Day 1 in Budapest: Man versus Tram

Budapest is beautiful. I don’t think I got to appreciate it as much as I could have though. I think I might have (?) overdid it in Berlin, because by day two in Budapest I felt a little bit under the weather.

I arrived in the late afternoon, checked into my hotel, decided to walk around and be touristy -- and almost got killed by a tram.

I could see the tram coming with a fair amount of speed, but my light was green, and his was red, so I started to cross the street, thinking he would slow down and stop. Unlucky for me, without warning, the light changed and instead of slowing down, the bastard speeded up and almost clipped me as I jumped off the road and onto the sidewalk -- blaring his horn as he did so, making everyone turn and look at me. I of course, just pretended nothing happened and walked my merry way. But my heart was pounding… and in my mind’s eye I could see the headline “Idiot Tourist Killed in Budapest by Public Transport” Needless to say, I was very careful crossing the streets from then on…

I walked the Váci utca, the touristy pedestrian street full of shops, cafes, and bars just absorbing the hustle and bustle of people. Fun.

So far this trip, I had not had a “real” dinner, having eaten at the Executive Lounge of the Berlin Hilton the whole time. Even though I knew it would be touristy and overpriced, I decided to stop at one of the outdoor cafes and have a nice Hungarian dinner. I found this spot that looked nice, was playing good music, had a good crowd and a good menu. Food was meh and overpriced, but the atmosphere was nice and I enjoyed my night.

It was getting chilly (surprise!) Even though it was still early, I felt like I was coming down with something, and it was a Monday night anyway, so I decided to head back to my hotel and call it a night.

Sightseeing and picture-taking will have to wait until tomorrow...