Last part of my Budapest series, I promise :) Anyway, I've probably mentioned this already, but we had such a wonderful time over there! Budapest was everything  I imagined and more. I really recommend visiting Budapest! In three days we pretty much did all the important sights, but I think if we did five days or something it would've been even better. So our last day we spent checking off the remaining famous sights on our list.

Our last day we started off at the Gerbaud café for more cakes and ice cream :') Like the New York café we went to the day before, Gerbaud also has been around a long time (1858!). It's a true Budapest classic to visit. 

Honestly? I thought this was even better than the cakes at New York Café :-O. Rich, dense, intense chocolate flavour, vanilla ice cream to lighten it all. A cognac cherry on top, which was to die for. Screw maraschino cherries, I'd rather have a can of these cherries any day. This dessert was 2650 huf, which is about €8,60. You can also have single cakes but then you would miss out on some excellent ice cream, haha.

A stone's throw away is the Vigadó concert hall, another one of these stunning Budapest buildings. This neoclassical one is from 1865. I love the sculptures, each of them playing a different instrument. Famous composer and Hungarian national hero Franz Liszt played here a lot.

This is Anker palace, like ​Fonciére  palace, another swanky insurance company building.  It wasn't in use for years I believe, but recently has been renovated and now houses a hotel and luxury apartment.

Then we headed to the Hungarian Opera House. a neorenaissance building. Budapest is just chock-full of gorgeous, dramatic buildings, I love it!

Statues of famous composers, like Beethoven and Mozart. Obviously very fitting for an opera building!

We didn't take a tour because we were lacking in time (take a five day trip people!), but the inside of the hall alone was beautiful and richly decorated.

I even liked the floor tiles :)

Then the sun bursted out all of a sudden and made walking very tiring haha. We went to Hősök tere, a huge memorial square, where you very conveniently can't escape the sun. This is the Hall of Arts, which I would like to visit next time (I have the feeling there are always things on every trip I want to do 'next time' haha).

We sat down at the Városliget Café & Restaurant hoping to have lunch there, but the waiter told us they had a huge party in a few hours so the kitchen was closed. Whomp whomp! Did have something to drink though, it was so hot outside! Then I accidentally knocked over Paul's drink, and the waiters were very nice about it and brought him some new lemonade (free of charge!) :).

View of Vajdahunyad Castle from the restaurant. The restaurant seemed pretty cool! Beautiful setting and there was a guitar player playing excellent music (I don't know if they have music more often or if he was just there for the party). I would totally have my wedding at the café New York and then have a reception here. Oh, if only I were rich hehehe.

The clouds came back, and we strolled through the park. This is the Jáki chapel, which is a replica of the Jáki church in the western Hungarian city Ják. The chapel is still in use.

Oh yeah, this is Széchenyi. I think this is Budapest most famous bath house! My mom actually went here once and said the bath was kind of dirty though. So I Googled it ahead of our trip and I indeed found more reviews like this. A shame, because it really seems a nice place otherwise.

By now we were starving but didn't really know where to go for lunch near the Városliget park, so we decided to be a little patient and take the subway to have some delicious lángos at the Retró Lángos büfé!

Here they have endless choices of regular lángos, stuffed lángos and even sweet lángos!

We obviously opted for savoury, and had the Made in Hungary  lángos: bacon, cheese, red onion and sour cream. A light one, compared to the other one we had :D This was 750 huf, which is €2,4 and cheap affff!

And this little monster. The works! :D The stuffed langós is pretty much a fried pizza calzone. This one was the 'Full House': ham, bacon, sausage, cheese, chilli peppers, tomatoes, red onion and obviously some sour cream.
Only 850 huf, toootally worth your money!

We ended our day at the House of Terror aka the Terror Museum. It's this amaaaaaazing "experience" (does that make sense?) museum.  The museum takes you through these themed rooms, to show you the nazi and communist history of Hungary while also memorating the victims of these regimes. The building itself was indeed used to interrogate and torture people, by the nazis and the communists. The nazis called it their House of Loyalty, but the communists named it the House of Terror, to scare people even more.

