Budapest - general

It’s pretty incredible what you can cram into 4 and half days spent in a new city – wining and dining, lots of coffee breaks, clubbing, shopping, sightseeing and even a date. Was it enough? …probably not. But it was enough to get the feeling of the city and have lots of fun. Just wish 1 day of it wasn’t “spent” on working:)

Taking the first look at Budapest map, I thought I’d never “get” the city. It seemed too big and too dispersed, add to that the fact that it’s split into Buda and Pest (which, btw, were united into one city only around 130 years ago) by the Danube river and you already feel lost. However, it turned out it’s not as big as it first seemed, it’s far more logical than I expected and it’s another city in which I could see myself living in.

Budapest is an adorable city with all the old buildings and huge churches and castles etc, however they’ve had a bad slip in 60s and 70s when some ugly buildings have been built virtually in the midst of old town. Imagine you have a Hilton hotel built in and around a 14th-century monastery. However, I guess that is yet another reason to call it the city of contradiction.

People seem generally nice and good at heart, though they’re keeping more to themselves and do not rush to talk to you, but they help you find your directions when asked and tears can get you out of fine in metro for having an expired ticket:) Between themselves they seem very affectionate. You can see a lot of PDA, and not only young people, but also middle-aged couples kissing each other at a café or walking hand-in-hand along the streets. Cute.

I’ve always said that the best way to get to know a city is find some local people to show you around. Luckily enough my “locals” were the best hosts ever, showing me the best places, taking me to a late-night city tour in Buda, clubbing together with me and inviting me to private parties:)