Budapest is beautiful and crazy! It's somewhere I have wanted to go to for so, so long and I definitely haven't been disappointed.

Unfortunately we haven't been here for long and I'm really tempted to key an eye out for cheap flights to come back!

On our first full day here we decided to do one of those free walking tours that most European cities have! We did one in Berlin and it was amazing so this one had a lot to live up to. But again it was absolutely incredible! We learnt so much and saw on the major attractions within four hours. Budapest is a beautiful city, rich with history and full of fantastic people! We saw attractions such as St. Stephens Bascilica, the Hungarian version of Champs Élysées, first metro line in 'continental Europe' and the Royal Palace. Our tour guide was great because she was so energetic and knew so much about the area! I also found out that she works with a Hungarian friend of mine who I mentored when she was studying in New Zealand this year (it's a small world).

After our tour Matt and I met up with this friend. We were super spoilt as per usual as she showed us the Grand Synagogue and walked us through the student area where we went to the Central Market Hall. There was so much yummy stuff EVERYWHERE! The veggies were so colourful and shiney arghh!

In this market we could also get cheap traditional hungarian food. Matt got goulash, which is a soup, and I got langosh (I don't know how to spell it), which is like oily/fried bread covered in sour cream, garlic and cheese. It's such an unattractive thing but it tasted quite good! Although what tasted even better was the version I had today - smothered in Nutella, cocoa powder, shredded almond and dry icing sugar. I think I nearly had a heart attack but OMG.

After this we went for a huuuuuuuge stroll! We walked along beautiful bridges and past the famous Hungarian baths etc. Budapest is 100 x beautiful at night time. We walked for maybe an hour or two, then headed to a bar to try traditional Hungarian alcohol!

We went to a place across the street to our hostel which was convenient. Opposite us is kind of like an alley which has bars both inside and outside for over 100m. We went to a very clean looking one which seemed to be for those wanting to actually try the shots in a safe setting rather than getting smashed in a dingy bar. We ordered palinka and a wine/soda drink. We got the palinka in three different flavours - plum, apple and cherry. When we tried our first ones, Matt and I got a huge shock. In Poland usually at the end of a meal you get this little shot which is almost like flavoured syrup. This is what we expected in Hungary - but we were very wrong. I swear these shots were stronger than vodka shots. And whilst they were 'flavoured', they didn't have much colour at all. But it was really awesome to try them out as I had never ever heard of them before and it seems to be a big deal here! Apparently heaps of Hungarians make it themselves and it can be much, much stronger than the ones we had. We also had a really good drink. It consists of wine and soda water - and you can get it in different ratios! It was a good way to wash down the palinka shots

When my friend left we came back to the hostel and cooked some dinner. We already thought this hostel was awesome but what topped it off was there is unlimited free bread and pasta! This meant we had pasta for dinner each night but mixed it up with different flavours, salads etc. The name of it is Wombat Hostel - they are also in Vienna, Munich and Berlin for those who are interested!

At the end of our dinner another Hungarian friend of Matt and I came round! ANNNNAAAAA!!!! It was the best because we used to spend quite a lot of time with her in New Zealand! We hung out in the hostel and talked for ages, and then were taken to a ruin bar called (I think) Szimpla.

What a strange, strange experience this was! Apparently in Budapest there were heaps of old empty buildings that were turned in to 'ruin bars'. These are clubs/bars just absolutely packed full of the weirdest stuff... Ranging from bicycle wheels because used as a bike rack, old style telephones, half a car, sheets as a ceiling, work out bench. It was bizarre. Anna introduced my friends to palinka, and I tried some beer!

We didn't stay for too long since we were exhausted from such an eventful day. But a few extra interesting things included the fact that we walked through the former Jewish ghetto, and also alongside the river are some "shoes", which is a kind of memorial to those shot along the river by nazis.

On the second day we headed to the Hungarian parliament. They have a bunch of different prices including a normal fee, an EU citizen fee, a student fee, and an EU citizen student fee. Despite me not having my student card, and Matt not being an EU citizen, we both somehow got the EU citizen student fee which was 1/4 of the original price ($5). Matt showed his Warsaw student ID rather than his passport (sneaky). The tour was nice but it wasn't particularly exciting. The building was beautiful inside and we got to see a fancy Hungarian crown which is hundreds and hundreds of years old and saw the parliament seating but the tour barely lasted more than half an hour!

After this we headed back to the hostel and then went for a big walk. We did the same route as before but with our Erasmus friends instead of our Hungarian friend. We checked out the market and showed them the traditional Hungarian food we had had the day before and bought some souvenirs.

Once we had finished at the market we continued our big walk. We walked along the bridges and rivers and we checked out one of the local 'baths'. Budapest is just so beautiful at night time!!!

After our walk Matt and I headed to a local Hungarian house party which one of our Hungarian friends invited us to. We headed there with the mentality that we would not drink (we even didn't buy alcohol to be sure) and we would only stay an hour or so - this is because by the time we got there it was 10.30pm and we had to wake up to catch our bus to Bratislava around 4.30/5am. We were very mistaken. We accepted one drink of 'Hungarian wine' (it would be rude not to try it) and before we knew it our cups were being refilled every time we turned around! We also ended up trying homemade palinka - which was definitely stronger than the ones we had had before but somehow left a yummy apple-cinnamon after taste (which is actually a pretty dangerous thing!). We didn't get to bed until about 3.15am in the end. But it was soooo awesome to spend our Halloween like that and we got to hang out with our beautiful Hungarian friend and have a great night!!

So thank you thank you amazing Anna and Kinga for showing us around stunning Budapest!