Hegeyshalom Budapest

For starters, Hegeyshalom is actually a town in Hungary, on the Austrian border. It was the town David had to pass through on the train when crossing into Hungary, long story. Basically, it sounded similar to the way they say 'cheers' in Hungarian, which was a bitch to pronounce, so for some reason, Hegeyshalom just kept making it's way out. As you may be able to see, we hung out in some fairly dilapidated looking places. Our first night in town, we had a low-key, but delicious dinner out at Cafe Kor, which will be first on the list to go eat at, if we ever return to Budapest. Thursday night, we met up with Cynthia at an unmarked, underground club. There was no sign, just an open garage door to welcome you into what was a completely abandoned warehouse, minus for the 3rd floor, where the club was. There was a huge balcony out the back, with railings at roughly my hip level, typical European issue. If you're too drunk or stupid that you fall off, it's your own problem. So, according to Cynthia, the place had been re-done. Fresh drywall with caulk spots everywhere, re-model style in Budapest. Not to mention the bits of dangling ceiling & presence of 7 year-olds in said club. But, the highlight of the club, was of course, the old homeless man throat singer, who we paid a $5 cover to see. Literally, none of us knew how to react. Instead of lose our minds, we headed out to Szimpla, a bar we had heard about from our free walking tour guide as well. The interior of the place is like nothing I have ever seen, or expect to see again in my liiife. Most of the place was inside until you reach the back which is housed in what appeared to be a giant tent. There was grafitti, bathtubs, unmatching furniture, giant 'outdoor heaters' inside the tent, and that only the ground floor! We were overwhelmed. It was too much to take in.
So, we returned, on Saturday night, which was one of the best nights of David's visit. We decided upon arrival that Szimpla is too complicated a place for just one spot. So, we said with every new drink, we'd move to a new spot in the place. Hence, the private room & the keyboards. Classic.
Lastly, on Easter Sunday, we bumped into a huge outdoor wine tasting, complete with live music on our way back to the hotel for a quick pre-dinner freshen-up. We arrived back to the wine tasting about 6pm, soon enough our dinner reservation time came & went & we continued to sit in the late afternoon warmth, playing cards, drinking wine & eating fresh-made chips. It's hard to find that kind of contentment, the feeling that you could just stay freeze-dried in that moment. The only worries consisted of navigating a toilet paper-less john-on-the-spot & communicating to passerbys that no, that seats not free, I don't actually drink three glasses of wine & play cards with my imaginary friends. Although, I don't think I could create better imaginary friends if I tried.
Thanks boys, for the extra kilo I'm blaming on you & for an altogether fantastic time!