Day 1 – Vienna, Austria – September 3
We arrived at the Vienna bus station around 3:30 in the afternoon. We navigated the subway with all of our bags to the Wien Hüttledorf station where Claudia was waiting to pick us up. We are cat sitting for 5 days in the suburbs of Vienna nestled in the gorgeous foothills. We had skyped with Claudia and Faysal, the homeowners, while we were in Naples and knew they were Germans living in Austria with five cats. Claudia fetched us and the amusement began immediately, as we rode with her in search of her 5th cat that has a GPS collar. All the cats are indoor-outdoor and this one in particular does not think he belongs to them or in a house at all. We drove through the neighborhoods as she held out a GPS tracker getting excited when she heard a beep. The whole thing was too much.
We arrived to their beautiful home and she gave us a tour. The share a multistory duplex but the backyard is all theirs, and it’s spectacular. It has a natural swimming pond with newts, dragon flies and reeds, as well as several flower and vegetable gardens. The interior of the home is modern and has a very nice kitchen; Ryan is ready to get back to cooking. She and her husband and parents are taking a long weekend holiday to Slovenia. Eventually her parents arrived, who don’t speak a lick of English, and her husband Faysal. Faysal drove us to the grocery store so we could get supplies for a week. Ryan was like a kid in a candy store buying more Austrian/German beer and wine than food. He also got the ingredients to make Jägerschnitzel and bucatini all’amatriciana (most of the ingredients, they didn’t have guanciale).
That night they treated us to a home cooked dinner of bratwursts, salad, and a potato/beet casserole thing. Everything was tasty and we spent a few hours chatting with them and her parents, while her and Faysal were on double duty translating. We have the whole second floor to ourselves with a bedroom, bathroom, and living room. The cats were pretty scarce but it’s clear they are very, very loved in this house. The couple lived in Cairo, Egypt prior to moving to Vienna and all the cats are Egyptian strays.
Day 2 – Vienna, Austria – September 4
We joined them for breakfast the next morning, enjoying hot rolls with jam and butter and a meat and cheese plate. After they ate, they were finally off and we were alone to enjoy lounging in the house. We spent most of the morning and late afternoon lounging by the swimming pond enjoying the sun and blissfully cooler temperatures. Ryan took advantage of Faysal’s exercise equipment while Elizabeth went for a long hike in the nearby forest. She hiked around 6 miles through dense forest with other Austrians and their dogs. It was so nice to be back in the shade of trees with a cool breeze.
For dinner that night Ryan made Jägerschnitzel, a traditional German dish. He first made a decadent onion and mushroom cream sauce then shallow-fried two breaded pork cutlets. The whole meal was mouthwateringly delicious and we don’t feel the need to purchase the 15-euro schnitzel in restaurants. Elizabeth think it’s one of the best things Ryan’s ever made, people should request it when we get back. After dinner we cuddled and watched Free Solo in front of the open windows. Very romantic.
Day 3 – Vienna, Austria – September 5
We had an early morning because Ryan had a dermatologist appointment in the city at 9:30. We fed the cats then were on our way to catch a bus and two subways. He has a new growth on his head that has been aggravated since our aggressive Hammam bath experience in Morocco. We decided it’s better to be safe than sorry. We arrived at the doctor’s office and she immediately suggested cutting it off, saying it is a mole that would only stay aggravated by brushing his hair, ect. Although she didn’t think it looked cancerous, she still wanted to it off for testing. Within 5 minutes of being there Ryan was laying on his side while she injected local anesthetic into his head and cut off the mole with a razor blade. The whole thing took less than a minute and the procedure only cost 30 euro.
We went to a nearby pharmacy to get some antibiotic powder then had a few hours to kill in the city. A cleaning lady would be in the house today and we wanted to stay out of her way. We rode the tram to the museum district and decided to go in the Natural History Museum. It was 12 Euro a person, but since we were killing time, we decided we were going to take our time in there and really explore the place. As you’d expect with our luck, half of the geology exhibits were closed for construction. The museum is very well done and consists of two floors. The bottom floor is where we spent most of our time; it deals with global warming, glaciers, evolution, fossils, minerals, meteorites, and ancient artifacts found in Austria. We even got to touch an authentic dinosaur bone! The second floor is taxidermy of all types of animals from mammals to fish. We spent about 2.5 hours in the museum, I think a personal record for us.
