Saying Goodbye is Never An Easy Thing

The alarm once again started beeping at 4:30am this morning because Suzanna had an early morning flight to catch back to Canada. After we said our goodbyes, I wasn’t able to go back to sleep. I stayed up checking my email and updating my blog. Once 7am rolled around, I decided to head out for my first run in Budapest. I noticed the sun was out, and once I exited the hotel lobby, I could already feel the early morning heat. I made my way down to the Danube River and started running along the promenade towards the Chain Bridge. I have to admit that it’s during moments like these when I pinch myself because it seemed so surreal to be running along the Danube River looking out at Parliament and other historical sights of Budapest. As I approached the Chain Bridge, I noticed that they had shut it down and were preparing to put up various kiosks for the Annual Chain Bridge Festival, which occurs only on the weekends in July and August. Turning left towards Parliament, I breathed deeply and thanked God for giving me such a rich and rewarding life. I felt like I could run forever, but instead my footsteps led me back to the hotel. I surprised myself with a 4 mile run, and it felt awesome.
Court came down to my room at 9am to grab breakfast together one last time before he was to leave for the airport. Breakfast at the Csaszar was a basic meal of corn flakes, a roll, and pineapple juice, since I’m not a big fan of salami, ham, and cheese in the morning. I went back to my room for a short nap until Court came by to let me know his taxi was waiting. It was sad to say goodbye to someone who became my friend in the short two weeks we spent together. I’ll miss him dearly but know that we’ll remain friends beyond this HFH trip. As busy as everyone gets in their daily lives, I know how difficult it is to stay in touch with family and friends. But with technology and a little bit of effort, I plan to do just that.
Kim, Yujin, Joelle, and I spent the day walking all over the city of Budapest. Our first stop via tram, was to the local mall so that Kim could drop her dirty clothes off at a laundry service place. Two loads and $60 later, she was told to pick up her clean clothes by 5pm tomorrow. We then took the metro to Vaci Utca, since Yujin wanted to do some shopping. Afterwards, we made our way over the Chain Bridge where various vendors were selling their wares to the tourists. Once we got over to the Buda side, we bought our tickets for the funicular railway that would transport us to the top of Castle District. The views from the funicular and at the top of the hill were breathtaking. The Castle District is lined with cobble-stoned roads and colorful buildings, as well as many historical sites. Although we didn’t go inside any of the buildings, we did see the Royal Palace, Matyas Church, and Fishermen’s Bastion. We continued our stroll along the backside of the district, which overlooked the beautiful hills of Buda. Kim and Joelle were able to remember the alternate return route that they used last year, so we headed back down to the Danube River.
As we were walking along the road, we noticed another street festival taking place and finally figured out that today was Bastille Day (French Independence Day). There were even more kiosks representing regions from all over France, selling food, wine, and other typically French items. Our bodies were tired from all the walking and the heat had taken a lot out of us, so we returned to the hotel for a nap in preparation for dinner. We went back to the Poco Loco Restaurant (where we had our first team dinner in Budapest), in walking distance from our hotel, and I tried the Pike Perch Florentine this time. Again, it was a good meal, a little too rich, but nonetheless very tasty. Earlier in the day, I emailed Jeff to let him know that we would meet up with him and his wife at their hotel for drinks after dinner. So we walked back towards the Chain Bridge, and met up with them at the hotel lobby of Art’Otel. A chic and modern hotel in the perfect location on the Buda side of the river, Art’Otel is a place that I would definitely stay at if I were ever to return to Budapest. The drinks were pricey, but that’s because in comparison to anything in Csurgo, everything in Budapest is three to four times more expensive. Everyone reminisced about the two weeks in Csurgo and we were able to meet Jeff’s wife Laura. It was a nice and relaxing end to a tourist-filled day in the beautiful city of Budapest.

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