DAY 9: Budapest

Sunday, August 15th 2010

After way too many early mornings in a row we'd decided to sleep in and didn't get up until 9 am. It also took us about 2.5 hours to get ready, somehow. We weren't in much of a hurry though.. We had an interesting experience making coffee. The host showed us how to use the gas stove in the kitchen - it seemed simple enough, and I'd used a gas stove before. He also showed the coffee maker - one of those that you need to keep on the stove. Didn't seem complicated either. The coffee itself was strange though - it was in the form of teabag-looking things. I lit up the stove and we started making the coffee. I had to hold on to the knob of the stove the whole time because otherwise the fire went out. I guess we were doing something wrong, or didn't turn it enough or something. Anyways, the coffee was prepared and we poured it into mugs, added milk and sugar. Pinky couldn't drink any of it, because she thought it was terrible, and even went as far as to call it "the worst coffee ever". I really didn't think it was that bad... :P 

There was a map in the kitchen where someone had marked useful info, and we noticed there was supposed to be a 24-h pancake house not too far away from the Moscow Square. We tried to find it but weren't successful, so we just went to the big shopping mall across the street, called Mammut. We had lunch at a McCafé - apple pie with soda. Healthy, isn't it? :)

Then we began climbing the Castle Hill. It wasn't very steep, but the air was so humid that it wasn't pleasant. We saw just about all there was to see on the Castle Hill - Matthias Church, Fisherman's Bastion, the Royal Palace/Castle. It was all very beautiful. I especially liked the Fisherman's Bastion - lovely views across the river, could see the Parliament Building and St Stephen's Basilica.

Climbing uphill...

Fisherman's Bastion (note the amount of people everywhere)

View from the Fisherman's Bastion

The Buda Castle and the Monument of Prince Eugene of Savoy

I would've wanted to climb up the Gellert Hill, because it's the highest point in Budapest, but we exited the Castle Hill from the wrong side, so it would've been a really long walk to the foot of the hill. Besides, we had to get something to eat, and Pinky was getting cranky. All the food places we passed were very expensive. Finally, we saw some cafe that was very cheap and were too hungry to look any further (that happened way too many times :P). We both ordered savory pancakes with ham and cheese, and oven-baked potatoes with broccoli and chicken. They didn't look too appetizing, but we were really hungry so anything would've done. It was insanely hot inside the cafe and the seats outside were all taken. It was literally like being in a sauna. That was probably the worst and most unhygienic place we'd eaten. The bathroom stalls didn't have locks, and there was no toilet paper or soap, and the ceiling lamp was messed up and blinky.

We were quite close to the Margret Island now, so we just walked there. That's where the European swimming championships were taking place at the time, so we heard a lot of cheering and parts of national anthems. We found a cocktail bar and had a drink each. There were comfy bean bag chairs in the shade, and the drinks were good, so we chilled there for a while watching the swimming championships on one of the TV screens that was next to where we were sitting. The chairs were so cozy I could've easily taken a nap there. Unfortunately that wasn't an option. We continued our tour of the island, and stumbled upon a small zoo. There were deer, ponies, storks and then a wide assortment of birds. The deer were especially cute. We also saw a fountain that was accompanied by music - as in music was playing in the background and the fountain was working to its rhythm. It was fun.

Lovely nature of Margret Island

Slowly but surely we left the island, bought groceries and walked back to our temporary home. Dead tired once again.

Oh, an example of how Hungarian language is crazy:

In every language I know it's something like "police", but in Hungarian it's "rendőrség"

-Brain

DAY 8: Budapest

Saturday, August 8th 2010

Our train was scheduled to arrive in Budapest at 8:25, but we were a little late. We got off the train and headed directly for the Info-desk. Got a map of the city and found out that it would be wise to buy the 24-hour travel cards. The metro station was right next to the train station, so we went that way. We couldn't find an ATM at the train station, but figured they would accept our credit cards at the metro station. You'd think, right? Wrong! They didn't accept our credit cards. Apparently, MasterCard is just not good enough. So we went back outside and started searching for an ATM. We asked some lady for directions and she pointed out the closest one. I took out 20 000 HUF (about 70€), which was just one bill. We then went back to the metro station. By now there was a pretty long line for the tickets, so Pinky waited with our bags while I stood in line with the money. There was the same dude in the ticket booth as the first time, and when I gave him my 20 000 HUF bill, he got an annoyed expression on his face and asked if I had anything smaller. I suppressed my growing rage and said "no, I do not" as calmly as possible. Finally we caught a train to the Deli train station, and followed the directions I got from HoselWorld. The hostel (Greenfield Private Rooms) was pretty easy to find. Our host let us in and showed us around. It was basically a large 2-story apartment: the downstairs was for visitors (three rooms, a kitchen, and a bathroom) and the host lived upstairs with his girlfriend, who, as it turned out, was my namesake. 

