Landing in Budapest, we quite quickly realised we knew nothing about the city. One of our party (though she'll remain unnamed) thought it was a country, I'd thought the currency was Euros and none of us had any idea how to go about even saying 'hello'. We'd booked the trip a while back but life seems to have run away with us as a little lately and we'd found virtually no time to do any research. Well, this should be fun.
Our first pleasant surprise was that the exchange rate coupled with the low cost of living made us really rather well off. The taxi from the airport cost the equivalent of just a couple of pounds each and within less than an hour of landing we were outside our Airbnb in the city.
Two Hungarian guys were there to meet us and showed us up to the room via a rickety lift that looked as though it belonged in the 1920's. Fortunately, the apartment itself was considerably more modern with two double bedrooms and a spacious living area which was more than sufficient for the five of us for the weekend ahead.
We wasted no time in changing out of our plane clothes and pouring our outrageously cheap vodka concoctions. Despite finishing the entire bottle, we thought we were relatively sober until we couldn't work out how to get out of the building. Looking back on it, we were also blaring out Justin Bieber and playing sardines in a cupboard so it really should have been more obvious.
Having eventually cracked the Fort Knox code (i.e. pressing the exit button...) we were finally free and jumped into a taxi to Szimpla, one of Budapest's most famous Ruin Bars.
Embedded within what remains of Budapest's original flats and factories, the Ruin Bars are the epitome of understated cool. Whilst they should have long been condemned to destruction, the buildings were instead filled with rejected furniture from the depths of the city bringing a retro feel to the place and soon after an unstoppable wave of young people to enjoy them.
Lost amongst the neon lights and crowds of unfathomable accents, it was difficult to believe that we'd been sat at our desks that very morning. That same thought also brought on a sudden tiredness and despite our best intentions, by 3am we were shattered and called it a night.
Consequently, we were up at a fairly reasonable hour the following day and headed out straight away to make the most of our short weekend in the city. Our apartment was conveniently situated right next to the Central Food Market so we wandered over there for what was supposed to be a light breakfast. What it turned into, however, was langos; a gigantic deep fried flat bread topped with virtually anything you ask for from, vegetables, to Nutella! We could easily have shared one between the the five of us but somehow smashed through one each (plus an obligatory strudel...)
Recognising the need to to work off the 9,000 calories just consumed, we dodged the Metro and instead walked all the way into the centre of town. It was a relatively long distance but the journey took far longer than it should have, had we not been continually distracted by sights along the way. The first was the Chain Bridge which we did not need to cross but very much wanted to. The view from either side was incredible with pastel coloured buildings lining one side of the river and tall green hills with the remains of castles peering out from within the cliff face of the other. It was exactly how I'd imagined it to be but better, and made better still for the fact that we had a bright blue sky to frame it all in.
After an hour or so we reached our destination; the Széchenyi Thermal spa. It felt bizarre to be stripping down into our bikinis in single figure temperatures but the steam arising from the baths themselves promised warmth. We began inside where there were dozens of pools in a long line, allowing us to hop from one to the next, dipping our toes in those that were only lukewarm and fully plunging into those that were dreamily hot. Some were bubbling, others still and each contained a variety of minerals which are meant to perform miracles on your skin.
I was hoping to emerge from the waters feeling an entirely new woman and perhaps I would have if I hadn't been entirely numbed from head to toe; cold is the only thing I felt as we sprinted from the indoor halls to the large outdoor pool in time to catch the last glimpse of sunset.
As the sun disappeared behind the horizon, the sky turned a deep mauve and the pool's lights glowed like stars from beneath the surface. With such beautiful surroundings, it was difficult to muster the motivation (let alone the courage) to ever leave the pool again.
Once we finally made it back to the flat, however, we had a cheeky power nap followed by an extensive MI5 operation to carry out, as we thought our apartment was being broken into (which it wasn't), so we were somewhat delayed for dinner.
Without any real reasoning, we'd just assumed that Hungary would follow the same routines as the likes of Italy and Spain when it comes to eating late but it soon transpired that they do not. Our dreams of the cheapest Michelin Star meal ever eaten were soon shattered when we struggled to find a single restaurant still open close to midnight. My mind was already starting to wander back to the 4am Pad Thai we'd had the night before but fortunately we stumbled across one nice looking establishment still willing to welcome us in just before I was forced to find out how terrible drunk food tastes sober.
This place was an absolute find and for less than a tenner, we had starters, elaborate mains and a lot of wine before moving swiftly onto Instant where we'd heard promises of a great night.
As soon as we arrived it was immediately obvious why people rave so highly about this particular ruin bar. The rooms appear infinite and lead off in every direction, with each one slightly darker and considerably stranger than the one before. To give you an idea; the entrance has flying bunny rabbits stapled to the ceiling and a glittering pig disco ball, and that's only the beginning.
The people we encountered inside were no less strange but it was amusing for the most part. My favourite by far was one particularly high guy who's opening line to every girl who had the pleasure of his forthcomings was 'Can I have your drink?' Not usually how it works but I rate his efforts...
The beauty of such a big place is that there's a whole range of music but nevertheless, we struggled to find much that resembled hip hop. Luckily, just as Instant was starting to die down, we caught wind of an RnB club down the road and decided to swing by on our way home. It was a little like a smaller, grimier Oceana but it still kept us amused for a further two hours until we'd heard virtually every Pitbull song we could stomach.
After just a few hours sleep, we were up and out again, this time returning to the Christmas markets that we'd passed the previous day for a better look around. The plan was to pick up some gifts to take home but the strong scent of mulled wine proved rather distracting and we soon found ourselves huddled in a log cabin sipping steaming drinks and gobbling down traditional Hungarian food. We ended up with quite a mixture of sorts but thankfully all avoided the rooster testicles; I'm all for trying local delicacies but I was still feeling pretty fragile from the night before and that did not sound appetising. What did sound appetising, on the other hand, was the chocolate and cheese strudels on our way out – a delectable combo and the perfect way to end our weekend in Budapest!
