Budapest

Rob:
Budapest is AWESOME! Granted the time we were there was the best time to be there but still. We did develop a love hate relationship with the city.

Hate: We arrived in the city and we needed Hungarian money and the ATM in the train station was out of cash. Because of a misconception I thought we had to pay cash, up-front, for our hotel which meant we needed to find some. The money changers in the train station were my only option in the station and I read the sign backwards. When it says “buy” it means you are buying their currency, not them buying yours. I got it reversed which is the worst possible exchange rate. Despite my wife’s intuition to go elsewhere I thought I was getting a good deal until it was too late. NEVER, EVER, change currency in the train station unless you have no choice and you use small amounts.

Love: As it turns out the hotel did not need cash up-front, they take it later or in Mastercard. The hotel was beautiful from the spiral stair case leading up and around the concierge desk to the room itself to the outstanding location. We dropped our stuff in the room as quick as possible and went to the Danube River. Budapest was hosting the Red Bull Air Race Championships in the center of the city. If you don’t know what they are, search google or youtube.com to find out. They are every bit as cool in person and more. Seeing those race planes flying low under the famous “Chain Bridge” at 350km/hr and then doing a high speed stunt course about 30 feet off the water was an experience I’ll never forget. The home town (Budapest) race hero, Peter “The Godfather” Besenyei, was unable to make it into the top 8 which was disappointing to the crowd but the USA took 1st and 3rd and we got to hear the “Star Spangled Banner” played super loud on Hungary’s National Birthday (like our 4th of July). HA USA! USA! USA! And there was a helicopter that could do backflips – wicked cool. In Budapest the people that attend the Air Races would attend NASCAR in the USA so we got to see the redneck side of Europe; with a pretzel, a 0.5l Löwenbrau in a can and going shirtless, we fit right in.

Love: August 20th, St. Istvan (Stephen) Day, is the Hungarian Independence Day and celebration of the most favorite King. The all day festival includes dancing, a huge birthday cake for the city and street activities and vendors as far as you can see. This year’s theme was: Medieval fair. We were able to have traditional Hungarian goulash, made in a huge cauldron, from a whole cow that they rotisserie roasted right there in the square. So good! We also had a piece of fry bread covered in sour cream, cottage cheese, spices and mozzarella. It tastes a lot like a pizza but the locals eat them everywhere and it was fantastic. The festival ends with fireworks along the Danube. It was the most amazing display of fireworks I have ever seen. There were fireworks launching from two bridges on either side of us, the mountain top to our left and the island just down the river to the right and from 10 stations in the center of the river, all in a 20 minute coordinated show. It was so cool and with Budapest’s castle hill as the back drop, wow!!

Hate: The French. We had a gorgeous spot picked out to watch the fireworks, secluded, roped off and behind the street vendor booths along the water. It was kind of off limits but we made quick friends with the security guard and he was fine with the two of us and a couple of his friends hanging out there. But then the French, from Paris (the worst kind), showed up and started dancing around, clowning, and making a big racket. The guards came back and told them to leave and the Frenchies faked only understanding French and wouldn’t go. The guards even tricked them into speaking English twice and with an, “A-ha you do understand me!”, they would snap back into playing dumb. The French refused to leave as long as we got to stay and when one guard went to get the cops the guard we had befriended motioned that we should probably leave, we did. Jerk French.

Love: Budapest is much larger than Prague and even though the map is the same size you quickly find it takes a lot longer to get from one place on the map to another. The public transport is very straight forward and easy to use so we made our way around mostly via tram, metro and bus. On the castle hill, one of the best vantage points to see the city, most, if not all, of the pay-venues are not worth the money. The gem for us was actually the small museum in the lower level of the Hilton. The hotel was built on top of the ruins of an old church and had to incorporate them into the design to get permission to build at all. We were the only ones there and it was very cool. If you go into the gift shop in the front of the hotel it is free and a quick right-left-down the steps; the café in the back of the hotel charges to go through their door, sneaky. The hotel bar up the stairs from the museum has a large window where the church entry used to be and it looks out to where the ruins of the alter area stand.

Hate: The Medieval Art Festival had over taken half the hill. You had to pay to get in and it effectively blocked every exit from the hill we tried, making us back track and walk down the way we came. We probably should have just paid to get in and saved time and enjoyed the setting

Love: The cave church. This chapel was bricked up by the Soviets but is now available again. The church in the cave is a beautiful change from the norm and with so few people and “enforced” silence it is extremely peaceful.

Hate: Up stairs of the great market hall. For the most part is a souvenir market where every other booth has the same stuff and won’t haggle the overpriced junk. There are some worthwhile goods but they are expensive also.

Love: The ground and basement of the great market hall. The ground floor houses a fantastic meat market and fresh fruit stands. Obviously if you have no kitchen then buying anything is limited but it is fun to browse. The basement has a modern grocery store which is best for dry goods, sodas, and their extensive Hungarian wine section, which is about half the price of the upper floors. The Egri Bikavér red wine is famous in the country; look for the bull on the label. There is also a fishmarket down stairs with many large tanks of live fish and a sushi house.

Love: The Baths in the park; minimum of two hours and worth missing some sightseeing.

Love: Taking my wife to the fancy dinner at “the world’s best restaurant”, the Gϋndel. It was very tasty and refined.

Hate: Early wake up to hop trains through Hungary.