Oslo trip!

Am I having a deja vu? Isn't what I experienced this last weekend exactly the same thing I lived last year?. Isn't it erasmus again?, cos if it is not, it is pretty much the same. Yeah I reckon I am right, that's exactly what I understand when talking about erasmus… traveling around Europe without any concrete direction just picking the cheapest flight, going sightseen in the morning and partying at night, taking pictures…many many pictures, nattering in english with the first bloke you run into the street as a way to hone your english, and the main thing getting to know better the people you are traveling with… Am I right? It is erasmus, isn't it?

The group

Girls (Marta, Patri, Raquel, Vanessa, Alba)

Boys(Ro, Dani, me, Juanjo, Toni)

Well it all started sort of three weeks ago when, I don't remember who, came across, on the ryanair website, some cheap flight going to Oslo so it did not take long to buy them. So there we were on friday morning, 7.30 in the morning just outside galleria, waiting for the nationalexpress which would drive us to stansted. Once in the airport we took advantage of the competitive prices in liquids offered by the duty free shop. The flight was alright, nothing special to mention but the difficult solitaire we couldn't resolve… really it was quite hard cos in the ipod you cannot use those cards which have already been piled on the deck… nevermind… we arrived sound in so-called Oslo airport. I am saying so-called because it was roughly 100 km from Oslo so be aware of those little details once you decide to fly with ryanair. The point was that we arrived in central Oslo without any idea where our hostel was, so Marta started to bombard people with questions about which tube to take or bus…

Marta

Girls posing

Unfortunately we hopped on the wrong bus having wasted four euros ride… After some time wandering through the streets of Oslo we took the correct bus and it led us straight to the hostel. Regardless having made a booking it took ages to register, we didn't care though because it was freezing outdoors and at least we were in a warm place (we are not so picky!). The next step was heading for our bedroom. After having taken dinner and resting a little bit, we gathered all together with the aussie girl we had just met and we played some games before going out. Briefly explained, the night was special, not only for the illegal lift we were given or watching how the aussie sneaked into the bar, neither for how we livened up the party asking the piano man to play Macarena but for all of those things together. We woke up early on saturday morning the breakfast was waiting for us and it was included on the price so it was something we couldnt miss. After that, a quick shower and ready to sightseen.

Vigeland Sculpture park

I guess now is the moment to talk about Oslo. Oslo is nothing special, i mean, it doesn't boast marvelous buildings or cathedrals, the harbor doesn't take your breath away either and it is bloody cold… Actually one viking girl (gorgers) asked us about the reasons which led us to go to Oslo… she said "What are you doing in Oslo… it is cold, far and expensive…" she was spot on but regardless those things the city is peaceful, quiet, clean, its inhabitants are kind and speak really nice english. So despite all those drawbacks I can say I liked the city.

Sculpture

Back to the trip, that saturday we had lunch on a restaurant were we tasted some typical food from norway. Not really much to comment about the rest of the trip chatting, visiting new places, having fun…

"The salmon"

Summing up, I'm really glad to have gone to this trip with this group of erasmus and I hope to share with them more great moments. Maybe just one drawback and it was that 90% of the group was spanish, vanessa was the only "foreigner" among us. She dared to come with us… haha so brave!

Raquel and the little Viking

And just one thing more for Raquel, maths for turism. We were 9 of us the first night and 10 the second night. We can assume that each of us has participated twice, one in each night but Ro just in the second night. So all in all it has been 19 participations. If the drinks were 52 and you want to know how much do u have to pay you should divide 52/19 and it will yield how much is each participation, but since you have participated twice you have to pay 52/19 times 2, does it make sense? And Ro has to pay only the figure 52/19. So u have to pay (52/19)*2= 52/9.5 each of us but Ro. And Ro would have to pay 52/19= 52/(9.5*2)=(52/9.5)/2 Does it make sense Raquel? :P

One year ago...

Hi dears!

