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!