On the 5th day of the trip, Murph, Erik, Annie, Taz, Yas and myself headed to Bratislava by train. The train ride was a really warm one as they forgot to turn up the AC ☹. I was in a different hostel then the rest and I was put in a room with a Swedish girls dance team!! No, I am not lying. Too bad they didn’t stay in the room more then one night :p
Once I checked in, I met up with the rest of the crew and we went to the Slovak Pub where we had a great meal. After that we walked around the beautiful small town. In the evening we went to this cool bar on a boat on the Danube river where we had a few tequila shots. The thing that was special about these shots that, instead of having them with salt and a lemon slice like normal humans, we had them with cinnamon and blood oranges. I almost puked my guts out.
The next morning I stumbled out of my hostel to meet the others to do a bit more sightseeing. We met in front to the Slovakian parliament and then walked to the castle which wasn’t that spectacular. Then the others had other travel plans so I was left alone in Bratislava :o I took this time alone to have a nice side trip to Devin Castle, which is about 20 km from the center of Bratislava. From the Castle you get a great view of the Danude River, which has Slovakia on one side, and Austria on the other. I then finished off the night watching Austria vs Poland in a local Pub with cheap beers.
The thing that I appreciated to most about Budapest and Bratislava was not only the beautiful scenery but also the cheap prices. I’m really used to paying 7-10$ CAD for A beer in Oslo, and once I saw beer prices (prices in general) I almost pinched myself because I thought I was dreaming.
Next post: Vienna w00t !
Take care,
Jason
Ps All pictures that I took could be viewed HERE
Thursday, August 21, 2008
Sunday, August 3, 2008
Budapest!!
On June 7th I flew to Budapest, Hungary to visit Murph, a University and JDC buddy who was studying there. I was actually Murph’s frosh captain during his first week at University and he kind of blames me for his massive drinking problems… meh. Also visiting Murph was Erik (another JDC guy and another guy under my tutelage at frosh), Annie (Murph’s girlfriend), and 2 other of Murph’s friends, Taz and Yas. It was really cool to visit these guys, as I hadn’t spoke frenglish (English/French Canadian combo) in a while.
The first day in Budapest we visited St-Stephen’s cathedral and walked down Andrassy ut, which is a World Heritage site, all the way down to Heroes Square. I believe that night we ate some great Hungarian goulash which was packed with paprika, a very Hungarian spice.
The next day with had a tour of the Hungarian parliament, which is located alongside the Danube River. After that we went to the House of Terror. This museum is located on Andrassy ut and depicts the history of Nazi and communist rule in Hungary and Budapest. Then we all went to the Opera house to take in a play or a nap. Either way it cost 3$ to get in and the inside was beautiful. That night, Murph took us to Simpla, which is one of the student bars he frequented very often during the semester. After a few horrible shots and beers we went to the 24 hour pub near Murph’s place where we stayed until 6am ..ugh.
Needless to stay the next day was more of a relaxing one. We headed to one of Budapest’s famous baths to relax, swim and take a sauna. This was one of the best parts of my trip. After, we hiked up the Buda side of the city to get a nice view of the city. That night we went to this cool rooftop bar that closed at 1am.
The day after we went back up the hill to visit the Royal Palace and Fisherman’s bastion. Since the Euro cup was starting that day, we went to Marguerite Island to watch Spain (the eventual champs) vs Russia in a group match.
The next day all of us hopped on a train to Bratislava, which I will talk about more in the next post.
I was really surprised of how much there is to do in Budapest and it is truly a great city to visit. Having a tour guide that has studied there for 5 months also helps ;)
Take care,
Jason
The first day in Budapest we visited St-Stephen’s cathedral and walked down Andrassy ut, which is a World Heritage site, all the way down to Heroes Square. I believe that night we ate some great Hungarian goulash which was packed with paprika, a very Hungarian spice.
The next day with had a tour of the Hungarian parliament, which is located alongside the Danube River. After that we went to the House of Terror. This museum is located on Andrassy ut and depicts the history of Nazi and communist rule in Hungary and Budapest. Then we all went to the Opera house to take in a play or a nap. Either way it cost 3$ to get in and the inside was beautiful. That night, Murph took us to Simpla, which is one of the student bars he frequented very often during the semester. After a few horrible shots and beers we went to the 24 hour pub near Murph’s place where we stayed until 6am ..ugh.
Needless to stay the next day was more of a relaxing one. We headed to one of Budapest’s famous baths to relax, swim and take a sauna. This was one of the best parts of my trip. After, we hiked up the Buda side of the city to get a nice view of the city. That night we went to this cool rooftop bar that closed at 1am.
The day after we went back up the hill to visit the Royal Palace and Fisherman’s bastion. Since the Euro cup was starting that day, we went to Marguerite Island to watch Spain (the eventual champs) vs Russia in a group match.
The next day all of us hopped on a train to Bratislava, which I will talk about more in the next post.
I was really surprised of how much there is to do in Budapest and it is truly a great city to visit. Having a tour guide that has studied there for 5 months also helps ;)
Take care,
Jason
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