Destination: Budapest, Hungary

I haven't had enough travelling yet, so I thought that I would take another trip. Again, eastward to the country of Hungary. Destination: Budapest.














Budapest is a beautiful city that lies on the banks of the Danube River. I had been to Budapest once before, but it was definitely a different trip this time around. I travelled with my friend Clare. To those of you who read my blog, Clare was my companion in my Oktoberfest adventure. We arrived at the airport on Friday evening, 3 Febraury 2006. It was a nice night outside, but a little cold. I had prepared for this trip (as I do most trips), by printing out directions from the airport to the hostel, things to see and do as well as helpful little phrases such as please and thank you. Of course, those papers were also my bookmark on the plane and they got left in the seat pocket. Go figure, so we found the tourist desk and I asked, "How do we get to one of the main metro stations that begins with the letter "D?" Yes, that is all I could remember of how to get to the hostel (that and the name). The lady was nice and pointed us in the right dirction of the airport bus that could could takes us to the metro station.

We got off on the Metro Station that began with the letter "D". Luckily I had looked at the map to see where the hostel was compared to the metro station and one of the city bridges. Clare, who was feeling luck that day, found the hostel and we were there within 3 minutes. We stayed at the Mellow Mood Hostel. Nothing fancy, nothing shabby. It offered a bed in a room with 6 other very random folks with an itchy blanket, private lockers and a hot shower. You don't need much more than that.
















After we put our stuff down, we decided to talk a walk. Clare had never been to Budapest before, so when we first saw Castle Hill from across the river all lit up in lights, it was very exciting. It really is a very beautiful sight - even though my pictures looks as though I was in an earthquake while taking it.

Budapest was originally two separate cities. Buda was the Royal Residence while Pest became the capital. The first bridge to connect the two cities was the Chain Bridge that was built in 1849. In 1873, the cities were unified as one and became the capital of Hungary. The bridge was destroyed, along with the rest of the city, during World War II.

After our evening walk, and in dire need of warming up, we ducked into a little restaurant in hopes of finding some authentic Hungarian cuisine. At the airport, we picked up a map and guide book (because I forgot mine on the plane). Inside, it listed some National Dishes. Luckily, the menu at the restaurant had everything on the guide book list. We each ordered Goulash Soup (thick soup with Potatoes, paprika, and beef), Chciken in Paprika Sauce served with potatoes, and for dessert apple and cherry strudel. Our meal also came with what we thought was a shot of a fruit liqueur. However, the smell of it made me gag. But, I felt obligated to taste it because, well, if this is what they do in Hungary....then I will also do it. Big mistake. Even after I swallowed the shot, it was still burning in my stomach. Thank God we did the shot while we had food left to get the nasty taste out of my mouth. I can still feel the burning sensation just writing about it.

After dinner, we made our way back to the Hostel and got a drink at the Hostel Bar. After a few hours, we called it a night and hit the sack to gear up for a long Saturday.

The fun thing about staying in a hostel is that you never know what time folks are going to walk into the room to go to sleep. It was quite amusing when two guys came back into the room after being out all night and Clare and I were soon to be getting up to take showers to start our day.

First, Clare and I headed to the market. Somewhere along our journey, we had read to check it out. It was a huge building (as you can see by the picture) and inside were permanent structures that were used for selling meat, fruit, vegetables, etc. There were also places selling clothing, shoes, toys, souveniers and food.






















Speaking of food, we were hungry. So, we got some Strudel and a Langos with Cream and Cheese. It was like a giant fried pancake with a sour cream type substance on it sprinkled with shredded mozerella chees. It was actually pretty good.
















After the market, we made our way across one of the many city bridges to the Cave Church and the Citadel. The cave church was literally inside of a cave. The Cave Church was founded by a group of Pauline Monks in 1924. In 1951, on Easter Monday, the Hungarian secret police arrested the entire order, some condemned to prision, one to death. In 1989 the church was reopened.

