Hungary, Budapest

My Austrian friend was nice enough to take me to the train station and help me with my suitcase, otherwise I think I would have been utterly fucked...I barely slept because we had an all-nighter and arrived at the train station just in time.

The train ride was somewhat smooth...the train was crowded as usual, but I had found a free seat...though not for long. Then I had to travel half of the parcours standing by the door. Not comfortable, but way better than my train experience in Berlin!

When I arrived in Budapest, it was hot as hell and I felt completely lost. After having friends with me in Austria, Germany and Norway, I was completely on my own this time. There are not many people in Budapest who speak English and I had no clue as to where to take the bus that would take me to my hostel. Plus, I had no Hungarian money. I walked around for a while, struggling with the sun and my suitcase, trying to find my way, all in vain. I'd save so much time and energy if I weren't so stupidly shy sometimes, I shoud have asked for directions the moment I got out of the train. Eventually I managed to find both, my bus stop and an ATM. 

To find my hostel it was a tad tricky because the numbers of the houses are (dis)organised in a weird way.

And when I had finally found it, it was a bit of a surprise...it didn't look like a hostel at all, it was an old eerie building with a fridge for an elevator. When I arrived at the hostel's floor, I was welcomed by this very nice American girl who helped me bring my heavy suitcase up the narrow stairs which led to the actual floor of the hostel. Then I was welcomed by this cool guy from Wales (I guess!) who offered me a nice big glass of icy water. He then told me all I needed to know about Budapest and then showed me around. 

The hostel is the cosiest little thing ever. It's a very small hostel, by the time I was there, there were only 15 guests there as well. So naturally there's this incredible vibe where you feel like you're part of a family. The people I met there were amazing. I just wish I had spent more time there to get to know them better. 

They had fans in the room, which was a big plus in that unbearable heat. 

They had awesome puzzles, which I managed to solve some, but the highlight was that I solved one that nobody (who has ever been to that hostel) has ever solved! :3

In brief, I had one of the best hostel experiences there.

Budapest is crossed by the Danube, which they call Duna. From one side you have Buda and from the other side you have Pest. The city has incredible bridges which stand out in the horizon. Also, they are lit up during the night, giving the city a Christmas vibe, because everything is so shiny and pretty :) The monuments are beautifully lit up, which is great tourism-wise, because no matter at what time you go to explore Budapest, you'll always have something instagram-worthy hahaha
However, if you go there during summer like I did, I wouldn't recommend walk on the bridges without a good insect repellent. And try not to open your mouth lol

Close to the White Bridge there's the Gellért Hill. I climbed it only enough to get me a nice view of the White Bridge, as well as Pest, as you can see on this Vine. I ended up not climbing all of it because I felt uncomfortable there all alone, I couldn't see far ahead because of all the trees and curves, so I decided to continue my sightseeing elsewhere.

So I finally reached what I thought to be the Castle, but it turns out it wasn't. Or maybe it was, I'll never know. I entered what I thought to be the Castle and kept walking and walking and walking and I ended up in another place that looked like a castle too. So I don't know where it starts and where it ends. All I know is that I took great pics there.
I walked across many gorgeous streets on the way, I just couldn't stop taking pictures!
The view from there is so fucking amazing, I basically spent the entire day there, just so I could see the city at night...the lights are just magical!
There's also the Matthias Church, which was under construction unfortunately, but still, it looks amazing from every angle.
The Parliament building is this amaaaaaaaazing gothic masterpiece you can see perfectly from the opposite side of the Chain Bridge.

The night life in Budapest is really lively and great, Hungarians are super nice and friendly. The language really sounds peculiar, though I'm not sure if I would recognise it if someone spoke it next to me in another environment. I had a plum beer which tasted really good and I also had a nice sandwich which I have no idea how it's called because when I ordered I just said 'chicken' lol.

The public transportation is ok, I didn't pay to ride the bus, nor the trams, but I had to pay to ride the metro because there is a corridor made of old people who are there only to check if you have your ticket. And you don't wanna piss old people off. Don't even try to wave it quickly to fool them because they take their job really seriously lol plus, they look scary.

I went to two restaurants there, one I had goulash and the other I had some hummus sandwich. They were both ok...but the price was great.

Worth mentioning: the airport has free wifi! :)

There are just so many beautiful things to see in Budapest, I didn't have enough time to enjoy it. For example, I didn't go to the hot springs there specially because it was like 39°C every day and the thought of getting into a pool full of hot water was unappealing to me. I'll definitely be going back there some time in the near future (hopefully when the weather is not that freakin' hot).