By the end we were starving and Elizabeth found a bar with pretzels half a mile away. The city is full of Lime Scooters, the electric scooters you can rent. We found a couple nearby and rode for about 5 minutes until the cobblestones and pedestrians made it unbearable. A bunch of people are scootering and biking all around the city.
We found the restaurant and enjoyed some beer and a few pretzels. The pretzels were underwhelming, but still a pretzel so not a total disappointment. Maybe pretzels without beer cheese just aren’t worth it. On our way back to the house, we popped into a bakery and got a few strudels, more pretzels, and some bread to take home.
The cats couldn’t care less that we were gone or returned. That night Ryan made bucatini all’Amatriciana, a pasta dish we had in Italy, again really good, but not nearly as good as we had in Italy. Ryan thinks it’s because we didn’t have guanciale, so the richness just wasn’t there. Next time we make it, it will be with guanciale and onion. We spent the night watching yet another climbing movie and enjoying the cool air.
Day 4 – Vienna, Austria – September 6
We woke up and fed the cats. We noticed one cat hadn’t been around in the last 24 hours and wasn’t sure if this was the norm since they are indoor/outdoor cats. Around 11 am we alerted the owners to ask if they had a particular hiding place and panic set in. They called us worried and so we continued searching. We looked all through the house and walked around the neighborhood. They suggested calling to her outside, I think they forget they don’t own dogs. Since they were so panicked, we remained trapped in the house hoping to be home when it returned. Big rain storms were coming so we’d hoped to hike before they set in. It wasn’t until 3 o’clock this damn black cat came strutting down the stairs. Where she’d been hiding for a day, we’ll never know, but at least everyone was calm now. We were able then to set off on our hike. It was overcast but still hadn’t started raining. We went into the forest and hiked along looking for views of Vienna. We never found stunning views but instead found a beautiful lush valley and a lot of trees.
On our way back down, we ran into three police vans and officers at the edge of the woods. They asked us not to go in the woods at this entrance so we walked down a way. We speculate a body was found or there was an escaped convict. We made it back around 5:30 walking about 7 miles and no one spraining an ankle. We spent the rest of the night watching German television and Ryan grilled pork chops and roasted vegetables.
Day 5 – Vienna, Austria – September 7
This may have been our laziest day on the trip yet. We woke up to pouring rain, so we opened the patio doors and lounged – listening to it splash on the swimming pond. We spent the next several hours powering through our German Netflix show. It wasn’t until around 4 we got very hungry and decided to order delivery Indian food. They have a very easy app here called Lieferservice that connects to a bunch of restaurants and lets you order everything online then delivers it. We ordered a feast and 50 minutes later it was at our door. After devouring dinner, we got back to watching Netflix. Ryan was excited the Aggie football game was on at 9 pm our time, so he was able to stay up late watching it, even though they lost. It was the laziest day, but when it’s pouring rain what else is there to do?
Day 6 – Vienna, Austria – September 8
This is our last day officially cat sitting before the owners and parents return this evening. It was still sprinkling a little when we woke up but the sun was supposed to shine in the afternoon. We headed to a local church down the street for Sunday mass. The priest was an Indian man speaking German so all hope of understanding even a little was lost. We had a lunch feast heating up the leftovers that remained from all our previous meals. That afternoon we went for one last hike in the woods, a little muddy from the rains the day before. The woods were crowded with families going for a Sunday stroll.
The Germans returned around 6 pm that night and it was funny watching them try to coax these cats to come to them like dogs. We ate a last meal with them, frozen pizza and vegetables, and Faysal opened a few bottles of wine for us to share. They told us tales about their first visits to the US in the 1990s and Faysal’s daughter studied abroad in Anadarko, Oklahoma. We discussed politics and the state of the world and eventually went to bed around 10:30. They have been very kind and hospitable hosts; the only downside is their German-ness in that we always feel like we are being lectured and they rarely pick up on our sarcasm or jokes. Consider it practice for going to Germany in a few weeks.
Day 7 – Vienna, Austria – September 9
The next morning Claudia made us a breakfast of bread and meats and we packed everything up before she dropped us off at the bus station. We then took the metro into downtown in the university area where Ryan got us an AirBnB for the night. We couldn’t meet the host until 12:30 as he is a student in university and was in class, so we found a restaurant called Ulrich around the corner to wait. Ryan got a beer and Elizabeth got an amazing make-it-yourself chai latte. They brought the chai tea, a small jar of frothy milk, and honey to mix together. We also split an order the of pancakes with fruit. The high today is only 65, but we sat outside and enjoyed being cold. The restaurant had blankets and we enjoyed our meal between the freezing Austrians around us.
