Budapest

After this post, i'll FINALLY be caught up with all of my travels.  Last weekend, Francesco and I braved the cold and went to Budapest. The temperature in Rome these days is around 65, but the highs in Budapest are around 30-35.

On the chain bridge, with Buda Castle in the background

We got in Friday night around 10:15.  We took a shuttle to the hotel, changed our clothes and went out for a beer to a bar called, Alcatraz, recommended to us by the guy at the front desk.  The bar played all old American music...it was fantastic! Budapest uses the forint as their currency.  The exchange rate is 315 forints to 1 euro.  The price for 2 beers was roughly 600-700 forints...2 euros for 2 beers!! You can't get a beer in Rome for cheaper than 5 euros. We knew the first night that we were going to love it.

Elizabeth Bridge (view from Gellert Hill)

Saturday, we walked and walked and walked through the entire city.  We went into the "downtown" area and found a Christmas festival.  There were stands selling linens, ceramics, jewelry, purses, food, etc. We stopped at one hut to get a bowl of goulash to share.  I don't think i've ever had goulash before, but I now love it! We walked to the Buda side across the Elizabeth bridge and went to what we thought was the castle, but turns out is Citadella (or the bunker), then walked over to the funicular that took us up to what we thought was the Parliament building, but was really Buda Castle...we were very mixed-up!!! We walked back to the Pest side across the Chain Bridge.  These bridges were destroyed by the Germans, but have now been re-built. There was "forralt bor" or mulled wine sold throughout the city at outdoor stands.  We were so cold that we searched forever trying to find a cafe where we could sit inside and enjoy our mulled wine. Finally, we found one and enjoyed our second bowl of goulash for the day.

Buda Castle

After a long late-afternoon nap, we were back out on the town.  In one of the tourist magazines we picked up at the airport, we found a buffet restaurant that offered everything hungarian.  It was a great way to taste small bites of many of their famous dishes.  The buffet even included your choice of champagne, beer or wine for a great price! We decided to stop at a local bar for a cocktail before we went dancing and ended up meeting a bartender who had just moved to Budapest 3 weeks before from Newark, NJ. Then, we took a taxi to "Mix Club." The taxi cost us only 2 euros.  As we were in line, the doorman told us we couldn't go in because Francesco had on athletic shoes.  Fra really wanted to go to this club, so I agreed to go back to the hotel with him so he could change his shoes. The taxi back to the hotel was 15euros!! Then, the taxi back to the club was only 7 euros...I swear that the drivers just make up the prices and completely rip you off sometimes.  We danced until 5 in the morning!!

Christmas Festival in the square

Sunday, was my favorite day.  We walked up Andrassy Avenue to Heroes' Square and went to the Szechenyi thermal bath.  It's a giant turkish bath that dates back many centuries.  We also got Thai massages at the spa, again, for a very reasonable price! I must mention that on our walk to Andrassy Avenue, I found a Starbuck's. Francesco, being Italian, is not a fan of Starbuck's and American coffee, but he agreed to go with me because I haven't had it in 4 months!! Sunday night, we went to a quaint restaurant recommended to us by a local.  We had the best meal. We started with some typical meats and cheeses from Hungarian, then shared a duck salad that was fantastic.  I had spiced pork with roasted potatoes...i'm craving it now that i'm remembering how good it was.  Francesco had the venison with a mixed-berry sauce that was also very, very good.  The restaurant had live music with a violinist and a pianist.

Turkish Bath

Monday was the only day we woke up in time for the free breakfast at the hotel.  They had eggs, sausage, cheeses, meats, yogurt, fruit, cereal, toast, etc...I love staying at hotels and having an "American-style breakfast." We took the Millenium Underground Railway, the second oldest in the world, to the Parliament building across town.  This Parliament is the third largest in the world. We were disappointed we couldn't go inside, but admired the beauty from the outside.  We walked across the Chain bridge and went up to Fisherman's Bastion and Matthias Church.  We also visited Buda Castle labrynth and went back to the castle, now knowing what it actually was. Then, we went back to the Pest side and went to the synagogue, which is the second largest in the world, after the one in NYC. We did a guided tour there and I thought it was very interesting to learn the history of the jews in the Budapest, especially all that died during WWII.

Matthias Church

We left Monday night to come back to Rome.  Being a tourist is very exhausting.  We had such a wonderful trip, but were very tired from all the walking and sightseeing. The views of the city from the top of hills in Buda were spectacular and learning about the history of Budapest was very interesting to me. I'd definitely recommend everyone to visit this city if they ever get the chance!