24 Hours ago...

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Budapest

The trip began in a drizzly Gatwick airport, shivering in the hope of reaching distant sunshine. After about an hours delay (Easyjet are not serving me well this week), we left for BudapeSHT. It was an easy trip from the airport to reach the idyllic first hostel (party central) - East Side Hostel.

The first night we arrived we were greeted warmly with... coffee and beer. It was the birthday of the guy who runs the hostel so we walked straight into a plan for going out that night which suited us as we had to think very little. So, off we trekked to Godor Club - basically a hole in the ground where some city building was planned and then relocated. It seems quite dangerous to have drunk people at this bar, mostly for the long , fairly steep steps that descend into the building - several chairs became victims of cascades when knocked off a platform to roll down to the next. Anyway, that night ended after some late night munching round the corner from the hostel and a crawl into bed.

Evidently the next day began rather calmly... Eventually we moved off to Margaret Island (where the Sziget festival is held I think) to chill out on the grass and play some cards with two Italians from the hostel. This was following a lovely Hungarian Goulash for lunch (definitely a good choice not to opt for the fish soup). In the blazing 30+ sunshine, we ambled off down the Danube on the Buda side of town, admiring the Parliament from a shady spot. We then crossed over the river on a rather famous chain bridge, then trudged up the other side gasping for water as we went. The aim was to reach the train station and purchase our tickets to Brasov, next stop. This done we returned to the hostel and sunk into the ridiculously comfy sofa - a trap that gets everyone eventually.

Sunday night was rather more serene, sampling the local alcohol from the comfort of the aforementioned sofa, eventually moving to bed (about 10m away) in the early hours.

So, following this short update, due to the insanely slow internet, we are off out for another amble of Pest, grab some food and then "enjoy" the first night train of the trip - off to Brasov in Transylvania, Romania...

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