Re: LFTL & BRAD'S EURO TRIP- VIENNA UP!
BUDAPEST
We left Vienna in the middle of the afternoon to make our way to Budapest. The train journey was only about an hour and a half and the train we took was definitely one of the nicest of the trip. They seemed newer and cleaner, at least. Soon enough we were pulling up to the station, unaware of where to go or where our hotel was.
Brad however is far more organized and directionally gifted than I am, so he led us straight there where we had the biggest stroke of luck. A lady was riding her bike and asked if we were looking for the hostel and we said yes. She said if we hadn’t caught her just then, that we would have been out of luck because she was leaving for the night. Talk about lucky! The hostel looked a bit seedy but the rooms were actually really nice.
We also had a balcony that looked like it was going to fall apart!
After looking at a map, we decided that our itinerary for the day would involve Vidampark for a few hours and then just wandering around for the remainder of the night. On the way we saw a few sights, such as the Opera House.
After what turned out to be a ridiculously long walk and a horrendously overpriced admission, we finally arrived to get some CREDZ.
We had to wander through the entire park to find the entrance to the actual amusement park which was a bit annoying, but it was pretty nice. We were also able to satisfy our extreme hunger with a hamburger.
We headed to the old wooden roller coaster first, which didn’t have restraints. It didn’t have much airtime but it was a fun ride regardless.
I wanted to ride some of the flats, but Brad’s stomach doesn’t like them so we made our way to the other credits. The Spinning Coaster was nothing to write home about!
Last up was a Wacky Worm thingy.
Since we had done the creds in a matter of minutes and the park still had over an hour until closing, we snagged some rerides on the wooden coaster as well as some of the flats the park had to offer. We also took the opportunity to snap pictures of the place since not many people have been there.
We got in line for the Dodgems and then decided it was taking too long, so we went to what looked like a really cute water ride.
Little did I know in that picture that I would only be happy for a few more minutes… When we boarded the water ride thing, I realized it went into a cave so I decided to make a silly remark about there being a load of spiders. Then it clicked; it really was a dark, damp place. As soon as we entered the cave there were two daddy long leg spiders hanging around to my right, which absolutely terrified me, and in the Smurf exhibits I could also see many webs with creatures hanging around in those as well. I spent the rest of the ride on the brink of tears ducked down completely in my boat, not to mention being yelled at by Brad!
After getting over the traumatic experience, we headed to the Lezer Dodzsem thingys which was apparently a game, but due to the fact that our score ended up being zero, I think it’s safe to say we hadn’t a clue how to play!
We decided to call it quits at Vidampark and took the underground to the area near our hotel. It was cheap and saved a lot of time! We saw a really nice building which I believe had to do with parliament, so we stopped to take pictures.
To keep with the tradition of drinking every night, we found a park that served alcohol, so we took advantage of the nice weather and sat down for some chit chats and drinks.
Surprisingly, Hungarian beer wasn’t so bad, but I opted for my vodka and Sprite!
After finding a random pizza place, I was getting pretty tired even though it wasn’t that late. We headed back to the hotel and crashed, ready for the day ahead.
We woke up to a brilliant, sunny morning. After quickly getting ready we left for what turned out to be a very long day! The view we had coming out of our hostel was pretty crazy.
The first place we stopped was MCDONALDS! Had to get our Hungarian McDonalds cred! After eating, we went down a street with a bunch of vendors where Brad bought himself a Rubik’s Cube and I bought myself a few souveniers.
He’s such a kid!
When we got to the river we decided we were going to venture across the bridge to see what was on the other side.
Our first stop was an indoor church, which annoyingly was closed because it was Sunday and there were services going on!
We were already ridiculously out of breath by this point and could tell that the day was only going to get hotter! We stopped for a break in the shade.
We saw some pretty cool old ruiny things along our walk.
After walking for about an hour, we decided to stop and get a drink after realizing that we weren’t going to make it to parliament for 1:30. The next tour was around 3, so we had a lot of time to kill. We sat and admired the beautiful view across the river which included one of the most stunning buildings I’ve ever laid eyes on.
We crossed the river once again to where Parliament was, which is just as stunning up close. Sadly the tours were booked up, so we didn’t get to go inside. I was happy to just sit and stare at it, to be honest!
We took yet another break in the shade near Parliament because it was so damn hot out.
After eating lunch, we went back to the hotel for a little bit to relax before they started the Buda Castle Labyrinth attraction around 6:30. We used the opportunity to go on Facebook and do other lovely computery things. With lots of time to spare, we left the hotel with about an hour before opening. We took the underground to where we needed to go, which was super speedy! Unfortunately, when we got off we had absolutely no idea which direction to go in, and nobody seemed to speak English. This led to plenty of arguments and me separating from Brad in a rage of fury in the Castle District
. Fortunately I made sure not to lose him, and soon enough we met back up, made amends, and headed down into the Labyrinth. Needless to say, Brad is an incredible navigator.
It was literally like, pitch black in the tunnels but the camera illuminated it which does not do the creepiness justice!
I thought the Labyrinth was brilliant and a really good time; definitely worth whatever we paid for it! Of course Brad had to be immature and sign the guestbook with a stupid comment!
Since we were already in the Castle District, we decided to explore around a bit.
We were on quite a hill so we were able to look down at all the beautiful sights.
Then there was another castle.. Certainly not to be expected in the Castle District!
It didn’t look much like a castle, but it was still pretty!
We were being lazy, so we opted to take the funicular down the hill.
It was dusk by the time we walked back to our hotel, so after taking yet another break on the grass in a pretty area, we went back to the hotel and went to bed.
Overall, I LOVED Budapest; It was the perfect combination of beauty and things to do. Unlike Prague which was mostly just aesthetically pleasing with not a whole lot to do to keep busy, Budapest is somewhere I feel like I could stay for four or five days and have things to do every moment of the day. I knew I was going to like it when I looked at pictures prior to our trip, but at that point it was my favourite stop of the journey and remains one of my favourite cities to this day!
NEXT UP- BELGRADE, SERBIA
I was just so interested what is to do for a foreign turist in our capital