Budapest, Hungary

It has been over four years since I last set foot in Europe, four years since I immersed myself in the sights, sounds, and culture of these countries. It feels good to be back, and I am eager to see what adventures in these cities await.

At least, not on this portion of the trip. We visited Budapest's castle today and, while the whole Buda side of the city is hilly and gorgeous, the streets are laden with cobblestones. I learned my lessons after Scotland - I'll stick to the asphalt, thank you very much!!

It has been a great few days walking through the old parts of Budapest, enjoying the sites and the street life. But I think the highlight of the trip was today, when we hopped a bus and headed to this great statue park a few kilometers outside of town. The statues were all leftover from the fall of the Soviet Union; the Hungarians wanted to hang on to them as a sort of reminder of the occupation. It's kind of erie to see these gigantic Marxes, Engleses, Lenins, and Stalins everywhere. You can take some funny pictures, but at the end of the day, the history behind these places is nothing to laugh about.

I'd been running the river path by the Danube for the past couple of mornings. It was okay, but nothing to really write home about. But then, this morning, my last day in Budapest, I found the most pristine running park I've ever set foot in! Margaret Island, right in the middle of the Danube. It's gorgeous, it's quiet (at least, on a Friday morning it is), and its got a full-fledged running track ringing it. I could ask for no more!!