Talk Box Rock

I fell in love with Budapest, who would have guessed

I wish I would have stayed 4 days in Budapest and 2 days in Prague, but of course hindsight is 20/20. I’m def coming back if I’m ever in the area. [should be duly noted I’m traveling waaaay in the off season so these cities are much quieter than during the summer. how do I know? I was one of four in my hostel.]

I took the night train to the Hungarian capital, and spent two and a half days there. What a wonderful place. I arrived at my hostel around 10 in the morning, and the owner greeted me with a very warm welcome. She gave me a map, and pointed out a ton of places to go see while I was in town. At first, I was a bit skeptical as the places the receptionist suggested at the last hostel I stayed at were practically tourist traps, but after wandering around the castle area, and eating lunch at what she said was her new favorite restaurant, I was convinced this lady was legit.

On the topic of the fantastic owner, the other guy in my room said that on the previous day, he’d talked with her for at least two hours. She’s seen some really interesting times in the history of Hungary. He told me that she had described the times during which the secret police was quite active, and people would tattle even on their own husbands or wives when they talked badly about the government. What a strange time to be living in.

Back to the things I saw and places I went, after the castle and lunch, I headed back to the hostel. The other guy in my room (name is James) was about to head to the caving expedition that the owner had highly suggested if I had the time. I was a bit skeptical (what the hell is caving?) but I went along with him, as he sounded pretty stoked about it.

After a minor mishap involving our payment slip, we met up with another Aussie on holiday and our guide, and caught two buses to the caving area, threw on a jumpsuit and helmet with lamp, and went caving. So what exactly is caving? …you scurry through a cave. simple enough :) It was so interesting in there! I had no idea such hobbies even existed!

The next day, I did more stereotypical city touring. I wandered into a quite impressive church, and by the parliament, but the tours are quite infrequent, and I missed the two for the day. After, I walked up Andrássy Útca, a main road that houses most main attractions. I stopped into the Opera house for a tour, and my lord, that place is damn nice.

Andrássy Útca leads to the city park, which is impressive on it’s own, but to top it off, the park houses a quite nice thermal bath. It was really nice, but if I were to go back again, I would go to the all male one that’s all female on Tuesdays. Supposedly it’s quite special as the baths are all done in a Turkish style. However, the caving guide warned us that it’s become well known for being the gay bath in town, not a bad thing, but it’s good to know what to expect.

Later on, I grabbed a falafel [which was not nearly as good as in Berlin :( ] and headed to the bar the hostel owner suggested. Oh. My. God. That. Place. Is. Impressive. I sat myself down with two Brits who were in town just for a few days to watch the Liverpool football match. [I’d noticed a bunch of people on the streets wearing football scarves, but I didn’t realize they were all in town for the game. I guess tens of thousands came to the city just for it.]  The two were charming lads, one is a chocolatier, and… I forgot what the other did. I think their names were Andy and Stuart, but I could be wrong. After a few rounds of beer, we had shots of pálinka, a Hungarian spirit, more beer, and more beer. Ah, I love Brits, they know how to have a good time. Def giving Bristol a visit like they suggested.

The next day, I planned to go do the tour of the parliament and visit the communist museum, but instead I wandered the city the whole day. I visited market halle, an equivalent to Pike Place Market, a christmas market, and walked down near the river at sunset. It was an incredibly gorgeous day.

As for the city, I’ve been struggling to figure out why it stole my heart. It’s not particularly beautiful, nor is it clean, but it’s got this strange alluring charm to it. I could definitely imagine myself living here for a few years during my youth… sometime before or after Berlin.

a view of the Parliment from the hill

an old dilapidated building

sun setting behind the castle area

the park at night

a view from the Opera House

ack. I’ve gotta learn to blog shorter.