This is a special day for me, that's why i am posting without any obvious reason. It's not my birthday, not even the day any of my brothers/ sister were born but the day i begin my Erasmus life or watching it from another point of view, the day i started my new, independent life.

I would have to rack my brains for a while, if i wanted to remember everything... so many things have happened. I do remember my first day though, the day i arrived to Poland, and i said Poland not Krakow cos i stop over Warsaw' airport. I wasn't used to travel at all, i had been in London four years before but in that trip i was with friends and in this case I was completely on my own. On my own in a place where i hadnt been before, in a place where everything was written in an unknown language, everything was.... just different. However I wasnt scared, i am not that pansy... but eagerly discovering new things, willing to know how was the life outdoors my parents' borders, hopefully, keen on checkin myself.

And I am completely proud to say that all the expectations that I had before that my new life begin were fulfilled BIG TIME.

Honestly I didnt have much to do at the beginning, i had all year ahead to develop my thesis so i was... let's say enjoying my life, doing totally different things from what i was used to. Surrounded by really nice people I've never felt alone, blokes like: Andy, Artur, Alberto, Francesco, Arnaud... Not to mention Fer, the perfect partner. Together we discovered new and magical places: Majestic Viena, strange Bratislava (greetings to Miroslava, Mateo and Beata), hilly Zakopane (Greetings to spanish people: Mar, Emi, Denis, Antonio and half spanish Mattiu), marvellous Wroclaw (Greetings to AEGEE people in general), traditional Belgium (greetings to AEGEE headquarters inhabitants, Luis, Lucia, Jael, Paula, Nica, Huevo, Ruben, Mario...), different and cheap Lviv (greetings to Lucia Illuminati), charming and neat Stockholm (greetings to Julita and Dorota), awesome Budapest and terrific Hungary in general (greetings to Ezster and Vero)... well and more places but I am just to lazy to write them down.

In all those places we threw many parties, we got to meet new people from around not only Europe but also America, we captured many moments with our cameras...

And what about the place where I lived... Ul. Emilii Plater 4/2A (sorry guys (Bartek, Fer and both Agnieszkas) about the wall issue... i didn't know that the bluetak is so hard to remove, haha but count on me for the taks, obviously i cannot go there to give a hand but I will give you moral support) well the point is that I just simply cannot forget such stunning flatmates... and don't get me wrong I am not trying to big them up, they are like that. I think all us 5 where the perfect combination, all of us different, i'd say quite different but everything worked out so fine...

And what about polish girls... greetings to Olga, Kamila, Kamila (Olga's cousin), Beata, Ewelina, Marta, Kasia, Julita, Dorota, AgnieszkaS in plural, all of them so cute and nice... it is really hard to find a cocky girl there in Poland, be sure they will never look down on you regardless their beauty.

Lastly, I'd like to say that I am already settled down here in Hatfield, today I started this MSc program and although it looks demanding I will cope with it (mmm sounded it so cocky...??). Not so much is going on here in this quiet place, i mean in terms of nightlife, nice thing to study though. The university has great sports and study facilities and it can be easily noticed that in UK universities have more resources than in Spain... Lots of volumes per book, hundreds of computers (even iMacs), free shuttle bus from one campus to another... and so on.

So far I've met a really nice group of spanish people and I swing by their homes from time to time to throw some parties, but not as often as last year.

Well and that was that, hopefully i will write more in the following days bearing in mind that i am going to Barcelona in less than two weeks and Oslo in less than three, so keep you informed

Cheers!

London

London stage is also coming to an end and tomorrow I will be heading for Hatfield. It hasn't been so much time here in London, roughly four weeks, but it is enough to feel a little bit sad when talking about saying goodbye to all the people I met over this last month.

