Budapest

After a couple weeks of hanging out in the CPH it was time for another adventure. Probably the best set up trip of Europe so far and it started with me, Elliot and Andras, our Hungarian friend flying to Budapest for 4 days. As soon as we stepped outside of the airport I had to take off my jacket. We lucked out and had the most amazing weather the whole time in Budapest. Andras owns a flat in downtown Pest. Budapest is basically two cities separated by the Danube river. The flatter city center with all the bustle is Pest while Buda has amazing cliffs, hills, and sights. The first night, the 3 of us bar hopped through Pest and ended up at a bar with live music. We waited for about 20 minutes before the band started. This isn't an exaggeration but they were THE worst band I've ever heard. Some kind of weird british emo. We left to find the Parliament building. The building was magnificent at night. After we went home and passed out because the next day 3 more of our flatmates were flying in. After picking up Jerome, Lisa, and Celine we went to find the "China" man. He sold the cheapest alcohol in the city. After stocking up we went home to eat dinner and start the night. The club we went to was crazy. Andras said it wasn't as crazy as usual but the club was packed for a Monday night. Unfortunately for me the club also had a karaoke room. My idea of a good karaoke song at the time was Gangster's Paradise by Coolio. I could barely keep up with the lyrics and basically made a fool of myself but it was fun and I could have cared less at the moment. After a long night of dancing, karaoke, and a random Foosball game we went searching for a late night falafel joint. Budapest has hundreds of amazing falafel places and we probably stopped in half of them. For about 2 dollars, a big falafel pita was as good a meal as any. Me and Elliot averaged 2 and a half a day or something crazy like that. This set the stage for a trip dominated by this wondrous Mediterranean dish. On our last day in Budapest, Elliot, Jerome and I went to the famous Turkish baths of the city. It was incredibly relaxing and cleansing (much needed after our nights out). After the baths, we hiked to the highest point in Budapest to see the sights from the Hungarian Statue of Liberty. Looking out over Pest was pretty breathtaking at dusk. The sun was setting over the hills and lit up the Parliament perfectly. All in all this was the best day of the trip. On returning to Andras's place we showered up and got ready for the biggest party we had seen in Budapest. Our 9 hour bus ride to Prague was at 8 the next morning but we wanted to live up our last night in the city. We went to a club called Moulin Rouge. It was humongous and looked as if they only let Hungarian models in. It was an amazing last night and luckily we didn't miss our bus the next morning. The bus to Prague was a little brutal but I slept most the way which shortened the trip significantly. The Prague and Berlin posts will be coming shortly.