Budapest, Hungary

Boat tour!

I hit the ground running in Budapest, arriving around 8 pm and, upon arrival at my hostel, being greeted with something like "There's a boat tour with drinks leaving in 5 minutes, you should come!" How could I say no to that? So they walked us down to the river, stopping at a couple hostels on the way to pick up more people, and then we got on a beautiful yacht which took us up and down the Danube for a couple of hours. It was really a unique introduction to Budapest, as all of the buildings were so beautiful lit up on the river in the evening.

Parliament

I made friends!

For my only full day in Budapest, I decided it was best to take a walking tour and hit all the main sights and learn a little about the city. If you didn't know (I didn't), the name Budapest comes from the 1800s when the town on one side of the river (Buda) was united with the town on the other side (Pest). We saw the main sights on the Pest side (where I was staying and the majority of things are happening) and then crossed the famous chain bridge to the Buda side which is a little more historic. The church on that side was my favorite building because of the brightly colored ceramic tiles and their pattern along the rooftop of the church.

Famous 1st bridge to connect both sides of the river 

Buda from the Pest side

Pest from the Buda side

Church in Buda

I loved these tiles

The tour lasted a good 3 hours, and we ended on the Buda side, so by the time I looked around more and made my was back to Pest it was mid afternoon. I stopped and got a beef stew for lunch, as our tour guide said any type of stew is a typical Hungarian dish (it was yummy).

Fisherman's warf - Buda

Check out Pest behind me

Architecture in Buda

Some nice beef soup

In the afternoon I just spent a little more time wandering. I made it up to this large park with a museum that's part of an old building that essentially resembles a castle. I didn't go in the museum but walking around the exterior was certainly interesting.

I loved this architecture

My second evening I went out on another hostel sponsored event to an open mic night. Again, it was really fun and I was able to hear some really good (and not so good) local and foreign talent. I purposely tried to stay in more social hostels over the course of my trip so that I could meet more people, and it certainly worked out well in Budapest. I met so many really cool and interesting travelers (even some Argentinians who let me speak Spanish with them) and I wouldn't have changed any of it! Next stop: Bratislava, Slovakia.

Paris, France

I honestly cannot comprehend how fast spring break arrived. In the hectic, stressed couple weeks of midterms it was all I could do to keep my self focused and my mind away from my upcoming travels. But here it is!

I have written an individual post for each of the countries I visited over the course of these 11 days (4 total!), but because I didn't have all day to spend writing I tried to keep each one short and just talk about a few highlights. In an attempt not to be overwhelmed upon my return, I typed them out on my phone as I was moving from place to place so that I could simply edit and add pictures when I got home. So maybe read these next few posts as a really long text message because that's about all the brain power I had while writing. If you want to know more, just another excuse to catch up when I return home!

So, Paris. It really is a beautiful city. I was lucky enough to be hosted by my wonderful aunt and uncle who took me in, fed me well, and showed me the best of what Paris has to offer.

Mostly, I checked off the tourist stops:

Eiffel tower - so much bigger than I could have imagined

Notre Dame - incredibly designed and so intricate in its architecture

The Louvre and Mona Lisa - so much smaller than I imagined (the paining, not the museum). A note about the Louvre as a whole - I would love to come back and spend so much more time here because there's an incredible amount to see. We did come across a moai from Easter Island, though, which was a bitter sweet reminder of my time in Chile (se extraño, Chile).

So small

I have seen this in too many history textbooks

How did that get there...?

Montmartre - we spent a lovely morning in this district enjoying great views of the city, fun street artists, and winding cobblestone streets that felt like Rome.

Views from above Paris

Arc de Triomphe de l'Étoile - photo op

And aside from this, my time was filled with some solo wandering, great food, and even better company. Here are a few highlights:

The food is always good with Doug and Yuko

Saturday night - live music

A friend from school in DC met us for lunch!

Yum

Latin quarter - touristy but fun

And just like that, my weekend in Paris was over (though my spring break travels were just beginning). Up next: Budapest, Hungary.

Just Romeing around

You don't want to know how much pizza we eat...

This post has been in the works for several weeks now - too many wonderful experiences around Rome that I want to include in this "daily life" update! Though I have been studiously documenting my travels, I have also been trying to experience everything Rome has to offer. The aim of this post is to give a bunch of short descriptions of my last month or so in Rome and what I've been doing with my time here (while I'm not in class or studying!)

The ballet - Last month I convinced my friend Kaitlin to attend the ballet with me at Rome's Opera House. The facility is gorgeous - certainly worth going to just to sit in the theater. We saw Sleeping Beauty and, as a former dancer, it was beautiful and made me miss my own ballet days. The show certainly tested our stamina, though, as it lasted a solid 3.5 hours with 3 different intermissions (I love ballet but even that was a lot). It was still an incredibly fun evening, though, and I would love to go back.

Outside the Opera House

Inside

Sleeping Beauty

Coffee/ coffee shops - I know I've talked about this in other posts, but I am continually fascinated by Rome's coffee culture. Though sometimes it is nice to sit down and enjoy a big cup of coffee, the incredibly inexpensive and fast way of doing coffee here is something I won't get enough of during my time in Italy. I've also taken to spending time studying at a couple different cafes on the weekends, Circus Cafe and Barnum Cafe, and their atmosphere, coffee, and study snacks have become a homework ritual.

Traditional Italian Breakfast - 1.70 euros (not even $2!)

Cozy vibes at Circus Cafe

Cappuccino from Barnum Cafe

Speaking of homework - School is really great! I promise I'm going, and my classes are all really interesting. In particular, every Monday morning I have a 3 hour class where we go around Rome and learn about Renaissance and Baroque art. Normally, I don't think I could ever sit through an art history class, but this one is so much cooler because we actually get to see the works of art in person! And we get to see/ understand sights around Rome I might never otherwise, and for that reason alone it's worth the stress of studying for the midterm tomorrow (this post is procrastination in progress).

Renaissance art - early 1500s

Soccer - In an attempt to attain my newly realized goal of playing soccer on every continent, I joined the university's soccer team! It's been a great way to meet other girls and just get out and run off all sorts of Italian carbs. So far, we're undefeated! #shewolves

Friends in Rome - I have been lucky enough to be visited by several friends from school back in DC who are also studying abroad in Europe over the last few weeks! While I let them do most of the "touristy" Rome things on their own, I continued to explore the city with them and saw several areas I had yet to see, including the Vatican and a large park behind the Spanish Steps within Villa Borghese which has several ponds and so many dogs. The Vatican was also an incredible experience - it is huge and between the basilica and museums it's a lot to take in and we spent the better part of a day there. Though I really feel like a semester long tourist here (strange because I didn't feel this way in Chile and I think it has a lot to do with language), it's still fun to feel a little more like a local when friends come and I can show them around.

Exploring Rome with my friend Cassie

Pizza at a favorite local spot - Dar Poeta

Treating myself to Pesto Pasta at Tonnarella

Around Vatican City

In the Basilica

Friends cook dinner

Park in Villa Borghese

Evenings in Rome - Lastly, I just wanted to highlight a couple great live music venues in the Monti neighborhood of Rome where we have started to frequent on both weeknights and weekends. Black Market Monti and Charity Cafe are two great venues that do live music along with food and drinks most nights, and we love going! The music varies by night but it's always an engaging and lively experience.

Blues at Charity Cafe

Bruschette at Black Market

Live music at Black Market

I am trying to soak up every minute of my time here, but my spring break travels begin this coming weekend and I couldn't be more excited! Many updates and posts to come :)