The Entrance to the Church
















Inside the chapel















The Cave Church was in the side of the hill that led us up to the Citadel, a fortress (per se) that was built by the Royal Family in 1851 to keep an eye on the rebelling Hungarians after defeating the revolution. We didn't go inside of the fortress, but they had fun toys to play with outside. Such as:

Giant Weapons
















The Liberation Monument stands next to the Citdel. It was erected after the Soviets liberated Hungary from the Nazi's in WWII. Too bad Hungary then went under Communist rule.





















View of Budapest from outside the Citadel (I wish it wasn't so cloudy this day)





















We then made our way over to the Castle Hill Disrict. The large building was the residence of the Hungarian kings for centuries. Today, it houses the National Library, National Gallery, and Budapest Historical Museum. Another place of interest on Castle Hill is the Fisherman's Bastion. It never served a military purpose, but was named after the guild that guarded that part of the fort in the middle ages.
















It was still cold outside, but we still had a lot to do that day. We began to make our way down "Castle Hill" towards town. We decided to take a little tour through the Parliment Building. It was a very pretty building, completely symmetrical.


















The Crown Jewels are kept within the Parliment















Where the Parliment sessions take place






















After needing to give our feet a break, we headed back to the hostel to clean up, take a quick nap and get ready for the eveing ahead. We ate at the restaurant called Fatâl. It was very yummy. Fatâl is the Hungarian word for Wooden Plate. The portions were huge. It was very funny to watch people get their food, not knowing what to expect and receive this big wooden plate filled with food. To finish off the evening, Clare and I made our way to a reccommended bar, "The Old Man's Pub". It was fun...very crowded.


The next morning, 5 February 2006, we headed off down the Andrássy Avenue, which was built to connect downtown to the City Park. It is kind of a take off of the Champs Elysées in Paris. Alonge the Avenue lies the House of Terror Museum. This museum was very interesting and moving. It is too bad that none of the videos were in English. The Building that houses the museum was home to the Hungarian Nazis during WWII and then to the Communist Terror Organizations. It was designed to commemorate the victims of the violence that took place, but also as a reminder of "the dreadful acts of terrorist dictatorships." Hungary was stuck between a rock and a hard place. First the Nazis and then Communism. I believe I read that the last Russian soldiers didn't leave Hungary until the mid 1990's. It's hard to comprehend having to live in fear as the citizens did. It's not a wonder why Budapest's economy and cultural life is still growing. There were times during our visit that Clare and I felt like we were still in the 1960's.

Last stop on our tour was Hero's Square and the City Park. Hero's Square was built for the 1,000 anniversary of the Hungarian Conquest. The monument in the middle is the Millennial Monument which has the Archangel Gabriel sitting on top. The statues surrounding the monument are the 7 tribe leaders of the conquering Hungarians. The two half circle each contain 7 heros of Hungarian history.

The entire weekend, Clare and I had pondered going to one of the thermal spring bathhouses. Neither of us brought swimming suits with us, but we really wanted to go. We asked for some assistance at our Hostel who called the Szechenyi Bath near Hero's square to see if they rented out Swimming Suits - and they did. Yes, I thought it to be completely gross, but we both brought an extra pair of under garments to wear underneath. The "bath" was so great. It was like being in a giant hot tub that wasn't really hot. And it was really cold outside and snowing. I was kind of surprised my hair didn't freeze.

Other pictures for entertainment

This is a dog
















This is me in Jail (not really, but it looked like I was. I felt bad that I had took this picture after I went through the Terro Museum)




















Without a TV, I was able to watch the Opening Ceremonies at a co-workers house who had a small house warming party. Its fun to watch all of the athletes so excited to be at the Premium World Sporting Event. I'm super excited to make my way down there at the end of the month.
My best to everyone. Keep in touch. I love getting the emails.
Go USA,
~Betsy