Budapest – Day 2
Any good day starts with complimentary lounge breakfast.
Everything was really good, especially the croissants. And as always with this hotel, service was impeccable. The next day the hot options were similar, eggs and meat etc.
Step one on my long journey today, a little governmental action. It was the most expensive activity I’d be doing ($16) so I had high hopes.
Unfortunately, you’re stuck on a large guided tour, but at least you get sharply dressed guardsmen. The tour guide was pretty good too.
Great Hall
Anteroom
Parliament Chamber. Unfortunately, that’s about all you get to see. While the tour lasts 40 minutes (which includes going through security), between the jostling for position to take pictures and the little you get to see (you do see the Hungarian Crown Jewels too but you can’t get close or take pictures) I don’t think it ended up being worth it. Oh well, no time to dwell, next up was a walk down the Danube Promenade to see:
The Shoes on the Danube memorial. Very, very moving. History here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shoes_o...nube_Promenade
The memorial was right next to the T-2 tram line and as I love old fashioned European trams and consider them a great way to see a city, I took a little ride.
After hopping off, I headed onto the M1 which built in 1896 was Europe’s first subway. It’s actually a UNESCO World Heritage site (yes, the whole line!).
Quaint, isn’t it? It’s really shallow too unlike the M2 and M3 which are really deep.
Hope you didn’t think I was done with the God Tour! This is the biggest church in Budapest and is 96 Meters tall (1896 was Budapest’s 1000th Anniversary so a lot of things involve the number 96). It’s allegedly free but there’s a “suggested donation box” guarded by a priest so I chipped in a buck.
Worth it!
Next up, the Hungarian State Opera House. I chose not to take the tour but you can see the lobby and gift shop for free which was worth a gander.
Lunch time! This café was a little pricy but the food I had was delicious.
Beef neck in a red wine sauce. Incidentally, I hate how in Europe they bring you the bread basket but the bread isn’t free. It’s so hard for me to resist eating it. Now that my Charles Tank was refilled, time for more walking!
Up at Heroes Square and their soldier’s memorial.
The adjacent Fine Arts Museum is a worse version of the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna (it even has the same layout) but it was worth a walkthrough. They had some big names like Rodin and Monet and after a long walk I enjoy sitting on a bench around some beautiful works of art.
There’s a good view of the square from the steps too. Anyway, enough sitting and feeding the senses, more walking more photos time!
This was built when Hungary entered the EU. The sand trickles down until the new year.
Memorial to the 1956 Revolution. I’m not sure what it’s supposed to represent but it was moving enough I guess. Next up, City Park.
The famous bathhouse, apparently it’s a big thing to do around here but I’m not much into swimming so I passed on it. Maybe I’d go in the summer.
Where else can you relax and read a book and watch people in front of a castle? But anyway, enough good times, how about a punch in the gut?
This will do. This building was the headquarters of the Arrow Cross under the Nazis, then the secret police under the Russians.
What a fancy audio guide! I definitely suggest the extra expense as it told stories and gave context to the exhibits.
You’re not supposed to take photography but I snuck a few. It’s a really impressive museum and the hour and a half I spent there was not enough time. I only wish there hadn’t been some French student tour groups who were laughing and being loud. The highlight was an elderly British pensioner coming up to me, pointing at my audio guide, and saying “oy, you have a computah, did the Hungarians fight for the Nazis? No one will tell me!”. We ended up having a really interesting talk about his experiences growing up in Britain in the 50’s.
The last room you see is a room of the torturers where they put on blast (as the kids say today) people who were known to torture. That was a surprise and it kept you thinking on the way out.
I came out right around dinner time (for me at least) but I guess 1830 is too early in Hungary as I had the restaurant to myself.
Venison Stew at the Bor La Bor Winebar. Absolutely excellent, as were the Hungarian potatoes. Finishing that, I figured a nighttime stroll along the Danube was in order.
And with that, I called it a night!
Budapest – Day 3
I had a 1255 flight today and while I considered sleeping in and breakfasting at the hotel, this was too nice a city not to spend a last bit of time in.
First, the train station by my hotel. Want to film something set in the Soviet Union? This might be a good start.
I rode the T-6 Tram over to the Buda side where I’d found a restaurant I wanted to try. The trams are great, some are newer (though I find them less fun than the old ones) but they give you a chance to see a bit more of the city. Don’t get me wrong, the Metro is great too (I have zero complaints about public transit at all in Budapest) but these trams won my heart and my mind.
I felt I’d neglected the Buda part of the city on my trip but at least I could make it up to them a little with breakfast at the Villa Bagatelle.
Nice way to close out my trip I think. After consuming that, I headed back to the hotel and packed up and heading for BUD.