Budapest, Hungary: More sightseeing

This blog post is a continuation of my previous post on Budapest, where I’ve been describing some cool sites me and Paige have been visiting in Budapest. I just love Budapest, and being back here has made me want to visit much more often! The culture and the atmosphere of the city is really relaxed, historical and cool. Budapest also brings back lots of good memories of my time living here for 2 summers.

There are frequently festivals going on in Budapest, and I’ve been to many on other trips. This time we had the chance to explore a Czech Beer festival, where we ate some pizza and beer! (I found it kind of strange that they served pizza there, especially since it’s not really Czech food! Regardless, the pizza was pretty good). Also, beer has been pretty cheap all through Budapest, on average it costs us just $2-3 CAN for 0.5 litres of beer!

Margret Island is another location I love to visit. It is located on the Danube river, in between Buda and Pest. The island is rather large, and is basically a very large park, with areas to jog or ride a bicycle, and there are swimming pools, an athletic center and restaurants. Since rain was starting, we figured the best way to explore the island was by renting a two person bicycle trolley.

Some of the sights we saw on the island:

From the bridge over the Danube we could see some of the buildings along the river and boats that run through the river. It is also very common to see larger cruise boats.

Another location in Budapest that I really enjoy visiting is the Great Market Hall, which is the central market and is also the oldest and largest market in Budapest, used by both the locals and tourists. The building itself is beautiful, and was built in 1897. The main level sells fruits, vegetables, meats, liquors and other edible products, and the upper level sells souvenirs and has a number of restaurants and food take-out food stands.

In the upstairs area we tried a traditional Hungarian snack: Langos. It is basically a deep fried pastry with toppings on it (it kind of looks like a pizza). We ordered one with sour cream, cheese and salami.

While in Budapest I made sure to eat some of my favourite Hungarian foods, including: Goulash Soup, which is a stew of meat and vegetables and seasoned with paprika. Delicious!

Another one of my favourite soups in Hungary is fruit soup, usually eaten as an appetizer. It is served cold and usually has whipped cream on top. The soup in the photo below (which was delicious!) was made of strawberries.

While in Budapest we used the metro daily, which is super easy to use, and almost impossible to get lost on. I am so impressed with the Budapest metro. You can get basically everywhere using the 3 metro lines, and they are in the process of building their 4th line. There are 40 stations, and there are over a million riders daily. I wish that the Toronto subway line was even half as good as the Budapest metro! The Budapest Metro is also the 2nd oldest electrified underground railway system in the world, where the first line was built in 1896!  One thing that’s pretty cool about the metro is how far underground you go! Check out this escalator, it almost looks like a never-ending tunnel into the ground!

Finally, we also checked out some of the shops and I found a great shirt! Any takers? ;)

In addition to all the touring around we had a chance to hang out with my brother, which was really nice. I haven’t seen him in 4 years and so it was great to catch up and to fill each other in on everything we had missed in each others lives!

Overall my time in Budapest has been pretty awesome, and I was sad to leave! I will have to make an effort to come back again soon! Now on to our next destination: Croatia for a week long cruise through the beautiful Croatian Islands!

Budapest, Hungary: Arrival in Europe, and sightseeing

So it’s been a few weeks since my last post, and I’m sorry for the delay! I’ve gotten a number of emails and messages asking me when I’ll resume writing again! My blog writing has officially begun again, and I will be blogging until August documenting my Europe portion of my trip.

I was back home in Toronto for 2 weeks after my South America trip and it was so nice to be home after spending 5 weeks traveling in South America. I had the chance to catch up with family and friends, but most importantly (and the reason for my return) I attended my convocation ceremony and received my diploma for my Masters of Business Administration (MBA) from the Rotman School of Management (University of Toronto). Now that I have graduated, I have taken off again and am spending the next 5 weeks traveling through Europe. My first stop was Budapest! I love Budapest, and being back in this city has been awesome. I spent 2 summers living here and have visited on numerous other occasions, so I know the city very well, and being here brings back lots of memories. This time I came with my friend Paige, so I have had the chance to show her some cool sights. The photo below is us at the Toronto airport.

