Post-Tapif Tour Comes to an End!

God this is taking me forever, but here is the final piece, I promise!

Finished off my solo-dolo ramblings in Vienna and finally Budapest, and loved every minute of both, up until my Adventure for 1 ended on May 11 with the arrival of a special guest (but I will get to that). In Vienna, I'm a bit ashamed to admit that I didn't have the highest hopes--I expected a very cold, very imperial city, and while it is some of those things, it's not cold. There's a lot of life. It is expensive, but all you have to do is avoid falling into the trap of old beautiful cafés calling you in for an afternoon coffee-and-cake break (although it seemed to be all that anyone else was doing; I suppose it's easier for me to resist because I can't eat a sachertorte anyway, since it's a chocobomb) and maybe limit your palace visits to one. That's what I did, anyway, only paying for the Royal apartments at the Hofburg Palace, which were beautiful, and later strolling through the grounds (the free parts, anyway) of the summer palace, Schonbrunn.  

Check out some of the highlights of Vienna--which I will forever imagine in its true spelling, Wien, thanks to some initial confusion at the ticket office...

Lots of Art Nouveau decor/architecture spattering the city, which I loved. If I remember correctly, these façades were spotted near the Naschmarkt, the great big food market and the "belly of Vienna." I recommend Dr. Falafel--try their pomegranate wine!

Vienna at sunset, seen from the U-bahn stop Schwedenplatz. Coincidentally, this is where my boat dropped me off when I first arrived, coming from Bratislava. DID I MENTION I TOOK A BOAT?! The excitement has yet to fade. 

Hehe. Statue butt. 

Schönbrunn Palace and Gardens, the royal family's summer getaway.  

This was one of my best finds, a beach bar within the city itself, a little sandy oasis in the concrete jungle, where I dug my toes in the sand, sipped a big ol' bottle of Ottakringer Radler (not so much beer as lemonade, but I'm not gonna lie, I'm super into their beers. It's the last remaining brewery in Vienna, apparently. 

Also in Vienna, I fell in love with the whimsical architecture of Friedensreich Regentag Dunkelbunt Hundertwasser, who was a fan of color, water, uneven terrain and unbalanced spaces, and clearly wasn't a huge fan of straight lines/symmetry. So dope. 

More Hundertwasser

Also in Vienna, I went on the best run of my vacation, along the 21-km long Danube Island. Didn't cover all of it (not nearly!) but my run was longer than intended because I was trying to reach the castle atop the hill on the far right in this picture--turns out you can't cross the river there, but I figured that out too late. Along the way, I saw some unusual things, like a man giving his dog a full-out haircut, and a slew of naked picnics. Like, real real naked. 

Nabbed a bus to Budapest at the last possible minute, and crashed on the couch of a buddy I met through Couchsurfing in 2013, in Modena, Italy (he was actually the roommate of my host, but he showed me around all the same). It was my second time there, and in case you were worried, Bootypest is still actively killin' it. Such a fantastic city. Even after a second trip, I wasn't ready to leave, and I am ready to go back.

Worlds collide in the ruin pub (me and Eddy-friends from the 2013 CS experience, Amber and Shaun-a couple Aussies who shared the same CS host with me in Ghent earlier in the trip, and Matthieu and Sam, my Canadian buddies from the hostel in Bratislava!). BOOM.

Plus, on this trip, I got to see a couple of the things I missed out on last time, namely the shoe memorial to the Jews lost in the Holocaust, and the Parliament building just nearby (saw it by day and by night, thanks to some well-timed runs). LOOK HOW PRETTY

Also, next time you have a Sunday morning in Pest, check out the transformation of Szimpla from a thumping ruin pub to a super cool farmer's market! When I was there, there was also live music and some happy Hungarians doing traditional dance. It was awesome.

The one thing pushing me to leave and end my merry meandering was the thought of the person waiting for me in Paris--well, technically I beat him there, because my flight arrived a few hours earlier than his, but still--good old Punky. Guess I ruined him for life; he just couldn't stay away from Paris I suppose!