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Published: March 10th 2008
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My Hostel
The Hostel, unlike the restaurant, was wonderful. It was spacious, clean, and had lots of hot water. Saturday was a full, exhausting day. I woke up early to have breakfast with my fellow travelers at a restaurant across the street from the hostel. The breakfast was… terrible. The food itself was acceptable, but the proprietors were totally unprepared! Now, I am not being a snobby tourist; the tour company had contacted the restaurant with our requirements and paid double so that there would be adequate food. It is not as if 60 people stormed a poor little establishment, in which case I would have felt very sympathetic. We did eventually get food (bread, tea, cheese, salami, and jam). Upon completion of our humble meal we proceeded on foot up Gellért Hill to see the Liberation Monument that overlooks the river. The wind was fierce and there were very few other tourists (winter is also not usually tourist season).
The website http://www.aviewoncities.com/budapest/gellerthill.htm has this to say about the Hill: "Gellert Hill, rising about 430 feet (140 meters) above sea level, is named for Bishop Gellert (Gerald), known for his mission to spread Christianity throughout Hungary. After the death of Saint Stephen, the first Christian king of Hungary, legend has it that the rebelling insurgent pagan Magyars sealed Gellert
THE Restaurant
This was the site of our now infamous breakfast and dinner mishaps... up in a barrel and hurled him down the side of the hill". Gruesome stuff, huh?
The hike up the hill was very strenuous, but the walk down went much more quickly! The guide took us to many interesting sites within the city, including the Fisherman's Bastion, Matthias Church, Buda Castle, and more. We stopped for lunch around noon, during which everyone was free to either explore on his or her own or rejoin with the guide to visit Parliament. A friend, Ulrik, and I split from the large group in order to ensure a speedy lunch. I felt a bit as if we were in a Goldilocks story, trying to find the perfect restaurant. The first eatery had only cakes and drinks and the second was too expensive. The third was just right! It was a trendy little place that wasn’t too expensive and had lots of good things. After lunch, Ulrik and I explored the area surrounding the restaurant had some great conversations. (Ulrik is the only Dane here and has done a ton of interesting things). The sky lightened up as we walked and it seemed as if the day was going to be beautiful after
Gellért Hill
The statue you see is a part of the Liberation Monument. all. Less than an hour later, as we were meandering towards the meeting spot to continue the group journey to Parliament, thick clouds came rumbling in overhead and the wind sent loose tiles jumping off buildings. All of a sudden, Ulrik and I were pelted with hail and rain! The wind drove the wet, prickly stuff into our jackets, trousers, and shoes with ferocity! We managed to find shelter with some other people from our trip but were already terribly wet and cold and the plan to go to Parliament was abandoned in favor of obtaining dry clothes from the hostel. It was a wet, sodden group that trudged through the rain to the ticket station. Everyone dripped on the tiles as they purchased their bus ticket.
As suddenly as it had started, the rain stopped, the clouds began to roll away, and it was pretty again. At least it stayed dry the rest of the evening!
I was quite pleased with myself that I had brought an extra pair of shoes, as my boots were quite soaked. I just sort of sat on my bed in the hostel for a while, luxuriating in dry socks and a
chance to catch my breath. I wanted to go to some different sites, including the House of Terror (please see the next post) and the synagogue and Jewish museum. Unfortunately, no one was as keen on the latter sites, but a small group of us gathered to go to the House of Terror…
I was feeling particularly upset after the museum, so I was content to walk around the city and look at the sights with my group. After looking at the Chain Bridge and trying (unsuccessfully) to get a few more pictures, we continued to a chic little bar for a few drinks. I just had coffee because everything was quite expensive there. We still hadn’t eaten dinner, so we went back to the hostel and changed. We made a key error in choosing our dinner location when we decided to go the restaurant across the street from the hostel, the same one at which we had eaten breakfast. Needless to say, I did not have much say in this, because I had a strong inkling that it would not be great. I was right and had the pleasure of listening to my dining companions complain about the
quality (or rather, lack thereof) of their meal. My own meal was reasonable. I was happy when I moved on to the pub at which I had been the previous night. Several other international students were already there and I joined their table. There is something about the European students; they are more mature or reserved or something… I enjoy their company very much. We talked until the pub started to close. Many people wanted to go to a jazz club but I was quite exhausted, so I went back to the hostel with a few other girls, who are from Spain. I was out pretty late, but I didn’t mind, because I knew I could sleep on the bus on the way home the next day.
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