Down Under: 2013

Day 1 - 16.02.2013

After saying good-bye to my sister at Tallinn Airport early on Saturday morning, I realised that I won't see my friends and family for a long time. The farewell party with friends on Friday evening was the last that reminded how special friendship is. Now it makes even more sense to write this blog :)

As I was saying, left Tallinn behind and spent ca. 6h at airports until finally landed in Budapest (10:50 local time). Took the local bus from airport and switched to train after certain stop. Being in city center and walking up from the underground station confused me a bit, but connecting the street and intersection, helped to clear my confusion :) Walked to the apartment that Nora had booked for us and got the key. Karma Apartment Studio was amazing - ca. 50m2, bedroom, bathroom, kitchen - and the price of 35€/night was well paid!

Soon after moving in, went to meet Julija at the train station. With map I got from owner, it was much easier to understand where everything is. Finally after at least 2 years we met again! Big warm hugs were appropriate in this case :) Since we both were hungry and Nora had some emergency, we bought our pre-dinner at local store. Hungarian wine, local cheese, sausage and bread made a very nice meal :)

Time was well over 8 when we met Nora :) Again warm hugs and kisses with welcome drink that Julija brought from Czech - becerovka ;) Soon after we went out to the city for dinner and drinks :) Nora showed us neat and cheap "all-you-can-eat" place. Wide selection of local food that we of course had to try one by one :) You can't believe how cheap it was - 4€ per person!!! Really! Eating out in Budapest is that good :)

Now being stuffed with local food, Nora took us to excellent cocktail bar where we spent most of our night. Drinks were ca. 6€ and bartenders professional. Not that I would love alcohol so much, but these were something you'd like to try out :) Since I was up from Friday morning, I felt tired and soon after we left that bar, me and Julija went back to the apartment. Time for rest.

Day 2 - 17.02.2013

Wake-up at 9 started with morning run in the city. There's popular island in middle of Budapest where local are training. It has track of ca. 5km that is covered with soft tarmac. By the way, Budapest was earlier 3 different cities/villages. Buda is on the left side of the river and Pest on the right side of the river. We were staying on Pest side, close to the most active area with clubs, shopping and city center. Buda side has citadel, palace and Spa-s. Back to that a bit later.

Our day continued with the long sightseeing walk. Damn it was freezing... I had packed very light with just 13kg in my 60l bag! That time I thought I had everything I need :) Every now and then we tried to sneak indoors to get some warm. Since shopping center was nearby, we ended up there to have late lunch and meet Nora. It was already 4 when we met. Made quick decision to go back to our apartment and prepare for Spa session :) Going there took also time so when we finally made it, it was passed 6:30 and we had only 1,5 hours to relax.

Ob weekends Spa is open for everyone. Some days it is open only for men, some days only for women. Inside Spa there were 6 different pools - on corner with water temperature 28°, 30°, 33°, 42° and in middle ca.35°. Around the corner an ice pool. You should go from low temp. pool to higher step by step. Additionally there were 2 saunas - dry sauna with 55° followed by 72° in next room, and on other side steam sauna. My routine was first sauna, then ice pool and then 42° pool. That improved my blood circulation and after Spa I felt refreshed :) This time we didn't get any massage ad they were already starting to close down :( I did worry too much about it as I felt really good even without it :)

Our next stop was Hard Rock Cafe!!! I know it's good and I didn't have to regret going there. Girls got their sweet cocktails, I chose something stronger :) Soon after we had our Hungarian special hamburgers ready and the feast may begin :) It took a while until we finished all that. Of course after Spa and strong meal, we made a rather long walk between 2 bridges while enjoying the night view of palace and parliament. As it was Sunday evening, we finished around 12 to start fresh in the morning.

Day 3 - 18.02.2013

As last day in Budapest, we packed our things and checked out at 10. As agreed previous day, we were going for a walk to Buda side and meet Nora for last time around 1. Mostly played common tourists for 3 hours until returning to pick our luggage, meet Nora, have our last lunch together and then go to bus station to catch a ride to Vienna.
In the end, Budapest exceeded my expectations :) Thanks to our local guide Nora, we saw much more than we could have wanted. I will have to return someday as exploring the city takes more than just few days.

Perhaps I should explain who Nora and Julija are:

Nora - a good Hungarian friend whom I met while doing Erasmus in Greece back in 2010! It was our first reunion after Greece :)
Julija - a very good Latvian friend I know since.... 2003/2004 perhaps :) We've met almost every year to catch up with all the new things in everyday life :)