I've been in Budapest for the past four days and it has been a very relaxing trip. Normally when I visit a new place I have a list of places to see, restaurants to check out, and bars to go to. This time I didn't have any of that done since I made my decision to go to Budapest at the train station. When I arrived here I went straight to an Internet Cafe to find a place to stay. I found a very cute hostel right in the center of Budapest.
A lot of people have asked me what these hostels are like....it's a good question because I had no idea until I started this trip. Most of the hostels that I have stayed in are like college dorms. They are mid-rise buildings with a bunch of rooms that you share with another traveler, sometimes you may have 4 or 6 people to a room. It all depends. All the good hostels have big bars on the bottom floor with a fun lounge area for the people staying in the hostel. In the beginning I had 2 bad experiences of staying in a hostel...the rooms were dirty and I really thought Justin was going to win his bet about me checking into a 5 Star hotel in the first week of my trip. I eventually figured out how to weed out the good hostels from the bad ones so now I haven't had any problems in the last 3 weeks! The great thing about hostels is that everyone is in the same boat. Most people are all traveling by themselves so it's a very easy way to meet people.
SO, back to my hostel in Budapest....this place was very small and quaint. There were only 8 people staying there but it was the cutest place that I've stayed in. There was a kitchen where everyone would hang out, eat together, and watch movies. The funny thing about this place was that all of us were on the same page. We were all really tired and exhausted from traveling from place to place. Obviously tired and exhausted in a good way but we just needed a place to chill and this place was perfect for that. During the time that I was in Budapest I did not go on any formal tours or go inside any museums. I needed a break! Budapest is a beautiful city so I walked and ran the whole area everyday. I started feeling guilty for not doing the traditional sight seeing tours but I felt better once I stopped into a tourist shop and saw all the postcards with the major landmarks. I was proud to say that I had seen all these places during my walks/jogs. I don't know the significance of every building like I did in the earlier countries but I will read up on it later.
Outside of walking and jogging, I've been eating tons of bread and taking many baths. Hungarian food has been okay. It's not as great as all the other food that I've been eating but the bread here is fantastic. I love going to the bakery and filling my backpack with bread and eating it all day. I need to stock up on my supply before I get on the train tonight for Vienna.
As for the baths......OH HOW I LOVE TURKISH BATHS. I had no idea what this was but I heard from the others in my hostel that this was a must do activity in Budapest. A Turkish Bath has several steps...First step is a spa treatment (I did the full body mud wrap), Second step varies by person but generally you sit in a pool of hot water (hot spring) for as long as you want. Then you sit in a sauna as long as you want. Finish it off by taking a cool swim in a swimming pool. These baths are great places for people to hang out and it is a big part of the social scene. You can also opt out of the spa treatment and just do the hot springs, sauna, and swimming pool. I took a bath all four days here. It was so relaxing!
A major PLUS of Budapest is that all the services are cheap. Clothes, shoes, accessories are all the same as the U.S. but going out to eat and anything service related is very affordable. Two perfect illustrations...Ladies, I got my legs and underarms waxed for $15. That included the tip. It was actually $10 but I gave her a $5 tip. Guys, it's actually cheaper to get a bottle of beer than it is to get a bottle of water. SO, if you want to save money you should just drink beer. BTW... The full on bath experience was $35 (including tip) so it is common for most people here to do this at least once a week.
One last observation I want to bring up before I finish this entry...I have mentioned in earlier blogs that I really enjoy meeting the other backpackers. It's so interesting to see all walks of like in these hostels. There is a 62 year old backpacker from Australia staying my hostel and he has been traveling since August. I don't really know his whole story. We only talk about our traveling experiences. Then there is also a married couple staying in our hostel too. This is actually not the first time I've seen a married couple in a hostel with me. In fact I shared a room with a couple in Munich and we are all sleeping in our own separate bunk bed. Prior to this trip I always thought that college kids or hippies stayed in hostels. I was completely wrong. It seems like everyone outside of the U.S. stays in hostels when they travel. For me and my friends back home we would never think of a hostel as an option. We always stay in hotels but now, I see a totally different side to traveling. I guess it all comes down to what you hope to gain from your traveling experience. When I talk to these other travelers about staying in hostels they all have the same response, "Why would we want to spend the money on a hotel when we could use that money to see more countries?" It all makes sense now because these people have been to so many more places than me. Hostel life has been good to me but I'm very excited to stay in a hotel in Croatia with Talin...750 thread count sheets are waiting for me in four days!!!!
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