July 13, 2012
I had wanted to visit Budapest for a long time. After our initial attempts to visit in March were thwarted by an airlines going bankrupt, and another cancelling our flight only days before our trip. However this time, we were determined not to let anything get in the way. We drove to a new (and probably the smallest airport we could find) in Karlshrue. The drive was nice and quiet through fields of sunflowers and along the french border. Sitting in the 6-gated airport, Tiffany returned from the bathroom with our friends Brian and Melissa. It turns out they were on our flight to Budapest and staying at a hotel only 2 blocks from ours, how random!
Our flight was on RyanAir and would be Tiffany's first low budget airline. With our one piece of hand-luggage, we all rushed out to the plane, walking along the tarmac. With no assigned seats, the 4 of us found a group of seats near the front of the plane and settled in for our quick 75 min flight. RyanAir might not be the most luxurious accommodations, but they sure were quick. We got on the flight, ran through the safety brief and before we knew it, we were taking off. A quick flight passed and we landed in Budapest; our first taste of Eastern Europe. Off the plane, we had hoped for passport stamps, but yet again.....nada. No stamps on any of our trips. Bummer.
Walking through the small airport, we quickly found our driver holding a sign with our name on it. Outside the weather was warm and sunny. We sat back and relaxed for our 30 min trip into the city. Leaving the airport was a travel through the past, as we passed by old abandoned railroad tracks and cars, surrounded by barbed wire, graffiti and debris. The scene reminded me of images from WWII and old communist-era photos. However, as we entered the city of Budapest, the scene changed and we were greeted with big, beautiful buildings that have been repaired, restored and preserved from past centuries. Much of the city was destroyed during WWII, so many buildings were rebuilt to look like they did before their destruction.
Our hotel, Residence Baron, was tucked away on a quiet street, near the pedestrian zone, full of shops, restaurants and people. We dropped off our bags and took off in search of food. Hungry from our travels, we found an ATM; withdrawing several thousand Fornits and found a traditional Hungarian place for a very late lunch. A big open-faced sandwich, a bowl of Goulash and a wild-berry lemonade filled us up and gave us our first taste of Hungarian cuisine. We then walked around the area, getting a taste of the city, people and culture. We walked along the Danube, which splits the hilly side of Buda, from the flat side of Pest; where we were staying. We walked around for a while, building up an appetite for dinner. We chose another traditional Hungarian place to eat. I had a dark Hungarian beer, and we shared two traditional dishes, a spicy meat and potato dish and a hearty soup. After dinner, we walked around the city some more, before heading in to relax before our early morning the following day.
Saturday morning was the beginning of our 2-day hop-on-hop-off bus tour of the city. This trip had 2 different bus routes, covering much of Buda and Pest, as well as a boat tour of the Danube. After a hearty breakfast in our hotel, we headed out to the city. We had a little time before the bus came by, so we explored the liberty bridge and the church built into the side of the mountain. Once a hermit's house, the cave was turned into a church, that is still in use today. We hopped onto the bus, and made our way to our favorite seats up-top near the front. Rolling through the streets, listening to the history of the city around us. Our first stop was the funicular, the tram that took us up to the Castle, high on the hill over the city. The short trip dropped us off high above the river below, and left us with an amazing view of the city, the danube and the mountainous Buda side of the city. We walked around, taking in the views and sights of the city from the top.
Back on the bus, we drove throughout the city, past parliament and too many monuments and statues to remember. Our next stop was for lunch. We found a pub that seemed like a fun hole-in-the-wall place. (The For Sale Bar & Restaurant) The walls covered in memorabilia from past patrons, we had a HUGE and delicious lunch, left our own souvenir on the wall near our table, and we headed back to the bus. Our afternoon drive was relaxing and sunny, as we toured more of the city and learned more of its history. We headed back to our hotel, to relax for a few before heading out to dinner with Melissa and Brian. We took a taxi (surprisingly the only thing in Budapest that costs more than Germany) up to the Citadel. A former army barracks that sat way up on a hill in Buda, overlooking the entire city. We had a really nice, fancy dinner overlooking the entire city. The piano player took our requests for Sinatra and other tunes and serenaded us while we dined. We paid our bill of 19914 Hungarian Fornits and headed back towards downtown for some exploration.
