Woman on Europa-Tour - Day 5 - 25/7/25 Liquidrom

Another day!

The public transport in Germany is called BVG, Berliner Verkehrstriebe (Berlin Transport Company)

Berlin has a rail network called SBahn- Streetcar amd UBahn- Underground system. There are three fare zones, A, B and C. When travelling around Berlin it's good to make sure you get the minimum priced ticket for the zones you need to travel in. You can also get a 24 hour ticket. or 7 day ticket. On this day I get a 24 hour day ticket which costs 10 euros 60 cents for zones A & B. A ticket for zones AB and C is 12 euros 30 cents* 

Berliner Verkehrsbetriebe: BVG - Because we love you | BVG

So instead I go to Liquidrom, an underground spa and pool. Its really cool but quite expensive.

The coolest SPA in Berlin | Liquidrom

I then head back to my hostel. I need to be at the airport for 10:10AM for my flight to Budapest. My first time in Hungary!

(Information was correct at time of my trip in July 2025. For more up to date information, please check their website. 

(I ran out of space to take photos on my phone on this date so I don't have any photos)

Woman on Europa-Tour - Day 9 - 29/7/25 - Home James!

Back home to rainy Scotland we go!

I hope back on the shuttle bus. 

 

My flight was in the afternoon back to Glasgow with Wizz Air. 

To sum up!

FARO

Very remote but pretty, liked my hostel

BERLIN

My favourite city! It never changes but would stay somewhere else next time. 

BUDAPEST

I would visit again but not alone as I found it quite isolating and hard to meet people. 

I may write some more in detail reviews of some of the places I visited in the future. 

If you would like to hire me for writing, editing or media work my e-mail address is leoroary@yahoo.com. I am flexible to work worldwide. :) 

Woman on Europa-Tour - Day 8 - 28/7/25 - Palatanus Spa and More Wanderings!

My final day in Budapest!

I feel as though I have not done as much as I would like to sample the local culture.

Therefore I book from my hostel to stay at Palatinus a typical spa in Budapest

Palatinus Gyógy-, Strand- és Hullámfürdő - hivatalos honlap

 

I get a 24 hour ticket for the public transport to get there which is 2750 FORINT. 

 

On my way there I eat some Flodni at Z's recommendation. Flodni is a traditional Hungarian jewish pastry, made with apple, walnuts, poppy seeds and plum jam. It is quite dry and I would not eat it again.

Palatinus is quite touristy and full of children. I am not sure if I would come here again but I am glad I got to experience it.

 

I then walk around the park and take photos before heading back to my hostel as sadly I am heading back to Scotland tomorrow. 

*Z - name has been changed. 

Woman on Europa-Tour - Day 7 - 27/7/25 - A Ruin Bar!

On this day I mostly walked around the city.

 

I go to the KFC and go to Spar to get some groceries.

That evening I meet Z* for a drink at Fekete Kutya ruin bar and he gives me some advice on things to do in Budapest. He was born in Slovakia but has lived in Budapest for 4 years. I have found it quite hard to meet people in Budapest compared to other European cities I have been to. 

You can find information on this venue here;

Fekete Kutya Ruin Bar in Budapest | Ruin Bars Budapest

*name has been changed

Woman on Europa-Tour - Day 6 - 26/7/25 - Hello Budapest!

I realise I need to eat better so I am up early and treat myself to a proper breakfast. It's delicious but I am a little stressed about catching my flight.

Fortunately I get back to Berlin airport very quickly and catch it fine. 

I arrive at Budapest Ferenc Liszt airport in the afternoon. I debate getting some local currency at the airport but decide not to. I usually try to take the local currency with me on a trip but since the pandemic I have found it's harder to pay by cash and most places want card only. If I'm going to a country that doesn't take the euro then I don't want to end up with leftover currency that I do not use because it is wasteful. The currency in Budapest is the Hungarian Forint. Buy Hungarian forint (HUF) | GBP to HUF

I take the Airport shuttle bus to my hostel. I usually try to get a return but you can only get a single. It costs 2,200 FORINT for a shuttle bus single. 

 

So here we are in Budapest!

For this trip I am staying at the Maverick Central Market. I have a room for three nights and I go back to Scotland on Monday. 

Please see information on this hostel here- Maverick Lodges Central Market Budapest | Best Price Beds I would stay here again but it was very expensive so I would book more in advance. I like that I can cook here but the vibe was quite dead/quiet.

I chose this location as it was close to to the Budapest Danube and I like being near water. 

