The Misadventures of Mongo: The twin cities of eastern Europe

Budapest - If you have not been, you need to go and visit! I arrived via train, an hour late of my scheduled time. At noon I exited the railway station and it was pouring out. Talk about a shitty way to start my weekend. When navigating through crowded train stations keep your wallet in your front pocket, keep your hands free to push people away, and DO NOT TAKE ANYTHING that people try to give you.

If you follow those directions you will more than likely be ok.

So this trip included my first hostel experience, and it was not too bad. (No one yelled at me for snoring) I arrived at a hostel called Central Backpack King of Budapest. It was a relatively small hostel (so I was told) consisting for 3 large dorm rooms, four smaller rooms. My reservations were for a large dorm room, but a large group extended for another an extra night, and I ended up in a 4 person room. My first roommates were a petite Brazilian girl, and a Canadian guy who works in London, with one empty bed. They were all very nice, and none of them snored, or tried to sleep naked. (If the Brazilian wanted to sleep naked I would not have objected) Saturday morning my roommates left, with out even saying Goodbye. My next roommates where far more interesting. Well 2 out of 3 were. There was a Spanish guy who had an afro that would put some of my black friends to shame, and two french gals. They spoke enough English so that we could communicate. I met various other people in the hostel, some from Canada, One from Chicago, an entire group from Amsterdam. It was weird, yet so much fun to hang out with so many different people from different parts of the world. All in all the hostel experience was a good one.

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http://www.triptobudapest.hu/

If anyone reading this ever travels to Budapest, I highly recommend the website listed about. I took multiple tours with this group, and they were free. At the end of a the tour they would have a recap of everything, and would then solicit tips. There was minimal pressure about tipping, the guides were awesome, entertaining, and very knowledgeable. I took their communist tour, Jewish quarter tour, and their regular Budapest walking tour. I have added blisters on top of blisters, on top of blisters. On one of the walking tours, I saw a manicure place that had the fish... Yes you know the fish that eat the dead skin off of your feet...I think it would have been an amazing experience, but unfortunately after the tour, I could not find my way back to have them little guys make my feet silky smooth.

St. Stephen's Basilica

Named after Stephen I of Hungary

Stephen I was the first King of Hungary from 975 - 1038
Located in the Reliquary is his right hand
315 feet high
Height is equal to the Hungarian Parliament Building, it is suppose to symbolism Chruch and State are equal
took 54 years to complete
The southern bell tower contains Hungary's biggest bell, weighing over 9 tonnes.
364 stairs to climb to the top of the dome

The only remaining memorial to the Russian's who "liberated" Hungary during WWII, only to then occupy Hungary, and force communism upon them. To learn more about the Communist history, check the link below.

Peoples Republic of Hungary

There was so much to see in Budapest. I know there has to be some things I have left out, and I know there are many things I did not even get pictures of. The day I took the tour through the Jewish Quater, it was pouring down rain, and I did not bring any camera with me. I can tell you Budapest has the largest synagogue in Europe, and the 2nd largest in the world. It really is an incredible site to see, and to think of the recent history such as WWII, I do not know if I should describe the experience as unsettling, or awe inspiring. The courage, and strength that some people showed in one of our World's darkest hours is an inspiration.