Jamie’s Travels

My intension was only to stay here for one night and then get a sleeper train to Prague the next day. However a combination of arriving two hours late, having difficulty booking a train ticket, and my immediate love for the city meant I decided fairly quickly to stay another night. I’m very glad I did. For the first time this trip I’m actually properly sad to be leaving a city. Despite the loneliness – many of you will know I’m not a fan of being on my own – the city just made me happy to be in.

The journey from Zagreb was not a pleasant one. A rammed train then lead to us getting a brief rail replacement bus due to works on the tracks. Followed by a very slow, old, and dirty train that took us across the boarder and into Hungary. Then, due to an ‘international issue’ we were stranded in a town near the Hungarian boarder for nearly two hours. In this time I learned a bit about my cabin mates. A lady from Rochester New York and a young German couple. Once I arrived in Budapest and headed for my accommodation in the Pest side. For dinner I managed to find a falafel wrap which was great although took longer than expected due to the confusion of me being served a chicken wrap…

Once I navigated my way to the hostel (a hidden apartment complex that took a while to find) a guy in the dorm invited me to come on a bar crawl he was about to set off on. On the crawl I met another set of British guys as well as some Americans. Also a group of four New Zealanders who were road tripping across Europe in a 3 door car. The Americans told me a grand story about how they were poacher hunters in Kenya. They were both ex-military Texans who loved guns so I can believe it. The two also dispelled my belief that Americans can’t drink – they proved me very wrong. Tequila has never been my favourite drink and this weekend hasn’t risen it in my view. Needless to say I was home before 1 am that night – at least I think, the actual getting into the hostel part I don’t remember. I woke up fully clothed around 7 am feeling relatively rough.

I headed out to the local Lidl to find some food – once I’d got that down me I began to feel a bit better. I then headed on the cities free walking tour. My guide took me around a good portion of Pest and pointed out some of the sights in Buda. I even ran into that German couple (it’s a very small world). He also recommended me a Turkish bath house – he told me it was a great hangover cure as well. I headed for some coffee and after getting an energy boost off of that I then went to carry my bag and check into my new hostel.

The weather being particularly bad was a good justification for spending the day in a bath house. I headed to the Buda side and spent the next 3 hours bathing and using saunas. I’ve never been one for ‘relaxing’ but I gotta say once I’d settled in it’s one of the best things I’ve ever done for myself. This bath house was divided into two sections, and old and a new, and was a proper maze to get around. I used the classic Turkish baths first. A dark hall full of old baths ranging from 28-42°C. The other half contained more modern baths as well as one on the roof. Looking out over the city from a hot tub was quite a nice experience. Although it was a particularly romantic vibe for a single guy on his own. I only tried my hand at conversion bathing – this is where you move rapidly between very hot and very cold water. It makes your whole body very tingly and really wiped me out. I couldn’t take photos inside the baths but I’ve included one from the internet for visuals sake.

After my bath I felt very at peace. Despite the horrible weather I went to walk up Buda Castle. I took in the view of the wet city whilst getting drenched myself. However neither the weather or the death of phone’s battery could kill my zen vibe.

I managed to navigate back to my hostel using the archaic method of a physical map. (I’m living it rough out here). Once I’d had half an hour to charge my phone I was ravenous as it was already past nine. I went out for a solo meal to a Hungarian vegan restaurant. I tried the vegan version of a dish called brassói aprópecsenye. A mix of potato and fake chicken. It was really very nice but could’ve done with a bit more spice. After dinner I was feeling pretty drained so I had a night in for myself to recharge. A great end to what turned into a very relaxing day.

In the morning I headed to the free breakfast and then walked to the station. A couple hours earlier than I’d intended I explored the area around the station and the shopping centre next to it. Not the most culturally significant day but I was killing time really. I then hopped on my train towards Prague where I’m off to meet Calum and his mates.

Budapest has been truly one of my favourite cities I’ve ever visited. I can’t wait to come back. I feel like I barely explored the Buda part or the island. There were other attractions such as the House of Terror (a museum about the fascist and communist occupation of Hungary). And of course I also need to find the vegan goulash. Not to forget as well – I need to go back to Turkish baths as well.