I’ve been to Budapest before, four years before with some friends from uni. This meant I didn’t feel like I needed to see anything, as I’d already done the main sites, and was more looking forward to socialising with the people from Prague again. I actually bumped into Will on the street when I was walking from the bus to the hostel - Europe can really feel like a small place sometimes!
I like Budapest, but it’s nothing too special. The streets aren’t so beautiful, it has it’s nice buildings but they aren’t every building like in Prague. That being said, the baths are something pretty special. I went to the baths with some friends, and we bumped into more people from the hostel there. We had a delightful few hours swimming and just enjoying the sun. Less delightful is the fact we couldn’t find anywhere to buy a metro ticket on the way there, so took the risk to ride without one. When we got off at our station we were stopped by ticket men and made to pay a fine, oops. Luckily it was only £17, but beware that there are a lot of people checking metro tickets in Budapest! We visited the Fisherman’s Bastion, and it was as pretty as I remember. The white bricks against the blue sky were just beautiful. We also went to a ruin bar, so managed to tick off all the main attractions again. The rest of my few days was spent wandering around with people, happening upon some traditional dancing, playing cards, reading my book, catching up on my diary entries, and taking a moment of stillness over a morning coffee. Oh and frantically searching for insect bite cream as I’d been eaten alive at the castle in Bratislava, and the first two days were public holidays so all of the pharmacies were closed. I’d also run out of my face spf, which is even more dramatic if you’re into skincare (I am). On our last night we went out for traditional Hungarian food to a restaurant chosen by someone else from the hostel. When we arrived I realised it was a restaurant that I’d been to four years earlier on my last visit!
I encouraged another British guy who was also going to Ljubljana next to get the flixbus rather than the train, as it was cheaper and quicker. We were catching the same one so I somehow became responsible for getting us both to the station. We got there with plenty of time. I checked the ticket for the platform information and saw with a sinking feeling that the bus was going from an entirely different station. Oops. I blame some sad goodbyes that morning for my slip-up. I raced across Budapest to the correct station, with the poor British guy in tow, and we made it with 10 minutes to spare, plenty of time!
Items I’ve lost so far
For a pinch of reality I thought I’d share the items I’ve already managed to lose:
- My favourite lip balm (luckily I have 5 alternatives).
- My travel washing line. I used it once to dry my pants after a desperate sink wash and just left it hung up at the hostel.
- The bag for my travel towel. Left it at the baths in Budapest, not sure what distracted me here.
- Pack of cards. No idea where these went, disappeared from my hostel bed.
- Trainers. Left these at a hostel in Bratislava when I moved to a new hostel. Luckily I could go back and get them when I realised, so not fully lost!