Great Wide Somewhere: Budapest

I have been so nostalgic for Europe lately. Who am I kidding? I’m always nostalgic for Europe. I miss the more laid back pace of life, the culture of food and drink, the beautiful surroundings filled with so much history…I want to go back!

I thought I’d reminisce over my very first trip upon moving to Italy. It was only my second week in country, I was still living out of a hotel, but I was ready to start exploring. My friend Michelle, living in Germany at the time, suggested we take a weekend trip to Budapest, Hungary. It wasn’t exactly on my top 10 list of places I wanted to visit, but I figured, why not? I wanted to see as many places as I could. So we booked our flights for after work on Friday, and met up at our hotel on the Pest side. Fun fact, Budapest is split by the Danube River, one side known as the Buda side and one side known as the Pest side. The Buda side is on the West, and it’s hillier with winding streets, as well as the Hapsburg Palace. That leaves us with the Pest side on the East, which is flat and reminds me more of Eastern Europe, with tons of bars, restaurants, and cafes. Both sides have their charm, but I’m much more partial to Buda.

Anyway, we arrive at our hotel, which is TINY, as most European hotels are, which also included a shower with a see-through wall! Good thing we are close friends, or it might have been awkward…We crashed right away so we could wake up early the next day, refreshed and ready to see the sites.

It’s been a few years, so my memory is a little shady on the exact sequence of events, but here’s what I remember of everything we saw:

We started the day by walking to Heroes’ Square (Hősök tere), which is a complex of statues that represent the leaders of the seven tribes that found Hungary. This square (which is more of a circle) is located in the middle of, and surrounded by, a busy road. However, the walk along the huge boulevard (Andrássy) to get there was very interesting because you get to see a lot of cool buildings and neat architecture (very descriptive, I know, but I don’t often pay attention much to the different types of architecture throughout the centuries). As we were walking around, I noticed quite a few older ladies with hair an unnatural shade of red that looked like they had a poorly done dye job. When I commented on it, Michelle told me that these women used to use beet juice to dye their hair during the communist regime, due to lack of availability and funds, and apparently, they still do it today. I don't know if that’s true or not, but it seems plausible enough.

Our next stop was the House of Terror (Terror Háza Múzeum). This was not a haunted Halloween house, which I would have loved, but rather a museum containing exhibits related to the Nazi and Communist regimes, and a memorial to those that were tortured and killed in that very building. The building the museum is housed in is actually the former quarters for the secret police for both parties. It was really interesting to see and very moving.

Moving on, I forget the order of things, but we did stop for a tour of the parliament building (Országház). As I wasn’t interested enough to pay attention, I don’t really have any information to share on this site other than that it was really pretty! And ornate! As evidenced in photos below:

Later on in the afternoon, we caught a bus that took us up to the Citadella Folklór Étterem, where we were able to get a prime view of the city. Unfortunately, it appears the Citadella has been closed since we've been due to "reasons beyond their control", but it's still a great view even if you can't go inside.

Once we got back into central Pest, we were ready for dinner. We didn't have anywhere special in mind, we just knew we wanted to try some authentic Hungarian cuisine. Unfortunately, I don't remember where we went, but I do remember I had the chicken paprikash served over buttered noodles, which is a traditional Hungarian stew with, you guessed it, chicken and paprika! I believe my friend tried the goulash. We also ordered glögg to drink (which is essentially mulled wine), because, well, it was called glögg.

We also had signed up for a guided night walking tour and river cruise. On our walk from the hotel to our meeting point at the Széchenyi Chain Bridge (linking East and West Budapest over the Danube), we came across a Christmas market! It was such a lovely surprise, I love Christmas markets!

On the Buda side, I discovered how much more quaint and picturesque the buildings were. I loved how decorative they made the exteriors. The tour included sites such as the Fisherman’s Bastion (Halászbástya) and Matthias Church (Mátyás-templom). The church had one of the prettiest roofs i've ever seen, I wish all roofs would follow suit. The Fisherman’s Bastion was really neat, as well (neo-Gothic and neo-Romanesque style architecture, had to look that up) and overlooks the Danube. It reminded me of something you’d see in the Little Mermaid. We got there in time to watch the sunset, which was beautiful. Right down the street from there was an outdoor market, where vendors were selling fabric and Hungarian knick knacks. I bought some little ceramic plates that were hand painted.

After the walking portion of the tour, we took an hour boat ride along the Danube, where we received a complimentary drink (not so complimentary when I’m pretty sure we paid for it in the cost of the tour…) and glided down the river, taking in the beautiful lit up sites at night.

I don’t know what it is, but walking around Budapest at night is a completely different experience than walking around Budapest during the day. And I don’t mean that as in it felt dangerous, it was just a completely different atmosphere. I really enjoyed it! Unfortunately we were too exhausted to partake in the night life, so we went back to the hotel and crashed.

Before our flights home on Sunday, we stopped by the Vajdahunyad Castle to check it out. We weren’t able to go inside, so we walked around the grounds. It was a gorgeous fall day in November, and perfect weather for stomping on every crunchy leaf in my path. We stopped for some yummy dessert and drinks by the lake next to the castle, and were able to eat outside on the patio with the fortuitous weather.