Birthdays are fun, but what better way to spend them than in Budapest with your best friends.
After a stressful year with plenty of ups and downs, we decided we needed a well deserved girly getaway. This blog is going to be long, but I hope you enjoy it and make it to the end!!
SPICE GIRLS ON TOUR.
When arriving at the airport, it was safe to say that a few people were slightly fragile from the night before... so we prepared ourselves for the flight with a full English - not that we needed much to prepare for, because we spent the whole time sleeping!! But with a short taxi ride, we arrived at our Air b&b and what a beautiful place it was.
We didn't stay in the apartment long, we wanted to get out, explore and get to know the area so we could fit as much in as possible. It is easy to say we got lost... a lot... so with a bit of help from the locals we found our way to the bridge, where we stopped for dinner. I don't know if it was Budapest specifically or my mindset of being in Budapest, but the food was deeeellliccciouuuusssss.
The best thing about Budapest is the ruin bars. The old ruins in the city have been adapted into cool, quirky bars and its a prime spot for the youth to go and get drunk.
They were dark but filled with little lights and lamps, complimented with anything you can imagine, varying from toilet seats, to teddy bears and CDs. In the ruins, there were mini rooms, either filled with bathtubs and seating, shisha areas, or bars. We were too tired to stay long, but it was clear where we were heading tomorrow night.
After making our way back to the apartment through a huge thunderstorm, we were home, soaking and ready for bed.
OUR FIRST FULL DAY IN BUDAPEST
I was in no mindset to mess around. We set an alarm and got out of the apartment as quickly as possible, we needed to get out and see as much of Budapest as we could.
With croissants as breakfast on route, and unknowingly taking the longest route possible we arrived at Heroe's Square - an open space with feature statues. Heroes square was a shortstop whilst on route to the Szechenyi thermal Baths, which were a dream. Crazy how something so simple as a thermal bath can be so beautiful when put in the right environment, and it was so easy to relax for an hour or so after the walk there.
It was only lunchtime and we were knackered so being lazy tourists, we took a taxi to the Central Market Hall, where we planned to get food but it was too busy and too stressful for our tired little heads, so we made our way to the "For Sale" for lunch and drinks, and by drinks I mean a stein of beer... which was easily the go-to drink of the trip.
After making our way back to the apartment and having a power nap, we headed out to Szimpla again, and tonight we weren't messing around, so we got very very drunk. The worst part about Budapest was that there was no 24hr Mcdonalds to go to for nuggets or a mayo chicken at the end of the night, so we had to make do with Subway...
Don't get me wrong, we smashed it.
DAY 2
Feeling fragile, but up early and ready to go! Today was our first day over the bridge to the Buda side of the river. We stopped for a well-earned breakfast, which was my dream. Boiled eggs on bread with jam and croissants. I craved this for the majority of the trip afterwards and could've easily eaten this for breakfast forever. We then made the trip over the bridge and to the Budapest Castle Hill Funicular which took us to the top of the hill.
The view was incredible from the top at the castle, we could've stayed there forever looking over the whole of Budapest - there was so much to see in such a short amount of time. We then headed towards the Fishermans Bastion after walking along the Budapest hills. Who knew buildings could be so photogenic or is it just editing and good angles? Either way, it was still as beautiful in real life as photos perceived it to be.
All these early mornings killed us off, so every day it was a necessity to go back and nap before dinner. We went to a beautiful Italian restaurant with lovely staff and this was another place we went back to for dinner, the food was amazing too...
As it got to evening, we wanted a bit of a change from Szimpla, so we made our way to Instant which is a club rather than a bar. Annoyingly we got it the wrong way round, you're meant to get there later after pre-drinking at Szimpla, so it was pretty empty when we arrived at 10. So where did we go? Back to Szimpla... For pre-birthday drinks!!!
I wanted to save myself for celebrations tomorrow night, so I was talking is slower (not slow) for the night so i wasn't struggling on my birthday.
DAY 3; ITS MY BIRTHDAY!!!!!!
