Budapest Hungary

Budapest, Hungary


After travelling by private mini bus from the Tatra Mountains through the Slovakian and Hungarian countryside we arrived in Budapest or sometimes called “The Pearl of the Danube”. It is also the capital city of Hungary, with a population of about 2 million people. It is divided by the Danube River with Buda being the mostly residential side built on a high terrace and Pest being the commercial side and very flat. To get from side to side there are many bridges, including the Chain bridge.

The Slovakian countryside

One of the towns we passed along the way

We didn’t arrive until afternoon so we set out to find a place to get some money which is Hungarian Forint with one Canadian dollar buying 213 HUN. We now carry the small change of a number of countries and trying to keep them all straight is a challenge. We also needed laundry done so we carried our bag to the laundry place and like in all the other countries we only need to leave it and when we pick it up it is all nicely folded and ready to go back in our backpack. We ended the day with a group dinner at one of the best places we have eaten, very good meals and Hungarian wine all reasonably priced.

This is something I don't see at home...Don walking down the street with the laundry

Hungarians eat a lot of duck, here is duck breast served with stewed prunes in red wine and potato croquettes

What about chicken breast stuffed with chicken livers and served with nectarines

The next day was a very busy one as we tried to fit in a lot of sightseeing. We started off with one of the “funnest” things we have done so far this trip and that was to take a Segway tour of Budapest. After a short lesson our group started off behind our leader and had a great morning and no I didn’t fall off! The Segway was invented by an American with the intention that it would be a mass people mover but hasn’t taken off, I don’t know why as it is a very intuitive machine that quickly becomes a natural extension of oneself.

Don getting his Segway lesson

Me following the leader through the streets of Budapest

Don and I outside the Parliment Buildings

We then made our way to one of the Public Baths that are so popular around the city. Budapest is the only large city in the world with so many thermal baths (80).The waters are thought to be medicinal and many of the baths offer other services like massages which we both had. We weren’t there long enough as there were many outdoor and indoor baths, saunas, aromatherapy booths and so on and we didn’t get to enjoy a lot of them. We took the subway there and were impressed by how clean and efficient it was. This is in contrast to much of this city which is very dirty, full of graffiti and dog poop everywhere!

The thermal baths,huge and crowded

A view of two churches on the Danube

The castle with the Chain Bridge in the foreground

We finished the day with a boat trip on the river which was great as many of the buildings were lit and looked quite beautiful. Then Don and I had farewell drinks with King and Stacey well into the morning. This was the last day for this group and we were sad to see them go as this was the best group of people we have ever travelled with, so thanks to King and Stacey, Jacqui and David, Valerie and Ian, JB and Christina and John and Evelyn. You all made this trip one of the best ever! Safe journeys back to work and to further holidaying.

The city by day

The Buda side

Two old street perfomers counting the day's wages

A street festival,the Opera House in the background

Today we spent by ourselves. It was Sunday in Budapest and there were many families out and on the go. We walked over to Buda and took the funicular up the hill for some great views on both sides of the river. We also ran into a street market as it seems that since we have been here there is always a festival of some sort going on. The main street, Andrassy is closed to traffic and the locals are out enjoying their city. We too have enjoyed The Road to Budapest and are now on to Our Balkan Adventure.