After this we met our host Tobias, who has an apartment in an old building. Our room is off the kitchen and the bed is on a wooden, homemade loft. Hopefully we don’t roll out and it doesn’t come crashing down. We immediately packed our bag and headed off to Klatterhalle Wien, literally Climbing Hall Vienna, a rock climbing gym outside of the city center. Austria has amazing public transportation and there is a metro, tram or bus for everything. We made it to the center and got our gear. The complex had an outdoor area with a huge climbing wall, bouldering and slacklines as well as an indoor gym with a ton of walls and routes.
It was windy outside and 65 degrees, so Elizabeth was chilly but Ryan was in his element. We started at the outdoor wall. Normally you have to tie your own figure 8 knot to your harness before you can climb but this gym had them all pre-tied and you simply had to use a carabiner to clip in. This filled Ryan with anxiety. He’s not a fan of trusting his safety to some stranger he hasn’t even met. We did a couple of routes then it began sprinkling so we moved indoors. The inside climbing area was huge and we spent hours going from wall to wall. This gym had some hard routes with easy ratings, the lady at the front desk said they didn’t inflate their routes to make people feel accomplished like other gyms might. When the weather cleared a little, we went back outside and finished up on the big wall and playing around on the slacklines. We are horrible and couldn’t make it a couple steps on the tight rope.
After getting cleaned up we piled back on the subway and went to a beer garden called Schweizerhaus, the largest in Vienna. It’s located right in the middle of an amusement park and all the outdoor tables had heat lamps. We found a table and got some beers. We made the mistake not ordering Budweiser like everyone else was because we thought it was American Budweiser. After our first beers we realized this was Budweiser Budvar, a beer with the same name but from the Czech Republic. We ordered those for Round 2 and they had a ton of foam but were so much better than their American ‘cousins’. We started with French fries, fried potatoes and sausage, not intending to get two types of potato. After seeing everyone around us eat pork knuckled and fried chicken, we decided to add some fried chicken. It was delicious, Ryan says some of the best he’s ever had and he’s somewhat of a fried chicken expert. Full bellies and an empty budget, we took the subway home – and neither of us tumbled our of the loft!
Day 8 – Bratislava, Slovakia – September 10
Our bus to Bratislava, Slovakia left at 12:40 pm so we were determined to see a little more of Vienna before we left. We jumped on the subway to St. Stephens Cathedral in the center of Vienna. When you come out of the subway tunnel you are right at the church’s doorstep and this building is huge.
This church was built between 1339 and 1365 on the ruins of two earlier churches from 1147. We went inside and walked around the free portion of the nave, admiring the statues and pillars. Next, we paid the 6 euros to go up the northern bell tower.
We unknowingly had very different impressions of the church experience. Elizabeth is sad to report that the staff at St. Stephens were the rudest church staff she’d ever encountered. Ryan thought their brusque attitude was a refreshing change of pace to the American attitude of “the customer is always right”. It began at the ticket counter, where a French couple was confused about the amount of change they received, only to get yelled at. They were somehow confused that they had to pay the 6 euros for each person and wondered where the rest of their change was. Then on the elevator, the man didn’t take his backpack off, as the is clearly indicated by two large pictograms prior to entering the ticket booth and in front of the elevator. Elizabeth thought the elevator operator was demeaning; Ryan thought he was simply fed up with tourists not obeying instructions. He griped at the Frenchman to take his backpack off in German, English, Italian, and Spanish. He then got frustrated and proclaimed he couldn’t understand why people refuse to learn English. Maybe Ryan was just happy to see some French people get yelled at. Then when we were in the gift shop to buy some postcards, they were rude to people asking about a tour schedule. So that kind of put a damper on the experience for Elizabeth. Ryan thought the whole encounter was hilarious. After we rode the elevator to the top, we were up close with the multicolored tiled roof and had amazing views of the city.
Feeling hungry we went to a café called Diglas around the corner. We got coffee, hot chocolate and shared a rich and sugary croissant. The whole thing was overpriced but it’s clearly a local place and lots of old people were hanging out in the large red plush chairs. After eating we grabbed the subway back to our Airbnb to grab our bags and head to the bus station.
