Hungary For a Good Time (lolololololol)

Our appetite for central European countries not quite sated, we headed to our next destination, Budapest. We unashamedly stayed in a hostel named ‘Hi-5 Party-ish Hostel’ which well and truly lived up to its name, we were even kitted out with fluoro watches which not only looked fashionable but doubled as room keys, a handy initiative for inebriated hostel-goers trying to find their way home. We won't really miss you, Hi-5.

Budapest as a city is pretty amazing. As some of you may know, it originated as 2 main cities, Buda and Pest, separated by the Danube river. Modern day Buda is hilly, expensive and houses the impressive Buda castle, while modern day Pest is flat, and contains most of the tourist attractions like the baths, bars, restaurants and museums. It has a similar feel to Prague in that it balances old beautiful buildings with a modern and fun atmosphere, but with a definite Turkish influence to it (something to do with the fact that Budapest was occupied by the Turks for 150 years, we’re told).

A few words of warning for fellow travelers heading to Hungary: Always count your change carefully, even from the metro ticket office! The currency is quite confusing as 1 euro ~ 285 Hungarian forints, so it turns out it is embarrassingly easy to get given 10 times less change than you are owed…

Looking out at the great Pest from the mighty Buda Castle.

Looking up at Buda Castle, from Buda Castle. Hello Buda Castle.

Apparently if you rub this guys' belly, you will eat good food. Classic Hungarian superstition.

We present to you: St Stephen's Cathedral! Another church, isn't she lovely. It's named after the Hungarian patron-saint St Stephen, whose arm is inside the cathedral on display. The rest of his body is scattered throughout the various Hungarian communities of the world, like some sort of gruesome puzzle.

The Szechenyi Baths! Easily the best tradition that was kept from the Turkish occupation. Temperatures ranged from 18 to 70 (in the saunas). A nice way to unwind, or to push  your body to its limits in the sweaty, sweaty saunas.

  Also great for playing chess..?

 How could you ever have a bad night out when mixing Happy Day and Tatra Tea?

Hanging in Szimpla, one of Budapest's famous ruin bars. According to Lonely Planet it's the number 3 bar in the world (behind the Cook and Monkey Bar, we suppose). Though we didn't manage to capture the crazy inside of Szimpla, this picture adequately captures the festive spirit in the bar.

Our plans from Budapest were to head straight to Croatia, but alas the one and only train to Croatia was full. Instead we had to spend a night in the resort town of Siofok, by Lake Balaton. Judging by the tourist office lady's reaction when we told her we were from New Zealand, they don't get many kiwis in Siofok. Most of the accommodation was booked out, but we found a very cheap 'camping hotel', which is a lot less glamorous than it sounds. Basically they hire out a bit of floor space and some inflatable mattresses for you to crash on. Uncomfortable and hilarious.

When we say we 'had' to spend a night in Siofok, we could think of worse places to be stranded for a night.

Next time: We finally make it to Croatia, and are greeted by crippling heat.