BP, Day 0.5

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Apparently my body's clock is a bit off. I'm sure that getting almost no sleep for the few days before I left didn't help, nor did changing nine time zones and only minimal and broken sleep in that process. Either way, I got off the train in Budapest and almost got lost getting to the hostel, which has to be in one of the easiest places to find in the whole city, just a few blocks from the Nagycsarnok (central market hall).

The hostel is much like the one I was in last year, a converted apartment with three large rooms (two for sleeping, one as a common room, plus a small kitchen and a shared bathroom). I don't get why I always end up in a top bunk nowhere near a power outlet, however for $9.50 a night, I'm not going to complain. I wandered up Váci utca to Vörösmarty tér where a huge Easter market-fest was going on. I got some awesome lunch, and then wandered on foot up to find this mall near Nyugati pu. I wanted to find some new shoes, as I had nothing even vaguely resembling walking shoes when I left Seattle, so had brought with some old crappy street shoes. The problem was that by the time I reached the mall my feet were already KILLING me, and while the mall was open, all the stores in it were closed for the holiday.

I took the metro back to Kálvin tér, hit the ABC for some snacks and water, and went back to the hostel for a shower and some nap-time.

The plan for tomorrow is to wake up at about 4.45am, cross the Szabadság híd (Liberty Bridge), climb Gellért-hegy, watch the sunrise, get some breakfast, exchange some more cash, and then look for shoes again, and possibly a new pipe. The Nagycsarnok is closed until Tuesday, so I'll have to wander back over to Vörösmarty tér to see if there's any cool leather goods or other gifts I want to get... With any luck the shoe stores will be open and all the street-vendors will still be out.

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