Budapest

---

We arrived in Budapest today via a 3 hour train from Vienna. Vienna was beautiful but quite touristy and expensive. I'm glad we only spent a couple nights there. So far Budapest seems pretty cool and prices are a little cheaper (phew!). We want to check out these public baths (like giant hot springs) and a lady on the train told us about these nice islands near here that we can get to by renting little electric cars or something. I'm sure we'll keep busy. Alex (the guy from England that we met in Prague) is still with us, but is only staying a couple nights here then has to part ways with us to keep up with his travel schedule and us girls will spend at least 4 nights in Budapest. It's been fun to have someone else to travel with and several pee-your-pants moments have resulted...always a good thing!!

It seems like there are less people who speak English here so it is sometimes a challange, but we are up for it! There is a lot of pointing and hand gestures, but we get by. We've all decided that we need a break from drinking. I don't mean we've been drinking hard every day but dinner usually involves a big beer and more often than not we have found ourselves sitting by a canal at night drinking super cheap wine. That's right, even I drank WINE! You might say I am getting quite cultured. But for some reason we just can't escape the bread and cheese here. The food in the last 3 countries has been really similar - wieners, schnitzel, bread, cheese, lots of fried food, gyros and other bad-for-you street food. Cassie and Kelsey are loving all the little coffee shops everywhere.

I don't want to brag too much, but I am starting to get a bit of a tan - Vienna was really hot and i got my first burned shoulders of the season. I'm looking forward to a lot more sun as we make our way to Croatia and Greece. It's hard to believe how many countries and places we've done in only 2 weeks! It feels as though I've been gone a lot longer and I still can't believe that I still have 2.5 more months left.

Okay, I'll stop bragging. Thanks for all the messages you've all written - I love hearing from you. I've got free internet at the hostel we're at here for the next 4 days so I am going to post some pictures soon so you can all see that we are still in one piece.

hugs to everyone.

K.

---

Comments

[Dave Clarke]

Destination Budapest
The island that was referred to you is Margit Sziget (Margaret Island). Take the 4/6 Tram to Moskva Tér and you'll get off on the middle of the bridge. There's a water-park that you can play in on the North-West side of the Island, but that may not be open yet. Széchenyi baths are nice, you can find them in the City Park at the end of Andrassy utca behind Heroes square (big yellow building on left side across from the Zoo). If you get tired of bread and cheese, try some Goulyas (Hungary's specialty). After that, make sure you get some shots of Pálinka in you, it's Hungary's schnaps (pretty good stuff if you're not drinking from a discount bottle). The Castle may be worth checking out, along with the Citadel with the Fisherman's Bastion (you can get a good view of Budapest from there). As for night-life, the city is alive these days with the good weather. Some of the outdoor bars should now be open (Zöld Pardon, Hold Udvar (middle of the island), Rio). They can be fun, just expect a bunch of House/Techno music. Enjoy your stay!