A Quick Note on Szimpla Kert
March 11, 2022
Just as the clock struck midnight, the pinball machines at the Flippermuszeam took turns getting unplugged. Onward to the ruin bar! One of Budapest’s famous ruin bars is Szimpla Kert which has been recommended by both of our far away tour guides (brother and cousin), as well as every drunk abroad student met thus far, which was a lot.
A ruin bar is a large abandoned building vandalized with graffiti, those weird vine plants that always grow on vacant structures, and walls and doors that have been tampered with for years. Different colored lights, unique rooms, and concrete overcrowd the inside. The main draw to such an establishment are the six or seven different bars, three or four clubs, and two or three gardens all within this one building. Once you’re inside having paid no cover charge, you can go anywhere.
We bar hopped, club hopped, met strangers in the funky lit stairwell and graffitied out bathrooms. Usually big attractions don’t live up to their recommendations but Szimpla Kert was a 10/10!
A ruin bar is a large abandoned building vandalized with graffiti, those weird vine plants that always grow on vacant structures, and walls and doors that have been tampered with for years. Different colored lights, unique rooms, and concrete overcrowd the inside. The main draw to such an establishment are the six or seven different bars, three or four clubs, and two or three gardens all within this one building. Once you’re inside having paid no cover charge, you can go anywhere.
We bar hopped, club hopped, met strangers in the funky lit stairwell and graffitied out bathrooms. Usually big attractions don’t live up to their recommendations but Szimpla Kert was a 10/10!
Good Morning Buda
March 11, 2022
One would think that after partying limitlessly on a boat, then a club for a few hours after that, people would be asleep at 10:00 am. Not at Carpe Noctem! You know what, if I had to be jolted awake, I mean if I really had to, I’m glad it was to Carrie Underwood blasting from the wall-sharing bathroom.
Big Mike. 6’5, covered head to toe in an elegant combination of silly and badass tattoos. Long and intriguingly straight black beard and gages the size of a ¢50 coin. Additionally, he has a very, very thick and wonderful New Zealand accent.
Searching for breakfast places, Karly found the Cozy Café to which Big Mike halted his sweeping of the glazed wood floors and said “do not go there. It’s cozy alright, too cozy,” and he looked side to side as if the Cozy Café was watching him and that was the worst he was allowed to say about the establishment before they took him down.
Using Karly’s “7 MUST SEE Sights in Budapest,” we headed to the Buda side of the city.
*History Lesson* Budapest is split into two halves: Buda– the old city, and Pest–the new, more modern city, with Margaret Island living in the splitting waters in between. Carpe is on the Pest side so we had to navigate the metro into Buda.
It took a lot of fumbling, confusion, asking for help, and peeping over local’s shoulders as they purchased a metro card to really nail the system:
Take the yellow line to the red, then transfer to the green and you’ve officially made it from Pest to Buda.
As soon as we got off of the Metro at Géllert, the first sighting was a peculiar mountain we had spotted from the party boat. On top of the mountain was the statue of a woman holding a leaf that Karly noted looked as if she were slam dunking Kobe style (RIP).
We sure took our sweet time (which I found us being equally pokey makes us good travel buddies) but eventually my sparkly bubble-gum scented wedges and Karly’s fear of heights made it to the top. Our slowness actually didn’t have anything to do with my shoes or her fears but each time we climbed a little higher up the concrete staircases, we discovered something beautiful. Once it was a children’s park where Karly wonderfully showed a bunch of kids up on the slide. Much further up and we found a hidden un-railed and un-guarded rock off the trails with a clean and clear view of Pest. Every view that each staircase led to was so breathtaking I couldn’t handle it.
Big Mike. 6’5, covered head to toe in an elegant combination of silly and badass tattoos. Long and intriguingly straight black beard and gages the size of a ¢50 coin. Additionally, he has a very, very thick and wonderful New Zealand accent.
Searching for breakfast places, Karly found the Cozy Café to which Big Mike halted his sweeping of the glazed wood floors and said “do not go there. It’s cozy alright, too cozy,” and he looked side to side as if the Cozy Café was watching him and that was the worst he was allowed to say about the establishment before they took him down.
Using Karly’s “7 MUST SEE Sights in Budapest,” we headed to the Buda side of the city.
