We all managed to arrive within
half an hour of each other on Thursday night, coming from all different parts
of nearby Europe – Abe & I from Croatia, Georgia from Vienna and Ash &
Nick from Berlin… the miracles of the European railway! Abe, Georgia and I were staying in a
budget hotel near the train station, and Ash & Nick at a hostel nearby. Abe, Georgia and I encountered our
first problem, the hotel reception was closed! I had emailed them to say we were going to arrive late but
never got a reply. So we went out
in search of a hostel to stay in and found one about 5 minutes later that was
perfect, and then headed off on our 2nd mission, beer! We went to the hotel the next day and
they were very apologetic that no one had checked the emails, and said that of
course we didn’t have to pay for that night!
On Friday we met Ash & Nick
for breakfast and then headed for Castle Hill in Buda (Budapest is separated
into Buda and Pest, separated by the Danube River). The castle is pretty impressive, and we spent a few hours
wandering around looking at the sights, including the neo-Gothic Matthias
Church. After a beer and sausage
stop we also checked out the Labyrinth, a series of underground tunnels that
now have some really trippy displays (like cave paintings and statues, and a
fountain that runs with wine, unfortunately not suitable for consumption, it
smelt pretty vinegary!). After
that we wandered along the river, getting spectacular views of Parliament on
the Pest side, and had a beer at a bar on Margit-sziget (an island in the
middle of the Danube), and caught a tram along the waterfront of Pest. We had a yummy dinner of pasta and
pannini’s (with really crap service!) and a few more drinks at an Irish bar
before calling it a night.
On Saturday Ash & Nick
introduced us to Art Noveau, as we toured around Pest visiting interesting
buildings and statues typical to that period. These sights were amazing, especially the pistachio coloured
Bedo House, and things that you would probably walk right past if you didn’t
know they were there. It was
awesome to see the city from a completely different perspective, so thanks to
Ash & Nick!
Ash & Nick headed back to
Berlin on Sunday but Abe, Georgia and I still had one more day left. After a loooong sleep in we headed out
to a hommus bar for lunch and had the most divine hommus plates with salads, chickpeas,
mushrooms, pita bread… omg, SO yummy!
The rest of the day was spent sleeping and then going out for dinner and
more beer before watching a movie – a much needed rest day!
