Budapest

So far, my time in Europe has been fantastic due to my excellent first destination: Budapest.

I don't count fence-straddlers like Turkey.  Pick a continent.  Eurasia is not a continent according to my 2nd Grade Teacher Ms. Velte.

Anyway, Budapest has basically everything a 23 year-old backpacker could ask for.  It's cheap, easy to get around, has great sights and things to do during the day, followed by a vibrant nightlife.

I arrived in Budapest fresh from my time recuperating in Istanbul.  It was late morning when I got in, so I dropped off my bag, expecting to head head straight out and tour the city.  I met a guy named Seth, beginning his own month in Europe in Budapest.  He was a New Yorker--and one that was easy to get along with--so he and I partnered up and headed out.  Esther, the cute Hungarian receptionist recommended that we take a free walking tour that was set to begin at 2:30pm.  We headed out to the meeting spot but were unfortunately too late.  We looked at our maps and devised our own walking tour.

We started off at St. Stephens (St. Istvan) Basilica, a large Church near the river.

St. Stephens Basilica

We crossed the bridge from Pest to the Buda side of the city and headed towards the Castle on Castle Hill.  There was an option to take some kind of elevator-like thing to the top, but where's the fun in that?  We walked a cobbled meandering path up to the Castle.  At the top, it wasn't nearly as impressive as it seemed from below, but the views of the city were great.

Wanting to get an even better view, we walked back down from Castle Hill and headed towards the Citadel--a 575m 'peak' that has the best views of the city.  I can't say I was at all fazed by the walk to the top--my muscles are still in 'Himalaya' mode.  But up there were some absolutely great views of the city, where we could clearly see much of Buda and Pest, the bridges across the Danube, and some of the landmarks like the Parliament building

Parliament Building

Content with our homemade walking tour, we found our way back to the hostel where Esther and a heavily-tattooed Brit were pouring drinks of some kind of home-distilled spirit.  It tasted like shit, but as far as home-distilled liquors go, it wasn't half bad.  I liked it a hell of a lot better than moonshine (which I find tastes like bottom-shelf tequila mixed with death).

Esther and Mr. Tattoo (whose actual name was Ryan) then immediately took a bunch of us out on an impromptu pub crawl to show us some of the cool areas of the city nightlife.  We went to an outdoor bar where I offered to get a round for a few of the people I'd met at the hostel.  Realizing that I didn't yet know how much alcohol cost in Hungary, I was dreading a hefty bar tab.  But as luck would have it, beer is pretty cheap.  The round cost me about $5.25.

The whole group chatted for a while and got to know each other, talking about our trips and where we were headed, interesting adventures and advice…the usual stuff among backpackers.

After a little bit we headed towards a club called Instant, which had a really odd decor of papier-mâché bunnies and frogs everywhere, but was a pretty cool club.  We had a few more drinks until eventually I realized it was late, I was drunk, and I hadn't yet eaten dinner.

I left the club and found my way back to the hostel, where the only restaurant still open was a kebab shop.  Not that I don't love a good kebab, but I had just come from Turkey.  Still, I walked in and in my beer-induced idiocy I tried ordering in Turkish.  The Hungarians had no clue what the hell I was talking about.  I reverted to charades and they made me my kebab.

The next day I got up and went to a cafe with Seth to relax and get the day started properly before having another wander around.  We went to the National Museum, learned some more about Hungarian history, then headed towards the Jewish Quarter.  We saw the synagogue (one of the largest in Europe I think), got some information on tours, then headed back towards St. Stephen's Basilica for the walking tour we'd missed the previous day.  We went inside where some kind of service had just begun.  Inside the church the organ was playing loudly and people were singing which made for a pleasant experience.  After a few minutes we walked up the 300 or so stairs to the top of the Basilica for another view of the city.  It was great and we got some cool photos but it was windy and freezing up top.  We headed back downstairs and Seth left for a walking tour of the Jewish district while I opted for the general city walking tour.

The tour was great, I got a ton of great information (like the fact that Yoda talks so weirdly because the script was translated into Hungarian and then mirror-translated back into English) and got some advice on things to see and do around the city.

After the tour I left and went to grab some goulash.  I'd previously had bad goulash in the Czech Republic, and 'good enough to eat but I wouldn't order it again' goulash in Slovakia, so I wasn't too thrilled at the prospect of another goulash attempt.  The restaurant was recommended by the hostel staff who hadn't steered me wrong thus far and had also mitigated some of my reservations about goulash by saying, "of course it sucked in Czech!  It's Hungarian!" so I went in and ordered myself a big bowl of the stuff.  It was delicious.  I went back again for lunch the next day.

That night I went out to explore some of the ruin bars in the Jewish district, and in particular, one recommended to me by Blove who had previously traveled to Budapest.  The pub was called Szimpla and turned out to be exactly what I was looking for.  It's a bit more relaxed, had some outdoor sections, as well as random entertainment like foosball tables.  Seth and I met an array of interesting people, like the daughters of some Canadian diplomat who gave me good advice on traveling in the Balkans and Eastern Europe, some Swedes, and an American girl who was cool but whose friends were meh.

The next day it was raining and turned into a fairly lazy day.  A lot of the other people at the hostel felt similarly and we pretty much just chilled.  I made myself productive by booking a hostel in Sarajevo and walking down to the train station to get my ticket.  That night me, Seth, and a trio of Brits all went out exploring the night scene again, ending up back at Szimpla at some point.  

The next day was my final day in Budapest.  It's a great city and I would have loved to stay longer, but I had four great days and tons more to see around Europe.  Seth and most of the other friends I'd made all departed that morning, heading mostly to Vienna, Bratislava, and Prague.  Then in came the new wave of people at the hostel, and it was one of the bigger coincidences I've come across yet.  It was like the Big 10 conference just decided to show up.  There were 5 people from Michigan (including myself), one person from Michigan State, one person from Iowa, one from Purdue, and one from Wisconsin.  Needless to say we all had a lot to talk about.

I went out to the famous thermal baths in Budapest, which were basically a series of swimming pools--very unlike my experiences in Turkey.  But the building itself was enormous and the architecture was very interesting.  I hung out in the area for a few hours, enjoying the park and Heroes Square before I headed back to the hostel.

At the hostel, for reasons unknown, the owner showed up with a few other folks and started cooking a huge meal.  It smelled amazing and I was about to leave to go get some food when they announced that the food was for everyone.  For free.  Hmmm……but yeah it was awesome.  It was a Hungarian dish--some kind of mildly spicy potato/pepper stew with some sausage in it.  I'd never be able to remember what it's called, but it was delicious.  I had two servings and then another when I got home from the bar.

That night Ryan the tattooed guy took all the new people out on another pub crawl.  I tagged along for a little while but having been to a lot of these pubs already, and needing to wake up in the morning to catch my train, I dipped out early.

I awoke this morning to the loudest goddam snorer I've come across yet.  I don't know how many hostels I've stayed in (it's a lot), but this guy was the worst snorer by far.  Loud, echoing through the entire dorm room, inconsistent (consistent noise, inconsistent sounds), jesus I wanted to smack the kid in the face.  But it was almost time to get up anyway so I packed my bag and got ready to go.

I picked up a few snacks because I'm currently on an 11-hour train ride and for the last 9 hours of the trip, there is no restaurant car or place to get food at any of the stops (thanks for the heads-up, Wikitravel).  I said goodbye to the really nice night-shift guy, and headed out.

Next post from Sarajevo...