Happy Spring everyone! It's getting warmer and the sun is staying out later everyday here in Budapest. I hope wherever you are in the world, you are getting some sun too! A couple of weeks ago, I went on a weekend trip with my boyfriend, Dan, and our friends who also live and teach here in Budapest. We were actually celebrating two birthdays on this particular weekend- one of them being one of my best friends here, Kelsey! There was a big group of us who went- 12 to be exact! The journey only took about an hour and a half from Budapest. We were spending the weekend right over the border in Štúrovo, Slovakia.
All of us left at different times on Friday night. The 5:51 pm train worked the best for Dan and I so that's when we departed with our friend, Olivia. We arrived to Esztergom right around 7pm and from there took a short bus ride and then had a 20 minute walk across the bridge that connects Hungary and Slovakia. Walking across the border to another country is always a fun and unique experience! Since Hungary and Slovakia are both in the European Union, there's no border checkpoint so no border patrol. All there was, was a sign welcoming us into Slovakia!
Once we made it to the AirBnB, a few of us headed out to find some dinner. We came across a really cool medieval restaurant that is very popular- we were lucky to grab some drinks there because usually you have to book months in advance.
We woke up fairly early on Saturday morning because we had a long hike planned! After breakfast, we walked over the bridge back to Hungary and then took the train a couple stops south. From there, we started the hike. It ended up taking a little over five hours and being about 12 miles long. We packed lunches to eat along the way. The weather was gorgeous and ended up being one of the nicest days of the year yet.
After the hike, we made the journey back to our AirBnB in Slovakia. We ended up exploring around the small town, getting drinks and dinner before hanging out at the stay the rest of the night.
We packed up Sunday morning and headed out to explore Esztergom. Esztergom is the town right over the border in Hungary. It has a lot of history and a cute old town which we were excited to see.
We explored around the outside of the basilica and got to go inside as well. It was beautiful even though it was under construction. There was a lovely view of the Danube and of Slovakia. Before we took an afternoon train back to Budapest, we had some gyros to eat. Overall, it ended up being a great weekend and I am so happy that I got to explore another city in both Hungary and Slovakia.
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