24 Hours in Budapest

Budapest. Around 3:30 we head out on strassenbahn 18 to Sudtiroler Platz to catch the Orange Ways bus to Hungary. It’s supposed to be 1500 Hungarian Forints ,but since we did not buy them ahead of time it cost us 15 euros. My 4 friends and I shell out the euros and get on the bus. This is the nicest bus I have ever been on. Even better, we are the only ones on it. The bus has a stewardess, a cute stewardess, who serves you cappuccinos and hot chocolate. The scenery between Vienna and Budapest could easily be mistaken for the Midwest. The landscape consists of wind turbines and corn fields. I watched “Failure to Launch” in Hungarian with English subtitles. One thing I’ve always taken for granted is the fact that most of the entertainment I watch originates in America. My favorite bands, movies, books, TV shows, pretty much all American. Here, their favorite bands, movies, books, TV shows are mainly American. Hungarian-speaking Sarah Jessica Parker is not nearly as attractive as English-speaking SJP. Same thing with the 007 movie I watched on the way home. 007 is not nearly as smooth in Hungarian. On a related note, watching TV here is horrible. When good shows come on they are in German. Not only are they in German, they don’t even attempt to imitate the voices and inflections of the actors. House’s sarcasm and derogatory comments are just not as cutting in when dubbed.
Ok, so private bus to Hungary. Beautiful Scenery. Delicious Coffee. Cute Stewardess. Comfortable seats. Harvest Landscape. Now we arrive in Budapest. At the bus stop we go directly to the ATM. The exchange rate between HUF and USD is about 180 to 1. My buddy tries to take out money, but is denied. We decide to go to a more reputable ATM later. We go underground to the subway system in search of a hostel. Having no Forints we use our credit cards to buy Subway passes. In Austria the checking of tickets is a sting operation. You can free ride the public transport 95% of the time. However, if you get caught you get a 70 euro ticket. Luckily, I have never been caught. The one time I did get caught I spoke in Spanish and got out of it with my invalidated ticket. In Hungary, they have people standing at the entrances and some exits checking tickets.
We take the subway into the center of the city and start to wander around in search of a hostel. While we are searching I go to take money out of the ATM. Once I get to the ATM I freeze. I can’t do math. Hungarian units of currency are in such huge numbers that I screw up a zero or two. Encouraged by my two friends, I take out 100,000 Hungarian Forints. Checking my banking statement today, that equates to $560 USD. I hate currency. If any future employers are reading this (and I pray to G-d that they are not) I am telling you right now do not make me work with currency. I hate currency and exchange rates. I like all of the financial instruments except currency. When the dollar was king, I loved exchange rates. In Canada, your money was worth twice as much, in Europe it was about equal. But now, our money is worth bunk. If we want 1 to 1 we go to Canada, if you want 1 to 1.5 go to Europe. If you want to blow all your money go to Switzerland (100 USD to 104 Swiss Francs).
So, we are wandering around Budapest. We stop, ask for hostels, get a free map, and then see the word “hostel” spray painted on the sidewalk. My Oregonian travel buddy had been saying all evening “Just look for sketchy alleyways, walk down it, and then you’ll find a hostel.” Sure enough, the spray painted arrows lead us around a dark corner, into an alleyway, up a flight of stairs, to two hostels. There were two hostels across the courtyard from each other. After talking to both proprietors, we go for the Gingko Hostel. We get a pretty sick 5 person bedroom, lock our stuff up, and head out for the night.
By this time we are famished. We embark for on a quest for Hungarian Goulash. We wander, we ask for directions, we get hungrier and hungrier. Finally, we send someone into a nice hotel to ask the concierge, and just around the corner is the perfect restaurant. We walk into the warmth and head to their second floor. We have a private dining room. We order wine and are presented with a delicious menu written in Hungarian and English. Everything looks so good that no one want to order Goulash. I had ham that was covered in cream, garlic, spices, thinly sliced potato, and cheese all baked in a crock. Five of us eat a great dinner which ends up costing around $40 USD. It was one of the best meals I have had so far in Europe.
After dinner we head to the Old Man’s Pub. We go in and we come back out. Next door there is a cafeteria style bar. A half a liter of beer costs 250HUF. 4cl Absinthe shots are 600HUF. It’s the weirdest mix of people I have ever seen. There are punks drinking wine and raspberry drinks, old people drinking beer, and tons of youngins taking shots of whiskey. We stay in the bar long enough to watch a soccer match, a boxing match, and sing along with Hungarians. One very drunk Hungarian man comes up to our table and starts speaking to us in English. “I want everyone in the here to sing. Do you know American songs? How about Backstreet Boys …You are my fire, my one desire…” Minutes later the whole bar is singling and clapping to “Stand by Me.” We sing another classic hits and head out.
On the way home we stop at a real club. We head downstairs to check it out. The bar was pretty cool, so I figured the clubs in Budapest might be pretty cool. I have never seen a more wiggers in one room in my life. Another thing I don’t understand is how so many Europeans dress like American gang members. I doubt they even know what a Blood or a Crip is. They imitate American culture with no concept of where those fashions originated. Baggy Jeans, backwards caps, and graphic tees with random English words. I’ve seen people here with shirts that just say “North Dakota” or “Minneapolis, Minnesota” not to mention all of the “I<3ny".>We spend a total of 90 seconds in this club before turning around. We go back to our hostel, do some history homework, the boys get gyro kabobs, and it is time to sit in the hostel and let the absinthe wear off.
Sunday
After breakfast at the hostel we don our backpacks and head out for some sightseeing. The Danube in Budapest is much more impressive than the chopped up Danube that we have flowing through Vienna. The city is very similar to Vienna, but has a distinctively Eastern European feel. There are a lot more open green spaces than in Vienna. We hit the main sights and head back to the bus station. We look all around Budapest for some Hungarian Goulash, but many of the restaurants are closed on Sundays. We make it back to the bus station with no since breakfast. The only option is Burger King. We all get the Whopper meal (which is way more expensive than our meal the night before) and take advantage of the free restroom. A few hours later I am back in Vienna. 24 well spent hours in Budapest.