Saturday, June 30, 2007
Update on the stripey pants!
I do remember your name stripey pants...it's Janos! Thanks again for a great night out.
Beautiful Buda and Bratislava
Our three nights in Budapest were a blast. We weren't quite sure what to expect as none of us have ventured into Eastern Europe before, but after our stay there and two days now in Bratislava I think it's important to keep an open mind and not make judgement too quickly. As you approach the Slovak capital by train you might be forgiven for thinking you made a mistake!
Our hostel was in the centre of Pest (Budapest...Hungary) and we wasted no time in taking advantage of the fact that everything is noticably cheaper than most Western European countries. Infact, we probably spent most of our money on nice meals in flash restaurants and cocktails in cosmopolitan club/bar/lounge spots in Pest.
Cocktails was definately the order of the day for the first two nights, but our first meal in Hungary was in a local pub recommended by the hostel staff. The prices there definately got us excited for the remainder of our stay. The service was a bit hit and miss at some places along the strip of clubs and bars but our favourite was to be Barokko...and the staff there were good fun! (see the photo below of Karen receiving her 'Orgazmus' cocktail!)
On our first full day we took advantage of one of the walking tours on offer and we were shown around all the historic points of the city by a very knowledgable tour guide. That included visits to the city park, Heroes Square, the Jewish quarter, the Chain Bridge that crosses the Danube to Buda and Castle Hill.
On our final day we decided to take a short (and cheap) train journey out of town to the recommended Szentendre, a small and picturesque town beside the Danube further upstream. It was a quaint little arts and crafts place and once again we took advantage of the excellent fare on offer with a lunch meal over two bottles of Hungarian wine. C'est le vie de la backpacker!
That was on the Thursday and with it being our final night in Budapest, and the fifth and final night with Karen from New Zealand, we signed up to a pub crawl. We were slightly shocked that that night there was only going to be us four, the tour guide and Doug from California! It would've been easy to bail out and do our own thing, but we decided to make the most of the situation and go for it. We're glad we did!
The night started with a Hungarian wine tasting in a nearby cellar. That was hosted by a local whose named I can't remember but for the purposes of this post will be called stripey pants (you'd never guess but he's the one with stripey trousers in the photos below).
After that we headed to possibly the most bizarre bar I've ever been to. It was an abandoned apartment building that has been demolished from the inside, but from the front of the street it looks like all the other flats. The bouncer's job was to walk up and down the street keeping punters quiet as they entered and left the street!
So that was cool. But the two shots that we had at this place were not. Unicum (or 'Black Death' as the guide called it) was the first. A Hungarian liqueur that tastes worse than Jager and leaves a vile lingering smell that not even a few swigs of beer can remove! The next was a pear schnapps that was about 45%.
Next up was Margaret Island - an island of cool summery outdoor clubs and bars that sits in the middle of the Danube between Pest and Buda. The music at this one particular place we were taken too was top notch. Great music (funky beats, acid jazz and more) and good times had by all.
A big mention too for stripey pants (I trust you'll read this eventually) who followed us on the crawl after hosting the wine tasting, even though he had an exam the next day! You were great value and we really appreciate you showing us some real Budapest nightlife (and guiding us home too!).
The next morning Karen left us for Barcelona with the touring party back down to three. We arrived in Bratislava on Friday afternoon and in the evening had a walk about the old town. There was some kind of festival on which we had no idea about but when we first heard cannons firing across the Danube we thought the place had broken into war!
Bratislava's old town looks really beautiful so we're just about to go explore it. It's our last night with Anna tonight before it's early starts tomorrow for all of us. Anna flies back to London and we're off to Cesky Krumlov in the Czech Republic.
Ta Ta for now!
More photos from Vienna
Our hostel was in the centre of Pest (Budapest...Hungary) and we wasted no time in taking advantage of the fact that everything is noticably cheaper than most Western European countries. Infact, we probably spent most of our money on nice meals in flash restaurants and cocktails in cosmopolitan club/bar/lounge spots in Pest.
Cocktails was definately the order of the day for the first two nights, but our first meal in Hungary was in a local pub recommended by the hostel staff. The prices there definately got us excited for the remainder of our stay. The service was a bit hit and miss at some places along the strip of clubs and bars but our favourite was to be Barokko...and the staff there were good fun! (see the photo below of Karen receiving her 'Orgazmus' cocktail!)
On our first full day we took advantage of one of the walking tours on offer and we were shown around all the historic points of the city by a very knowledgable tour guide. That included visits to the city park, Heroes Square, the Jewish quarter, the Chain Bridge that crosses the Danube to Buda and Castle Hill.
On our final day we decided to take a short (and cheap) train journey out of town to the recommended Szentendre, a small and picturesque town beside the Danube further upstream. It was a quaint little arts and crafts place and once again we took advantage of the excellent fare on offer with a lunch meal over two bottles of Hungarian wine. C'est le vie de la backpacker!
