Rub the horses balls.

It's only 8.45 here and I'm lying in bed thinking maybe I'd rather just go to sleep than write, but I will persevere for you. 

Where was I up to yesterday?  Ah yes, the less than stellar start to the city.  The bad news is, Soph still can't seem to make her debit or her travel card work, but she is at least able to get money at ATMs with her eftpos card.  The better news is that last night Budapest got a whole lot nicer, in part because of the cheap and good food we ate at a humus restaurant around the corner, but mostly due to Martin.  Marting is the guy that runs this place.  Hes polish.  And he is awesome.  He wasn't here when we first arrived, apparently he was down at city hall trying to sort things 'their problem not mine' *throws hands in the air*.  When we got back from the supermarket last night he'd made it back.  He sat us down, got out a map and gave us a guide to the city.  He told us about the baths, how to get there, how much they cost, and to tell him when we went so he could lend us towels.  He told us about a walking tour which I will fill you in on later (we did it today).  He pointed out the hill we should walk up, for the 'postcard shots', told us we should walk along the river at night.  Pointed out the 'ruined bars' and showed us the best ones.  Ruined bars are apparently something that appeared around Budapest a little while ago, people bought old abandoned buildings and put bars/clubs in them.  So they don't look like much from the outside, sometimes just a door, but inside they're all done up, and the drinks are cheap and there's no door charge.  If we can find time (on a night when I don't have to lie still for fear of moving my stomach to fast and losing my dinner) we might try and find ourselves to one of the bars.  Best of all, they are places that locals go, so you actually get an oppurtunity to see locals rather than just tourists. 

He then showed us the cheapest places to eat, the good local places to eat.  We both had big grins on our faces afterwards.  It really felt like we were getting the insiders guide, though he was telling us about a lot of tourist stuff as well.  I also asked him about Pecs - it took him a while to click to what I was talking about, its pronounced Pech - I wanted to know whether he thought it would be worth doing a day trip, because we have a spare day of train travel.  He put up his thumbs.   Then explained a bit about Pecs to us as well.

All the little things wrong with this place, the funny shower, having no kettle, the occassional hole in the wall, aren't a problem like they'd be in any other hostel, because this is Martins place.  It really feels like his house that we've been given a room in.

This morning after checking out the large fresh food market down the road, and feeling a little put out after being yelled at in Hungarian and made to buy the whole bunch of bannanas, we went for a stroll to try and find some shoes for me.  It brought us firstly to a street full of tourist shops, with one magic shop.  Lets just say its a good thing I have significantly over my daily budget.  I'll be going back there before we leave.  Anyway long story short, we did manage to find some shoes, pretty cheap and cute, hopefully they'll last the rest of the trip.

The afternoon we spent on the walking tour.  It took about 3 hours, a wee bit of a task in the heat (did I tell you that?  Just how hot it is here?  It's so hot your sunglasses slide off your nose).  It was fantastic though.  The guide was great, she really knew her stuff.  It mixed a little history, with a bit of language (the longest word in Hungarian is 44 letters long), a few jokes and more insiders knowledge.  Do you know how a smart Hungarian talks to a stupid Hungarian?  Long distance.  (joke, you may laugh).  Apparently they have a serious brain drain going on here.  50 Hungarians have been awarded a Nobel prize, more per capita than anywhere else, but only one received it in Hungary.  She also told us about current Hungary.  Apparently tax evasion is a game around here, because taxes are very high to keep running a communist sized bureacracy, but wages are low.  As a side effect of this, the only way to get anything done is through bribery.  Which explains why Martin said last night 'they say they are reconstructing it but..*shrugs* corruption'.  She also told us that Pest (the side we're staying on) looks old, but is actually only 19th C.  They just tried to replicate other old european cities.

She also filled us in on the bars/clubs that Martin had told is about, where the worst places for pickpockets were, tipping procedure, and how to avoid tourist traps.  Apparently if a restaurant promenantly displays a sign for goulash, its not the place to eat, and if the food looks cheap, check how much the drinks cost.  It really felt like a tour run by young people trying to help out young people, and navigating a broken system. 

Oh and I just about forgot about the horses balls.  We got shown a statue of a famous warrior, but the important part was his horse.  She told us to look for what stuck out.  The balls were shiny gold.  This is because of a student tradition to rub the horses balls to get better marks in final exams. 

So there you have it.  Day one Budapest.  Much more to go.  We're not far off a month through the trip though, thats a scary thought.