Well I suppose every trip has to have its not so great parts, and Budapest was definitely the worst place we’ve been so far. In saying that, it was quite dependent on circumstances and we ended up only being there for around 24 hours so we may not be the best judges of actual quality. But based on our brief experience, it definitely would not make it on our top 10 list of places to go back to!
It started with the hostel. We got there and checked in, and went up to our rooms. They were actually quite well set up, with each bunk bed having a big division wall of wood between them and a curtain on to the entrance area. Not ideal for 3 people, as then one person has to be alone, but if you were 2 or 4 it would have been great. They also had huge lockers, that I was actually able to fit ALL my stuff into - suitcase, big backpack and Sportsgirl bag! That was about all that was good about the hostel though. The beds were fairly uncomfortable and the linen was an off yellow colour that made them seem like they were a little bit dirty. And to top that off, the guy in the next compartment over spent most of the night snoring the place down. The bathroom was also pretty gross, the worst part being the showers which were supposed to be button operated but lasted like 2 seconds for every press. That and the fact that the dorm was mixed with a shared bathroom but there was no private area around the showers to get undressed/dressed.
The next day didn’t really get much better either. There was nothing that was overly unpleasant, but of course everything is worse when you’ve had hardly any sleep (and also when comparing it to the loveliness of Austria...). We went to a supermarket for breakfast, but of course had trouble finding things because we didn’t speak the language. Did also have a laugh because everywhere on the street there were people shovelling the snow from the footpaths, and then outside the supermarket there was a van full of bread that they appeared to be distributing to a line of people, some of whom were holding snow shovels. Hence I jokingly concluded that they were paying the people in bread to shovel the footpaths. Anyway, then we decided to go to one of the baths which Budapest is apparently famous for, experience a bit of culture. That definitely was an experience! Firstly just getting there - we were quite unconfident about the public transport so decided to walk, but it had been snowing previously and since none of the roads or paths were salted there was sludgy melting snow everywhere. Which meant if you happened to be too close to the wrong part of the road when a car drove past, as Grace and Jo found out you get Bridget Jones style splashed from head to toe in dirty melting snow. They were definitely not happy about that, as you can see below, and we were all paranoid from there on.
Then we got to the baths. That was better - they were quite old and beautiful, if not a little run down for the price. We decided to splurge and get a massage too, which was an experience in itself. Very glad that they changed one of our original appointments so that we all had women, because when we went in we were told to take everything off - while they stood there and watched. Pretty sure it was the first time I’ve been completely naked in front of anyone since I was a child! I didn’t find it so bad because I had expected it and was also pre-warned by Jo as she came out before I went in. But the fact that she didn’t really turn away or anything was a little disconcerting! Grace I think had a worse time of it, as she had expected it to be more like home where they tend to leave the room or something and also give you a towel to cover yourself a bit. She said when the woman turned away to get something she pretty much dove onto the table with her thongs still on, so then was lying there awkwardly trying to kick them off without getting up again. Anyway that was definitely an interesting experience for all of us, and was quite nice. Well, except for the fact that she worked so hard on my shoulders that they were then sore for the next 3 days. Still on the topic of awkward nakedness too, there was fairly horrifying sights out in the baths as well - lots of old women in either very revealing or very ill fitting swimmers, who would also then get out and casually strip.
Anyway when we left we decided that in order to avoid any more snow baths we would get a taxi back. But this meant we then had to haggle with the taxi driver outside, who wanted the equivalent of about 18 euro for what was a maximum 10 minute drive. Didn’t exactly help maintain any good mood we might have had after the baths! As a result, when we got back to the hostel we went down to the common area for the internet, then decided to look up trains to Vienna just cos we could.... Which resulted in us realising there was one in 50 mins, so we packed up in about 5 mins and rushed off to Vienna a day early.
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