Bathing in Budapest

Our BlaBla Car ride into Budapest was perfect! We were so lucky to ride in Eva and Luka's car. They are a young married couple who live in Budapest but drive to and from Croatia every week! They were very fun to chat with and provided us with tons of info and ideas for our stay in Budapest. Once we arrived we checked into our first hostel which was one of the oldest in the city, then went to find our first local fare, Goulash. Bomb dot com. Meaty, potato, veggie papkrika soup. We had already missed the walking tour for the day so decided to do a bit ourselves. We walked over the White bridge crossing the Danube river to the Buda side of the city. Then proceeded to climb many, many stairs to reach the top of Gellert Hill overlooking the whole city. Every single person by the end of the climb was down to the bare minimum of clothing, sweating, but amazed by the view, ourselves included. After climbing down Michael needed a little more Hungarian soup so we found a sweet little spot and indulged. Walking from here we strolled through Jewish district finally landing in a very popular ruin pub. This place was insane. Old ruins filled with tons of bars, strapped together with what looks like makeshift circus tents, and odd ball decor all around. Old cars, park benches, pommel horse, gnomes on swings... You name it. After a few drinks we befriend a solo traveler, Mate. He works for the UN, speaks six languages and had just finished his previous assignment in Turkey! Amazing guy. Talking with him was very enlightening but also a bit sad hearing of the current state of the world from his very hands on perspective. However he remains positive and believes the best way to deal with issues we really have little control over is by remaining a good person yourself and eliminating negative actions and speech from our own lives! After leaving this bar Michael was able to find our way back to the hostel with a quick stop for late night pizza! Seriously he is the greatest person to travel with especially due to my complete lack of directional sense! No shame in my game. The next morning, being this morning for us, we wake up grab a quick bare bones breakfast at the hostel and head off to the free walking tour! By this point the rain was coming down pretty hard but determined we stuck with it! So worth it. The tour guide was amazing, we saw so much of the city and heard a ton of it's history. We also tried our next delicious local dish, langos. Basically a funnel cake type pastry but topped with sour cream and cheese. Again, amazing! After the tour we were a little cold and wet so to the baths we went! What a treat, outdoor bath with a sauna and cold dunk tub. We felt nice and relaxed for our walk back through the rain. We just arrived at our next hostel for the night, Maverick City Lodge. Definitely recommend this one. Quick nap then back out for some more ruin pub night life. Cheers!

Love,
A&M