Budapest

When travelling throughout Eastern Europe, Budapest, Hungary is almost always a must on everyone’s itinerary and now I can see exactly why. Not only does it have a beauty to it that is rather remarkable and yet still so strategic but it also sucks you in to this alternative vibe that it has going on. Make yourself comfortable and you soon begin to see the party place that it has come to be over the years. Dirty streets sporadically laced with vomit in the mornings, waiting to be cleaned, cigarette butts everywhere and a general scummy look to the old buildings. However do not be shied away because this place will captivate you and almost force you to extend the one or two nights you originally planned here.

Toma and I arrived two days earlier than Nat and Danielle. We were originally given instructions by Nat (who went last year) to stay in the Buda side but as we made our way up it seemed that Pest was the place to be and once we heard about the Retox Party Hostel in Pest we were sold! This place has a reputation for living up to its reviews and exceeding the stories of the travellers you have met along the way. Pretty much, anything goes here and as they say you walk in a stranger and leave a family member, even being clapped out when departing.

We arrived from Krakow to Budapest at about 9pm and headed straight for Retox, only thing was that we had a new currency and no exchanges open and so began the start of our ‘free’ public transport rides. A metro and a 2km walk later (using the GPS on our iphones) we had made it there and to our surprise there was no room for us-fully booked! We were spewing because we checked it that morning and were now so tired we didn’t want to find another hostel. We sat down for a rest and latched onto their wifi to find a bed for the night and it was here we met a group of British guys who live near us in London. Boom we had already made friends and eventually found a hostel 50m down the street. A well deserved rest for the first night.

The next day we intended to be constructive and play tourists but by 1pm we were still on the hammocks skyping friends and family from home. We eventually managed to walk 10m to the café out the front, only to have a gypsy very badly attempt to steal my wallet-sprung! By 3pm we were at the free walking tour-someone had to drag us around today. It went for 2.5hrs and we learnt quite a bit so it did become worthwhile. Turns out that the Parliament house there (which looks similar to the one in London) isn’t even really used. All the buildings are rather low, providing an extensive view of the city, except two-the Parliament and the Basilica, both 96m above the ground, this number being symbolic to she equality between the Church and State. Nothing else is allowed to exceed this height either. The majority of the city is Heritage protected and therefore much of the city remains in tact or restored giving it that beautiful old feeling.

Time to see what all the fuss is about so we headed to Retox for some drinks and ended up joining them on the booze cruise. Bottle of Champagne each on arrival and the night became a massive blur. This was to be one of the first nights that I blanked out, not even remembering that we got off the boat and onto another ‘boat club’. From what I do remember though it was a hell of a lot of fun and we all ended up kicking on at Retox, even discovering that there was now room available for the four of us…. Yes Nat and Danielle were about to reunite with us so that day we moved our bags over and fell asleep on the couches as we waited for them and our room. Once they finally arrived we all settled in, grabbed a bite to eat and started celebrating our European family reunion.

That night we attempted a ‘ruins pub crawl’ but soon brushed it and headed to Hooters! Beers, shots and chicken wings later bed was calling for some much needed sleep as we all decided to save ourselves for the Bath parties-an experience we would never forget (let’s just say it isn’t all for the good either).
The next day Nat and Danielle headed to do the sight seeing that we had already done so we headed with the British boys to the food markets, only to discover that they were closed, so a stroll along the river and back to the hostel we went, at least we did more than most people at our hostel lazing about that day. Sight seeing had taken a toll on me, there is only so many castles, cathedral and history lectures to do and see before they all become a blur and you give up caring.