That evening I go a language exchange event at Paris Texas Kavehaz and meet a few locals and have a drink. You can find this venue on instagram here; instagram.com/explore/locations/682447478564845/paris-texas-kavehaz/

  

 

 

Woman on Europa-Tour - Day 4 - 24/7/25 - Let's Be Liberal!

I woke up around 9am, the day after my birthday after having drinks the night before. I have some snacks leftover from my trip in Faro to have a bit of a munch on

*I am starting to regain some of my strength from the travelling. I meet a very weird guy in my hostel room. He has an American accent but refused to tell me where he is from and seems to be living there permanently. He has a lot of rules for the hostel room. I explain I am not staying long so I don't really take it in.

I then go to Galeria Kaufhof for food. I have been going to Kaufhof since I was a small child and I would travel to Germany with my family for work. Its really great because it's a department store/cafe combined.

 

Please see information on Kaufhof here- GALERIA | Mode, Uhren & Schmuck, Beauty & mehr entdecken

I have potato soup and bread. There is a drink called LIFT which is Apfel Schorle for lunch. I love trying new drinks when I travel that I cant normally try in the UK; Lift (drink) - Wikipedia 

I take some more photos of some art;

I then go to a park in Berlin called Tempelhofer Feld.

 

As it a Thursday and the middle of the working day, there are lots of homeless people in the park. 

I then go to the Urban Nation Museum, a contemporary art museum because it's free; URBAN NATION MUSEUM FOR URBAN CONTEMPORARY ART – Urban Nation

It's great but I'm a bit too tired to take stuff in

 

Another favourite snack of mine to eat when I travel to Germany is Milch Schnitte (Milk-slice) by Kinder; Milch-Schnitte - kinder Deutschland

I get some toiletries at DM, drogerie Markt DM is a popular supermarket chain in Berlin

dm-drogerie markt - Wikipedia

I get a drink at Edeka, another supermarket chain in Germany. They have a bottle system in Germany where you can reuse bottles and a system called Pfand (deposit in English) This means you can recycle your bottle and receive 25 euro cents off your next drink/groceries.

EDEKA – Wir lieben Lebensmittel The Pfand system: how to return bottles in Germany

My original plan for this trip was to go to a public open air swimming pool and swim in an open air pool on my birthday but I felt too tired yesterday, I get there too late today so instead I go to a meetup at Cafe Cinema in an area of Berlin called Mitte; You can find them on instagram here: Café Cinema 🥂🎸🕺🏻🥃🍾🎬❤️💋👀🌈🌎🍰☕️🍻 (@cafe_cinema_berlin) • Instagram photos and videos

There are a lot of people from all over the world. This was a really busy day but a lot of fun.

*When I travel I always make notes in my travel diary but on some days if I am tired I do not write anything. So for those days I use my photos and receipts to piece together what happened so I may jump between past and present tense. To protect the living and out of respect for the dead all names have been changed but everything in this blog is entirely true and factually correct. 

Woman on Europa-Tour - Day 3 - 23/7/25 - Happy Birthday to Me! :)

Happy 34th Birthday To me! :)

I have never felt more tired. I am up very very early!

The Brazilian man working at the front desk at the Hostel kindly lets me collect my food from the fridge

I leave at 2:45AM to catch the Alsa bus. In 34 years I have never missed a flight. But I am very anxious about catching this one as I didn't know how much the bus would be. The bus is 5 euros. 

Hostellicious was a great place to stay as I could cook. 

I get to Berlin and spent too long at the airport . I bought some Mezzo Mix which I have spoken about before is my favourite drink when I am in Germany.

I get to my hostel in Kreuzberg. I;m staying at the Grand Hostel in Berlin Urban  Sonnenaleee: 

Please see information on this hostel here Hostel -

There are three men staying in my room. I would not stay at this hostel again because there is no kitchen. 

Above is the artwork inside the hostel room!

I take a long nap so don't feel like going to the Language Exchange Meetup like originally planned. 

I go for some wanderings and take some photos :) 

I go back to the hostel and change.

I then go to the Republic Beer Garden and meet *J and his friend from Toronto. I have a lemon vodka to drink. The friend tells me about some issues he is having with his landlord in Germany. We have a discussion about the housing crisis and I speak about my own issues renting in the UK. 

I get very lost going back to the hostel and I listen to Life is Good By Junk on the website

It wasn't a perfect birthday due the migraine but all in all a pretty great day :) 

J* name has been changed :)