My Last Week in Spain and Exploring Budapest

After a very long hiatus, I’m back to tell you about my last hurrah of a trip. It was seven different cities, and you all know how much I ramble, so I'm going to have to make several blog posts when I have the time. But I left off on my last day at the high school, so let’s pick up there.

I wrote in my last blog that I prepared a game for my favorite high school students, who were 14 and 15 years old, where they had to choose the correct American English word from several choices, one of which was the British English word. It was a lot of fun and the students were really competitive, which made it funny. But when the bell rang, the students all lined up to give me a kiss on each cheek, the tradition in much of Europe including Spain, and to say goodbye. It was so sweet of them to wait because I remember how eager I was to get home in high school.

The following day was my last day of school in Spain, and I was spending it with fifth and sixth grade. In the morning, we actually played the game I’d prepared for the day before (I ended up using it in 5 different classes between the primary and high schools. If only all the work I did was so fruitful!). During the break, the teachers gave me gifts and someone made a loaf cake for my last day. In the afternoon, I had two different parties: one with fifth grade, and one with sixth grade. The students brought in food and we listened to music and they also gave me gifts, including drawings and letters and little crafts they’d made me. In sixth grade though, some of the students actually prepared things for me; one girl danced, another sang, another read a letter (in English) that he’d written on behalf of the class. It was really touching. I enjoyed working at the high school more, as I think everyone knows, but the fuss they made at the elementary school was really heartwarming. I’ll definitely miss my students.

Wednesday was also the last day I got to spend with Vicki, because she and Luis Felipe were traveling to Basque country for the long weekend. So Vicki, Morgan and I met at the Chinese restaurant, one last time, so Vicki and I could say goodbye.

Thursday was Corpus Christi, a religious holiday in Spain, so everything was closed (including the library, which was a bummer for me because my plans to hang out there to use the WiFi were thwarted). But I spent most of the day getting the last of my things together because I shipped one of my bags home and the courier was picking it up the next day. Morgan and I were able to hang out because she didn’t have traveling plans for the long weekend, so I went to her house that night to watch Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, another old movie and one of Morgan’s favorites.

I spent Friday morning lounging around, waiting for the courier to pick up my bag. He came at 1pm, so I got to go to the library one last time after lunch. I donated all of my books because their English section leaves something to be desired, and there will probably be at least one teaching assistant there next year, whether they’re from my program or Morgan and Vicki’s (or both, and then they’ll really need the books). Morgan and I met up in the evening to go for a walk and we ended up back at Morgan’s to watch another movie. But we decided to do a day trip the following day, because why not?

Saturday morning, I woke up and headed to the bus station. Morgan had suggested going to Aranjuez, a municipality in the province of Madrid, south of the city, which is the site of a former royal palace. We got off the bus in the center of town and as we wandered in the direction of the palace, we stumbled across a surprisingly nice market, selling desserts and soaps and jewelry and more. So after wandering through the market and then through the palace gardens (We opted out of going in the palace, because in my opinion, palaces are like churches: once you’ve seen the inside of one, you’ve seen them all.), we were ready for lunch. I had my last meal of Spanish food during that lunch in Aranjuez, and the potatoes were greasy and the chicken was dry. Oh, Spain. Your food is the one thing I will not miss. Although I also had a salad that was incredible, so no complaints from me.

Aranjuez palace gardens

Aranjuez palace

Posing with the palace

The weather took a turn for the worse, so we cut our day trip short and headed back to Quintanar after lunch. We both went home to take a nap because we had plans to go out that night with Piedad, my Spanish friend. Piedad loved to go out and she knew Morgan and I really didn’t, so she begged me to go out with her once before I left. Saturday was the big night. We went to La Suite, the hippest bar in Quintanar, at midnight because Spanish people are crazy. I think Morgan and I actually lasted an hour and a half, so I was proud of us.

I have nothing fun to share about Sunday except that I went to Morgan’s and had pizza, so that was a good day, obviously, despite being my last in Quintanar.

I was spending the night in Madrid on Monday because my flight to Budapest was at 7:30 on Tuesday morning. Since I was spending the night anyway, I’d decided to make a day of it by meeting up with my friend Blair who lives in Madrid, and I convinced Morgan to tag along. So after I stopped at the hostel and dropped off my stuff, Morgan and I met up with Blair to get gyros, which we brought to Retiro park and ate in the grass. (Morgan and I both developed a real appreciation for grass after living in the desert of Quintanar.) After lunch, Blair took us over to the peacock gardens, which were really cool and I didn’t even know they were in the park, and the rose garden.