*History Lesson* Budapest is split into two halves: Buda– the old city, and Pest–the new, more modern city, with Margaret Island living in the splitting waters in between. Carpe is on the Pest side so we had to navigate the metro into Buda.
It took a lot of fumbling, confusion, asking for help, and peeping over local’s shoulders as they purchased a metro card to really nail the system:
Take the yellow line to the red, then transfer to the green and you’ve officially made it from Pest to Buda.
As soon as we got off of the Metro at Géllert, the first sighting was a peculiar mountain we had spotted from the party boat. On top of the mountain was the statue of a woman holding a leaf that Karly noted looked as if she were slam dunking Kobe style (RIP).
We sure took our sweet time (which I found us being equally pokey makes us good travel buddies) but eventually my sparkly bubble-gum scented wedges and Karly’s fear of heights made it to the top. Our slowness actually didn’t have anything to do with my shoes or her fears but each time we climbed a little higher up the concrete staircases, we discovered something beautiful. Once it was a children’s park where Karly wonderfully showed a bunch of kids up on the slide. Much further up and we found a hidden un-railed and un-guarded rock off the trails with a clean and clear view of Pest. Every view that each staircase led to was so breathtaking I couldn’t handle it.
From Plane to Party (Boat)
March 10, 2022
Budapest!!! As soon as we landed, Karly and I realized that after fighting a war to get here amidst the war in a neighboring country, we had absolutely no plans, which was awesome. Itineraries ruin everything and I refuse to travel with anyone who relies on them.
My brother kept bothering me about a company called Party Bookers who hosted booze cruises with unlimited drinks. The tickets for the events were sold out for the weekend, so we decided to walk around aimlessly and lose ourselves in the unknown city instead, crossing off sites from Karly’s cousin’s “must list” that ended up guiding our four days in the Hungarian city.
We exited the airport and entered our private jet arranged by the hostel; a white minivan accompanied by the musical stylings of Hoobastank and “Under the Bridge” by the Red Hot Chili Peppers.
Finally, we arrived at our hostel, Carpe Noctem. Let me tell you a little bit about Carpe Noctem…
We walked through a castle-sized door and were presented with a grand porcelain staircase (I don’t really know what porcelain is) with green, white, and hints of blue faded tiling. It looked like an abandoned Astoria, Queens private elementary school. After walking up ten flights of stairs, we reached the top. The hostel door was surrounded by string Christmas lights like a frat house which made me happy.
Jemma – who you will be more than aquatinted with if you continue reading our day by day in Budapest – opened the door to a long hallway with shoes, maps, and beautifully done murals. The walls were otherwise bright, blue, and welcoming. Walking straight and we came to a living room where there were five people, mid-twenties, sitting on red couches with empty plates. If I’ve learned anything from detective school, it appeared as if they had just finished their dinner.
We were guided to our bunkbeds and shown around the rest of the hostel, “We cook dinner every night for 1000 HUF [approximately $5], there is free and unlimited coffee, tea, eggs, and bread, and we go out together every night. Tonight, is a booze cruise,” Jemma concluded.
To me, this was a sign.
Karly, Shilpa, Rauel, Lucy, Keith, Mehdi, and I, led by Carpe’s own, Flipper (the 20-something year old diver from Minnesota) headed left towards the party boat. First, everyone attending the boat stopped at a club a few blocks before the docks called Morrison’s. It was completely black with neon and disco lights all around. There were so many students from other hostels, all from a variety of different countries and backgrounds. A melting pot of intoxicated college students, if you will.
Immediately, we were handed a free shot. I liked where this was going. Every member of Carpe Noctem took turns standing with our backs against the wall as Flipper tattooed our names in permanent black marker across our necks before heading onward to the boat with the rest of the club.
Did I mention that Budapest is cold as balls this time of year? No? Well, Budapest is cold as balls this time of year. The level of cold that alcohol simply could not fix.
We waited for the boat and spent quality shivering time with our new roommates for the weekend. Keith, who was backpacking through Europe to where he find pick-up ultimate frisbee games and tournaments through Facebook –which is one of the coolest things I’ve ever heard– he mentioned that this was his second come around to Budapest and Carpe Noctem in his sixth months of travelling. Karly, with cold misery in her eyes and exhaustion in her soul said, “Yes, I’m already thinking of extending my stay,” to which Keith answered, “that’s such a Carpe thing to say.” That alone perked up our spirits, giving us an uncontrollable laugh for the remainder of the trip.