Royal Albert Hall

It all started 1st September, all the newbies were gathered together to take a level test. With some spare time between events, we got to meet each other. So the guided tour around greenwich was a great excuse to make new friends. The first week was to get used to the city and often after lessons Matias, Marco, Paula and me hooked up to go anywhere, one day to picadilly circus another to hyde park... Lessons took place in the morning and I've got to say that I really enjoyed them, everyday something different to do, a lot of speaking among classmates, movies... Personally, I think that we learnt really useful vocabulary and expressions and that is exactly what I was looking for. Because reviewing grammar is so boring... Really grateful to James, that bloke playing the teacher role :) He is good, yeah he is, he taught us really useful things as "Hey cunt, what the hell are you doing? stop fucking with the computer or you will fuck it" haha honestly, nice guy who you can talk about many different things from movies to psychology. Thanks also for letting on some of Darren Brown tricks XD.

Classmates and James (in green)

However most of people from the course lived in the student' residence so it was hard for me to hang out with them during the evening and consequently I missed some opportunities to know them better. Leaving in Plumstead entails at least one hour to go anywhere and when going out for party it is impossible to come back home without taking three different nightbuses, nonetheless the host family has been great. Michael and Lily are the happy couple who hosted me this month, always with a smile on their faces they can tell you many different stories about their former guests, and since they have been doing this for 17 years, you can be listening to them for a while.

So as you might guess, nightlife wasn't the main point in my new life, unlike Krakow's one. I really enjoyed the few times I did though, and in all of them I couldn't arrive before the sunrise :) which comes to support that.

Constance, Paula, Pawel, Michal's brother, Marco, Michal

Talking about London... wow what to say... so huge, so many people, so many things to do each day. I really think you can spend here as much time as you want because it has neverending resources. This city will take you breath away with its incredible museums, its busy streets, bustling nightlife... It is a multicultural city where you can meet people from everywhere, don't be surprised if you hear people talking in Spanish, Italian, Swedish... every single nationality is in London without any doubt this is an international city. It is very well communicated and the public transport works wonderfully. Everything can be found here from music to famous people and if you have enough money you can enjoy going to the theatre, musicals or cinema. However all that glitters is not gold and personally I think that the city is too big and you will notice how much time is wasted on public trasport. Not to mention the cost of living... so high...

Marble arch

I won't forget Paula and the many afternoons we spent together, including Harrod's :). Pawel and our first night with viborowa haha wandering around Greenwich, so cool. Matias always rollin' up cigarettes. Zsolt leading us through the streets of London, the hungary guy who has never drunk Palinka. Marco, (but.. weren't you one of the beatles?) the spanish-english dictionary and Constance, the first french girl I've met who doesn't have french accent when talking in english ;)

Last night together...

It has been a pleasure to have spent with all of you, breaks, meals, walks around london and surroundings, shopping times, parties, chats, drinks, movies, "old songs :P"... I hope each of you will achieve your goals and I'd like to meet you elsewhere in the future.

Charming Barcelona

Hi again!!!

mmm I know I should have written earlier about the Asia trip and many other things which occurred this last summer, BUT i promise to update the blog asap. So as you might think i won't talk about last summer events but about this last weekend in Barcelona. Superb would be the most suitable word for the time spent in Cataluña.

Sagrada Familia

It all started last thursday when I got on the plane around 18.30. Not without having some problems... as I am sometimes so absentminded I didn't check in the departure board my flight but one of the flights going to barcelona, hence, when I noticed, I found myself in just the opposite gate I should be at. When I realized I was scared and nervous at the same time and I ran towards the stewardess shouting and begging for a solution, eventually one kind old man came to pick me up and took me to the right gate, fortunately on time!!.

Due to ryanair policy i arrived in Girona instead and consequently the trip entails one hour and a half more. Well, at that point i didn't mind, i just wanted to arrive as soon as possible at Olga's. Tired and exhausted after the long tripping day I arrived in Olga's and Kama's street around 23.30 but I was looking forward to discovering how Olga would react to my unexpected visit. Kamila, to whom i am really grateful for not having let on the secret, picked me out in the street and brought me home. It was so funny to see Olga's shocked face haha.

