“Isn’t there an elevator? For, like, disabled people?”

The overnight train from Prague to Budapest was not pleasant. It was hot, small and crowded. We did not sleep. But we were still excited to be in Budapest. Well, I mean, we were excited after we finished our 45-minute walk to the hostel from the train station with our entire luggage and no rest. Oh, and, this was al around 8:00 in the morning. The city was much larger than we expected. The streets were full of cars and the sidewalks were full of people and the buildings looked very, very old.
Our hostel was easy to find, it was just far away. It was located on a very busy tourist street with countless restaurants and souvenir shops. We couldn’t check in until 2:00 or 3:00 so we dropped our luggage off and relaxed in the common room for a bit. When I say relax I mean passed out while charging dead electronics. A big, energetic group of Swedes woke us up with their optimistic blonde heads and funny-sounding language and they give us the encouragement we needed to go out and see the city some before we could check in. This was around 10:00 am. We got up and headed to the nearest café to eat. Luckily for us, we took, maybe, 20 steps and saw the words omelet and French toast. Time for breakfast! Who knew Budapest could make a mean American breakfast?
We hit the streets and admired the classical architecture and the impressive statues. We did have a goal: Buda Castle. You say it like it sounds, as if there may be a very large, round-bellied Chinese man sitting atop it. We could see one very large hill with a crown of concrete walls and domes. This must be Buda Castle…right? Of course we’re right, so we walked down a street, over an enormous, white bridge and we crossed a street. We now stared straight up at some steep stairs and an enormous statue (about 200 feet up) of a very imposing angel. Like I said, this must be Buda Castle. We step steps and climb climbs, we zig and we zag and finally we make it up to the impressive angel. “Isn’t there an elevator? For, like, disabled people?” I thought out loud. NO, there is no elevator. We must suffer for history. This BETTER take us to Budacastle. We climbed more, I was, at this point, cursing the laptop, camera, water bottle and the ridiculous amount of Euro-cents change that fill my shoulder bag and pockets. And why was it so HOT here? We now understood why Europeans can eat our McDonalds, KFC, Burger King, Dunkin’ Donuts and smoke like 5.0 mustang tires on a drag strip: one walk up this monster per week and your heart could one-punch Mike Tyson. Seriously, it was really hard. Anyways, we fought on and made it to the top (750 straight up but the round about path was more of a mile). We were surrounded by spectacular views and there was a very large metal lady holding a very large metal feather, but where was Buda Castle? As none of you expected, we had accidently climbed up to the ‘Citadella.’ The Citadella is a symbol of military power built by the Austrians after they dominated in the Hungarian War of Independence. Anyways, we were happy for the views and the much needed exercise.
We were rewarded back at the hostel with an awesome, clean and very large room with an amazing view of Vaci Utca, Budapest’s Rodeo Drive. There were some enthusiastic British guys in our room but we declined their offer to party because we had big plans for dinner. We headed down to the Danube to Spoon (Ha), a trendy, popular restaurant on a large boat parked on the Pest side of the river. The atmosphere inspires class and the clientele were soaking in it. With a beautiful view of the Chain Bridge (first connection between Buda and Pest) Ronak and I sat down to our first splurge: gourmet food. Mine was an impressive, tasty and small stuffed chicken item with creamy sauce and very smooth mashed potatoes. Ronak had a very-well-presented meal. He manages to mumble out a description, “delicious tortilla with cream sauce…roasted veggies,” when I asked him just now, from across our room in Rome. To walk off our small meal we went to check out Margaret Island which is the frequent site of festivals, concerts and other events. That night, it turns out, Margaret Island was just a creepy, poorly lit land mass between Buda and Pest. Despite what some people may believe, this is not our scene and so we decided to head back to enjoy our first nice hostel room and relax.
The Beds were clean and comfy and we decided to hang out with the nice people in our room, a French guy and a girl from the Netherlands, and go to bed early. We woke up, had some more omelets and found a nice, big park to toss the Frisbee around. For a lunch/snack I grabbed a very tasty gyro from a street stand and Ronak had a Lango-a crispy fried potato dough slab. There are many toppings options for Langos, such as cheese, garlic, veggies, meats. Ronak, of course, asks for sugar and cream. We ate and headed out for our priority before jumping on the night train to Venice at 7 pm, Buda Labyrinth. Underneath a random building, in a random location within Buda Castle is a little door. If you go through this door and follow it down (and pay for a ticket, of course) you find yourself in an authentic labyrinth. It is dark, damp, very creepy and really, really cool. Worn-down statues of soldiers seem to jump out at you after every turn. At one point, we exited a pitch-black tunnel and a sunken, statue head, the size of a Minicooper is staring at us. It is very dark and I could only make out the giant eye and nose, which were enough to boost my pace to the next room. For you guys at home, however, I went back and took a picture of it, and then a picture with flash to demystify it. It was still creepy. Before the end of our labyrinth tour, we heard some happy, medieval music leaking from a hallway. We do the most predicable thing and follow it to be rewarded with a lush, vine-covered wine fountain. A sign proclaimed it “not for consumption” but whatever. With our Budapest highlights out of the way we pick up our stuff from the hostel, take a shower and hop on the night train to Venice. Thank goodness, this one is nice.
→ Venice