Budapest - Day Thirty Nine

The sun just won't stop shining in Vienna, and the place seems to get lovelier by the day. I spent Thursday wandering around the city just basking in the goodness of it all.

Until now I really didn't think I was going to find a city that I liked more than Barcelona, but after a fantastic week Vienna has just about stolen the title. In the same way that I was planning to move back to Barcelona for a month or two to pick up some work and get to know the place better, I'm now considering doing the same here, and I'll definitely find it hard to leave.

On Thursday evening (after yet another coffee in Phil), I met up with Bernadette and we went to the State Opera house, where we bumped into Matt and Paige, a really nice Australian couple I'd met at my hostel. There was no opera on that night, but we picked up standing tickets to see a ballet for a ridiculously reasonable three and a half euros. I've never been to the ballet before - and never much wanted to either to be honest - but I ended up quite enjoying it. I even managed to follow the storyline which was an unexpected bonus. I did feel like a bit of a bum watching it in baggy jeans and a t-shirt though.

When it was over the four of us went to Naschmarkt (the outdoor farmer's market). As it was about 10pm the stalls were obviously closed, but there are a string of cafes and restaurants alongside the market, and the whole place had a surprisingly buzzing atmosphere. We picked up a tasty and reasonably priced dinner over a nice conversation - a good end to another great day in Austria.

By Friday I had put off leaving town so many times that I felt it was finally time to move on. It feels like summertime already here, and the city has never looked so beautiful, but I think it's probably time to hit the road again.

I jumped on a train to Budapest and had a compartment to myself all the way there, the window open as far as it would go to ease the baking temperature in the unseasonable heat. I bumped into Cameron, an American guy from one of my dorms in Wombats in Vienna, on the train - I'm starting to encounter a few familiar faces the longer I travel now - so it was nice to have a brief conversation before returning to my solitary compartment.

First impressions of Budapest are that it seems... interesting. Caught a bus across town in surprisingly humid heat that left me a bit of a sweaty mess by the time I made it to my hostel, which is on the fourth floor of an old residential building. It was worth it though - The Loft where I'm staying seems friendly and well thought out, a real traveller's place. I had a beer and snack in town but kept it quiet tonight. Apparently there's a DJ night in one of the traditional Turkish bath houses tomorrow, with everyone getting hammered in the saunas and baths whilst wearing swimming costumes. Sounds worth a try...