Dear Budapest, 

When I told people that I was going to Budapest, I was surprised to hear that many people are unaware of your existence. But not me. For whatever reason, I had planned to visit you since I made my plans to travel Europe for a few months. Maybe it was your food, maybe it was your Christmas Markets, maybe it was the Danube River, maybe it was the beautiful architecture everywhere I looked, maybe it was the overall perfection of the city. 

I had no doubt that Budapest would be one of my favorite stops in my travels, that it would be one of the cities most feautured on my Instagram. To no surprise, I was correct. I have trouble deciding which pictures to post and which places to share, even though I didn’t even capture nearly all of it because I loved it so much that I didn’t want to ruin it by experiencing it through a camera. 

This was my most packed weekend in my months abroad, because there is so much to do in Budapest. I walked along the Danube River, and got to reflect on the Shoes on the Danube Monument for the 60 people who were shot into the river during the Holocaust. I obviously made a stop, a long one, to the Hungarian Parliament Building, and couldn’t help but compare it to other government buildings I have seen in my life. I hopped a scooter and rode up to City Park, where I visited Herde’s Square and enjoyed the Szechini salt baths. Because I am legally allowed to drink in Europe, I made a point to experience barlife before returning to the United States. Your ‘ruin bars’, specifically Szimpla Kertmozi, were some of the coolest I went to due to their insanely cool locations, variety of options, and friendly people. I walked across the Chain Bridge to the Buda side of the city, where the funicular took me up to Castle Hill so I could see the best views of the beautiful city. I also toured Fisherman’s Bastion and St. Matthias Church, which was hands-down one of the coolest buildings I have ever seen. 

Even though I feel that I experienced a lot of the key things to do in Budapest, I do not hesitate to say that I would visit you again in a heartbeat, to explore parts I hadn’t done before or just to repeat everything I did already. Not to be cliché but, I’m HUNGARY for more. 

Thank you so much for giving me a collection of stories to prove to people that sometimes the overlooked cities are the most beautiful. Thank you for being a walkable city so I didn’t have to blow through all of my money on transportation. Thank you for having amazing food. Thank you for welcoming me with open arms into a culture so different from anywhere else I had been before; I had the buda-best time. 

Mindíg szeretni foglak.