Celakovice and BUDAPEST

The week after Francis left was full of socialising and going out. It was a fun week and I really felt like I got to know some of the other Erasmus students even better. We even went to see a Czech band! They were called -123 minutes. They were Ok, they started well, but their music was a little too varied and eclectic. At one point it sounded something like the Islamic call to prayer. But it was good to do something a little different.

That weekend Kirstie and I were invited to our tutor’s house. This may seem a little odd, and at first I would have agreed with you, but there were four of us going, so it didn’t seem risky. He lives in a small town on the outskirts of Prague called celakovice. It was a booming town before communism took over, where all the rich landowners lived. However, communism really killed its high society and left the horrible scar of numerous estate blocks where there were once beautiful manor houses. Now it is on the up, with many of the richer Praguians choosing to live nearer the country and commute into Prague. We spent the weekend really sitting around and talking. We got to know the other English student out here, Matt, a lot better. We had had a bad first impression of him, taking him to be arrogant and pig headed, but being forced to talk to him for a few days, in a confined space, something we would have initially never wanted to do, we discovered that he is actually a good egg. Our tutor was a great host, making us lots of delicious food and keeping us entertained. It was still quite a surreal weekend. However it was an interesting experience to be in a real Czech home.

BUDAPEST


Just before I left to go to Celakovice I had the idea to go somewhere the following weekend. Friday the 17th was to be a national holiday, and I thought that maybe someone would like to go on a little trip with me. My first thought was to go to Krakow. I did a lot of research into it, and although it was possible, I didn’t want to take someone on a trip that had the potential to have any hiccups. Sam (the other English girl) was to be my travelling companion; Kirstie was to have friends visiting that weekend and was not able to join us. We met on the Tuesday morning to discuss where we should go. Very quickly we decided that it had to be Budapest, so we went on the search for tickets. We unfortunately were too late for the extremely cheap bus; they were all booked up, so we ended up getting train tickets. I have to admit that I would have wanted to go by train anyway; it’s such a nicer way to travel.

We arrived in Budapest on the Friday morning at 10.30am, we had already been on a train for 5 hours, and you can imagine we weren’t feeling our best. However we found the hostel we had booked very easily, and they were thankfully very welcoming and helpful. We then dumped our stuff and hit the road as quickly as we could, we didn’t want to waste any time.

Budapest is a lovely city. We strolled around, got on the very nice, huge trams, and sometimes got the metro. On our wonders I feel like we got a really nice feel for the city. The people are not at all intimidating like they are in the Czech republic, you do not feel at all ashamed all guilty that you don’t speak Hungarian. This meant we were happy to wonder into places that didn’t have English menus in the window, we were far freer to explore. Thankfully I was given a few very helpful hints from some of my friends that either had been all live in Budapest. From these we discovered some amazing bars. The best was down a street we would never have thought of walking down, and then through a door we would never in a million years have gone through. To then find a huge space, half derelict half trendy bar, with lots of atmospheric lighting. The space felt like it was in between two buildings. It was partly open air, there were outdoor heaters keeping the place cosy. It is so difficult to describe.

One of the highlights of Budapest was going to a Turkish bath. Budapest is famous for its thermal baths, there loads of them. I went to the biggest called ‘Szechenyi Baths’. The ticket gets you in for the whole day, and you get money back if you come out within 2 hours. I was unfortunately only in there for about one and half hours, Sam didn’t have a swimsuit or a towel so I couldn’t be there too long because she was waiting for me. It was a real shame she wasn’t in there with me, because it is the perfect place to wonder around and chat. It is a HUGE place, so many pools, all different sizes and temperatures. I was even swimming outside! The weather was amazingly warm; it wasn’t even too painful to go from the door to the pool. Another highlight was climbing Gellert Hill. Stefan had said that it was a must do for Budapest, but when I saw it on the Friday morning, still felling the affects of the train journey, it looked like mount Everest; I wrote it off. However, the next day, we felt a lot better, and that evening, we made the climb. It was well worth the effort, what a view!

I can’t wait to go back, it is one of those cities that I feel there is so much yet for me to do! I look forward to returning when my friends are living there again, then maybe I can get a little more out of those menus