We found super cheap bus fare for the 1 hour and 20-minute ride for 5 euro each. The bus was uneventful and riding through the Austria countryside looked like Iowa with all the windmills and cornfields. Riding across the border into Slovakia we didn’t have to stop at passport control, they only seem to care if you’re going from a poor country to a rich country. The architecture changed abruptly into more soviet area block buildings.
Our Airbnb for the next two nights is like a dorm room in a shared suite. We are back to our twin beds and Ryan is excited for the freedom. We arrived around 2:30 and our bus Pringles weren’t enough to fight off the hunger. Our first stop was a brewery called Mestiansky Pivovar. Ryan got a liter and Elizabeth a half liter of their local brew, which was smooth with an excellent flavor. We ate marinated beer cheese with mustard, garlic and butter on fried bread beside sausage on potato cake and onion. Ryan loved it, but Elizabeth couldn’t take all the greasy flavors by the end. We played cards and ordered more beer. Elizabeth switched to the radler which is the smoothest drink ever made, it is made by mixing lemonade and beer and it went down like a beer shake.
Next we went to the KGB Pub. It is a communist inspired bar and all the decorations are Soviet and communist themed. We got a couple cheap beers and tried to name the communist leaders from the many portraits that decorated the walls. Our appetite returned so we moved to our last bar called Slovak Pub.
This bar was really cool and the largest bar in Bratislava. We found a table near the back and ordered their local beer, where Ryan got a liter for 2.5 euro. We shared a garlic soup in a bread bowl, pierogi, and dumplings filled with blueberry and covered in chocolate. Elizabeth enjoyed the food a lot more than Ryan, but either way filled us up to fall right asleep.
Day 9 – Bratislava, Slovakia – September 11
We were lazy risers the next morning and set off for eating and exploring around 10:30. We made a stop at the post office which was very organized with a deli-style take a number system – not what we were used to. We walked through Michael’s Gate and into the old town. Michael’s Gate is the only preserved medieval gate into the city and from around 1300. Once we were in the old town we wandered through the streets. We’d read that Bratislava had a lot of international cuisine and they weren’t kidding. We walked past, in a row: an Italian pizzeria, a Dubliner pub, a Mexican hacienda, a classical French restaurant and a Thai place.
We made it all the way down to the park and the mayors office at Primatial Palace. A bunch of groups were gathered here to kick off their tours and we couldn’t help but notice how many older people were taking tours of the city. We sat on a park bench and decided where to eat lunch enjoying while watching the hustle and bustle. As we began our walk towards the Danube and lunch, three police officers and cars screeched up and the officers ran inside the nearby hotel. We waited around for a minute but never figured out what happened. We arrived for lunch at BeAbout Burger and ate unhealthy American bar food like a cheeseburger and chicken Caesar wrap, but it was nice to indulge in a taste of home.
After lunch we walked halfway across one of the bridges that extends over the Danube. There is a little look out platform in the middle and we could see all of downtown and the castle up on the hill. Along the Danube were a bunch of large river cruise boats and a lot of chairs on the roof for sunbathing.
We next walked over to the Blue Church or St. Elisabeth. The church is as describe completely blue from the mosaics, façade and the roof. It was built in 1913 and the blue extends to the inside decorations. Unfortunately, the inside was closed but we were able to look through the glass doors and see the blue pews and wall decorations.
Slightly peckish, we headed towards an ice cream parlor to share a cone of Nutella and stracciatella ice cream. The summer season is winding down and a lot of the ice cream places we’ve enjoyed will probably start limiting their hours after the summer season. We continued our church exploration and went to the biggest cathedral of Bratislava, St. Martins. The church began construction in 1311 and finished in 1452 on top of the older smaller church and cemetery. Inside the cathedral part of the floor is glass and you can see below into the old cemetery where a few human skulls and skeletons can be seen poking out of the dirt. Bratislava was the head of the Hungarian empire between 1563 and 1830, so it was where they coronated the kings of the time.
We continued walking up hill towards the castle. The history here is very complicated and the current castle was rebuilt in 1956-1964. This area has been inhabited since 3500 BC because it maintains such a strategic position in Europe, nestled between mountain ranges and along the Danube River. This area was periodically ruled by the Romans, Celts, Slavs, Hungarians, et. al. The main gate was closed but we were able to walk up along the outside to make it in. The grounds were very pretty and we had great views of the city.