One park there in Barcelona

It must be said that the weather there was amazing over the weekend, so on friday we got to go the beach and we enjoy rambling around the shore. At dusk we headed for Plaza Cataluña cos Olga and Kama were supposed to meet there their teacher. After their meeting they came back home and we all had a dinner together before going out and experience Barcelona's nightlife. The dinner was some kind of basic stuff, Tortilla de patata and ham and cheese sandwich but my hosts: Kamila, Olga and Bartek seemed to like it, so I did. Later on we hooked up some erasmus friends by the port and we chatted there for a while, it is fun to hear people talking in spanish when they are not so fluent :), suppose it's like me in another language. Afterwards we just plunged into Barcelona's bursting nightlife.

Olga in the same park

Following days were also fantastic, going sightseeing in the morning and early afternoon and heading for some fun in the evening. I can write what I did exactly but it could be quite boring, so I will upload some pictures of the places I visited.

In the same park :)

On sunday, we met Pelayo and his girlfriend, it had been a long time since the last time we had met, I guess it was in Krakow back in the last January. We hooked up by the sea and we had some drinks in a bar. Talking about everything, what we did, what we will do... time passed quickly and we had to say good bye to each other. At that point my stay in Barcelona was coming to an end and on monday morning I left to London again.

Parc del Laberint

After my visit to Barcelona I have mixed feelings about it. On one hand Barcelona is marvelous, nice place with awesome buildings, not as huge as a big city but with all the leisure activities you're looking for, enviable weather, sea... I mean, it is a really nice place to live in. However I had the bizarre feeling that you are a foreigner in your own country and it is at least sad. Anyway I spent a superb weekend there in Barcelona and I'd like to return again.

Beautiful Hungary (Part 2.- Pécs)

After our first three days in Budapest where we enjoyed the city and its sights, buildings, etc... We were ready to continue our trip around Budapest. Where to go? Take two minutes to see Hungary map and you'll discover a great lake in the middlesouth of Hungary, it is called Balaton lake and since it seemed to be one of the must-visit places there in Hungary, we didn't hesitate to go there. 

Me at Balaton lake

Besides, the lake is, more or less, in the middle of the trip to Pécs where the friendly Eszter was waiting for us. So on thursday we woke up early, packed our lugage, had some breakfast and left from the hostel after saying goodbye to everyone there. Honestly at no time did we want to be late in order to get the train but the brutal truth was that we were absolutely about to lose it... only 30 seconds later and we wouldn't have been able to get it on time... so once we were on we prayed for being so lucky... a little bit tired and sweated after the rush, we just made ourselves

confortable, chilled out in our seats and enjoyed glanceing at the landscape. After two hours approximately, we arrived at a town called Siofok. We were said that that town was somekind of hughe town, turistic one, ... but we came across the opposite situation... at least from the point of view of people... the town was unexpectedly undercrowded. Siofok looked like a town in the middle of a western film, lots of closed hotels, no one wandering out in the streets, every single word was either in Hungarian or in german, and the bizarrest thing was that the lake seemed to be private just behind the closed hotels and we couldn't see the way to access the lake from the road we were at.

Eventually we saw the light just at the end of the hotel's row. The lake is huge, however if you are lucky, as we were, and you have a clear and sunny day you'll be able to glance at a really cute landscape. After the lunch by the lake we return to the train station and we got on the train which was would led us to Pécs. After three hours by train, which I used to read the book Leviathan by Paul Auster, we arrived at Pécs where the nice and friendly Eszter was waiting for us. She and her father head us to their home, which was in the outskirts of the city. The house was pretty cool and we were kindly offered a bed to sleep.

Pécs detail 1 

Since at the following day she was going to take place in a stiff competition about her studies, her father, Attila, took care of us. I really liked the way to interact with Attila, because as his English was not as good as his german and keeping in mind that my german nowadays is far from fluent... we used some kind of Hybrid language to communicate, a mixture of English and German. The good point was that we could understand each other most of times and eventually

this is what counts. Turning back to Pécs... after the breackfast, he took us till the city center, where we went sightseing.

