The last entry was kinda short. Thought I'd just get out those first few days where I actually did not a whole lot. The next few days after that I did a bit more.

Sunday was my busiest day. This is the day I went across the river to the old town and main castle area. This area offered the best views over Budapest and the bridges/river. The castle itself was pretty good, but the church was probably the highlight. For the most part it was pretty much like any other church but the roof was the real stand out. It was colourfully tiled and looked awesome. I paid to go inside and there was a kinda mini museum in there which had some interesting artifacts but really I could have not bothered and not have been disappointed.

After the church I went down to walk along the river and get the view of the parliament building from that angle (which is the best angle). I would later find out that it is 21 euros to go inside, so I didn't bother. I saw some photos that some people took and it looked pretty cool, but I don't think it's with that much and they agreed.

I didn't do a whole lot on Monday. But one thing of note I might just put here is that night I met a guy in my hostel who had been to Budapest 6 times in the past and he was just here for one night passing through. We went back to that GreenBar restaurant and even he was amazed by the quality, serving size and price and said that if he was ever back again that would be his go-to place. So I definitely stumbled across a gem there.

On Tuesday I went up to the city park which is huge. It has a zoo, castle and the largest thermal bathhouse in Europe. It also has the world's largest egg timer which takes a full year for the sand to fall through.

I spent a bit of time walking around the castle and then went to the bath. They had a bunch of pools ranging from 18 degrees up to 38, a bunch of saunas and some steam rooms. I think I ended up spending about 5 hours here. Mostly in the 38 degree pool outside. I was in heaven there after a couple of beers. I also tried a sauna for the first time ever. Up to 70 degrees and then jumping in the coldest pool. What a rush! Actually kinda painful but wow, do you get a jolt.

I met a group of guys that had just finished a 2 week contiki tour from Berlin to Budapest. So after the bath we walked around a bit to find something to eat. We ended up finding a pretty well price "All you can eat" place. This was pretty cool. Part of the buffet was all raw marinated meats which you could take up to the grill and get freshly cooked. An awesome idea.

That was last night. Today I have done nothing but sit on my laptop watching the cricket and updating this blog. Unfortunately the cricket is getting rained out, but at least it gives me time to write this. Tonight I will head back out to the river to see the bridges, castle and parliament lit up a night. I've seen some pictures, but not yet in person and they look amazing.

I'm actually also planning a trip around Slovakia. 3 days in the capital city of Bratislava was not enough. I learned so much about that country there. They've got so many castles, caves and national parks. I found a girl on Couch Surfing in the Travel Companion sub forum who is travelling in that area. So tomorrow I'm heading back to Bratislava to meet up with here and we're going to see if we can hitch-hike around the country. So I'm really looking forward to that.