Budapest felt different to the other cities I had visited in Eastern Europe. You arrive at the train station and you are hit with the sheer weight of the place. Its just huge. Walking along the sights on the Danube river was just like stepping into a 3d postcard, the weather was perfect and there is so much acivity surrounding the water. A few of us went on a bike tour for most of day two because all the sights are so spread out. Hungarys history is pretty amazing, locals tend to say they have a habit of making the wrong decisions on a regular basis. Our guide said Budapest had hosted a number of "guests" over the years that never seemed to want to leave. You can still see the bullet holes in buildings from the revolution against the soviets in the 50s which killed 80 student protesters. The whole city is littered with buildings that remain piles of rubbles and characterless blocks built in communist times on the outskirts of the city. A few people thought it was a bit run down, but everywhere there were signs of construction and a buyying culture than seemed more real than many places I have been.
Gypsyies are everywhere in Budapest, bus stations, train stations, shopping malls, markets. And if you ever find yourself needing to buy a new bra in the centre of the city youre in luck!
A few of us girls went to an awesome restaurant one night called Mezza that had the hottest wall paper I have ever seen and fitted out like the inside of a retro movie theatre. Food here is awesome and pretty cheap if you can get your head around the confusing currency! There was a fair bit I didnt get around to doing here, like going to the Budapest baths or the communist park where they placed all the old stalin statues after the curtain fell in 89. Good year that!
Sorry for the dodgy spelling throughout this whole blog site, I swear the keyboards are crazy hard over here and Im used to touchtyping at work!
Over and out
S
