Budapest, Hungary - not worth of a witty comment

After a struggle to recover from the weekend, Thursday night was around and I was flying out to Eastern Europe on Friday. So perfectly happy that Thursday was the Wandsworth Demons AGM. After a few people asked me to run for Vice President I decided at the last minute to give it a go. And what do you know; I won a fair few votes and took the position. http://www.wandsworthdemons.com/

Strangely enough I’m the VP to Mark Wallace whose girlfriend’s father is my father’s accountant – small world. Anyway, a boozy night and I woke up ready to head to Budapest.

Budapest, Hungary
A asszony van tehát forró fáj -hoz megjelenés

That’s where the story should end. I’d usually give you a run down on what happened, the fun had and the stories – but I can’t. I spent the best part of the trip with my head in the basin, out a cab door, in a toilet or just outside with some food really not agreeing with me. But let’s give you a run down anyway.

Budapest is the capital of Hungary, and made up of two cities: the western town of Buda and the eastern town of Pest, separated by the Danube. In 1873 these cities were united. Apparently they didn’t struggle too much with the name. Across the city bridges cut back and forward between the two sides but you still get confused as to which side you are on. Lucky Coomba was able to get a local to draw us a map which vaguely resembled what Picasso would have drawn if he decided to become a cartographer and inject acid between his toes at 25 minutes intervals for 6 straight hours a day. Suffice to say we got lost on Friday night in 3 degree weather at a time where all our bank cards would not work – sign 1.

Sombre lion

Happy lion - just need to know where to touch them

Now Saturday, it was the usual site seeing time. So, with Crowy, Guv and Duncan deciding to go to Mongolian BBQ (more on that later) we hit the streets of Buda and of course, Pest. Now I’m not sure about this place. It was overcast and cold and seems like quite a depressing city. It looks like Berlin, but doesn’t have that feeling in the air that something is going on. It might be that it is so spread out, but I just couldn’t pin point it. So after some sites we went off to Mongolian BBQ to join the boys.

Now Mongolian BBQ is a great place. You walk in and form a line. There are dishes of all different meats marinated in all different sauces. You select what you want, hand it to the chef behind the grill and he cooks it up. All you can eat and all you can drink for about 10 quid as well. And the best is that it’s all pretty much traditional Hungarian. So with that, we couldn’t avoid anymore. We’d been tempted in Slovenia, but we couldn’t hold off for much longer. So with that, Coombe and I started with…horse. And I tell you what, it’s pretty good. Quite salty and tender, it tastes a little like a gamey version of steak, with the same consistency. After that I moved on to rabbit. Not too long later something in my stomach was saying no. Three hours later it was looking bad. I’m not going to talk any more about that night.

Sunday was a good day…in the morning. Soaking in a Hungarian bath with 100 odd other people and then watching the snow come down outside. And you feel so refreshed after these baths. You skin is all smooth, you feel all warm and just want to sit there smiling like a fool. And I don’t care how wrong having a 40 degree bath with your mates while salivating over the bikinis walking past you sounds - I enjoyed it.

I felt so smooth and happy that the 4-hour delay on my flight due to snow didn’t phase me. Or the 1.5 hour wait at Customs as 21 planes had arrived at Luton at the same time and they had not put on enough staff as they weren’t expecting this. Or being threatened to be sent to the back of the line or a holding cell after the Customs staff said this and I shouted: “It’s not as if planes fucking materialise out of thin air – don’t Customs check the Arrivals board! (well I did lose my cool there a little I guess). Or that I missed that last train and had to catch the bus, which after showing up, the driver broke the door and we had to wait for 15 minutes for a replacement. I am the calm little centre of the world.So suffice to say, I will go back there in summer as it does deserve a second chance. But for now, if anyone asks, I’ve never been to Budapest. Although the music on the underground trams was fun. More photos of the 'the trip' here. Please show me more of Bart's pain!