Budapest Day 1

P1010187
Originally uploaded by European Dave

Tonight I painfully but willingly accepted that I needed a quiet night after some v heavy nights in Austria, i.e. a considerable amount of alcohol was consumed. I reckon Salzburg was probably the heaviest thanks to some Aussies and a beer hall but Vienna was definitely v close since both Wombat hostels had bars and cheap drinks. And when you're alone travelling and u suddenly meet Americans and Aussies and the odd Kiwi - or even Frenchman now that I've decided to be French too, it's like getting a lifeline, being able to speak to people in ur language.. and socialising with them always ends up with at least a drink or two esp when it's happy hour at the bar..

But for the next 2 nights in Budapest, I will be staying in this much smaller hostel - but v nice i have to say, no bunk beds and tonight it looks like i may be the only one in my room, so i'm literally paying 10 euros for a single ;) - which is essentially one of those apartments in Pest.. there's no bar and actually for a while I thought I was the only person in the hostel - there are only like 6 people in the hostel atm which when u consider Budapest's weather today, i.e. pouring rain and 3'C in the daytime, is prob no surprise.. so tonight just watched Barcelona take apart Rangers at the Camp Nou and moan over Thierry Henry's current lack of timing and form with Mike Durack via text.. i guess you do need to switch off once in a while but you don't realise u need to after being at the limit for such a long time, i.e. 5 days..

As I mentioned earlier, it was cold in Budapest - and I actually thought Salzburg was bad enough, but my hands were actually numb before I walked into the Buda Palace to roam around the massive but wonderful Hungarian National Collection.. it's a beautiful beautiful city though.. i thought Vienna was great, but Budapest isn't actually that far off and unlike Vienna, Budapest actually embraces the Danube building 3 beautiful bridges across it to make a wonderful panorama with the Parliament buildings or the Buda Palace and St Matthias Church (which like 21 other buildings, namely Versailles, St. Martins in the Fields, Barri Gothic, Salzburg Cathedral, etc. is being restored.. seeing all this scaffolding around these buildings is as annoying as a try that is ruled out coz of an unseen forward pass).. and then there are buildings which aren't tourist spots but are still beautiful to look at.. Bar the ridiculously cheap prices, Soviet Memorial and abandoned railway stations, u wouldn't have known that Budapest and Hungary were once under the Eastern bloc.. And was surprised that those Communist style apartments that go like hand in glove are not as numerous as u would have thought.. Having said that though it has been 18 years since Hungary turned to the light side, so I think u could say still a bit more work to be done to get rid of those ugly blocks of concrete of another era..

Got in in the afternoon, and after being a bit of a chump - thought I knew Budapest off the back of my hand and stroded confidently to what I thought was my hostel but actually was way way off heading southwards, a bit like watching Momo Sissoko pass the ball to someone but his team-mate or that centre who keeps running sideways parallel to the defence line - walked along the Danube, explored Buda (the old part of the city) and saw the church, Fisherman's Bastion and then the Buda Palace just as winter decided to come in full fury.. Then braved conditions and not knowing what the place looked like, to enjoy a heavenly thermal bath at St Gellert.. it's the same place where they filmed James Bond (Pierce Brosnan era, i think it was The World Is Not Enough or Goldfinger, one of the 007 movies from the late 90s)..

And as I said before, my liver probably needed a break and it was pissing down with rain so stayed indoors watched the footie, and also pondered what to do on the 9th and how I'm going to go to Prague from Budapest.. decided will take a train to Bratislava see what the trains - and hopefully with time the city - and then head off to Prague..

Anyway here's hoping the weather isn't as crap as today!