I wandered some more upon the banks of Buda, and looked up at majestic Buda Castle, and then out at the Danube River, and wondered vaguely when I might be able to finally visit the Romanian-Servian border and see the Iron Gates. I've wanted to see that ever since I found out they existed, which was a little over two years ago.
One problem I had - one of the few, I'll admit - is my lack of emotions, and too much detachment. I don't really want to believe that this is what two years of graduation and work have done to me. Two years ago I was fresh faced and bursting to the seams with curiosity and vivacity. Apparently I still retain vestiges of that old energy - as told from various random strangers all over central and eastern Europe - but I know it's not the same anymore, that I'm not the pristine, eager 22 year old I was in 2014. I spent the first part of this trip in a happy daze, savouring the fact that I was in Europe again, the second half of this trip moping a bit over You Know Who because perfect measure of hope and despair, and then the third half of the trip half drunk, or nursing Baltic booze-induced hangovers whilst valiantly taking pictures of tourist hotspots. Of course, artistic licence and exaggeration, so please take all you see and read at face value. Still, though - it was slightly disconcerting to have no other thoughts other than vague mental commentaries on the buildings and the scenery and the people passing by.
No matter. I found a restaurant I'd wanted to visit, and I went there with a Chinese girl from the hostel. I didn't have much to say to her, and she didn't have much to say to me either. Our personalities didn't exactly clash, but we just didn't click. And that happens a lot, which is a relief in some ways, because it's exhausting, being perpetually engaged and switched on. She was six or seven years older than me and was in Budapest for her master's degree. Why Hungary and why Budapest, I'd asked. She said it was much cheaper here than in western Europe, which I could readily believe. She was another of those people you find in hostels, the sort who are students or 'young professionals' - hobnobbing in hostels whilst they find a place to put their feet up. I could say something here - quite a lot in fact - but this is a public domain, so I will not be forthright and honest and provocative. I shall only say this: I am a little pleased with myself. That is all.
The restaurant served delicious food, although it was a MASSIVE serving that neither of us could finish, which was a real pity. Very hearty Eastern European fare - lots of potatoes and pork. And as always my favourite goulash soup in the world. No one does goulash like the Hungarians do.
To be continued..
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