Who's Hungary for some puns?
With light hearts and lighter wallets, we left the lands of midnight suns and jetted out for Budapest. We had a strict three-point plan:
- Chill the f*ck out
- ?
- Profit
I'm pleased to report we maintained proper discipline throughout.
Day 1: UnBeerievably chill
Finding our Airbnb was a bit of an ordeal, but the place was nice. Three times bigger than anywhere we stayed in Norway, and for a third of the price. We set out to find out if the same price multiplier applied to beer.
So far, so good. But you can't form firm conclusions from a sample size of one. So we ran a few...
... more ...
... tests. We eventually concluded that beer bought at a bar was, indeed, cheaper in Hungary than in Iceland or Norway.
But what about beer bought to go?
Yay science!
Day 2: SpAAAAAAAAAAllelujia
The theme of day 2 was getting wet, so we put in a request for a bit of rain. The heavens happily obliged.
We braved the elements and had lunch at the crazy-bustling Central Market Hall, where we mowed down on some pork knee and Hungarian gulash.
It was pretty dank, but the verdict is in: Czech food is better.
The bulk of our day was then dedicated to lounging in the Széchenyi Thermal Baths. And my-oh-my was it glorious.
We kicked things off in the Beer spa (you read that right), where your private hotspring tub is infused with barley, beer yeast, and hops...
... and you get 45 minutes of all-you-can-drink Primator beer from your own private tap. Rest assured: we got our money's worth.
They encouraged us to pour our excess foam right into the tub, so of course I obliged.
"Pour judgment," Soph said. I think she was getting foam-o.
Afterwards we had an amazing Thai massage, watched the world cup while lounging in the outdoor pool, and hit up every single one of their 18 different hot spring pools.
We topped the night off by going to Szimpla Kert, one of the so-called "ruin bars" Budapest is known for. It was a crazy sort of hip hodge-podge mix of bars, graffiti, and what can only be described as tasteful junk.
Profit!