Peacock garden

Rose garden

We went to a bakery that had this really delicious raspberry pastry that Blair recommended, and my last item of business was to go boating on the lake in Retiro. They rent out rowboats for like 10 euros per hour, and I’ve been dying to do it since the first time I visited Madrid in May of 2015. So Morgan, Blair and I shared a boat, and the only person who actually knew what she was doing was Morgan, so that was obviously a ton of fun—although I did kind of get the hang of rowing eventually.

Boating lake in Retiro (It was a little bit sunny that day)

It was really nice to have that time to catch up with Blair, and to have some more time with Morgan, but Morgan had to get back to the bus station to take the last bus to Quintanar. So after we disembarked from our rowboat, we parted ways. I was very sad to say goodbye, but I know I’ll stay in touch with both of them, so that made it easier.

In the evening, I went to my favorite pizza place in Madrid (which happens to be right near my hostel) and went to bed early, because I had to leave for the airport very early the next morning. So early, in fact, that I had to shell out the cash for a cab because I had to go before the metro started running. Just my luck that when I finally knew the Madrid public transportation system like the back of my hand, I had to pay for a cab. But oh well;  it was admittedly the easiest trip to the airport I’ve ever had.

I was mildly nervous about my flight to Budapest because it was the first time that I was flying with Ryanair, and I've heard horror stories about them in the past. Because they're a discount airline, they charge for everything, which is how they keep their flight prices so low. Getting through the check-in line at the airport was one of the most ridiculous things I've ever experienced (Imagine a cattle call, and you're pretty close) but nothing bad happened, thankfully, and I'd come to the airport early so even the ridiculous line didn't really affect me. The three-hour flight to Budapest was pleasantly uneventful, and the Budapest airport was pretty small and easy to use. I'd read beforehand that getting into the city center from the airport is not an easy feat for tourists, so I splurged on a shuttle into the city. Everything was so cheap because Hungary uses forints (300 forints is 1 euro, for reference), so the shuttle only cost 13 euros. I never thought Madrid was an expensive city but in comparison, getting to the airport cost me 30 euros, and it was a much shorter ride.

The shuttle driver couldn't drop me off in front of my hostel because it was on a pedestrian street, so it took me a minute to find it, but I got there eventually. I had to lug my suitcase up three flights of stairs (including a spiral staircase because my life is a joke) but the hostel itself was lovely. I had my own room with a double bed and it was still dirt cheap. If you're looking for a cheap vacation, I highly recommend eastern Europe. 

Once I dumped my stuff, I ventured back out. My flight had been so early that I had a full day in Budapest to look forward to. My first priority, as always, was to take a walking tour of the city, but it didn't leave until 2pm, so I had some time to kill. I ate some lunch (and gelato, my weakness) and visited St. Stephen's basilica, the largest Catholic church in Budapest (which is free to visit, so that's my favorite kind of church).

St. Stephen's Basilica

Inside St. Stephens

Once the clock finally struck 2, I joined up with the tour. My tour guide was excellent, and she showed us the best sights of the city. I think my favorite part of the tour though was when she sang the Hungarian alphabet, because Hungarian has 44 letters. Compared with our 26, I felt like she was going for an hour before she finished. It was so weird that I wondered if Hungarian was a language isolate, but it's not; it has Asian roots, because the first settlers in Hungary were from Asia. The more you know, right? So for those who don't know, Budapest is broken up into two sections: Buda and Pest, which are on either side of the Danube (Also, Budapest is actually pronounced "Budapesht," so the Pest section of the city is "Pesht." You can get away with pronouncing the city as Budapest but they don't take it well when you call that half of the city "Pest" because of the negative connotation). I was staying in Pest, and that's the side of the river where the tour started as well, which was handy.

