We no speak Americano

For a couple of weeks Chloe, Zharah, Anne, Federico and I had planned to visit Budapest for a long weekend, so on Friday 30^th March Federico and the girls took an afternoon Eurolines bus to Budapest (costing around £14 including return). Due to lectures I took a later train and arrived at 10:30. I hadn’t thought to bring a map so I approached a guy and girl whom I had heard talking with American accents to discover where they would be travelling. Luckily our hostels were in the same area, so we all took the metro and I soon arrived at the street for the Ginkgo Hostel. Checking in, I discovered that the others had gone out for a drink and unfortunately my Vectone SIM card decided not to work in Hungary, so I ventured out, found a public telephone, and arranged to meet them back at the hostel.

The girls decided to call it a night, whilst Federico and I went to Lámpás, an underground bar they had visited earlier. Although the bar looked like it hadn’t been cleaned for some months, it had a fantastic grunge atmosphere, served cider, and had a DJ playing some great tunes – the Hungarian equivalent to Portsmouth’s Honest Politician! The next day we ascended Gellért Hill to see the Szabadság Szobar (Liberty Statue, 1947) and a superb panorama over the city. Our next destination was the Budavári Palota (Buda Castle) and the Castle District on its northern side. The district streets are lined by colourful houses which lead onto fantastic historical public buildings including the late Gothic Matthias Church (14^th century).

Liberty Statue

  

Statue of the Hortobágy horseherd by György Vastagh, 1901

The Széchenyi Chain Bridge - suspension bridge across the Danube opened in 1849

  

Halászbástya (Fisherman's Bastion) - neo-Gothic and neo-Romanesque style terrace

  

The Castle District

Arriving back at hostel I struck up a conversation with some American students (Ben, Lauren and Susan), studying in Copenhagen, and Federico and I were soon showing them the art of Briscola (Italian card game). Playing in teams Federico and I managed to confer in Italian to gain advantage. Lauren, Susan, Federico and I later went back to Lámpás but to our disappointment there was no DJ and the atmosphere had changed completely. We stayed for a drink and then followed Susan and the directions on her iPhone to another bar called ‘Instant’. The club featured a central covered courtyard overlooked by a gallery which adjoined a labyrinth of smaller rooms; some with chairs and sofas, others dancing area – all with psychotic Alice in Wonderland themed décor. Going to the bar to get a drink Federico discovered his wallet was missing, but assuming he had left it at the hostel we continued the night. Back at the hostel Federico couldn’t find his wallet, so we both returned to Lámpás to see if it could be found. With no luck at Lámpás, and not knowing the directions to Instant - or even wanting to travel that far at such a late hour - we went back to the hostel.

  

Covered courtyard inside Instant

  

The following day we visited the Dohány Street Synagogue. Built between 1854 and 1859 it is the largest in Europe. Later Federico and I walked to the police station to report his missing wallet. Frustratingly none of the policemen spoke English or German. We then met up with the girls in the city centre to go sight-seeing and visit Hősök tere (Heroes Square) and the Városliget (City Park). At the hostel we saw the Americans again and decided to all go out to a restaurant along Károlyi Mihály utca. On the way back to the hostel Susan and I split off for a pleasant walk along the river bank and visited the Parliament building which was transformed by lighting in the night.

Heroes Square

Moat at Vajdahunyad Castle

The next day I accompanied Federico to the Italian Embassy to get his emergency identity card whilst the girls went shopping. After returning to the hostel to get our swimming gear, and towels, and to meet up with Susan, we all went to the Gellért Thermal Baths near to the Liberty Bridge. Back at the hostel we collected our bags, said cheerio to Susan and set off towards the bus terminal and the end of our trip to Budapest.