Well Budapest was forever ago, but oh what a journey it was!
On friday afternoon we biked super fast to the train station and almost missed our train. We were on a tight schedule. If we missed anything we were screwed and wouldn't make it to the airport in time! Talk about stressful to the max. Luckily we made everything and were at the terminal just as they started boarding. We left Friday with the first batch of people: Allison, Catherine and me (all from my Berkeley), and three new boys! Daniel (from Toronto, Canada), Adam (from Scotland), and Dave (from Australia)! Yay new people. I had orientation with Daniel, and had met Adam a few time, but I had never met Dave before. They all live on Catherine's floor and they decided to join us on this adventure. And an adventure we had. It was pretty easy to get from the airport to the hostel, and by the time we got there it was around 8 and we were all starving. Luckily (for the meat eaters) they had beef stew ready for everyone! How nice of them. But I was all, "great, what am I supposed to do?" But some really nice guy (who I later met for real, Jack) offered me his last vegetarian Spring Roll. It was delicious and exactly what I needed. Such a great first impression of the hostel! It was such a cool place. Very young person friendly. The people that were staying there were all very cool, and the staff were young and so nice. Made the trip extra great. After we were done eating, everyone in the hostel was going out to this old converted ruin bar, Szimpla. It was so cool, and we had so much fun.
Palinka! This is not what our faces looked like after...
I had no idea what to expect from Budapest, which I think was the best way to go into a trip. I knew nothing about Hungary, knew nothing about their crazy currency (and I still don't) and I knew nothing about their culture and traditions, but now I can say I got a glimpse, and learned a lot. We started the night with shots of a special Hungarian Brandy known as Palinka. It was... weird. Everything was so cheap though. Yay Eastern Europe. It was hard knowing how much money you were spending though since they don't have the Euro and all of their money has so many zeros in it. 900 Forints was about $3, but when something says 900, my immediate reaction is woah there buddy, thats so much! It was trippy.
We also tried mulled wine, which is like apple cider, but made with wine. Delicious!
Also tried Absinthe! It was on fire. Legit.
You only live once right? So we had to try everything. It was a lot of fun. We were with a big group of people and got to know people from Germany, England, and France. It was a great night.
Daniel and Dave after Absinthe.... haha.
The next morning I was up and ready to go, but the boys? Not so much. They were all so hungover. I laughed and opened the blinds and got their lazy butts out of bed to go exploring!
Our hostel, so cute
Oven bake Langos.
The free walking tour was great. We saw so many things and the guides were a lot of fun. I also learned so much about Hungary, knowing nothing before I had a lot to learn. Their history is... tumultuous to say the least. It's pretty interesting to hear about because of all the transitions in rulers, but it's also very sad because of all the fatalities. They kept it pretty light hearted for most of the tour though.
Its good luck if you rub his belly, supposed to have a great meal... it didn't work.
Chain Bridge
View from Castle Hill
Budapest has a huge random hill on the other side of the river. Budapest is divided into the Buda side and the Pest side. Buda has the hill, Pest has the nightlife. We stayed on the Pest side, but the Buda side has beautiful hills and museums.
The whole Friday group, plus Edwin who joined us that morning. It was a little sunny...
Our tour guide and an... interesting statue
After the tour was over we walked and walked and walked trying to find this underground Hospital cave that sounded really cool but was one of the weirdest things I've ever done as a tourist. They didn't allow pictures and it's hard to explain. But it was a hospital that was built underground and is fully furbished, and now filled with creepy human like wax dolls to make it "feel alive". Creepy creepy creepy.
But when we left it was night and the area was all lit up and it was absolutely beautiful.
Fairytale land?
Then we went and got some authentic Hungarian dinner, and it was gross. Weird flavors, weird textures, weird.
But our desert was amazing!
Later that night we went back to Szimpla, but no pictures to prove it this time. Couldn't wait for more adventures the next day, but that's all for now!
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