The trip started with a little family time. My brother picked us up from the airport and we had dinner at their place with his whole family (him, his wife, and their 4 children). It was great to see everyone, especially the kids! They  have grown up so much since I last saw them 4 years ago!

My time in Budapest was mainly spent sightseeing – I wanted to show Paige some cool spots in the city, and I also wanted to spend time just enjoying Budapest. In this blog post I’ll talk about some of the sights, activities foods that we ate during our time in Budapest.

For our first full day in Budapest we didn’t want anything too strenuous because we were still exhausted from the journey, and we were very jet-lagged! So we started off visiting Hosok tere (otherwise known as “Heroes Square”), which is part of a World Heritage Site.

We spent the rest of the day at one of my favourite locations in Budapest: the Szechenyi Thermal Baths. These baths are the largest medicinal baths in Europe, and the enclosure comprises of 3 outdoor pools and 15 indoor pools, each at different temperatures ranging from 20 degrees Celsius to 38 degrees Celsius. The building is beautiful and historical, and was built in 1913. It has become a big tourist site, and you can purchase foods and drinks (including beer) to enjoy while there.

Spending the day at the thermal baths was the best way to relax and get over our jet-lag!

Another location that’s pretty cool in Budapest is the Citadel, which is a fortress at the top of Gellert Hill. From the top of the hill you can see a great view of the whole city. In the photo below you can see a statue at the top of the hill – we climbed the hill to visit this statue (we did not actually enter or tour the Citadel once we reached the top of the hill though).

Once we got to the top of the hill we had a great view of the statue, and of the rest of the city:

At the top of the Citadel there were a number of canons and weapons on display, which were once used to protect the fortress.

Another cool area of the city is the Castle Hill, which houses the Royal Buda Castle, which was completed in 1265, and was declared a Heritage site in 1987. Now the castle houses museum exhibits. To get up the hill we took the Castle Hill Funicular (a small carriage train which rides up the hill). Below is a photo from the funicular followed by photos of the castle.

Also on Castle Hill you can find Matthias Church and the Fisherman’s Bastion. Matthias Church was unfortunately under construction so we couldn’t see too much of it. It’s a beautiful church built in 1015 in Romanesque style.

Just behind Matthias Church is the Fisherman’s Bastion, which is a terrace that overlooks the city, built in the late 1890s.

From Castle Hill we had a great view of the city, including Parliament (the following photo).

It’s been awesome hanging out in Budapest! I’ll write another Budapest entry within the next couple days before jetting off to Croatia where we’ll spend 8 days sailing through the Croatian islands!

Veracruz, Mexico: My favourite things

First I’d like to apologize for the delay in this blog post. I have been in Mexico for the past week and the internet has been very unreliable. I was generally not able to connect for more than a couple minutes at a time before being disconnected, so I’ve needed to wait until better internet before posting my Mexico entries.

On May 30th I left Lima, Peru to fly to Veracruz, Mexico. This ended my South America portion of my travels, and began my week visiting my family in Mexico. It was bittersweet. I had loved my time in Peru, and I was not yet ready to say goodbye to such an amazing country! I felt like I had only seen the tip if the iceberg and I had wanted to stay to discover so much more. I also had an amazing time with my Contiki group for the duration of my 25 day tour through South America, and I had a hard time saying goodbye to them!

At the same time, I hadn’t seen my family in Mexico for 2 years and I was very much looking forward to spending time with them. In addition, my time in Peru, Argentina and Brazil, although amazing, was not relaxing! I was constantly on the move, touring different cities and sites, so my body was very ready for a week with family in Mexico where I knew I would be able to relax, eat good food and go to the beach!

The first thing I noticed when I arrived in Mexico City from Lima (before changing planes and continuing on to Veracruz) was that everyone was searched by dogs! As we stepped off the plane there was a trained dog waiting for us and it smelled each and every passenger! It thoroughly smelled me and my carry-on bags. Then as I was waiting for my luggage I noticed that behind the conveyor belt there were dogs smelling each luggage before the bags came out to the passengers! I’m not sure if this is a new process used by the Mexican authorities for everyone, or if this was special treatment for my plane and other planes coming from South America!

