Sue Nak Heave Knock. Hod't Vod't?

Dear Reader,

The title of this entry may be semi-confusing to anyone who doesn't know Hungarian. It means "My name is Sue. How do you Do" and apparently the makers of my map of Budapest felt that this Johnny Cash lyric was a useful phrase. I certainly enjoyed using the phrase. The map also had useful phrases like "Please may I fondle your buttocks?" "Yeah, Whateva" and "Some good undertakers". They also listed some very important phone numbers, like the number to McDonnalds head office in Hungary and to Alcoholics Anonymous.

Our journey to Budapest began on Friday at 4:45 am. Being the genius that I am I thought it would be smart to pack the morning of. Despite being in a massive hurry I made it down to the lobby at 5:20 in time to head to the metro station with my group. We boarded the subway and headed to the Florenc bus station. As we neared Florenc Becca declared that she had been pick pocketed. So she made the executive decision that she was going to head back to the dorm and try to asses the situation. Now of course in typical Becca fashion she had not been pick pocketed, she forgot her wallet on her desk. Unfortunately this caused her to miss our bus and the subsequent trip to Budapest. Sigh. At the bus station I stopped to grab some breakfast, an ice cream cone and a bottle of Pepsi. I knew I was going to need the sugar and caffeine to survive the day. It is also worth noting that this bus station had Dr. Pepper, and I think I am going to have to head back and pick some up.

The bus ride to Budapest was uneventful. They showed the departed dubbed in Czech. Had I actually watched I would have definitely learned some colorful new Czech vocabulary. But alas I elected to sleep instead. Sleeping on the bus proved a little more difficult than I had expected it to. Everyone knows the streets of Prague are cobbled, and it felt like the Czech highways were cobbled as well. Our bus made three stops, one in Brno, one in Bratislava, and one in a town called Gyor.

We arrived in Budapest at around 2 and were met by a receiving line of colorful hobos, gypsies, shysters and charlatans. My group ventured over to the bankomat to withdraw some Hungarian Fuentes (really they are called Forints but we liked Fuentes better). Hungarian money comes in some crazy sounding amounts. I promptly withdraw 10,000 Fuentes, or $49. After buying a metro pass we went to the subway line which was a little more down to earth than the Prague metro. We checked into our hostel and went out for a lunch of traditional Hungarian fast food. I ordered what I believed to be turkey and potatoes, but turns out of Turkish meat and potatoes. It was unique to say the least. I ate half of the huge platter but had to throw in the towel. After lunch we went back to the hostel to map out the rest of our day. We ventured over to the yellow line, which is the oldest subway system in Europe and went to an area called Heroes square. Heroes square is a huge square that has statues of Hungarian heroes throughout the ages. Because it was dark and raining at this point by pictures didn’t really come out, so I am using one taken by someone else. After exploring the square we headed to the famous baths of Budapest. At this point I was drenched and tired and in no mood to frolic in the water and then trek home damp, so along with some of my friends I passed on that cultural experience. It is also worth noting that I am a genius and did not reattach my hood to my jacket before leaving for Budapest. So very wet and hungary (get it?) Stef, Chris, Allie, and myself went to meet up with our friend Adrian who was arriving in Budapest later. We went to a corner store and grabbed some snacks and whatnot. We also picked up some Hungarian beers which couldn’t match Czech beer (hey I may be a little biased). We then went to dinner and met up with the rest of the group and went to a bar and called it an early evening.

The Budapest Metro

Heroes Square

Saturday morning came and we all woke up early ready to face the day. We headed over to an indoor market. The bottom floor was mostly butcher shops and produce stands. The second floor had t-shirts, Russian nesting dolls, puppets, flasks, soccer jerseys etc. We had fun wandering through the stands and seeing all of the crazy stuff we could buy. Walt and Cobra (Jake) bought matching Hungarian soccer track jackets. Pretty ridiculous but pretty awesome. I bought a Ferencvaros FC t-shirt that I pretty sure I will never be able to wear again because I think it is going to shrink into oblivion. Bye bye five dollars. After the market we metroed over to the Terror House which is a museum that chronicles the political torture that happened in the building from the early 1930’s until the end of communism. The museum was very sad and very interesting. A unique feature this museum is that it had a hall of perpetrators, which was a picture of most of the torturers that operated at the sight. Many of them were still alive. It was an interesting way to see people held accountable for their actions. After the Terror House we went to lunch and I had a falafel.

Inside the market.

Some of the quality wares available in the market.

Terror House

After lunch Walt, Ian, Cobra, Allie, Chris and I decided to explore the city on foot. We crossed over to the Buda side of the city and climbed the hill to the Buda Castle. The castle was huge and beautiful. The castle area also provided some of the best views of the city and Pest side of the city. After spending two hours or so exploring the Castle area and we ventured down along the side of the Danube and then crossed back over to Pest.

Our boy band album cover.

Parliament building from the Castle.

Checking out the city.

Saturday night we went to some club that was pretty fun. WARNING: If your name is Sharon Horn skip this paragraph! The Budapest metro closes at the convenient hour of 11:30 PM on Saturdays. So at 11 we decide it is time to head out. Walt, Ian, Jake and I no longer had valid metro passes. So we decided to cross a bridge on the Danube and go to the nearest metro station and buy passes and catch a train to our destination. Everything was going to plan until we reached the middle of the bridge and there was a gate down. Discouraged we went to this little tunnel area that took us to an island hoping that we would be able to finish crossing the river. A nice local told us that we would be unable to do. SERIOUSLY MOM DON'T READ THIS! We arrived back at the gate and were faced with two choices, turn back and find another way across the Danube, or go around the gate, which meant scaling the railing of the bridge. We selected option two and for about 3 seconds each of us was over the Danube. Don't worry dear reader, we were never in any real danger, but the story just sounds so cool. Walt, Cobra, Ian and I can say we MacGyvered a bridge in Budapest. I am probably now wanted by Hungarian authorities, but it was totally worth it.

MOM, you may resume reading now!

Sunday morning we woke up and grabbed some lunch. We then packed up our bags and headed to the Dohany Street Synagogue, the largest Synagogue in Europe. The Synagogue is unique for several reasons, one it is huge. Two it is built in a Moorish style, which means it looks mosque like. The inside of the Synagogue shares many features with European churches. Another cool thing is that Theodor Herzl, the father of political Zionism was born right next door and was an active member of the Shul. After visiting the actual synagogue we went to the Jewish museum which was in the former community center building. The museum was interesting because it talked a lot about Hungarian Jews and the Holocaust. The final section of the Synagogue was a cemetery where many of Budapest’s Jews were placed in mass graves during the Holocaust and finally a memorial garden for Hungary’s Jews and Raul Wallenberg.
Dohany Street Synagogue

Memorial to Hungarian victims of the Holocaust

After the Synagogue we headed to the bus station and back to Prague.

Here are some more pictures from the weekend.

Me, Ian and Walt checking out Budapest

The answer to your question is no... we will never grow up.

Candy Hop

Jumping Picture Fail

My attempt to keep my jeans dry.

Until next time

Alex