Since there were no picture-fiends on this trip, I had to step it up and actually use my camera. The result: I discovered that I have a strange obsession with taking pictures of people eating, and people taking pictures (I'll refrain from posting most of these though, in favour of real pictures). Some of these pics are courtesy of Adrienn, Shane and Evan (after much harassment, lol, thanks again guys).
Shane, Vance, Evan, Adrienn and me in front of the Budapest "Castle" (I don't think it should be called a castle...)
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We arrived at the airport, and were supposed to meet Adrienn at 7:15 at one of the train stations (she had taken an earlier flight to spend some time with her Grandma). This was a completely impossible meeting time, however, since we didn't even leave the airport until about 7:15...after that is was an adventure of horribly confusing Budapest transportation (it makes no logical sense!) and unpronounceable street names until we finally met her at about 9:30. On the journey the first inevitable joke about being hungry in Hungary was made (by me of course, mwah ha ha). We made a rule right away that everybody only got a limit of 2 lame Hungary puns for the weekend...otherwise things surely would have gotten out of hand. Anyways, we took the bus to Adrienn's Grandma's house, had some food, set up our sleeping bags (there was only one bed...I had a pretty sweet set-up of couch cushions though) and headed out on the town.
We headed towards the river, and were greeted with the beautiful view of the parliament buildings lit up at night (the pics of that didn't turn out). We bought some liquor and just chillaxed by the river for a while, enjoying the view. Then we walked around the city a little bit and ended up at a club. Nothing too special, it was a pretty fun time though. The highlight was when we somehow found our way upstairs to an area that wasn't being used. We explored up there a bit, and had a shot at the bar. I would feel bad about stealing, but the cover charge was such highway robbery that I'm sure it should have included a free drink ;) We managed to get home without any fiascos (I refuse to use the word hijinks, even though the berg is causing it to infiltrate into my mind.....never!).
Hanging out by the river (you can see a little bit of the parliament building in the background).
The next day (Hungarian National Day!) we got up around 11, ate some goulash (yummy), showered (I was second last = cold shower, booerns) and headed out to see some sights.
Trying to figure out what series of c-trains and metros we need to take to get to our destination. Vance is clearly involved in the plan, even though he was determined to "back seat" this trip (aka, follow the group without worrying about where we are going or how to get there). Of course, this is impossible for Vance, mwah ha ha. Notice I am behind the camera instead of helping, double mwah ha ha.
Me and Adrienn in front of the Liberty Bridge.
14m tall Freedom Statue on top of Gellert Hill in Buda (Buda is the hilly side of the river).
We walked up Gellert Hill to check out the view. On the way we went into some little church cut into the side of the mountain. I don't know what it was, but it was pretty cool. At the top of the mountain there was a really nice view, and a bunch of toursity stands. I bought a Budapest sticker...my goal for the year was to buy a sticker from each place I visited to stick on my travel journal. Unfortunately I only have Prague and Budapest...so if anybody goes to Paris, Barcelona and Rome bring me back a sticker!!! Vance bought a really cool box that has a series of things you have to press and unlock to open it. Unfortunately, it got lost during the events of the rest of the day...more about that later though.
Freedom Statue
View from Gellert Hill. Looking out over Pest (the flat side of the river).
On top of Gellert Hill.
We walked back down the hill and headed towards the Castle. Because of the holiday there was an airshow going on down by the river. It was so cool watching the planes do stunts up in the sky. Unfortunately, we couldn't get a really good view of the whole show, but we managed to see some of it.
Stunt flying at the air show.
We arrived at the Castle and discovered that there was a festival going on inside. There was lots of Hungarian food, music and handmade items that people were selling. We spend the afternoon exploring and stuffing ourselves full of food (Vance especially, lol).
Part of the festival at the Budapest Castle
Really cool dessert that was being sold everywhere. They make a roll of dough, bake it, and then roll it in sugar, cinnamon or nuts.
Vance and Shane enjoying some doughy dessert. (Man, I wish I knew what they were called instead of making up lame descriptions)
Dinner, yummm!
The parliament building at sunset.
Once it got towards the evening, we decided to go and try and stake out a good spot for the fireworks show. We stopped at a supermarket where me and Adrienn got some Hungarian liquor (can't remember the name) that she ensured me was really good. I found out later that this meant "It's so good, it just burns down your throat when you drink it!". Haha....it did, but was good when mixed. The guys decided to split 3 bottles of wine and a bottle of champagne, haha, interesting...
We made our way through the massive crowds of people and attempted to find a good firework viewing area. This was really hard, but eventually we found a decent spot along the water near one of the bridges (the fireworks were going to be launched off 3 separate bridges...don't remember which ones). We found some cardboard and newspapers to sit on, and settled down onto the (closed) road to watch the show. It turned out to be really good, possibly on of the best firework presentations I have ever seen (tied with the international fireworks competition we saw in Vancouver last summer). There was music, and they played the Hungarian national anthem at the end of the show (Adrienn doesn't know it! wtf...).
