Crazy experience #1 began Thursday afternoon as Kelsey and I were sitting in our Italian class figuring out the logistics of our train+bus+flight for later that evening. Our class ended at 4:30. We realized that with our train leaving for Milan at 5:40 pm, we would have to leave our apartment no later than 5:15, because we then had was a 17 minute walk+metro to the train station. Counting backwards, we realized it would take 40 minutes to get home from school, which would allow us only mere minutes to pack up our few last things and grab our bags. Trying not to panic, we literally raced out of class at 4:30, raced home, threw our things together, sprint-walked to the metro, then to the train station, and finally a dead sprint to our train. We literally jumped on less than 45 seconds before it left.
Once in Milan, we found our bus to the airport, and successfully arrived with time to spare. It was our first ryanair flight, and I was actually impressed - we didn't have to stand, and the plane was totally pressurized! Who would have guessed with all of those horror stories out there. We even flew over the alps!
We finally landed in Budapest and decided to take a cab to our hostel, instead of navigating the bus system at 1:30am. After a long cab ride (but first time in a warm car, such a bonus!) we were finally in downtown Budapest, and the nightlife around us was insane! Our cab turned onto a small street (dimly lit, tad sketchy, but I wasn't worried, yet.) We started reading street numbers and almost drove right past our hostel until Kelsey was like, "wait, I think it's right there!" We jumped out of the taxi, and this is where crazy experience #2 unfolds.. (To preface this story, I should tell you our hostel was called "Retox Party Hostel" and we got there at 2:30am.) We hesitantly walked in, and what followed was total mayhem. Let me help you visualize this: there was a full-on RAVE happening. Not just a party, but INSANITY x 10. People being crazy, music pounding, every second person smoking. Some guy noticed the super confused looks on our faces and asked if he could help us, and we said we were checking in. He was very friendly and told us to hold tight, while he walked away yelling, "girls checkin in!" in his Australian accent. Soon a girl greeted us and we followed her to the back, up some stairs (where we had to step over lots of horrifying substances), and into a huge room with tons of bunk-beds, where she told us to wait for another guy to meet us (she seemed a little too drunk to be able to help.) The guy came in, put his beer down, and enthusiastically welcomed us to their hostel (wait, we were actually in a hostel, not some club? Glad he cleared that one up.) We signed something, were handed keys, and were told not to be lame and to come party with them. He also told us we were probably going to see people puking, but we could handle it, right? We hesitantly nodded. I can't even describe the bathroom situation. The music was blasting so loudly I wouldn't have been surprised if the dozens of beer bottles lining the toilets just instantaneous exploded.
Kelsey and I just stood there, with zero idea what to do. It was the middle of the night and our trip started in 7 hours. We knew that a lot of the people in our group had already arrived and were no doubt partying downstairs, but it wasn't exactly our scene, and we were rather keen on sleeping. (Especially after having class and a midterm that day.) A few of my toiletries had been taken away at customs (whoops), so we walked out of the hostel to see if a drug store was close by. With masses of people everywhere, roaming the streets at that time seemed totally normal. Luckily, we found a pharmacy around the corner, and on the way there walked past a lovely hotel only two doors down from our hostel. We just sighed and wished we could be staying there instead. After finding what I needed, Kelsey all of a sudden turned to me as was like, "what if we DO stay at that hotel?!" Excited about how our night could rapidly improve, we walked into the hotel and found out a room was available for only €30/per person a night. We ran back to the hostel, grabbed our backpacks from upstairs, and tried to nonchalantly creep past all the mayhem. Dodging a few flying beers and falling girls, we made it out alive. Our hotel room was huge, complete with a full kitchen, huge flat screen tv, and amazing shower that did not require me to wear shoes to prevent acquiring a disease. AMAZING. We crawled into the bed, and fell asleep blissfully watching tv in Hungarian.
