TDate: Wed, 30 May 2007 15:49:16 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: 3 days, 3 cities... 2 of them superb! (another long email, but no ranting, I promise...)
he train pulled into Budapest Keleti station 1/2 hour late at 7:30am, which
was just fine by me! Those 3+ hours were plenty for me to practice my
hungarian... servus/yow napot (hello), igen/nem (yes/no), kurssurmurm (thank
you, which I'm still not 100% sure how to pronounce; I held a door open for
someone earlier today and she said this but said it in a different way than I
had heard before... so I dont really know... I've just been saying "thank you"
in english whenever the need arose), and last but certainly not least, "bessayl
ungolool?" -- do you speak english? -- all of above not really spelled in
hungarian, just phonetically..
Anyway, once the train arrived in Budapest I did what the tourbook told me to
do - go to the tourist information office and buy a "Budapest Card" -- good for
all metro, busses, trams, HEV (suburban trains), and museums, with discounts at
many restaurants and shops -- an excellent value for 3 days. By the way the
Budapest metro does not allow free transfers from one line to another -- each
trip is indivually bought. So thats where the card really comes in handy!
Now on to Budapest.... Wednesday, May 30...
My hotel is quite literally at the top of the steps coming out from Astoria
metro station, in Pest. No walking for miles in the hot sun carrying my heavy
bag on my shoulders like I did in Bucharest! Also today was a lot cooler, with
a strong wind blowing and that really helps on a day of walking! My room wasn't
ready yet (8 AM), so I gave my bags at the front desk and set out to explore
the city.
Before I go on, let me say I love Budapest -- it is a total opposite of
Bucharest, and I'm on a high right now just from being in this city! I can
remember the same feeling when I was in Paris for the first time -- in a "new"
country, with language I dont really understand and cannot pronounce no matter
how hard I try, strange foods, strange place, and absolutely, breathtakingly
beautiful!!! I'm wondering why I didn't come here sooner! I already know I'll
be coming back though, again and again...
I took the metro to the Danube River, my second time seeing this river after
leaving Vienna four years ago. Walked up along the riverbank to "Chain Bridge"
-- the oldest permanent bridge on the Danube in Budapest, which links old town
Buda in the west to the more modern Pest in the east. After crossing the bridge
I took the funicular up "Castle Hill" -- the REALLY old part of Buda. The
remainder of the day was spent up there...
Wonderful views across Danube of the town of Pest -- the Hungarian Parliament
building is amazing, so is the view of the Chain Bridge with St Stephen church
in the background, and all the other bridges on the Danube. By comparison, the
actual sights on Castle Hill weren't really as good as the views from there.
Following the motto "eat everything", breakfast consisted of an ice cream cone
near the Matyas Church (built 1255-69 and expanded in the 15th and 19th
centuries), lunch was duck goulash, surprisingly good, and dinner was... hmmm,
I'll get to that later.
My first real stop after roaming Castle Hill for a bit was "Fishermans
Bastion", built in 1895 and really looks like a castle, From the top there are
fantastic views of Pest and the Danube river bridges... Lot of time spent there
just sitting and relaxing on the railings, enjoying the cold air and the
180-degree views. Behind this was Matyas church, which was one of those "you
been to one church you been to them all" kind of places, although it is listed
as one of the top-10 attractions in my tourbook.
I walked back along "Lords Street" -- again same as St Gilgen, Brugges, or
Brasov -- back to the Royal Palace complex (consisting of several of the top
city museums). Lunch with a view of a tall glass of pina colada, the Chain
Bridge, and St Stephen cathedral, then a short visit to the Hungarian National
Gallery -- this is also listed as one of the top-10 attractions in the city.
I didn't think so. Its got a lot of paintings from the 19th century, and many
of these aren't really worth a look in my opinion. I guess when it comes to art
I just like the renaissance stuff a lot more!
I was out of the museum in under an hour, then spent some more time roaming
around before taking the bus down to the metro station and the metro back to
the hotel, to finally check-in.
I was thinking I'd go out again in the evening to see the lights (I've seen
postcards of the parliament building all lit up at night -- I *WANT* that
picture myself) -- but thought I'd take it easy... my legs aren't used to
walking all day for 3 straight days... I've been relaxing in the hotelroom,
except for a .. ahem.... "dinner break" downstairs. (That's all I'm going to
say about that.)
Tomorrow, it's off for the parliament tour -- THIS ONE should be good -- and a
visit to the largest church in Hungary and the largest synagogue in Europe.
Along with some night lights finally!
Until then,
....
hmmmmmmmm.....
Vissontlatashruh, (I'm NEVER going to say that aloud!)
-me.
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| May 29 | Contents | May 31 |