Well, it really wasn’t, but accommodations make all the
difference. During my final iteration of
my Budapest time I was back in my hostel lifestyle.
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| Matthias Church, Budapest |
The city is actually pronounced Budapesht, and is divided
into two distinctive areas: the eastern, residential, and hilly Buda side and
the western, flat, and trendy Pest (again: pronounced Pesht) side. One of most magnificent buildings I have ever
seen is the Parliament building, located on the Pest side; it is breathtaking,
especially when it is lit up at night. I
wanted to revisit it before I left, as well as a few noteworthy locations and
run an errand or two before I repacked my backpack for my next destination.
One of my errands included visiting the nearest post office
and sending two packages home to the States, which is a cultural experience to
say the least. Although the idea behind every
post office is inherently the same, there are a handful of potential quirks
that make national offices unique. I
think post offices are a decent cultural gauge - the levels of organization, attitudes,
and general efficiency are usually telling of the nation at large.
In Bruges, I was unable to speak with the post office
attendant because I hadn’t taken an almighty ticket from the machine at the
door, despite the fact that the office was completely devoid of people, save
Jennifer and myself.
In Thailand they had a ticketing process, as well, and an automated
board to signal your turn at one of the few desks. They provided extensive packaging, which was
sold at a different desk, no ticket necessary.
The offices were usually brimming with families, friends and relatives
who were talking animatedly and usually interested in seeing what I was sending
and where I was from. The greatest part
of this seemingly organized situation was that you could take 45 minutes at the
desk (addressing envelopes, calling friends to determine addresses, take a nap
– whatever you needed to do!) and they would never ask you to move aside. The wait was agonizing, but no one
minded. I guess that’s why they bring their
family and friends.
In Hungary, in a twisted half disgruntled government
employee and half unhappy Central-Eastern European fashion, the woman at the
post office did not want to deal with me. Her grunts,
sighs and eye rolling were evident from the moment I stepped up to her desk, no
ticket in hand. After an agonizing few
minutes of her speaking to me in Hungarian, I finally secured the boxes from
her that I would be using to send my items home. I left her desk and sat by myself on the
floor and addressed the boxes and returned to finalize the process with the
same joyful woman. She grunted again,
scribbled a number on a scrap paper with the amount that I assumed I owed and
then said in perfect English, “You don’t need anything else. You can leave now”. I left feeling quite incompetent and a little
annoyed. Too bad I can’t play the “I’m a
taxpayer” card here…
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| Great reminder on my hostel keys |
After my morning of making Hungarian friends, I headed for
my favorite part of most cities: the green space and art museums. Budapest has a particularly beautiful and well-planned
green space called Városliget, or City Park, which is home to the famous
Széchenyi Medicinal Bath House, Heroes Square, Vajdahunyad Castle and two beautiful
museums.
As I walked through the Vajdahunyad Castle and read historical
and cultural tidbits from my hostel provided guidebook, I found myself trying
to appreciate how much history surrounds Hungary. With the shifting boundaries, changing heads
of states, and intermarrying monarchs I was more grateful for our “young” nations’
rather straightforward history (think pre-WWI, not today) than ever
before. The depth and detail of history
can be dizzying (another reason why you should do a Free Walking Tour – they
strike the perfect balance of information and entertainment!).
After a few hours of walking through Városliget in the
blissful weather, I decided to splurge on a visit to Szépművészeti Múzeum, the
Museum of Fine Arts, where a Henri Toulouse-Lautrec exhibit was being
shown. Before the exhibit, I was
familiar with his works but not his life or personality. The exhibit was educational and enjoyable,
despite it being days from closing and brimming with excited tourists and
locals, alike.
One of my final stops of my trip
was a visit to the Central Market Hall where they have endless stalls of fruit, meats, cheeses,
and alcohol. The market area is
two stories and is surrounded by small food stalls on the top floor
overlooking the vendors below. They had
every sort of Hungarian specialty available and even some Middle Eastern
foods. Everything smelled heavenly!
I strolled down the Danube while
heading back to my hostel and tried to recall all of the fun, misadventures,
and stories from my time in Budapest. It
had been quite a whirlwind and it is still strange to think that the three
different versions of Budapest could have even occurred the same city.