The museum is set up so impressively but unfortunately I can't tell you too much because anything I'd say would be this huuuuge spoiler alert. I think it would take away from the overall experience, if you don't know what to expect. Cameras were not allowed, and understandably so. You have to take my word on it, it's really good and worthwhile!

And that pretty much concludes our Budapest trip! We picked up our luggage at the hotel and took that bumpy bus ride back to the airport. Honestly, I was so so so impressed by Budapest. I know people had told me Budapest is awesome and that we would like the city very much, I was still blown away! Pretty much everywhere you look there's something pretty to see. There are trendy cafés and bars, delicious food, cheap food, and you're constantly surrounded by Hungarian culture and history. So please, do visit Budapest if you can! Can't rave about it enough :)

​Today, August 15, the Dutch commemorate those who were victims of the Japanese occupation in the Dutch East Indies (now Indonesia). To me, commemoration days are a time to reflect. To think about what happened, and to hopefully prevent similar things in our present and the future.

The combined history of the Dutch colonies, the Japanese occupation of the Dutch East Indies and the Indonesian revolution is a difficult one to recollect. It's not a short story to tell. To start, each side has its own story, obviously. My families' experience may not be relatable to others. Indonesians may have a different opinion on what happened. The Dutch may also have a different point of view.
In all honesty the Dutch have done a lot of good things for Indonesia, for which a lot of Indonesians are still grateful to this day. But let's not forget that first and foremost the Dutch were oppressors. When the Japanese came, the Indonesians were almost relieved. Of course the Indonesians were still oppressed, and maybe the Japanese were just as cruel (or even more so) than the Dutch, but at least now they got rid of the Dutch.

My grandparents lived on the island Java, and were Indo-Europeans. A mixed race, consisting of Dutch and Indonesian blood. We're also called "Indo". A lot of these Indo-Europeans were considered Dutch by the Japanese, and therefore a natural enemy. A lot of them were killed, a lot of them were captured. My grandmother and eldest aunt (a young girl then) were separated from my grandfather and were each held captive in Japanese internment camps. They were among the lucky ones to eventually survive, but it was an experience so horrible they hardly ever spoke about it. It especially left my grandfather traumatised, as he suffered from camp syndrome, which obviously had its effect on his family. As I said, it wasn't something that was talked about much, which is extremely typical for Indo-European survivors. We largely know what happened to my grandparents and aunt, and we can fill in the blanks with strong allusions of truly saddening, horrifying things.

Then came the Japanese capitulation, they surrendered 71 years ago on this day. The Indonesian's were finally free and independent (and still celebrate that on August 17). But what about the Dutch and Indos remaining in Indonesia? They were still considered enemies by the Indonesian people, and they wanted them out of their country, so they all headed "back home" to the Netherlands. Many of them had never set foot in the Netherlands, even though they were officially Dutch citizens.

"Back home" in the Netherlands however, they weren't welcomed with open arms. There wasn't any place for them to live, so the government huddled them up at empty nazi concentration camp sites. These people literally went from Japanese internment camps to living at former nazi concentration camps. That's insane to me. Yes, they were free, but there were still too many people living at cramped spaces, can you just imagine all the trauma it would've brought back? Not to mention the different climate, food and culture they had to get used to. They also looked different, they didn't fit in here. And to top it all off, they couldn't get the jobs they had studied for or carry out their former occupations. They had to start from scratch and had to loan money from the government that they had to (and did!) pay back. There were no benefits back then, like there are now. Even though they were born Dutch citizens, just like everyone else, they weren't given equal opportunity. They weren't taken care of.

