Budapest

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On my first full day in Budapesh (as I was to learn was the way to pronounce it, as opposed to having a lisp) I

Architecture wise one of the highlights was the parliament building which apparently is the second biggest in the world. But apart from that there are numerous architectural marvels in the city and you could spend days walking round them all.

Budapest consists of two parts Buda and Pest seperated by the Danube, Buda is on the Eatsern side and has Gellert hill and the castle district. Pest is flat and is more modern adn where you can find the nightlife.

I had a wander to the opera house and whilst there just happened to check out the prices and found that a ticket for the cheap seats (up in the gods) was 3 pounds. Pucchini’s Barber of Seville was on and I couldn’t pass up on this bargain. It was a great production but as it was sung in Italian and the crib notes that appeared on LED screen were in Magyar I didn’t have a clue what was going on.

On the first night there everyone in the hostel went out to see Coolio in concert, for the life of me I couldn’t understand why, so declined and was glad I did. I was later to learn that he kept the crowd waiting for 1 and a half hours and only came on for 25 mins and it cost them £30. I think my night at the opera was far more value for money:-). So I headed out round town on my own and bumped into a mate who was on a stag do – small world.

Budapest is famous for its spa’s that utilise the thermal water from underground. I visited the Szechenyi baths which were a gothic marvel, it consists of 3 outdoor pools with temperatures of 30 and 36 degrees C and around 20 indoor ones with water ranging from 18 to 40 degrees C and I went in every one at least twice, plus there were loads of saunas and massage stations and mud baths. You could spend all day in there, the water smelled of sulphur due to its source.

On the second night we all ventured out to a ropey open air nightclub called Rio,certainly not a night out to remember.

I left Budapest on the third night via an overnight train to Belgrade, the city turned out to be was far removed from Budapest.


Boring Bits

Theres a train driect from the Airport to the centre of Budapest.
Stayed at Tiger Tims Hostel, great staff and friendly place which is virtually opposite the train station from which the train from the airport arrives.

Train depart Budapest at 23:30 arrive in Belgrade at 07:00, get tickets at any train station. Get 4 birth, work the extra few euros.

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