Pécs detail 2 "The cathedral"

After dozens of pictures we met Eszter at the city center, and she became our personal guide, telling us every tiny secret of the city... ok maybe it was not as detailed but still. Later on we returned to her home and picked the bath clothes in order to go to a spa located at a nearby town. The spa was simply great, various pools filled up with water at different temperatures, nice company, and I found out what for me was a really arresting fact, some people were playing chess while bathing. Hardly had I thought about playing chess when Eszter propose it, and since I don't want to boast about it, I won't tell who won :)

Pécs detail 3 "The lockers"

We left the spa and headed for Pécs again. During the return trip, Eszter was phoned by her friend Gordana who kindly offered us to attend a concert, we eventually decided to go despite the fact that the singer was going to perform the concert in Hungarian, anyway the concert was pretty cool and hopefully for us she also sang some well-known songs from different international artist or bands like "highway to hell", so at least for us the concert livened up in some occasions.

And that was the last remarkable thing we did that day, later on we went back home, took the dinner and rested to be ready for the next day.

Up in the telecommunication tower: Me, Vero, Gordana

So saturday came and I woke up early to prepare some "Tortillas de patata", maybe you are wondering why and the reason is that Eszter had decided to go for a picnic in Pécs outskirts, and I thought, as I way to reward the hospitality they had shown, that a pair of Tortillas might be a good choice for the occasion.

The mentioned Tortilla de patata

But before going to the lake we went to the telecommunication tower of the city from which we could glance at whole city. Honestly the city looks bigger from the tower than if you wandering around the city... 

Lake on the outskirts of Pécs

So there we were all of us: Gordana, Eszter, Vero and me at the tower resting... resting??? Absolutely, resting because we took on a bus which led us to the bottom of the hill where the tower was, therefore we had no choice apart from hiking up the hill through trees and bushes.

The tower had nothing interesting apart from the sights but it was interesting, as I said before, to check that the city is not as small as it looks. After some minutes there and having eaten a "Kindern egg" (thanks Gordana for that small but sweet pleasure) we decided to head for the lake. 

Eszter at the Picnic

Everything was going smoothly, perhaps too much, and you will know why I am claiming so. In order to reach the lake and as it was not said to be close to the city, Attila provide us with his car which I carefully drove.

It was not more than 30 minutes trip to the lake in wich we were eating not only the Tortillas but also the crepes made by Eszter. We spent a really good time there "E"speaking in "E"spanish, because both of them had taken some spanish lessons, furthermore Gordana has been an Erasmus in Madrid. 

Vero, Eszter and Gordana at the picnic

After the lake we stop the car by a trade fair where some palinka, typical food, and handicraft were sold, the problem was that we stayed there more time than expected originally and this was also the end of the smoothy trip... No sooner we realised that it was late to take our return train to Budapest than did us rush... but in fact it was too late

and no effort made was worth, in fact I tried to speed up a little Attila's car but it also didn't work... At no point were we thinking that we could have arrive on time but the truth was that we saw the train standing on the railways while parking the car and we had at least some faith, but out of the blue the train left...

Trade fair by the lake

if we could had got just one minute more... However we weren't determined to stand within the railway station till the next train's departure, so we all agreed going to eat an icecream. After two terrific days and two wonderful nights there in Pécs we departed in the following train headed for Budapest.

I must say that I really spent a good time there, meeting two new friends Eszter and Gordana. These nice girls took good take care of us and I am really greatful for that.

Thanks also to Eszter, Attila and Attila Jr for their hospitality and time, they are one of the best host I've ever come across.

That's all folks!!

Juwe, juwe, Juwenalia!!!

Czesc!

Juwenalia!!!! How to describe this week... Since we came, last october, a bunch of people were claiming that Kraków has the best student's party ever. We heard that it is called JUWENALIA, and luckily they were not mistaken :) Last tuesday 5th may Juwenalia began and this is what has happened in the meantime. 

Briefly describing, Juwenalia is the week in which students are rulers of the city, thanks to the City's key they are given by the mayor. So from the beginning, till the end of Juwenalia, every activity which takes place in the city is aimed at student's entertainment. Concerts every day till late night, barbecues at AGH Campus, lots of students out in the streets laughing, dancing, chating, drinking... In short the city belong to students and I am really proud to be one of them.

