Budapest, so close, but so far ✨☕🍦

So it's time for first post in English. I'm brave enough to experiment and to give my blog a little twist.

So sit down, relax and enjoy!

First time is always exciting. As soon as I got out of the bus and I noticed amazing, old buildings around me I fell in love. With each step I was discovering something interesting to observe. Ambiance in 100 percent elegant!

After a very long journey in Flixbus I just wanted to go straight to the hostel to drop off my backpack. It was easy, I took one metro line, I paid about 4,5 zł for the ticket and in 15 minutes I was on the spot.

MEININGER Budapest Great Market Hall

Beautiful hostel. Very modern, looking actually more like a fancy hotel. It was very spacious and clean. I tried there the best frappe in my life there. Delicious. Lockers for rent were very cheap and cost only 2 euros for the whole day. Rooms with a great view of the city were an additional advantage.

Walking around the city I step in the Central Market Hall. Place offered a variety of fresh, local products and souvenirs. I tried some local pastries.

I was on the Pest side. I saw magnificent view over the river. A lot of astonishing churches and cathedrals. Unfortunately I looked only from outside. A lot of weddings here, guys 💞

Recommendation from Karolina - My Little Melbourne Coffee and Brew Bar. Oh yes! Definitely by far the best Aussie cappuccino with almond milk. You should try and discover on your own. At this point, I met a new friend from the Netherlands. He was doing interrail and wanted to make friends.

I forgot to add that I met my friend from Italy by chance at the crossroads, which was very unpredictable and crazy.

From that day I learnt not to trust people and be careful. I always think that people are trustful and can't hurt me. That's not true. Yes, there are some good individuals, but most of them care only for themselves. I don't know where society is going, but it is not the right direction. Full of nonsense🤥

I got scammed. I tried to by my ticket for the Sziget festival. I found it a little cheaper on the Facebook group. I was chatting with the girl. I trusted her, so I sent ticket money. She never replied and I never saw my ticket.

I was so frustrated that I couldn't focus on anything. I decided to report it to the police. I didn't want to let this lady cheat on others.

Interesting first day 😲

P.S. The policemen were very helpful and spoke fluent English. I;m waiting for a call from them and for sending evidence.

I wanted to relax and start to enjoying my stay in this amazing city. With two new friends I went to Szimpla Kert. Abandoned bars were unique and unusual. I was walking around and discovering hidden bars. I tried homemade Wines. White and rose. Tasty.

After that we went to MADAM Urban Music Hall. Also nice, but similar to those bars that you can find everywhere.

This late evening I also enjoyed sitting by the fountain and looking around.

We finished the evening with the party in Heaven. From what I heard it is more local disco. Super vibe. A lot of people and excellent music. I definitely recommend to go there on Saturday.

I hope the following days will be calmer. Stay up to date 👑

Morning. Very restorative sleep and lots of energy for the new day. As I cannot imagine morning without a good coffee I decided to try it in McDonald. I was shocked to discover a coffee shake on their menu. I tried it and it was delicious. The best shake in my life.

Later on I decided to cross the bridge and to explore Buda site. The surrounding was perfect. Crossing the bridge was like going from one normal, simple world to another, more wild and magical.

I choose Szabadság szobor as a first attraction on this side. I had to climb in the full sun. I felt very tired but at the same time strong and happy. It was definitely worth it. From the top I've seen whole Budapest. Panorama stole my heart.

Later I was walking towards várkert bazár. They were selling clothes and jewelry from designers there. A lovely place. On my way I accidentally discovered a park full of colorful flowers. They were smelling as sweet as lolipops 🍭

I visited fancy neighborhood with huge, fancy houses. They led me straight to the Budai Vár. Castle was under construction so I was a bit disappointed. I recommend visiting it in another period. It looked a bit ugly with renovations.

Now is the time of my favorite place. Halászbástya.

White marble shimmered in the midday sun. A place for the real queens. Dignified. I have to come here and sit on one of the terraces.

Being very tired and hungry I returned to the Pest side. I wanted to discover some Hungarian food. I met with my friend from the Netherlands and we took a walk to Retró Lángos Budapest. Place was crowded. We had to wait around 20 minutes for the food, which was definitely worth it. Lángos with sour cream, cheese and garlic sauce was melting in my mouth.

I had to digest, so I took a lovely nap in the park. I came back to hostel to refresh myself.

A place that definitely should gain a reward is wine bar. Local one. Bortodoor City. I met amazing people there. It was Sunday, so they organized scrap wine testing from the whole week. I tried different kinds, even the orange one. I will return to this place on Wednesday to do the blind taste. Super funny!

