Budapest (by Rach)

Budapest

We managed to find a campsite in Budapest that was just a short tram ride away from the city centre. Unfortunately it was down there with the worst campsites we have ever stayed at. The showers were the worst we’ve used. Sean came storming back to the van in a rage because someone was doing their washing up outside his shower. Meaning he had to lean his bare bottom past the man to get to the dignity of his clothes. Still, a clean bum is a clean bum. The campsite lady had told us that they would be throwing a New Years Eve party at the campsite restaurant. The leaflet said that there would be an authentic Greek band playing – just what you want in Hungary – and we would be served a ‘pair of sausage’ at midnight. I must say, it was hard to resist.

We ran away from the horrible campsite and jumped on a tram. Now, Budapest is a major tourist city so surely you can buy tickets on the tram? No. Maybe there’s an app? No! How about a websi- I SAID NO! It is borderline bloody impossible to buy tickets for the tram. Online it just says “you’ll find them at local vendors and some tram stops” - helpful. So we rode illegally into the city centre and prayed we wouldn’t get caught.

We met our friends Kate and Ant at a lovely restaurant called Púder Bárszínház. Kate and Ant (hereby referred to as K&A) are what I would call our grown up friends. They have really good jobs, really nice clothes and buy furniture from actual antique shops. Not just second hand shops that I pretend are antique shops. Anyway, Kate has a super power that I like to call ‘Getting access and free stuff’ or GAFS if you will. I can’t tell you how many times she’s managed to walk to the front of the line at a club in Watford and got us straight into the VIP area. Okay, I know it’s only Watford but still.

New Years Eve Eve

The next day we walked across the stunning Liberty Bridge to meet K&A at the Fisherman's Bastion.

This place is PHENOMENAL. So beautiful. Have a little Google or take a look at our Instagram and you’ll see what I mean. Then we went to the famous Gellert Thermal Baths. It was very busy and poorly organised but once we were in the water it was nice. Kate called the baths ‘testicle tea’ though which sort of took the romance out of it. We got the hell out of there and snuck into K&A’s hotel room to dry our hair.

It’s at this point I need to tell you about the hotel Ant and Kate were staying at. It. Was. Stunning. They stayed in ‘The Beatles’ room and had a meeting booked with the musical director of the hotel to ensure their ‘musical needs are met’. Bloody hell. Told you they were real adults. Anyhoo, the hotel couldn’t do enough for our friends and they arranged us (that includes us) a sunset champagne river cruise so that we could see the glittering lights of Budapest (First GAFS of the trip!).

It was fantastic. Then we went to the famous bar, Szimpla Kert which was so busy. We were hovering with our drinks when a guy came over and said, ‘’you guys look like nice people and we’re about to leave – want our table?’’ (I’m telling you, GAFS.)

New Years Eve

On New Year’s Eve we met at a quaint restaurant for dinner. The hotel had booked it for us (a miracle – everywhere else was booked!). Like I said, the hotel couldn’t do enough for us! Also, GAFS.

After dinner we went to an Aperol Spritz bar. It too was rammed but we snaffled a table about 5 minutes after arriving (Even more GAFS). We sank some delicious cocktails and fended off two very forward Israeli men. Him: “I need someone to kiss at midnight” Me: “Yeah, not sure my boyfriend will be best pleased”. Later we went to the exclusive rooftop bar at Kate and Ant’s hotel . The hotel was holding a little soiree for all the guests and Kate had managed to wrangle us an invite (EXTREME GAFS). Free champagne, free food and fireworks next to the basilica – it really doesn’t get much better than that. Well, I guess a pair of sausage wouldn’t have gone a miss but still pretty excellent.

New Years Day

Oh god. Absolutely dying. Free champagne is not my friend. We got up around 5pm. Well I did anyway, Sean made a sort of gurgling sound, went for a wee and got back into bed. We had reservations at a tapas restaurant so I decided to be a brave adult and go into town. The trick to surviving a nice meal when you’re hungover is to order more bread. It’s like an internal body sponge. After dinner, I went back downhill so I bought Sean a kebab and got a taxi back to the campsite. What a way to start the New Year!

On Kate and Ant’s last day we met them by the river and went for a nice stroll in the sunshine. Kate handed me a bag full of Molten Brown goodies from their hotel, (I told you, GAFS superhero). We went for a burger. I opted for the veggie burger having given up meat for January. What arrived was basically a wheel of goats cheese in a bun. Even I, Rachael ‘thighs made of cheese’ Wood couldn’t finish that one. We waved goodbye to our grown up friends and the exclusive GAFS lifestyle they had bestowed upon us. *Sigh* back to the van life we go. Obviously we love living in a van. I’m just being dramatic for artistic purposes.