Vienna was one of the most beautiful places we have seen thus far in our trip. We got upgraded to a single dorm rather than the 6 bed mixed dorm we had reserved. Our room was a lively bright yellow, a much happier feel than the rest. We stayed three nights and had some of the best times I could have never imagined.
Our first night we took it easy; explored a bit, did a bit of grocery shopping because we finally had a kitchen to use at our hostel, and went or bed pretty early. The next day we took the tram into the heart of Vienna and had a look at where Popfest was going to be taking place later that day. We went back for a nap and were ready to go out.
We took the tram back downtown Vienna, grabbed ourselves a couple Ottakringer and had a seat on the fountains edge. With our feet In the water we enjoyed the first band. They were the best all night in my opinion. Their sound was a very chill alternative which fit perfectly with the still of the fountains water and the orange glow of the sunset.
After our first beer I asked the woman next to me if she spoke English, she said "of course I do" so I proceeded to ask her how to say "can I have two beers please?" In German. It was a very proud moment when I went up to the counter and confidently said "svie grosse bier bitte" and got a smile from the woman behind the counter.
We stayed for a few hours at Popfest and then headed back to our hostel for a good night sleep. The next day we ventured out of the city via two metro lines and an entire bus line. Much to our surprise we found our hiking trail with no problem. It was in the upper 90s that day and our breathing was heavy but the views of the vineyards and the city made up for it.
After completing our hike we decided to venture to a swimming we had heard of. Thankfully it was only a few bus stops away. We purchased a ticket and got a key for our locker and proceeded up the tall cement stairs. We were hot and exhausted by the time we got to the pool we just dove in without taking a good look around. Soon we realized there was much more to see than a beautiful pool and recreation park; the whole city of Vienna was below us. We sat on the second pool's edge and looked down over the city. We could see the monuments we sat by just the night before at the festival, and some of the vineyards we had hiked through just earlier that day. We stayed at the pool for an hour or two before catching our bus back to the station.
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We arrived in Budapest on Saturday in 100 degree heat. We took a few metros and a tram line to get to our hostel but had no luck finding it. Finally after asking help from a few people we found it. It was just a slim black gate in between two other stores. It was extremely sketchy looking and set up like a big maze. After climbing a few flights or stairs a woman opened up another gate for us and we were inside the hostel. The inside was actually very pretty and modern looking. We had a 5 bed room we shared with a woman from Canada, a man from Southern Australia, and a mystery woman who didn't say much.
We took a little while to lay down and figure out what we wanted to do for the short time we were there. Aussie told us about a few things he had done and we took a few of his suggestions. We headed to Heroes Square, which at first looked to be just a monument on an empty cement patio. We decided to walk down behind the monument and it was like another world. In front of of us was a beautiful bridge over water and to our left a line of restaurants right on the edge of the water. We got gelato at a little shop for 200 HUF which is actually less than 1 euro.
We enjoyed our gelato and then walked around the entire area. I was one of the most beautiful and calm spots we have been to so far. There were couples everywhere, old and young, laying in the grass, sitting with their feet in the water, and strolling around.
We spent a long while sitting, just watching the sunset over the water.
Once back at the hostel we planned out the next 10 or so days of our trip. We got hostels booked for Zurich, Venice, Verona, and Rome. We were just planning to go to bed, but Aussie came back and told us he and another girl he met from Colorado were going to check out a bar that is ranked 3rd in the world, Szimpla Kert...we couldn't decline his offer. Around 11 we started walking over with the two of them and the Canadian who was staying in our room.
It is one of the many ruins bars that are in Budapest. It is probably one of the hardest places to explain. It was gigantic and the walls, ceilings, and floors were covered in the most random of materials. It was not at all fancy, it actually looked kind of grubby, but in an acceptable way. In some parts there was no roof, and in some places there was. I enjoyed it because it was not a club, there was no dancing or anything like that. It was just a pub with about 25 different rooms. It kind of reminded me of Sona (mom dad and mike) except without riots. And the beer was extremely cheap; a half liter for 500 HUF which is only 1.5ish euros.
We sat around this old car that had been turned into a kind of couch/bench/pen. We talked to Aussie, Colorado, and Canada most of the night and go to know them better. We also made some friends with some men from London and I talked to a nice man from Switzerland for a while who told me a lot about where he comes from.
We wanted to stay out so badly we were having such a good time, but decided to head home so we could get some sleep because we had to check out early the next morning. We were planning on taking a walking tour of the city, but in the 100+ degree heat we decided it would be better to try to eat into the water. Aussie told is about this wellness spa with hot sprigs only a few metro stops away so we decided to check it out.
Inside there were 15 water holes all with different temperatures ranging from 18c to 38c, and outside were massive hot springs and swimming pools. We hung out in the giant hot spring for a good while, cooled off in the whirlpool and had a few beers on the terrace.
We had such a good time we never wanted to leave, but eventually we had to. On the way back we learned that we had gotten the wrong metro ticket and after getting off we got charged 8,000 HUF which is about 26€ which was not the best. Apparently our time stamp had run out and we were not aloud to use that ticket anymore. We had to find out the hard way. We went and picked up our bags and headed to the station for our 12 hour overnight train to Zurich.
The train was pretty miserable, we were in a cart of 6 people in seats that didn't recline. It was so hot in the car for the first few hours that we would sweat just sitting in our seats not moving a muscle. After about 7 hours Shelby and I were the only ones left in our cart so we were able to finally lay down and get a few hours of non-continuous sleep. Overnight the train got so cold that we had to use our blankets as towels. Finally 7am rolled around and we were able to get off the train.
Zurich was really rainy, and we felt absolutely awful. We were really hungry, sore, and exhausted. We got coffee and a snack and then layed down in the hostel bar for a good couple of hours before we could check in. We barely left our hostel at all in Zurich. We used it as a rest stop which was much needed. We met a few nice people while we were there, and when we were finally feeling better later on in the night we went downstairs and had a fewbeers, pizza, and had some pretty lovely long conversations.
Now, I am on the train to Venice. We had a train earlier today to Milan and we watched letters to Juliet on the way since Verona, where it takes place, is our next stop. We met a man from Verona in Paris who we hope to get in contact with while we there.
I also talked to Piero last night, an artist I met in Australia last summer who lives in Florence. I haven't had wifi to see his last response yet, but we are hoping we will be able to meet up with him and possibly stay at his place while in Florence.
I am really excited to finally be in Italy, it's somewhere I have always wanted to go. We are staying in a campground to save some only these first two nights. We have a tiny private cabin lined up--it should be pretty hot but hopefully there will be water nearby.
Ciao!
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Made it to Venice. Our train station was on the grand canal so we got a glimpse of it already. We met some nice people on the bus to our campground who gave us some advice where to go while back in Holland.
It is so refreshing to be on the outskirts of the city and be in a wooded area. Our cabin is 6x8 probably. Very tiny! There are just two beds and the bathrooms are separate. Luckily it's semi cool tonight. So I am looking forward to getting a good nights sleep. We plan to be in the city all day tomorrow! Can't wait!
A blurry pic of our cabin
Quick walking pic of grand canal
Made it to Venice. Looking like a bum.
Hanging out in hostel bar in Switzerland.
