Location | Suite Hostel – Budapest

I have learned a lot of things about myself since coming here.

1) I enjoy fruit drinks (ok I already knew this, but gosh! So many different options here…)

2) I am definitely afraid of the dark – but more on that later

I think our suite-mates (we live in a 3 room apartment, but we have our own room) are making something delicious, because some amazing smells are coming from the kitchen right now.

Anyway, today was really packed. We headed out around 10am and went to Central Kavehaz near our hostel. I was so excited to finally got a good coffeehouse. I ordered a Viennese Coffee, Chocolate Croissant and a Pear Juice.

Breakfast at Central Kafehaz

If there’s one thing I’ll miss about Europe — it’ll be all the fruit juices. The pear juice was AMAZING. We must bring it to America!

After breakfast, we went to Central Market Hall (Nagy Vasarcsarnok) which was filled stall after stall with fruits, vegetables, meat, and upstairs – souvenirs and traditional Hungarian food! We tried to look at all the stalls and we bought some paprika and other souvenirs.

Central Market Hall in Budapest

After the market, we walked down Vaci Utca and did a little shopping, but in the end we got on the metro and headed to the Buda Royal Palace. There are some amazing views of Pest from up there and we took a lot of photos.

After walking all around the palace, we ate lunch in a small cafe near the back exit. Then it was off to the underground labyrinth.

The labyrinth was the scariest part of the trip. A) the air was very stale and B) I was scared out of my wits of the dark. Besides being dark, wet, and smelly, it was also scary and there was some sort of mysterious cult music playing.

Ngoc is a little scared...

I slipped a few times on the wet floor and it was quite cold. The problem with the maze was how DARK it was. It seriously was so dark at times I couldn’t see Ngoc. I was using my camera flash for light. There was one area called the “Labyrinth of Courage” which was, seriously, just no lights. Darkness… and nothing else. Needless to say, Ngoc was trying to get out of there was quickly as possible, and I was trying to be cautious and when Ngoc disappeared from in front of me there’s me yelling “NGOC? NGOC? NGOC?”

Once we go out, I felt a lot better. Light makes me feel safe heh. Anyway, we left and went to Margaret Island — which is BEAUTIFUL. We went to the Japanese Garden and then walked the whole length of the island.

Japanese Garden

After the island, it was time to go eat, so we went back to Vaci Utca and had some Hungarian food (which wasn’t very Hungarian if you ask me… just “touristy”) and now we’re back at the hostel.

Check Flickr for “Budapest Day 2 – A Selection.”