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| Caitlin and Damian at the Sziget Festival |
For the past few days I have been hanging out in Budapest
with my best friend from university, Damian.
A few months ago when I told him that I would be in Europe
during the summer, we decided to meet up in Budapest for the
Sziget Festival.
I had no idea what Sziget was
at the time, but after watching
this video I was sold on it.
He arranged everything, which also made my
decision quite easy.
We would stay at
Retox Party Hostel for the festival days then stumble down the street and enjoy
the fruits of his legal labor at the Hilton Budapest for the following three
days.
I decided to arrive in Budapest a few days before Damian to
check out the hostel and ensure that it was up to our standards for fun, and
the only thing that disappointed me upon my arrival was that he was two days
away.
The place was an Animal House on steroids.
The
Retox website is very clear about it’s
rage-expectations for all travelers who choose to stay there, and it very
strictly states that absolutely no one over 35 or lame or both is welcome.
Upon checking into Retox, a twenty-something Brit who
identified himself as Pixie took my deposit and passport then handed me a map
of the city and asked if I was actually going to do anything touristy around
Budapest. With my three hours of sleep
from the night before, I decided that I would attempt to see the city before
Retox sucked me in. Although he seemed
surprised at my response, he pointed out a handful of popular tourist spots.
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| Overlooking the Pest side of the city from the hilly Buda side |
After Pixie handed me the map, he very clearly explained the
house rules: don’t eat food that is not yours, don’t bring drugs into the
hostel, and don’t die during your stay at Retox. Check, check and check. Let the party begin.
I spent a few hours wandering around the city, but
eventually exhaustion overtook me from my early flight and I headed back for a
quick nap at Retox.
Let’s review that last sentence: I headed back for a nap at a party hostel. It obviously
never happened.
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| Around Pest |
Hanging out with new hostel friends, exploring the
famous Budapest ruin pubs and meeting up with Caitlin (another fellow Techie) helped pass the time
until Damian arrived on Friday.
Caitlin
is currently working on a project in Poland, and was luckily able to make a
long weekend out of Sziget.
We have many
mutual friends from our time at GT, but we had never actually hung out
together.
It was fate that this weekend
worked out, and I can definitely say that I now have a new soul sister.
Damian arrived Friday afternoon, and all I can say for our
time at Sziget and the following days at Retox is that it was hilarious,
ridiculous, and something that I don’t know if I would survive again. I won’t attempt to explain our shenanigans (for both legal and moral reasons),
but we had a great time and were somehow able to follow all of those strict
hostel rules.
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| Necessary kiosk at Sziget |
Three days, a handful of questions, and a few forints later
we were packing our bags to leave Retox.
I didn’t take a picture of us when we were leaving, but suffice to say
we were subhuman as we trekked the two kilometers to our next destination.
When we arrived at the
Hilton Budapest, I was
shocked that they not only let us check in, but also proceeded to upgrade us to
the Executive Suite.
The concierge was suspicious,
as she should have been.
But honestly –
is this real life?
The last upgrade I
received was to a top bunk.
Damian laughed
and just said, “Welcome to my life.”
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| Masks and champagne - yes, please! |
Sitting in the executive lounge as I type this and having my
complimentary sparkling water refilled by the lounge attendant makes me
question how I have survived in hostels for the past eight and a half
months. Kidding…kind of…
After each of us showered the Retox/Sziget aftermath off of us we
decided to take a
Budapest Free Walking Tour and actually explore the city that
we had been destroying for the previous days.
It was a great overview of the history and culture of Hungary, and we
enjoyed it so much that we joined the Communist Free Walking Tour the following
day.
I am staying in Budapest for a few more days, so hopefully I can share some of our findings in another post.
After a difficult day of busting
our asses as tourists, we returned to our perfectly cleaned room to a bottle of
champagne and two flutes next to a plate of macaroons.
Yep, I could get used to this.
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| "Popping bottles and blackheads" - Damian |
We shopped, dined, explored and gossiped about the past 8
months and all too quickly this morning came and Damian left me for
Berlin. I cried after he left until I
realized I still had a few solid hours to enjoy the Executive Lounge.
After the assistant brought me a sparkling water, he asked
if he could book a taxi for me. If you
would be so kind, sir, I’ll be going to the exclusive Budapest Backpackers
Hostel…
