Budapest -
I was looking forward to Budapest for many weeks before arriving. I had heard my brother speak highly of it and have really never heard a bad word uttered about it - only that it is beautiful. I totally agree with this statement but what is strange about my time in Budapest - is that I saw very little of the city I had been looking forward to; yet, had a fantastic time there and genuinely hope to return. How did this happen you might ask...
It happened like this....
2 years ago, I swore I would never take another overnight train anywhere. Some people love them - you don't waste daylight traveling, you save the money on accommodations and it is an adventure. Yes, maybe and not really. On my last overnight train from Vienna to Neuchatel - I slept poorly, was hot and was absolutely crammed into a couchette tighter than tuna in a can. AND, the next day, I managed to tear my ACL and I think it was because of the fatigue. This time was only a little better - I still slept poorly, was hot and was still crammed into a couchette - although with only 2 more people rather than 3. I arrived in Budapest around 8:30am and immediately began searching for an ATM to get Hungarian money....I had used my Polish money up - the Zloty. I wandered for a while not understanding why I couldn't find an ATM - finally, I was told there was one in the Post Office. I found the one I needed and proceeded to put my ATM card into the bank machine....Nothing. Hmmmmm.....I pushed Cancel.....Nothing. Hmmmmm - at this point, my stomach started to tighten up a little. I pushed a couple other buttons......Nothing. Uh-Oh. I turned around and found a guy watching me from behind the counter. I politely asked him if he spoke English....he grunted what I thought was a "Yes". In a mixture of words and mimes, I explained to him what had happened at the machine....even though he had seen. He said, "Sorry. You come back Monday." Mind you, it is Saturday morning. I have no cash - only Credit Cards. This was my first lesson that I should always keep some emergency cash on hand. I have never taken a cash advance on a Credit Card and didn't even know how to begin trying. I again, explained the position not having this card put me in....and wasn't there someone we could call?? Believe it or not, he snapped the window shut in my face. Shock turned into fury in about 5 seconds flat and I began to bang on the window he had just shut. He tried to ignore me, but whoa be unto the man who attempts to do that. He finally turned to me and I pursed my lips, pointed at him and crooked my finger saying, "Get your ass over here....NOW!!" He came (as they do) and I got "American" on him....telling him that I understood it was not his problem, but there had to be something he could do, someone he could call or something he could recommend. He told me to go see the people next door b/c it was their machine, which I did. They were rude as well but somehow a key was found to the machine and MAGICALLY that asshole behind the window knew what to do with the key.....put it in the keyhole, turn the key and take the front of the machine off to retrieve my card. Asshole doesn't even beging to describe what I wanted to call him.
After that hour of stress I set off for the Hostel, got there and, of course, it was too early to check in, which I had expected. They were super cool about offering me coffee, a shower, a place to lounge, etc. So, I pulled out the old iPad to check email and Facebook. I got to FB and noticed that I was tagged in a picture by someone. I thought it strange that they would have a picture of me. Being tagged in a picture should come with a Warning. I clicked the button and up popped this old picture of me and my mom from when I was 7 yrs. old up at her work, my future high school. I have seen the picture before and love it, it is in one of the yearbooks from the 80's - but that is the last thing I expected to see.....and what do you think happened?? I TOTALLY fell apart. Completely. It just took me too by surprise and my defenses were down. Terribly, the Hostel was beginning to wake up and there I was this sobbing, blubbering girl - trying to get myself back together - but every time someone asked me if I was "ok", it just started the leaky tears again. Once I had started, I couldn't stop them. Everybody was SO sweet and SO sympathetic and I was SO embarrassed!! Finally, the "manager" directed me to a balcony seeing that some privacy might help me.....which it did. I proceeded to meet some of the most wonderful people out on the balcony within the next hour who totally turned my morning around and became my "entourage" of people who will forever be tied to my memories of Budapest - 6 22-24 yr old Aussies. I was definitely older than all of them (save one American my age) but I completely adored every single one of them. This is the reason I didn't do nearly as much as I would have liked in Budapest....hanging with young Aussies is tough work...especially on the liver.
