Budapast (for the record we are no longer in the Balkan)

So with full bellies and happy hearts, we left the comfort of the Belgrade penthouse, and walked throught the driving rain to the train station (okay truth be told the rain wasnt driving, but the floor was certainly wet). And as were queuing to buy tickets, who should we bump into but James, another one of those travellers on the same path which you just cant seem to shake (haha, jokes James) So we shared a compartment, and this time the seats slid out flat and was damn comfortable. We were met at the Budapest station by Béla, the boyfriend of Andi who we met in Lamu, and would be our host and informative guide for this leg. Oh and huge respect for coming at 5 in the morning to find us, he looked a lot livelier than we did that early.

James... met in Ethiopia at the sudan embassy, met again in sudan, egypt and now the belgrade station!

Our luxorious train compartment from Belgrad to Budapest

We were soon settled in to the apartment and after a bit of a sleep hit the town for a little walk. Its a really interesting old city, and i didnt know this but theres actually two parts, Buda on the one bank of the Danube and Pest on the other, fascinating, info-tainment. We didnt actually find the river that day, but there was a nice other train station which was designed by Eiffel (of the tower fame), and plenty of other things to wow and amaze. We really needed a map, and saw a group of people walking down the street with one, so enquired as to where they got it, and it turned out that they were pretty decent company so we went for a beer with Anne, Nora and Phillipe, a German, Belgian and Chillean in that order.

Tourist shot

That evening Béla gave us a wlking tour of the neighbourhood and old Jewish quater, puntuated with stops for beers and some local sorts of food in random little courtyards and rooftops that we never ever would have found otherwise. The night degenerated quickly once we met up with Ferco, the other guy from Lamu and the german girls and friends from earlier. And we ended up at a wicked drum and bass party where eveyone seemed from the photos to have had fun,

Ferco and Mattie

Nora, Mattie, Anna and Me

We have the Key!!!

classic party shot at west balkan

party at west balkan

Jaws!

The repercussions from that nights revelry were felt the next day which was severely unproductive, we literally didnt leave the flat, and Béla was at work from 7 which i think deserves a medal or something seeing as we got home not that much earlier. But we did get out later for a quiet meal and we saw this shark, and the bones of a whale hangin up inside another club.

Must go - to be continued (soon!!) ....

written by

BalkanAdventure on June 10, 2007 from Budapest, Hungary

from the travel blog: The Fantastic Far Flung Eastern European Adventure

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Aha, so the beer was good and the girls were pretty - what more could a guy want!! Keep the stories rolling please and take care of yourselves.
Lots of love,
Helen

written by Helen Alcock on June 11, 2007

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