The comfortable train ride from Krakow to Budapest was well worth the $20 upgrade to the berth rooms instead of the couchette which sleeps 6 in a very tight area. In my berth room there were 3 beds but I was the only one in the room so I had even more space. It also had a small sink, small towels, a morning breakfast snack, and I was woken up shortly before my arrival in the city so it was quite comfortable. The major advantage of this way of traveling is that the previous night when I slept in first class (not as nice as the couchette and certainly not a berth room) I was awoken at the boarder in Poland at 3am. So this ride I had undisturbed sleep.

Norin and I checked into each of our rooms at the Hotel Swing, Budapest. After checking in we ventured around the city, stopping to eat at a Mexican restaurant (of all places) where I ordered a margarita, because I was told that Hungarian beer is not great and most people drink imported beer here in the city. After finishing lunch Norin and I headed to walk around the city and were both happy to see the sun peaking through the clouds at times. After walking around for a bit, we split up as I wanted to go experience the famous baths. I took a walk for a bit, then took a cap to just outside the Hotel Gelert where you cross the Danube River over Freedom bridge, which once connected the cities of Buda and Pest. Crossing over the bridge you view the cathedral on the hill of Estigon which is next to the Hotel Gelert. The Gelert Bath is located next to the hotel but the bath is independent of the hotel as it was present in the city prior to the hotel (1930's). The thermal baths, indoor swimming pool, and the outdoor pool were all great. The outdoor pool had waves for 15 minutes at the top of each hour as it has done since the 1930's, where I did body surf for a very short time on the meager waves. You can view a video of the city in Michael Palin's New Europe, Season 1 Episode 4, where the footage is exactly what I saw. The pictures will show you how amazing the indoor and outdoor baths are. For someone who loves water as much as I do, it was a great experience, obvious by the fact that I spent 4 hours there until it closed around 8pm.

The city at night is magnificent, and I climbed a hill and viewed a statue which I believe was in honor of Saint Stephen, but will need to look that up. I watched the sunset from this location overlooking Budapest below. I seem to have been lucky to find quite a few great views of some of the cities. By this time the bridge was lit up and the lights were illuminating Budapest with a great glow. I returned to the Hotel to meet up with Norin as we planned to. Back at the hotel we swapped our stories of our part of the city, both happy to be here. We reflected on the days we spent traveling, as the next leg of our journeys would be, unfortunately, different. I thanked her for being such a good travel friend, and commented on how well we got along and worked together to find our way around unfamiliar cities, and overcame various dilemmas. I look back and appreciate how she opened up to me about her religion, shared her future plans and listened when I did the same. If I ever make it to Scotland, I will be sure to look her up and hope she will do the same when she returns to the U.S. for another trip. I hope she finds love, as she is a beautiful girl who should have no problem, and I have no doubt he will be the right one for her. We said our goodbyes before getting some sleep. In the morning I planned to catch a train to Prague for one last night.