So I slept in a bit before walking over to the Westbahnhof station. It was a 15-20ish minute walk from my hotel and when I got there was presented with a modern station that resembled more of an airport than a rail station. Unfortunately I had to buy a full fare ticket (bank breaking at 39 EUR) since I booked it so last minute, but the trip was really pleasant.
OBB Railjet, Vienna - Budapest Keleti
Railjet is OBB's high speed train, that according to the internet is capable of speeds up to 230 km/h when the track/terrain allows. There is wifi available while in Austria and they wonder through the train offering coffee, snacks, etc. I mainly listened to music and thought about trying to chat up the really attractive young women across the aisle from me. Turns out they were on family vacation and had their parents behind them, so I'm glad I didn't say anything, though I did strike up a conversation with the 4 of them - Americans from NYC with one daughter studying abroad in Vienna.
From Keleti, I took the metro from right outside the front of the station straight to my hotel. I purchased a 24 hour unlimited metro pass for ~1600 HUF, or about $6. The metro here is like Vienna in that you don't need to scan a card to get onto public transit, but the ticket is subject to inspection and you'll be in trouble if you don't validate it. At many of the busier stations in Budapest, they have grumpy looking transit officials at the top of the escalators you show your ticket/pass to on the way to the platform. I was also asked to present my ticket when I was riding the streetcar/tram, so it's definitely good to have considering the low cost. Single ride tickets are only 300 HUF, or barely over $1.
Bohem Art Hotel
Another Expedia special, this is a W-esque hotel that I really enjoyed. Smaller rooms, but very comfortable. They have a great breakfast included that serves champagne!
Dinner at Cafe Kor
I had dinner at Cafe Kor, a well reviewed place not too far from my hotel and close to a Christmas market. This place was great. It was full the whole time I was here. I had a local draft beer, the duck breast entree, and a traditional Hungarian desert. It was a great value at only 4500 HUF. If you don't like this place, a Michelin starred restaurant named Borkonyha is a couple blocks down the street. Incredible looking menu, but they didn't have any open tables and one entree is more than I paid for my entire meal.
Wondering around Budapest
I started the next morning with a trip out to the Castle District. It was overcast, cold, and kind of drizzly. Overall not the best day for sightseeing, but when in Budapest...
Cat surveying his kingdom:
Once I had turned into an icicle, I headed back to the hotel to plan the rest of my day. After googling "what to do in Budapest on a rainy day?" I found myself at the Terror Museum, which was built to chronicle the multiple occupations of Hungary. It was quite powerful and well done, and not very expensive to visit. I recommend it. Given the fact that photos aren't actually allowed, this is all I have for you.
I had wanted to check out a couple of beer bars/microbreweries, which luckily were both located within a few blocks of the museum. My goal here was to burn up the rest of my Hungarian Florents. I started at Csakajosor, which is basically a craft beer store with about 6 chairs for people to drink in. I had a couple of local beers from a Hungarian brewery, the Foti brewery. Two half liter sized bottles set me back 900 HUF. Not even $5. I couldn't spend all my monopoly money! I met a great beer crazed couple from Colorado here, and we trekked off to our next stop: Hopfanatic.
Hopfanatic is a microbrewery that is basically a bar that is next to impossible to find unless you know what you're looking for. The 3 of us tried a few different of their own beers that were 500-700 HUF for 0.5 liters. Great value to be had in a small cozy space. It was just the 3 of us and the bartender for much of the time.
From Hopfanatic, I headed back to the hotel to pick up my suitcase and head back to Keleti to catch the overnight train to Prague.
Keleti at night:
Overall I loved Budapest. I want to come back when it's warmer. One thing that was interesting and I think emptomizes how old and well run this city is, is how the transit system is both ancient and brand new depending on the part, while being very efficient. The first photo is of (I think) the Fotem ter station, which is where you can pick up the line to Keleti, and runs brand new subways nicer than anything I've seen in the US. The second is a much older station (along either the M1 or M3 line) with ancient cars from when I assume subways were invented. This doesn't even touch the streetcars that run around the city, and are pretty much the same as the ones you see on St. Charles Avenue in New Orleans.
