When: 10/8/2012 – 12/8/2012 Where: Budapest, Hungary Stayed: Hotel Palazzo Zichy
If there’s ever a city you definitely don’t want to leave the camera battery behind, it’s Budapest. (pronounced Buda-pesh). Unfortunately that’s precisely what we did and oddly, coming home to a gloriously fully charged battery did absolutely nothing to ease our pain. Nor did pointlessly scrolling through our second rate iPhone photos post trip in search of a few winners. Ahh well, had to happen at least once! Just a shame it was Europe’s most picturesque city…yep the wound is still raw.
Hotel Palazzo Zichy
We stayed at a hotel around 15 – 20mins walk outside of the action in Budapest, on the Pest side of the city called Hotel Palazzo Zichy. A mixture of old worldy and modern with a palatial feel, it offered exceptionally good value for money, especially with a breakfast for all nations laid out in the morning for guests to gorge themselves on. Staff were extremely helpful and friendly but unfortunately the location proved to be that little bit too far away for our tired legs to cope with. Not quite the fit units we used to be…
Alfresco dining by the River Danube
Most people will know that Budapest is separated into 2 distinct parts by the famous Danube river – Buda and Pest. In keeping with it’s reputation for beauty, it has a very large number of world heritage sites listed including the banks of the Danube, Buda castle quarter, Andrassy Avenue (Hungarian version of the Champs Elysees) and the Millennium underground railway. Apparently the underground is the second oldest in the world and boy does it feel like that too. We had to laugh every time the Super Marios’ music announced our arrival at a new station. The doors open while the train is still moving (not PC in this day and age of paranoia) and the creaking coming from the carriages is at times deafening. However, it’s incredibly fast and efficient and cheap to boot! No complaints here that’s for sure.
The language was pretty much impossible for us to grasp and we were somewhat relieved when our walking tour guide (Sara) told us that it’s one of the most difficult languages in the world to learn. In fact, it’s so hard to understand that it’s often the language used in movies to depict an alien world. Sara relayed an example from a particular movie where two aliens were speaking to each other in Hungarian and the conversation was along the lines of ‘i want your cake’, ‘no you can’t have my cake’, ‘give me your cake’….apparently it was supposed to be dubbed out when screened in Hungary but it was an oversight. Whoops!
Szechenyi Baths
Following a few hours of pavement pounding courtesy of the Free Walking tour – throughout the cobblestone streets of Pest from Vorosmarty square to St Stephen Basilika, up the Danube and then across to Matthias Church on the Buda side of the river for a cracking view – we decided to rest our weary feet at the Szecheny Baths. Budapest is famous for its geothermal springs of which there are around 80 in the city – hence the title of Spa city. The Baths were hot and packed to the rafters with tourists – not a great combination when you’ve done a few years of Podiatric studies and are acutely aware of some of the hideous foot conditions you can pick up in these kinds of conditions. Putting my fear of fungal infections and sweaty armpits to the side we embraced the baths and plunged into the hottest one, sitting at around 38 degrees. 1.5hrs later 4 elderly people emerged, dehydrated, pruned up and over-heating and plunged straight into a cooler bath for relief. Probably should’ve paid attention to the warning of 20mins maximum…Nevertheless, turns out there was a whirl pool in the second pool which ensured we got back in touch with our inner screaming child. Awesome!
Dinner at Cafe Lago
Eating was an absolute pleasure in Budapest and it was only after hearing the description of what is done to the food that I realised why I liked it so much. Twice frying, adding sugar and butter to everything, cooking in lard, eating cottage cheese that is quite possibly harmful to the body in the mere presence of the word and dough so salty it may very well give you leg cramps from dehydration. Yep it’s great stuff! I couldn’t go past the goulash with it’s hearty flavours, chunks of meat and yummy noodles though. I detected a few veggies so have decided it’s practically healthy too. Fortunately we managed to find 2 restaurants at polar ends of the scale in Budapest to sample their wares. Borkonyha Wine Kitchen in the heart of the city offered a modern version of the cuisine in a sleek and hip environment. In contrast, Lado Cafe took us back to the 80’s era in Hungary with old style food and cheesy on-stage entertainment that we lapped up. With a waiter akin to Mr Bean and clientele not out of place in a swing-dance venue it felt like an authentic local experience.
Cafe Spoon – introduction to the tipping protocol
Early in our visit we discovered the local custom of not leaving a tip on the table (which is considered rude) and holding back ‘thank you’ until receiving your change unless you’re not interested in getting it back. After a drink at Spoon Cafe on the River Danube, Justin murmured out the side of his mouth to the waiter how much we’d like to pay as a tip so we didn’t have to deal with the money-on-the-table scenario. The waiter looked at us like we were doing an under the table deal so perhaps we hadn’t quite mastered the tipping arrangement… all very complicated when the language is about as foreign as whale communication to you.
Part of the view from Matthias Church in Buda
All in all Budapest had a great vibe with plenty of alfesco dining along the Danube and throughout the streets of Pest, and a young festive atmosphere around Elisabeth square. Riding the tram along the Danube allowed us to take in the fantastic sights of the city from Margit Island (grassy sporting area) to Parliament, to Castle Hill and then to the Central Market Hall (foodie delight if you get there early enough!). So many different faces to Budapest and an intriguing history with extreme turbulence up until very recently making you feel like there’s a lot still so uncertain about this friendly city. One thing is for certain though – it has well and truly earned it’s title amongst the ranks of beautiful cities in the world. Just a shame we didn’t have the good camera to capture it….
Cathy & Justin Abroad 