for the first time on my trip i am sad to be leaving a city. typically i have found that 3 or so days is enough to see what you need to and then i'm ready to move on to the next place. although i have seen most of the touristy things there are to see here, i still don't want to leave, not for a very long time.
there is something different about this place that has made me fall in love with it, but i seem to have a lot of difficulty putting my finger on what the cause of this is. bare with me as i try to put into words why it is that my heart has been stolen by the 'huns' (hungarians).
budapest has all the perks that most large european cities possess; beautiful castles, cathedrals, and heaps of history. however, being a central/eastern european country i don't think that it gets nearly the amount of tourist as the western european countries do. i think because of this, my time in budapest has felt more like 'real life' and less like vacation. i suppose that not everyone would desire this type if feeling while on vacation but for me, on my mission in becoming more european, budapest truly allowed me to feel like i somewhat accomplished it (still not the appearance; backpacking doesn't really allow for the classy european look).
i'm staying at a hostel that is a loft apartment that is very small, speaking in hostel terms. 'the loft' (which is the name of the hostel) only had 17 beds, compared to the usual 100+ in normal hostels. the space has allowed for us to become very close, very quickly. we do everything together; saw the city's sites, made trips to the supermarket for our nightly communal meals, silly dance parties, family games nights, and we supported our friends local band at the pub down the street. again, all these things that reminded me of things i love to do at home with my friends and family. it has been fantastic to feel at home and to do things that feel more familiar and normal for a change. so fantastic that i missed my flight to rome (on purpose) so that i could stay an extra night with my new found friends.
however, all good things must come to an end so that new good things can start. the next good thing on my plate will be pasta, pasta, pasta! off to italy i go!
some interesting facts that i learnt from my new hungarian friends;
- the average person with a highly recognized career such as a doctor or lawyer only makes about €500 a month, that's roughly $620 canadian dollars.
- the unemployment rate in budapest is around 14% and in other areas of hungary it's as high at 42%.
- hungarian is one of the worlds hardest languages to learn.
- budapest was rated the number 3 most livable city in all of europe last year. when you think of how high the unemployment rate is this stat is rather shocking. but i did some digging and it is indeed true, everyone, myself include, wants to live in budapest!
 Let me take you on a little tour of where I have been living while in this wonderful city! This here is the court yard of the apartment building that our hostel was in. The hostel, which was appropriately named 'loft hostel' was exactly that, a giant loft apparentment in theheart of Pest.  | ||
| Hostel kitchen space (there was a full kitchen, oven, stove ect. that you are unable to see) |
Common living space.
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| Traditional Hungarian baths, aka pretty public swimming pools. |
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The castle district. This is on the 'Buda' side of the city. This isn't just your average wardrobe. This is a tea house in Pest that is so bizarre, it's filled with secret rooms. You actually walk into this wardrobe which leads to.... (see the next picture) |
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| this hallway of mirrors, and then from there into... (next picture). |
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A tree house looking room with ropes and swings where you
can sit and enjoy one of the many kinds of teas. So random, but a wonderful place. |
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| Steel shoes line the river as a memorial to the Jews that were marched here, forced to take off their shoes, shot, then dumped in the river. |
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| Chain bridge. |
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| Traditional Hungarian meat pancakes. |
60 cents for this 'jumbo' can of beer. Everything is sooo
cheap in Budapest.
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| Our local coffee shop. A few steps up from Starbucks I would say. |
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| Apparently if you cheer loud enough you then become the bands backup dancers (me and my girlfriends both to the left and right of the picture). The main guitarist is the owner of the hostel. |
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| Traveling nomads. Chill, low maintenance backpackers by day. Lovely ladies by night. Girls staying at my hostel. |
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