Budapest, Hungary

After Berlin and almost a week in Germany, Melanie and I flew to Budapest. Our time in Budapest is difficult to describe even for ourselves not only because we were there for such a short period of time, but also because Budapest itself is hard to describe. For the first time in my life I found myself feeling a little vulnerable, because of my lack of any understanding whatsoever of the language. Romance languages are easy, because they all share similarities being that they all derive from Latin. Once you learn French you can pick up on Spanish, Italian and Portuguese. Also, being that English is a Germanic language, German wasn't impossible to pick up on during our stay. However, Hungarian...Hungarian...44 letters in the alphabet, similar to no other languages except maybe Finnish. Needless to say and much to my frustration as a language geek, the only words I picked up in the 2 days we were there were "hi" and "bye" or "see-ya and "hallo", respectively (not even kidding). However, despite the language barrier we really did enjoy our stay in the city.

We arrived Tuesday evening to our wonderful hostel, which was actually more of an apartment in the center of Budapest. The hostel, Downtown Oasis, is a large 3 bedroom apartment that has been converted into a hostel run by the kindest young woman named Judit. Another great thing about Hungary (maybe not in the opinion of the Hungarians) is the exchange rate. For roughly $20/night Melanie and I had our own bedroom with hardwood floors, a double bed, armoir, dresser, huge bathroom, washer/dryer, coffee/tea, and a balcony that overlooked one of the busier streets of Budapest. That evening Judit recommended a nearby restaurant that served traditional Hungarian food, and she gave us a coupon for the restaurant and a coupon for one free beer. We love Judit. The food was delicious! We headed back to our hostel afterwards to get some sleep before doing a walking tour the following morning.

Wednesday morning we headed to Vorosmarty Square to meet up with our guides for another free walking tour. Budapest is quite a small city, two cities really as Buda and Pest are situated across the Danube River from one another connected by a number of bridges. We stayed on the Pest side near Deak Square where all of the action is. The two tour guides took us all around Pest first showing us the main sites such as the breathtaking St. Istvan Bazilika among others (pictures when I have better internet), then we crossed to the ritzier Buda side via the Szechenyi chainbridge. On the Buda side you find the Liberty Statue, the Royal Palace, and Matthias Church. To reach all three you have to climb to the top of the Buda hills. It's quite strenuous but once you reach the top, the view of all of Pest is amazing. You can see the stunning Parliament Building on the edge of the Danube as well as the numerous bridges connecting the two sides and the National Museum.

After our tour was done we headed back to the hostel to nap after grabbing a quick bite to eat at a gyros stand. The travel blog that I have been following religiously for months, Mr. Mrs. Globetrot wrote about and highly recommended a public bathhouse in Budapest, the Szechenyi bath so I knew we had to go, especially after doing so much walking during our trip. The bathhouse did not disappoint. For about $12 you get access to about 10 different indoor pools of all different temperatures (we hung out in the hot ones) and to the gorgeous heated outdoor pool in addition to a locker. Not only that, but my tattoo on my back encouraged two French AirFrance flight attendants to come up to us and ask "Are you French?" in English no less. It was nice to have a little R&R and meet some nice people after two long walking tours in Berlin and Budapest. That evening we found an even cheaper yet just as delicious Hungarian restaurant where we ate a huge meal and drank to our heart's content for just over $6. Gotta love that exchange rate!

In retrospect we should have stayed longer in Budapest, because I feel as though we barely scratched the surface of Budapest, given that our friend Tim from Berlin referred to it in his adorable English accent as a "den of debauchery". However, Melanie and I are already planning another Eurotrip 2 years from now so maybe we'll return to Budapest and engage in various illicit activities.

We are now in London having got here last night and having a great time. We are here until Monday and after London, Lisbon!