Budapest
Our stop in Bulgaria and our next one in Belgrade, Serbia, served both as a taste of Eastern Europe and as stops on
our next main stop, Budapest. Because of this we spent most of our time in our hotel area, despite a small walk
around each city upon arrival. Our accommodation in Belgrade wasn’t quite as grand as that of Sofia, but we did
have an indoor soccer court which got a huge amount of use out of it in the short time we were there.
Budapest was another place that I was itching to go to, I had only ever heard good things about it from people that
had been there, and I definitely was not disappointed – it remains near the top of my list of places to revisit. Looking
back on our time there, the only real main things we did there were a trip to the top of a hill (I'm sure it was of some
significance) that had yet another amazing panoramic view of the city and its beauty, and a buffet dinner on a boat
cruising down the Danube River by night. Most of our other time was spent wandering around the city taking in its
innate splendour. The buffet cruise was definitely one of my favourite optional extras offered on the tour, though
surprisingly only about half our group opted in. This in itself almost made it a bit better, allowing a small group of
five of us to hang out together at a table and on the deck without feeling the need to break off and hang out with
others. The cruise itself was amazing, with all the old buildings being lit up by floodlights, creating an unparalleled
beauty almost everywhere we looked. Again I’ve included some photos I tried to take to capture the magnificence of
the city by night, so hopefully you can gain some level of understanding and appreciation of what I'm trying to
describe from them.
Vienna
Our trip then took us from Eastern Europe back into the edges of Western Europe courtesy of Austria. Our first
Austrian stop was the capital, Vienna, which I absolutely loved. Although we were only there for one night, it struck
me as one of the coolest cities I’ve ever been to, and we immediately made plans to return later on in our trip. The
main area that we visited had a certain air of regality to it, which although meant expensive shopping, looked
amazing. Part of our reasoning for planning to return was that Austria is meant to have some of the best coffee
shops in the world, with drinking coffee being more of an experience as opposed to a way to stay awake. It isn’t
uncommon for customers to spend hours in the cafes, something we had become accustomed to thanks to
Starbucks and their free Wi-Fi. Sadly we didn’t have enough time in our short visit to try out the coffee shops,
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