Breaking the stereotype of girls being neat-freaks

We got settled in our large room with a nice view over Budapest, and then began exploring the city. Since we had the travel passes, we decided to go to the Pest side, which was further away from where we were staying. We took a tram from the Moszkva Tér (Moscow Square) and got out somewhere on the other side of the Danube river. By the way, Finnish and Hungarian are related, but the only similarity between the two languages that we were able to spot was the word "tér" which in Finnish is "tori". We had lunch at Coffee Heaven (my new favorite café, I hope they open one in Finland some day :P), where I had the best coffee drink ever - caramel latte macchiato. Nom.

Om nom nom

We walked towards the riverbank and then walked along it. Saw the Parliament building, which was huge and impressive. It was a very hot and sunny day, so we had to stop and reapply sunscreen at regular intervals. It would have been so nice to go swimming, but we didn't know the city well enough. We continued walking along the shore until we reached the Chain Bridge. We walked up to the other side of the Parliament building and saw the memorial site to the failed communism. At that point, it was so hot that we decided it was Cuba Libre o'clock, and started searching for a cocktail bar of some sort. We ended up going to some Irish bar, which had tables outside. Ordered two daiquiris and had to wait for quite some time, because the waitress was so busy she forgot about us. They were short-staffed and the bar was full of men watching a football game. After our cocktail break we started walking towards the St Stephen's Basilica, which was very close by. I walked into a metal pole, because I had the map in my hand and Pinky distracted me. So I walked right into it. It hurt. A lot. I still don't understand why there are metal poles all along sidewalks there - whose brilliant idea was that??

 The Hungarian Parliament Building

St Stephen's Basilica was awesome. So unlike all the other churches I've seen - it was white and bulky, whereas I'm used to seeing Gothic Cathedrals. According to Wikipedia, it's in a neoclassical style of architecture, so I guess that explains it. There was actually a wedding in the church at the time. We looked at the prices for going up to the top of the tower, and after a little division in our heads decided that it was very cheap. So we paid and started climbing the 364 (?) steps to the top. The view was stunning. It was also a bit cooler on the observation deck. Nice and breezy. We got back down and unfortunately couldn't enter the church itself, because we both had sleeveless shirts and shorts on. So we didn't see the mummified hand of St Stephen, making that something to do during the next visit.

St Stephen's Basilica

The never-ending staircase

We were both starving and tried to find a grocery store with no luck. So we ate at McDonald's, which didn't accept our credit cards! Luckily we still had cash. After we'd finished eating we walked to the Opera house and from there took a metro to the Heroes' square. Apparently that metro line is the oldest in all of continental Europe. It was very small, and the train was tiny too. We got out right in front of the Heroes' square (Hösök tére in Hungarian) and saw the Freedom monument. 

The city park is located right behind the square, so we walked there. It was quite nice, although the river was completely dry. There was a castle with an unpronounceable name, and several weddings going on all at the same time. One of the thermal baths was somewhere in the park as well, but we didn't find it and were too tired to look more thoroughly. We rested a little and then left the park. Took a trolley bus to the main train station and from there walked down towards the Astoria metro station, where the Synagogue was located. It is the biggest Synagogue in Europe and it was impressive. I'd read that there is also a holocaust memorial near there, but the entrance was already closed (it was late afternoon or early evening on a Saturday, after all), so we didn't see it. We took a metro back to the Deli station, got groceries and went back to the hostel. I was exhausted and my legs were killing me.

-Brain

Budapest, Hungary (Part 2)

Buda: the Castle District, Gellért Hill and Tabán

There are trams going from Pest to Buda and it's also possible to take the metro.It's also pleasant to walk by Chain Bridge from Pest and walk up by the narrow streets or paths. Walking from Pest is likely to be faster than public transport or taxi during rush hour.

