Profile
Blog
Photos
Videos
We have eventually made it to Budapest, somewhere that both of us have been looking forward to for a while.
After a 4 hour train journey on Monday from Vienna (with no changes which makes the journey more bareable as we can settle down) we landed in Budapest station at about 2 or 3ish. It kind of looks a bit like St Pancreas, Budapest station. Bit surreal.
We gave up very quickly looking for the metro so decided on a taxi. Armed with 30,000 Hungarien moneys we lurked in a non suspicious manner by the taxi rank. There were about 4 people there already and there didnt seem to be any kind of system. There was a line of taxis and a load of fat bearded Hungarien men running towards the tourists, literally batteling others out of the way. Pretty terrifying. And one you say, "where are you going?" so we would show them our bit of paper (crumbled up and smudged by the rain) and they would start shouting at the other taxi men and then walk off. The first time B snatched our bit of ragged paper out the mans hand before he got too far but after that we held onto it.
They all complained that there was no number and that it was a big road, they didnt seem very willing to take us there and shouted at us when we didnt know the number. So we left and found another taxi man and he said he could try and find it. When we said "how much?" he said 4,000. Which is about 17 euros. That is quite alot seeing as it took us about 5 minutes to get there.
The accomodation itsself is great though. and only 5,000 for 3 nights! Cheap cheap. Its in this old building and you have to buzz to get through the first set of gates and then there are these massive wooden doors that are lovely and thick and will protect us against the Roman. Should they come. They look like doors to a city you see. Im not just unaware as to where I am. They are massive.
Then you have to buzz again to get into the second set of gates to the stairs. A whole lorra buzzin'. Its on the third floor, and you walk up the stairs and on each floor there is a balcony that goes round the inside of the building but its in the open air... the building is kind of based around a cut out section in the middle with a courtyard at the bottom. Its pretty hard to explain. But besides the point. Its bon.
We are in a room of 10 others, all of whom seem pretty nice. There is a front room with a tv and counches and on our first night we all sat down and watched films which was cool. Bonding like. Then some of them went out in the evening but me and B didnt becuase we are tired after most days becuase we do alot. And also we have no money.
So then yesterday, our first full day, we went to the thermal spas. The nice receptionist lady showed us where everything good is, and told us that the biggest spas in the city were the nicest and it was only about 7 pounds for a whole day ticket so we did that. We got the underground train there which was quite easy. The underground have reallz cheering announcements, it sounds like a fairground ride everytime you stop at a station. Weird but nice. The building is a big yellow stone building and apparantly is original but obviously thez have restored some parts. Then we bought our tickets and a nice man showed us what to do with our cards and how to get lockers and change etc and where are you from, the usual small talk.
There were lots of different joing rooms with different pools sunk into the floor, and they each had plaques telling you the temperature of the water, and i think the idea was to move from one to the next in the order they are in, something to do with the temperature changes being good for you, but me and Anna werent too keen on the colder ones so we skiped a few. There were also lots of little sauna and steam rooms but they were almost hidden, you couldnt really tell they were there. The first one we went in felt like somebodys old bathwater, but the next one was nice and warm and then another one we went in was really hot. So zou get the picture. There was also a 20 degrees one, which i went in. (B) One steam room we went in was so hot that everytime you breathed in it stung your lips and eyes just a bit. I dont really see how that sensation can be pleasurable for anyone. The first time Anna was hardcore and stayed in for about five minutes, whereas I could only walk in and then out. And then we decided to go back and see how long we could stay in without getting too overheated. That was a fun game.
Then we went outside, where there is a big heated pool with fountains and also chessboards on some of the walls. It s a bit surreal really. We did some underwater swimming and then played chess. We were kickin ass at chess before a Hungarian man came and started talking to us in Hungarian. We didnt really know what he was saying, because we dont speak Hungarian, but he started to get a bit bossy about where we should move our pieces after a while. Then it turned out he wanted our chessboard and pounced as soon as we moved away. Cheeky blighter! ....we didnt care, we were hungry anyway. So next we got food. It is crazy, there is a row of cafes and restaurants too on one side. People literallz do spend the whole day there.
So in conclusion the baths were top notch! After them though we were so exhausted that we walked back to the hostel, showered all the chlorine out of us and Anna had a nap. Then we went out to buy food top ups and strawberry juice and had dinner. We completed our list of American states too which was good, cause there are americans in our room. And then we also made a list of all the European states (apparantly there are 50) but we got 41 which i think was pretty darn good!
So todaz we are going to the House of Terror Museum and Anna wants to do the Jewish Quarter which should be interesting. Having a sightseeing day today. Catch yall later!!
- comments