Thirsty, we headed back down toward the old town to a brewery called Bratislava Mestiansky Pivovar. It was the same brewery as the day before, but in an outdoor garden. We sipped our beers and read our books. When we got peckish we shared homemade garlic and onion bread with a pork crackling spread, heavenly. Next we went to Grand Cru Wine Gallery where the owner talked us through all the Hungarian and Slovakian grapes and gave us his favorite whites, reds, and a dessert wine. Not a bad way to spend a day while staying within budget.
Day 10 – Budapest, Hungary – September 12
We woke up for a morning jog that took us back across the Danube and into a huge park. We jogged around there for a few miles then went back and packed up at our AirBnB. We were able to leave our bags there since our bus wasn’t until 2:30, so we showered and hit the shops. Elizabeth wanted a new sweater, found at H&M and Ryan needed new shoes and a travel backpack. We luckily found everything we wanted, for pretty cheap, so we celebrated with Thai food. We chose a restaurant called Green Buddha and got the Pad Thai and Panang Curry. The curry was so spicy but bursting with flavor. Next, we went to Kláštorný pivovar to grab a last beer at another brewery. It wasn’t as good as the main brewery but it’s hard to beat a 2-euro half liter of beer. We collected our things and headed back to the bus station, time to head to Budapest!
We once again traveled with Flixbus, this time it was a 2.5-hour ride to Budapest. There was no border control between Slovakia and Hungary but we did get slowed down by the horrible Budapest rush hour traffic. Once we made it to the bus stop, we hopped on a tram to take us the 30 minutes north to our housesit. We are to watch a lab mixed name Tiago for the weekend. His owner, Katie, is British and works at the British international school. She’s previously lived in Malawi, where she found the pup, and Thailand. Tiago is a very calm, sweet, lazy dog. They walked us around the neighborhood and he came on the bus to go to Margaret Island, an island in the middle of the Danube. We watched the water fountain light show set to classic American music and chatted. She’s headed to Copenhagen for a long weekend and we are excited that he is such a low maintenance dog.
Day 11 – Budapest, Hungary – September 13
We woke up and headed straight to a bakery we walked by the night before. It smelled delicious, the aromas of baking bread wafting out of the doors. Everything looked amazing and we went a little crazy ordering, but it was so cheap. For 3 dollars we got 4 bite size bread pieces filled with savory ingredients like bell pepper, a large chocolate croissant, a cheery tart, and the most amazing thing Elizabeth has ever eaten: a pinwheel pizza. Picture flaky bread in a spiral filled with tomato sauce and cheese, and it was fresh baked. To die for. Ryan thought it was amazing as well, though not quite the religious experience Elizabeth had.
Next we headed back to the apartment to attempt to exercise then took the dog to a bar on the Danube. The bar was called Beer Company Soerterasz and we enjoyed drinking beers outside in the 70-degree weather. We hung out there all afternoon until we had to drop the dog off so we could head downtown.
In just 30 minutes and a $1 bus fare, we were across the Danube in the Pest side of Budapest. We both learned that Budapest is made up of what were once three separate cities: Buda, Óbuda – where we are staying, and Pest. We hopped off the bus and walked to a bar called Szimpla Kert. This bar is huge and reminded us of a lot of the cool half indoor/outdoor weirdly decorated bars in Houston. We grabbed a few beers and enjoyed the people watching.
We hadn’t eaten since the bakery so we walked next door to the food truck alley. There were so many choices and it was fun to be in a food truck area, felt like home. After taking a lap and assessing all our options Elizabeth went with the MexKitchen and Ryan the local truck. We ordered two beers and waited for our food. Ryan got langos, a potato and wheat bread that strongly resembles funnel cake, with sour cream and roasted red peppers; it was oddly incredible. Then we also shared chips and queso and a Paquita, like a crunch wrap supreme but full of bacon and jalapenos.
After stuffing our faces, we went back to Szimpla Kert and explored all the weird rooms in the bar and had another round. It was getting late and we needed to return to Tiago our dog so we hopped back on the bus and were back to the apartment in 30 minutes. Ryan took the pup out on a long walk; this dog only likes to poop and pee in the middle of sidewalks and streets. After that we all settled in for the night.
