I’m the same way at the end of pretty much every trip. With the exception of maybe two or three trips I can remember, toward the end of each, I’m usually saying out loud or thinking, “I don’t wanna go home.” Chris makes fun of me about this every time. Every trip, particularly these Thanksgiving long weekends in Europe, always seems too short and like we didn’t have enough time. We’re pretty good about planning in that we ambitiously cover a lot of ground and see most of what we had planned, but it never feels like enough, and I’m always left with this lingering feeling that I wish we just had a few more days.

The other thing about travel that always makes me want to keep traveling and sight-seeing and eating the foods I don’t normally eat is that because it’s a trip, it’s time away from my “real life,” my everyday in New York that includes work, chores, errands — the routine that isn’t as exciting or new to me. In some way, it’s like escaping reality to enter into a new reality that is far away and foreign, and that in itself is an adventure.

It’s our second Thanksgiving long weekend in Europe, where Christmas is just another part of the ingrained culture of society. It doesn’t matter if you are Christian or Jewish or Atheist or undecided — you will most likely still be visiting these markets regularly to browse and sip gluwein and eat pretzels and other delicious hot stacks at these Christkindl markets. It’s hard to imagine anyone visiting these markets and not enjoying it; the feeling is just so festive and casual, and despite all the alcoholic drinks, we haven’t seen any overt drunkenness or even a single broken mug (which you pay a deposit for, and if you break it, you don’t get your 2.50-3 euro deposit back for).

Chris pointed out something I didn’t think much about last year in Germany or this year in Austria or Hungary. He said that despite the considerable Jewish population in both countries, we never saw a single menorah or Jewish star at any of these markets — or really, anywhere. To be PC in the U.S., we oftentimes will see Christmas trees alongside a massive menorah. In Europe, it’s not about religion — it’s just about enjoying Christmas culture for how beautiful it is. I want to be a part of this culture at this time of year every year for as long as possible.

After spending this morning trying to squeeze in our last bits of Budapest, we boarded a train to Vienna and arrived in about three hours. I know it’s a terrible comparison, but in the States, in three hours, I couldn’t even get from New York to Boston. My train ticket would cost over double the approximately $40 USD it cost to get from Budapest to Vienna. This trip further accentuates how terrible train travel is back in the States.

Vienna is a modern city — shinier, glitzier, and richer than Budapest, and unfortunately, much more expensive. When we got on the train, I knew I had about 550 Hungarian Forint left to spend that I wanted to use up. I also had some leftover Euros from our Germany trip last year in my wallet. When I went up to the counter to ask for what I could potentially buy, I could barely get an apple juice and a Toblerone and needed three extra Euros to get me there. Five hundred Hungarian Forint just at the train station in Budapest got me two large, good-quality pastries and a coffee. It’s quite a contrast, but I’m excited for the Christmas markets and the Viennese cakes and desserts we will be seeing and eating for the next two days.

If I weren’t traveling to Budapest, I’d probably never have known that Budapest came about because of two cities, Buda and Pest, that united, separated by the Danube River. People still refer to the Buda side of Budapest and the Pest side of Budapest. It feels very quaint to hear of the city being spoken like this because it’s almost as though people are embracing its rich historical past while also enjoying it for what it is today.

It’s a stunning city to me mostly because of many of its old, still standing and otherwise restored architecture; the Danube River separating the two sides adds to its European charm. Many buildings have retained their original facades, such as the Four Seasons, the Gellert Spa, and even our hotel, the Nemzeti Budapest, but the interiors have been completely renovated and modernized. Both day and night, the city is beautiful, particularly from high viewing points such as from the Fisherman’s Bastion and the top of Gellert Hill. After we walked up to the peak of Gellert Hill to see the Liberty Statue, we also got to see and photograph Budapest from high above. I felt very thankful during those moments; today is Thanksgiving after all, and I know how lucky I am to have what I have today. These are the moments where I think, I can’t imagine for a second anyone coming here and not being impressed by this city and these views. If you can’t appreciate this, you probably can’t appreciate anything in life.

After a grueling 24 hours of working, commuting to the airport in what looked to be early Thanksgiving traveling traffic, taking an overnight flight from New York to Helsinki, then a connecting flight from Helsinki to Budapest, and finally spending our Wednesday (six hours ahead of New York time) exploring mostly the Buda side of Budapest, we decided we wanted to have dinner at a restaurant close to our hotel. We walked in two different directions to try to find a place, and somehow, we failed. The only spots we seemed to find were cafes (with no real food), bars (with no real food), takeout spots, Burger King, and McDonald’s. We finally settled on a Turkish takeout spot. They were a typical takeout food place that had different dishes in big metal trays behind a glass wall. We chose a moussaka and Turkish fried rice, and brought it back to our hotel.

When we brought it back, we realized immediately that it was all cold. Those metal trays that are set up that we are used to knowing there are burners beneath — well, those clearly do not exist here. I brought the food back to the takeout spot and asked the guy to warm it for us. “You didn’t tell me to warm, so I didn’t warm!” he said, half apologetically, half defensively. He warmed each for about less than a minute and gave it back to me. It was still cold; I was annoyed but didn’t feel like asking him to warm it again. So I asked our hotel, which warmed our food adequately.

What I’ve learned during our short time here is that not only will takeout food spots not warm your food unless you either tell them you are eating it immediately or explicitly ask, but restaurants do not serve your food piping hot like I am used to back home or in other countries. When we have eaten out here, I’ve noticed that the food is a comfortable temperature for eating, but as I am eating, it’s getting colder far faster than anywhere else I’ve been to. It’s not the best situation, but I’m fine with it since we’re only here for 2.5 days.