The spectacular but very touristy and pricey funicular called Budavári Sikló (HUF 800/1400 one way/return) climbs up Castle Hill from Chain Bridge's Buda side to Fisherman's Bastion (see below). As the cable car is rising up the hill you get a beautiful view of Pest across the river. Alternatively you can check the view from one of the two small pedestrian bridges over the cable car way - for free.

Places to see in Buda:

• Buda Castle (Budai Vár, also known as the Royal Palace - Királyi-palota): it is actually a complex of castles, which has its origins in medieval times. It is unusual in that it has never actually been occupied by the Hungarian Royal family, and is more of a pseudo-historical mishmash. Nowadays, there are the Hungarian National Gallery, the Budapest History Museum and the National Széchenyi Library. The Castle and its gardens are decorated with statues, including the spectacular fountain at the western forecourt of the palace (the Matthias Fountain)

Buda Castle at night

• Buda Castle Labyrinth (Budavári Labirintus): An underground labyrinth, which stretches under Castle Hill. Today, there is a tour that takes visitors through four halls covering different periods (some of them are fictional but funny). It's a bit cheesy, but great for families with children, or those seeking an hour of absurdity.
  
• Matthias Church (Mátyás Templom): located at the heart of the Castle District. Visitors tend to head straight for the Art museum which begins in the medieval crypt and leads up to the St. Stephen's Chapel. The gallery contains a number of sacred relics and medieval stone carvings, along with replicas of the Hungarian royal crown and coronation jewels.

The bell tower of the Matthias Church

• Fisherman's Bastion (Halászbástya): was built in 1895 as a monument to the Fishermen's Guild. It is a viewing terrace, with many stairs and walking paths; situated on the Castle Hill, behind the Matthias Church. By the bastion is a splendid equestrian statue of King Stephen wearing both crown and halo - it is widely held to be the finest of all the capital's statues.
  

Fisherman's Bastion

• The Gellért Hill: offers a superb panorama over Central Budapest including bank of the Danube River, Buda Castle and Pest city. The former fortress called Citadella along with the controversial Liberty Statue (one of the few remaining pieces of Soviet public art) is situated on top of this hill. Cave Church (Sziklatemplom) is located at the southeastern edge of Gellért Hill. The church was created from a natural cave system, following the Lourdes cave as sample in 1926. To reach the church, go to Gellért tér, turn towards Gellért Hill and look for the big white cross or the statue of King Saint Stephen - you can find the church below the cross and next to the statue.
• As always, there are gorgeous churches, gardens, bridges, fountains and so on :)

Places to sleep:
Hostels seem to be relatively cheep, but some might have a special price for August because of Sziget festival. So it's probably a good idea to book something in advance just in case.

• Grand Hostel Budapest: located right beside the hills of Buda and quite cheep (15€/person/night)
• Mathias Hostel: I really really like this one - there are rooms with 2 beds that are only 7.5€/person/night and it's not far from the center of Buda. They have a Facebook page too.
• Other options: Leanback Hostel, Barocco Hostel, Grund Hostel Budapest, Boomerang Hostel and Apartments

Sources: see previous post

Budapest, Hungary

Hungary is located in central Europe and is split down the middle by the Danube river. It may be among Europe's smaller nations, yet it contains tremendous variety. The rolling hills of the north, the Great Plain, the small towns of the Danube Bend, the spas of Transdanubia and the summer playground of Lake Balaton are all within an hour or two's drive of the capital, Budapest, itself one of Europe's most attractive and stylish cities. Hungary has a continental climate with hot humid summers and cold snowy winters. Sunshine levels are among the best in Europe, often topping 2000 hours a year.

Fun fact: the inventor of the Rubik's cube is Hungarian

• Official language: Hungarian (=Magyar), which belongs to the Finno-Ugric family and is therefore related to Finnish. I must say I see no resemblance whatsoever. Apparently, English and German are understood relatively well in Budapest. Hungarian is relatively easy to pronounce - the emphasis is always on the first vowel and the accent is just there to signify a long vowel.
• Currency: Hungarian forint (1€ = 280 HUF)
• Railway info: the Hungarian railroad company is called Magyar Államvasutak or MÁV). There are direct connections to Hungary from and to all its immediate neighbors (Prague is about 7 hours away and Vienna - 3h). In all Hungarian train stations a yellow board indicates departures (indul) and a white board arrivals (érkezik). Express trains are indicated in red, local trains in black. Budapest has three main train stations: Keleti (Eastern), Nyugati (Western) and Déli (South). Keleti is probably the one we'll be using, cause that's where most international express trains stop.
  

