The bus ride from Kraków to Budapest is about 7 hours and includes one ten minute stop. You get to drive through the mountains in Slovakia, and the view is absolutely stunning. I arrived in Budapest around 10pm. I had been having some communication trouble with my host so I booked a hostel for my first night, right along the metro line so that I could find it easily enough. Even so, I was still freaking out about figuring out how to get there so late at night. But, when I got off the bus, to my pleasant surprise my classmate, Piotr, was there! He lives in a suburb of Budapest. I had told him I was coming and asked if he had any time while I was there to show me around one day. Well, he went above and beyond. He laughed at how shocked I was to see him there and then informed me that he wasn't about to let me wander around a strange city by myself at night. He got me a train ticket, took me to my hostel, and then we went out for a drink and a little city tour. When we arrived at the hostel, the registration area/kitchen was filled with people partying and guess what?!? They were Polish! They heard Piotr and I speaking Polish and immediately came over with a bottle of krupnik and shot glasses. So while I'm paying for my room and getting my keys, we take shots on the very same counter. It was one of the most ridiculous situations I've ever been in.
Palinka
Out at the bar, I tried Palinka for the first time, which is a fruit spirit that is very popular in Hungary. It is very strong and looks like vodka, but the aftertaste has a slight flavor. It is served in a little glass about the size of a shot and you can either sip it or shoot it. The food in Hungary is very fattening, and Piotr informed me that it is often recommended to drink Palinka with your meal because the spirit 'eats the fat.' There are sooo many flavors of Palinka. While I was in Budapest I tried grape, plum, black currant, black cherry, apple, honey-ginger-pear and honey-peach. On the way home he had me try Túrórudi, a candy bar that is popular in Hungary. It is sweet cottage cheese covered in dark chocolate that is refrigerated. Very tasty.
parliament
The next morning I was supposed to move to my couchsurfing location, but the guy I was going to stay with was being shady. I was getting bad vibes so I booked another hostel closer to the city center, which was much more comfortable. There I met Jiim who works at the hostel. He was concerned that I was a girl traveling alone - apparently that's unusual. He gave me his contact info and told me to call him if I had any trouble while I was in Budapest, especially at the hostel.
Nightview
After I got settled in, Piotr picked me up and took me on the first of many tours. We started out with the scenic tour. It was late afternoon and Piotr planned it perfectly so that I got to see the sights in the daylight and at night. It was beautiful. I saw parliament and Budda Castle, where we went to the art museum. Piotr was a great guide, especially in the museum because he knows so much about Hungarian history. As we looked at paintings, he would explain the events depicted - in Polish. It was actually really cool to speak Polish all the time. It was like being an American in disguise.
After the night view from the castle and the Citadel, we took a break and went to a street festival for some traditional food. I tried lángos, which is like fried dough with your selection of toppings. It is savory, not sweet. I had the traditional lángos with sour cream and cheese and we had hot wine to warm up a little. Hungary is also known for their wine. There are several varieties of hot wine, unlike in Kraków where there is only one. It was very yummy. Then we headed to Vörösmarty Square where we had dessert at a fancy cafe to warm up. I had Samlói Galuska. It's like spongecake, but has a pudding texture and is filled with raisins, vanilla, walnuts, jam and topped with whipped cream. After dessert we went to Heroe's square and Vajdahunyad Castle, which was probably my favorite place in Budapest. It was stunning at night. And.....at 10pm we went to the Baths!
Heroe's Square
I had heard about the baths, but I didn't really get what all the fuss was about. Now I am definitely on board. It was a wonderful experience. You walk in, get a little bracelet, which unlocks your personal changing room where you can leave all your stuff. Then you head to the pools. The bath I was at was fairly small. It had one big room with a huge pool in the middle and four smaller pools in the respective corners. Each pool has steps you can sit on and is labeled with a temperature. The middle pool was warm, the outer pools were a range of very hot and very cold. There were also a series of saunas you could enjoy, a humid relaxation room and a message center. We spent four hours floating in the different pools and also tried the sauna. It was unbelievably relaxing and exhausting. Afterwards I was like a wrinkled prune. I got home around 3am and hungout with some hostelers for awhile before going to bed. I had seen half the city and it was only my first day.
Vajdahunyad Castle
After I got settled in, Piotr picked me up and took me on the first of many tours. We started out with the scenic tour. It was late afternoon and Piotr planned it perfectly so that I got to see the sights in the daylight and at night. It was beautiful. I saw parliament and Budda Castle, where we went to the art museum. Piotr was a great guide, especially in the museum because he knows so much about Hungarian history. As we looked at paintings, he would explain the events depicted - in Polish. It was actually really cool to speak Polish all the time. It was like being an American in disguise.
I had heard about the baths, but I didn't really get what all the fuss was about. Now I am definitely on board. It was a wonderful experience. You walk in, get a little bracelet, which unlocks your personal changing room where you can leave all your stuff. Then you head to the pools. The bath I was at was fairly small. It had one big room with a huge pool in the middle and four smaller pools in the respective corners. Each pool has steps you can sit on and is labeled with a temperature. The middle pool was warm, the outer pools were a range of very hot and very cold. There were also a series of saunas you could enjoy, a humid relaxation room and a message center. We spent four hours floating in the different pools and also tried the sauna. It was unbelievably relaxing and exhausting. Afterwards I was like a wrinkled prune. I got home around 3am and hungout with some hostelers for awhile before going to bed. I had seen half the city and it was only my first day.
My favorite place in Budapest
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