Meet them in all their glory...
1. Sinead - aka Shades - a dark-haired, perceptive,intuitive, well-traveled, well-educated future architect on her way to Shanghai to build the future cities of the world. My first encounter on the balcony, reading Ernest Hemingway.
2. RichardLewis or LewisRichard depending on who you are talking to - the 2 guys that got me over the hump on the balcony. Richard is tall, with dark eyes and a mop of curly hair - his game was making people guess where he is from. Australia is NEVER the first guess....more like Italy, Spain or somewhere in Middle East. Lewis is also tall and dark-haired, but not dark complected like Richard and rolls the meanest cigarette in Europe and Australia. After talking to them for about 45 minutes, smoking a few cigarettes and deciding that it was time to get the day back on track....I asked them their names - because I had forgotten in my sadness - they answered...Richard Lewis....I burst into laughter and said I would have no trouble remembering that as it is a "character" on one of my favorite shows on HBO - Curb Your Enthusiasm. I had a genuine smile on my face by that time....especially after RichardLewis. I'm not sure any of us called them by their actual names...rather, the combination of both until it got confusing who we were talking about and flipped the name according to who we were talking about.
3. Carmen - Sinead's best friend - tall, blonde, beautiful in that Australian way and incredibly laid back. Such a sweet story - she and Sinead have been friends since they were 1 or 2 years old and when they were 4 or 5, told their mothers that they were going to travel the world together. And they are!
4. Justin Carlton - the American my age. I don't even really know what his real last name is - for some reason, we all thought his name was Carlton before cementing the fact that it was actually "Justin" - so we called him Justin Carlton. He is an Arizona native and works in International Aid. A photographer, an artist, a superb DJ - he kept us with the freshest tunes in the Hostel - and a guy with a solid perspective on life. Also the first person there in the Hostel that was witness to my "Come Apart" after seeing the picture.
5. Ben - one of the funnies "young guys" I have come across in recent memory with his sidekick "Sneaky Pete". On my last morning...Ben (who had been in Budapest for 8 or 9 days) proceeded to ask the question..."So what is with this Buda and Pest...are they, like, 2 different places?" As we looked at him in disbelief and said "Yes"..he then asked...."So where is Budapest?" You all know me - he didn't hear the end of this one for several hours!!
6. Sneaky Pete - the name should say it all. A little guy, with an incredible amount of energy and as the smaller ones normally are - funny as hell and super quick with the wit and comebacks. His last name is Proust and it still has yet to be proven to me that his Great Uncle is Mr. Marcel....i.e. Marcel Proust. I truly hope it turns out to be true.
So - my time in Budapest consisted of the following....
1. Great breakfasts at a place called Keno beneath our Hostel that made the most decadent Hot Chocolate I have ever tasted.
2.Walking, Walking, Walking, Walking....to nowhere.
3. Great plans - to go to a beer tasting, wine tasting, the Castle, a botanical garden, the art museum, the great Synagogue.....none happened.
4. Lots of beers with Aussies
5. Hours spent in front of the computer laughing my ass off at various YouTube spectacles.
6. A decadent last day at the Rudas Baths....this was something!!
7. A cruise along the Danube listening to 2 voices called "Buda" and "Pesc"...giving me some history.
8. 3 bottles of Hungarian Wine
9. A killer view of some Performance Arts place next to our Hostel - which was located in a very old building with a cool courtyard- which would have been cooler if the fountain worked.
10. Heat
11. Cigarettes on a sweet little balcony
12. A shoulder massage courtesy of RichardLewis
13. A new reading list - courtesy of the Aussies
14. Amazing conversations that went way deeper than 22-24 years
So, as I said, Budapest was not spent in the typical way. However, I think it was a valuable experience and one that I will remember.
I continue to move East.....to Istanbul......
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