We packed up and said goodbye to London and we were off to Budapest. We flew given the distance and cheap price of airline tickets vs. train. It was a pretty cramped 2 hour flight but we made it. The backpacks went in the overhead bins and we were happy to get off the plane as soon as we landed. We finally figured out the tram system from the airport and landed in the heart of Budapest in a very busy city centre. I was eager to see the apartment I had booked the morning before at 3am. We were shocked at what a good deal we got. The one bedroom apartment was awesome! In a great location, walkable to everything, we had an apartment with a huge balcony and kitchen. We even had a washing machine in the bathroom! (A possessed, on crack washer but it worked after completing a 4 hour cycle!) It was really cool to see how locals lived and for the price we totally lucked out.
Budapest was really interesting. Now in East Europe, we were eager to wander around and check out the city. I was very eager to try goulash, the traditional Hungarian meal. We found a restaurant with a traditional Hungarian menu and we chowed down. The beef goulash was awesome and the food is overall VERY hearty. Think meat & potato dumplings at each meal. Pickled cabbage or any vegetable pickled is served on the side. Overall great but three nights in a row was plenty. There goes thinking we were shedding some pounds on this trip.
We spent the rest of our time walking the city and seeing all the sights. Budapest is split up into two cities separated by the Danube river- Buda and Pest. We stayed on the Pest side, saw sights on that side and walked across the bridges to visit Buda. There was a beautiful cathedral and castle we visited and we had beers on this terrace overlooking the river. The city was all walkable because it wasn't that big overall. We walked around the City park and visited the huge bath that is frequented by locals apparently. The way it was described to us is that baths are to Budapest like pubs are to London. These aren't quite like public pools we think of...here they drop all their clothes off before jumping in and you see old guys playing chess naked in the pool. Not quite the Y. Needless to say we didn't go in.
The nightlife is interesting. Apparently, Budapest is a hot spot for Stag parties in Europe. Otherwise known as bachelor parties in the US. I now know why. About every other shop on the street was a strip club. Anyway, we decided to go to the popular Raday utca strip where there were lots of outdoor cafes and restaurants. We discover early on in our trip our new favorite beer: Dreher. The weather was great and the evenings were nice and we barely needed a sweater. A new concept coming from SF and London. I had one of my favorite desserts of all times- cottage cheese cake with strawberry sauce. It was sooo yummy. At night in the apartment we flip on the Tv and have three options to watch: CNN on repeat, the only English channel, movies in German and Mark is the only one who knows what's going on or option three: hard core porn on about 2 channels at any given point. Gotta love Eastern Europe.
We milled around after dinner trying to decide what we should do and it was decided we should experience a club Budapest style. The hot spot in the area we were in and the only place that was open after 11pm was Moulin Rouge. Not anything like the Nicole Kidman movie, this was a huge two story club open to the top with a huge dance floor. It was fascinating watching everyone dance. We learned that the top three top songs of the night that everyone got totally gitty over and danced to were Barbie Girl, YMCA and finally, I had the Time of my Life from Dirty Dancing. Like a junior high dance. It was hilarious.
The washing machine in the apartment was an interesting experience for me. Apparently, they don't have dryers over there . Instead the washing machine goes into turbo mode and does this psycho spin cycle for about 2 hours straight, no joke. We came home one night and the washer was like across the bathroom floor. I had no clue what all the buttons were and just pushed some until I saw water and soap being swished around. It was an experience. I guess our clothes are clean?
Also interesting, the currency in Budapest is Forint and the exchange was 212 to one dollar. It made for some interesting math calculations at interesting hours of the night.
-jamie
Budapest was really interesting. Now in East Europe, we were eager to wander around and check out the city. I was very eager to try goulash, the traditional Hungarian meal. We found a restaurant with a traditional Hungarian menu and we chowed down. The beef goulash was awesome and the food is overall VERY hearty. Think meat & potato dumplings at each meal. Pickled cabbage or any vegetable pickled is served on the side. Overall great but three nights in a row was plenty. There goes thinking we were shedding some pounds on this trip.
We spent the rest of our time walking the city and seeing all the sights. Budapest is split up into two cities separated by the Danube river- Buda and Pest. We stayed on the Pest side, saw sights on that side and walked across the bridges to visit Buda. There was a beautiful cathedral and castle we visited and we had beers on this terrace overlooking the river. The city was all walkable because it wasn't that big overall. We walked around the City park and visited the huge bath that is frequented by locals apparently. The way it was described to us is that baths are to Budapest like pubs are to London. These aren't quite like public pools we think of...here they drop all their clothes off before jumping in and you see old guys playing chess naked in the pool. Not quite the Y. Needless to say we didn't go in.
The nightlife is interesting. Apparently, Budapest is a hot spot for Stag parties in Europe. Otherwise known as bachelor parties in the US. I now know why. About every other shop on the street was a strip club. Anyway, we decided to go to the popular Raday utca strip where there were lots of outdoor cafes and restaurants. We discover early on in our trip our new favorite beer: Dreher. The weather was great and the evenings were nice and we barely needed a sweater. A new concept coming from SF and London. I had one of my favorite desserts of all times- cottage cheese cake with strawberry sauce. It was sooo yummy. At night in the apartment we flip on the Tv and have three options to watch: CNN on repeat, the only English channel, movies in German and Mark is the only one who knows what's going on or option three: hard core porn on about 2 channels at any given point. Gotta love Eastern Europe.We milled around after dinner trying to decide what we should do and it was decided we should experience a club Budapest style. The hot spot in the area we were in and the only place that was open after 11pm was Moulin Rouge. Not anything like the Nicole Kidman movie, this was a huge two story club open to the top with a huge dance floor. It was fascinating watching everyone dance. We learned that the top three top songs of the night that everyone got totally gitty over and danced to were Barbie Girl, YMCA and finally, I had the Time of my Life from Dirty Dancing. Like a junior high dance. It was hilarious.
The washing machine in the apartment was an interesting experience for me. Apparently, they don't have dryers over there . Instead the washing machine goes into turbo mode and does this psycho spin cycle for about 2 hours straight, no joke. We came home one night and the washer was like across the bathroom floor. I had no clue what all the buttons were and just pushed some until I saw water and soap being swished around. It was an experience. I guess our clothes are clean?Also interesting, the currency in Budapest is Forint and the exchange was 212 to one dollar. It made for some interesting math calculations at interesting hours of the night.
-jamie
Crack me up!
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