I ended my day with a walk in the beautiful garden.

What about Monday. I needed to relax a bit and give my body a perfect treatment. What I remember from my family trips to Hungary is swimming in the thermal baths. I always liked being in the hot water and not thinking about anything. Just clearing my thoughts.

I looked at the maps and I found a spot for this day. Széchenyi Fürdő - the largest and the most popular one.

On my way I had a coffee with a friend from the hostel in Varna Björn.

We went for a long walk in the magnificent park. The City Park was the place full of playgrounds, bicycle paths, and branchy trees.

We took a full-day ticket at the thermal place. I got the impression that the building was very classy and kind of luxurious.

Inside you can find many different baths. Each one has different temperature and different health properties. To my surprise, the place also offers saunas. You can rest inside or chill in the garden. It was the best idea to spend there full day and simply relax.

I cannot imagine staying in Hungary and not eating Kürtőskalács. We took two different variants. One with melted chocolate and the other with cinnamon and brown sugar. I think cinnamon one was a bit more original and crunchy, but both were flawless.

We took them to go in Edés Maćko. They don't really speak English there and it is really hard to communicate with the staff. They were a little bit mean. So I think it is easy to find Kürtőskalács in ta friendlier an slightly cheaper place.

In the evening I changed my hostel into modern, spacious apartment. I was very glad to have my own kitchen, bathroom, leaving room and generally much more space then usual. Hi5 apartaments. Take a look and trust me, there you will have the most restorative sleep.

In the evening we were walking by the river. At one point we sat down in my favorite park. My friend from Italy Luca join us. It was very quiet and pleasant evening.

You can start your day from giving yourself the best breakfast. Beautiful for the eyes, tasty for the soul and healthy for the brain. While searching the Internet I found this funky place. Cookie Beacon Brunch. They offered a variety of brunches and freshly baked cookies. Everything looked tempting. I have to say that Eggs Benedict on Biscuit with avocado and Vegan Taco Pancakes are definitely worth trying. Personally I preferred the salty one.

In the evening we went to explore Margaret Island. How to describe this place? A large park with lots of interesting spots in the middle of Buda and Pest. I loved the colorful balloons floating in the air. On the right side of the park we found places with film projection, small restaurants and dance scenes with Hungarian music.

We were lucky to see fountain show afterwards. Water was dancing to the best Disney songs.

We sat down on the grass and we organized picnic with various snacks.

It's raining in Budapest? Yes. Heavy rain. Second unpredictable shower of the day😂

We hide under the tree and when it has stopped a bit we decided to return to our flat. We took a juicy kebab on the way. It was extremely cheep but extremely good at the same time. It cost around 12 zł.

Anytime bar and entertainment

Oh yes. A creative place with lots of nice cocktails and places to play bowling, bilard and table tennis. It was recommended by the Hungarian guy. Really good choice. I had a lot of playing these crazy games.

In the night we were clubbing in Instant-Fogas Complex.

What is good and enjoyable always seems very fast. Since every story needs to have begging and ending, so does this.

Thursday without forcing myself to run from one attraction to another. Thursday full of relax and mindfulness. Thursday in the nature, far away from the rush hours and traffic. Thursday, this one, irreplaceable day.

Buying a postcard is always an important event for me. I couldn't just go to the first store and choose the most typical one. After entering several of them, I found the proper one. Handmade, colorful, little art.

As a huge fan of Arabic cuisine I couldn't leave town without trying hummus bar. A place with many variations of hummus, falafels and laffas. I tried hummus bowl with tabbouleh. It was a bit disappointing. Hummus itself was ok, but laffa was burnt on the outside and vegetables weren't the freshest. I would rather buy hummus and bread in the market.

On the last day I like to come back to my favorite places. With cold coffee in my hand, I was walking to the City Park. I discovered concert hall and beautiful castle there. Sitting under the trees with music was the best idea that I could have done this hot summer day.

After packing my stuff I decided to try Fornetti. We had it in Poland, but for some reason we don't have it anymore. Very good, crunchy cakes. They are very small, so you can buy several of them and taste different flavors. My favorite is vanilla pudding with cherry jam.

At night I sat next to the river in my favorite place and I was observing Buda side with the lights on in the darkness of the night.

They placed rainbow lights on some buildings. It looked interesting and a bit unreal.

I learned from this trip that you can't make everyone happy. You can try your best and be happy yourself in your life and then share some of you happiness. But it is impossible to give this happiness to the person that are not feeling good with themselves.

Remember to take care and simply enjoy every magical moment.

Your altertravel ❤️