I sometimes think I need to record the conversations I have with my friends. My friend Katy and I were talking about meeting up to hangout for a weekend. Katy originally offered to fly to the States and then I offered to fly to Scotland. We talked about meeting in the middle and yet somehow, we ended up in Budapest…….

We stayed at the Hilton Budapest in the Royal Castle District on the Buda side. It’s an amazing hotel, a great location on the Buda side.I had arrived early morning after having taken the early United flight to Frankfurt. I took the Hop On Hop Off Bus to get a feel of Budapest. I should mention, it was really hot that day, 33 c or 90 f, so the bus was really my only option. I was quite surprised about how spread out Budapest is.

Buda and Pest make up Budapest. They are divided by the Danube river. During World World II, a lot of the bridges that connect the 2 sides were destroyed.  Budapest has an amazing history.

       

       

I headed back to hotel to do a little work and wait for Katy. Lucky for me, the hotel received the memo of my arrival and had my favorite snacks waiting with an nice view as well……

I personally think every opportunity to celebrate life with friends, should be marked with champagne. Well champagne and Garrett’s Popcorn…..

                    

We had quite an enjoyable evening in the lounge at the Hilton. I would like to say we behaved and went to better early, but that’s not how the adventures of Flo and Katy go….

We met a lovely couple, Erin and Jake, from Portland, Oregon, who were on their honeymoon thru Eastern Europe. It was great fun talking with them. As it turns out Erin is a photographer,check out her work here.  We tried to convince her that she should be the photographer at my birthday party next year. Poor Jake and Erin mentioned the hotel had sent some champagne to their room. Of course, they had Katy and I at champagne, so we crashed the honeymoon suite. Another epic night in adventures of Flo and Katy.

I would lying if I said it was not a bit rough getting up the next day. Thankfully it was not as hot as the previous day. Katy has this silly idea that we are going gorilla trekking, so we need to train. And by training she meant, we had to walk down the lovely mountain our hotel was on top of. It was not as bad as I thought it would be. We walked and walked until we reached the Central Market. Where we enjoyed the one thing I specifically said I was forbidden to eat, Langos…..

It was well enjoyed. I think the trick is not eat a whole one yourself or at least not after gallons of gluhwein.

Our next stop the Icebar. Which was great because it was starting to warm up a bit. Basically you pay to go into a freezer with ice furniture to drink out of glasses made of ice.

By the time we came out of the deep freeze, we noticed how warm it was outside. So we decided to check out the famous thermal baths at Széchenyi Thermal Baths. It has 3 outdoor baths and 15 indoor ones. It was an experience. I am glad we tried it, but I can say I don’t think I need to try it again. I am every so thankful that we went during the day. I know that I would not have been able to handle the evening event, Sparty Hedonism. We entered the first pool, which was full of a somewhat older crowd. We soon found out why. It was one with jets.  I never seen older people move so fast or be so agressive over jets. We learned our lesson and moved to the side, or so we tried until an older lady decided she wanted to stand where poor Katy was standing and just pushed her out of the way. The whole situation was just so bizarre. The highlight was probably the little old man that was eyeing me. I just laughed it off at first, until he was standing a little to close to me. That was my cue, pool time over.

That evening we headed out on the Buda side for a traditional Hungarian meal. Ghoulash and Stuffed Cabbage and of course more Hungarian wine and beer.

                          

We then ran off to catch a boat cruise along the Danube. We timed to perfectly to catch the sun set.

              

And then it was time for me to head home….  I had a fantastic time, as always, with Katy. I am sure there will be many of adventures ahead. I am happy to report my wallet survived with very little damage, my liver on the other hand, well…..

Until next time… Safe Travels