This Bath party was going to be the last one of the season and they were like nothing I could describe. We grabbed a bottle of red wine and some Somersby’s (we tried Cranberry and the checkout chick didn’t scan our 1.5L red properly so that was ‘free’) then everyone in the surrounding hostels headed to this massive park for a pre-drink piss up! I’m sure many of you have heard of the Rehab Pool party in Las Vegas…its nothing like that. Instead everyone is in the pool at night (with hardly any lights except those in the pool), a DJ, a bar, a spa in the middle, then a human whirlpool and a much large pool on the outside with numerous people from the opposite sex ‘going at it’ on the edges. Depending on where you hang, your night could be a completely different experience to the next person. We chose the perimeter of the whirlpool and the large pool where the music was pumping and everyone was enjoying the experiences. However the Baths are so warm that once you get out for a drink you begin to contemplate bailing for the hot showers, clothes and opting to dance around the edges of the pool where it eventually becomes much cleaner. We lasted about 3 hours before we jumped out and by 3am they kicked everyone out and began to drain the pool-time for McDonald’s and a party back at Retox.

We were so hammered the next day and did as everyone seems to do- we extended just to have that extra night sleep and recovery. We headed for a Hungarian feast as the goulash has been delicious and we have welcomed a change of foods up in the East, but Toma and I ended up with pizza as we simply didn’t have enough to wine and dine that night but Nat and Dani had what they recall one of the ‘best meals in Europe’- jealous! But the pizza shop had a line longer than Hong ha and totally did the job for us, making it worthwhile in the end.

Our time in Budapest was up and I had fallen in love with the city but with Prague, Berlin and Munich ahead how could I not keep going. As I walked the streets and sucked in every last bit of the city I promised myself to come back here in the Winter when it is blanketed with snow and opt for the more touristy sight seeing experience. Budapest you are up there as one of my favourite cities and I only wish I could explore more of Hungary now!

Corfu

The time has come for Toma and I to venture off as a duo once again. First stop is Corfu, the last island we will be visiting in Greece this year. We originally planned to come here as we were making our way to Athens yet we wanted to fit in with the other girls and chose otherwise. A group of guys whom stayed at Francesco’s with the other girls were also staying at the same place as us in Santorini, turns out they too were going to Corfu same time as us so we formed a group and made or way together. These boys had already been and were even staying at the same place as us- The Pink Palace. This is meant to be where everyone stays and is known to be such a party place that it ‘has everything there so you don’t even leave the hostel’.  They provide breakfast, dinner and sell cheap lunches under 5 euro. Each day they provide activities and each night have a theme night.

We boarded the 2am ferry for Athens and soon discovered that the boys had purchased air seat tickets whilst Toma and I had economy. Since no one checks the tickets on board we managed to sneak into the air seat room and grab a chair. Not quite what you imagined, these were normal chairs that reclined, not the leather plane seats you’re thinking of. We celebrated too soon as we got kicked out of our chairs by the real owners with only 10 minutes before take off. On to the floor we went, at least it was comfortable carpet. As I got up for a toilet break it was soon clear that this is what everyone was doing. Just walking to the toilet was as though I was roaming through the remains of a massacre. Everyone and I mean everyone had created some sort of bed whether it was on the floor, in between chairs, on a table or for one guy, standing!

We brought a whole heaps of chocolate and lollies to entertain us and begun with a competition of who could keep the coke bottle in their mouths for the longest. Toma won because she fell asleep and it sat there, not realizing her status until later in the night when she awoke. We watched the movie they put on, I don’t get the purpose though when they chose to have it on silent so we quickly lost interest. The rest of the ferry ride wasn’t so bad and we managed to sleep for a few hours, turns out the floor really was the most comfortable space as many had left the chairs they so angrily fought for and retreated for the floors like us. 7am and e had arrived. Next mission- Get to Corfu. There was one local bus that ran at 10:30am and took 10 hours so we were determined to catch it before being stuck in Athens for a night. The 5 of us jumped in a taxi and 25 euro later made it to the bus station (at first we didn’t believe it was the bus station) only to find that our bus left at 10, no 9, no 9:30 so with all this confusion we managed to eventually by the ticket and we were off at 9:45am. There were only 10 people on a large coach so we spread out and managed to sleep. We finally made it….19:48 mins later (since leaving our hostel in Santorini)!