Back in the center of the city, we found the Ice Bar. We had all walked past it earlier in the week and decided to check it out. Once bundled up in our huge Parkas, we headed into the Bar. The room was decorated with ice sculptures including an ice luge, ice couch and several sculptures (see the pictures!!) Brian and I had the "My Ice Cold Balls" Cocktail and Tiffany and Melissa Had the (non-alcoholic) "Santa's Icy Dream". After the ice bar, we headed down the pedestrian walk and ran into a spa. Not just any spa, this one had fish pedicures. I have been wanting to do this for a while, and jumped at the opportunity. The sensation of hundreds of small fish eating the dead skin off your feet and legs is hard to describe, but it feels like your legs are vibrating. I must have had some dirty legs, because the majority of the fish were on my legs and left Brian's mostly bare. After the fish, my feet felt incredibly smooth and refreshed, something I didn't expect from an army of tiny fish. We then continued to walk around the pedestrian zone, before calling it a night.
The next morning, our first stop was the huge market that lay just across the street from our hotel. Inside was 3 levels of delicious produce, spices, souvenirs and pickles. The ground level was all fresh produce, spices, meat, cheeses and local specialties. We found amazingly fresh and huge blackberries and raspberries which we snacked on. The 2nd floor was all souvenirs, with lots of local goods. Down in the basement was a huge selection of seafood and pickles. Hungarians like lots of different pickled products, so we found garlic, onions, and lots of other veggies. Tiffany, a huge pickle fan, found several different ones to try. We also picked up fresh hungarian paprika (both sweet and hot) and a few souvenirs for ourselves and some for family and friends back home. Leaving the market we hopped back on the bus, and headed to the Jewish Synagogue. The 2nd largest synagogue in Europe, it was spared during the bombing of WWII and stands much as it did several hundred years ago. It's very unique inside, as it was designed by a christian who had never set foot in a synagogue. The design is similar to many traditional catholic churches all over Europe. There was also a moving monument to the Holocaust victims of Hungary. We got back on the bus and watched and listened to our tour of the city as we sat back and enjoyed the city. We passed the lavishly decorated parliament, and the waterfall. We stopped along the way and ate lunch at a little Italian cafe with a menu that included a huge selection of delicious sounding food. The worst thing for me when I'm hungry is a large menu that all sounds delicious, it's too hard to make up my mind. After our lunch we were back on the bus, on the way to the Zoo.
Budapest Zoo had a penguin exhibit, and of course it was the first stop we made. There were lots of small South African Rock-Hopper penguins. Then we moved on to the camels, where Tiffany got to feed one. After he greedily devoured the food in about 1/2 second, he then slobbered all over Tiff's hands! The zoo was really cool, with lots of hands-on experiences and animals up-close; like the peacock that sat on a railing and posed for us. Walking around we had a great time at the zoo, feeding a bunch of goats, and seeing the lions paw at a small child through the glass. Just as the rain started, we headed out back towards our bus. The rain calmed down and we rode back across the city to meet up with Brian and Melissa again.
Dinner was down a long alley that opened into a courtyard. Live music, local beer and pizza; what a great way to end a fun day in Budapest. But the day wasn't over yet. Tiffany and I had a boat tour still to go. After dinner, we strolled down to the docks and onto our boat for the tour. The danube, is very wide as it passes between buda and pest and we had great views of the city all lit up at night sailing along the river. Leaving our cruise, we headed back for one more night in the hotel.
The next morning we packed up our bags, and not wanting to leave we decided to take another walk along the pedestrian zone for a snack before heading to the airport. We walked all the way from one end to the other, and as we turned around we heard a thunderous bang! Looking up we saw a 3-story scaffolding begin to collapse away from the building. The scaffolding fell across the entire pedestrian zone, crushing several souvenir racks. We stood in shock for a few moments, then I rushed in to help search for anyone trapped in the wreckage. Luckily no one was hurt as the scaffolding fell, but it was a pretty scary moment, as we were only 20 feet away from the crash.
Heading back to the hotel, we met up with Melissa and Brian. We took a taxi back to the airport. We still had a few hundred Fornits left to spend, so Brian and I decided to try Unicum, the local and national liquor of Hungary. After searching for the tasting counter, we found a vodka tasting counter. We tried 3 different Russian vodka's. Then after searching for the person responsible for Unicum tastings, we were rewarded with 3 different samples. Needless to say 6 shots before 11am was quite the wake-up call. The unicum had a very strong and distinctive flavor. The best of the three was aged in a barrel plums for 3 months, but still not too tasty. In the end we decided one tasting of Unicum was all we needed and we decided to pass on bringing any back to Germany. Our RyanAir flight was short and soon we were back home in Germany after another wonderful vacation.
Budapest was a great trip, and we had some great food, adventures and fun with friends.
Until Next Blog Post,
Love,
David, Tiffany and Oliver
