Budapest

The awe inspiring Parliament building.

I can't tell you why, but Budapest was one of the cities I was most excited to visit during my trip (I think it may have had a little to do with the song Budapest by George Ezra). To build this excitement even more, many people I spoke to before my arrival in Budapest kept raving about how I am going to love the city. Although it was more touristy than I expected, I definitely did love the city.

It is undoubtedly one of Europe's most stunning cities full of gorgeous bridges, awe-inspiring castles, and block after block of charming back streets full of pastry shops.

Hungary has had some of the most turbulent history of any European nation during the 20th century. From being a central battle field during WWI, to being occupied by the Nazis during WWII, to being occupied by the Soviets, and finally being a puppet state of the Soviet Union before it finally gained its current independence, the country is like a living museum of the 20th century. This history is evident everywhere as every building has some sort of story to it, and you can even still see bullet holes in many buildings from the fighting between the Nazis and the Soviets. This history is still fresh in the minds of many Hungarians as the locals often spoke of the struggle of their parents or grandparents during that time.

Bullet holes in the walls from the Nazi and Soviet fighting.

After surviving that history, Budapest's future seems bright and exciting. This is a city I would love to go to with a group of friends as it is a perfect balance of history as well as a modern and young society which I did not expect. The center of this rejuvenation seems to be centered around a neighborhood of Budapest known as the Jewish quarter. This area used to be the ghetto where the Jews were forced to live during the Nazi occupation. Now it is filled with young adults hopping from ruin bar to ruin bar with a stop for a quick espresso in between. A 'ruin bar' is a bar that has been set up in a run down, abandoned and even bombed out building. In the early 2000s, a few ambitious Hungarians decided to just take control of some run down buildings and serve beer out of them. It eventually evolved into bars set up in every corner of the building with live music, food, and even farmers markets in them. Ever since, this concept of a ruin bar has really taken off and has even spread to other cities as well. The most famous one, Szimpla Kert actually reminded me a little bit of Seattle, it just had a similar vibe to it in that area (probably all the hipsters).

Similar to his Istanbul episode, Anthony Bourdain's Parts Unknown:Budapest episode stands out in my mind due to his extreme giddiness over the city. Of course, being the fan I am, I had to follow in his footsteps and have coffee and cake at New York Cafe which has been rated as the world's most beautiful cafe many times over. I'm not going to lie, the cafe was absolutely drop dead gorgeous, but the cakes fell short for me. It's definitely more of a go for the atmosphere kind of place than a go for the food place.

Hungary is also known for its beautiful public bathhouses which he also visited so I had to go experience them myself. There are actually hundreds of natural thermal springs beneath Budapest that feed all of these public baths each with varying temperatures. Although I could not take pictures inside, the bathhouses were definitely beautiful but the whole experience was a little anti-climactic as it wasn't much different than going to a warm public pool in America (except for the many old guys wearing significantly less clothes than is typical in America). However, the bathhouse I went to also had a beer spa in it where you get to take a bath in beer with unlimited tap beer during it. I signed up for that as fast as I could swipe a credit card.

Beer spa.

This was definitely illegal to stand on the bridge but some crazy guy convinced me to do it.