Spring Break

After spring break I was fully set on sitting down and writing a nice long blog about my adventures. But laziness caught up with my and here I having been back from spring break for over a week and no blog. So in the spirit of compromise I decided I would write a brief synopsis of my experiences in Budapest, Vienna and Prague.

If anyone asks me the queston, "What did you do last week?" I am pretty sure my answer will trump whatever they say. Last week for my spring break I went to Budapest then Vienna and then Prague. Yes, these are three totally random cities, but yes I had a great time. Plus, each of the cities I went to is close enough to one another that it was easy to travel to one another via trains.

Budapest

Budapest is one of the most beautiful cities I have ever been! The side east of the river Danube is Pest and to the west is the city of Buda. For the cities to be twin cities it is shocking how different they are. Pest is very flat, while just across the river Buda is filled with hills. What is really neat about this is that you can get spectacular views of the city from atop the hills of Buda. The first day there we roamed around and eventually made our way to the castle district of Budapest. Here he some buildings that where hundreds of years old which definitely puts in perspective how old anything you might see in America is. For the rest of our time in Budapest we did the traditional touristy things for instance we went to the famous Matyas Church. What was really cool about this church and many of the other churches in Hungary was their architecture, how it is influenced by both classical Western architecture as well as the East. It makes for some beautiful buildings that you do not get any where else in the world. Another one of the high points of Budapest was St. Stephen's Basilica. St. Stephen is the patron saint of Hungary and was the Catholic King that united the country. During our stay in the country, we made it to St. Stephen's for mass on Sunday and I must say that Hungarian is one crazy language. It sounds nothing like I have ever heard before.

Vienna

After Budapest, we traveled to Vienna, Austria. One cool facet of Vienna was that it like Budapest is separated by the Danube. While Vienna was pretty it did not hold a candle to the beauty of Budapest. In Vienna, one of the coolest things we saw was the Habsburg's Summer Palace. It reminded me alot like Versailles except not quite as opulent.

Prague

While I loved my entire time on spring break, I must say I am no fan of Prague or the Czech Republic for that matter. And after having spent time in the country, I can certainly tell why Slovakia let the Czechs split. They are by far the least friendly people I have ever experienced. Some of my friends joked that the best way to not look like a tourist while there is to never smile. And I have to say that is great advice. Setting aside the negative aspects of the country and city, Prague is a pretty city. It has a castle that sits atop the city and from there you can get some great pictures of the entire city.

I realize this was a super short, sparknote version of my spring break but I knew if I didn't write it tonight I would probably never get around to it so hopefully you enjoy what I wrote. Plus, by saving time writing about spring break I can update yall on my great weekend in London!