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Sleep
Many people say that the night train or bus is a good way to save money and time, because you don't have to sleep in a hotel. However, those who have tried it know that sometimes it actually wastes time. We asked about reserving a bed on our ride from Salzburg to Budapest, but it turned out there were no beds on the train. We sat up in chairs and tried to sleep through the night as people came in to check our tickets and passports and whatnot. We were arrived after 7am, we went to a hostel and slept until afternoon.
Yellow Submarine Lotus Youth Hostel
Shortly before the train arrived, some young kid came into our compartment, woke us up, and asked us if we had a place to stay. He was pushing his group of official youth hostels which weren't terribly cheap. We were thinking of going there for simplicity's sake, but luckily a woman from Lotus caught us when we got off the train. Lotus has a good location and is cheaper than the official HIs. The dorm rooms aren't too bad, the people are pretty friendly, and breakfast is included. After we woke up, we teamed up with Jasper (Holland) and Steve (USA) for a walk down to the river.
Orientation
At two million people, the city is quite large, and all of the tourist stuff is barely walkable. We skipped the subway (the oldest on the continent-1896) so we could get a better feel for the city. We crossed the river at the chain bridge and took the
funicular up Castle Hill. The hill was supposedly the site of various strongholds back to Roman times. The current building is not so old, and is now home to three museums. We just enjoyed the view a bit before taking the long way down the hill. Half-way down we stopped for some coffee and cake. Started talking about economic systems and politics of our respective countries. I found it fascinating, but I am never sure whether we all gain any more understanding from these conversations. Somehow Americans seem to always be taken as being overconfident an nationalistic. I don't love my country that much.
Fatal
We continued our extended stroll back to the Pest side of the former twin cities (Buda-Pest). While looking for a restaurant that everyone recommends, we also found the main strolling street: Vaci. I must say that I am a little surprised at how modern and clean everything is here. I am not sure what I expected, but Budapest is almost indistinguishable from many other big cities, when you get into the shopping or restaurant districts. Many people out enjoying the Saturday evening street life. We walked into Fatal restaurant and had ourselves a very filling meal.
Home
We were all a little sluggish on the walk home. It must have been a couple kilometers. Stopped off at a semi-24hr joint to get some drinks and then went upstairs to Lotus. Jasper almost got into a bit of a fight with some Italian guy sitting in the kitchen. The Britons and others were still out. There is something strange about the air in these hostels. Everyone is pretty individualistic with some personal agenda or something. Generally people are friendly and everyone can get along in English all right, but it always seems to me like the balance is about to break. I went to bed and tried to forget it all.
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