The guys drinking champagne
Fireworks (good thing I put a caption on this pic, eh?)
More fireworks (insert sarcastic comment from previous pic).
After the fireworks show, we grew tired of waiting for slow-moving crowds, so we (us and some random guy) used some awesome teamwork to climb up the wall instead.
The opening of "Clarice" (the guys next bottle of wine that they decided to name). Since when can you buy 2L bottles of wine from beer stands?!?!
Bottle number 5: "Marigold"
(We're at 8L if anybody's counting)
Regardless to say, the night got kind of crazy from there. We lost Evan on the way to some outdoor club, turns out he had a run-in with some Hungarians, and then ended up with some other Hungarians having intellectual conversations by the river. Me and Vance got separated from Adrienn and Shane at the club, and decided to head home. This proved somewhat difficult, since we didn't know where we were and didn't know exactly where we lived. To make matters worse, Vance lost the map on our travels (how, how?!?!? That's the last time you get map privileges Vance). Anyways, 3 hours of bus/c-train/taxi/walking later, we finally made it home to find Evan struggling with the lock on the door. Of course Adrienn usually opened the door, and none of us knew the trick to getting it unlocked. Somehow it magically happened and we got to go to sleep.
Sunday morning was pretty much the same as Saturday except we had cabbage rolls for breakfast and also discovered that there was absolutely no hot water in the shower. It made for an interesting shower: attempting to immerse your body in the icy cold shower for the absolute minimal amount of time. At least we all were awake afterwards...
Our plans for the day included seeing the Cathedral of St. Matthias, and then the Budapest History Museum (what Vance would call "smart things"). Both were pretty cool, especially the bottom level of the museum that was all dungeony and you ended up outside.
Our next stop was one of the coolest parts of the trip (in my opinion): the Labyrinths. There are these bit underground caves that were naturally formed, and then modified to be used for shelters, military bases and various other things. Now they are basically a tourist attraction, with a weird new-age spiritual quest vibe (I didn't really get that). At 6:00 they turn off all the lights inside, and give you lanterns to walk around in the dark. We did this for a bit, and then decided it would be more fun without the lanterns. Let me tell you, it was absolutely pitch black in some parts. They play this quite, creepy music and all you can hear are the footsteps of the person ahead of you. It was kinda scary, so fun! Adrienn and I freaked ourselves out pretty good after the guys locked us in this one area (meanies), she clicked on a lighter and there was a big statue right in front of us and we both screamed...hahahaha. There were lots of statues and monuments around, and a strange fountain of wine down this one hallway....wtf? We decided that it wouldn't kill us if we drank from it, so Adrienn and I both had a sip (the guys were too wussy).
Evan and Adrienn with a strange horse statue.
Us setting off with our lanterns before ditching them.
Drinking from the wine fountain (still alive
Me and Adrienn being scared. Vance things we are losers.
Grrrrrr!!!!
Evan's face is really freaky....reminds me of The Ring
After fun times in the Labyrinth, we took the metro over to Hero's Square. It looked really cool all lit up at night. We hung out there for awhile, and then decided to go for crepes ("Palacsinta") for dessert. After much walking around and rejecting expensive places, we found a nice restaurant and sat on the patio.
The Millenary Monument at the center of Hero's Square.
Evan, Vance and Shane all taking pictures of Hero's Square (jackpot!)
Adrienn enjoying her cottage cheese palacsinta (I had the same kind, it was really good)
Sleeping Vance (he takes random power naps, haha)
Pretty much the second we left the restaurant it started raining. Wasn't too bad at first, so we figured we could just walk in the rain, but then it started to really pour. We were frantically running across the bridge looking for shelter, and found some under an overpass. We waited a long time for a bus (stupid Budapest transit) and then had major fiasco's trying to catch the next bus home...at one point we were standing right at the bus stop and the bus just drove by! Eventually though, we made it back and had a semi-earlish sleep (2am).
Soaking wet from the downpour, sheltered under an overpass.
The next morning Adrienn left to visit some other relatives (but not before finding out how to fix the hot water, yay!) so we were left without our translator. We checked out the parliament building, but unfortunately missed the tour, which was a bit disappointing. Instead we went to St. Stephen's Basillica, which was cool. The highlight was that they have St. Stephen's mummified hand there, and you can put in a coin to make it light up (I'm not even joking). So I of course had to take part in the cheesyest tourist scam ever invented...it was totally worth it.
After that we headed to the airport and flew home. Overall, I have to say that Budapest was way cooler than I thought it was going to be. A lot like Prague, but way less touristy. It was especially cool that our trip happened to fall on Hungarian National Day, that definitely was a bonus.
