To Italy and beyond: I cant believe I'm actually here! (Budapest Part 1)

I woke at six in the morning to see the bear black trees of Hungary, the ground still wet from the night before and the fog starting to rise. I sat and just watched the world go by, as we pasted through small towns and villages, steeped roofed houses often pasting by, and few in the streets walking their dogs in the still sleepy hours of the morning. Low hills and forests lining the background that, slowly disappeared as the got in closer to the capital. After departing from the train, at eight o'clock I headed for the main street to find my hostel. A man standing on the corner of two roads, approached me, with typical drug dealer type body language, "hey, do you want to buy some cigarettes?" 'No thanks' I replied and had a little chuckle to myself. Looks like tobacconists don't open on Sunday morning here? I did not recognise the street names, the direction I had written down were quite clear. So I stopped into a bar to have my morning coffee, and hopefully push my remaining 8% battery life on my computer to find directions. Alas it did not make it. Not to worry around the corner I found an internet cafe, and for the extreme price of 50 Forint (15c Euro) I was able to get new directions. Feeing lazy and frustrated, I caught a taxi that immediately started taking me in the wrong direction, after a moment when I realised that the driver didn't have a clue where he was going, I got him to pause the meter, look up the address once more and go in the right direction this time. My hostel, the groove, was reviewed very well on hostel world and in it's description there was a statement it was not a party hostel as I was in the same apartment building as permanent residents. This suited me fine, after Prague a decent detox was in order. I did my usual routine, of a few nights, extend, extend.

The first night I met two young ladies, true romantics, which made the three of us in this conversation. All of us missing the people we wished we were with so we talked of why we weren’t. All of us happened to be reading smut novels at the time too, by the end of the night I had another blog project to add to my list and pseudonym name. I downloaded an audio book of Fifty shades of Grey as we were chatting away, and upon playing it we couldn't stop laughing. The voice actor managed to take some perfectly good filth and turn it to a story as wooden as a cupboard, I couldn't see anyone bearing listening though the whole thing, let alone be turned on, it would be like trying to let your imagination run wild while listing to the sound of nails on a chalk board. Szilvi and I talked that night after the girls went to bed, teasing each other, and missing her as she does me. After an hour of so my computer decided, this a is a suitably frustrating and inappropriate time to update. Bringing the end of the night for me to a close as abruptly as this paragraph.

I took my skateboard as the early evening set in the next day, the dreary drizzle of the morning had passed, and the streets were dry enough to skate on. The light was becoming notable shorter now and by four o'clock the light was beginning to fade. Following the Danube I rolled on. Sitting on the bridge next to a crown with a crooked cross I had one of those brilliant moments, where you say, 'fuck me, I cant believe I'm actually here! This is the Danube, I'm in Budapest, and I can't believe I am actually here!' The type of moment you feel so alive that you can remember the breeze on you face, and the rush of adrenalin. Across the water from the bridge, on either side stands the parliament building and to the castle, dead in front it the distance, stood the Liberty statue, awe-inspiring light up in the night. I followed the hill up to the castle and walked around the outside of this astonishing glorious building. Statues and interesting architecture are all around with the detail and endemicity that lets you know your in a capital of Europe, so much so I even took photos of the parking lot (Best parking lot I've ever seen though). A different bridge brought me back to the Pest side, I pasted but the Parliament, thought at this time the size and grandeur were appreciated best from afar; as the ground level was almost completely surrounded by construction work, that did mare the effect a little up close. I bought some supplies, and skated in the general direction of my hostel. Forty five-ish, maybe more minutes later I found my hostel once more. So I can tick Budapest of my (genuine) goal list of getting lost in every city I visit.