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Published: August 8th 2007
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Budapest
For those of you that don't know, the city of Budapest is split into two sections called "Buda" and "Pest", which straddle the longest river in the European Union - the Danube. Buda is the lush green, hilly Western side, and Pest is the flat, urban Eastern side. We managed to somehow score an apartment, usually meant for 5 people, with kitchen etc. right in between the two sides, in the guts of the city, which made exploring pretty easy. Because Budapest is often missed by travellers, it's actually not that tourist friendly, especially seeing as we just got use to the easiness and convenience of Amsterdam, however once we got hold of a tourist map things became a lot clearer.
Each side of the city is divided into districts and we spent the majority of the first day exploring the castle district in Buda. It's pretty high up here with some good views over the city and "Chain Bridge" and there's some awesome sculptures and fountains all of which seem to be green in colour for some reason. We opted out of the numerous art galleries available to walk around here, and decided to check out the labyrinths
underneath the castle instead.
It's quite eerie walking around 4000sq metres of caves buried 16 metres under the ground, and having to duck to avoid hitting your head on every archway. They've made you feel a little more at home though by installing low level lighting and a sound system playing relevant music in each section. We spent the first half hour thinking that the drawings and sculptures were real and from the beginning of time, or at least the middle ages, but then we reached a wine fountain (does exactly what it says on the tin), we realised that the different areas of the labyrinth were in fact representations of the Hungarians troubled past!!! Ah well, the place was still pretty cool, and even though it had been reconstructed, it was still interesting to know that the original caves were used as refuge and hunting ground for the primitive man (or Hunter Of Buda as they like to call them), wine cellars, torture chambers and jails. There was also one part of the labyrinth called "the labyrinth of courage" which was basically pitch black with water dripping from the ceiling, and you had to hold a piece
of
rope and guide yourself through the maze of darkness. It was very creepy especially coz we had a bunch of school kids behind us (kids are frickin everywhere in Budapest - they dont seem to go to school) and Sal spent the whole ten minutes with some 12 year-old feeling up her backside - lovely!!!
We also managed to make it a bit out of town, took the cities only Libego (chairlift in English), to the highest point in Buda called Janos hill. It was kind a weird being on a chairlift in 25 degree heat, and managing to get off without a snowboard strapped to your feet, but here at 529 metres above sea-level you got a really cool view over the buildings in Pest and the rolling hills of Buda. We topped off the day by going to see the fifty year old Hungarian State Folk Ensemble dance at one of the many theatres in the city. It was pretty awesome to see the dancers in their full pikey clobber prancing around like Michael Flatley on crack. We've attached a video (hope it works) so you can check them out for yourself - Irish jigs eat
your
heart out!!! We were also very chuffed that a celebrity made their way into the dance line-up, and that we managed to get a photo of him for you all.
We spent the next day chillin' at the markets, and then to continue with our Hungarian cultural theme, we went to the cinema and checked out Tarantino's new concoction - Grindhouse. We thought we'd sample some of the Hungarian delicacies in the evening so we paid a very reasonable 14 Euros (3799 Forints) to go to an all-you-can-eat Hungarian buffet to sample over 100 authentic Hungarian dishes. The best thing was it was an all-you-can-drink place as well. OK, so Sal filled up after a main course, a dessert and one glass of wine, but I made sure I got our moneysworth by filling up on the bottomless beers.
There's so much stuff to do in Budapest but seeing as we only had one day left, and really wanted to relax, we made our way to the city park, catching a few sights on the way, and did what most Hungarians do when they have the time - enjoy a thermal bath. We happened to go to the
largest medicinal bath in Europe as well. I'm sure it's fantastic in the Winter months, but lying in scorching heat (Hungary by the way has one of the highest amounts of sunshine per year in Europe) and then diving into a 38° pool doesn't make much sense to me. Still, I'm sure it does wonders for your health and body, as the water is supplied by two natural springs, and you do feel revived afterwards.
Lastly because Hungary is becoming another stag do haven like Prague, I thought I´d give the lads reading this a head start with the old chat up lingo. Oh, it´s in phoenetics so just say what you see. Firstly, the night........
Hello Sweetheart - Sheeg eat sheg Dra-gam
You have beautiful eyes - Say-p oh sy-med
Once, twice, three times a lady - Et sair, mash od sore, har mod sore. Edt Houdge
How much for him/her/it - Men-knee-eart tu dom meg ven knee o.uuut /t.o.u
Have you got any available sisters - Von sabad new vayrad
Please may I fondle your buttocks - Meg.Foug hah tom AH pop-shit dat.
Do you eff on first dates - Sok, tal keh. F ail-knee Ozz
arshe shure randy?
And for the following morning.......
Never again - Show ha th bed
Hangover - Mash-nap
Help me - Shag-itch neck-em
Have you washed your hands - Meg mosh.tad oh k.zed
My bum hurts - Fi AH shag em
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DJ Phil
non-member comment
blag
easy travellers - i swear you just download random crap off google and paste it, bet your in a nasty bedsit in Peckham pretending your having a good time swanning around the world! im on to you Samwise :o| Budapest looks awesome, i gotta hit it up, pragues next for me, then i gots ta save some dollar for a trip to Miami. be good kids P