Budapest 2012

Click here for a video of our time in Budapest

25 July Budapest

We woke and got up in time for the 6:30am crossing of the Romanian Hungarian border. The train stopped twice and a team came aboard to inspect and stamp passports. The sight of a customs man going down the corridor with a ladder raised questions, and when the Hungarian policeman actually left the train still holding my passport it was a bit of a worry, but otherwise things went well enough and soon we were in Hungary. The change was actually noticeable, with a somewhat different design and decoration of houses and buildings being evident.

We entered Budapest and into Kelenti Station dead on time at 8:50am. We disembarked and wandered through the station, trying to find an ATM and locate the Metro entrance. While walking along the platform, I saw the conductor from our carriage passing by and observed to myself that he had a “Black Wolf” backpack, just like mine. What a coincidence. Then I realised with horror that it WAS MINE. I’d left it in the carriage. I dropped my bag with Christine and took off after him, thanking him profusely for chasing me up. It contained both my laptop and my tablet; a potential disaster averted.

It took a good half hour to find some money and the Metro. Hungary isn’t on the Euro yet and still uses the Florint, with around 250 HUF to the Dollar. This meant that we got lots of 1,000 and 2,000 HUF notes, making us quite rich. That is until you have to pay 2,500 HUF for a bite to eat. The Metro trip was manageable, although the system seems very old and seems to retain many old communist inefficiencies. It doesn’t even have electronic ticketing. We bought tickets from a man at a booth, then walked over to the turnstiles, stuck the ticket in a machine and let it bite out a notch. This procedure was overseen by a small army of attendants who probably could have notched the tickets themselves a lot faster because even some of the locals were having trouble with the machines. The trains themselves rattle and shake, the screaming noise made worse by the fact that many have open windows to compensate for lack of air-conditioning. Still, they move a lot of people around a large city quickly.

We booked into the “Art’otel”, a lovely 4 star job right on the Danube River. Christine was upset when she found we didn’t have a front room, until I pulled the curtain and we looked out onto the glorious sight of Matthais Church and the Fisherman’s Bastion, built high on a prominent hill. The city of Budapest is made up of two cities, Buda and Pest (what a coincidence), each having their own distinctive flavour due to quite clear differences in their past histories. A number of bridges connect the two cities. Most tourist sites can be accessed along the river itself or by following the Andrassy Avenue up to Heroes Square.

We set off to explore the hill behind our hotel, housing many prominent landmarks, including Buda Castle. This is not a fairy-tale type castle, but a large collection of buildings and fortifications dating back to the 15^th Century. Most older buildings have been sacked, burnt or destroyed by various invading armies over the years and the most significant parts today date from the mid 19^th Century. It is a steep climb, so we took a funicular railway up to the castle.

The run up the hill opened up some wonderful vistas of the Danube, its bridges and across to neighbouring Pest. There was so much to look at and we were thrilled to experience such a visual feast after the subdued nature of Bucharest. One of the most beautiful things about Budapest is the profusion of large bronze statues. Every plaza or monument seems to be adorned with large scale sculptures, often depicting some figure or beast from Magyar mythology. Anyone of importance gets a statue. All have a wonderful patina of green coating them, adding to the feeling of age and mystery.

We wandered across the top of the hill, inspecting the numerous ruins of previous castles until we reached Matthais Church. The building was started in 1015, then added to in the 14^th Century. During the years of Turkish occupation, the building served as a mosque. Its towering spires dominate the local skyline. The lower ridges of the hill are fortified with a structure known as the Fisherman’s Bastion, the fisherman being the traditional protectors of the city walls. As a whole, these structures blend together to create a fairy-tale environment, spectacular when lit at night, and beautiful in the early morning light. We took numerous flights of stairs down the hill, navigating so well that we virtually hit our hotel right on the mark.

