The Glam Nomad: Summer Eurotrip- Budapest

It's time to take a breather from all this house talk! Before we do... we decided to go for it! We are thrilled, albeit broke (or we will be for a while after we close). It's expensive to buy a house, even though the seller covers the broker's 3%, with the inspection, closing costs, appraisal, year's worth of home insurance, three months of property taxes, etc... It's a good thing I already took a summer vacation, because there won't be any fun trips for this blogger for a while! I'll have to dive into my archives or go through my list of past trips I haven't blogged about yet. So don't worry, I will not be short on content. I will be here to help you waste your time while you procrastinate work (just like what I'm doing right now...).

Without further adieu, about this Eurotrip. Last month I went with two girlfriends to Budapest and Vienna!

Before you tell me Budapest is dangerous, let me clarify that it's in Hungary, not Turkey. Almost everyone I talk to confuses these two countries. Is it because they're both food related? I probably would too if I hadn't looked up Hungary on Google Earth to see where the heck I was going!

Budapest is a gorgeous city filled with Old World architecture. It's a fairly underrated European destination, in my opinion. There was so much to see, it was challenging to fit it all in when we had less than four days to do it.

We spent our first day on a bike tour of the city, which was well worth our time and money. Budapest has an impressive public transportation system and its bike lanes are icing on the cake. Our guides were eager to share the city's history, which is fascinating. We started the tour on the Pest side (where we stayed), then crossed the Danube river to see the Buda side (my favorite part of the city was Old Buda).

We had passed a Turkish bath on our tour, so the next day we decided to indulge ourselves in this European past time. We went to Szechenyi, which is the largest thermal bath in Europe. It was built in 1913 in a neo-Baroque style that made us think it was built centuries ago!

People of all ages were enjoying the beautiful weather while soaking up the medicinal benefits of the baths. The water comes from natural hot springs and provides healthy minerals like calcium and magnesium. We loved spending an afternoon here!

There was only one destination on our Budapest bucket list that turned out to be not as exciting as we'd hoped, and that was the Great Market Hall.

This is Budapest's oldest and largest indoor market, built in 1897. We arrived early on a Monday morning and to our surprise, it was dead. The building is huge, but most of the stalls were empty. We picked up a few souvenirs (Hungarian paprika was a popular one) and some fruit but were disappointed that we didn't get to witness the hustle and bustle of a thriving international market. I can only imagine what it must be like when the stalls are full and it's packed with shoppers.

As much as we were busy gallivanting around town during the day, we did not let our jet lag and tired feet stop us from taking in Budapest's nightlife. Apparently the Pest side is where the action happens. When the sun began to set, the streets filled with university students, business people, and everyone in between. They all carried tall cans of beer or bottles of wine, and enjoyed the beautiful weather and company of friends, surrounded by the city's gorgeous architecture.

Hungarian winters are long and harsh, so the people of Budapest relish the summer months. We came across several outdoor concerts and festivals (one complete with a mini replica of the London Eye) just walking around the neighborhood of our hotel.