Budapest, Hungary

After a grueling, long train ride (which seems to be the trend on these day consuming trains), I came to the conclusion that bus travel through Europe might be an easier and less stressful option that I will consider should I remain in Europe after my Eurail pass expires at the end of this month. The nuisance with the train is that each time you cross into a new country, they change conductors, each time starting the process over of awakening me from my slumber to review my ticket. A lot of the conductors aren't well educated on the Eurail pass, in turn looking for anything that they can to attempt to fine you (since you're clearly a tourist when using one of these passes which also means you should have sufficient funds for whatever bullshit they would like to charge you for). So if you can't tell where this is going, I didn't properly have something filled out according to this conductor who could only magically speak the English he wanted to understand or say...such things as €50 please, cash only, etc. Of course I tried for 20 minutes to babble on to him that it was extremely unnecessary and that he was leaving a terrible impression on me of the Hungarian people and that he should be ashamed of himself for targeting tourists. Of course this didn't work and the cash only part gave me a glimmer of hope, because I literally only had about €1.50 in cash on me, and I had given the remainder of my Polish money to a homeless guy when I changed trains in Katowice, Poland. They decided that when the train arrived in Budapest that they would escort me to an ATM. Being the law abiding person and paranoid of ending up in a police station, I abided and went with them to the ATM. I made sure he produced a receipt and additionally asked his name (not that it mattered or that it was worth my time to stress about it) but tossed the receipt as soon as they walked away.

Breather, I needed a breather and some fresh air at this point after wanting to right hook this guy in the jaw or knee him where it really counts, so I walked 2.5 miles with my 50lbs of backpack fun to the Buda part of town where I was staying. Budapest is situated on a river with Buda being on the hilly, elevated side and Pest being on the flat side. Some people argue that it is comparable to Prague in its beauty. Comparable maybe, but if you're basing it solely on the aesthetics while walking the streets, then my vote is for Prague. However, if encompassing the social atmosphere and uniqueness that many "hipster" places around the world could only attempt to fabricate, then Budapest wins outright. I've never been to so many unique restaurants and bars with so much character. For a fact, I could not do these places justice by trying to describe them, so you will just have to trust me on this one. My first night in town I found a locals meet-up group online from a travelers site and headed to this restaurant/bar to meet them. I regurgitated the previously told story about my train experience and one gentleman was ticked. It was a fun night with some locals and another traveler.

The next day I did some exploring and walked up to the castle hill on the Buda side of town where the Royal Palace is located, providing stunning views over the river to Pest and the Parliament building. I continued to "get lost" in the streets of Pest for the day, exploring. I met an Australian girl while on a tour, and we later decided to explore some of the well known nightlife of Pest, starting at a very popular venue called Szimpla. My last day in town I met an American college student who was attending school in Sweden and his two Swedish friends. We headed to one of the well known thermal baths and swimming pools in town called Széchenyi Baths located in the city park. It was extremely relaxing, and we spent about two hours enjoying the warm waters of the outdoor pool, followed by the saunas and cold baths, but of course ending in the warm water since I have about zero cold tolerance! We had dinner at a very eclectic bar that I wish I could duplicate in somewhere Colorado for when I return.

After waking up entirely too late, I threw my belongings back into my bags, brushed my teeth, and practically ran to get to the train station a mile and a half away in time. You see, some trains require a reservation for a small fee on top of my Eurail pass, so I needed to get to the ticketing office to ensure I had this, if I even needed it. Come to find out, I did not, and quickly borrowed a pen from the ticketing office to PROPERLY fill out my pass per Hungarian conductors standards and boarded the train. The train was a huge one but come to find out only he front three cabins were actually the international part. Luckily this Hungarian was a lot kinder and showed me to the proper cabin so I could make it all the way to Brasov, Romania as I intended. He had no problem with my ticket. We went through border patrol when leaving Hungary, since Romania is not part of the European Union or the Schengen Agreement, and then again upon entering into Romania. The new conductors boarded the train, and here I sit on my 14 hour journey to Brasov. I have one hour left, and it has been a smooth trip, minus the boredom that set in hours ago. So, will I make it to Brasov without any fines? We shall see.

To be continued...