Arriving in Budapest felt so easy and familiar which is always a good start to a new city. Since I was just there, in November 2007, I knew how to get around and where I was. Yea. One stop that was easy.
My goals for Budapest were easy. Relax, catch up on some travel tasks and see a few more things that I missed in November since I had the time and wait for friends to arrive 2 days later. I knew that Samantha was arriving early on Thursday and Christine was coming late Thursday night, so I would have two fun friends to meet up with which is always much more fun.
After arriving at 10am, in almost 100 degree weather – we were dripping with sweat when we got off the train – but much nicer than being cold. After checking into my hostel, I really planned to just relax and have a leisurely lunch, but then I met Robin, a 22 year old from England. He was staying in my hostel and was very friendly. He got into the city the day before me and saw a lot in the first day and wanted to check out Margaret Island where there was a beach (so we were told…). So without much encouragement needed, I decided to head over there with him to check out the beach. After we got there, we found a rocky beach that was not suitable to relax on and the water was brown and murky so no swimming there. We had passed a bath house and thought that looked nice, so off we went. There were about 9 large pools there with water spurting everywhere and nice lawns to relax on. Perfect afternoon. I think we spent 4 hours there in the water and I was quite happy.
Robin had already made friends from his first night, and he invited me to join them for drinks that night. We met up with Vivian and Ameka, both 23 year old from Thailand that are working and studying in Barcelona. So the four of us went in search of a place to drink and came across a fun outdoor wine bar/pub. From the street, it looked like a deserted street and I didn`t think there was anything else. As we approached the door, we heard a little music and then saw the long passage to the back where the bar was. Very tricky as you have to know of the place to find it. It was pretty ghetto in the back with lots of graffiti, alternative people, but I think that was part of the thing there. We had a fun time chatting, and I hope to meet up with Vivian when I get to Bangkok in October as she will be back there when I am visiting with Debbie and Vanessa, so it will be nice to have dinner/drinks with her. Love making all the international connections. After a couple minutes taking about wines, all three of them admitted they don`t know much about wines and wish they did. Good thing they met me. I was able to teach them a little bit wine and also explain what I had learned about the two major Hungarian wines – the Bull`s Blood wine and sweet dessert wine from Tokaj region. So all in all, a fun night of new friends and wine. We finally switched to beer as the wine is much more expensive.
Since I failed at taking care of some of my business on Tuesday, Wednesday had to be the day. I was in hot pursuit to find a student travel agency so I could try to get another international student ID card as I can save so much with it, and I still have my college ID. Mission accomplished! I also wanted to find a nice place to have a leisurely lunch. After I had a great Greek salad, I overheard to people discussing problems with the metro and a huge fine they had to pay as they bought the wrong tickets. I casually got myself involved in the conversation and met Isabelle and Mariusz. They were both from Toronto and have been dating for the past 6 months, and were very fun to talk to as they just arrived in Budapest and already learned about how not to use the metro. It wasn`t a good way to enter any city, but it allowed us to meet and chat. They picked my brain (as the resident Budapest traveler…kinda) and we made plans to meet up that night to find “The House of Hungarian Wine”.
For the afternoon, I thought it would be a great idea to hike to the top of Gellert Hill. There is a cool statue at the top, and last November hiking did not seem like the thing to do in the cold. So up I climbed and climbed and it was super steep, and I was dying. I was wondering if I was that out of shape or just that tired. I know I am walking too much, so I figure it was just tired and walking too much. But once at the top, it was an amazing view of the city – much higher than Castle Hill. It was worth the effort. I even like the statue at the top with a warrior beating the crap out of a serpent. Too funny. On the walk down, I got a little lost, as the downs turned into ups and it was a maze (as I went a different way down). I met some French people that also were lost, but we all went together and eventually found out way down.
So after dinner I was meeting Isabelle and Mariusz and we were on the hunt for this place where you can can taste for one price, but we didn`t have an address, but we knew it was on the Buda side, so we figured we would wander around and maybe find it. The good news is we got to wander a lot….and then wander more and we got a lot of exercise and really saw the city by night (which is spectacular). The bad news was we didn`t find it, and when we asked at the Hilton (as I remember seeing a sign for a wine cellar in November), the front desk guy said it was finished and pointed to where it was. We thought it was closed (as it was 10pm). So I figured another night I would go back. After a lot of walking, we stopped for wine at another place and quickly learned of the high prices and higher service charges. I think the service charge for my one glass of wine was 30% as it was a flat fee. Very expensive wine, but so be it. The waiter got us out of there quickly as they closed at 11 and he told us we could walk down to the river in about 15 minutes and pointed the way. I don`t know what we did, but we walked for over an hour and were so far north in the city (up near Margaret island), I knew it was a long way back. All and all, Isabelle and Mariusz and I walked from 9pm and I got home at 2am. We stopped twice for a drink, so a good 3 hour walking tour at night with 2 hours to sit and drink. Again, nice way to enjoy the city and I was glad to be with them both. I plan to meet up with them in Toronto as that is my last stop on my trip before I return to New York – so look for me in May 2009.
