We arrive to Budapest bright and early and immediately changed our money into Hungarian huffs or as we liked to call them huffelpuffs. After doing so we took a nice little 20 min walk to the loft hostel, the place were we would be staying at for the next 2 nights.
It was at this point in the trip that I thought Cory, Madeline, Meg, Ryan and Ryan might murder me…because I had booked the hostel.
We arrived at the address of where our hostel should have been tired and cold and all we wanted to do was move in. So we open the door to the Loft hostel in immediately find ourselves on the set of a terribly low budget bad guy kills all the stupid teens horror movie.
The light is flickering as we walk in and in front of us is a courtyard that was in major need of some upkeep. The skies were gray which only added to the eerie vibe the building was giving off, there was not a soul in sight and all the plants in that courtyard were beyond dead.
To our right we see a little sign that reads “ The Loft Hostel 4th Floor”. We had two ways of getting up there the stairs or a coffin sized elevator that seriously looked like it belong in a haunted house or tower of terror at the very least. So as we make our way up the run down stairs I can feel everyone starting to get mad at me for booking what we all thought at that moment was going to be our death…
Things didn’t get better when we got on the 3rd floor. Again there we were greeted with another sign pointing toward the loft hostel. We then had to walk around the 3rd level of the courtyard to the other side were there was another set of stairs.
These stairs were wooden and ridiculous run down and to make matters worse there was acreppy wooden door on this ‘staircase’ that led to nowhere. I though for sure we were going to be taken. I didn’t understand though how this could have happened. The hostel had a 98% approval rating and it looked great in pictures…
We finally made our way all the way up to the ‘4th floor’ were there was a door at the end of the hallway that had Loft Hostel on it. We open the door and YES its not a hell hole. Its actually a nice place.. its actually
a really nice place!?!? With FREE cookies and nuttela andhot chocolate. YES
Once inside we got settled into our private 6 person room …were for the first time in a week we all had OUR OWN BEDS we made our way to Budda. (the other side of the river)
We did some sightseeing and climbed up a mountain to St. Matias church and the palace
(we would later find out that there were stairs)
Because the euro is stronger than the hufflepuff and because hungry is not an expensive country to travel within we were able to again get a ridiculous amount of food for close to nothing. It was also at this time that we discovered the most delicious thing EVER
For about 50cents you could get a fresh croissant that was as big as your head that was filled and dipped in chocolate. Naturally we all got one.
For dinner that day we decided to make breakfast omelets. Madeline and I made this and added one special ingredient to the mix. Wine. Turns out eggs taste better when they have been mixed with a bit of wine who knew?
After dinner we decided to have a chill night so we stayed in at the hostel that night and did what every American student in Europe should do. Watch Taken.
Day 2
The next day we got up bright and early and made our way to our free waking tour.
After the walking tour we went home and had some lunch and then went right back out because our walking tour guide had told us that this was a very special weekend in Budapest because there was a lot going on. Like a massive pillow fight in the middle of the town square were people write words on pillows and then have a pillow fight as a way of letting out negative feelings out in a positive way. Or at least that’s how she explained it.
So we get to this square eager to see this pillow fight and WOMP WOMP nothing. Nada. No one was there. It was at this point that we started to question everything our tour guide had told us.
Was Budapest really pronounced Budda-pesht by Hungarians or was that some joke they played on all the Americans? Was the market really the best place to eat? The list of doubts goes on….
After that letdown we headed home and made pasta for dinner.
Day 3
We got another early start to make the most of our last full day of break and walked around the famous streets of Budapest making our way to the Opera house and the Terror museum before finally making our way to city park.
After walking around city park for awhile we made our way the Hungarian bath house.
Which as home to more than 15 different indoor and outdoor pools, a sauna and spa. This would be the perf
ect way to relax after 10 days of traveling.
My favorite bath was the one that was outdoor. Although you nearly froze to death trying to get into it once inside it was well worth it the water was so warm and it was really nice just to be able to sit there and look up at the sky.
After spending a couple of hours at the baths we made our way to dinner. We had heard nothing but positive things about this little restaurant by our hostel that made great duck so we decided to go there.
The entire 30min walk back Madeline kept singing. Oh NOM NOM where’s my Duck. Once there Cory, Madeline, Meg and Ryan got the duck. I got steak which came served with a mountain of fried caramelized onion and French fries. NOM NOM
After a very satisfying meal we headed back to the hostel and got ready for the long day of traveling ahead of us
DAY4
We woke up bright and early having really enjoyed the past 9 days but more than ready and eager to be back home in Granada. We left our hostel and started making our way to catch a bus which would take us from Budapest to Bratsliva, where we would be flying out of to head home to Granada.
Were walking and walking, and we start noticing that were still not there and still not there. Meg looks at her watch we have 15min to get there. So we power walk and power walk and power walk
Still no bus station in sight
10min left on the clock….
The 7 of us start full on running. This was not at all an enjoyable experience. For one running in boots is not comfortable or practical and running with a huge backpack which at that moment felt more like an 50lb gorilla is never okay.
We ran for a while the guys were a block or so ahead and after running up a flight of stairs we saw the bus. THANK GOD ryan had ran ahead and stalled the bus because if it were not for him we would have missed that bus because the second the last of us got on that bus was moving.
Looking back we are so lucky to have made that bus. I don’t event know what would have happened if we didn’t. How we would have gotten home and how much that would have cost all of us.
Once in Bratislava it quickly became apparent to us why the movie hostel was filmed there and we were more than happy to just board and plane and head on home
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