First taste of central Europe

Before reaching central Europe, my travels were mostly daytime affairs. In Greece, the UK or France I'd sleep a sensible number of hours and be up early. I'd explore the city during the day, go out at night — but always get back in time for a solid six hours before rising at eight or nine.

Everything changed when I got to Bratislava. Prices dropped dramatically: from €5 for a 33cl beer in Athens, we went to €1 for a pint.

The nightlife changed too. Far fewer tourists — they were the exception. The vast majority of people there were locals or from neighbouring countries. And I can promise you the difference is a good one. People are far more authentic, less materialistic, more human, more real.

I'd planned to spend a couple of days in Bratislava and ended up staying almost a week — and it certainly wasn't for the sightseeing, since you can cover everything worth seeing in the Slovak capital in a single day, twice over.

One thing to know: forget sleeping. You'll get in late, and when dawn arrives it'll hit you straight in the face, because in these countries shutters don't exist and curtains are purely decorative — when they exist at all. Here I started averaging three or four hours of sleep a night.

Another thing that differs from what we're used to is the service culture. This time, for the worse. I understand that wages aren't great, but if you're working, the bare minimum is making some effort. The general attitude in countries like Slovakia, Hungary and the Czech Republic is to serve you with a scowl, no urgency whatsoever, and a look of complete indifference. Then they'll pull out the change and drag their fingers slowly across the coins while you pay, angling for a tip.

In the hostels, though, the treatment improves — and the quality of service rises almost in direct proportion to how fast the prices fall. I can recommend all three places I stayed in this area without hesitation: Art Hole Hostel in Prague, Loft Hostel in Budapest, and Hostel Possonium in Bratislava.

In general, everyone speaks English — better than in Spain (which admittedly isn't saying much) — though in some places they seem less than thrilled about it. At the information desk in Budapest's train station it was all grimaces and pointing at the departure board: "it's up there."

That said, the ease with which people understand and speak English comes largely from watching films and TV in the original language rather than dubbed. It's wonderful to be in a country with a completely unknown language and still be able to watch television or catch a film with no problem. There's something funny about the subtitles — however hard you try, your eyes keep darting towards those incomprehensible words.

But Budapest isn't all negatives — far from it. The city is beautiful, split in two by the Danube, with great things to see on both the Buda and Pest sides.

The food is genuinely cheap — for about €12 an American friend and I put away a grill platter presented on a metre-long serving tray: chicken, turkey, duck, beef, pork… with rice, salad, vegetables and chips on the side.

On my first night there I fancied going out, but the hostel was empty. I asked the staff where to go and they pointed me to a bar — entry was €1.80 at the exchange rate and included three pints of beer. I didn't need telling twice. In under an hour those three pints had become five, courtesy of a Bulgarian woman who claimed to be perfectly happy with her first one, and the rest of the night you can probably imagine.

And as for the Czech Republic — craft beers, truly outstanding, some unpasteurised, for €1 to €1.50 a pint. In the supermarkets you can find beers for five or ten euro cents. At the moment it's not exactly the ideal destination if you're trying to cut back on the drinking.