Chasing Ideals

Upon arrival in Budapest, the famed capital of Hungary, I was quickly aware that I had entered a tourist zone with prices to match. After the blessed Slovakia with its beautiful scenery and low prices I was a bit miffed to discover Budapest's contrast. I spent my first night therein paying about $30 for a room in someone's home after paying only $10 for the same in Slovakia. I must say also that I was none too pleased to have arrived in such a busy city. From my drive into to Hungary and subsequent drive out three days later I could see that the majority of the country's population seems crammed into Budapest and the surroundings. One thing that I must mention here is that I had a day previous to arrival glanced at some fine pickers of Croatia's coast and so was itching to get there. This fact may have put a damper on my experience of Hungary as its attraction so far as landscape was minimal.

Morning number two I made a wise choice to take a drive up along the Danube for some quieter roads and then returned to Budapest to search out a hostel. After about two hours driving around in circles in the city center on roads not built for such swarms of traffic I found my place, the Red Bus Hostel, and settled in. It was my first Hostel experiment since arrival in London and was certainly enjoyable in terms of the potential for meeting other travelers. In just two nights there I met and spoke considerably with at least 12 people. I spent my first evening at the hostel going to dinner with a group of mostly Americans but including one person from Norway, from Scotland, and Canada. I must say it was pleasant to have the chance to meet so many all at once and enjoy just a relaxed time with them. One of the American chaps spent most of the evening displaying his ignorance but everyone there took it as such and nothing negative came of it. The next day I scoured the city for interesting sites with the Canadian chap. He was easy to chat with and we talked a lot about his current life in South Korea as an English teacher. It ended up that we actually saw very little of the sites apart from meager glances but that part never seems to matter much to me in the face of developing a friendship. Budapest was a strange city as so much of its business side is mixed in with the historical aspect. Most often the historical areas were surrounded with office buildings and busy streets of traffic. In the evening he and I and a few others went out to dinner and later a free festival at a nearby park which turned out to be dance night for the under seventeens. Strangely enough there were gangs of sinewy bikers wandering around amidst the teenage festivities. Needless to say myself and co. did not stay long as I think each of them was at least bordering the tender age of 30 if hadn't already crossed over. Afterwards we went to a nearby pub for a short stint (short at least for me) and then returned to the hostel.

All in all a pleasant few days were mine. It was wonderful as always to know new people and also to learn of different travel destinations that I have on my itinery and some that I hadn't yet. I'm glad also that I got to see what Budapest had to offer though it probably won't be deemed necessary for a return trip. I think that at this point I may have seen too many cities of its type or perhaps knew too little about it to find the sites interesting. I have seen that places are more interesting for me if I a previous frame of reference to them. I have added some new galleries to Lovable Quirks which I hope will be enjoyed. Posts about Croatia are on the way but as usual I must try to catch up.