Decided against the obvious "Hungry" pun
Trip Start
Jun 04, 2008
1
14
17
Trip End
Ongoing
Balatonfured,
Lake Balaton,
Hungary
Thursday, July 17, 2008
Before I get into the itty gritty I want to tell you about our H2o woes in Europe. It all began in Germany. Matty bought a six pack of 1.5 litre waters. As he walked out of the supermarket he had his arms in the air claiming his brillinace. I clapped giving the man credit where it was deserved. All was well untill that afternoon when we both got back to the van dying of thirst. We both opened a bottle and chugged only to have our throats burn, it was firewater, it was terrible, it was sparkling water. Since this incident we have bought 2 more six packs, been served about 5 bottles in restaurants and bought numerous single bottles of firewater in various shops. Each time thinking we were purchasing actual water. We now hate sparkilng water with a passion. Whilst cold it is consumable (just) imagine hot sparkilng water 24/7
Skyping in the mexican joint
. Europe is a sparkling water lovers oasis. Combine this with our inability to read each and every bottle and you have 2 (now 3) not so bubbly Aussies. Matt has now resorted to opening each bottle in the store before purchasing and after accidently purchasing another six pack of fire water yesterday I have thrown in the towel and will be doing the same. One of our highlights yesterday was when Max ordered a still water at a cafe and was given firewater (cold at least). Anyway enough with the whinging.......We arrived in Budapest last Saturday afternoon. Getting to Budapest was quite easy however finding our destination proved to be murderous. Tensions were high and our conclusion is that the Lonely Planet map for Budapest was probably drawn by a preschool kid (with crayons). We pulled up in City Park quite hungry and agitated (Me hungry= not good). Maxi went walkabout trying to find the hostel that appealed to him from the LP. Matt and I went to a nearby large tent that had music. We grabbed a meal, a beer and watched the local oldies dancing away. The atmosphere was vibrant and picked up our spirits. We managed to have a few beers before Maxi returned looking quite unhappy. The hostel had been abandoned and he had walked a half hour each way to get there. He grabbed a feed and a beer and before long we were wondering where we'd party that night. One of the barmen recommended a cub on the other side of the river. We caught a cab and checked it out
Bohemian cafe
.The bar was quite like a small festival, being outdoors and packed with over a thousand people. We chatted to a few locals and challenged them at foozball. We had a bit of a dance and decided we'd had enough. The cab driver fleeced us on the way home zig zagging through the streets but this was nothing compared to the fleecing that would occur a few days later.
We woke up late, as usual and hit the local baths. Schenzyl baths was located in City Park and contained over 15 different pools both inside and outside. We spent a few hours changing from pools (all various temperatures) and sweating it out in the sauna. Afetr this we walked around town and Maxi checked into a hostel (another bad nights sleep). We ates some Mexican which made me miss my adventures in Central America a little. We grabbed some beer and watched Will Ferrel clips on youtube. The night was a bit of a rager in a bohemia bar in the centre of town. We managed to meet a group of Irish girls and reminisced on our journey around the land of the shamrock. We dropped Maxi about 50m from his hostel and bid farewell. The next morning he informed us that he was pickpocketed by a prostitute between Maccas and the hostel. Whilst grabbing his crotch she managed to steal his wallet with all of his cards. As she jumped in a getaway car maxi knew what had happened and dreaded having to tell us his story the next day
We had another day strolling around the city
The lads
. As we walked up to the old castle in central Buda we agreed that this city was more beautiful than Prague. Matt is still sticking to his guns with London as his favourite but I think he's biased because of Carrie. After taking some photos and exploring more of the city we had a quiet late afternoon. We had a few beers and went on a mission around the city, being a Monday we didn't find much happening until our last stop. We went to a large nightclub named Rio which had a reasonable crowd. We just sat around and had a beer and a few waters (serious). Watching some particular locals go about picking up women along with some strange dancing proved to be the highlight of the night.The next day we realised that the lights to the van had been left on again. Once again the battery was dead as a doorknob. In my defence I think that they were bumped in the middle of the night but I guess we'll never know. Matt and I played Badminton in the park whilst contemplating our options. After trying to puch start Karl we were told by a local that it doesnt work on Diesels. In an act of desperation we asked a restaurant nearby and an absolute legend of a man came to our aid and gave us a jump. In a show of appreciation we had dinner at his restaurant and thanked him graciously. Relieved we headed into town to meet Maxi at the bar recommended by LP.
After an hour of searching and asking locals we came to the conclusion that the map was once again worng
Karl filled to the brim
. We didn't find Maxi but we did go back to the same bar from two nights before. We met a couple of pommie larrikins and helped one of them celebrate his 24th. On the way to a net cafe at 1am Matty was approached by a rather ugly prostitute. Having heard Maxis's story Matt was quick to grab his wallet and the keys as she grabbed his crotch. Whilst laughing he told her to go away and that she wouldn't get anything. He was wrong, he forgot about his 50 Euros in his back pocket and that he had my mobile in the other (Dont bother trying to ring me mum).When we met up back at Karl we were adament that we'd had enough of Budapest and assured ourselves that
Lake Balaton would be awesome.
Yesterday Maxi woke us up at 11am (the agreed time of departure). Mat and I were sound asleep but quickly got changed eager to put the past behind us. Matt and Max shared their stories laughing and we photographed some re-enactments of the incidents. On the way out of the city we went crazy at drive through Maccas and took 10 years off our lives. We headed south west to Lake Balaton, Hungary's little piece of coastline in the centre of the country. It's one of the largest freshwater lakes in Europe and has many little villages around it which are very popular for both locals and international vsitors. We had a few dips yesterday and explored the town of Kinheley. Last night we checked out a few bars and met a couple of locals, we topped it off with some dodgy pizza and called it a night.
This morning we headed around the lake and found a good spot to laze about and read. Between swimming, reading and having a kip the day passed us by quite quickly. Right now Im in a little bar typing away in a rather lively little village on the lake (name unknown). Tomorrow we will probably head for Slovenia. Hope all is well back home or wherever you guys are.
Brad
Comments
Funny
Hi brad and Matt this blog made me laugh..The photos are great, you are all nuts...love Marg
From Hungary
Hey, happy to read about your adventures here! :) Just a hint about the water: in most CEE countries the ones with blue cap are sparkling, the ones with pink cap are not. So try this trick and go on exploring our region!