View of Buda from Pest

View of Pest from Buda

Buda Castle (now a museum, in case you couldn't tell)

Mattias Church

Fisherman's Bastion

Hungarian Parliament

The Chain Bridge

After the tour finished, I ventured off to explore more on my own. My first stop was The Great Synagogue, which is the largest in Europe (seating 3,000 people). I was too late to go inside, but it's pretty impressive even from the outside. From the synagogue, I rented a bike and pedaled over to the Holocaust memorial. They placed shoes along the Danube because Jewish people during WWII were ordered to take off their shoes and then shot by the bank of the river so that they fell in and were carried away. Their shoes were the only things left behind.

The Great Synagogue

Holocaust victim shoe memorial

The Danube

On Wednesday (June 1, just so you have perspective and can follow this timeline), my first priority was to go to a thermal bath. Budapest is famous for their thermal baths, and I decided to splurge and go to the fanciest of them all, which was within a five-star hotel. Honestly, I think it would have been more fun if I wasn't by myself, but it was definitely relaxing.

Hotel Gellért and bath

The hotel lobby

After I soaked in the thermal baths for awhile, I came outside and crossed the street to see the Cave Church. It is literally a church within a cave.

Cave Church

My next order of business was to climb the Gellért Hill to get to the Liberty Statue. The statue was originally a Soviet symbol, but after the fall of the Soviet Union, the Hungarian people reclaimed the statue and declared it a symbol of the independence and freedom of Hungary. I just wanted to visit it because the views were supposed to be amazing, and I'm a sucker for a nice view. I had heard that it was only a 15 minute walk, but I'm very slow and it was a pretty steep hill, so I was thinking it would probably take me about half an hour. Well, the joke was on me; I had to stop so often that it took me almost 45 minutes to get to the top. But I made it, eventually.

That statue on the top is where I was going

The walk up was just a small incline

Almost there

Finally made it

The view was worth it

After taking a rest to eat an ice cream at the top, I descended and went to the Great Market Hall across the river where they had traditional Hungarian food and artisan crafts. I had Hungarian potatoes, spiced with paprika, and bought two Hungarian dolls that were nestled in walnut shells (They're just as cute as they sound).

The Liberty Bridge

Inside the Great Market Hall

The last thing I really wanted to do was visit the House of Terror. It's a museum that Blair suggested I visit. The building was originally part of the Nazi headquarters in Hungary and then it became part of the communist headquarters after the war, so the physical building itself has been witness to unspeakable atrocities. However, they have since turned it into a museum dedicated to the suffering of the oppressed under the Nazis and the Soviets, so the museum is really moving. The jail cells in the basement are particularly unsettling.

The House of Terror

The House of Terror is on Andrássy Avenue, one of the main streets in Budapest, which runs into Heroes' Square and is also the home of the famously beautiful Hungarian State Opera House. Since I was nearby, I decided to walk down to the square and to see the Vajdahunyad Castle in the City Park behind the square.

Heroes' Square Tomb of the Unknown Soldier

Hall of Art

Museum of Fine Arts

Hungarian State Opera House

Vajdahunyad Castle in the City Park

Prettiest gelato I've ever eaten

The next day, I had to check out of my hostel because I was meeting up with the tour group that I'd be traveling with for the next 12 days, and half of my trip was a camping trip, including Budapest. The tour I was doing was a shorter section of a longer tour that started in London, so my group was already at the campsite in Budapest. But while I was in the city center, I decided to go back to St. Stephen's Basilica and take the elevator to the top of the tower. It had started raining, which affected the visibility a little bit, but it was really cool regardless.

View from the top of St. Stephen's

After I took the elevator back down, I grabbed a quick breakfast, checked out of my hostel, and hailed a cab to take me to the campground. I met up with the people I would be traveling with for the next 12 days and discovered that in a group of 21, I was the only American. There were two Brits, 3 Kiwis (meaning they were from New Zealand), a guy from India, and everyone else was from Australia. I'd had a great time in Budapest over the last couple days, and heaven knows I was busy enough running from place to place, but I was looking forward to having some new travel companions. I went back into the city with a some people and we went to some of the major sites (all of which I'd already visited during my crazy marathon tour of the city over the past two days). Dinner was my favorite part of the day because I'd felt really guilty that I'd been in Budapest for days and still hadn't had goulash. That problem was remedied with dinner, because I ordered the Hungarian special platter and the starter course was goulash, which I ended up really liking. That night, I fell asleep in my tent to the sound of rain pelting from outside. I could only hope that the next place where we camped would have better weather. I'll update my blog when I have time with the next two destinations: Krakow and Prague!