Pear Liqueur

Our last day in Budapest has finally arrived. It has been great to be in a city for 6 whole days without moving CS hosts once. Definitely felt like we had a good amount of time here.

We didn't really have anything to do today except for some last minute souvenir shopping that we'd been saving. Bernhard was back at work since it's Monday so we couldn't hang out with him or his friends either. We slept in and finally woke up and ate leftovers from last night for breakfast/lunch (this has been a fairly common routine lately, eating breakfast/lunch as one meal).

Then we went to the Central Market again, where I had seen some tablecloths that I liked. I thought it would be fun to get one because they were so pretty and one of these days I'm sure I'll have a coffee table of my own! So I found a beautiful one that I liked. It was hand embroidered in Hungary and is white with green and pink designs on it. I really like it! And it only cost $30 which I think is a fair price for the amount of work that must have gone into it.

Laura also got some souvenirs and then we went back to the teahaz for the third time!! What a record! I love that place though :) We went back to our corner, again, sat on the bean bags, and shared a pot of Chai tea and an Armenian honey cake (the chocolate cake's cousin I guess). It was also incredible. We sat there and chatted for about two hours...it is seriously such a great place to just relax and visit and have real conversations. So that was good.

Then we went home, packed, and made dinner. Packing becomes a little bit heavier and just slightly more challenging every time, but despite that, both Laura and I are getting quite quick at it! By the time we were eating dinner, Bernhard was home from work. He hung out with us and then walked us to the bus stop, and we parted ways. Bernhard was a good host, and so generous for letting us stay for the whole week. I had a good time at his place and visiting with him.

Taking the bus to the train station was easy, and soon we were stuffed in our couchette with two girls aged 23 and 25 I think. One was from Italy, the other from Kenya but living in Norway. Both were studying in Krakow, Poland though, which is where we were headed next. We visited with them for about an hour before beginning our own separate activities.

With literally nothing to do, I tried going to bed at 10:15. So early! I was not tired after so much sleeping and relaxing, so falling asleep was impossible!

At 11 PM, the train stopped and two more people joined our couchette. These were two boys, aged 19 and 22, from Slovakia who immediately turned on the lights (understandably) and sat in their top bunks and commenced drinking. Seriously? Three of us trying to sleep and Laura trying blog...but what could we do? Before we knew it, Slovak heads were peering down from the third story bunks to our second story bunks charmingly offering us tastes of their homemade pear liqueur. We were wide awake and only have so much self control, so we obliged them and tasted some of their liqueur. I, however, have slightly (read: much) more control than Laura, and ended up stopping myself quite early in the game and finally falling asleep after chatting with her and the Slovak boys after a couple of hours. This meant I began my low-quality train sleep around 1 AM. Laura on the other hand ended up sleeping for about 15 minutes tonight. That, however, is not my story to tell.

The train ride was much cleaner and more comfortable than the last overnight train I took, which just happened to be in India. So I consider it a quasi-comfortable success!


Accomplishments:
Took our first overnight train together!

Travel Tip:
Ear plugs and a sleeping eye-mask. TRAVEL NECESSITIES. Always. Don't even question it. Also, a sleep sack. Definitely one of my favorite items that I've brought along. In case you were wondering, my SAS sweats and my slippies were definitely worth the bulk as well!