We began our journey to Budapest (pictures on facebook) by a) exchanging currency and b) getting on an earlier train than intended (yay! and this turned out to be key later on). Can I just say that Hungarian Forints are total funny monies? 1 euro = 263 forints, which is just absurd and leads to regular spending of thousands of forints. Not quite as bad as the Italian Lire were, but still.
So we board our train and manage to find a four seater, settle in, and begin a great gab-fest covering everything from what it's like to work at international organizations, to attitudes towards Islam in different countries, to dementia, to attitudes toward the U.S., all while snacking away on really tastey bread, hummus, chips, and drinks. The nice Austrian man stamped our tickets. Then we crossed the border into Hungary, and the tired and unhappy Hungarian woman looked at our tickets and said, "No good." Wait, what? "The date - it says tomorrow." We look at the date, and what do you know, the guy at the train station put the wrong date on the ticket. We argued, "No, they already stamped our ticket." She remained upset and said, "no." So, what do we do? "You come back tomorrow." This is when my companions got really upset, "No, that's not happening. We are not coming back tomorrow. We are staying." She sighed, muttered angrily, signed our ticket, and moved on.
Anyway, the rest of the ride was fun and uneventful, and then we arrived in Budapest. So, where's our hostel? Ah, yes, we have an address. Hmm, I wonder how the train system works here...or where the heck our hostel is... Well, it turns out that the guy sitting across our aisle spoke fluent English, had been listening in on our conversations, thought we were all right, and suddenly spoke up: "Where are you going? Ah, Garden Bridge hostel - I know where that is. Here, follow me." He then proceeded to lead us to the metro, negotiate buying tickets for us ("Ah, these ticket sellers, they only speak Hungarian. Here, let me help you."), and tell us what stop to get off at. He was very kind to help us out, even if, in retrospect, he sort of led us astray. We exited the subway...and found ourselves smack in the middle of downtown Pesh-side Budapest. For those who don't know - Budapest was originally two cities straddling the Danube - Buda and Pesh. They have different styles of architecture, so they look distinct from each other.
So, we're in the middle of downtown Pesh with no idea where exactly we are. I look at the map, discern our hostel is next to the river, and so I do the only logical thing there is to do in this situation: approach two nice-looking strangers and ask, "Where's the river?" We are pointed in the general direction of the river, which we manage to get to after much meandering. Then I ask another passerby, "Where is Molnar Utca?" which is the name of the street of our hostel. "Oh, it is quite far - down the river, cross the bridge, and down a bit more." OK, down the river we go!
Except this lady totally lied - our hostel was on the Pesh side, not the Buda side. Anyway, by a stroke of luck we found our street, and Zach's eagle eyes found the completely non-descript, sign-lacking door to the hostel. We get in, the person manning the fort told us to not worrying about paying then but to make sure we pay before we leave, and after chatting with the various other travelers, hit the hay.
The next morning was an early start for us - we had an excellent breakfast, walked up and down the main drag of Pesh, and then crossed over to the Buda side. We found the Castle district and walked around the immense castle, and we even found the Amazing Race check-in point there! There were great views of Pesh and the Danube from up there. We then headed on to the Fisherman's Bastion, which was my favorite - great arches and this cute little walkway. St. Matyas Cathedral was astonishing - it had the regular spired architecture you'd expect, and then surprisingly it had these gorgeous colorful tiles on the roof. Absolutely beautiful. We had a 50 cent ice cream, walked along the backstreets of Pesh to the river, and crossed back over to the Pesh side.
After a tastey lunch at a beerhouse (which a patron warned us had bad food but that we enjoyed just fine...perhaps that speaks to our unrefined tastes...), it was time for a free walking tour - Communist style! This tour focused on what daily life in Budapest was like under Communist rule, and the architectural influences of that era. We learned things like the difference between bad Communism and happy Communism (no joke) and that people were happier as time went on under Communism. For example, in bad Communism, if you were a priest or went to church, you were deported or killed. Under happy Communism, you could go to church, but your employment options would be restricted (e.g., you were relegated to more manual labor or menial jobs - no doctor or university for you!). Our female tour guide was hilarious and endearing ("OK my dears, this is a walking tour, so let's get walking!"), wore a red flower tucked behind her ear, and was very energetic. She had two coworkers that occasionally pitched in, one of whom had a favorite catch-phrase that began almost every sentence: "Guys, come on..."
They took us to the Jewish quarter, where prices on food and drink completely bottomed out - it was astonishing how cheap it was. They also showed us the different styles of architecture and bullet-holes in buildings. The tour ended at this really crazy cafe that had absurdist art everywhere and boasted all sorts of alternative music performances. There, they showed us momentos from their own pasts - their passports under communist rule, the communist party booklet with its monthly stamps, postcards with pictures of the old communist statues, etc. I think this part of the tour was my favorite. Overall, the tour was interesting and informative, but at 2.5 hours it was kind of long.
We ate dinner at a cheap Hungarian place, which had a live violinist and guitarist who were quite friendly and actually quite talented. Our food was excellent. We struggled to stay awake and lost that battle at about 10pm that night. As a result, we woke up super early the next morning and totally psyched about going to a bath.
So, Budapest is known for its baths - Turkish baths, for the most part. These date from the 15th-19th centuries and involve water that has various minerals and are thus known for their medicinal and healing properties. Lots of elderly people like to go to them because they ease pains and rheumatoid arthritis. We went to the largest and perhaps most famous in Budapest: Szechenyi baths. This facility has 10-12 different baths, all of them various temperatures. But wait for it, the thing that excited me most about this place? One of the baths has a lazy river, which is more like a frenetic river. It whips you around in circles quite fast and is such a blast.
Our original plan had been to spend all day at the baths, but after that morning, we were bathed out (and quite pruny already). Instead, we spent the afternoon eating at a cheap Indian place and then walking around. We happened upon a divine pastry shop, and I had the best caramel macaroon ever. Holy wow.
We returned to our hostel to head out...and to get a refund. See, when we'd left in the morning, we approached the person on duty and tried to pay. She said, "No, you've already paid." "Uhhh...no we haven't?" She consulted her paperwork, "Yes you did." "Um...did any of you guys pay? No? Um, look, we haven't paid." (seriously, she wants to argue this with us?) So she figures out what we owe, and we fork it over. At the time, I thought it was a lot, but I'm so confused by the thousands of florints we're dealing in, and the rest of my party seemed fine with it, so I let it go. I don't have much money left and am quite disappointed in my money management skills, think back to what I spent things on, and wonder where it all went wrong. Well, when we return that afternoon, she says, "Oh my goodness, I'm so sorry, but I overcharged you. By a LOT." So we got a huge refund.
After that, it was a bit of an adventure to find the bus the hostel lady told us to take, and then we got off at the stop she said to use...but there was no train station there. So we walked some more, found a subway, and managed to get to the station that way. Zach tried really hard to spend the rest of the florints he had, but beer and food were super cheap at the station, so that was a no-go. He did come away with a bottle of traditional Hungarian alcohol that was about 40 florints...and let's just say that you get what you pay for. We spent the train ride back playing Pass the Pigs and watching the scenery go by. At one point, we were passing through a bunch of very depressing little Hungarian towns that were heavily influenced by communist architecture: all the houses were interconnected squat cement little bits of hell. Crossing the border from Hungary to Austria was an exercise in watching the standard of living shoot up by an order of magnitude. It was like night and day.
This weekend: Munich, and my first experience renting and driving a car abroad. Oh boy...
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