Day 48-50: Budapest

The last few days have been a bit of a blur. We arrived in Budapest an hour behind schedule, leaving us only 15 minutes to get from the station to our rented apartment, where a representative was meeting us to exchange keys at 9:30am. Therefore, in 15 minutes we had to withdraw some local currency from the ATM, buy metro tickets, navigate from the station to the Opera House (stop near our apartment) on the metro, and find our apartment from the Opera House stop. Needless to say, this was never going to happen. Unfortunately, no step went smoothly. We couldn't locate an ATM, we had trouble finding the metro entrance, and it was just plain stressful. We arrived at the apartment at 10am...thankfully, the representative was still waiting for us. Here is what some of the neighbourhood looks like, as well as the entrance to our apartment building.

*Apparently, people also park on the sidewalk in Budapest

*Entrance to our apartment building

*Just inside entrance door, looking out onto internal courtyard

*Second level, walkway around courtyard to our apartment, with entrance at far left of picture

On first glance, the apartment looked great. It was decorated nicely, had a new kitchen and bathroom, and a large tiled furnace in the living room to keep it nice and warm (see pictures). But then we started to notice some problems. The wifi didn't work, no matter how many times we reset the modem and router. The hot water heater in the bathroom (which is suspended above the toilet) drips, soaking the bathroom rug and wetting our socks, and there was no light bulb in the bedside lamp (we both enjoy reading our Kindles before bed). Hmpf...we were not pleased.

We were so exhausted that we decided to nap and sleep it off. We got up about 5 hours later (we really didn't sleep at all on the overnight train) and headed into the city to explore a little. Shortly after setting out, we came upon this mailbox, maybe our best find yet. This started to lift our spirits a little. We also came upon this concert poster, which made me think of Sheila.

We went to the Great Market Hall, where tourists and locals mix freely. There are produce and meat stands set up, as well as gift kiosks selling common souvenir items like tablecloths, sweet wine, and paprika. We decided to pick up a bottle of sweet wine from a friendly looking old lady. She ended up being even friendlier than she looked...she talked to us for about 5 minutes in Hungarian (Magyar) about her grandkids, deceased husband, and how Princess Diana once stopped at her stall in the market (she had picture evidence). This really lifted our spirits and we began to feel better about Budapest. We headed back home to try to fix the internet and then found dinner at a recommended restaurant around the corner (we are in a really nice neighbourhood), where I enjoyed my favourite meal on the trip thus far, a venison ragout with potato croquettes. Daryl wants to go back before we leave to order it for himself.

Saturday morning started with breakfast and a run. Again, we tried to fix the internet, but gave up. We e-mailed the apartment owners to ask for assistance. They assured us that they would come and fix it ASAP.

We headed out to a local cafe for lunch and a caffeine fix and it was pretty awesome. The cafe was quite grand and Parisian-looking. Daryl liked the meal that he ordered the night before so much that he ordered it again (this happened by accident, but it was hilarious...apparently, Daryl really likes grilled chicken in paprika sauce with egg noodles).

We then walked around trying to find an internet cafe, so we could get caught up on e-mails (we are still filling out paperwork for GE), and assure our parents that we were alive and well. We got lucky and stumbled upon an outdoor festival that was serving mulled wine. When we sat down at a bench to enjoy it, we opened the laptop and found an unlocked network. Sweet! Budapest just kept getting better.

We headed home in the evening and made dinner in, some sausage, sauerkraut, and corn on the cob. This was complimented with some local Tokaji Sweet Wine (name of wines from the region of Tokaji in Hungary, so beloved by Hungarians that it is mentioned in the national anthem). We finished the evening by watching the Girl Who Played with Fire, which was pretty good.

*Almost disastrous bottle opening

Sunday was a slow day. We woke up a bit late and had breakfast. As we were preparing to head out for our run, the apartment owner arrived with a friend to fix our Internet. We were already dressed for running, and our stuff was pretty smelly; we had to greet them and sit and answer questions about our struggles. We were pretty self-conscious. Fortunately, the internet was fixed (problem stemming from Mac laptop and old Modem...settings just needed to be adjusted). We then went for our run through City Park, a large park space just east of us in Budapest. For those who care, we ran 5 miles plus some gentle pickups at the end. It seemed particularly difficult for some reason.

After some catching up on Skype, we headed out for lunch and planned to try traditional Hungarian open face sandwiches. Unfortunately, the shop was closed. We settled for making some eggs at home. We then walked around the city for a while before heading to a restaurant called Menza for dinner. Menza, which was a Hungarian-term used during Communism to denote a cafeteria-style eatery, is a restaurant decorated in the old Communist style of oranges and browns. It is pretty cool inside and very popular. Daryl was feeling particularly hungry and ordered deep-fried chicken covered in cheese and sour cream...oh, and we can't forget the side of fries. Just look at this plate...at least we are running regularly.

We finished the night at home, getting an early night to catch up on sleep. Monday is when the real sightseeing would begin.