21st-23rd June 2017

When I arrive in Budapest I’m not feeling my usual ‘top of the morning to ya” self. I wouldn’t say I was ill but certainly not healthy. As is the way in my life, I’ll conk out, recharge and move on. Not dissimilar from a rechargeable Duracell bunny. Just not quite as cute.

Either way, my spirits are lifted for two reasons: the latest hostel is fantastic, more like an AirBnB with separate apartments (“rooms”) all with their own facilities and some normal beds as opposed to bunks for once. The house is a very old building with one of those square gated lifts which don’t leave the mechanics of it to the imagination surrounded by a square encircling stone staircase to take you to the various floors should the mechanics not look particularly nerve-easing.

Secondly, a lovely chap I met in Bratislava is also in the city. Whilst I ate in a lovely, quirky, French-garden café absorbing in the level of hipster in the city, Steve popped up in the area. He joined for a drink before we checked out the ruin bar and the various street food inspired vans nearby.

With such great facilities, I cooked in for the first time on this trip and the days here just flew by. Before I knew it I had taken the total sum of one photograph here and was on my way back to the train station.