Hi Gram!
It’s moving day again! I slept well last night but woke before my alarm, excited for the days ahead. After a morning walk, puzzles and journal I packed everything up extra tight so I could get by with as little weight on my back as possible. I fit almost everything into the roller suitcase. The plan was to store that one and keep my small backpack with a few basics I’d need for the day. After some breakfast and a sweep through the room to make sure I hadn’t forgotten anything, I headed out.

The first stop was a few blocks away to drop off my suitcase. Next, I wandered around a bit, getting some pics of the buildings in the morning light. I ended up sitting in a park for a bit googling a few things and getting my bearings, which was very peaceful. I remembered that I wanted to check out Market Hall, a local historic indoor marketplace. They say it’s the largest indoor marketplace in Hungary or Europe or something. It was nice. I took the chance to get in some stairs since it had a basement and second floor (that was really high). They had lots of spices, meats, produce as well as a ton of kitschy tourist souvenirs of course. I also learned that the Rubik’s cube was invented by a Hungarian man, a fact proudly plastered around Budapest on signs and shops.

I had a little more time today than I’d expected. I had to check out of my room by 10am instead of 11 like I’m used to and the train leaves at 10:13pm. That gave me around 11 hours to use up before I had to get to the train station.

I gathered some ideas yesterday, so I had a plan. Sort of. There’s a citadel atop Gellert hill on the Buda side of the river, so I headed over there. It was around 30 flights of stairs/ hill to get to the top, plus a few more from going the wrong way and doubling back. The view from up there was amazing. You could see the whole city, the surrounding hills, and lots of landmarks that I’d seen on the tour yesterday. The climb didn’t take as long as I expected, but it was really worth it for the view. I meandered back down, grabbing an overpriced pretzel on the way, then strolled along the river.

There was another set of stairs up to a monument that I learned about on the river cruise last night, so of course I climbed that one too. I think it actually ties into the path system by the citadel, although I’m not sure. I headed back down and across the river and had some lunch. I forgot to get the name of the local dish, but it was very unique. Like a pizza, but the dough was fried like a doughnut. And they used cream cheese instead of mozzarella. But it wasn’t a dessert because the toppings were sausage, bacon, tomatoes, and green peppers. Delicious, but weird.

The next few hours were a lot of walking around, reading my book, and killing time. I still had a few hours before my train left and I didn’t want to get my luggage too early and drag it around. Eventually, though, I snagged my bag and took the subway. A few stops later, I was at the train terminal. This was not the kind of train terminal with cafes and attendants.. this was more of a post-apocalyptic zombie infested bus station kind of vibe. I waited in the waiting room – a couple of benches next to the ticket counter – and watched for my train number to populate the board. Once I knew the track, I found my way there and waited.

When my train pulled in, my car was at the very end of the train so I made a mad dash with a few other passengers and boarded just before it departed. My cabin was cozy but functional. As soon as I got in, I closed and locked the door, got ready for bed and turned in.