Here I am sitting at my desk at work on the first day of June with my COAT on. Outside it is overcast, raining and cold. All I want to do is to go home, have a steaming hot bath (at least 45 degrees) and crawl into bed with my trusty iPod and book. Jesus, it's supposed to be summer!
Mind you it probably doesn't help that I've just come back from a long weekend in Budapest where it was very hot and sunny.
I found Budapest to be a very accessible and affordable place to visit. The Hungarians speak English very well and are quite friendly people. The food is good (particularly if you're into goulash hehe), the wine is nice and the beer cheap.
Highlights of my trip:
- Stumbling into scary dodgy goth club next to our hostel at 1.30am when we got into Budapest [great start]
- Going on a bar crawl led by an ex male porn star with an attitude. We left at 8pm and got back to the pension at around 4am. Drank with the locals in some bars that I'll probably never be able to find again, met some very cool and interesting people and had my belief system interrogated by a strange american who totally took advantage of the fact that I was somewhat inebriated. Was pulled off the path to insanity by friends.
- Visiting City Park on Sunday. I have never in my life been to any park where every Sunday is party day. All day long the park is crowded with people, bouncy castles, live music, hundreds of stalls selling shoes (?), junk, food and drink. It was more like a theme park...
- Relaxing at the thermal baths in City Park. On a beautifully hot day, splashing in the outdoor baths was a lot of fun. Inside, I relaxed in the hot pools and sauna although the hottest bath at 38 degrees was nowhere near sufficient for me. Bring on the hotsprings in Japan anyday...
- Crossing the many bridges spanning the not-very-blue River Danube humming the wellknown song. Next stop Austria for a full rendition of the Sound of Music up in the hills :)
- Hiking up the Gellert Hill in Buda for a fantastic view of Budapest. Wondered where the Matthias Church was, only to realise we were on the wrong hill. doh!
Overall I found Budapest to be a lovely place to go and relax. It's very similar to Prague, with it's faded majesty but the atmosphere is more subdued. Perhaps this was due to the season. Much like Prague, to get the most of this city you have to stay away from the touristy centres, from the big designer shops and cafes and the brochure churches and buildings.
It's been a whirlwind of a fortnight. I'm glad that it's all over and my calendar looks a more bearable sight with lots of empty spaces which means that I can relax. No point in cramming so much into your own life that you can barely keep up with what's happening. I've missed weeks of Desperate Housewives, have been but a mere shadow on MSN and my bedroom has nearly been taken over by plastic carrier bags (late night Thursday shopping). Oops.
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