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Lazy morning after a pretty bad night. I finally get myself out of bed, but I stay at the hostel for a while. I know I said I wanted to let go once Austria is passed, but I had to plan for Moldova.

Moldova is said to be a bit less safe than the rest of Europe, and unfortunately, I find myself alone going there. Not being part of the Interrail, I don’t want to spend too much time there either. But I still want to satisfy the curiosity of seeing it! So after going through the terribly bad Moldovan Railways website and booking the wrong train (with no hopes of reimbursement, but that’s alright, it’s only 10 €), I finally managed to have my tickets: the train into Moldova will depart from Iași at 2:30 AM (fantastic timing) on the 12th, and I will leave Moldova on the 13th at 17:00. I also booked an airbnb in Chișinău.

Now it was time to take the tram for some more domestic tasks: I’m sending a package back to France with stuff I don’t need. It’s primarily winter clothing, so the outter half of my coat, one sweater and the thermal shirt. I’ve added to that the coins I kept for my collection, because they were beginning to weight quite a bit, as well as the first 11 keychains. All in all, it’s nearly three kilograms less on my shoulders! I gave the hostel address as a sender, in case things go wrong, I guess I can do a quick detour to Budapest at the end of May… And if those souvenirs get lost, oh well, at least the memory remains.

Finally free, I took another tram (gotta milk that 24-hour ticket), which got me at the foot of the Citadel hill, that I climbed again, but much more leisurely this time around. I had a little picknick, and then walk down on the Northern side, towards the huge Buda castle.

I walked for a long time around the castle district. It’s really vast, with several official and religious buildings, and it’s got awesome views on Budapest and the Parliament building.

After a couple hours, I went down to the Danube again, and took another tram that ran along it, just opposite the gargantuan Parliament building (one of the biggest administrative building in the World!). I then walked to the gigantic Margit-Sziget island. It took me at least half an hour to cross it entirely. Thousands of people were having their Saturday afternoon fun time here with all the family.

By this point I was feeling exhaustion hitting strong, so I took the bus, all the way to the Parliament, where a protest rally took place just this afternoon (I could hear them from the castle!) What a wonderful piece of architecture that is!

One last train, along the Danube Eastern bank this time, and I was back at the hostel, shattered. But what a beautiful city Budapest is.