CAVING, Ahhhh!!

Day 49. I stayed up way to late last night and woke up tired, but ready to explore (as always, I’m in Budapest!!). I decided to go on the free walking tour, but I already saw everything and understood the history so pretty much knew all they had to say so it was not my favorite tour, but it was alright and I stayed until the end. After the tour I walked through the castle and then down along the river to get to the citadel with the second soviet statue that is now a statue of freedom. Already tired from lack of sleep, and then the walking tour, and leaving in a hurry so not getting breakfast, I didn’t realize how many steps I would have to climb to get to the citadel (The Buda side is hilly!). A million steps later I made it to the top and got a victory sandwich enjoying the very impressive view of the city, and I bought a wicked cool souvenir. I walked back down the mountain (giant hill, but it felt like a mountain) and stumbled upon a super cool tree with a spray painted heart. Very cool! I then walked through the Grand Market which wasn’t so grand in my opinion, just a lot of overpriced fresh food and souvenirs. Oh well! Back to the hostel I went for some CAVING!!!!! Yeah, I went caving in Budapest, no big deal!! Caving was amazing, so legit and completely crazy. We put on these protective overall gear and donned helmets with lights on them (because the caves were completely pitch black). None of really knew what to expect, and we walked down a winding muddy path to a door in a giant rock wall. Further inside the cave we came to a ladder and down we went. We had a guide with us to show us through the caves and I am so glad we did. It is like an insane labyrinth down there completely dark and I know that I would have been lost in 2 seconds had I got separated from the group. We went through spaces I didn’t think even someone half my size could have fit. We walked, crouched, crawled on our hands and knees, army crawled, and my personal favorite, superman worm wiggled (left hand up, right hand by your side using your hips to push you up and down through the crack) through ridiculously crazy small holes. Sometimes we went head first, other times feet first sliding down these rocky slopes, or walking sideways along an edge, or climbing steep rock faces. I even lead the group for a while! One time when I wiggled down through this small hole I almost got stuck and freaked out for about 2 seconds before I sprang free and continued on, ugh, it was so insane and such an amazing experience. The caves were muddy, damp, and warm and I definitely felt like Gollum down in the depths (50+ meters below the surface!) as I moved around on my finger tips and toes just like he does (everyone complained that their knees hurt after from the hard stone, but not me, I was Gollum!). In the caves I discovered crystal along the walls and by the end of the voyage we were like a family unit together, each person telling the other where good places to put your feet/hands is, or which way to go, or when it was particularly slippery, or when to watch your head. It was great. We had to find our own way back to the city and I got home pretty late. I met up with some hostel friends at a Karaoke bar and was tempted to go up on stage as they had great song choices… but I passed on that and danced by myself instead. This was the first time I have been super lonely being abroad. I don’t know why it was now or what it was that set it off, but I really missed being home and being with my friends and family. I never lack for something to do in all the cities, and I make friends easily and love meeting new people and new experiences. I can dance up a storm on my own (Just ask Robin, she keeps dancing on her own), but tonight for some reason I just really really missed Anthony and I missed all the comforts your own home provides. Dancing for a while longer I decided to go check out Szimpla, the most famous of the ruined bar’s here in Budapest’s Jewish quarter. Wowza!! It was super cool and very different and modern and hipster and artsy, all rolled into one awesome bar. The building was bombed in one of the wars and someone had the idea to turn it into a bar. It has lots of smaller rooms and hookah available and an outside section, with tables, and the main center area is great for dancing. There are also random objects everywhere turned into something different and strung up in some crazy manner. I was exploring one of the rooms when a girl came up to me selling carrots (a clever alternative to drunk food) we starting chatting when a girl from Belgium came up to inquire about the carrots as well. We each bought a carrot and then started talking and after a while Stiene introduced me to her other two friends also from Belgium, Gijstbrecht and Lara. We talked the night away, and then danced the night away, and drank, and danced some more, and when Szimpla finally closed we walked somewhere else and continued in our merriment. We all had such a fun night, hurray for carrots at bars. I eventually got home as the dawn was breaking around 5 or 6 am and immediately went to bed, talk about a huge day eh??

Day 50! Today is my last full day in Budapest and I love it here. It’s so fantastic and chill with the right amount of relaxation, nightlife, chill factor, good food, its cheap (ish), and it has superb people. It is so nice and seemingly has everything (except for maybe my family and friends). Today was a lazy day for me (as can be expected with my huge day yesterday) and I got all my things reorganized and situated in my bags (It’s nice to get orderly and mentally resituate everything). I also got some goulash and paprika chicken (yummy!) for late lunch/dinner and finally got my haircut! The place I went to was like the Great Clips of Hungary, so cheap but got the job done. The girl spoke little to no English and communicating what I wanted was quite the challenge. Eventually when I thought we understood each other she began with shaving the side of my head and it was a little too short for what I am used to, but trying to ask her to make it longer didn’t help, she just replied “No it’s good.” But it turned out alright. I bought a bottle of amazingly delicious and cheap Hungarian wine called bull’s blood (epic story behind the name) and took it back to relax at the hostel. The rest of the hostel leaves on a GI Joe/Barbie doll outing and I am casually sitting on the couch when who walks in the door?? Luke! We went to Slazburg together and then I left for Vienna and he went to Slovenia and then Prague to meet up with Chris and now we are crossing paths again in Budapest! I had no idea he was coming and it was so fun to see him again. He and his two friends he met in Prague, who were also from Australia, were pretty tired from travelling all day. So after I skyped for a bit with Anthony (getting a little silly from the wine and had the wave of loneliness pass, thanks babe!!), and after they took a quick nap, we went out and bought some more bull’s blood wine and this massive pizza and hung out at the hostel together. We swapped stories and info on Prague/Budapest as I am going to Prague (Yes, after debating with myself for many a day I decided on Prague and in the morning and he just arrived in Budapest, and had a very fun night catching up. We called it an early(ish) night, and planned on waking up to say goodbye to me and get some breaky together.