It would be easy to harbour grudges against the Dutch government, or the Japanese for that matter. I don't. The Netherlands is my home, and I'm very proud to be Dutch. And yet I'm also just as proud to be Indonesian. I will happily sing the Indonesian national anthem when they celebrate merdeka on August 17. I also have a great love for Japan, even though I know what atrocities the Japanese people committed back then. The people we met when we were in Japan were so kind. So why hold any grudges? 
And you know, even though it was hard, my family got by and made a good life for themselves here. There's nobody who can change what has happened. Why hold people responsible for things they didn't do themselves? I would like people to remember and learn from these things though.

It saddens me that now, 71 years later, a large part of our world is still at war. It's like we haven't learned anything. Bigotry is ubiquitous and keeps on pitting people, ethnicities, religions against each other. The things I hear and read make me think we're on the brink of getting back to a world of segregation and concentration camps. Like we're just waiting for the next Hitler to arise and people falling for it with the drop of a hat. Is that what we want?

I think about the refugees currently stuck at cramped refugee centres, or even worse, refugee camps. They're, essentially free, right, like my grandparents? Because at least they're not in their native country where it's unsafe. But they're also not free, just like my grandparents. 
People are so scared to let refugees into the country, because they may be terrorists. Because there is no space. Because we don't want them. We let other countries take responsibility, throw our hands up. Give in to xenophobia. Yes, they may be terrorists. But they may as well be victims, which is far more likely.
Are we willing to feed bigotry, and make the gaps between "us" and "them" even bigger?

Do we really want to be a kind of people that looks away when others are desperate and in need? I mean, looking back, can the Dutch be proud of how they treated their fellow countrymen when they came back? Not really. We can't change what happened. But in the future, will we be proud of how we treat refugees now? Will we be proud of how we treat people of a different race? Of a different religion? Will those refugees look back with gratitude, or with bitterness? We can still change the answers to those questions.

Commemoration days like today, remind me that the least I can do is make sure I am aware of all this. I know this all may seem hypocritical, it's not like I'm taking in a refugee anytime soon. But I do want to look for other ways to help. By telling this part of my story, I'm hoping to at least share some awareness. I know what my family has been through, and I hate that others are still going through similar hardships today. 

Days like these also remind me that the least I can do is try to always come from a place of understanding, kindness and open mindedness. To always look for ways to make a change. I can only hope others do the same. I just want our (!)  future to be better, and I want us all to do everything we can to make a difference in the world. :-)

In Budapest we stayed at a hotel where they had a terrible breakfast buffet. Probably one of the worst hotel breakfasts we ever had. Fortunately we had planned to have some coffee at the New York Café at the Boscolo hotel before doing all our sightseeing and now we still had some room left for their delicious cakes! 

The main reason this is a mustsee for tourists is because the place is damn beautiful. I just love all that glitzy renaissance gold! If I were rich, I would totally have my wedding here.

As you can see it was very busy! We were here juuust in time, we didn't have to wait in line. As soon as we sat down a very long line emerged, so I would reccommend booking a table!

Paul went for the classic opéra cake, which came with a scoop of delicious coffee ice cream. 

I went for the crunchy hazelnut cake. I thought it was even better than Paul's opera! Both cakes weren't too heavy, and not too sweet which I appreciated very much. The cakes were 2400 huf each. 

Then it was time for some more exploring! We took the metro and crossed the Danube to Gellért hill. Here you see the Gellért hotel, which houses the famous Gellért thermal bath. Thermal baths were brought to Hungary by the Turks during the Ottoman rule, and are still an important part of Hungarian culture today. We actually wanted to go to Rudas bath because that one seemed nice and it has a rooftop pool with a great view of Budapest, but we were in Budapest from Wednesday - Friday and on weekdays the baths are men or women only! So we didn't go.

We walked up the hill a little to visit this cave church (Sziklatemplom). We actually spotted it the night before when we were standing across the Danube at the Liberty bridge, and we wondered what it was. It used to be just a naturally formed cave (where people did live in), but in the ´20s Pauline monks turned it into a chapel and monastery. 

It's pretty cool to have a chapel inside a cave. Makes it all mysterious and stuff :P It's pretty warm inside the cave because of the thermal springs. Fyi, Budapest actually has more caves you can visit!

