Still charmed?

Hello from Budapest. Though I was supposed to be here with Lana,* I have been here alone since Saturday afternoon; I leave today (Monday morning) for Switzerland. When I arrived at the Astoria City Hostel, I instantly made friends but I couldn't find anyone to go out with on Saturday night.** I did walk alone around the neighborhood the hostel was in and grab some food. Back at Astoria, I chatted for a bit with my roommates and then sat down at the main table to write "I live a charmed life: Part II" on paper. Ten minutes into writing, a group of Italian college guys sits down and invites me to eat pasta. We ate and laughed. They asked me important questions like, "What do American guys think of Paris Hilton?" I was tired after that so I decided to get ready for bed. I quickly learned that all of the "Be quiet after 10 pm, please!" were more for appearance than reality. Long after 10, the hostel staff played techno music in the main area (which is not far from every other area) and hostel inhabitants drank beer and laughed.

That first night, I didn't fall asleep until 3 am and then didn't sleep well. There were other reasons besides the noise both inside and outside the hostel. I was on a top bunk bed with a horrible mattress with springs that hurt my back at certain angles. I was really thirsty so I kept drinking water and having to climb down the bunk and to the bathroom. I had also taken an Allegra allergy pill that Lana had given me for all of my bug bites and I think it made me speedy. Regardless of what kept me up, I was starting to wonder if I was still charmed.

Sunday morning came and with it a sense that I just wanted to go home. I chatted with more people but it didn't help relieve my loneliness. Luckily, I had the smart idea to switch to a lower bunk with a foam mattress for the following night. As I was moving my bags to a new locker, I found $250 Euros. That caused me a lot of stress (see the entry entitled "Moral Dilemma"). Once I had figured the Euro mess out, I planned my route for the day and walked out of the hostel. Well, apparently, I am still charmed. As I was leaving the hostel, I began talking with two other solo travelers at the elevator and they had planned a similar walk to mine. So, Adrianna from Poland and Stephanopolis from Greece invited me to join them. We had a lovely walk around Buda from 11 am until 5 pm. The two of them were very interesting and very nice and the weather, which has been very hot, was bearable. Then we returned to the hostel so that Adrianna could gather her things to leave for Bulgaria.

After Adrianna left, Stephanopolis and I set off to see the UNESCO designated parts of Pest. My feet were sore from the earlier walk but Pest was so pretty that the discomfort was worth it.*** We planned to end our walk by stopping off in a restaurant where we could eat real Hungarian food, but I made the mistake of listening to my Lonely Planet guide book. I thought a place called Menza, which is supposed to look and feel like a 1970s communist Hungary eating establishment, sounded interesting but it turned out to be very trendy and filled with tourists. We were starving so we stayed and ate. Thankfully, the food was fine. We returned to the hostel after 10 pm and I talked to more people, including the crazy Italians, who had been asleep when I left in the morning. The Greek and the Italians went out later for a drink but I opted to hang out at the hostel.

Last night, I slept much better than I did the first night. In a few hours I leave for the airport, but I will definitely have to come back to Budapest. The city is very interesting and there are many sites and museums left to see. Europe trip 2006 is treating me quite well. I've got 10 more days left; let's hope my luck continues!


*Lana was scheduled to fly to Israel from Budapest on August 1, but she cancelled that part of her trip. While it would have been nice to travel with Lana, I respect her decision to stay away from Israel. Countries at war are probably not nice places to visit anyway and now I won't have to worry about her.
**Truth be told I didn't try that hard. I didn't ask anybody to go out and was perfectly happy staying at the hostel that night. On a completely unrelated note, Astoria has free Internet, which is why I have been able to write so much since I have been here.
***Sadly, my right toe is now very sore right where my sandals touch so I may have to wear shoes despite the heat today.