I had a really excellent time in Krakow and Poland didn’t want me to leave either: my bus was delayed and then the bus driver got lost somewhere in the middle of Slovakia.
Once we arrived in Budapest I was relieved! A quick trip on the metro also turned into an adventure with lines closed for repairs since it was late on a Sunday night.
I spent the next three days exploring Budapest. I did a couple of walking tours learning about the history of the city/country, visited the Palace and Matthais Cathedral area, went out to a couple of bars including ruin bars ate far too much food (tried a Jewish cake with poppyseeds in it, also ate some great Indian food and at a fancy Japanese restaurant), visited Parliament, various monuments/memorials and went to the baths. One day of sightseeing was rudely interrupted however, Putin was in town to sign a trade agreement and the city was shut down for most of the day. I did however get a really close look at his motorcade.
On to my next stop, Bratislava in Slovakia. I just had one day here and after a beautiful (and inexpensive) train journey I reached the city. The city is not at all like it is portrayed in the movie Hostel, but there is plenty of evidence of it’s communist past. Grey skies didn’t help my impression. Worth a visit to see the castle and check out the nightlife.
My final destination of my trip was Vienna. I had heard Vienna was the most beautiful city on my planned itinerary and I wasn’t disappointed. It also wasn’t as expensive as I had thought. We got 3€ tickets to the ballet! Just walking around the city is great and I also visited Schönbrunn Palace and the Albertina museum, both i would highly recommend. The hostel I stayed at was incredible! 12 beds only so we became like a big family, Lilly the host was incredible and the place had everything for us to use/eat/drink.
So now I’m sitting at the airport waiting for my flight home. It’s been a great holiday but looking forward to getting back to French speaking France and my friends.
More next time,
Amanda xx
nomadic spoonie 