Six on the road from Buda to Pest
Even before leaving for Budapest, I had a lot going on mentally. Still, I had this assurance that this trip was much-needed and would allow me to take my mind off some trivial issues bothering me.
I remember chatting with a friend. She talked about how travelling is so mentally tasking and draining; I responded by telling her that it’s more mentally refreshing; it helps me relax think about issues bothering me. I remind myself I don’t have to worry but cast all my burdens to the Alpha and omega. So travelling is always relieving for me, and if I haven’t travelled in a while, I feel uneasy and start craving one no matter how short or small it may seem.
At past 11 pm, we arrived Budapest airport after a 2hrs trip, bothered because we had just made our first tourist mistake. I travelled with five friends from church; an Ethiopian, a Kenyan, a Nigerian, a Ugandan and a Belgian. Since the trip started on Friday, which was my birthday, I saw it as a birthday trip for me, and every day was my birthday during the trip. One of my travel buddies had put his card in the airport ATM in a bid to see how it works and the rates, but the next thing he saw was 60,000 Hungarian forint at the mouth of the ATM; dude had just mistakenly withdrawn money at a crazy rate.
We got in a bolt and drove straight to our Airbnb; thankfully, the money came in handy in paying the driver.
The house was really cosy and well maintained. I was impressed as this was my first time staying in an Airbnb in Europe. Omo, sleep was the first thing; everyone was tired.
On Saturday morning, the tour started proper. I took the role of tour guide; this is something I want to get better at so I can plan very organized and structured trips for myself and my friends if need be. One thing I have learnt while travelling is that planning is essential, little details such as buying a 72hour bus ticket can save you a lot of stress and time compared to the per trip ticket, especially as a tourist, things like booking ahead and buying tickets online before visiting some locations is very necessary to avoid heartbreak and also planning helps you know places to visit and the best time to see them. P.S. this doesn’t stop you from taking aimless strolls.
We started the day in a beautiful bakery with fantastic customer service; we all got an extra snack for each one we bought.
We bought tickets and off we went visiting the Hungarian Parliament and the shoes of the Danube River. At this location, we nearly got carried away by the wind. Back story, before leaving the house, the day was very sunny, and our rooms were warm. We were really excited, feeling it would be a warm day. The weather forecast was confirmed, so we didn’t wrap ourselves properly. So when the wind blew at Danube river, we knew we had entered “one chance”. Omo, imagine taking pictures and crying because the wind is on your face. We were freezing, and this was just the first point. After a few more stops, we went for a communism walk tour, I personally didn’t know much about communism and eastern Europe, so it was really enlightening to learn about this. We decided to end the day with a proper Hungarian dinner, and it was definitely worth it.
Day 2: This was a slow day because we left the house after church service, which ended at past 12 pm and brunch. We ended up missing our walk tour of Buda castle, so we did it ourselves. Before this trip, I never knew Budapest was divided into two, namely, “Buda” and “Pest”. We visited Buda castle, castle hill, fisherman bastion, fashion street, Ferri wheel, and Goudza street, where we had a karaoke night after a proper dinner. I had so much fun singing at the top of my voice abi na shouting sef, anyhow anyhow e nor matter.
I knew I had the most fun that evening singing, and I definitely would love to do it again.
Day3: For our final day in Budapest, it was a bit tricky; we had booked our return flight for 6 am the next day meaning we needed to get to the airport as early as possible to avoid ‘stories that touch’, so we decided to return home pretty early, rest or take a short nap then leave the house at 2:45 am the next day mainly because we didn’t want any surprises on the way, its easier to get to the airport pretty early and nap again that to get there late and miss your flight. So Monday started up well we went to our favourite bakery to get bread for breakfast. I have loved bakeries for as long as I can remember. Everything always looks fresh, smells good, there are enough varieties you can try and lastly the view is always worth it. After breakfast, we visited Margaret Island; as the “unofficial” tour guide, I wanted us to visit different places, especially the top 10 places to visit in Budapest. We saw numbered stones at the centre of the island well arranged in a big circle; we googled it and discovered it represented those who had lost their lives due to covid. So sad!
From Margaret island, we went to heroes square, which had a fantastic view, Széchenyi thermal bath, the fountain of knowledge and decided to end the trip by ice skating. This was funny because, amongst the six of us, only one could skate, but she wasn’t feeling strong enough to, so no one wanted to risk going to an open rink and try without any skater friend to support. But you know, I don’t like missing things like this, so myself and another decided to skate, we got there paid, got our shoes and it was time to get on the ice, we just kept staring. The thing was damn slippery. I was just looking for someone who was skating solo to ask for help and guess what I found one, he held me and helped me onto the ice trying to teach me and the next thing, I was on the floor, Omo, this sport was definitely different from others I had tried. The guy just advised we went to an area where newbies were being taught. We paid and waited, and after 30mins of learning, we were walking without the support and gliding slowly; I was so happy; what an amazing way to end the trip.
We cooked dinner ourselves and just chilled till 2 am before leaving for the airport.
In summary, my trip to Budapest has to be the best one yet, and I think this was major because of the people I travelled with, but I loved every bit of the trip.