Traditional Hungarian dishes are primarily based on meats, seasonal vegetables, fruits, fresh bread, cheeses and honey. Recipes are based on centuries of old traditions around spicing and preparation methods. The most famous Hungarian dishes are Goulash, Gundel Pancakes (pancakes served flambéed in dark chocolate sauce filled with ground walnuts) and Dobos Cake (layered sponge cake, with chocolate buttercream filling and topped with a thin caramel slice). That's all I'm gonna list here, cause the Wikipedia page about Hungarian cuisine made me hungry - it all looks so good!

The capital, Budapest, is home to nearly two million people. Danube divides it into two parts - Buda and Pest. Budapest is regarded as one of the most beautiful cities in Europe and attracts over 20 million visitors each year. It is also ranked as "Europe's 7th most idyllic place to live in" by Forbes and, thanks to the perfect location, inhabitants' hospitality and memorable monuments is it mentioned as "Little Paris of Central Europe" and "Pearl of Danube".

Orientation is not a big problem in Budapest. River Danube splits the city in two areas: Buda and Pest. Aside from the very center, the city's structure is quite logical. Besides the Danube itself, the best reference points for orienting yourself are the bridges crossing the river. Many of Budapest's highlights are easy to approach walking, and in the center you find more pedestrian zones from year to year.

There is quite a lot to see in Budapest, so I'll start with Pest and leave Buda and the Castle District for later. Pest is situated on the Eastern side of the Danube and is the true heart of the city, where people go about their daily lives. It comprises about two thirds of Budapest's territory.

Places to see in Pest:

• The Parliament (Országház): currently the largest building in Hungary and the second largest Parliament in Europe. There were about one thousand people working on its construction in which 40 million bricks, half a million precious stones and 40 kg of gold were used. Oh, and it's gorgeous.

Hungarian Parliament Building

• Andrássy Út: an iconic boulevard linking Elizabeth square with the City Park. Lined with spectacular Neo-renaissance mansions and townhouses featuring fine facades and interiors, it was recognised as a World Heritage Site in 2002. It is also one of Budapest's main shopping streets, with fine cafes, restaurants, theatres, and luxury boutiques. The Hungarian State Opera House is on this street, and so is the House of Terror - a museum built to commemorate the horrors that Hungary suffered under the regimes of the Nazis and the Communists (I think that might be a bit too heavy and depressing..) The street leads straight to the Heroes' square (see below).
  
• St. Stephen's Basilica (Szent István Bazilika): a definite must-see. It is a Roman Catholic basilica named after the first king of Hungary. In the left hand chapel is the "Chapel of the sacred right hand", where the mummified right hand of St Stephen's himself is presented in a glass box. For a fee, you can also climb the 364 stairs to the very top of the Basilica to get a wonderful view of the city.

St. Stephen's Basilica

• Great Synagogue, also known as Dohány Street Synagogue is the 2nd largest in the world. The style of the Dohány Street Synagogue is Moorish but its design also features a mixture of Byzantine, Romantic and Gothic elements. The Dohány street used to constitute the border of the Budapest Ghetto. The Dohány Street Synagogue complex consists of the Great Synagogue, the Jewish Museum, the Heroes' Temple, the graveyard and a Holocaust memorial.
• Shoes on the Danube Promenade is a memorial on the bank of the Danube River. It honors the Jews who fell victim to fascist Arrow Cross militiamen in Budapest and depicts their shoes left behind on the bank when they fell into the river after having been shot during World War II.
• The City Park (Városliget): close to the city center. Its main entrance is Heroes' square (Hősök tere), at the center of which is the Millennium Memorial with statues of the leaders of the seven tribes that founded Hungary in the 9th century and other outstanding figures of Hungarian history. Also in the City Park: the Vajdahunyad Castle (Vajdahunyad-vár), which currently houses the Agricultural Museum, the Municipal Zoological and Botanical gardens, The Széchenyi Medicinal Baths and the Timewheel (one of the world's largest hourglasses).
  

The Millennium Monument

Those are just about the most important places we need to see in Pest. I'll write about the rest of the city in a separate post, and about hostels/camping sites too.

All info from wikipedia.org, CitySpots Budapest (Thomas Cook Publishing, 2008), Globetrotter Travel Guide: Budapest and Hungary (New Holland Publishers, 2009) and Kaupunkikirjat: Budapest (WSOY, 2002)