When I say Hungary…sadly, I really only mean Budapest. I think I was a bit exhausted and overwhelmed from being in India, and I did intend on exploring a little more, I really did.. But it just didn’t happen. But I loved Budapest!
I was also coming up to the extent of my planning – in Australia, months ago, when I booked my flight from Delhi to Budapest, I booked Marco Polo Hostel for four nights. It was recommended in the STA Travel brochure, and I just wanted to Get.It.Done.
Look, it was okay, and the €4 breakfast (although Hungary is in the European Union, the official currency is Hungarian Forints, but some places will accept Euros, or advertise the Euro rate but only accept forints) everyday was amazing. Everyday I stocked up on fruit, sweet AND savoury croissants and boiled eggs for my lunch. But apart from that.. the wifi was average, showers not always hot, and it was soooo loud. Earplugs were my saviour, for sure! I think it was just too big a hostel, my dorm was a 12 bed, and everyone was there as a couple or a group, with no real common room. One volunteer/staff member who was on EVERY time I went to reception either couldn’t help me or just didn’t want to, when I asked about buses, tickets, SIM cards, maps.. that was disheartening, but I didn’t let it stop me!
On my first day, the guide on the Budapest Free Walking tour was awesome, and I started to understand what this beautiful, historical and creative city was all about. We walked across the river and up to Fisherman’s Bastion, stopping along the way to learn about the Lady of Liberty Statue, and the occupation by the Germans and then the Communists, as well as some of the incredible architecture. On the walking tour I met Nat, an Aussie living in London, just in town for a few days. Walking tours, I have decided, are my first stop to discovering a new city, because you can get your bearings, an overview of the city often with some hidden gems and fascinating local knowledge, and you meet people. It’s great.
Nat and I made a date to visit the Thermal Baths together, and she already had a ticket to Szenchenyi for the next day, so I bought one too and met her there. We were both impressed with the buses, trams and trains in the city. It was a simple “Single Trip” ticket, no matter the vehicle or distance, and each ride is 350HUF or approx $1.70. Easy!
Anyway, back to spa day. It was mid morning, which was apparently pretty early as there weren’t too many people, and heaps of sun lounges available, so we dragged a couple by the baths, and in our bikinis walked into the huge outdoor spa, adjoining the lap pool.
It was soooo good, 38º, and it was recommended you only stay in for ten minutes at a time. It was immediately relaxing, and after our first ten minutes we realised there was a bar, with beer, wine and cocktails. It was 10:30am, but daiquiris were calling my name. I thought we’d be there for a bit over two hours maybe, but we ended up staying more than five!!! After exploring some of the other 16 baths inside that ranged in temperature from freezing, to lukewarm, to warmish, we decided our favourite was the first we tried, the open-air.
Later in my trip, I bought a Budapest Card for unlimited travel and stacks of discounts and free entry throughout the city. This included free entry to Lukacs Baths, but I didn’t enjoy it quite as much. The temperature of the main bath was much cooler, but the baths had jet-bubbles which was different to Szenchenyi. It was also more of a local spa, and most other visitors were older Hungarians and couples, and not many people speaking or signs in English, so I wish I’d asked for a map.
With the Budapest Card (€22/24hrs) I visited Buda Palace and the National Museum, Molnar Chimney Cakes, Vasarely Museum (sadly the main exhibition was closed for renovations, and I didn’t find that out til I showed up), the Ludwig Museum (of contemporary art) and Lukacs Baths, as well as riding for free, all day on buses, trains and trams. I think it was worth it, just, because I had researched which things I was interested in, and which order would be best to do them based on location and opening hours. If I hadn’t planned it, I would have only fit two or three things in.
I ended up booking another five nights in Budapest, because I felt like there was so much more to explore, and I was having such a nice time. I moved to another hostel just 200m away; Bazar Hostel. This was much better, although no breakfast. There was a kitchen however, so I could cook for the first time in six weeks! Bazar Hostel was much smaller and cozier, with excellent Wifi, and a great common room, all right in the Jewish District and just a few hundred metres from the most popular ruin bar, Szimpla.
I visited the eclectic Szimpla for $2 wines and beers after an afternoon spent doing the Free Communist Walking Tour, which was recommended to me by some Canadians at the hostel. The tour was really good, and a whole other level of history I didn’t know about Budapest. Highly recommend, and you will learn the most random things, like how Hungarians loved their talent shows on TV and voting in the Communist era was based on the electricity usage – people would turn all the lights and appliances off when they didn’t want to vote for a contestant, and turn everything on when the DID like a contestant. I learnt so much, and actually wish I’d done this before I visited the Haus of Terror, a brilliant musuem in an eery setting (the Secret Police Headquarters, including the torture rooms in the basement) that didn’t wasn’t optimized for English speakers. Which is totally fair enough! Slips of paper were available in each room with pages full of interesting information, but it just didn’t seem to correlate to the particular room. I was a bit lost, but still enjoyed it.
In Budapest, the local food looks and smells very, very delicious. Goulash, sausages, salami, stews.. as I have been vegetarian for nearly a year now, I savoured the sights and the smells, and instead ate Langos. Like a pizza with a deep fried base, and topped with sour cream, garlic and cheese (and whatever else you might like), langos is (I imagine) a hangover cure from heaven. My new favorite street food, and only a couple of bucks from Retro Langos, the best in town.
During one of my days, I took bus 291 from Nyugati Pályaudvar to the last stop, Zugliget, and then had a scenic chairlift ride up to the Buda Hills, where I hiked through the trails for a few hours avoiding the light rain thanks to the green canopy. When I came across a train station, I waited for half an hour to get a ride halfway back down. The Children’s Railway is completely run by children (except the train driver), and two school aged girls (maybe 11 or 12 years old) in uniforms very professionally gave me a ticket and offered me souvenir badges. It was simply beautiful scenery, and a great place to get out of the city for an afternoon.
I’d love to go back to Budapest, with relaxation, history, nightlife, nature.. There’s still so much to do!
CARMEN TOM 