Day 12 – Budapest, Hungary – September 14
We woke up and took the dog for a quick walk before dropping him back off so we could exercise. Tiago has a thyroid issue, so he gets tired easily and is the world’s laziest dog. It’s not a bad house sit since he’s content to just lay on the carpet and wait for a belly rub. We ran up over the Danube and back onto Margaret Island. This island is full of jogging trails and there were a ton of people out exercising. We ran across the whole island then back across the Danube and home. It was nice to see so many people out jogging. Often times when we go jogging, we don’t see anyone else and get strange looks.
We got cleaned up then took the pup on a walk before going into the city to find lunch. We were pretty hungry so we popped into the bakery to try the chocolate pinwheel, not as good as the pizza. We took the bus back into the city center and found a small local pub on the corner to grab a beer while we googled lunch options. Budapest has so many restaurants and everything looks so good. It was actually a little daunting. As we drank our beers costing $1.30 each, we found the perfect spot in the Jewish Quarter. Elizabeth got the beef stew with potato dumplings and Ryan got duck with a creamy mushroom sauce. We liked both of our dishes and we washed them down with beer.
Next we popped over to another ruin bar like Szimpla Kert, a bar that is built in the ruins of a building from the war, called Mozal Tov. Elizabeth drank some Hungarian wine and Ryan had a beer. We also shared a nice plate of hummus and pita. The food and atmosphere were cool, unfortunately the service left a lot to be desired. We caught the tram home and popped into the gourmet grocery store for some snacks. We spent the night watching movies and eating popcorn.
Day 13 – Budapest, Hungary – September 15
After a lot of dawdling around, we caught the bus to attend the noon service at St. Stephens Cathedral in downtown. The church is absolutely huge and gorgeous with gold leaf everywhere. The organ was loud and the service had a lot of people. Tourist are still allowed in during mass but they rope off the pews so there are a lot of flashes coming from the back of the church. Ryan likes that after the mass we get a little VIP treatment as we are allowed to wander around the roped off area for a while before they let the tourists in.
There was a cute market set up outside the church selling street food and desserts we wandered through after. Unfortunately, nothing looked too appetizing, so we didn’t grab any food. They were playing “Hey, Soul Sister” by Train on repeat so we had to get out of there after about 10 minutes. We went to brunch À la Maison Grand and the food was phenomenal. Ryan got a bacon eggs benedict and Elizabeth got Hungarian French toast which was basically a ham and cheese French toast sandwich with French fries.
After lunch we walked along the Danube to a bar called Pontoon where you could sit along the river with your beer and have a front row seat to the boats cruising past and of the chain bridge. We wandered across said bridge and caught the tram back to our neck of the woods.
After an accidental nap we grabbed the pup and headed to an outdoor beer garden called Podium. Tiago was the center of attention and some kids came up to pet him, who then wouldn’t leave for like 15 minutes. Elizabeth enjoyed a cherry wheat beer. After we walked to a Doner Express to get some kebabs. They are so heavenly, like a spicy gyro. We watched a few movies and waited for the owner to return from the airport around 10:00 pm. She said we could sleep in and stay as long as we wanted the next day, which was a relief.
Day 14 – Budapest, Hungary – September 16
After another jog around Margaret Island we popped in for one last pizza pinwheel while we waited in line at the post office. Apparently, Monday morning is the time to send letters and the line was long. After we decided to eat lunch at a local lunch spot. Elizabeth got mushroom pasta and Ryan got a burger with fries. The “ketchup” tasted like pizza sauce.
After lunch Elizabeth had a haircut appointment at one of the 30 neighborhood salons. For $20 she got her hair washed and massaged, cut off at least 6 inches of hair, and got it styled and blow dried. Elizabeth isn’t thrilled with the results, a long bob, but it’ll grow back. Which is absolutely crazy. She looks so cute. We packed up our stuff, said adios to the dog and were off to our AirBnB in the center of the city. We didn’t realize until we got off the tram, but our new apartment is directly across the street from the bistro we ate at in the Jewish Quarter. We unloaded and headed off to find a drink. We settled 360 Bar, because it was rooftop and today is supposedly our last warm 80 degree sunny day.
We splurged for cocktails, really well made to boot, while still only $8 each, and sat on the roof in the sun overlooking the city. They were playing very intense gangster rap for it only being 5 pm. Also, we are in Hungary. And there wasn’t a single non-white person in the whole bar. We ended with some small beers and feeling hungry settled off to find food.
