Last weekend, I traveled to Budapest with seven other people from the Seattle group. It was my second go-around at almost the exact same time of the year (give or take 2 months), yet Budapest still appeared slightly different and I saw a different side to Budapest. First, the sun was shining. oh Hurray!!
On Friday, we took a 8:30 train to Budapest, due to arrive around noonish. Once we arrived and figured out which direction we were facing, we came to the quick realization that we had a) no forints and b) no map. Rae only knew what street the hostel was on. Fortunately, an American hotel gave us a map that (barely) happened to have the street on it. And off we walked. In the blistering sun, feeling like pack mules with our backpacks full of clothes, toiletries and bottles of rum (There was a 5€ deal at Zeilpunkt). The walk felt eerily like we had been transported back to Communist Budapest. The road was dusty and it was in a more...typical Hungarian neighborhood. Classic old cars left over from Communist time lined some side streets. Someone even drove by and shouted something at us in Hungarian. It felt surprisingly unlike the Budapest I knew last March.
When we arrived at Hostel Florian, the hosts were Chinese and spoke only Hungarian and Chinese. In fact, as a group + the hostel hosts, there were 6 languages that could have been spoken (German, English, Spanish, Italian, Hungarian and Chinese) and we could barely communicate. Fortunately, we did, thank god for hand gestures! (The next day, the Chinese daughter greeted us, who spoke fantastic English). Maybe it was the heat but walking into the courtyard of the hostel reminded me of Mexico. Dirt courtyard, plastic chairs. I'm surprised I didn't see a chicken scuttle across the ground. We didn't have high hopes coming to our rooms but I was quite happy with it. Four beds per room. Comfortable. High ceilings. Works for me. Only 9€ a night too!
We dropped off our bags and explored the city. Woo for cheap finds on food ($5 Chinese sweet and sour chicken! works for me! and English menu!! dinner: $5 Pancakes filled with meat!!), as well as early sightseeing (Free view of St. Stephan's Church in Budapest :-O--much different than St.Stephans in Wien). I finally saw the OTHER side of the Parliamentary Building, plus Donau Insel, which included more than enough teenagers making out. On the Donau Insel, we found some old roman ruins??. All in all, a good first day in Budapest.
DAY TWO - The EPIC day of Walking!!
By my calculations (and the use of Google Earth), we walked easily over five miles just exploring Buda, specifically the Castle quarter. We started by walking up Castle Hill and then walking by the infamous palace seen in all the postcards. But first, we heard the sounds of Iron Maiden in a park and went to check it out. Turns out it was only cover bands. Still would've been sweet to check out. Then, we checked out the palace. Didn't go in but I DID have a funnel cake like delicacy! That was delicious except it took forever. Some people cut in front of me and this aggressive English man who goes, "I believe there is a queue," to which I piped in a surprisingly squeak "Thank you!" Afterwards, we went to the Fishermen's Bastion and past The Church of Our Lady aka Matthias Church. It had uneven spires, like St. Stephan's, but I still preferred it. Afterwards, we walked past a wedding, where the bride had arrived in a carriage. And also, we saw a hobo-like guy sit down on a bench and there was a kitten on his shoulder!!
Then, we tried to get into the Great Synagogue but it was closed :(. Next, we found *as advertised* cheap Hungarian food. It definitely was. I had a pork chop, goulash, and a yummy dessert for less than 1800 ft, or less than $10, all in my efforts to spend the extra cash that I had exchanged/been ripped off from. After dinner, we enjoyed the night and sat on the bank of the Danube, looking at the gorgeous palace and trying to get the perfect pic.
THIRD DAY:
We trekked north to the area I knew a bit better and went to the park where the Szenchenyi baths are. There was a carnival thing going on with a stage where Hungarian singers did covers of American songs, like "New York, New York." Going to the baths was absolutely fabulous. 2 full hours. Went into the boiling hot sauna... 95 C, which is by far, the hottest sauna I've ever been in. and it felt fantastic to wash off the dirt and grime that had accumulated since my last shower (The showers...and the bathrooms at the hostel left something to be desired). Then, we took the train back home. 2 Hungarians sat in our cabin for the Hungarian portion and I talked with one for his 90 minute train ride about his experiences of living in Hungary during the Communist time and now. He was a non-commissioned general in the Hungarian army and definitely seemed to prefer Communist Hungary. "It was better!" An interesting talk to say the least. I also learned that the Rubik Cube was invented by a Hungarian, not by a Russian as I had previously thought! A kid was sitting outside my cabin and repeatedly solving one. It was INCREDIBLE to watch.
Traveling to Budapest was great the second go-around. I was somewhat familiar with the city, the subway, how to say "thank you" but there was still plenty to explore... as would be expected. There are still unexplored parts of Seattle! It is definitely cheaper than Vienna and I do have to say... I do like Budapest a lot. Yes, it is in Eastern Europe but I didn't feel like I had been blasted into the past. Hard to compare to Vienna in luxury but I (almost) prefer it because of the prices and how cheap it was in comparison. Not sure if I could have eaten the same, seen so many FREE sights and the baths would have been much more expensive in Vienna. Needless to say, when I finally came back to the dorm and collapsed on my bed in a smelly, exhausted heap, I must admit that I had that overwhelming feeling of being home and how glad I was to be back "home".... at least temporarily.
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