Thursday was the day I finally got to meet up with friends. It has been a long 7 weeks without any familiar faces, and I was so excited. I decided to meet Samantha at the train station so it would be easy to get her to the hostel – so that was my big event. Sleep in, relax and then meet her at 3. It was so wonderful to just be able to talk with her and hear about her 3 weeks of travels as she has been to places I haven`t been yet and was considering for future trips. So she and I had a wonderful afternoon walking, eating, drinking and just catching up as I haven`t seen her since I left New York in April. We had such a nice dinner and I guess it was even more wonderful as we got to sit in a great restaurant, order a bottle of wine and enjoy the night catching up. Sounds funny that I was so excited about this, but after meeting so many backpackers that are on such tight budgets, a little dinner like this was something I haven`t had since I left Nic and Stu in Scotland (on May 15th). That was really the last time I had a nice dinner and bottle of wine with dinner. I was a happy camper!
Samantha was such a cheery friend to have around and we just cruised the streets on Friday morning in hunt for breakfast. This was something else I haven`t done. Gone out for a hot breakfast. I have been bringing in fruit and yogurt so much that I hadn`t been out. We found a great place that had omelets and Hungarian French Toast. I really don`t know what the french toast was. My guess was it was dipped in egg whites and then deep fried as it had that egg white gloss, but then a thick coating all around (too bad no maple syrup as that would have been perfect). Regardless a great breakfast and that was a jump start to our day at the Széchenyi Baths. I went to these in November and loved them and knew I had to go back. Samantha and I spent a good 5 hours there trying all the baths (hot, cold, mineral baths, sauna, steam rooms). We also got amazing massages and I got a medical pedicure (where they use scalpels and such to clean up all the skin on your feet). When Amanda and I were here in November, we were both amazed at the type of pedicure and care given to our feet – like nothing ever before. My feet have gotten quite chewed up in the past two months, so much better now and ready for the upcoming beach countries with Jenny, Courtney and Colin. Yea. It was fun to talk to Samantha after the massage as it was her first massage and she loved it. I told her it would be worth the splurge and she agreed.
After our baths, we cruised through Hero`s square. The square, like the park beyond it, was laid out for the 1896 Magyar Conquest millennial celebration. When we arrived, there was something in the square about to start. We saw dancers, speakers and lots of seats, so we sat and waited hoping for Hungarian dancing. Unfortunately, all we got were long Hungarian speeches, we stood for the national anthem (i think), two opera songs, and I literally killed over 100 bugs that kept landing on my chest and in my hair. Something about the lotion (or should I say lard….looked like a jar of Crisco to me) that was used during our massage or the minerals from the mineral baths must have attracted the bugs. It could have been my bright yellow tank top as well. But the bugs kept landing on me and I picked them off and flicked them away. After a while – it kinda was funny, but I felt so gross and had to get that bug invested tank top off.
Friday night continues…I wanted to go out for Hungarian food and knew of a place from before that was yummy and decently priced so off Samantha and I went. Samantha wanted to go find local Hungarian music (or some live music), so we were off in pursuit of what our guidebook had listed and we walked and walked and almost gave up when we discovered a little basement bar with a band. The music was great, and the others there must have been groupies as they knew all the words and we were told it wasn`t a cover band. The basement was very small, musty smelling with way too much smoke – I knew my hair was absorbing it all and couldn`t wait to wash it out in the morning. So at 3:45 in the morning, we finally got home. Long day – but so much fun.
Saturday was my last day in Budapest and I had made plans to meet up with Christine Gage. I was her volleyball coach 6 years ago in California and she just graduated college and was traveling for a few weeks. So it was fun to meet up and explore the city. Samantha, Christine and I all met at a famous coffee house (Gerbaud) which has been in the same location since 1870. Overpriced coffee and croissants, but after 4 hours of sleep, it was perfect. Leisurely breakfast in the sun with friends. What else could I ask for?
Our goal was see Memento Park – the Remains of Communist Dictatorship. Essentially this is a statue park outside of Budapest. There are about 40 statues that were collected from the city and placed in this called park. Unfortunately, many of the stone statues were destroyed years ago, but these are still there. One of the famous pieces left are from a statue of Stalins. A crowd of people pulled down the statue, but the books remained on the pedestal until the revolution was put down. You can see how large the boots are as there is an exact copy inside that I am standing by. Afterwards, we came back into the city, hiked to the top of castle hill and enjoyed the views. We walked down into the labyrinth of caves and it was much cooler below ground. At this point, we wanted to have some wine and I wanted to go back to The House of Wine. When we got there, we found out the place was closed as they were moving locations and would open in the fall. Bummer. So we settled on having a beer on the Chain Bridge as there was a bridge wide fair going on. All of a sudden I hear, “Megan – How are you?” and I look up and see Carolyn Stone and her husband. I just saw her in London in May and could not believe she saw me having a beer on a bridge in Budapest. (on top of that, when I left to go home, an hour later, I stopped at the Le Meridian hotel to use the ladies room and saw her getting into the elevator. Really small world.
So that is about it. Five days in Budapest (when I planned none originally). Had a nice relaxing time, caught up with friends and lived pretty cheap which is always a good thing.
Just arrived in Krakow, Poland this morning at 6am and already got a lot done this morning in anticipation of meeting up with Steph and Shana. I have my new ATM card that over mailed to Poland that I can activate soon, Steph has presents for me (i-touch, socks and new credit card). I am already so excited!!!
Logistics:
Great Hungarian Dinner: Alfoldi Kisvendeglo (V. Kecskemeti u. 4 – near Kalvin Ter metro Stop) – 1/267/0224
Hostel: Adagio Hostel (1073 Erzsebet krt. 25-27. 2nd floor 9.) – nice quiet, very clean hostel. Central location.