our appetites for very little, with our meal of 2.5 dinner platters, 1.5 desserts, water, and tip all costing less than a normal dinner in Rome!

So much delicious food! Pierogi take 2.

Potato pancakes

Katie enjoying kielbasa.

Sunday morning we spent our last few hours in Krakow walking around the Jewish Quarter, passing by some beautiful houses, a castle, and churches on our walk there. Once in the Jewish Quarter we passed by several synagogues as well as an open market. Unfortunately we weren't able to stay there long for we had to head to the airport for our flight back to Rome. 

The streets of Old Town Krakow.

The Church of Saints Peter and Paul

Castle Wawel

Our weekend in Poland was nothing like what we had expected. While the weather was a little chilly, the warmth of the people of Krakow and Poland made us feel welcome as they openly indulged our curiosity of their culture and inescapable history. While Poland may not be the first country on everyone's list for "must see places in Europe," if you're in the area consider visiting Krakow!

Goodbye Krakow!