After the usual afternoon rest, (we did well not to have a sleep), we went down the road for a bite to eat, choosing a restaurant that had one of the most obnoxious waiters on Earth. He threw the menu down in front of us, demanded that we have an expensive local delicacy, then sulked when we ordered something else. Christine was looking at a wine, so he snatched the menus away and bought another wine menu, leaving the option of beer a non-event. We ordered two glasses of Rose, remained firm when he insisted we have a bottle, and got into even more trouble by questioning the price structure on the menu. The food was good, though we wondered at what we’d have to finally pay after our experience on the train. Another table ordered another beer, but were abruptly refused by Mr Rude, who stalked off leaving them looking around non-plussed. We braced ourselves when paying the bill but all was correct in the end. Later, I read that in Central Europe, no restaurant or cafe is considered complete without its rude waiter. Ours was top of his class.

26 July Budapest

After breakfast, it was off to explore parts of Pest, using the Metro to navigate around. We took the Yellow M3 line, a funny little railcar that ran just below the surface. It was obviously very old but really cute, especially the stations, with each one decked out in a pattern of ceramic tiles that looked decidedly Hungarian. Later, when we were sitting at a cafe above this line, we felt the chairs and table shake as a train came through underneath us.

We alighted at the Heroes Square, a beautiful large square filled with the usual monuments and bronze statues. They really know how to do big spectacular squares here. Beyond the square, is a large parkland, containing Vajdahunyad Castle, a relatively modern fairy-tale type structure built in 1896 to commemorate the 1000 year anniversary of Hungary. The castle and the park was a delight, with many great family orientated activities, the zoo, a terrific Luna Park type attraction and a famous Hot Spa. It looked like a happening place and the place to be on a Summer weekend.

Back on the Metro and we worked our way through to the Market area of Pest. Here the streets were geared for tourists, with lots of cheap eats, bars and small shops. However, this is the area that lures the unwary, with scammers and pick-pockets common. Our target was the market itself, a glorious old building with the most amazing glass and tile roof. The ground floor is mostly a fresh market, while on the upper level, stalls with beautiful embroidered cloths share space with lots of tiny food outlets. Being lunchtime, the food areas were packed, and we struggled to find room, finally ordering a stuffed chicken haunch with Hungarian pasta each. The pasta was more of a gnocchi kind of thing than actual wheat pasta. It had quite a smokey taste, interesting but not all that great. Afterwards, downstairs, I expressed a need to cover the smokey taste with something sweet so we found a cake stall, selling everything from apple strudel through to lamingtons. I bought a thing that was very much like a “Wagon Wheel” chocolate biscuit while Christine opted for the nice little custard filled pastry roll. Unfortunately for her, the “custard” turned out to be Dijonnaise Mustard, so she was still left with an overly savoury taste.

We crossed the Danube to Buda, and caught a tram back to the hotel, or nearly. We had a book of ten public transport tickets but couldn’t find out how to validate them on the tram so we just rode for free. We also didn’t know that we had to ring the bell for a stop so we missed our hotel and had to walk back one leg.

Later, we used our ticket again to head down the river to a restaurant for dinner, but we still couldn’t work the validation machine so we rode for free. The dinner was absolutely wonderful. We both ordered a goulash, figuring that we had to try one while in Hungary. What an amazing thing. A spicy soup with perfectly done potato, loads of other vegetables, and more gnocchi type pasta. The accompanying bread was thick and heavy, wonderful when soaked in the goulash. This is a creation to follow-up on.

Then it was home with a bottle of local Rose to watch the Opening Ceremony of the London Olympics.

28 July Budapest to Vienna

The transfer to Keleti Station for the train to Vienna was easy, using the Metro. Surprisingly, although we left the hotel around 7:45, the Metro was nearly deserted and we were soon at Keleti to await our train.

Budapest is a city well worth returning to. It has a huge number of places to see and some amazing scenery. The cost of living is quite reasonable, cheaper than Paris but dearer than Croatia or Romania. The people themselves seem to be quite reserved compared to elsewhere and tend to be very formal in shops and service situations. One needs to be very careful too about the final cost of things, as tipping is considered normal yet some places also put on a 10-12% service charge after the advertised price. When that happens, no tip should be given.

The city is probably the best laid out for easy sightseeing of any we have visited. While it has been possible to do a quick two night stay, three or four nights would make things less of a rush and enable us to experience more. We will keep Budapest on our list.