Vegan Voyager: Budapest

So, next and last stop on our trip - Budapest!

MOST ANNOYING/INTERESTING HAPPENING(S) IN BUDAPEST:
I was really excited about Budapest, but upon arriving I became a little bit less excited. The train station we arrived at was riddled with homeless people, and the air was so thick with the smell of unshowered human and alcohol that I could barely breathe. Not to mention I could barely walk because there were so many people. And I'd say about 90% of them were smoking, and everyone knows how much I DESPISE that more than basically anything else in the world. (to the left see The train station at which I wish we had arrived)
Leaving the train station, it didn't really get better. The subways were so far underground I got dizzy and started feeling sick just from going down the escalator. Our hotel room was so small we could barely fit in it with our luggage. And the ceiling was low and slanted, and there was only one small spot in the room in which we could actually stand up. The bathroom floor was covered with wet hair, which once again made me want to throw up.

THEN, to continue on with our fabulous arrival, we go out to get falafel, we get a little bit lost, and we found ourselves on a small side road on which we see a very interesting sight. There was a woman walking towards us, arm in arm with a man, wearing a very small transparent white tank top. And that was it. No shoes, no socks, no bra, no pants, no underwear. No anything else. Just the tank top. We got a good view of, well, everything. Unfortunately, this wasn't the only time on the trip where we saw more of a woman than is appropriate.
We finally find the falafel place, and it's the WORST falafel we have ever had.
What a great first day in Budapest, eh?

The second day, I am happy to say, it got MUCH better!!!!

Great view of Buda from Pest; or wait, is it Pest from Buda?

MY FAVORITE THING ABOUT BUDAPEST:We got to see some AMAZING architecture. I know I know, I live in Paris, which is supposed to be architectorial (is this even a word?) heaven. Or something like that. But to me, the greatest thing in Paris doesn't even compare to the greatest thing in Budapest. I mean, where in Paris can you see something as amazing as this:



Or as COOL and OLD SCHOOL as this:



You might disagree, but my answer is nowhere.
I also loved all of the really cool bronze statues. There were nowhere near as many as in Bratislava,but most of them were just as awesome. The bronze bridge on which you see Guillaume (to the right) was my absolute favorite, and oh, lucky us!, it was literally right next to where we were staying (for those of you who know me well, that means it was at least a 5 minute walk).

RESTAURANTS:
Well, we once again were on vacation when the restaurants were on vacation, so we pretty much had two options: the Hummus Bar, which had some of the worst soup, the worst hummus, and the worst falafel I had ever eaten. My mouth always hurt after eating there. I definitely would NOT recommend this place to anyone.
And Napfenyes Etterem, which I would absolutely recommend to everyone. It was 100% vegan, and they had some of the BEST pizza I had ever tasted. We went back often, and each time I had a different pizza, and each time it was delicious and awesome. Guillaume got things that weren't pizza, and those were delicious and awesome as well. See me to the left, lounging and barely unable to move from how full I am from the delicious pizza.


I don't know what this picture is supposed to be, but it's funny!


So, all in all, aside from our first day fiasco, we had an absolutely FANTASTIC time in Budapest, we got used to our small room (in which we spent very little time, in any case), and we even enjoyed the day it rained. It was actually a nice change from the heat wave that we had been previously experiencing.
Click on the picture above to go directly to the whole photo album or any of the others to be directed to it through another picture.
Or you can just click the link here: Budapest Summer 2009