My time in Mexico was spent mainly relaxing with family and eating really good food, and so I wanted to take this blog post to talk about some of my favourite things from whenever I visit Mexico.

The Beach - Playa Chachalacas: my grandmother lives about 15 minutes from the Chachalacas beach, which is a very large beach, mainly used by locals and tourists from different parts of Mexico. I love going there, and I have been going to that same beach since I was a child. I love that it’s not glamourized by touristy shops and attractions. It’s the perfect place to find beautiful sea shells and tan in the sun without fighting for a good spot in the sand.

But my favourite part of going to the beach is that you can get fresh, cold coconuts brought to your table! You order the coconuts from a restaurant, and they will chop the top off so you drink the coconut milk right out of the coconut. Once you are finished, they will cut the coconut open, scoop out the meat and bring it to you on a plate with chilli powder and lime. It is delicious!

My Grandmother’s House: My grandmother lives in Cardel, which is about 45 minutes from the city of Veracruz, within the state of Veracruz. Most of the houses there have high walls surrounding the property, to protect the property from theft. I love my grandmother’s house, once you enter the high walls of the property it’s very peaceful inside. The garden has lots of flowers and trees, and the house is scattered with family photos, and you can always find delicious Mexican food in the kitchen! Even the outer walls to enter the property are nice, as they are covered in vines:

Some photos from the garden:

 

The food. Whenever people find out I’m Mexican they always ask me what kind of Mexican food they should order in restaurants, or what my favourite dishes are. And I always have trouble answering because my favourite Mexican foods aren’t necessarily dishes that can be made in the kitchen, or ordered in a restaurant, they are foods that remind me of my time in Mexico growing up. I’ve listed a few of them below, and they truly are amazing!

• Rice pudding: my grandmother makes the best rice pudding you will ever taste. I’ve stopped buying rice pudding in stores or ordering it at restaurants because I’m always disappointed that it is not nearly as good as my grandmother’s rice pudding! 
• Fried banana’s with cheese: my grandmother makes the most amazing dish where she will make plantain banana patties with cheese inside. The plantain bananas are boiled, and then mashed (as if you were making mashed potatoes), then the mashed banana is moulded into a patty with a stick of cheese inside. The patties are breaded, then fried. The cheese inside the patty melts and they are delicious! Below is a photo of the patties before they are cooked.

• Apple pancakes: My grandmother will chop up apples, soak them in rum, dip them in pancake batter, and then fry them as if they were pancakes, so that there is more apple than pancake batter. She finishes them off by sprinkling sugar and cinnamon on them. Best breakfast ever!
• Horchata: This is sweet a drink made in Mexico from rice or coconut, and contains vanilla and cinnamon and sometimes milk. My grandmother makes it from rice and almonds, and she makes it especially for me whenever I visit, and I love it! Horchata can also be found throughout Latin America and in Spain, although the taste varies by region and depending on the ingredients.
• Mangos: in preparation for my visit my family will buy boxes of mangoes! And these mangos can not even compare to the ones we can buy in Canada. In Mexico they are so sweet and fresh. During this trip I’ve been eating approximately 3-5 mangos per day, and it’s been amazing!

• Popsicles: there is a store in the main square of Cardel that makes fruit popsicles, with chunks of fresh fruit, way more fresh fruit than we would ever find in a popsicle at home. My favourite are the coconut and the pineapple ones.
• Fresh coconuts: these are the coconuts I described above that I buy on the beach. But you an also buy them on the side of the road. The vendors will chop open the coconut, pour the juice into a bag and put a straw in, then they will scoop out the meat and put it in another bag with chilli and lime and you eat out of the bags while driving. If only we could get coconuts-to-go at home!

Although all of the things I listed above are great when I go to Mexico, but in reality the best thing about being in Mexico is spending time with my family. I barely see them, so being able to cook with my grandmother in the kitchen, or go exploring different sites with my uncle, or go to the beach with the family, or just hang out with my cousins and their kids are the real reasons I come to Mexico. It was wonderful to spend a whole week catching up with them.