I can't remember whose idea it was to backpack Eastern Europe in the winter on a budget, but I'm definitely pointing my finger at April right now. Okay, fine...maybe I agreed, or planned, or...anyway--it's freaking cold! We took off Saturday morning and did two full days of sightseeing around Budapest. Both of us held the opinion that it was a big city, dirty at that, with potential to be stunning. I think the temperature can affect one's perspective...alot!

We did a quick editing of our itinerary and went to Eger in northern Hungary. I'll write about it later. The next day we went to the Bardala (?) Caves. They were awesome. But for me the big fun was when we walked 1.7 km across the border. The border guys couldn't figure out what was going on and resorted to laughing at us. Finally they stamped our passports, which showed we entered the Slovak Republic by car (they don't seem to have a stamp for walkers). Ape and I laughed the whole way at how ridiculous the whole situation was. Funny as hell though! We entered a one-horse town that had only a money changing shop, where we...yes, changed money. We got maybe 300 SLK. When we bought bus tickets, we had 10 left (about 40 cents). We had to laugh at that too. Basically the only thing keeping us warm is laughter right now. It may be cold, but we're having a blast, despite our 9pm bed time. I know, pathetic and old. But hey, I'm getting up there. Today I'm 24 years old. I think I can finally justify my early bed time!