Budapest with the Budabest | Tommy Duong

*Knock knock knock* A loud bang on my hotel door wakes me up from a deep sleep. All I can hear is Blake’s voice yelling, “Wake up, wake up! We overslept!” I rolled over to check my phone, and the clock flashed 5:28 A.M. I know this seems fairly early, but the problem was we had a bus reservation to go to Budapest at 6 A.M. that is half an hour away. Without hesitation, Blake and I both jump up, brush our teeth as fast as we can, and throw on whatever clothes are in sight. Bed head and all, we rush downstairs to meet up with the rest of the crew heading to Budapest. We all took off in a dead sprint to catch the U3 to take us to the bus stop. After running through the train station, we finally caught up with Adam and Kyle, who left before us because we overslept. Seven stops later on the U3 and a couple on the U1, we reached the destination of the bus station at 5:55 A.M. We hopped off the metro and started running downstairs to the bus stop. To my relief, I saw our bus still waiting for us to take off. Whew! We made it! What a way to start off the morning.

After a three-hour bus ride that consisted of naps, we finally made it to Budapest. The bus driver dropped us off at one of the metro stations where we all bought tickets for the metro. Our first stop was to get coffee, so we went to a local café to get some caffeine in our systems. After that, we decided to tour the attractions along the Danube River that runs directly through the city. Once we made it across the famous chain bridge, we hiked up Castle Hill to get to Buda Castle. The 18th-century architecture was incredibly designed and is still breathtaking to this day. The scenery was so beautiful that we even saw a couple taking their wedding photos on the steps of the castle. Afterwards, we headed back down the hill to get lunch at a small restaurant that served good Hungarian cuisine. Once we got done eating, we changed into our swimming gear to go check out one of Budapest’s famous thermal bath houses. We went to a place called Szechenyi Baths where we swam around in the warm, relaxing waters, while Luke and Gabe attempted to flirt with some strangers. The water was great, but we could only stay for half an hour before we had to leave for the bus. When we were all cleaned up and changed, it was time to go to the bus station and head

back to Vienna. Although we could only stay for a short period of time, I thoroughly enjoyed our last-minute trip. I can honestly say it was a wonderful experience before I head back home, and Budapest did not disappoint!