Budapest, Bratislava, Devin

[pictures: 1. the pink bridge and the buda side; 2. on the way up to the citadel, looking at the castle; 3. heather and max hanging out at the top, overlooking the city; 4. the group enjoying vino at the castle; 5. the ruins at Devin]

Our third stop on the tour was in lovely Budapest. It was amazing, one of my favorite cities. On the bus ride to Budapest Sean, Erinn, Andy, Orange, Donnie, Chesky and some others played some cherades in the aisle. We only did movies, but it was really fun. It made the bus ride fly by. Once we got to Budapest we checked into our hotel which was super nice. We had huge rooms and balconies, awesome. After that we did a little city walk to our resturant, but we got stopped midway through trying to cross the main bridge. We didn't know what was going on but the bride was lit up pink and there were some famous people. Andy, Donnie and I went into the parade and got right behind the famous people, who we didn't know, but we got in every picture. Pretty funny. We ate dinner at a really nice place and we got to sample some delicious Hungarian red wine. We got served some liver ball soup that I actually ate this time, and a traditional goulash that was amazing. We also had another birthday celebration so we had some delicious cake as well. After dinner, while we were lingering, Sean challenged me to an arm wrestle, and I redefined myself as a "bad ass." I do my best. After that we walked up to the castle. It was really cool because everything was lit up and it looked very fairy tale-ish. After the walk, most of us were going to go to a club but after finding out that it was pretty far away we decided to take some pivos down to the Danube, which was right next to our hotel. It was really fun. We just sat on some steps and overlooked the river and talked. Very enjoyable. The next morning we woke up and took a tram to Hero's square. It was pretty cool. Jan, our director was crazy and climbed up the statues during the changing of the guard. He started climbing on everything in Budapest, pretty freaky. After Hero's square we went to the baths. They were really cool. I didn't have my bathing suit though so Heather and I just put our feet in. The water was really warm and I wished that I had brought my suit. We could have rented them but I'm not sure how that would have been. I left the baths with Max, Alex, Nick, and Coozy. We stopped for lunch and then went back to the hotel with a plan to meet down in the lobby at 13.45 to go up to the citadel. So we met and Max, Alex, Nick, Orange, Erinn, Heather and I set off for the hill. It was a pretty steep hill but it was totally worth it. As we said at the top "The hike up is always worth the view." It was a gorgeous day too, so that made it exponentially better. We hung out at the top taking in the view for a while and ate some ice cream and reflected on our exceptionally blessed lives. It was really fun. On the way down we ran into this guy doing some slight of hand stuff and the boys were dumb and bet money and lost of course. Nick was super dumb and lost over 200 euros. What a dummy. Alex and I were just watching the whole time trying to figure it out. Lame. After that we walked along the river to get even with Parliment so we could get some good pictures. It was such a nice day. I also really like hanging out with those guys, they're pretty great! After that we crossed back over to the Pest side and walked to the huge church. I can't remember the name but I think Max said it was the biggest in Budapest. It was really gorgeous. We spent a while there and then decided to go to the Market. Unfortunately, by the time we walked there it was already closed but we got to look inside. It looks pretty spectacular. After the market, Erinn and Heather went shopping and Max, Alex and I walked back to our hotel along the river. It was sunset so that was gorgeous. Right when we got back to the hotel, Andy, Pat, Andrew, Adnan, Beeler, and Chesky were going to meet Jenny, Sean, Cody and Elinor to go to the Labyrinths under the castle. I decided, "what the heck?" and joined them. We booked it over to the castle and made it just in time. They started out really cool but got progressively more corny and less appealing. But just the fact that we were in prehistoric caves was pretty superb. Also, there was one room with a wine fountain. Pretty freaky. After the Labyrinths we split up for a little. Some people went to get some chess sets, others went back to the hotel and Chesky, Adnan, Beeler and I went to dinner. It was a delicious restaurant along the Danube, and was very cheap considering the quality of the food. I stuffed myself, of course, before we met back at the bridge to take some Vino up to the castle. We walked up to the "eagle" where we spent some time looking over the city. We eventually made it to what we call Aladdin's hideout. It was really fun. We just hung out and took it all in. It was great!
The next morning we left for Prague but stopped in Bratislava first. We stopped at the castle and got a brief history. Its really weird to look at the skyline of Bratislava because of all the Communist housing and factories that dot the city. It was weird. They have that in Prague too but its pretty far outside of the city. Then we walked to the main square where we had some free time before lunch. The usual group of us went to a chocolate cafe. It was really delicious. We got hot chocolate which was more like melted chocolate that you ate with a spoon. It was awesome! Then we went to lunch and got a typical Slovakian meal. I'm not sure what it was but it tasted delicious! Then we boarded the bus and headed to the ruins at Devin.
The ruins were pretty cool. Again, it was gorgeous weather so you could see forever. I climbed on them again, but this time others joined me. It was great. There was also a wishing well which we got the whole history on. It was really interesting.
All in all it was a fantastic trip. I just wish we had more time in all the places!