Budapest

Budapest is divided into two sides, on one side of the Danube river we have Buda and on the other side the town of Pest.

For the first time in all of the years that I have been working GYLC and the few times I have actually made it to Budapest, I got to go out! We went to one of the coolest bars I think I have ever been to. Szimpla Kert a bar made in a bombed out warehouse... my best description is TGIFriday's on CRACK! Carved out bathtubs to sit in, gymnastic pommel horses as random decorations, gnomes everywhere, Christmas lights, Tibetan prayer flags... you name it... its there. I LOVED IT!  We didn't want to look like "those people" so unfortunately we don't have any pictures from that night but it was a good night!

Another aspect of Hungary that I love is the endless fields of sunflowers! It has been my long term goal to run through the fields and frolic. I was told of magical places where they set up the sunflower fields as mazes and then in the middle...a BEER GARDEN!!  That would be my ultimate day!

But my FAVORITE part of Budapest is when we go to the PUZSTA!! 

The Hungarian prairie land. A magical land of wild horses and wild men! We take carriage rides through the fields, eat endless pots of goulash and watch hunky Hungarian cowboys train horses with whips! It is an evening of folk dancing and fun. Of the many years that I have worked GYLC... I have only made it to the Puzsta a few precious times, the stories as to why I did NOT make it are much longer than I should put in this post. Luckily, I made it this year and it was especially magical!

The dark cloud on the trip was the hospital visit I had to make. NOT FOR ME. One of the scholars had been overheated and complaining of chest pains when we were doing our city tour earlier in the day. Part of my job is to help them seek medical advice if they choose. At midnight in Budapest, the scholar decided he wanted medical advice. Hungarian hospitals at midnight are very dark.. just so you know. It was obviously difficult to explain what was going with the kid as I speak 3 words of Hungarian (Hello, Thank you and Cheers.) Not so helpful in the hospital. Overall though, we were in and out in 30 minutes. He got an EKG and a shot of something for his pain and we were sent on a merry way.


Despite the hospital trip, Budapest is probably my number two favorite place we visit on our GYLC trips.