We headed back to Budapest and it was a long drive. Martin and I had booked a hostel ahead of time but without much real consideration. What a mistake. We dropped Mike off at his posh hotel where his colleague was staying then Martin and I headed off in search of parking. It was a really busy, dirty feeling city with heaps of graffiti everywhere. Our first impressions weren't that great! We found our hostel and rang a poorly labelled buzzer for the 'reception desk'. We were buzzed up and into an old building that had spiral stairs, with private apartments opening onto circular floors. We were feeling a little hesitant but went inside the hostel anyway. The hip young guy looked at us as though we were in the wrong place, but put aside his facials and welcomed us warmly.

It was such a hostel. The kind you can put up with if you've never stayed anywhere nice and are traveling on a shoestring. We were given sheets (3/4 size) and pillow cases for our single beds then taken down to the lower floor for our private room. It was awful. The walls were stained, the matresses were springy and lumpy. It was roasting hot (in contradiction to previous places we'd stayed in) and we had to open the window to breathe. The sheets didn't cover the whole mattress (ew) so Martin went and got some more. It was so gross. The communal bathroom was the final straw with hair strewn through the shower and the toilet filthy. Yuck. Not quite what we were accustomed too as a married couple approaching their thirties I must snobbily say. Anyway, we had paid for two nights, but decided to find somewhere else for the second night and just make do.

The receptionist guy was really helpful with maps and stuff. He recommended an absolutely delicious place for dinner, again the food! Oh yeah. We'd 'settled' in and spent the day walking around the city but were both a bit travel weary I think. So the nice meal was fantastic. After a very very bad nights sleep (due to drunken german girl sobbing hysterically next door whilst her friend tried to calm her for a few hours in the early morning) we were pleased to pack up and find our nice hotel on the other side of the river in Buda. It was luxury in comparison.

We went in search for hot pools and arrived at our destination after walking for miles (was only supposed to take half an hour) but it was up hill and cold etc. Moan, moan Lucy! Anyway, we found the pools and again, looked forward to nice warm waters etc. The signposting in the place was shocking though. Nobody (proven by us explaining to confused English people what we'd learnt) knew where to get changed or the lockers and where the pools were. It was very strange. We were now very frustrated and a bit fed up. But we found the pool which was cold!!!!! Then there was a hot pool crowded at the end of course that was for both sexes. We soon realised that the real pools were in the segregated sections of the complex. So Martin and I departed ways and promised to meet back in half an hour. I wove my way through massage tables and cubicles till I found two nice hot pools full of women. Some were naked. It was weird as not all were naked. I stayed for about five minutes but was bored on my own so got out and got dressed.

Martin and I then walked up into the castle district and got a great view of Buda and Pest. The castle district was pretty cool. It was all cobble stoned and lit softly etc. But it was absolutely freezing! For some reason we found it hard to find somewhere to eat. I can't remember if we were being cheap, or if I was feeling sick. Probably both.

Before we left though we had a glass of wine in a teeny tiny little pub where the patrons were sitting outside with blankets but we scored a table inside next to two Germans who were very chatty and loved talking to Martin about NZ etc.
After our plesantries we went down into the Labyrinth. It was a series of underground tunnels designed to, well, let people move in secret underground the castle I guess! It was really cool and a definite highlight of the trip for me. We were given a gas lantern and left to our own devices. There was again a lack of signage so we basically just explored this pitch black tunnel system with carved figures and random puddles of water. It was quite spooky. Especially when our lamp ran out of gas! Pitch black! Luckily Martin had his phone which provided a beam of cellular light to catch us up to a tour group with their torches. We managed to spook ourselves quite nicely and happily left the tunnel system in search for food. It's probably worth mentioning that we came across a reception or something being prepared in an open area of the tunnels that held a fountain in the middle. Very cool place for a wedding!

We didn't find food to satisfy wallet and tummy, so jumped on a random bus and was led by a very friendly Hungarian to the tram track that would lead us to our hotel. We couldn't work out the ticketing system so guiltily had a freebie on the bus and the tram. Then we had to walk down a very spooky, shady avenue that had us breathing a sigh of relief when our hotel came into view. We ate our last Hungarian meal at the hotel. In case you can't tell from my tone, we didn't think much of Budapest and probably wouldn't recommend it really. Sorry!