Bartek drinking "Calimocho"

For me Juwenalia started on Wednesday, since on tuesday my friends were still here in Kraków, and they wanted to go for a walk into Tatra's mountains, so when we arrived it was late to go to the concert. Furthermore we were tired after the hiking time in Zakopane. Anyway and although we did not go to the tuesday concert, Krakow was starting to liven up, Juwenalia had just started.

On wednesday we got to go out with our flatmates as it was Szymczak's birthday. And although we are usually boasting about living in krakow... we were even more pleased on wednesday, clubs were full and people was even more commited.

Barbecue at AGH Campus

On thursday we were informed that a barbecue was going to be organised at AGH Campus, just next to student's residence. However, I was not sure how it was going to look like, but actually, it turned out to be probably the best night of my personal Juwenalia. It all got started around 18.00 when Fernando and me decided to go to Rooster's in order to buy our unique fancy-dress for Friday morning parade. After trying the clothes in Rooster's bathroom (we were not sure if the shorts were going to fit us...) we went to buy some make-up and a pair of wigs, nonetheless we could not find any wig. All of a sudden we noticed that the appointment time was approaching so we decided to deliver tasks.  Fernando went to AGH Campus to prepare the barbecue and I went to buy food and drinks for the event. When I arrived there, 2 hours later, I saw how Juwenalia looks like from AGH Campus side.

A guy resting after the party

In fact I was amazed by what I was looking at, the AGH Campus which is normally a quiet place was full of students doing barbecues, chating, drinking... To be honest, I don't dare to tell you a figure of how many people was there... So there we were Bartek, Kamila and me ready to cook our Kielwasa (sausages) and drink some homemade vodka which was kindly offered by Alberto's friends.

We spent there several hours around the barbecue, talking to our new polish friends, and as far as I remember one of the topics was Sporting de Gijon concretely speaking about Cezary Kucharski. 

Rooster's waitresses at the parade

Eventually the friday morning came and we were ready for the costumes parade. We got dressed and we were made up by our flatmates, everybody was laughing at us so we had success in the way that it was exactly what we were looking for. Olga came to home and all of us made way to AGH Campus which was the place choosen to start the parade. 

I had again the same feeling as the previous night, Juwenalia is something special, the street was crowded, hundreds of students dressed with their costumes. It has to be said that students were splitted by universities, and they were singing their university typical songs. In the meantime people was willing to take pictures with us, I cannot remember properly how many pictures people took us... but for sure more than twenty. After few minutes walking among people from all Krakow Universities we met Alberto and we continued our way till we reached rynek. 

Olga, Fer and Alberto ("psepráá") at rynek

At rynek, where a stage was built for the ocassion, everybody kept on singing and drinking while some performances were taken place at the stage. After going for a walk and eating in mcdonals we decided to return home and rest for a while to recover some strenght.

That night another barbecue at AGH Campus, and again the same unique scene. It also happened on saturday night.

Admittedly it was stunning and I am eager to return and enjoy again this magical atmosphere.

Beautiful Hungary (Part 1.- First stage in Budapest)

One could think that spending twelve days there in Hungary is more than enough but in fact it is not. There are so many places to visit, so many wines and Palinkas to taste, so many Spa's in which you can take terrific and relaxing baths... That you'd feel it is never sufficient time.

Going to Hungary has been an enriching experience not only because all the places we'd visited but also for the new people and friends we've met.

Academy of Science

 

And here's how all began. It was 29th march and i had to take the train at a certain time, but as usual I arrived there with only two minutes left. Despite the fact that it was a night train with bed, i couldn't get some proper sleep (beds were a little bit unconfortable after all). There I met two guys from states who are carrying out their studies in Denmark. Well I arrived at Budapest early in the morning and I easily reach the hostel. I had just checked in when the charming girl who was taking care of the hostel, Szava Georgina, offered me a palinka shot... it was 10 in the morning!!... however (you know me), so as not to seem rude, i accepted, it was then when I met two of the most party-french-girls ever Loulou and Leila. After Palinka time, and since Veronica was not arriving at Budapest till late night I joined both of them in their sightseen to Margaret Island. The inner Island is some kind of peaceful place, where you can go jogging or for a walk while having a relaxed chat. 

