Day 2 - Budapest
28 December 2024
The bunk has been surprisingly comfy and my old man bladder has been surprisingly well behaved. I have slept well and am ready to take on Hungary's capital city.
I find out that my bunk mates are a Spanish speaking family, but possibly South American rather than from the motherland. Greetings and interactions are pleasant but non-verbal. We are all too busy working out how to get ourselves together in a 2 metre square cell!! We all eventually manage this task without any embarrassment and are all good to go when the train rolls into town a mere 3 minutes late.
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| Nyugati Train Station |
My first thought is for breakfast but it seems nothing opens too early here on a Saturday, not even Maccies. So I decide on a stroll along the Danube. En route to the river, I pass a Turkish restaurant that has an amusing name suggesting it might be a Turkish version of Hooters. This thought makes me chuckle and keeps me amused fot longer than it should!
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| Turkish Hooters |
Even before I reach the river, the impressive Parliament building comes into view. Wikipedia tells me there is 40kg of gold embedded in the structure of the building.
The river is vast, not to Mississippi standards, but hugely impressive. I come across a curious sight of sculpted pairs of shoes, which have been added to with candles, flowers and ribbons. A quick internet check reveals this sculpture to be a dedication to Jews murdered by Hungarian fascists of the Arrow Cross Party during WW2. People were lined up by the riverside and ordered to remove anything of value, including their shoes. They were then shot, with their bodies falling or forced into the river to be carried away.
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| Shoes on The Danube |
After a pause for reflection, I continue my stroll and eventually cross from Pest to Buda via the Széchenyi Lánchid suspension bridge.
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| Széchenyi Lánchid |
I make my way to check out the funicular railway and pass the Zero Kilometre stone, which is the point from which all distances from Budapest are measured. Next to the stone is the Zero Point cafe which, on the face of it, seems a decent place for breakfast. However reviews are not that great so I decide to hold off and find somewhere else.
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| 0km Stone |
I could make the excuse that the climb up to the castle will do me good, but the fact is that the funicular is 5,000 forints (£10) and I'm just too mean. The ascent isn't that taxing and certainly worth dosh that can be better spent tonight. It's a pity that there's so much construction taking place on the palace and other historical buildings, but I suppose it's necessary. The climb is still worthwhile though, as the views are spectacular looking down the Danube and across the river to Pest.
I wander in to the national gallery which is situated inside the Royal Palace. This is as much for warmth as anything but it I have been advised to go and see this attraction. I stay inside for a short while but the queue waiting to get in is a very long and I suspect that's the volume of people inside the gallery will not help in viewing the exhibits. I make a note to return tomorrow or Monday.
After wandering around the grounds a bit longer and taking in the fantastic views over the city, I decide to go to the the West end shopping centre as I have forgotten to bring any swimwear which I will need when going to the hot baths.
I check out the route on Google maps to the centre and set off. On the way I find a very nice Christmas market situated next to Svent Istvan Basilica. It is very busy here and for good reason. There are a lot of food stalls which generally are selling the same thing. I like the look of the hot dogs but I'm not paying £13 for one. I eventually settled for lángos topped with goulash which is a traditional Hungarian meal. The base is deep fried flatbread, but the cooking process is so quick that the oil doesn't permeate the bread, making it crispy on the outside and doughy on the inside. Topped with the goulash this makes a lovely brunch.
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| Langos with goulash - nicer than it looks!! |
The basilica looks a really nice place to visit also, but it is also very, very busy. So again this is added to the list for the next couple of days.
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| Svent Istvan Basilika |
I eventually arrive at the shopping centre which I find to be next to the rail station that I left just that morning. I don't know why. I am surprised as I should really expect it, but all of the shops in centre are big names such as Hugo, Calvin Klein and Tommy Hilfinger. The decadent West has truly infiltrated behind the iron curtain. I can only find one shop that sells swimwear but is ridiculously overpriced. I tell myself I'm not spending that amount of money just for something to sit in some hot water. I look further into the store and find some good running shorts that I can use beyond just this trip. The visit to the baths is back on.
Happy with my purchase. I check the time and the distance to the apartment and establish that's it. It will be gone 14:00 when I arrive and will be able to check in. The route to the apartment is pretty much straight back the way I have just come and, apart from a stop to buy a couple of cans of beer and a fridge magnet I arrive at the apartment in no time at all.
The instructions from Kitti are perfect and I have no trouble accessing either of the keypads and finding my way into my home for the next two nights. The amount of walking in the fresh air coupled with the effects of last night's beers, I decide that I need to have a nap. This extends long beyond the parameters of a power nap and lasts a good 2 hours. I awaken, have a have a chat on WhatsApp and then decide I must go out and find some dinner.
Forward an hour and I'm still lying in bed, deciding on where to go to eat. All of the recommendations given to me by my host are fully booked for the next two nights and only one of them can take me on Monday. So I make a reservation, but for tonight I'm going to have to use my own initiative.
Drum roll... tonight I decide I'm going to try out the Beer Brothers; they have an extensive menu of beers and they do burgers which you can't really go wrong with! Tomorrow I might be a bit more adventurous.
The Budapest beer adventure has started in Beer Brothers, starting with Turbid - a New England IPA at 6.5%. This is followed by a Fraktaal Makos Guba Torta at 7%; both beers go down well with my Balkan Burger.
I move on from Beer Brothers and find the Gravity cellar bar. There is something abour a cellar bar, for me, that makes beer drinking seem a bit classier, don't aske me why. This particular bar is enhanced by having its own brewery on Site. All beers on tap are brewed here. I start with a High Orbit IPA at 8.9% before easing back a bit with a hazy IPA whose name escapes me. It is tasty enough to warrant 3 more glasses before I decide enough is enough and I head back to the apartment.
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| Gravity Brewing |
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| Gravity Cellar Bar |
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