I woke up this morning around 8AM, packed, checked out, and left my big bag in the luggage room at the hostel.  I went to the grocery store for breakfast and some souvenirs and got a pastry and some Mozartkugel for my family and friends.

I then walked over to Belvedere Palace, took some pictures, and ate my pastry on a bench overlooking one of the fountains.  The weather was really nice and probably could’ve spent more time there had I not wanted to get a souvenir for myself and catch a train in the early afternoon.

I took the U-Bahn to the mall just outside of the city center and got a pair of cool shiny Birkenstocks for 65€ (~$72) which is a good $30 cheaper than in the US—and in a color I haven’t seen before!  I feel like this is a symbolic souvenir commemorating just how much walking I did and is also kind of cool because it’s a German brand and I spent the majority of my time in Europe in German speaking countries.  Maybe I’m stretching this a bit too far but I’m really happy with my souvenir.

After I got my new shoes I took the U-Bahn back to the hostel, grabbed my bag, took the U-Bahn to the hauptbahnhof, and then caught a train to Budapest at 1:39PM.  The train ride was pretty uneventful and I took a short nap.

I arrived in Budapest around 4PM and struggled with the subway ticket machines with a good 30 minutes before I found one that didn’t shut down before I got the chance to pay.  Once I had a ticket, I successfully navigated my way to the hostel and checked in around 5PM.

I met Ainura, a girl from Kazakhstan who works and lives in Malaysia, shortly after I arrived.  We made plans to get dinner around 6:30, so I had time to nap and get my laundry together to give to the front desk so they could wash and dry it before the next day.

After our naps we walked around the big street right outside of the hostel and got big plates of Turkish food for dinner for 1200 HUF (~$4).  We then went back to the hostel and had berries and champagne that Ainura had bought earlier in the day and met Grace, an Australian traveling through Europe for two months before starting her job as an au pair in London.  We talked for a long time before heading to bed around 11:30.