Goat Hostel Budapest

... Hill, which was pretty unremarkable. So unremarkable that I don’t really remember anything that was there.

I also very much looked forward to the House of Terror, a museum that documented the trials & tribulations of those who sinned against the state during the communist era; it turned out to be quite possibly the most overrated thing on the whole trip. It was obvious that a lot of money had been put into the museum with its nice & flashy exhibits ...

Greetings, So we decided to live the life of Franz Joseph and travel to the other imperial capital of Austro-Hungarian empire and day trip it to Budapest. Our train left super early so we could make it to Budapest by midmorning. If you all recall per the 2003 visit (as Stein pointed out numerous times and made fun of me for pointing out) Budapest is actually historically two cities...Buda set in the hills overlooking the Danube and the more cosmopolitan and flat Pest ...

... giving the island its name. Nowadays the island is residence to a number of famous thermal baths and health spas and judging by the number of people jogging its circumference it's also the site of relaxation for many Budapestis. As the boat rolls back to its berth on the dock the impressive 'liberation monument' atop Gellert hill is in full view. A throw back to the Soviet-era, it's a sculpture depicting a woman holding aloft a palm frond commemorating the red army's liberation of ...

... that I could catch a bus to Esztergom. But...she said I couldn't buy a ticket on the bus. It was already about eleven in the morning. I considered whether I should choose another destination, but I didn't give it up. That was a bad choice, again. Then I talked to a ticket seller and she suggested me to go to Aquincum where I could take a train to Estergom. After all these process, I was finally able to take a transportation to Esztergom. The train station was far away from the ...

... outside to have a beer before heading back into the water again. At night we headed out for Clinto's bday dinner and some drinks at some local pubs where we met up with Monica, a local Hungarian girl who worked for the apartments where we were staying and who I might add Clinto had his eyes on! We then met 2 more local girls and headed to 2 different pubs where the night ended at 3am after many beers, rums and tequila shots for the boys. The following day ...

... landmarks and monuments were cleaned up. It was really spectacular to see the transformation. As I learned over the course of the weekend, however, this certainly hasn't been without a cost. Social benefits have been cut, and taxes have gone up to fund all this development (including a new metro line), yet government spending still runs high and their deficit is well above where it needs to be to join the Euro-zone. Inflation is high making those on ...

... to actually light one up. Lots of dogs wherever we go, cafe's and mopeds. It's very cool here, like Ottawa. Haven't figured out how to send luggage to Vienna yet, so better get on that. Put the bikes back together this am, a little worse for wear, but ridable I think. Ok gotta go, places to see, things to eat, and beer to drink. Bye for now Emma/Steve or Steve/Emma depending on whose camp you're from.

Szia! I'm still hanging on by a thread....totally had enough of being here now, it's no joke! Work is just too much hard work and soooooooo bloody boring. I'm just sat behind the girl I'm training not being able to do anything apart from count the hairs on the back of her head (approx 1,200!)The day goes so slowly and yes I'm getting paid to do "nothing" but it's awful. The atmos has completely changed, everyone's so serious and i got told off for laughing out loud the other ...

... accosted by another hostel, which turned out to be the greatest hostel known to man...mixed 8 bed dorm, 3 guys, 5 girls, you do the math. But i'll quickly talk about budapest...it were cool. (i'm back there on saturday to catch my flight on sunday so i'll talk about it then). Saturday night, pizza express for dinner, cheaper there obviously. Had a chicken salad. Didn't appreciate waitress telling me twice that service wasn't included when i tried to pay (don't think subtlety ...