Budapest, Hungary
How do I love Hungary? Let me count the ways:
1. The Heroes' Square is one of the most stunning plazas I've been to in all of Europe. It's a true monument to important figures in Hungary's history, and its sheer size was astounding. It's even beautiful at night, since all the monuments are lit up and shine like the glorious sights they are.
2. The thermal baths provide an amazing source of relaxation after a "hard" day of being a tourist. We went to the Széchenyi thermal baths and promptly dipped our feet into every pool there.
3. The New York Café is heralded as the "most fancy coffee shop in the world", and it lives up to its name. It's decorations span from floor to ceiling and almost everything is adorned with gold. Also, their hot chocolate with macadamia nut flavoring might just be the best thing I tasted this entire trip.
There's many more reasons why I liked Budapest, but these were what stuck out most in my mind.
Nürnberg, Germany
After roughly ten days of travel, Rose and I finally made it back to Germany. It was refreshing to be able to practice our German again, and although we stayed in the city for less than 24 hours, it made a great impression on us. The people were friendly, especially at the tourist center where they outlined a walking tour that allowed us to make the most of our time there despite our short stay. The Altstadt, or "Old Town", seemed as if it was taken from a book of fairytales. The streets were lined with churches, castles, and old-style houses juxtaposed with cafés, shops, and restaurants. During our walk we passed by Albrecht Dürer's house, a street market, and lots and lots of happy tourists. This was definitely the perfect stop on the last leg of our trip.
After we had fallen in love with Nürnberg, we whispered goodbye and headed back north to Berlin, marking the end of a successful 11-day, 10-night tour through 4 countries, 6+ cities, 5 trains, 3 buses, 2 forms of currency, 3 languages, all done by 2 friends enjoying the journey of a lifetime.
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The Last-Minute Tourist: Part II
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Ali DeGuide
<p>My name is Ali, and I'm a Political Economy major at the University of Southern California (Trojans!). Ever since I was a little kid and found out that there was such a thing as "study abroad", I dreamed about doing it. I'd stare at the famous Midwestern cornfields and wonder what it would take to go see the world. I loved the idea of picking up and leaving everything, even if it was only for a short while. Now, I'm living the dream and studying abroad in Berlin, Germany.</p>