That was on the Thursday and with it being our final night in Budapest, and the fifth and final night with Karen from New Zealand, we signed up to a pub crawl. We were slightly shocked that that night there was only going to be us four, the tour guide and Doug from California! It would've been easy to bail out and do our own thing, but we decided to make the most of the situation and go for it. We're glad we did!
The night started with a Hungarian wine tasting in a nearby cellar. That was hosted by a local whose named I can't remember but for the purposes of this post will be called stripey pants (you'd never guess but he's the one with stripey trousers in the photos below).
After that we headed to possibly the most bizarre bar I've ever been to. It was an abandoned apartment building that has been demolished from the inside, but from the front of the street it looks like all the other flats. The bouncer's job was to walk up and down the street keeping punters quiet as they entered and left the street!
So that was cool. But the two shots that we had at this place were not. Unicum (or 'Black Death' as the guide called it) was the first. A Hungarian liqueur that tastes worse than Jager and leaves a vile lingering smell that not even a few swigs of beer can remove! The next was a pear schnapps that was about 45%.
Next up was Margaret Island - an island of cool summery outdoor clubs and bars that sits in the middle of the Danube between Pest and Buda. The music at this one particular place we were taken too was top notch. Great music (funky beats, acid jazz and more) and good times had by all.
A big mention too for stripey pants (I trust you'll read this eventually) who followed us on the crawl after hosting the wine tasting, even though he had an exam the next day! You were great value and we really appreciate you showing us some real Budapest nightlife (and guiding us home too!).
The next morning Karen left us for Barcelona with the touring party back down to three. We arrived in Bratislava on Friday afternoon and in the evening had a walk about the old town. There was some kind of festival on which we had no idea about but when we first heard cannons firing across the Danube we thought the place had broken into war!
Bratislava's old town looks really beautiful so we're just about to go explore it. It's our last night with Anna tonight before it's early starts tomorrow for all of us. Anna flies back to London and we're off to Cesky Krumlov in the Czech Republic.
Ta Ta for now!
More photos from Vienna
Budapest
(From a walking tour in Budapest...and an example of the communist style buildings)
(The Chain Bridge across the Danube)
(A view from Castle Hill over the Danube)
(Cocktails in Pest...and Karen blushes as her 'Orgazmus' drink is delivered by the waiter)
(Our favourite cocktail bar in Pest - Barokko!)
(Our day trip to Szentendre, 40 mins from Budapest centre)
(Our Pub Crawl night starts in a local wine cellar)
(The crawl moves to Margaret Island in the centre of the Danube)
(Mr Stripey Pants works the dance floor)
(The tour guide after one too many)
(Our hostel room in Pest)
Bratislava (so far)
Tuesday, June 26, 2007
Time for a peek through the Iron Curtain
We leave for Eastern Europe today after two nights in Salzburg and three in the capital Vienna. It rained both days in Salzburg which sucked, but we made the best of a bad situation.
On our first full day there we went on a Sound Of Music Tour hosted by a very camp and slightly annoying tour guide. I actually watched the film for the first time that morning and then hopped straight on a bus to go see where it was all filmed.
That evening we crossed the river a bee lined to a highly recommended Augustiner beer hall, but after getting soaked en route we ended up leaving in search of another drinking hole. The staff were less than helpful and they only sold one type of beer with no prices in sight.
There was a pretty sweet festival in the streets with drink and food tents skattered along the streets of the Old Town. Shame about the rain!
The weather´s been heaps better in Vienna and this weekend gone there was a massive open air music festival on an island that sits in the middle of the Danube River. Apparently it´s the biggest of it´s kind in Europe and visited by 2 million people over the weekend! All local German and Austrian acts but we checked it out on Saturday night and it was great fun. It took us a couple of hours to walk from one end to the other.
By that time we had recovered from one hell of a hangover! On Friday night we were sat in the bar at the Wombats hostel and by the time we realised where everyone was heading off to we decided it´d be too late to go along. So instead we stayed in the bar until 2am, closing time, and the bartender gave us free beers and shots of some horrible Jager-like spirit. It got pretty chaotic and ended up with Sheryl dancing on the bar! The bar staff loved it and gave us free drink vouchers for the next night!
Yesterday started with a big disappointment when we found out the staff member at reception had screwed up our booking for an all day bike tour through Austrian countryside and visits to wineries. We were left behind, it was pretty annoying! But nevertheless we headed out to a little town about an hour out of Vienna called Krems and did our own bike trip down the Danube, before jumping in the river to cool off.
We´re off to Budapest shortly for our first peek into Eastern Europe - exciting times!
Salzburg
Vienna
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