When I finally boarded my flight, we had to wait on the runway for another half hour before we could take-off. As soon as we were in the air and the seatbelt sign turned off, I put my tray table down, wrapped a scarf around my head and put my head down for a nap. This is the only position I’ve managed to find to sleep on Ryanair flights – don’t get me wrong, it is NOT comfortable: your arms and legs will both go numb, and your neck has to fold at a weird angle, but better than the lolling head position where you wake up every time your head falls!
I don’t usually manage to sleep in public places, even with my weird ragdoll sleeping position, but after my 4:30 start I was out until the poor lady next to me got so desperate for the bathroom that she apologetically woke me up and scrambled off! When I eventually arrived, all alone in Budapest, and got through the airport, it was an easy hop onto the 900HUF shuttle bus to Kalvin Ter in the city centre. I’d deliberately picked a hostel that was easy to locate from here, Google tells me it is 3-minute walk.
It took me at least 20.
This is one of the biggest fears I had about solo travel – I’m kinda sorta useless at navigation. It’s one of the few flaws that I will openly admit to having because it really is that bad. Even with a map on my phone I still couldn’t work out which way the little man was facing, and therefore which way I was facing. After half-heartedly walking 10 metres in multiple directions, muttering to myself and shaking my phone, and then turning around and trying a different direction, I caved and asked the tourist information cart that was nearby and they sent me on my merry way.
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I had hoped to do a walking tour of the city on my first day, but after the delayed flight I checked in a little too late to make it, so I took myself on a little wander that afternoon instead. My favourite thing to do in a new city is to walk around and really get a feel for the place: admittedly this is so that I have less chance of getting lost subsequently, but also because the vibe and the architecture contribute a lot to my overall impression of a place. I walked along the Pest side of the river up to Elisabeth Bridge, taking more selfies than a reasonable person would ever want to admit to. I’d been recommended a chimney cake café around this area so I popped into it and bought one of these delicious treats, (half filled with icecream, half to eat later as they’re HUGE) and sat myself down on the wall of the bridge, overlooking the river and the castle. This soon became one of my favourite places to sit in Budapest as the view was stunning, the weather was good and the cake was DELICIOUS.
My perch from the Pest side of Elisabeth Bridge
Day one was my first real impression of Budapest and on a sunny day, walking along that river and eating sweet treats, I was pretty enchanted. The city is utterly stunning – surprisingly so, considering it’s only recently become a tourist destination, which I naively assumed meant that it wouldn’t be as obviously nice as some of the more traditional destinations. From where I stand on the Pest side, however, the Danube winds lazily beneath the bridges, each of which is a stunning monument in its own right, past fairytale-esque architecture and lush green hills, and the pace of life just feels slower here, like a lazy stroll is the only way we need to move around and nothing matters more than that.
With this in mind, I ended up crossing the bridge and dreamily wandering up Gellert Hill. Named after St Gellert who was apparently thrown to his death from here, it hosts the St Gellert Monument and the Liberty Statue, and is well known for the amazing views of Budapest from the Citadella at its peak. So there I am, climbing this hill, with no water and in 28 degree heat. It wasn’t my best plan, and most of my red-faced and sweaty selfies from this portion of the trip will never see the light of day, but I’m glad I got to go up there although, admittedly, I didn’t have the time (or hydration) to make it to the top.
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To end my first day in Budapest and as a reward for accidentally climbing that hill (okay, fine, half of that hill), I went to a Szimpla Kert, a famous ruin bar. If you’ve not heard of these, Ruin bars are bars that have been set up in derelict buildings and decorated with fairy lights and other colourful things. They’re utterly stunning but I think I would have been too nervous to go to somewhere like this at peak evening time alone, or even if I did go, there’s the worry that I’d sit in the corner and have one drink before awkwardly shuffling out. Luckily for me, my Birmingham bestie recently moved to Vienna and was over in Budapest for some of the same days as me (I know, this is more semi-solo travel, but I’ll happily be eased in if the option is available!) so we agreed to meet up and get ruined. (geddit? Har har, I’m so funny).
Me and Adam at Szimpla Kert
A girl in my hostel did tell me that this bar is open in the day and hosts markets etc., so that’s also an option for any solo travellers who, like me, are too awkward to sit and drink alone in an evening. Me and bestie sat in the smoking area drinking very inexpensive Hungarian wine (4500HUF for semi-sparkling) catching up on life and enjoying the atmosphere. At one, very weird point, a girl started selling peeled carrots to customers – kind of like in the UK when girls in clubs walk around with a tray full of shots… but these were carrots … I didn’t buy one but am strangely taken with the idea. As the evening darkens, the space fills up and your perception becomes slightly hazier than is usually acceptable on a Sunday evening, the whole place becomes a dreamlike garden, where nature and architecture, and history and tourism, intertwine in a dance of fairy lights, chatter and local liquor. It was incredible way to spend my first evening in Budapest.
Szimpla Kert ruin bar at Dusk
For a very late and drunken dinner we wandered to a food park next door and I had my first taste of Hungarian Goulash. It was served in a hollowed-out bread roll and was more of a casserole than a soup, which I assume was so that the bread didn’t get too soggy. It may have been the half bottle of wine that I’d just demolished but this meal was utterly delicious! Even on a warm night Goulash is comforting and tasty and the bread was perfect for soaking up all the wine!
I was initially slightly worried about getting back to my hostel alone, but it was an easy and temperate walk along the river (whilst constantly checking my map, just in case) and I found myself safely tucked up in my bunk without significant panic before midnight.
2.5 km long.
a Langos. Unfortunately, there’s not really much seating without venturing outside, but I found a bench and just sat there for a while, listening to other tourists chat about their Langos experiences. I’ve got to say, the first bite was amazing and I was shocked I’d waited until now to have one. About half-way through I was bored of the taste and three quarters of the way through I was sure I would vomit if I had any more. I never made it the whole way through so can’t vouch for that experience. It’s worth trying but I’m not convinced I’d want another whole one.
monument, and to check out Parliament – both of which were remaining on my list of sights. It was a bloody long walk back to my hostel and I was so exhausted I seriously considered sticking my headphones in and watching Netflix in bed for a while. I got back to my hostel and I did sit in the common area for ages but no one really passed through, let alone stopped to make chat. I decided that Netflix in bed was therefore justified.
A friend was online the whole time and it felt like having dinner and watching the sunset was shared with them. It was actually one of my favourite evenings and I wouldn’t have changed it purely to tick off ‘solo-restaurant’ from my list. I could give myself exactly what I needed without the pressure of anyone else’s expectations: just a low-key whatever-bloody-cuisine-I feel-like dinner in the Budapest evening air and that was kind of an epiphanic moment of solo travelling.
Brummie goes global 