Too Hungary to think of a pun

I hope you made it past the cheesy pun because I want to tell you about one of the coolest European cities I have EVER been to! Budapest definitely stole a piece of my heart and I wish you could have been there with me to experience it. You may not have known but Budapest is a very affordable country to visit, especially for any travelers where the wages are reasonably higher than that of Budapest (unfortunately this is most places). As long as you are doing mental math in your head from time to time (or using a conversion calculator, no shame), it is quite easy to stay within budget in a city like Budapest. Although larger vendors will accept debit/credit cards you are paying less if you use cash, and my bank refunds foreign transaction fees so I just hit up the nearest ATM. Make sure to alert your bank before doing any international travel to ensure they do not freeze your account and leave you stranded anywhere. Speaking of wanting to avoid being stranded, the Google Maps app has been a lifesaver with an option to change from walking to public transit it tells you exactly where to go. One public bus and metro ride later my classmate Ryan and I arrived safely to our hostel which from the outside looked quite sketchy. Upon getting into the building we learned that it actually was a very nice hostel with free breakfast every morning from 8-11am and free dinner on certain nights. The Avenue Hostel in Budapest, Hungary is definitely worth a visit with free wifi, convenient location to city centre/nightlife, organized pub/club crawls, VERY affordable rates (as low as 8 euro/night), and great customer service. Also within walking distance is a number of places to eat including my new favorite pizza place called PizzaMe home to these delicious Nutella pizzas!!

After stuffing our faces with some delicious pizza we checked google maps for the closest bar to grab a drink, and ended up stumbling upon a club before Google Maps even loaded. Hello Baby is a very popular club and despite us being a little underdressed for the venue we decided why not give it a go. It was pretty cheap to get in and we had no idea what we were getting ourselves into. I had no idea how different the culture would be in an Eastern European country versus Western Europe that I am more accustomed to. Everyone was still very polite but as my friend Ryan stated, "everyone looks like they're from either Italy or Jersey Shore." He was not wrong but I took this opportunity to sit off to the side and just people watch, the club did have a little bit of a roofie vibe so I definitely never left my drink unattended. Very unique architecture as a majority of clubs in Budapest have multiple floors and rooms we wandered through before snagging a table in the middle of the building for a view of the whole place. Old habits die hard so I enjoy a refreshing cider and relaxed before we made our way back to the hostel for some rest after a long day of travel.

Complimentary breakfast after a rough night of sleep helped set my day off to a good start. There was a large snoring man in my room and a woman every few hours would yell at him to roll over so I didn't wake well rested as I would've hoped but I would not let that ruin my day of exploring. First sight to visit was the Hungarian Parliament which wasn't terribly far from our hostel and was much larger than I expected. Ryan being my only travel buddy for this trip was stuck with picture duty so I could get some shots were sharing. We could not get right up next to the building as there were armed guards but it was still a very decadent and impressive building.

After standing in awe at this gargantuan building we continued on our adventure now bound for Fisherman's Bastion. I did not learn until doing research for this trip that the city is actually Buda and Pest separated by the Danube River and a beautiful bridge we were about to cross. A majority of tourist attractions are on the Pest side which is also where city center is but Fisherman's Bastion is on the Buda side which is more residential and hilly. The pictures let Fisherman's Bastion speak for itself and the architecture and scenery were breathtaking but my favorite part was the beautiful bird I stumbled upon. I had to hold in a squeal and refrain from running to the bird in excitement when I first laid my eyes on it. In the calmest fashion possible I walked to the very tall man holding the bird and he told me how much it was and that I could get as many pictures as I wanted. Another tip for visiting Budapest, most places accept Euro but you actually play a slightly higher price in Euro versus Hungarian Forint. I dragged Ryan over to use his nice camera to snap some great photos of me with this beautiful bird that made Fisherman's Bastion one of the coolest experiences.

The sun sets very early in Hungary, similar to Ireland, so by 4pm it would be getting dark fast which means we should continue on our adventure back to the Pest side of the river. We were beginning to head into city centre when we decided we should stop and grab a bite to eat and after wandering through a mall stumbled upon a really tasty Pad Thai place. After some much needed fuel to continue on our way we set Google Maps and were headed to the infamous Christmas Market. Within 10 minutes of the market we happened upon the Budapest Eye which as you imagine is just like the London Eye just smaller and less of a view. Still it was worth the experience and the sun set on our walk there so all the cities lights were beginning to come on and illuminate the city.

Now on to my all-time favorite part of my entire Budapest experience, and that was the Christmas Market I had heard was one of the best in Europe. Let me tell you, it did not disappoint and I would go back to Budapest just for the Christmas Market if I could. There were rows upon rows of stalls selling everything from sweets and ornaments to jewelry, clothing, and artwork. Since living in Ireland, I have a recently discovered love for collecting art when I travel. I was unable to find any in Denmark and Sweden but have collected some from Galway, Ireland, Scottish Highlands, and now Budapest, Hungary. I try and find the most unique and hand-crafted art to bring home and hope to one day have them hanging in my house reminding me of all my fun memories.

Newest additions to my growing collection

I am a member on a Facebook group called Girls Love Travel along with thousands of other women with a shared love for travel. As soon as I knew I was coming to Budapest I posted asking for recommendations and one of the recommendations was to try a chimney cake at the Christmas Market and man am I glad I listed. There were several options offered but I of course chose Vanilla and it was AMAZING!! One of the tastiest desserts I've ever had and it pulls apart for easy consuming. Definitely worth trying if you ever have the chance, and if I go back I want to try some of the other tasty treats they had to offer.

I wish I could stay at that Christmas Market forever it was such an incredible experience I felt like a little kid in a candy shop. The chilly walk back to the hostel made us realize how hungry we were and how tasty some more pizza from PizzaMe sounded so round two and I was not complaining. I wish we had PizzaMe in Castlebar because it's so tasty and so cheap. We decided we both needed some time to recharge and took 2-3 hours to rest in our hostel rooms before venturing out to try and find a notorious "ruin bar." Despite not finding the bar in the place Google Maps lead us to we decided we were fine with a small pub to chill in. I enjoyed a very tasty Blackberry Cider and we enjoyed our last night in Budapest before an early morning of travel.

Thank you to Budapest for letting me fall in love with you, keeping my wanderlust alive, and adding a new city to my top ten European cities.

Feel free to leave comments letting me know what you think! Thanks for reading!