Budapest, Hungary

The train from Sarajevo to Budapest was perhaps the worst train ride we had ever been on. First, it was a sweltering day. Second, the air condition did not work. Third, the train was being powered by an engine that belched great black smoke clouds, so when you opened the window your car filled up with exhaust. And finally, the ride itself was about 12 hours. Needless to say, we spent hours on end languishing in some sort of semi-conscious state in our seats with sweat dripping down our faces.

So you can imagine our joy upon arriving in Budapest! Our friends Bela and Blanca picked us up at the train station and took us to their flat, where they cooked us meal after delicious vegetarian meal of stewed peppers and mushrooms over dumplings and we drank palinka (that same fruit brandy from the Balkans just with a new name here) mixed with honey.

We toured Budapest with our friends over the next few days, taking in the old architecture and street musicians. Peter was running out of clean shirts by this point so we went thrift store hopping to find him something to wear.

In our mad search for some down-home gypsy music we ended up at the Sziget Festival, something akin to Lollapaloosa in Europe where literally hundreds of thousands of European rockers camped out on an island in the Danube River to hear music at over 12 stages for several days. We managed to join the dance party in the gypsy tent for few hours before we were totally overwhelmed and had to go home.

We topped off our tour of Budapest by taking a dip in the natural mineral baths before Bela and Blanca dropped us off back at the train station for our overnight to Krakow. . .