Already we could tell how different Corfu was from the other islands. It was beautiful and green and luscious, more like a getaway island with small houses and the odd large hotel, hardly dominated by tourism. Forget your white and blue buildings as well there were hints of pink everywhere. The pink Palace really was rather secluded on the island and the boys were right, everything was there and we knew at that point that this was all we were going to see of the island. Turned out that the pink palace had finished their Summer season only days before therefore the place was empty and there were only minimal activities but not to worry we were still semi n Ios recovery mode so had dinner (we just made it), a few beers and went to bed.

The next few days went along the lines of sleeping, making breakfast before 11, having a wifi session, going for a swim, sunbaking, eating lunch, diary/book/computer time, afternoon nap, drinks, dinner, drinks and bed.

The first night we had the presence of an Australian footy trip, somewhere along the way they picked up a British girl whom had little respect for herself and liked to get nude or perform sexual acts in public. At first we were gob-smacked but it didn’t take long for everyone, including the boys and staff to be off it. Yet no one kicked her out and many laughed, degraded and took advantage of her. Quite sad really. It killed the mood at night and we counted down the hours until they left as because of them what was supposed to be a really fun toga party was soon cancelled (no plate smashing show but still dressing up) due to the fact that they seemed to already have a performer.

On our last night a few more guys that we met in Ios had arrived and it was one of the boy’s birthday so that day we decided to have a hat party. Now, we all know how much I love a hat party so off we went to the store and found the silliest looking hats possible. The day was filled with fun, games, laughter, drinking, swimming and a gorgeous sun. A toy squeaking chicken was even purchased and made the day a hell of a lot more exciting. Drinking games were played and rules were made, a challenge to stack only the beer cups we drink up and reach the roof was made and one that we oddly enough kept. It became our mission for the day. When the sun got too hot we went for a swim but there was only one rule- your hat cannot come off your head. This was hilarious and lots of fun, unless I smashed myself against the rocks trying to hold my hat and get out of the water. By dinner we were wasted yet still managed to kick on as the cup stack was not at the roof yet.

We hit a wall too early and by 11pm bed was starting to look really good. We did a count of cups and the last known recording was 250 but we were still a metre off so we played what would be the last drinking game of the night and each skulled as many beers as possible, we had to complete this. The stack was added and we were now only a few beers off! Each person made their input and this skull was the slowest any of us had done. My belly was about to explode as I had never drank so much beer in my life but I guess this is only training for Oktoberfest. I must have told way too many people that night as well.  It fit! It reached the top! We had completed the mission and just as someone was going to count it everyone raced and knocked it over, cups were everywhere!!!! That was Toma and I’s que to leave so off to bed we went, packed our bags ready for a 9am check out. Ouch!

We awoke feeling half fresh and still managed to be out of there by 9am. The Pink Palace is situated on a massive hill and we were lucky enough to get a room at the beach (tip- ask or pay more for the rooms at the bottom, the trek is deadly and one you only want to make when necessary. Lucky for us though we scored a lift all the way up, checked out and headed back down for breakfast. We spent our last day in the sun, swimming, topping up that tan and touching base with home.

As we bid farewell to Corfu we also bid farewell to Greece and the beaches of Europe until who knows when. Corfu was lovely and somewhere that I would also return to, but in peak season however I still really enjoyed the relaxation and nothingness it provided.

Heading up to Poland now where we will encounter a very different scene and a cool change of weather as Europe prepares for Winter and we begin to prepare our resumes and look for somewhere to live and work in London. Four weeks until we land in Gatwick and the European Summer is over for us. We checked our bank accounts and it dawned on us just how much Greece took away, meaning we need to be extra careful in Eastern Europe. I’m excited though as I am rather over the beaches and sun, bring on cold weather (may I live to regret that soon), ready for some sight seeing and history.