Well well. There is already so much to tell. Also, I can’t make exclamation marks so pretend that this post reads like I am really excited. Budapest is a very interesting city, filled with all types of people and beautiful architecture. I have already had some crazy adventures here, but I thought that I would first sum up with a couple of lists.

Things that I love about Budapest;

1. Intricate architecture and statues

2. Nice hostel roommates and room

3. Delicious pastry scent at every train station

4. Caving

5. Activity Island

6. Meeting new fun people

There are also some things that I have found that I don’t like.

1. Smoking everywhere

2. Complete lack of smiles returned.

3. Radioactive jam and salads made entirely of cheese.

That is pretty much it though. I am finally de-jetlagged and feeling much better about life. I have only been here a couple days, and it seems like we have accomplished so much! We have walked all over this city in search of food (my calves can attest to that) and seen many many sights, the architecture really is spectacular here. It is so intricate and there are secret metal twists, statues, and curls everywhere. The food has been interesting to say the least. It is sometimes tough being a veggie in a hungary land of meat when you don’t speak the language. No matter what you order though, it seems that they love cheese as much as meat and that is what you end up with. As far as fun activities go, I went caving yesterday, and I don’t know when I will go again. We went up high into the hills on the Buda side of the river, where there are great limestone cliffs. Due to the lack of info on the brochure, we didn’t quite know what to expect, but the answer was a skinny guide who was as slippery as a snake. He led us to the side of the cliffs and showed us the way inside. We descended down a ladder into well, a cave. Weird. Huge slabs of limestone were all around us, and the dust in the air filled our lungs. We spent the next couple hours walking across slippery floors into small and large chambers, crawling on hands and knees through tunnels, and my personal favorite, army crawling uphill on slippery mud. Fortunately, our roommate Steve was behind me and is a patient guy. Our home-cooked pasta and brie dinner went down well after that.

Today has been good too, Rachel and I decided to go on a little jog on the island that sits in the middle of the Danube river. My favorite part of the city by far- it is dedicated to sport it seems. The island has a running track around the perimeter, tennis courts, and parks all over. In the middle there were also reindeer and peacocks. It was excellent. Tonight we are going to go see the opera (Cinderella in Hungarian) and tomorrow we are off to the famous Hungarian baths.