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!
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