Our first attempt was an Indian restaurant called Indigo, unfortunately they were full because a party of 48 Indian people were coming in. We tried walking to another Indian restaurant, but that was closed too, so we stumbled into a tantalizing Vietnamese restaurant. We got beer and wine and crunchy duck and pho. It ended it up hitting the spot. We made reservations for Indian for the next night.
We had a few dollars left in our daily budget so we wandered around looking for a bar with cheap drinks. We found just the place called Jazz Bar, no jazz music to be found unfortunately. We got some beers and played with the bartenders cute French Boston pup. After that it was off to bed.
Day 15 – Budapest, Hungary – September 17
We tried a bakery called Bite for breakfast. Ryan had a wurst in bread kolache and Elizabeth a pretzel with cheese and pepperoni. We then split a cinnamon roll – didn’t realize how much we missed them. Everything was good, but nothing can compare to the great pizza pinwheel (which is actually called a pizza csiga by the way, pizza snail). Next we took the metro north to BigWall rock climbing gym. The front desk worker didn’t speak much English, but eventually we got all of our equipment. We were blown away with how cheap it was. There were a ton of routes and we spent three hours climbing around. They have an old industrial chimney outside that you can climb, but it didn’t have any top ropes so we weren’t able to climb it.
After changing we got back on the metro and headed to a lunch spot close to the biggest medicinal bathhouse in Europe. Its located entirely outside in a park and you order everything from a large kiosk. We each got big, deserved, beers and shared a pulled pork sandwich, Barcelona style. We’ve been seeing pulled pork everywhere around Europe, we didn’t realize it’d gotten so big here. We sat outside and ate in the cool weather.
We walked into the park towards Széchenyi Thermal Bath. Budapest lies on top of a long and complex cave network and these caves were formed by the hot water running through them. They put wells in and have over 120 natural hot spring bath houses in the city. This one is the largest and we were excited to soak our climbing muscles.
We paid and got our wristbands, which acted as keys to doors and a locker. After changing we wandered around the many indoor pool of varying temperatures, but all smelling of sulfur. We knew there was an outside but couldn’t figure out how to get out of the building. Eventually we asked for help and was pointed to a single door outside, this can’t be safe for fire code. Outdoors it was chilly and a ton of people were in the three pools. We started in the warm pool, then there is a lap pool in the middle and a hot pool on the other side.
We paid and got our wristbands, which acted as keys to doors and a locker. After changing we wandered around the many indoor pool of varying temperatures, but all smelling of sulfur. We knew there was an outside but couldn’t figure out how to get out of the building. Eventually we asked for help and was pointed to a single door outside, this can’t be safe for fire code. Outdoors it was chilly and a ton of people were in the three pools. We started in the warm pool, then there is a lap pool in the middle and a hot pool on the other side.
We arrived and sat next to an older couple clearly on a first date. She was German and a hippie and he was a business man from Australia. Eavesdropping kept us entertained all dinner. Having only shared a sandwich at lunch, we ordered 4 beers, 3 vegetarian entrees, rice, and two types of bread. Everything was surprisingly good, better than a lot of what we had in London, except for the yellow daal which kind of sucked, and it only cost us $35. God bless Hungary. We stuffed ourselves to the max and the only thing left to do was go to bed.
Day 16 – Budapest, Hungary – September 18
We tried a new bakery this morning called Kiskovász Kézműves Pékség. We got coffees, a cheese pinwheel, a cheese croissant and a cherry pastry. Everything tasted handmade and fresh and we began to talk about planning our last month in Europe. Finishing breakfast, we went to that small local bar with $1 beers to drink and map out where we wanted to go next. We watched the drunkards from the night before keep drinking and one group rocked out with a harmonica and guitar. The bartender turned up the music when they started playing; clearly she wasn’t entertained. We spent almost 3 hours here planning until it was time for lunch.
We headed towards a restaurant called Kiosk Budapest, recommended by our wine bar owner in Bratislava. Naturally we kept drinking and shared a fantastic club sandwich. They are apparently Michelin starred. We walked around the corner to a famous bakery called Molnár’s kürtőskalács, so we could try one of the city’s famous chimney cakes. The bakery had a window in front so you could watch them roll the dough around a cone and stick it in the oven. Then they take it out and roll it in various toppings, we chose the classic preparation – cinnamon sugar. To eat it you pull it apart and it unwinds, it was amazing.
