Hanging with the hippies in Budapest

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Between Prague and Budapest we did a quick stop over in vienna for two nights. It wasn't super exciting, but a good stop to have a coupe of slow days, which are necessary on a trip like this one. We saw the schönbrünn palace and the zoo in the palace gardens. We spent all day walking around the palace gardens, it's quite massive. The zoo was especially awesome because we got to see polar bears and panda bears, which I have never seen before. It was a bit expensive, but totally worth it. It's a great zoo. We had schnitzel for dinner both nights, as there was a schnitzel fast food joint down the street from our hotel. So good and so greasy and soooo cheap. The hotel we stayed in was the Austria Trend park hotel. It was nice, but suuuuuper huge. And breakfast was really expensive so we just went to the spar around the corner every morning. All in all vienna is a nice city, but it's nothing special. Even when I came seven years ago, I thought it was beautiful but you don't need more than two days to see everything.

On the 26th of July we arrived in Budapest. The hostel we stayed at is called Shantee House. It is absolutely adorable. It's a total hippie hang out, and that's why I loved it. All the furniture is super low to the ground, there is free shisha to smoke, and you can even sleep in a tent in their back garden if you want! We stayed in a dorm room which was nice and clean, but small. We had an ensuite shower, which I consider a luxury, but we learned not to our clothes or anything on the ground as the whole bathroom floods when you shower. The only negative I would have about the hostel is that its on the Buda side, a bit far from the river, so it's not the most accessible hostel. But there are two tram lines that run near the hostel, or if you don't mind walking then it's a totally doable walk.

So the night we arrived was a Saturday. Every Saturday one of the bath houses is opened at night, and it turns into a wild party. Needless to say, I had to go! I found a Dutchmen and four English boys who were also going from the hostel. It was definitely nice not to have to go totally alone. Because I didn't have a ticket, I had to pay a but more (only an extra €5), but the line was way shorter than the others. I'm pretty sure we got in 20 minutes ahead of our friends who did have tickets. They give you lockers to keep your stuff in, and you load a water proof party card with money to buy drinks with. It was such a great time. At one point I even lost all of my new friends, but found an old acquaintance from Edmonton there, so I had someone with me at all times. It was incredibly random, but so much fun. At the end of the night I miraculously found two of my new friends! Thank god I didn't have to go home alone. It took us a very long time (and a few scrapes and bruises) to find the bus, but eventually we caught a night bus and got back to the hostel around 5 am. Definitely the best night of my trip thus far.

For me, Sunday was spent at the hostel with one of the Englishman from the night before, Lewis. Neither of us was terribly hung over, but we were so tired we just needed a blah day. So we just sat and talked and got to know each other, while jay was at the formula one race. For dinner Lewis, Jay, Erik (the Dutchman), Andreas (our new Italian friend) and I went for dinner in the city. We found an American burger place, which was unreal. It was exactly what I needed. Not to expensive either. We ordered one palinka to share between the five of us, we all thought it was disgusting. Needless to say, it was an early night for all of us.

The next day, Jay and I went to Buda castle in the morning. In the afternoon, the five of us from the previous day did a puzzle room called TRAP together. It was sooooo fun, but it makes you feel so stupid. For those of you who don't know, a puzzle room is literally a room You get locked in and you have to find clues and solve puzzles to make your way out. We need to do one with the family-I think it would be a great bonding experience. After the puzzle room we walked to the island on the north end of the city (Marguerite island?) where we stuck our feet in the fountain, watched the fountain do it's water show and ate some hot dogs. After that we walked to the top of the citadel, where we got an absolutely amazing view of the city, it truly is a beautiful place. For dinner, we found an incredibly cheap pizza place/bakery which wasn't half bad. Probably the best value for money food I have ever had. It was $1.50 for a big slice of pizza. In the evening we hung out with some hippies and said goodbye to Lewis and Andreas who were on their way to Belgrade.

Our last day in Budapest was spent on a big bus tour and a river cruise. It was a good way to see The rest of the city, without having to walk everywhere, which is really nice when it's hot out. For dinner we went back to the cheap bakery we found the previous evening. After dinner and doing a bit of packing, jay and I went to szimpla, which is a ruins pub. There are many derelict buildings in the Jewish quarter of the city which have been converted into pubs. It looks they way you would imagine a pub to look in a post-apocalyptic world. jay even said it's the coolest bar he has seen! I think he even got a little tipsy. After the bar I hung out with some more hippies and smoked a bit of shisha. Now when I say hippies I truly mean hippies. Like acid dropping, harem pant wearing, dreadlock rocking hippies. I listened to some very interesting conversations.

I have to say my experience in Budapest by far surpassed my expectations. And a big part of that was the people that I met, but also because the city itself is so unique and wonderful. I can't wait to come back here!

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Comments

[shally]

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