On my first day I joined the daily free walking tour. I didn't learn much but I got a good idea of the layout of the city and had an awesome porkolt, a Hungarian stew. The car below used to be the car in Hungary, as our walking tour guide explained, meaning it was about the only model that existed there for decades. On the right is a statue on Castle Hill. The horse's balls are polished to a nice shine because the locals say that rubbing them gives good luck. I'll let you all know how that works out.
That night, the staff from the hostel took all the guests out for drinks at a place called Morrison's, which is, surprisingly, where all the local university students go for a night out with $1 beers. And since the year just ended for them, the place was packed as everyone kareoked and danced. The next day, I woke up to blue skies and sun so I got up and did some quality sight-seeing, heading to Heroes Square (left), a monument dedicated to seven kings and seven heroes in Hungary's history, then to Gellert Hill for the best view in the city (center). On the right is a former Communist statue on top of Gellert Hill that was modified and kept in place as a symbol of Hungary's liberation from Soviet control.
Just a but lower is Castle Hill, where the Buda Royal Palace is, though it never actually functioned as a palace and now there are multiple museums inside of it. On the right is the view from Castle Hill, with Chain Bridge and St. Stephen's Basillica visible.
On the other part of the hill is Fisherman's Bastion, seven towers set on the edge of the hill. Both the reason for its name and its purpose escape me but it and St. Mattias church next to it are cool to see.
Afterwards, I walked along the Danube to get a good look at the Parliamet building. Due to all the rain here lately, the river is flooding and the water level is above the level of the first embankment, flooding the low-level docks and roads at the riverside. It would need quite a bit more rain to get over the real embankmet, but it is pretty cool to see it so high.
My last stop on my monster sightseeing day was St. Stephen's Basilica, the most prominent religious building in the city. It is a bit peculiar in that instead of Jesus or Mary depicted at the altar, there is a statue of King Saint Stephen, Hungary's most famous king. They also have King Stephen's actual hand in a box in the back of the cathedral, though you would never know what it was until someone told you, mostly because of the dim lighting.
The next morning, with all my sightseeing the day before, there was only a few things I still wanted to do. I checked out the second largest synagouge in the world, the largest beeing in New York Ciy, and realized I have never been inside a synagouge before. As I entered, they even gave me a little kippa to where.
Budapest is famous for its thermal springs and this was why the Romans took such a particular interest in the area in centuries past. Now there are tons of different baths scattered around the city, designed for the pleasure of locals and tourists alike. Although I hadn't planned on going, so many people told me that is was amazing, the highlight of their trip, the best $14 they ever spent, the coolest thing to do in Budapest, blah blah blah, that I had to check it out. Nearly everyone recommended the ones in the City Park, Szechenyifurdo, so I went there. There are indoor and outdoor pools of varying temperatures in the courtyard and inside an old building that looks like a palace. It is pretty cool to see, but I found it a bit boring, as they are basically a collection of glorified pools.
My fourth night in Budapest was an unofficial pub crawl organized by the staff at the hostel. They took us to loads of underground pubs and atmospheric bars for a really cool look into the nightlife scene in Budapest. But I was really surprised when my group was actually asked to keep the noise down... inside the bar. We weren't being all that loud, but I think it shows an interesting point about Budapest: the people really like their peace and quiet. As we walked through the streets in between bars, we had to either stay quiet or whisper so as not to disturb the residents. It makes for an interesting contrast between the young, fun locals and the serious, quiet, older ones. But the bars were cool places to hang out and talk so I had a fun little night before exhaustion forced me to go home. One of the places had a pretty amusing mural:
Hungary, despite its slow transition to becoming just like Western Europe, is still unique and quirky. I can't say I much enjoyed the food, as their big things are tray and line cafeterias, terrible pastries, and disappointing ice cream. Hungary is also the only place I've ever been that you have to provide your own bags for groceries at the supermarket (though I think this might be a new EU law). That was an awkward moment, standing at the far end of the check out counter with a mass of groceries looking around for a bag. There are definitely signs that Hungary is a little behind much of Europe, but it is still a safe city with old buildings and cool sights. It's funny that despite their apparent backwardness, their metros, escalators, and trams run at much higher speeds than I'm used to, which was fun. Below is the central marketplace:
Beer of Hungary: Hungary has four major brands of beer, pretty good selection for a small country. Their budget beer is Arany Aszoky, which is a passable lager, while their mainstay lagers Borsodi and Soproni are solid and tasty though without much to set them apart. Dreher is the real prize of the main breweries in Hungary. Usually a bit more expensive than the others, it is well worth it because it tastes much more refrshing, smooth, and drinkable than the others. Budapest also has a few places that brew their own stuff, though I wasn't able to sample as much of it as I would have liked. Grade: B.
Ice Cream of Hungary: I gave up on ice cream pretty quick as I saw how they scoop here. They take a tiny little scooper and get some ice cream in it, then smash the scoop against the side of the bin so that you only get half a scoop. It is the stingiest ice cream serving I've ever seen and could hardly believe it. It wasn't high quality either. There is also a local soft-served chain, but it just tastes a bit funny, though at least the portions are large here. Grade: D.
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There are two trains that run from Zagreb to Budapest without changing on Sunday, one at 9:58 and one at 15:45. To figure out the schedule for any given day, look at http://www.db.de/. Oddly, the return price is the same as the one way price. Anyways, they take about 7 hours and the fare is $41/215kn. I got in to the international train station, pretty much far away from everything, and walked (though you can take the metro for $1.50/300HUF) to my hostel near the domestic train station. I stayed at Carpe Noctem, a small, friendly, and fun hostel that seemed like it had more staff than guests, unfortunately, but I think the people who happened to be there for most of my stay were just a little lame ($21/4000HUF). Definitely a place for people who enjoy going out at night though. The sights in Budapest are a bit spread out, but you can see most of the main stuff in a day if you have a mind to. The best view of the city by far is Gellert Hill and probably also the best way to see Castle Hill, up close it is cool but nothing special. St. Stephens Church is worth the visit, especially because it is free, but while the view is cool, it could be skipped, though you do get an interesting look at how basilicas are put together ($2/400HUF). Heroes Square, up near the city park and the Szechenyifurdo baths, should not be missed. The baths themselves are pretty cool but if you aren't into that sort of thing, don't let people persuade you into doing it ($16/3000HUF, get 300HUF back if you leave within two hours). One of the coolest things to do is to check out the Parliament building from across the water. Other than that, make sure to see Fisherman's Bastion and Matthias Church up on the north side of castle hill.
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