Budapest

Goodmorning world...
And what a beautiful morning it is.

Time is such a bizarre thing.  I was just pondering on how fast it seems to move, yet I realize how much has happened since my last entry.  Time seems to move so quickly when you aren't paying attention, but on a second thought, a whole lifetime of events can feel like it took place within a few weeks time span.  On that note, lets get back to our story...

Reluctantly, after ten days spent at our cozy hostel in the forest in Barcelona, the time had come to leave.  The last several evenings were spent making good acquitances with our lovely French bunk-mates, Pauline and Lucile, and teaching them words such as "Goofy" and "Done-zo!" Also, realizing my overuse of the word "cool", as every time I said it, it was repeated, "Kew-el" in their cute french accents.  Which brings us to the rainy morning of September 8th.  We were returning to the city of Barcelona for two nights to prepare for our flight to Budapest.  It was a chilly and rainy morning, after several cups of coffee at an outdoor table protected from the rain, we realized the rain had no intentions of stopping, and we must begin our trek regardless. Goofy Lucile, and Kew-el Pauline came to wish us farewell, and we were off!

We returned to our very first hostel we stayed at in Barcelona, Paradiso Hostel.  We planned on saying ADIOS to all of the familiar sights of Barcelona since this may be our last moments of ever seeing the city. Yet something so much better happened... On our first evening there whilst preparing dinner I made my first English friends: A corky trio of young-adults who are in "uni" together and are sharing a "flat". (Or as Americans may understand it: They go to the same college and live together).  That night, we were introduced to the lovely Lucy, Xander, and Bethany.  They were leaving the same morning as us, and on our final night we all made a delicious Mexican dinner, drank wine, and talked the evening away.  The next day we all ventured to the airport together.  Yet again, as quickly as we made our friends, we had to wish them farewell...






AND WE ARE OFF!  Our first flight within Europe: Barcelona to Budapest!


Getting off the plane, we were quite aware we were no longer in Barcelona.  The sky is grey... there is a melancholy in the air.  This place feels forgotten.  Hungary has been under political shift for several generations, and now the people have been left struggling to keep afloat.  Ask someone if they like living here, and they are quick to say "Yes!" but after a pause, you can see a shift in their face as they say "but it is not an easy life..." The Parliament building is decadent and under renovation to add to its beauty; yet, the public transport had its glory days many decades ago, during a time of communist rule.  Now the buses tremble and shake, and are masked in graffiti. Nevertheless, the city is a beautiful yet stoic labrynth of towering brick buildings and narrow streets.  It has natural thermal baths with hot mineral water spewing from the earth, and elaborate caves systems hiding below the surface.  There is even a church built into the entrance of a cave.  The city is torn in half by a giant river, which was used to divide two great cities many centuries ago.

We said goodbye to our tank tops and beach towel, and have covered ourselves with jackets and scarves.  Our first hostel was on the first floor of a huge brick building, and the entrance is a huge heavy wooden door.  Here we met our first American friends: Casey and Bryan from Buffalo, New York.  They are both in their early twenties, and they have decided to uproot themselves and get lost in the world for a year: Europe, the East, and Africa.  They have been volunteering on Monastaries making tea bags, organic farms harvesting plants for gourmet restaurants, and next an animal conservatory in Turkey.

It was at this point that Casey saved us from becoming illegal immigrants.  I will spare you from the details, but basically, as an American, you cannot spend as much time in Europe as you wish.  So in order to return to Europe in December to catch our flight home, we must adventure out of the continent before the end of October.  So we have set a new path:  we will be flying to Istanbul, Turkey October 17th, and must remain out of Europe until December.  But that is still some time away, and we still have lots to do and see before then...

Which brings me to this current moment... Matthew is preparing me breakfast in the lovely and peaceful Zen Hostel, our second dwelling in Budapest.  Matthew has joined the gym across the street, we have found the local farmers market with delicious fresh produce, the hostel has a fully equipt kitchen, and has only two bedrooms with six beds each, and for once... I feel like we have found a cozy temporary home for next few weeks...