I woke up to my best friends screaming happy birthday at me. After opening my cards, and facetiming family we headed out for the best brunch possible at the New York Cafe. The interior was so beautiful we couldn't stop admiring it and taking photos, we were so distracted that we hadn't looked at the menu after 15 minutes of being there...
We spent most of the time looking around and embracing the beauty of the building, but on top of the appearance, the food was just as good. Myself and Mol obviously had to make the most of the free jam.... we may have brought some home...
After absolutely demolishing our breakfast, we made our way into the city where we visited the St Stevens Basilica.
Another building that proves Budapest is one of the most beautiful cities in the world. Walking through so many rooms filled with so much culture. After Lydia had painful blisters since the first day, she claims that the 'natural holiness' healed her infected foot and she is grateful for this to this day.
{prepare yourself for overly dramatic quote}
"You can feel a sense of tranquillity,
harmony, love and peace as one
whole community. Lighting candles
helped me feel protected within the
walls of the Basilica."
- Lydia Herbert 11.12.16
Obviously whilst on holiday ice cream is a must and Rosa's ice cream shop took this to another level. With so many flavours to choose from varying from fruit to chocolate, you then watch the staff handcraft your ice cream into the shape of a rose. I chose Nutella, Vanilla and Oreo. Tasting as good as they look it was hard to get it straight down you, I personally didn't want to ruin it... But once you had the first taste you couldn't stop and it wasn't the only time we went to that shop. We had to go back for more.
This fuelled us enough for a long walk to the parliament buildings. So much walking was done whilst in Budapest but it really was worth it for what we got to see. With the parliament on the riverside, it was overall a beautiful setting, and it gave us the opportunity to get riverside photos too, whilst taking in the whole landscape of Budapest.
Walking along the riverside on route back to the apartment, we passed the shoes on the Danube. This is a memorial for those who were shot into the Danube and the shoes are positioned on the edge of the river to represent this. It was a moving memorial and beautiful at the same time.
Once we'd been back to the apartment to get ready, we went for rooftop drinks looking over Budapest in the late afternoon. It was sunny, everyone was happy and it was the perfect way to start my birthday celebrations properly... A few cocktails and nibbles down, we thought it would be best to get dinner so we could pre-drink properly before going out in the evening. So we went to a pizza restaurant by the Basilica and had a quick and easy dinner before heading back to get ready for Szimpla.
Budapest is a prime location for those who are inter-railing around Europe, so on my birthday night we all got out and met so many people. Luckily the evening in Szimpla was one of the busiest with lots of friendly people sharing funny stories of their travels. I also got a free (vile) fireball shot from a South African (Beth's soul mate) which was fun. Good and happy vibes all around and a perfect birthday.
DAY 4
Our last day in Budapest filled with laughter, fun and alcohol obviously. The plan for the day was to go to Margaret Island, which is an island in the middle of the river that runs through Buda and Pest. After a long walk, obviously with our daily moaning from Beth about how much walking we have to do, and breakfast on route, we got to the island. The best way to get around the island was to hire out big bikes, 4 men bikes with 5 of us... Lydia had to sit on the front for the majority of the ride which was interesting and entertaining.
Whilst riding around the island seeing some beautiful little things, we decided it would be a good idea to ride into the ancient ruins, it wasn't. We ended up crashing into a wall and there were 15-year-olds laughing at how tragic we were.
We got out and rode away as quickly as possible.
After an interesting hour bike ride, we went to the main foundation on the island where there was a water show in correlation to the music playing. Everyone was sat around with their feet in the fountain which was very cute. We were there for a couple of hours but after last night we needed to get back and nap before our last night in Budapest.
We began the night pre-drinking at Szimpla and after going to the club Instant that we had no luck with the previous night, finishing the night with a well deserved Subway. Not much we remember of the night other than the sweaty, crowded room with good music.
I tried to keep this blog post short but we know how that ended, so if you've made it all the way to the end- CONGRATULATIONS!!! And a massive thank you.
Overall Budapest was amazing, and so was the company.
PEACE OUT FROM THE SPICE GIRLS XXXXXX
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