Leila, Me and Loulou at Margaret Island

This place is a must for those who want to run away from the rush and noise. So we were walking through paths, surrounded by trees and nature, for at least two hours. Then I got them to go eating and after that return to hostel to spend a peaceful afternoon there trying to memorize the city map and organising the different tasks for the next two days: places worthwhile visiting, different routes to follow, places to eat...

At night I took a train which led me directly to the airport from Budapest and because of a delayed flight we were not able to catch the return train to budapest... it was a pitty cause we spend like ten times more in the taxi which carried us to the hostel back. But the good point was that Veronica arrived at Budapest safe and sound. So we were ready to begin our trip around hungary for the next eleven days.

We woke up early the next day, around 8 am (my friend and flatmate Bartek would tell us that it is not early in the morning, but... still) with the idea of going sightseeing only around Pest, and that was exactly what we did. If you take a look at the map, Pest is what remains in the right side of the Donnau river. Parlament, Basilica, Opera ... are some of the buildings we saw that day.

Pest Concert Hall

To be honest Budapest is the cutest place I've ever been, and the weather did help, cause seldom the temperature dropped below 25ºC, having the feeling that the Spring finally had come was indescribable, besides keeping in mind that the week before I was suffering from a -1ºC temperature in Stockholm... However sometimes it was too warm and I assure you that we were sweating over most of daylight time. Pest turned out to be a marvellous place full of nice buildings, crowded of people from every country and also full of life.

Parlament

At about 16.00 more or less we returned to the hostel where Gina was preparing a typical Hungarian food for both of us and also for the french girls. We all got to eat the pleasant food she had cooked, it was just great, and I really want to thank Georgina for that superb lunch.

The most pretty girls in Budapest (Leila, Gina, Loulou, Vero)

After the meal we went the medicinal bath called Széchenyi. It turned out to be a huge place with 3 open-air pools and some more indoor ones. Veronica and me spent there few hours and we had a relaxing and peaceful time, although it was crowded, wandering around the pools which had different temperatures from 30ºC till 38ºC. We also had a go inside the freezing pool at 16ºC but, as you might think this bath did not last too much xD. It was so cold that Veronica did not want to get into the pool so I got her to get inside. 

Széchenyi medical bath

The sun was about to set when we left, and we were told that buda looks marvellous when it is illuminated so that is exactly what we did, we enjoyed the sights, took some pictures and returned to the hostel to get some good sleep in order to be ready to go sightseen Buda.

Budapest at night

The next morning we again woke up early, took the proper shower and departed towards Buda. We had whole day to visit everything that is why we did not narrowed the places to visit down. We visited places like Fisherman's Bastion, Matthias Church, Buda Castle... 

Parlament from Buda

Veronica on a bench

Fisherman's Bastion

After that we ate some salad which I had prepared and took a coffe there really close to Buda Castle. It was already 18.00 and we thought about going up the hill to reach Citadella. This place is the highest, so in there you can gaze at whole Budapest from a different view. Veronica was carrying her ipod and she played some Springsteen's records, as we were f...ing far from our homes, listening to our favourite songwriter, there was nothing we could do to prevent our body from shaking. 

Vero and me dancing & singing

Returning home, having dinner and chating to some people there in the hostel were our last activities there in our first stage in Budapest.

I want to thank Gina, Loulou and Leila for sharing with us great moments and also to Gina and Riverside Hostel for their hospitality. I'd like to recommend this hostel because in spite of the fact that it is a little bit old, people who are working there are great.

Next post.- Beautiful Hungary (Part 2.- Pécs and Budapest at weekend)