Budapest

At the train station in Vienna we met a fellow named John from Detroit. We chatted with him all the way to Budapest. The train station in Budapest was full of people trying to sell us rooms. And there were sooo many tourist offices, all with different signage, they couldn't all have been run by the city tourism. Other than that and the occasional clouds of poo smell wafting by Budapest is great. I didn't really know what to expect and I have been blown away. The first night we had a fairly expensive dinner, but we both ordered traditional Hungarian food and it was delicious. It was July 1st, so we had to go out and celebrate after. The hostel receptionist directed us to this outdoor summer club. It was insane. The area had at least 6 bars, some food joints, two dance floors (one more for the metal crowd - I swear we saw Marilyn Manson... not really but you could tell this one guy was a big fan), a covered games area and a hot springs pool (bath) complete with a bar in the middle. There were tables and chairs everywhere too, so lots of places to sit. Surprisingly they played a lot of Canadian artists, which we were thrilled with. I wore my Maple Leaf bandanna hoping to attract others from our country to celebrate with, but this was the first place we went with no tourists. Haha, just when we actually wanted some. Well didn't let that spoil the night. Walking home we belted out the anthem on a bridge crossing the Danube with a marvelous view. This attracted the attention of a couple Hungarian guys who we shared the walk home with and conversed in broken sentences.

The next day we booked some bus tickets to Prague and walked the main street (Andrassy Utca) all the way to the city park and biggest Turkish bath in Budapest. Enroute we saw many fabulous buildings, although they were more run down than say in Vienna they were just as beautiful. Much of the city is undergoing improvements right now so maybe one day they will be restored. At the park we saw heroes square. It was enormous and full of monuments depicted important figures in Hungarian history. The baths however were the best part of the day. Imagine a hot springs, housed in an ancient building. You walk in and come out into a court yard of pools. It was great. I haven't felt that clean or refreshed in a long time. Afterwards we came across an open air pub where I won a Jagermeister bandanna, and on our way home from there we came across a summer Jazz festival. We stayed there well into the night as the music was spectacular. It was sort of a club at the bottom of an enormous set of stairs everyone was just hanging out on. Last night was a late one, so we busted out the earplugs and enjoyed a much needed night of long restful sleep.

Today we walked across the second oldest bridge across the Danube up to the city palace and Mathias church. They were also very amazing to look at. We stopped at the shops for some gifts etc. then trekked up the the citadel. The view was amazing and we came across a few interesting monuments along the way. On the way back down into the city we came across a park making use of the hill side. It had these 40ft tube slides, like in a regular playground, but to the extreme. I went flying down in a dress and in my effort to save the camera, popped right out onto my butt in the dirt, legs in the air. It was quite hilarious. We're back at the hostel for dinner and plan on going out again to the jazz festival tonight. Tomorrow we're on a bus for 7 hours to Prague. It's cheaper and sounds nicer than the train though... air conditioning, movies, free drinks.

Update: We went back to what we thought was the Jazz festival. Turns out it was just a club with really good live music. Not the case tonight. Haha, but a local heard my comment and added his own and we started chatting. He was really excited to show us the city. He was born in Budapest, but his parents moved him to DC when he was 14. He was gone for 10 years but came back 4 years ago and thinks there's no better place in the world. He was sad to here we were leaving in the morning, but at least recommended a cafe we would have to stop for breakfast... Luckily they take Visa as we spent all our Hungarian Forins except what we need to pay for the hostel in the morning. Should be good.

Szia (Sounds like "see ya" and is the informal Hungarian greeting. Works for hello and goodbye, like ciao. Reminiscent of Borat)