Travel recaps: Budapest

 

It was not a love-at-first-sight moment between Budapest and I. From the moment I got off the train, I did not like it. In fact the first 2hours, I hated it. The city was loud and filled with people. I was constantly being bumped and stepped on as we try to navigate our way with our heavy backpacks. Due to lack of a proper map and bad instructions, it took us nearly 30mins to find our accommodation. I was aching all over and my mood was at the lowest of lows. But things did not get any better, the lady at the reception proceeded to tell us that we weren't staying at the address given but somewhere else as they had no more rooms. At this point, I may or may not have shouted out an expletive (friend said I did but I do not recall - I'm sticking with I did not). We were subsequently escorted to a taxi with a driver who spoke no English to god knows where.

Thankfully we were brought to this brand new apartment and things started to look up. The next day, Budapest completely blew me away. Extremely beautiful and there is so much history embedded in the city. It really is an architectural paradise - surrounded by buildings of various styles such as Roman, Turkish, Gothic, Renaissance, Baroque and others. At the end of the fourth day, I was truly deeply in love with it and was sad to leave. 

I guess that's the charm of traveling. We remember the bad, unfortunate incidents during our travels more vividly than the good experiences. Even now, when I reminisce about past travels, I recall train strikes, getting lost, being pick-pocketed, missing trains and crazy gypsies with great fondness. 

I cannot wait to go on my next adventure ... in 12days!




9 comments:

rooth said...

Travel does that sometimes - you're in a bad situation, cold / hungry / tired and just want to get in bed with a cup of hot chocolate. I'm glad you ended up liking Budapest. It really does look gorgeous there

Travel Gourmande said...

Budapest does look beautiful. Never been there but for some reason, I have this impression that a mysterious air surrounds this city, in a good way. Enjoyed reading about your experience there. It reminds me of imperfect scenarios during travels that eventually became a colorful part of a journey, that we ended up laughing and teasing each other about.

Elle Sees said...

this is on my list of places to go!! thanks for the pics.

Unknown said...

When did you go to Budapest? I was there in May or June of 2006 and it was rainy the entire time I was there, so I didn't enjoy it too much, although it did give the city exactly the type of gloominess that I expected of it, I suppose! The Charles Bridge looked almost terrifying when I crossed it -- it certainly didn't help that I was reading "Dracula" for my English class at the time. Where are you heading to next?

helen said...

budapest looks AMAZING!!!!! i am glad you ended up having a good time :)))

trishie said...

Glad to hear the trip got better from day 2. Travelling really can be stressful at times especially when you don't speak the language.

Stephanie said...

Goodess, I'm sorry about the fiasco you had to deal with, but I'm glad that things are working out now! The pictures are just gorgeous, and I really want to visit now!

melody said...

wow, amazing! I am so jealous of your travels, I can't wait to see more! :)

Shoko said...

I'd love to go someday! I'm happy to hear you and Budapest made up after your rocky start :)

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