March 22-25 (Budapest, Hungary)

March 22

A great, romantic, relaxing getaway with Whitney in Budapest this weekend! We left on Thursday night on an overnight train. We bought the cheapest tickets (not a smart idea) and were stuck in up-right seats all night. Amazingly, we survived and arrived in Budapest on Friday morning. We checked into our amazing hostel/apartment/mansion/castle… Okay maybe not castle, but it was awesome nonetheless! After getting some details about Budapest from our host, we were off to Szechenya Bath to enjoy an afternoon of relaxation, tanning and culture all wrapped into one.

Groove Hostel

After throwing some essentials into my backpack, we ran to the baths- a great, beautiful run. The different pools were set at different temperatures, with different medicinal purposes to each. We couldn’t read any of the signs, so the medicinal aspect was lost to us, but we feel great now so we must have chosen right! It was a beautiful day, so we spent most of our time in the outdoor baths. We also tried out the saunas (I am not a fan due to the extreme heat, inability to breath, and the quiet/awkward atmosphere). Speaking of awkward, the people-watching at this bath was some of the best I have encountered- all kinds of people ranging from locals to tourists attend this bath, and the result is very entertaining!

Szechenya Bath

We walked back to our hostel to shower and change and enjoy a night out in Budapest. We had dinner at a great Hungarian restaurant. After walking around Budapest’s island (deserted due to the season apparently), we ended up at a club above one of the main train stations in Budapest. Although the rainbow stairs should have warned us, we proceeded into the gay club unaware of what we were getting ourselves into. We left before too long because it was not exactly our kind of crowd.

On the bridge to the island

Parliament in the background!

March 24

On Saturday, we got giant coffees (yes, we found big coffees!) and went on a free walking tour around Budapest. We explored both the Pest side (where our hostel and downtown is) and the Buda side (across the river). We learned a lot of history, and our tour guide was great! We saw Parliament, the castle, a few churches, the Chain Bridge, and so much more!

Buda side

Overlooking the Chain Bridge from the castle

After relaxing at our hostel for a little while, we bought a bottle of wine and went to have a picnic in a local park. After more people watching, petting dogs, and taking it all in, we were off to another Hungarian dinner (great again!). We then went to the Jewish district which is where a lot of bars and clubs are. We ended up at this great fallen down building turned into a bar/club where a bike race was taking place! It was definitely mostly locals cheering on their friends in this stationary bike race. It was very entertaining, and we had a blast watching this.

March 25

On Sunday, we decided to visit the baths again. We stayed there all day, helped ourselves to their workout facilities, got lunch, and had another great day in Budapest. Before we left for our second overnight train, we had a fabulous Mexican dinner. Then the miserable ride home began. But we made it, and we loved Budapest even with the terrible transport method.