We arrived at the main train station in Buda...finally.
When we got to the "underground" Gibo goes (and sums up Budapest quite nicely) "Ooo Vintage"
We arrived at our hostel (Interflat Hostel), which was my favorite hostel by far. They were very accommodating and we had our own huge flat overlooking the city. I would recommend it to anyone who is traveling there. - but thats besides the point.
We decided to have a calm night, cook dinner, and stay in - after the night of absurdity that was the sound of music gone wrong. Chef Mary served up a pesto chicken pasta where I took on the role of home-made guac. After a nice dinner we went to bed early and had a lie in.
Day 11:
We woke up and headed over to St. Peters Basicilla in Vorosmarty Square to meet up for the Free Walking Tour. (Which was located in Pest). Yes Budapest is a combination of two cities which I sort of knew, but learned a lot more about that and Hungarian history during the tour. ***FYI: Its pronounced "Pesht" - you havvvve to say the H or you sound like a Tourist (HA HA - just trying to blend.....) We explored the pest side of the city and walked through a park where I swear there where millions of kids - and I wondered why they weren't in school. I asked the question and Ester and Emma (our tour guides) started laughing and didn't really know the answer- but said they get out of school at 1:30/2ish and come to park to hang out. Hmm..
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| Tour Meeting Point |
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| Sphinx with boobs |
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| View From Buda |
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| Royal Palace |
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| At the top of Palace |
We woke up at 10:30 and made our way to a Hungarian flea market about 30 minutes outside of the city. This was the Hungary I pictured. (I was so surprised at how commercialized Budapest was. McDonalds and Burger Kings on every corner!!! however exciting/nice/comforting it is to know that a coke and fries are universal in every country- I was expecting eastern europe). I digress. Being on the outskirts of the city...we were finally in real world: hungary. The stuff we saw at this flea market was nuts. Nazi uniforms and hitler photos, tons of world war II garb, among Russian gear. We were wondering how much of it was actually real, or had been worn- which was really eerie. Besides that stuff...there was really gorgeous jewelry, clothes, paintings etc etc. I got a really nice ring and a flashy purse which I envision myself wearing on NYE. I haggled the purse down 2000HUF from 6000HUF!!! - Only 8 EUR...ha ha gotcha
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| Blending in with local culture Catchin' some rays outside Market bus stop back to Budapest |
While the girls continued shopping- and gibo tried her very best to haggle this ring down to 3000HUF (which I hate to say was unsuccessful) I stopped at the market where they were selling this fried substance with cheese. I picked it out instantly - a hungarian mozzarella stick. It was delightful. On the way back we stopped at a mexican place and had a refreshing margarita while we decided what to do for the night.
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| Hmm. What should we do tonight? |
We went back to the hostel, got dressed, and went out to get our go to dinner: Bread, Ham, Cheese, Beer. We walked to the river and parked a seat in Buda on a bench to watch the sunset over the city and watched the lights of Parliament and the city go on. It was gorgeous.
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| Cheers |
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| Getting There |
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| City Lights - Parliament |
After, we made our way to Instant- a club Mare had found. It was an awesome place with 5 different floors and many different rooms. We explored all the areas, and while the girls loved the reggae room, I stayed on the ground floor becoming my aggressive self and challenging Hungarian locals to foosball games.
All in all : Buda = Success.
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