My time abroad would not have been complete without some travel trip ups... We are supposed to be learning the hard way right? Fortunately it has all gone relatively smoothly up until this trip. This past Friday Taylor and I left for Vienna and then Budapest. We arrived at our terminal at Charles de Gaulle airport to find it was more of a warehouse than a real terminal, lacking even a place to buy a bottle of water. Silver lining: there was free wifi and a vending machine with peanut M&Ms. Eventually we hopped on a bus to our plane. We were flying Niki airlines... which we didn't really even knew was a legitimate airline...whose slogan is "Double Satisfaction". As the plane swayed down the run away for take-off, Taylor and I grabbed hands and crossed our fingers.
Fortunately we made it safely and the train into the city from the airport was very easy! After arriving at the apartment we rented for the weekend, we were greeted by the hilarious owner who apologized for sounding like a "chain-smoking drag queen"... which he didn't, for the record. We then grabbed a beer at a pub down the street before going to sleep. The next morning we woke up early and set out to explore the famous Christmas markets. They were just as magical as we could have imagined. Fortunately, they were all located in front of beautiful monuments, so we were able to explore both the stunning cathedrals, squares and government buildings, while perusing the markets and enjoying yummy treats and mulled wine.
We then rushed back to our apartment, grabbed out bags, and went to the train station. We expected to be able to print our tickets at the station, since that is what is said on them. Unfortunately, they had to be printed in France...and we were in Austria....so we had to re-buy new tickets. However, because it was so close to departure, we did not have seating assignments and had to find open seats. In examining the fine print on our tickets, after suffering another 40 euro blow to the wallet, we discovered they were refundable. Thank goodness for free wifi! We logged on our phones and cancelled our original tickets!
Once we got on the train, we found 2 open seats next to each other. 20 minutes later, at the next stop, the couple who were assigned our seats forced us out. Unfortunately, there were no more open seats, so Taylor and I stood next to the baggage for the next 2 hours to Budapest...
We finally arrived in Budapest and mapped our way to the hotel. Thanks to Taylor's mom, for her 21st birthday, we were staying the Marriott and couldn't have been happier for a nice shower and big comfy bed! Just in case that wasn't heavenly enough, we had the most incredible view of the Buda Castle District from our window! Our friend Natalie from Hopkins met us in Budapest and joined us on this adventure! That night for dinner, we walked over to an awesome Christmas market in the square near the hotel. It was very different from those in Vienna. It had more seating areas and traditional food instead of trinkets and crafts. We took advantage of the seemingly affordable prices... however we weren't totally sure since $1 is about 220 Hungarian Forints... and the delicious traditional hungarian cuisine. Stews, paprika chicken, cheesy doughs and cinnamon chimney cakes were more than satisfying!
On Monday, thanks to Natalie, we visited the American Embassy and spoke with someone who worked there. He showed us around and explained to us the interesting, yet intricate, relationship between the US, Hungary and the EU. Afterwards, we went on a walking tour of the city. It was wonderful to see all the sights and hear about the history, even though it was maybe 30 degrees.
Monday night we went the Szimpla, which was recently rated the 3rd best bar in the world, to ring in Taylor's 21st birthday! The bar is a ruins bar with an ecelectic mix of decorations, including sawed in half bath tubs and a fax machine. It was very different but so cool. Tuesday morning we woke up to delicious room service before more sight-seeing.
We walked over to Hero's Square to admire the statues and the castle. We also checked out the Banksy graffiti art exhibit in one of the museums. The exhibit was interesting, but our favorite part was a Banksy directed documentary called "Exit Through the Gift Shop" about a fellow street artist, Mr. Brainwash. We only intended to watch the first 10 minutes, and ended up watching the whole film. Afterwards, we went over to the Hungarian bath house. Apparently Hungary is full of natural hot springs, and in the past these hot springs were converted into beautiful bath houses. They were delightfully relaxing! The perfect way to spend our afternoon. After feeling refreshed and rejuvenated, we got hot chocolate at the famous Gerbaud coffee shop.
We went to a delicious dinner for Taylor's birthday before getting in bed on the earlier side, since Taylor and I had to leave for the airport at 4 am... When we were booking this trip 10 days ago, we found this flight for 7 euros, so of course we booked it. After 3.5 short hours of "sleep", we slipped out and headed back to Paris. Unfortunately, this flight landed at Beauvais, an airport about an hour and a half outside Paris. This "airport" makes the warehouse terminal of Charles de Gaulle look lovely. We then had to take a charter bus into Paris, and in order to catch this bus, we had to walk down a dirt road between a chicken farm and a cemetery. After the nap of a night's sleep we had, this was a less than pleasant welcome back to Paris, but an adventure nonetheless. Silver lining: the drive through the countryside was rather picturesque.
Fortunately, Taylor and I think the exact same way and were able to laugh at each adventure that was thrown our way. Even with all the minor mishaps, it was still one of our best trips of the semester! Cannot believe it was our last!
No comments:
Post a Comment