Pest!

No...not me. (Although some people may disagree)
I'm talking about the Pest side of Budapest, Hungary.

The overnight train from Krakow to Budapest was decent enough. I had the bottom bunk of a 3 bed sleeper cabin. Only problem with these sleepers is that you can't do anything but sleep. Even for my height, there's just no space to sit on the bunk without severely slouching. Oh, another issue – you generally tend to arrive at an extremely early hour (between 5-7am), and can't check-in at the hostel.

After dropping off my luggage, I chose to explore Pest for the day (mainly because my hostel was on this side). Pest is more like the "new town" area, with a bunch of governmental and commercial buildings, and busy streets.
The central market was my first stop, to grab something to eat. Got a huge apple strudel for about $1 : ) I also wanted some fruits, but got discouraged after being yelled at by the woman when I picked up a peach to sniff it. The second floor of the market is all souvenirs. The traditional (I think) Hungarian textiles/laces were nice; of course, I couldn't buy anything.

With a full, content tummy, I walked all over Pest for the rest of the day:
- Ran into 2 Korean guys who were staying at the same hostel in Krakow. Had lunch with them. They got into Budapest really late last night, and ended up sleeping at the metro station. I don't think I can travel like that...
- The Parliament building was enormous, stunning to look at. Walking towards it was quite exciting.- Wished I could stay at the palatial Four Seasons Hotel and sleep in their plush beds. Great location, too.- I was looking forward to a performance at the famous opera house, which I heard was very cheap. Not for the show itself, but just to check out the inside. However, it turned out that they don't give performances during the summer. Darn it. Bad timing :(
- Discovered that Liszt was Hungarian