Boujie in Budapest

A six hour train ride (mercifully during the day) transported our family from Prague, Czech Republic to Budapest, Hungary. We landed at the train station around 8 or 9 pm and stood around for over 30 minutes waiting to find a taxi that would be willing to take us to our hotel. One guy said yes to Tyler and then drove away once he saw me, Presley and Bodhi. Relieved beyond relief that we were finally free of our bags, we hardly paid attention to what our apartment looked like.

The hotel was situated on Gozsdu Court, which was buzzing all day and all night for the few days we stayed. 30+ bars packed in to a small alley in the middle of town, crawling with people of all ages partying. More than anywhere I can remember being before, it felt like this place...this whole city actually, had a pulse. Budapest is alive.

That first night, we had a hard time getting a table, a hard time getting a drink, a hard time getting the bill, and a hard time finding somewhere to take Bodhi to pee. We should have known right then it probably wasn't a good fit for our little family!

The apartment itself...well, it wasn't our best. There were no windows, no heat, only tepid water, some sharp screws or nails jutting out of the kitchen floor and was overall just uncomfortable. I wanted to check out immediately, but we sucked it up for a few days while touring around Hungary's capital.

We did one of those silly double decker tourist red buses to get the lay of the land. And we took Presley on the Ferris wheel in the city center. We rode scooters along the Danube river, also cruised it and ate some amazing food. Everywhere we went, the architecture blew us away.

But my absolute favorite thing about Budapest is the bath houses. As the weather has been turning cooler, and we've moved north, I've had that winter chill that was gloriously cured by a day at the Szechenyi Thermal Baths! Several huge outdoor pools fed by thermal springs, along with 20+ indoor pools of varying temperatures to get the best of the medicinal water. Saunas, steam rooms...it was divine! (as long as you don't mind communal bathing!) PS, Covid doesn't seem to exist anymore in Europe...we very rarely see anyone with masks on here.

Tyler stepped on the ouchie nail for the 3rd or 4th time and finally agreed we had to leave Gozdu Court for better digs. We found a really great apartment on the other side of town, in a small Aparthotel next to the famous New York Cafe, known as "The most beautiful cafe in the world. We spent the next 4 nights in relative luxury, with hot water, heat, and even a washing machine!

Beautiful last coffee before leaving Budapest pictured below. Onward Case Family!