Bud-ain’t-pest!

Hungary - Budapest (22-24 Aug)

So we stayed in the beautiful Budapest for a mere 3D2N which to me was one of my bigger regrets of this trip because there were simply too many sights and sounds to admire in this awesome city. Trust me when I say it’s awesome because initially Beat and I were told that Budapest was going to be just like Prague… Which kind of crushed us. I’m glad that wasn’t the case.

The audacity to even compare Budapest to Prague! :O

Hungary has a rich history where she got ‘engulfed’ by both the Nazis and Soviets in both World Wars. It’s sad when we went to feed our brains at the torture museum (pun) but I’m glad they managed to finally break out of all the horrible fighting and become independent again. Speaking of which, there was this once when the 2 Asians in Europe (fyi: our exclusive hash tag on instagram) happily popped by a random church along the way as how we usually would do. But this time, being monkey see, monkey do, we followed an elderly couple to the basement of the church. Ah yes we should have guessed - The columbarium.

If there’s any motto in life I live by, it’s that everything happens for a reason. And most of the time, we just need to see the good in it. So although it was a bit chilling to walk through the  dead silent aisle of the columbarium, we noticed that many of the war survivors passed away just recently in May and July 2014. Which was heartening to know that they lived for so long to share their numerous stories and life lessons to us. They have suffered for so long… And now, eternal happiness and peace will be theirs :‘) May God keep their souls close to Him and bless them all.

Sorry I sidetracked. But did you know? Buda means 'hills’ while ‘pest’ is flat land. And that’s exactly what Budapest is. A lake (river/ canal/longkang?) separates the two areas; Buda and Pest. Which is really interesting isn’t it? They have their local currency called Hungarian Forint or Ft for short. Most shops accept Euros as well but it’ll be at your loss since their exchange rate typically sucks balls (worse than bank rates). Only our hostel uses real time exchange rates which was really nice of them! If you ever want to find a place to stay in Budapest, I highly recommend ‘Come on Inn’ as your place of lodging. Its a family-owned hostel which is unpretentious and has great location & price. The rooms were spacious and although there was one other Russian dude together with Tess, an Aussie in the room with us, we had lots of space to spread our gross clothing all over. Oh oh oh and the hostel provides lockers so that’s an added bonus!

I really could go on and on about how beautiful and quaint Budapest is, but I think I should leave it in point form for now to avoid a research paper…

Here are some reasons why I personally loved Budapest:

1) Everyone was happier in Budapest. Random people on the streets being all cheery from their Hen night or Bachelor party. To buskers performing with a cheer. The mood was just so much more light hearted.

2) Night life goes beyond 1900 hours. I think this is a very very important bonus point for any part of Europe since so many shops close at 1900 h AND can we not forget their 2 hour lunch breaks… So yes, shops in Budapest wins in this aspect. (Disclaimer: We visited on Saturday and shops were closed due to some Jewish festival that day)

3) Calm and tranquility. Indeed there was a certain peace in the area. I personally didn’t feel as jittery as I did in Prague and having to double check all my belongings every 5 minutes or so. It just generally felt a tad safer. But this point is highly subjective, so don’t take my word for it.

4) One Singapore dollar gives you 180 Hungarian forint. Feeling rich yet? Well yes, that’s probably why Hungary was great for cheapo aunties like Beat and I. Our favourite cafe has got to be Drum Cafe because we visited the place 3 times in the short span of 3 days. Wow a daily average of one visit per day!

That’s all for now. I’m certain I would want to return to Budapest once again. :)

Nomz,
Cam