The boat was insane; fully stocked bar with two bartenders in the downstairs alongside a dance floor and a smoking outside area, accompanied by another dance floor upstairs. Surrounding the cruising cruise was the most beautiful city. Flipper took us around the boat and got us settled, I flirted with a super hot guy named Sven and met a bunch of Brits who too were abroad. Karly and I could not stop laughing at the crazy around us that we knew was destined to get weirder.
When we left the vessel, we had to piss, bad, and still hadn’t eaten since London. Lugging around the beers we snatched from the boat, we pissed in a park and successfully ventured for 2am dinner; the crunchiest, most delicious pizza served by a man who wished to be anywhere else. Budapest!!!!
My brother kept bothering me about a company called Party Bookers who hosted booze cruises with unlimited drinks. The tickets for the events were sold out for the weekend, so we decided to walk around aimlessly and lose ourselves in the unknown city instead, crossing off sites from Karly’s cousin’s “must list” that ended up guiding our four days in the Hungarian city.
We exited the airport and entered our private jet arranged by the hostel; a white minivan accompanied by the musical stylings of Hoobastank and “Under the Bridge” by the Red Hot Chili Peppers.
Finally, we arrived at our hostel, Carpe Noctem. Let me tell you a little bit about Carpe Noctem…
We walked through a castle-sized door and were presented with a grand porcelain staircase (I don’t really know what porcelain is) with green, white, and hints of blue faded tiling. It looked like an abandoned Astoria, Queens private elementary school. After walking up ten flights of stairs, we reached the top. The hostel door was surrounded by string Christmas lights like a frat house which made me happy.
Jemma – who you will be more than aquatinted with if you continue reading our day by day in Budapest – opened the door to a long hallway with shoes, maps, and beautifully done murals. The walls were otherwise bright, blue, and welcoming. Walking straight and we came to a living room where there were five people, mid-twenties, sitting on red couches with empty plates. If I’ve learned anything from detective school, it appeared as if they had just finished their dinner.
We were guided to our bunkbeds and shown around the rest of the hostel, “We cook dinner every night for 1000 HUF [approximately $5], there is free and unlimited coffee, tea, eggs, and bread, and we go out together every night. Tonight, is a booze cruise,” Jemma concluded.
To me, this was a sign.
Karly, Shilpa, Rauel, Lucy, Keith, Mehdi, and I, led by Carpe’s own, Flipper (the 20-something year old diver from Minnesota) headed left towards the party boat. First, everyone attending the boat stopped at a club a few blocks before the docks called Morrison’s. It was completely black with neon and disco lights all around. There were so many students from other hostels, all from a variety of different countries and backgrounds. A melting pot of intoxicated college students, if you will.
Immediately, we were handed a free shot. I liked where this was going. Every member of Carpe Noctem took turns standing with our backs against the wall as Flipper tattooed our names in permanent black marker across our necks before heading onward to the boat with the rest of the club.
Did I mention that Budapest is cold as balls this time of year? No? Well, Budapest is cold as balls this time of year. The level of cold that alcohol simply could not fix.
We waited for the boat and spent quality shivering time with our new roommates for the weekend. Keith, who was backpacking through Europe to where he find pick-up ultimate frisbee games and tournaments through Facebook –which is one of the coolest things I’ve ever heard– he mentioned that this was his second come around to Budapest and Carpe Noctem in his sixth months of travelling. Karly, with cold misery in her eyes and exhaustion in her soul said, “Yes, I’m already thinking of extending my stay,” to which Keith answered, “that’s such a Carpe thing to say.” That alone perked up our spirits, giving us an uncontrollable laugh for the remainder of the trip.
The boat was insane; fully stocked bar with two bartenders in the downstairs alongside a dance floor and a smoking outside area, accompanied by another dance floor upstairs. Surrounding the cruising cruise was the most beautiful city. Flipper took us around the boat and got us settled, I flirted with a super hot guy named Sven and met a bunch of Brits who too were abroad. Karly and I could not stop laughing at the crazy around us that we knew was destined to get weirder.
When we left the vessel, we had to piss, bad, and still hadn’t eaten since London. Lugging around the beers we snatched from the boat, we pissed in a park and successfully ventured for 2am dinner; the crunchiest, most delicious pizza served by a man who wished to be anywhere else. Budapest!!!!