01.

Never in a million years would I thought this day would come, especially with this much sadness. This morning I took a walk to my landlord's office to pick up my deposit and then I came back home and ate a quick lunch. On my walk I ran into some more locks in the middle of a park.

Locks on a statue in a park

I've seen the locks a lot here in Europe, but mostly on bridges. These locks were attached onto a statue in the middle of a random park in Budapest. Most people in a relationship will lock up their love like this.

I met some people for a day time pub crawl around 2pm. The first pub we went to was actually closed even though their website said it was open at noon. Next we headed to Szimpla and Ben caught up with us because we walked by a record store and he had to go in. I signed my name on a chair at Szimpla, took some pictures, and enjoyed my last hour in one of the most eclectic pubs ever.

Signing my name on a chair at Szimpla [Maddie 2013 USA]

After Szimpla we moved to a really cool outdoor pub called Koleves Kert! It was awesome - one of my favorites here. It was all outside with colorful chairs, hammocks, great music, and stones all over the ground to give it a beachy feel.

Ben enjoying the music, beer, and hammocks at Koleves Kert.

Straight chillen' at Koleves. I could've stayed all day.

After Koleves we headed to Fogas - we had been to this pub before during a not-so-good pub crawl so we wanted to go back and see it! We didn't have much time there because we wanted to make it back to Pointers Pub before 6pm for another happy hour liter of beer. I'm telling you I've been to Pointers way too much these past couple of days. We made a run for it and took a bus from Blaha to Astoria and then ran for the train at Astoria to take it to Kalvin ter. We had about ten minutes before 6 and as long as we ordered before 6, we got the happy hour price! We counted up how many we needed, and the total came to 17 one-liter beers. Some more people showed up and we ended up getting a total of 20 one-liter beers. Our waiter was a little overwhelmed, but quickly served us!

14 of the 20 one liter beers at Pointers! 

We hung out at Pointers until around 8pm and then I said my final goodbye to Lara, Sanna, Sarah Clayton, and Lukas. This was just the beginning of my goodbyes. Afterward we went to the Miguels' flat, which is right next to Pointers and we hung out there playing a music game online. The game would play a 30 second clip of a song and we had to guess the title of the song and the artist as fast as possible. Ben rocked at this game. I was not so good. We ended up staying there until around 11 and we were considering going out but everyone was a bit tired and I wanted to get home to finish packing and get some sleep before my flight tomorrow. First I said goodbye to Miguel Trepa and Miguel Duarte [my favorite Portuguese guys!] and tried to hold back my tears. The rest of us walked outside and Camillo was going the opposite way of us, so I then said goodbye to him! He's from Italy and although I just met him a few weeks ago, I really enjoyed meeting him! We walked down the street some more and then I had to part ways from Valentine, Marie, and Dianne. Love these girls so much and had so much fun with them! It was really hard to say goodbye to them. They are such sweet girls and I'm so glad I was able to meet them. Last, Ben and I walked a little bit further together and then it was my final goodbye. This was really hard as Ben became one of my closest friends here. I know I'll be back in the Netherlands at some point in my life because it was one of my favorite places that I visited! I have faith that I'll be seeing these amazing people again. After hugging Ben for the last time we parted ways. That was it. It all came to an end at that point and emotional Maddie couldn't keep it together. My walk home was just a disaster, but I realized that I'd rather be incredibly sad leaving these people than having to leave Budapest without having such close friendships. All the people I've met here have changed my life in some way. They taught me so much about honesty and what it means to be a true friend. They also taught me how to love and accept anyone. I've never felt more loved in my life by friends and I've only known these people for four months. Think if I would've stayed an entire year with this group. I never thought I'd become this close with so many incredible people from all over the world, but it happened and I wouldn't change any second of my time abroad.

My taxi is coming in 4 hours, so I'm getting a quick nap I guess and then heading to the airport. Can't believe it's all over. I'll be writing and reflecting more in the next couple of days. At this moment I need some sleep, but I have a five hour layover in London tomorrow where I can spend some time blogging. 

Thanks to all who have kept up with my journey here! Hope to see y'all back in the states. Love to all! 

xx