The Pest side of Budapest

We really enjoyed Prague and all the history. Four full days walking around and looking at the city was enough. Any more time and we would have wanted to tour outside of the city.

For our last train ride from Prague to Budapest Duke chose to buy first class ticket, this way we could sit anywhere. So are you wondering where we sat? We entered the car that had a 1 on it and there was no compartments this time just a long hallway with seats on each side. We sat facing forward, always a good idea so I don’t get motion sick. When our tickets were collected this time nothing was said so… we must have sat in the correct spot. Finally!

We arrived in Budapest late in the afternoon after a 6 hour train ride through Slovakia. Once again I entered the address of our hotel into the GPS and we took off walking, luggage and shopping bags in tow. After following the arrow on the GPS zigzagging through neighborhood like streets for 20 minute I decided to double check exactly where we were heading to by zooming out to our destination. My legs were tired, my back was wet with sweat, my bags were getting increasingly heavier AND we were heading in the wrong direction. All the great things I had said about the GPS suddenly were forgotten and this new technology was worthless. A simple map would have worked so much better!!! Since no taxi’s or bus service was to be seen we continued to walk, in the correct direction. After an hour and a quick stop for a pastry we arrived at the Intercontinental exhausted.

As I mentioned in an earlier story there is actually two cities’ of Budapest, Buda and Pest.  Our hotel room had a wonderful view of the Danube River and Castle Hill in Pest. Since we were hungry and didn’t have to drag our luggage anymore, and only had two day to visit we decided to take a walk and look around. We found a square for walker’s only that had a yummy looking pastry similar to one we saw in Prague, and decided we would give into temptation this time. Since we still didn’t have any forints (Hungarian money) we needed to find a cash machine before we could buy this treat.  We found it easiest to get money from a cash machine in the countries we were visiting than bring traveler’s checks or exchange American dollars at a bank, regardless of where we were traveling in Europe. Yes you do need to pay an exchange fee at the cash machine but the banks also charge the fee and bank machines are available 24 hours a day and abundant!

We went back to the square where homemade goods, fresh pastries and café’s enticed us. The pastry was made of a doughy mixture then wrapped on a metal rolling pin like item. After the rolling pin was covered with 3 or 4, the dough was rolled into a mixture of sugar and spices then baked over open coals spinning around like a rotisserie chicken. It was so yummy with the golden sugary crust that we immediately went back for seconds. Glad we didn’t start eating these in Prague because we would have put on 5 extra pounds, lol.

After a quick dinner of fair like food in the square and looking at a few shops we went back to the room. Since it was now dark the glow of Castle Hill from across the river was gorgeous. I took a few photos and we once again went out to enjoy the evening light. Walking along the river was beautiful and peaceful in the moon light. We walked to the next bridge and back.

With only one full day to enjoy Budapest we chose immediately to limit our destinations to one’s that Erik Bodor had recommended. The Parliament, St Stephen’s Basilica and the farmer’s market, all on the Pest side and gratefully within walking distance.

The Parliament is an incredible building architecturally, built in 1904. Only guided tours with limited amount of tickets distributed per day are given. Thankfully we found out this information the night before and were promptly in line at 8:45am for the 9am tour in English.  The inside of the building was extravagant with lots of gold paint.  Copy and paste press ctrl and left click the following link for much more information http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hungarian_Parliament

It was a short walk from the Parliament building to St Stephen’s Basilica. The outside of the building is gorgeous with many details in the stone work. Inside it has a large cupola that towers into the sky. Very impressive. Once again here is a link. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Stephen%27s_Basilica

As we walked to the farmer’s market we had to pass through the square and have our new favorite pastry, yum. This market reminded me a little of Pike Place Market with all the local specialties being sold amongst local souvenirs and local crafts. The difference was the cured meats. I only wish I could have brought home a large leg of ham (prosciutto) to eat for the next year. There were many fruits and vegetables that I hadn’t seen before and definitely couldn’t pronounce (in Hungarian). I kept looking for a radish type of vegetable that we enjoyed so much at the Bodor Castle - stuffed with meat – oh I wish I could have it again! I took some photos but will never be sure if I saw it. Upstairs there were many handmade types of linen. Beautiful colors and well made.

After the market we stopped at an outdoor café along the walking only shopping district. I love enjoying a meal in this environment. As we sat there people watching, having the poor approach us selling their wares and eating I thought about how unique this experience was. I wondered why Seattle or many other cities didn’t offer this type of outdoor seating. (Yes I know it rains in Seattle a lot.) I then realized how everyone dresses differently in Europe than in the US. Everyone dresses for the outdoors, in a warm coat, scarf (always a scarf) and smart walking shoes. They are use to walking. Walking from their house to the train, the train to work, work to the market, etc. In the US we drive everywhere, they walk. It shows in their weigh too. Obesity is very minimal.

During our flights home we had a 6 hour layover in Copenhagen. We were excited to not only to get out and stretch our legs but to take this opportunity to sightsee a bit. So as soon as our flight landed we asked the information desk where we could store our carry-on luggage and which train to take to get to downtown. They spoke great English and in no time we were on the train heading to see the famous Mermaid. We walked around the park near where the mermaid was and I missed it. Walked right past it. So off to the shopping district we went on another train ride. We were very surprised to see how quiet this area was. Duke commented on how it wasn’t much of a shopping area. I agreed but thought we must be walking down the wrong street. After several blocks of nearly empty streets and mostly closed stores we finally found an open gelato store (last one). We ask why all the shop were closed they said because of the Easter Holiday. Is was Thursday??!! Yes Easter seems to be a 4 or 5 day holiday for them. I guess shopping must be done ahead of the season. This is much different than the US. So we got on the train again, collected our carryon baggage and sat in the waiting area in the airport for 4 hours. So much for touring Copenhagen!

Thanks again for reading about my trip. I will be traveling soon to Hawaii with my father, Aloha!