Budapest

Nick, Caleb and I loved Budapest from the start. A grungy yet gorgeous city, the buildings all are gorgeous but looking past that you see that they are in a constant state of disrepair which gives the city it’s cool, edgy, hipness that I soon fell in love with. We stayed at a 2 room hostel where Caleb slept on ground level and nick and I slept up in the loft where there wasn’t too much room – about 5 inches between the mattresses on the floor and not enough room for you to stand up completely. I loved it!  It had character but was clean and the owner was an American guy that fell in love (with a Hungarian and with the city) and has stayed for 4 years now.

Like I said before, Budapest has a crumbly feeling to it but that does not take away from the gorgeousness that surrounds you here. The city is a perfect mix of 2 of my favorite European cities – Prague and Berlin. It has the old world beauty of Prague and the grungy hip feel of Berlin. We found a free concert being held in a city park and stopped to have a beer and sit in the grass to listen. No classical music here! It was more of a crazy combination of loud rock, electric violin, and a bit of reggae. Hungarian (the world’s 3^rd hardest language to learn) seems like it is hard to sing. The band had a great stage presence though and it was fun to watch the locals. We were sitting by a group of what looked like 8^th graders, al with beer and cigarette in hand. Oh yes, we were in Eastern Europe for sure. Actually, any part of Europe fits that description so far…

Our two days in Budapest were spent exploring, laying in parks, seeing sights, climbing the hills of Buda, poking each other in the sides, and laughing 24/7. We went to the world’s second largest parliament building where Nick and Caleb said I would be bayoneted if I waved to the guards (happy to say that I proved them incorrect!) and then on to the world’s second largest Synagogue. We soon called Budapest the city of seconds.

After parliament we sat out by the river and discussed our escape plans if an army of zombies were to attack at that moment. We each got to pick out each other’s weaponry arsenal. I am happy to say I feel I would be safe with my machete, ninja star, cape, laser vision, suction cup glove for hanging, dart shooter, fire poker and slide whistle. We wandered our way towards home taking about every interesting street possible to the point that a 30 minute walk turned into a 3 hour exploration. By the time we found the pizza place for dinner we were starved.

I decided to be courageous and when picking my toppings for my pizza I opted for an egg. That was interesting in a very delicious sort of way. That night we chilled at the hostel.  The next day we headed to the Buda side of the city to walk through the hills and up to the palace. We found a cave church, kicked a water bottle for an hour’s worth of entertainment, found the palace, and played in the light rain.  Back to the pizza place for a late lunch and then we headed to what is supposed to be Budapest’s biggest attraction: thermal baths. A stop along the way at a fair we found was prefect for grabbing my all-time favorite dessert – the chimney cakes I had in Prague. DELICIOUS

The baths were housed in the city’s most beautiful park in giant white buildings that looked like they came straight out of ancient Rome. Baths ranged from 16 Celsius (seriously chilly) to 38 Celsius (toasty). There were saunas, showers, chlorinated pools, and thermal baths. We had so much fun transferring between them all that we easily spent 2 and a half hours there without ever being bored. We tried every bath/pool/tub we could find and a handful of saunas and showers as well. We plunged into the cold pools and did handstands in the warm ones. Correction: I did handstands, Nick and Caleb failed miserably at their attempts.

We met Miriam and Lez in the thermal baths. The Jewish Australian Hungarians were traveling for a month throughout the home land. They had amazing stories and were very friendly. Their parents had been Holocaust survivors; the mothers both had the tattoos. Miriam and Lez travel all over the world and we all became fast friends. As with all couples I meet the girls seem to pair off and so do the boys so Miriam and I chatted for a long time while the boys chatted with Lez. When I was showering the leave and dress Miriam actually ended up having the locker beside mine. They were such a nice couple that we enjoyed getting to know in the comfort of a giant thermal bath! I kept my cool wristband that was your ticket into the baths. Caleb had loved them and wanted to keep his but wasn’t sneaky enough to get away without giving it back. I however eluded the system and came out the victor! In the end I  gave it to Caleb as a souvenir from Budapest

Getting back to the hostel about midnight we were energized and ready to go out. We headed to one of the only bars open on a Sunday night – a recommendation as being the coolest new place in Budapest. I have to agree with the recommendation. Szimbla was the hippest bar I have ever been to. It felt exactly like something you would find in Berlin, crumbly walls and everything and the kitchen sink hanging from the ceiling. It was a giant 2 story complex with and open air center and a cozy tables and chairs littering every open space. We snagged some old movie theater chairs and a locally brewed beer and sat and soaked in the atmosphere. It was grungy and hip made you feel automatically relaxed and at home in your own skin. No one was dressed to impress and no one cared. It was a great evening and the time flew by. It was almost 3 by the time we got back and crawled in bed.

I was sad to leave Nick and Caleb. I had so much fun with them. We were always joking, always happy, always relaxed, and always laughing. I laughed so hard with them that I got my first fit of hiccups I have had in over a year. I didn’t want to leave but am excited to see first Evan and then Hannah, Aunt Marj and Jerri.  I now know that I have to do a Scandinavia trip at some point. Caleb is studying in Copenhagen Denmark and it sounds too amazing to pass up – it’s going on the ever-expanding list of places I want to go!

While is Budapest and Vienna I gained a few new nicknames as well. The top three include: Atica, Attila the Hoosier, and my personal favorite Atifer.  Thank you Nick for the last one – by far the best of the bunch! 

Please note the man standing next to me on the left. He was quite a character!

My favorite sweet treats! I asked him to smile and he made me wait so that he could lift on up to pose. He was so funny, he kept acting like he was going to put the coconut on it which I was very against. He high-fived me when we left!

Huggsies!  Nick maybe wasn't quite as excited for the treats but I sure was!

Creepy hooded statue we found in a park.

Pretty - a hidden castle in a park. It looked fake like in disney land

You gotta love 'em    :)

The thermal baths - this is one the the 3 outdoor ones. The indoor options were inside the building in the background

Bored while waiting for the pizza to be served

At the tops of the Hills of Buda

The coolest church roof top ever!

A view of Buda from the Pest shore of the river

What's a Hungarian rock concert without a Hungarian brewski?

The hostel. Nick and I had the right side of the loft. The mattresses were just on the floor about 5 inches apart and the ceiling was a little low. I loved this place though!

Hog-tying Caleb. Well done Nicko!

20,000 Hungarian forints - making it rainnnnnnn

The hippest bar in town - their fairly sketchy looking stair case. 

Tomorrow or the next rday I'll post something from Brugge with Aunt MJ, Jerri, and Hannah. We are having a blast and send out love. 

PS. HAPPY BIRTHDAY AUNT MARTY!