The next morning we mozied back into the hostel, fresh and ready to go, as everyone else was congregating downstairs for our first meeting. A few people saw us walk in and assumed we had already been out exploring. (Before 9am? Yeah, totally.) Friday was great.. our big group rented bikes and spent the day exploring the city. I looooved biking because we could see everything so much faster, and finally be getting exercise in fresh air. One of our first stops was at the famous Opera House, which is not only gorgeous but has been featured in many movies, specifically Evita that stars Madonna! We next stopped at St. Stephen's Basilica, named after Hungary's first king and took 40 years to build. We went inside and admired the marble and beauty, and even got to see the extravagant case that holds King Stephen's ACTUAL right hand (that has been preserved for centuries.) Totally eerie.
On the left.. the King's hand is in the box!
Crazy experience #3.. Caving in the hills of Buda! Our tour guide, Helga, was a twenty-something Hungarian who was a banker in her previous life but one day decided to quit that biz and follow her true passion.. caving! She had us strap on jumpsuits, hardhats, and headlamps before heading into the labyrinth of caves. Not sure what "caving" entailed, my expectations were surpassed when we began army-crawling in tiny tunnels ten minutes into our excursion. I knew I would be covered in bruises, but the entire experience was unlike anything I've ever done (or will do) in my life. Helga led us through the tiniest spaces and tunnels that involved serious maneuvering, a whole lot of shimmying, and advanced yoga-like positions. So so fun. It was fascinating to see parts of the caves that were used as bomb shelters during WWII, and especially to realize that in our two-hour excursion, we only saw about three percent of the total caves in the mountain-side. After our caving experience, we biked back to Pest in time for a late dinner and serious relax time.
The Parliament
We all met back up, and took the metro to the Parliament building, which was perfectly situated on the banks of the Danube. It was so extravagant, and the gardens in front were gorgeous. We sat on the grass and listened to Barbara tell us a bit more about Hungarian history (such as the fact that Hungary was freed from the Soviet control in 1991, so they have only been a free country for 20 years! Crazy.)
Parliament by day!
Prettyyyy flowers.
Our final, and most anticipated, event was a trip to the Szechenyi Baths! The dozens of different hot springs baths consisted of water ranging from lukewarm to steamy! We had such a blast jumping from bath to bath. Not to mention how fun people-watching was.. there were some avid bath-goes who would just sit and soak in the baths for what looked like hours. There were also steam rooms everywhere, so you could hop in an ice-cold bath and then run into a steam room. The baths were such the perfect cure to our soreness and exhaustion.
Chess anyone?
Afterward, Kelsey and I meandered back to our hotel instead of taking the metro home. We walked for almost an hour on the beautiful tree-lined street, Andrassy, past the homes of ambassadors and of other equally important people. It sort of looked like a ritsy Greek Row, with beautiful and huge mansions everywhere. That evening, we all met up for dinner at Vakvarju, a traditional Hungarian restaurant, and were treated to drinks and appetizers by WSA. (Almost every event this weekend was coordinated by Andy, and we literally did SO much I still can't believe it.) Our Hungarian dinner was great, and a lot of people tried the traditional Goulash.
Andy & Jenna, our awesome tour guides!
Finally comes crazy experience #4.. Our hotel had generously called us a cab for 4am, and we half-asleep stumbled into the cab and headed to the airport. We checked-in, and soon were boarding our flight back to Milan. The plane was out on the runway, so we followed the crowds outside and across the runway to the plane. We stood behind a few hundred people in the line, shivering on the dark runway, and saw people walk up the stairs to the plane and then scramble back down the stairs and sprint far away to another plane. The entire line was watching them, quietly laughing at the fact that they somehow got on the wrong plane.. who is possibly that dumb? Well apparently, WE ARE. We were one of the last ones getting on the plane when a flight attendant looked at our ticket and said, "No, this is to Barcelona!" We literally freaked out and could NOT believe we were somehow herded into the wrong line (when there were even no other lines around.) We sprinted down the stairs, ACROSS the runway, onto the next plane, and almost passed out as we sprinted up the stairs (as they were getting ready to be lifted up.) The flight attendants looked baffled but we grabbed the first seat we could find and were taking off no less than 30 seconds later.
Lesson Learned: don't cut all things transportation-related too close.
