I got called out the other day when one of my friends asked what my favorite place I've traveled to has been. I started talking about Australia, and ended up talking about Budapest and they said "You think everywhere you go is amazing, can't you just pick one place?" and the answer is no. I can't. It's a problem. Like a drug, traveling is our addiction of choice. A little safer, but none the less expensive and always leaves you thirsting for more.
I've been to Europe several times, we lived in Italy for a few months back in college. However, every time I go back, I find a new place to love and dream about. My most recent trip back, I fell in love with Budapest. It was my first time to Eastern Europe, and I was a little scared. Not for any safety reasons. It was mostly because I had only been to Western Europe in previous trips and I knew enough Spanish, French, Italian to get around. This time, I knew no Hungarian or Croatian so I was going in blind. I don't know why I was so worried. I prepared as much as I could, and between my broken phrase book Hungarian and the locals English, we got along just fine.
That being said, Budapest is my new favorite "big city" and I wanted to share some things you should see while there. We saw all of these in about 48 hours.
Two words: Paprika Pringles
Ok, so this one isn't a location. We don't have Paprika Pringles in the states and while you are probably sitting there thinking "The last thing I'm going to be doing while in Europe is hunting down these chips" you should really try to do just that. I have told several people to try these and they always look at me like I'm crazy, but then they come back and are always like "Thank you for telling me about these!" On a side note, I once bought some on amazon for around $11 and felt no shame is doing so. I also had a former student go to Europe on a spring break trip, and when she got back, she brought me some of these.
Night 1
Due to a late arrival in London that had us running through the airport (like the McCallister family on their way to Paris) we just barely made our connection to Budapest. We also had no luggage. So after some time in the airport locating said luggage and being reassured that out bags would be brought to us the next day at our hotel, we got a late start on Budapest. We did one of the most American things you can do....and ate at the Hard Rock. But I collect those pins so it wasn't a wasted trip. After that we took a stroll over the Szabadsag Hid (bridge) which is right by the Hotel Gellert. The fun thing about this bridge is that they close it down to street traffic at night so locals and tourists can hang. And by hang out I mean they are literally walking the top of the rails to sit and drink and eat with their friends.
Day 1
The next day we woke up bright and early and went to the Great Market, or Central Market as some maps call it. However don't confuse that with the American version of the grocery store, because it's not the same.
There are 3 different levels. The first level is mostly food and wine. They have a wide range of everything from meat, veggies, fruit, desserts and pre-made meals. Oh and lots and lots of Paprika. Paprika is a major thing in Budapest. The 2nd and 3rd floors are clothes and trinkets.We stocked up on lots of souvenirs and goodies to get us through the next couple of days so we didn't have to eat out as much.
From there we took a walk down the Vaci Utca which is right across from the market. Utca is a cute little street with lots of shops and restaurants. If you are looking for gelato, this is your place! I'm pretty sure we hit up every gelato shop on this street at least once in the 48 hours we were in Budapest. This street runs from the Market all the way down to the Elizabeth Bridge.
Our next destination was the cog rail to the top of the hill to Buda Castle. It cost around 2 euros for the round trip but its totally worth it. I'm in pretty good shape, but walking the steep stairs to the top was not something I would have been able to do in a quick amount of time.
The entrance to the cog is that little kiosk in the center of the above picture. It's directly across from the Elizabeth Bridge.
Our next destination was Buda Castle, but it was closed that day due to lack of planning on our part. So we went took a little walk and went to Mattais Church instead. I didn't get any good pictures of the inside of the church due to the amount of people, so the two pictures of the church below are google images. I just wanted you to be able to see the beauty of the church.
These three pictures are my own of the surrounding area. This hill top offers great views of the Danube and the Parliament building. So even if churches aren't your thing, this is a good spot for panoramas of the city.
Our next stop was back to the Hotel Gellert. We stayed there for 2 reasons, 1) the price was great and 2) it came with entrance to the Gellert Baths. Photos aren't allowed in the baths, but here is the entrance
There are cool and hot baths spread out across several floors. They also have lockers for rent to hold your belongings. Based on the amount of people both local and tourist, this was the place to be. We didn't get there until mid afternoon, so if you are going, try to get there early to avoid the crowds.
We finished up our day with dinner at the Hotel Gellert
Couldn't pass up trying stuffed paprika peppers. It's a must try! Followed by a night cruise around the city.
Day 2
As this was our last day in Budapest, and not even a full day, so we again woke up early and tried to pack it in.
We started at the Parliament building. We got there early before the crowds. We were there about 2 hours and when we left the line was extremely long. No pictures allowed inside, but they had a lot of interesting information on Hungarian History.
After that, we took a walk down the Danube to check out the Holocaust memorial.
Afterwards we walked back across the Elizabeth bridge, took the cog rail back to the top of the hill and went to Buda Castle.
I really liked Buda castle because they had preserved the medieval parts of the lower castle, while the upper part of the castle was dedicated to more current historical art.
Our last stop for the day was to the Hospital in the Rock
To get to there, walk to the back side of the hill that Buda Castle is on, and take a small elevator back down to the bottom of the hill. There are several miles of caves under the hill the castle sits on. During WW2 the tunnels were turned into a hospital. While it seemed like a good idea at the time, during one of the bombing raids the water and electrical lines to the hospital were damaged. Doctors had no light to see or operate, so everything was done by candle light, and there was no fresh water to drink or clean bandages. After WW2 the tunnels were turned into a nuclear fall out bunker. It is extremely cold down there so either bring a jacket, or they will let you borrow one of these nifty cold war era jackets.
This is part of the nuclear bunker. In the case of a nuclear bomb they would accept residents who could make it to the bunker. There they would throw their clothes away and shower to remove any radioactive residue before being allowed to join other survivors.
Definitely an interesting and odd experience, but one that I wouldn't pass up!
Our last stop of the day was the train station, where we caught an over night train to Split, Croatia. More on that and the Harry Potter sing along that we were serenaded with in my next post.
I will most certainly be going back to Budapest! The people were so nice, the food was amazing, the weather was great, and I didn't have near enough time to soak it all in!
-Until the next adventure!