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Published: January 14th 2009
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We stayed at a hostel in Budapest called "Mellow Mood", and unfortunately David and I couldn't get a double room. I was in a four person dorm, and I never once saw my roomies. We had to set out straight away to meet our walking tour. On the tour was: a really rud Aussie woman (who called Amsterdam "Drug City" straight to Dutch people), and three girls that I'd seen on Busabout before (one has alopecia), and a guy named Jarrod, and a few others. Our guide was a really pretty Hungarian girl. David and I were hot and hungry, and while I'm glad that we did it because we saw quite a lot of Budapest, I don't really remember any of it now. I didn't know anything about the city when I began the tour, and I don't think I took any of it in. My attention-span these days is totally non-existent! David and I basically just goofed around the whole time. Also, my camera died halfway through the tour so I'm never going to remember it!
Our last stop was a really pretty castle on a hill, and the bar had such a nice view that David, Jarrod,
the three girls and I decided to have a beer there. We walked home from there, stopped for a McDonalds meal, and then quickly got dressed for the pub crawl. It was probably the worst pub crawl I've ever done because our Guide clearly didn't want to be there, and she had no control over the group. Our first stop was a dingy pub with gross toilets, but there was an open bar for an hour so that was good. I had a slightly awkward conversation with an American guy who's been living in Budapest for years, who insisted that it was the black people's own fault that so many died in New Orleans. I was a little embarrassed for other people to think I agreed with what he was saying just because we're from the same continent! But with all his crazy statements, he turned out to be an alright guy.
David and I were in fine form that night, having fun with each other and laughing and piggy-backing through the streets and dancing. I'm in big trouble here.
We went to three other bars, all outdoors and really great. The last one was playing great 80s music and I was loving it and dancing up a storm, but David got pissy and hated the tunes and wanted to leave. I, of course, got stubborn and told him to just leave without me, and he did at one point, but ended up coming back for me. We ended up in a screaming match on the dance floor, which I found kinda funny, and I eventually left with him around 2am.
We got completely lost en route home and I was tired, frustrated, had sore feet and needed to pee. We'd heard many people tell horror stories re: the Hungarian Mafia taking advantage of tourists and stealing thousands of euros from them at gunpoint. So, as we were walking past a strip club, we saw two English guys being convinced by a hot blonde girl to go in. We knew that was the kind of place that tourists get into trouble, so I started yelling "Don't do it, guys!". They didn't know what was happening, so they ended up leaving with us and we explained to them what might've happened. All of a sudden, the girl came after us and starting telling us off for deterring the guys from entering her bar, saying we didn't know her and we had no right to say anything bad about her. We just walked away and tried to find our way home. As we walked along an empty street, we turned around and realized that there were four big, burly men walking behind us. So now we were tired, frustrated, with sore feet and a full bladder AND we had the Hungarian Mafia after us! We kept our eyes down and held our breath as we quickened our pace. I kept turned back to see if they were still after us and David would scold me, saying if anything happened it was him that was going to end up in a fight. We could hear the men getting closer and closer, and when I could stand it no longer, I turned around again and realized that the Mafia members we'd been terrified of for the past 10 minutes were really just 4 drunk men, as lost as we were, swaying down the street. If only they knew how scared we'd been of them!
The next morning, David came to my room to get me around noon and we set off with the same crew in a big, confused, hungover pack to the Szechenyi Thermal Baths. What a fantastic hangover cure! There were about 9 pools, including two outdoors and one that was a giant whirpool where you just lie down and float around in a fast-moving circle. There was a really hot and steamy sauna with a freezing-cold pool next to it where your heart nearly stopped when you jump in but you feel great afterwards. Another sauna had the smell of menthol and steam so thick you couldn't see your hand in front of your face, which felt great in my congested lungs. We had massages that were so rough they were quite painful at times, but I felt completely relaxed afterwards. All in all, we spent about 4 hours there, and I'd definitely go back!
That night, our Busabout Guide, Jules, took all of us out to the best buffet restaurant in the world. It cost 15 euros and you get 2 and a half hours of all you can eat and drink. There were about 5 lovely soups, unbelievable salads and fruit, potatoes of every shape and size, and meat that looked lovely but I didn't even have time for any of it! So many delicious kinds of ice-creams and cakes, plus all the wine in the world. We all sat together at a 10-person table, served by the nicest waiters on Earth. What a fantastic meal! David and I mainly chatted to each other, getting a bit sentimental and sad to be leaving each other soon. He said: "Wouldn't you hate to meet someone on vacation and realize later that they were the one who got away?" I am so close to declaring my love for him.
After dinner, we all took the metro to the Danube to meet another of our Busabout Guides, Gav, to partake in the EXCELLENT nightlife that Budapest has to offer (I think it's the best in all of Europe, actually). We went to three of four bars (I was a little drunk by that point and they get a bit fuzzy), all outdoor again, all absolutely huge and packed to the brim and amazing. One had a pool all around the bar, another had a huge, golden Buddha statue, and we danced our asses off at each of them. Hungarians really know how to party ... who knew?
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