We need to make our travel arrangements to Poland the next day so we headed to the main train station to activate our Eurorail passes and reserve beds on the overnight train. They were sold out of two person cabins, so we’ll be sharing our small bunk room with two strangers, hopefully they don’t stink and snore. We headed back towards our Airbnb and found a local bar called 57-es számú italbolt. Whatever the hell that means. The place was pretty empty so we claimed a booth and enjoyed our cheapest beers yet. After an hour or so the place filled up with local youths, clearly enjoying the prices and the dingy atmosphere. It’s also down the street from some clubs, so they were probably pre-gaming. We left for dinner once we couldn’t stand the cigarette smoke creeping in the windows and went to a Japanese restaurant called Komachi Bistro. The menu was awesome because they served everything in full and mini sizes so you could get ramen, donburi, and curry.
We filled our bellies then went to a large ruin bar and nightclub called Instant. It was only 9 pm so the place was pretty scarce with only other tourists wearing backpacks, just like us. We grabbed some cheap beers and enjoyed the music and people watching as the place slowly filled up. They are trying this environmental strategy to reduce single use plastic by charging for thicker plastic cups that you can return after you’re done and get your deposit back. We’ve seen this at multiple bars, but it can be tricky to figure out where to return your cups and they charge like over a dollar a piece! We hung out as long as our old people bodies could last then headed home to bed.
Day 17 – Budapest, Hungary – September 19
We checked out of our AirBnB and found some lockers in the neighborhood. For $5 we were able to lock our things in a big locker and explore the city without our backpacks. Our first stop was another bakery, this one was called Jókenyér Szaküzlet Nagymező utca. We shared a cinnamon sugar pinwheel, a ham and cheese pizza and a sour cherry pastry all to be washed down with cappuccinos. We needed to fuel up since it was our last day and Elizabeth had a lot of sightseeing to drag Ryan to.
We next walked back to St. Stephens Basilica, where we attended mass on Sunday, to go on the roof and look over the city. It was around 350 steps to the top and you passed through the basilica dome to the roof. This one didn’t have views inside the church like in St. Peters. Once outside you could walk all around the dome with unobstructed views of the city. It wasn’t too crowded and we could see for miles.
Next we hopped on the bus and crossed the Danube to the western side. We walked up more stairs to the top of the hill to see the Fisherman’s Bastion. This was built in the 19th century and has great panoramic views of the city. It’s apparently an Instagramers paradise and we watched one woman do a 20-minute photo shoot with a Starbucks cup. We wandered around enjoying the breeze then headed back towards the Danube to find lunch.
We ate at a traditional and very local Hungarian restaurant called Ildikó Konyhája. We shared the mushroom stew with potato dumplings and a porkchop stuffed with ham and cheese. Everything was really good and of course accompanied by beer. We sat at a long shared tabled with Hungarian men on their lunch breaks who all ate hamburgers, which we didn’t even see on the menu. We walked along the Danube to digest and took pictures in front of the beautiful Hungarian parliament building.
Next we popped back on the metro, we had tickets to burn, to go to the Central Market Hall. This is a big open building with lots of small kiosks of meat, vegetables, etc. Elizabeth bought a pair of earrings; she didn’t bring any and had been worried her ear holes were going to close in. We then explored the rest of the market, while simultaneously keeping an eye out for a supposedly fantastic dessert shop, but we never found it.
Feeling thirsty we took the tram to Kadarka Wine Bar. The staff was very friendly and knowledgeable. Their cellar was quite extensive and they had a ton of Hungarian wines to choose from. They gave us recommendations for a white, red and dessert wine. All the wine was very tasty and did the trick of relaxing us before our long train ride.
We picked up our bags and grabbed the bus to the main central train station in Budapest. We had $3.50 left in Hungarian money and bought 3 slices of pizza and a Pepsi before boarding our train. We are sharing a 4-person, bunk bed, sleeper car with two men from Poland on a business trip. They also have the car next to ours full of their coworkers from Magellan. We didn’t realize this train didn’t have an alcohol car so we hadn’t come prepared, but they did. They have bags and bags of mixers, wine and liquor. It’s about an 11-hour train to Krakow, Poland. We left at 7:30 pm and arrived at 6:30 a.m. Ryan was about 2 inches too tall for his bunk, so it should be an experience.
Things we learned in Austria, Slovakia and Hungary:
- These are perfect places to enjoy fall weather and changing leaves while drinking outside.
- Slovakia and Hungary are verrrrry affordable.
- Cats are assholes.
Ryan and Elizabeth Goss 