From the cave church we took a tram to the famous Széchenyi Chain Bridge.  I don't really know why it's famous, but.. it's a nice suspension bridge I guess.

Then we stood in a longgggg line to go up Castle Hill with the Budavári Sikló, a funicular. 

The ride was short, and I could barely see through the window but at least we didn't have to walk? That's really the only reason why you should take the funicular!

This is the Matthias Church. I really can't get over how pretty Budapest buildings are! I really love the colourful ceramic tiles, although I think they do clash a little with the gothic church. The tiles were added much later I believe.

Across the church is the famous Fisherman's Bastion (Halászbástya). It's another one of these famous sights that I don't really know why they're famous.  Fun fact: it was never actually used and meant as a real bastion (artillery fortification), but just as a pretty thing to look at and could be used as a viewing terrace. It's also unknown why it's called Fisherman's Bastion, as it also doesn't have anything to do with fishermen. It offers a great view of Pest, but you have to pay up. If you walk a little further though, you also have a great view of the city, so we didn't go for it :-P.

See? Free view's also pretty great. This is the Hungarian Parliament being all super dramatic along the Danube river. I mean, what is this, England? :) You can also see a little bit of the Szilágyi Dezső calvinist church in the foreground. I think the roof is pretty spectacular  for a reformed church (the rest of the building is pretty plain)!

By now it was lunch time and we walked over to Buda Castle for one of the best parts of our trip: the Budapest Beer Festival (Budavari Sörfesztivál)!!!

This festival is pretty cool because 1) it's held on the palace grounds. I mean come on, it's pretty funny to get hammered on beers with such a gorgeous, contrasting backdrop.  2) there were about 100 stands that sold locally and internationally brewed beers and 3) food.

Have I mentioned Budapest buildings are beautiful? The palace now houses the Hungarian National Gallery and the National Széchényi Library.

Beer = reason to get more langós. Not that we needed any reason. We really had langós everyday, it was just so damn good.

 We also had Kürtőskalács, a typically Hungarian treat. It's a yeast dough that's spit roasted, and covered in butter and sugar so it becomes nice and caramelised. This one also had cocoa on it. You can smell these from a distance! I actually think they smell way better than they taste (I expected it to be crunchier?), but it's not a bad snack. I think Kürtőskalács would benefit from some ice cream inside it!

And of course another perfect beerfood: a simple bratwurst.  I really don't remember what beers we had, but I promise we didn't get smashed, haha. If I understood correctly, this was the last time the beerfestival was held at Buda Castle, so I'm glad we got a chance to experience it!

Took a metro yet again. Can we talk about the Budapest metro for a second? Because I thought the Budapest metro was amazing. There are these old metro lines with old stations that have these cute wooden ticket booths, aaand there are these amazingly modern stations on the M4 metro line. I didn't really think it would look like this, because I had read somewhere that Budapest has the second oldest metro line in the world and somehow I thought all other lines would be old as well, haha. M4 was opened in in 2014.

The stations were designed by the local Spora Architects, and the whole project had multiple delays (reminds me of the still unfinished North/South line in Amsterdam, ahem) and eventually cost about €1.5 billion (also reminds me of the still unfinished North/South line in Amsterdam), which is insane :'). But the stations are amazing, and a modern architecture lover's dream.

Kudos to Spora Architects for their attention to detail! Love these chairs.

What concrete dreams are made of! They used a LOT of concrete and steel for this project, it made me think of Japan a little. New York and London subway can suck it.

Anyway, we headed over to the Saint Anna church (Szent Anna-templom) at Batthyány square.  It's a beautiful baroque church, look at those those delicate towers , 

Inside there are these gorgeous frescoes that make you think you're in Italy. There was a service going on, so I didn't take a lot of pictures, but it's definitely worth a visit!

We ended our second day at the WestEnd City Center mall, but to be honest we were too tired to do some shopping. So we just sat down at a random restaurant and had another typically Hungarian meal, haha.